First Grey Day - 23 August 2022

English 10

Wonderful day today, everyone! I very much enjoyed working with you and getting to know you all. We took time for names, arts and crafts, and a bit of an overview of our year - world literature. I loved seeing the way that you worked together, showed up for class, and respected our environment.

For tonight, think about our concept of the year - culture. What would you say is part of your culture? What's important to you? This is a great place for us to start our conversation this year. 

AP Language

I'll make the posts on the Blue Day for this class since that's its first meeting. Be sure to check the post above for your reminders/information.

Kicking Off Q2 - Grey Day - 11/4

Since we didn't have a Blue Day yesterday, today is a bonus day for Grey Day English classes. I hope that you enjoyed the new class setup today. As always, I appreciate and welcome your feedback.

AP Language

Today we had an enrichment day to reflect on the quarter, talk about some test taking skills for future exams, and hopefully have some time to work with our classmates and get to know each other better.

Next class we'll be focused on our reading of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. You've got Chapters 11-16 (a bit of a transitional section with some mini-adventures). Pay attention to symbols and big ideas as these will be the focus of our work on Friday. We'll also be discussing the final project for this unit and beginning our task with it. Don't forget that you should submit the Amy Tan Reflection (Day 16 work) and Vocabulary Cards.

English 10

Today in class we took some time to read in Persepolis, work as groups to learn more about each other, and reflect on our vocabulary and in general on Quarter 1 of the year. I know that there were some quirks to our first stations day; hopefully next time we do this it'll run a bit more smoothly.

Take a look at the asynchronous work from last class if you haven't yet. You may want to review the assignment tonight and do some reading to prepare to complete the work. We'll practice a bit with this skill next class as we examine several important scenes in Persepolis.

AP Research

Today in AP Research we had a quick lesson to review the components of the first research "poster" and pitch for class. Keep in mind that one of the key functions of this work is to check and ensure the ever important idea of alignment exists between all of the areas of our work. Go back into the work that you've done so far, especially as it relates to your research question and consider how you can repurpose some of that work for this new task. 

Next class you'll have a full day to work - spend it practicing your pitch with each other or Ms. Greeves. There's also AB Entry writing or developing the poster. Next week we'll present our work and review the elements of the Inquiry Proposal form in order to submit our proposals for review and authorization.

14 October - Grey Day

We're all in the transition point between units in the classes, which means that most of us are working on final projects of some sort. Remember that final projects are an opportunity for you to show your skills and learning from your work in the unit. If you would like, sign up for an office hours conference - calendar link is in Google Classroom - so we can meet and discuss your work before submission.

Be sure that any resubmissions are in to be scored as quickly as possible. If you have any questions, please reach out via email to discuss. Reminders for AP Language and English 10 are the same today as below. Be focused on your final projects as well as any corrections to your writing diagnostics. I'll be grading this weekend and Monday to import new scores based on your resubmissions.

AP Research

Today we began the joy of Unit 2 - The Introduction Element of the Academic Paper - and began work on our first major assessment task in this unit, the Annotated Bibliography. As we discussed today, the AB is the second iteration of our source list. In this assignment we are working SMARTER to consider the usefulness of the sources for our eventual investigation in this course. A great thing to do tonight is to take one of the sources you feel to be highly significant, and to write an AB entry using your templates. This will give you your first entry completed, as well as something to share with your peers.

I'll review source lists this weekend and return them to you after scoring. On Friday, we'll have quick conferences to check in, but the day is designed for you to continue your searching and to begin your writing. As always, keep considering your research question as you work and reach out for any help you may need.

Grey Day - 9 October 2020

And here we are at the end of another great week. AP Language students should be focused on finishing reassessments of writing diagnostics as well as the final reflection on the mini-project called "What's the Situation?" before moving on to our unit assessment, "This is (my) America." 

English 10 students should be focused on finishing their work related to South Africa and our questions and vocabulary tasks from today. There's no additional homework for this weekend in English 10 so that we can focus on getting caught up.

AP Research

Today we met briefly to review our CRAAP quiz and especially the College Board Policy on Plagiarism and Falsification. Be sure that this policy finds its way into your PREP. If you would like to resubmit your quiz, please do so via email.

The goal for right now is to continue developing our Body of Knowledge and by extension our Research Questions. Your next assignment to submit is your categorized source list - be sure to have that in by Wednesday. Next week we'll begin Unit 2! Be prepared to keep moving forward!

Don't forget that if you are coming to Fairfax High School on Monday to check out your novels for the year to remain in your car, pull up to Door 1, and wear a mask. Bring a piece of paper with your name, your English teacher's name, your class and period. That will help us to get you your books quickly!

7 October - Grey Day and Rotations

Good Day Students and non-Students,

Reminders for AP Language and English 10 are the same as those outlined below. Be sure that if you are showing as missing assignments in SIS or on Google Classroom that you complete these soon. The quarter will end at the end of the month and grades will be finalized.

AP Research

This week is full of tasks that will take you to the end of Unit 1. You have your assessment on CRAAP as well as the finishing touches for the submission of your Source List. Remember that your Source List should have anywhere from 20-30 entries and it should be categorized using the ideas in the slide deck on Google Classroom.

Take time this week to pitch your question and receive feedback from others. There's also our reflection question for the week. I'm available for you to drop-in this week and conference if you need me. 

Closing the Week - Friday, October 2nd - Grey Day

Reminders below for AP Language and English 10 are the same as for today's classes. Remember that if you have decided to check out books from school, please let me know. You will be able to come to school on the 12th of October to retrieve your books for the year. I'll share more details about this next week. Over the weekend/Monday be sure to complete your assignments, especially if anything is missing. 

AP Research

Today we took time to conference and continue our development of our research questions and the supporting elements of those questions. Some of you may find it useful as your question develops to continue to go back and revise your problem statement. Consider how your evolving question will continue to send you back to your sources and databases to find more information that you need. There's always more to do, but we're making great strides.

Next week you'll have two assessments - first will be your quiz on our CRAAP method for testing sources. Second will be the submission of your source list. The magic number is twenty five. I'll have all of this uploaded next week for you! Remember that as you work on your own, I'll keep myself available for questions and check-ins.

30 September - Grey Day

Good Afternoon Everyone - 

Reminders and takeaways for AP Language and English 10 are the same as listed below. We are all focused on reading and being critical readers who ask questions to find information in texts. Use the graphic organizers and the strategies we're learning in class to help you break down and find meaning in the works we study. I look forward to our essay next class (English 10) and our continued work with close reading and Native American literature (AP Language).

AP Research

Today was our day to begin giving and receiving feedback with our research questions. By next class you should complete the graphic organizer and give feedback to your peers to aid in the development of their work. Remember that this process is full of starts, stops, and redirections - especially now. Lean in to the messiness of it all. If you're feeling that there's a lack in a particular place, use that as a way to focus your reading of sources. If you can't think of variables, consider using sources in your Body of Knowledge as models. Then consider the feasibility of using a similar variable for your own investigation.

On Friday we'll have individual conferences. You'll also have time to continue revising, reading, and giving feedback to each other on your Research Questions v 1.0.

Friday - 25 September - Grey Day

Hello All and Happy Friday!

Remember that next week we will start our Lion Time rotations. If you need help with a schedule or calendar of the days and where you should be, let me know.

Reminders for AP Language and English 10 are below. Remember to check-in on any missing work and get things submitted as quickly as possible. We're going to continue to learn and develop those writing skills, and I'll accept work for rescoring as you develop your skills.

AP Research

Today is your final day for reading and preparing before we meet again. Remember that there is a new reflection posted for you to answer in Google Classroom for this week. You should also spend time to work with the graphic organizer to develop the first iteration of your research question. Next week we will meet to give some feedback and develop our questions even further. We'll also be learning a method by which we can review and evaluate our sources - a great step in the development of our annotated bibliography and eventually our literature review.

Also, please remember, I will not be available on Monday. Please feel free to email me over the weekend with any questions or concerns you may have.

18 September - Happy Friday! - Grey Day

Happy Friday Students and Families -

We're getting off to a really great start as we're beginning to work with texts, think, discuss, and analyze key ideas. Next class will be an asynchronous day for everyone - the materials will be posted for you to access and work through at your own pace. I won't be available on Wednesday, due to the fact that I'll be helping with the SAT at Fairfax.

Reminders for AP Language and English 10 are the same as below. Be sure that work is submitted for Week 1 and that you're completing the assignments for Week 2 as well. Turn them in on Monday or sooner. I'll be grading a lot this weekend, and hope to have everything returned and grades updated by the end of the day on Monday.

AP Research

Today is the first of three days to work independently, with each other, and with other sources of support in the building for you. As you work over these days, continue to build your Body of Knowledge and use this as a means for your Gap, Problem Statement, and eventual Research Question. Over these next few days continue to think and drive forward - remember our dialogue between The Riddler and Batman, draw your focus in and begin to be more specific. I look forward to seeing the results of your work.

16 September - Grey Day

Today was a Grey Day, but it was a pretty great day in my guest room (aka A132, for now). The homework posted below for the Blue Day sections is pretty much the same for us today. Remember our discussion today on grading - I view this as a class where you should resubmit, and where you should turn in things late. Remember that I grade by standards, and that there is often much more to a piece of work than if it came in on time or not.

AP Research

The next few classes will find you working independently to build your Body of Knowledge. I'll be available in our meeting space if you need me for anything, but you've also got plenty of other support. Keep reading to build your reading log. Look for the elements of an effective research question that we discussed today. 

I've also posted your first weekly reflection. You will have a question every week. Be thorough and thoughtful in your answers - some of these will also be POD questions, so it gives us good practice for the future.

As always, everything is available for you in Google Classroom. If you've got a question or concern, feel free to email me. I'm continuing to score your assignments right now and hope to have your work from this week back to you by the end of Monday.

Day 2 - Grey Day - 9 September 2020

Good Afternoon Grey Day Students!

The major announcements and reminders are posted below for AP Language and English 10 students, since the lessons are basically the same between the two days. The important reminders for all classes are to complete your FlipGrid postings and to complete the sharing of your notebook covers. There is also information for parents to review - including a Google Form for signatures.

AP Research

Today was a great first day of our investigations. Your reminders are generally the same, but we don't have a FlipGrid since we're so few in number. I loved seeing your notebook covers and starting the process of getting to know you. Once you've finished your syllabus review, it would be best to start reading. Remember that you should cast your net wide as you're finding sources. You don't know right now what's going to be the best source, so grab it all.

As you read and review, use your interactive notebook. Slide 9 is where you can record your annotations and other important notes.Try to read a bit every day to keep the momentum up!