30 March - End of the Unit

AP Language

Great final working day for Quarter 3. Remember that we will be returning to class after Spring Break to our double timed writing - you'll be writing on Question 2 and 3 followed by the MCQ. This is a total reset on your grades for the beginning of the Fourth Quarter - so be prepared in the best way that you can.

If you would like to/need to submit a revision of your Annotated Bibliography, please do so. I'll accept these until April 13 to be reviewed. Submit your assignment that's due before you begin your break, you won't have time after we return.

I'm very excited to take you all into the end of the course, let's finish with style!

AP Research

Today was a fantastic day to end the unit in AP Research since we're doing another round of peer review. We've got access to revision guides, sample papers, each other, the rubric, and earlier lessons so that we can put together an accurate and high scoring representation of our work this year. 

The final reflection questions have been posted. These are due on April 13 to Schoology to end the quarter. You will have nothing but time to work, revise, and prepare for presentations when we return. Note, there are just two classes before we begin PODs on April 17. Work hard, be ready. Remember, we're basically done by May 1.

Monday and Tuesday - 28 and 29 March

Sorry for the oversight with the post yesterday, the meeting we had after school took the wind out of my sails.

English 10

Today was the beginning of our final assessment week for Latin America. This week we're focused on writing a letter to a Latin American leader that presents our argument about a problem or issue in their country. I loved the seriousness that I saw today. We were engaged in the task and working hard. Keep that up and we'll have a great last week before break.

Next class we'll look at an example letter to prepare for our writing workshop. We'll also have a Membean vocabulary test next class - so be sure to prepare a bit for that. Friday is the day we'll write our letter. I'll grade them after I get back from my trip and we'll have the time when we return to complete any revisions that we need to raise our grades.

AP Language

Timed Writing Day! Timed Writing Day!

Today we went through the process of writing our synthesis essays. I am looking forward to reading and scoring your responses. If you were absent, be sure to schedule a make-up session. I can see you Wednesday or Thursday after school or we can do it after Spring Break at the very latest.

All scores have been entered for the Annotated Bibliography. If you would like to resubmit the assignment, please do so. Resubmissions will be accepted until the 13th of April. There are comments to guide you in the process of revising. If you are missing this assignment, it will still be accepted.

Next class we're focused on Jargon/Vocabulary. The goal will be to submit that assignment to cap off this unit. I'll have your work scored to guide any resubmissions when we return from break. See you for the last class!

AP Research

Great work today as we watched our final POD to prepare for our examination season to begin. This final POD is a great example of a rule of thumb I like to follow, "The more complext the topic, the simpler the slides." Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Most all of you can build the slides you saw today, so you should.

Next class we will have our next round of Peer Review. You should have four sections of your paper read to be shared with a classmate. Be sure that you've done your revisions to update your existing sections. Check for alignment!

Be sure that Spring Break pushes you forward. I hope you'll find time to relax, but if you're finding a need to use that time, please do so. PODs BEGIN ON APRIL 17.

20 March - Starting the Week Write...Get It?

AP Language

Hooray! It's rough draft day! We took 55 minutes today to plan and draft our final essay for this unit. Remember that you will write your final essay next week. This is the final week to prepare for that assessment. This week you should complete any remaining tasks (submitting AB or SourcePack), meet with me for a writing conference, and review your work with your peers. We also have plenty of practice opened up on AP Classroom. There's also the Jargon/Vocabulary assignment due after Spring Break that you could get done now.

Set your goals. Keep yourself accountable. Be ready for the end of this quarter and your final assessments.

AP Research

Easy day in AP Research today as we began our latest string of working days. You have this week to continue working through your process of data collection, organization, and analysis. As I expressed in our conferences, it is important that you continue to hold fast to your sources throughout all sections of the paper. As you see discrepancies between your data conclusions and the data in the existing conversation, be sure to point those out. Remember, any discrepancy is a new understanding.

I would recommend that you finish your academic paper and then complete your POD slides. We'll watch another high scoring POD next week before we get into our next round of Peer Review. Remember your next deadline - there is Peer Review on March 30. When we return from Spring Break, you'll have your PREP reflections due to be checked. These are our last grades for Quarter 3. Be sure that you are ready to finish strong and then finalize your tasks to submit in April.

9 and 10 March - End of the Week

English 10

Thank you English 10 for your work yesterday while I was away. I appreciate that when I came back I had a folder full of work from you all. I'm excited to see what you put together for me. Next week we're going to look at some poetry before we begin ending our unit on Latin American literature.

AP Language

Today was our final writing workshop to prepare for submission of the annotated bibliography. This assignment is now due. I love that people have already submitted work and received feedback. This makes all of our lives easier. Remember, you can resubmit this assignment - just remember to give me back the rubric. 

Next week we're going to start moving into the writing and planning phase of this assignment. We'll be focused on outlining, writing, and giving peer feedback. Having a complete or nearly complete SourcePack is essential, so be sure that this corollary assignment is nearly complete!

Have a great weekend. Please come in for Lion Time if you need additional help!

AP Research

Today was a great day in AP Research land because it was a day for peer review. This is becoming one of the most important parts of the class because remember, I can't give you direct feedback. I can ask you plenty of questions to help guide you, but if you want to know what to do, then you have to go to each other. Thankfully you're all well trained and able to provide amazing feedback to each other. Today is an example of that.

Work with your revisions. Move forward and polish your work. We'll do another run of this after Spring Break as we consider our Data/Findings, Analysis, and Conclusion. Keep writing. Keep building. Every little bit counts. We'll begin next week in Unit 5. Be sure to complete your PREP reflections so that they are ready to be checked.

8 March - International Women's Day

AP Language

Solid working day today everyone! Next class is just like today - a writing workshop. I like that there are submissions for me to review and score; I'll work hard to get those back to you by next class. Meet your deadline and meet your goal. Submit your tasks!

Next week we're going to start moving more into writing and planning. Be ready to outline and thesis. Be sure that you also return your books if you no longer need them.

AP Research

Solid day in AP Research as we found ourselves solidly grinding. I hope that my overview of the paper and its essentials helped you in demystifying the experience. Remember, keep it simple. Keep it straightforward. Keep it direct. This is not a fancy paper, this is a paper that checks the boxes. 

Next class we'll begin our transition out of Unit 4 and into Unit 5. Unit 5 is focused on final elements - data charts, analysis, and final conclusions of our work. By the end of the month, we should be finding ourselves ready to move into presentation and production mode. We're nearly done. I'm looking forward to Peer Review, remember to submit your drafts so that I can grade them for completion.

6 March - Monday Monday!

AP Language

I love watching y'all collaborate and discuss good texts, and that was at the heart of our class today as we had our final group meeting. We discussed overall impressions, checked on our research topics, and then moved into some bigger reflections on some of our POG skills. This is the end of group meetings since we're focused on writing moving forward.

For the next two classes you'll have writing workshops to finish your AB and your SourcePacks. These assignments should be completed on time. We'll be doing a lot of work to start writing, brainstorming, and building this response over the next few weeks. Be ready to write and create! It's time to make the magic!

AP Research

We're in our second string of independent working days, and there are a few items that we can be working on right now. First, we have peer review coming up on Friday. You are expected to have two sections of your paper complete and able to be reviewed - Introduction / Literature Review / Method. You pick two. Please submit these items to Schoology so that I can input a grade.

Next class will be just like today. We'll be soon wrapping up Unit 4 and moving to Unit 5 - Final Considerations. Keep in mind that you should be essentially done with all elements of your work (except writing and presenting) by the time we go out for Spring Break.

1 March - Hooray Spring!

AP Language

Really solid day today as we worked through the concept of the dirty outline and did our exam simulation. I hope that all of you saw that fifteen minutes of planning is a lot of time when you do it well. Gotta be efficient. Remember that the most important part of writing the synthesis is to show that YOU, the student, are using the sources to explore and prove YOUR OWN PERSPECTIVE on the topic. This is not a report, it's an argument. Use the video from today's class to help you in your approach to outlining.

Next class is our last group meeting. Remember, we're moving into the time for assessments to be done and graded! Your Annotated Bibliography is due next week. Don't fall behind on this important check. I'm here to help after school and at Lion Time!

AP Research

Today we began our next string of indepdendent working days. You have today and two classes next week to work through the next phase of your data collection and analysis. We'll be meeting together next week on Friday for peer review of the first sections of your papers. Meet your goals daily. Keep checking in on your process. Keep your records and hunt down your participants! It's time to make the magic of research, so you have to keep moving through the process!

Complete your newest reflection - we're almost done with them all! Keep in mind that by the time we get to Spring Break we're essentially done with the course, it's just finishing up and polishing to finish the year.

Early Release Day - 5 March 2021

AP Research

Next week is our final week of this unit. The major tasks that we have ahead of us are meant to provide a check-in on our larger process and make sure that we're all moving toward our goals in the class. On Friday of next week you'll meet together as a writing group to discuss your academic paper drafts and give constructive feedback. We'll do some work as a group on Friday before you meet to discuss the rubric and what to look for as you read.

Data collection should, mostly, be complete at this point. If you're still chasing down a few sources of information or a few last survey responses, that's not a bad place. But you may want to ask yourself if that additional data is needed at this point. Is it possible to go deeper into the analysis of the data you have instead of finding more?

I'll be available on Monday and Wednesday to assist you next week asynchronously. We'll meet on Friday to submit tasks and do our writing workshop. Be aware that your PREP Check deadline has been extended. The newest reflection question has been posted.

AP Language and English 10

Note your reminders below. Assignment submission spaces are open on Google Classroom for your final tasks in the research unit. Please reach out and let me know how I can help out.

Homework for B Day Students - 25 February 2020

AP Literature

Today was a class geared around sonnet analysis and skill as we worked through Sonnet 29 in class and then went forward with our sonnet analysis projects. Remember that in the project you should work to compare and contrast a Shakespearean sonnet with one of your own choosing. The sonnets should have something in common (theme/image/tone/idea) and some difference as well. There are roles for each people in the group.

For tonight be sure to read Act 2, Scene 5. This is the scene where the plot against Malvolio goes. Pay attention to the humor and comedy - consider the idea of comedy at someone's expense. Is it still funny? Additionally, be sure that any missing work is turned in this week so that I can update and complete the gradebook this weekend.


Be sure to see us with any questions or concerns.

AP Research

Today was our working day to prepare for our Peer Review 3.0 Day. Next class you will be expected to have a full draft of your Introduction+Literature Review and Method. Hopefully after our work on crafting Literature Reviews and the templates/requirements of a Literature Review, you feel more prepared. Check out Reflection 20 - It's a good question to use as you draft or review your draft.

Have a full copy of your draft as a hard copy or as a full document in Assessment Task Drafts.


Our next classes will focus on data analysis, data sets, and data visualization. It's time to finish our process and move on! Remember the elements of your PREP folder which should be updated as you are working.

Homework for A Day Students - 15 January - End of Quarter 2

AP Research

It's the end of the semester and we've crossed a big bridge today with our first peer editing conferences on our academic papers. I hope that you were able to get good feedback from your classmates related to the work that you have already done. Remember to make edits, update, but always keep what you have done.

I've posted the newest reflection - the final one for this semester. It relies on the peer editing work that you did today, so be sure to reflect using the comments from your classmates.

I'll be looking over your PREP folders this weekend for your final check. Be sure that your task log, conferences, reflections, and assessment task drafts folders are updated. You should also have everything from the first check. Other than that, it's time to be mining for data. Collect, group, analyze, consider, and work! The more you do, the better it is!

Russian I

Today in class we finished watching The Irony of Fate, and we built sentences using our cases about the actions in the film. Remember that next class you'll have your final quiz on cases! It'll be very similar to your first quiz. Focus on the jobs of the cases and the endings, a lot of you did great with this work today in class.


Remember that next class is the last class of the quarter. If you have any rubles or Falcon Feathers for extra credit, be sure to have them.

Advanced Russian

Today we launched into a new unit on verbs of motion. Today we focused on learning some of the theory related to verbs of motion like uni versus multidirectional; A, B, and C actions; and the new stem (t-d). Tonight, focus on learning these new words and vocabulary.

We have some reading tonight to help with the new work. Read the five dialogues that I gave you and find the verbs of motion. Consider if they are A, B, or C type actions. Where are the related grammar points?


Be ready for test corrections on Friday and the end of the quarter/semester!

Homework for A Day - January 13, 2020

Advanced Russian

Today we had an exam so there are no slides to post. Continue to study your vocabulary and review any grammar topics where you encountered difficulty. I'll have your exams scored for you ASAP and then we will do corrections before the end of the quarter on Friday. Be sure that you have checked for any missing assignments on PowerSchool since this is the last week of the grading period.

Russian I

Tonight everyone there's not much to take care of - take a look at the reading in Chapter 1. It's the paragraph at the end of the vocabulary section - read through the paragraph, translate it, and find the cases that are being used. The translation and the endings would be the most helpful thing for you here.


Next class we'll finish The Irony of Fate and do some review for our reassessment. The reassessment is on Friday. Be ready, study and prepare!

AP Research

Great work today researchers! We had a solid lesson in which we reviewed the instructions to the academic paper and the rubric - a good task for us to complete as we are working to construct our own drafts. For tonight you should continue writing your introduction/lit review in advance of our writing workshop. To help you with this I have attached two additional sample papers on Google Classroom. These papers are examples of the middle/lower side of the rubric. Take a look and assess them in the same way we did in class. Consider what changes could be made to further solidify their work.

Weekend Work - A Day - 9 January

AP Research

It was a writing day for our introductions and lit reviews today. I hope that you were able to generate content and spend time locking in some of the preliminary work - a really important task as we get ready to collect, analyze, and organize data in order to answer our questions.

Into this weekend we have several things to accomplish. First, the fifteenth reflection has been posted for you. Additionally, you should continue to update your PREP folder as you are working. Log your tasks. Note your progress. Update your communication.


Next week is the last week of the quarter. We will have a lesson from College Board on the academic paper before more time for writing. The last day of the quarter will be a peer editing workshop. I think that it will be a productive day for us all.

Russian I

Today in class we learned our fifth case declensions - the instrumental case. Remember that this case is used with the word "with" in Russian. It's used to say how the action got done, what was used to complete it, and it's also used with greetings related to holidays. We did a quick practice activity before going on to our movie.


Over the weekend you have a worksheet like our warm-up today. Look at the English sentences and determine which case would be needed. Think about the different case jobs we've learned! This is a great practice for you.

Advanced Russian

Today in class we had our reassessment on numbers, time, and also on complex sentences with который - all important skills for our exam next week. After our reassessment time we had a chance to work through the various expressions that Russians use to talk about time. I know that it's confusing, but if you try to see that each preposition has a particular job, that helps to clarify it.


I've given you a lot of exercises and guides to help you through this unit. Review and prepare this weekend for the exam. You'll have the exam on Monday and a chance to make corrections on Friday.

Homework for A Day - Wednesday, September 19th

English IV

Today we worked on our grammar and focused on helping verbs. We also read the first half of "Heartbeat" by David Woo. On Friday, we will finish up that short story and continue to work on vocabulary word parts. Continue to study your literary terms and how to apply them to the works we are reading each day. Later this week, we may go to the Media Center/Library to choose a personal reading book for those students who were not able to make it to school on Monday.

AP English III

Today we handed in our outlines (both original and edited copies). I hope you all found the peer-editing to be helpful, this is a skill you can use both in and out of the classroom. Mr. Miller and I are always resources to help you with your writing and your essays, but so are your peers! Following the rubric and keep connecting your evidence and explanations to your claim.

Your essay is due on Thursday, September 27th. We have a Final Assessment for our In Cold Blood Unit on Tuesday, September 25th. We'll go over the assessment this Friday, if you want to start reviewing early, I suggest going over your annotations from Didion, Ericsson, Welty, and Capote. This Friday, your 5 vocabulary cards are due. Use the graded card as a guide to fix your other cards.
Thank you all for engaging in the debates at the end of class. I loved how you all were able to make claims, give evidence, and and explain in such a short amount of time! Remember to update that back cover of your copy of In Cold Blood.

Have a great rest of your day, and we'll see you on Friday!

Homework for B-Day Students - 15 December 2015

AP English III

For homework tonight you have three stories by Ernest Hemingway to read and annotate.  Make sure that you've read and considered "Hills Like White Elephants", "The Killers", and "Old Man at the Bridge".  Hemingway is known for his plain style, but don't be fooled - there's a lot going on beneath the surface.  Spend your time looking at his choices as a writer and considering their meaning.

You should also get yourself a copy of The Great Gatsby - you'll be reading this over break.

Lastly, make sure that you have completed the peer editing requirement for your literary analysis paper.  If you are unsure about this requirement see Ms. Ginocchio or contact her directly.

English II

For all of you on Thursday we will collect the final drafts of your movie reviews.  For these you will need to use your writing envelope to submit your documents.  You will need to turn in:

• the viewing guide for Persepolis
• the rough draft
• the feedback chart from editing 
• the final draft

If you were absent on draft workshop day you should see me, Ms. Ginocchio, or a peer for essay feedback.  You will then be exempt from the feedback chart.  Many thanks to those students who have already given me a draft to read.  

Lastly, some of you are still missing other major work or projects.  Get these things settled.

Homework for A-Day Students: 8/26/2015

Russian II/III

Tonight, continue to work on your written paragraphs.  By the end of it, all of your paragraphs will contain all six cases - as you are writing, continue to develop your work so that all six cases are in the paragraph.  In addition, use this time to find translations of needed words.  Remember that if your paragraph involves motion/travel, you may want to talk to me about what verb to use.  Tonight you should be able to complete all the work in nominative and accusative case.

Russian I

Today we went over the second set of letters and I gave you a packet for practice which contains these letters and several others.  Please only do the letters and exercises which we have covered today.  You will finish the packet on Friday once we've finished all of the letters in the packet.  Remember to write the letters/words/sounds multiple times and to say the letter/sound/word each time you write it!

English II

For Friday I need the final draft of your travel paragraph.  Remember that when you turn in your final draft I will also need the draft you worked through today in class from peer editing.  If you would like for me or Ms. Ginocchio to look over your work, please see us outside of class before Friday.