26 May - Into the Weekend

AP Language

Really fantastic day today in AP Language. College essays are one of my favorite things to teach, read, and advise on, so today's lesson hit me in all of my happy places. I hope that you enjoyed. Please submit your Active Reading Task before we see each other next class. Next class we'll be writing about ourselves and taking a foray into personal statements and college essays. This is the second part of your final exam tasks. We'll also look at the instructions for the last part.

AP Research

Hooray for the last day of class. Make sure that any items that you need to submit for Wednesday's presentation are in on Schoology. Your presentation on Wednesday is a pitch of one of your item. Your goal in your presentation is to sell your item to me to be used in next year's class. Remember that you'll have a maximum of five minutes. Bring snacks! I'm excited to see what you do!

26 and 27 October

The blog was blocked yesterday, so here are updates for yesterday's English 10 class and today's AP Language and AP Research classes. Remember that tomorrow is the last day of the quarter and an early release day, there's no Lion Time. Any work (or revisions) submitted by 9:00 am on Monday will be scored for this quarter.

English 10

Great day today in English 10 as we got started on our first major writing assignment - our definition essay. For this assignment we're defining a concept - a hero or a villan - and using a text or several to provide examples. Remember that you'll get a full grade for this assignment - on each part of your essay. Today we worked through the assignment and the outline; we also planned our evidence. This will put us in a great place for our writing workshop next class. We also finished up with Membean. Remember that we'll take time each class for this, so have your laptops ready.

For tonight, be focused on the end of the quarter. If you have a project resubmission, be sure to give me the rubric. If you see any missing assignments, now is the time to complete them to raise your grade for the end of the quarter.

AP Language

Great day today in AP Language as we focused in on lies, Chapter Three, and the simmering conflict between fantasy and reality in the text. We discovered the ways in which many of the characters, including Nick, lie and began to understand some of the reasons for those lies. Continue to notice trends in the text related to this essential conflict.

Over the weekend, we're taking a break from Fitzgerald and spending time with Andrew Carnegie. The article is posted on Schoology for you. Read and annotate. Consider what Carnegie's burden is for other rich people. How do the people of The Great Gatsby measure up? 

If you have any work to submit - vocabulary or America projects - they are due. I'll be able to score work submitted by Monday morning and update grades.

AP Research

Easy day in AP Capstone today as we had our end of unit working day. The priorities in our room are as follows:

1. Complete any tasks for the end of the quarter. Some of you are missing your reflections for the quarter and your Annotated Bibliography. If you would like to do a reassessment of either task, be sure that the reassessment is in by Monday morning to be rescored.

2. Your next class is for your poster and pitch. You'll have two minutes to present your pitch. Fill in the blanks on the three sentence starters. Use the template provided. Submit a PDF of your poster to the assignment to the space. We'll be focused on giving and getting feedback next class - it's your first presentation day!

3. There's a new reflection question posted for your PREP. Be sure that you are avoiding vague language or concepts. Define everything. Don't just say method - which one? Why that? Evaluate, define, and specify at all times. 

Homework for the Longest Weekend - End of Quarter 2 and Semester 1

AP Research

Solid workshop today everyone. It was a day to work through our edits, apply what we've done, and make sure that our PREP folders are in a good place as I look at them this weekend.

The main focus right now is the collection of data to answer your questions. If you have been finding barriers to collection, then what can you do to solve them? Do you have the tools that you need to organize the data for answering your question? How can you work with your classmates or others in the community to accomplish the work?

Now that you've created content (your introduction) it's a good chance to remind yourself of the tools on DigitalPortfolio. TurnItIn Originality Reports can help you to find possible plagiarism in your papers. Make sure that things are cited. Use your access to the PurdueOWL if you need it. There's also an infographic posted on plagiarism and the various types.


Over the weekend (it's really long) keep working. Keep writing. Keep collecting. We'll be doing a second round of elevator pitches on January 28 with slides. Be ready for this - it's a good jumpstart on your POD. The instructions for Elevator Pitch 2.0 are on the final slide posted.

Russian I

Today in class we took a quiz on all six cases. Part of today's quiz was also a reassessment for your first case quiz; hopefully, you felt better prepared for your case identification today and more comfortable with the task. From there - we moved to a project workshop. The goal of today's class was to finish as many of our About Myself sentences as possible, have them uploaded, and have them checked for accuracy. Hopefully working with your partner and with me helped you to do this.

We finished class reviewing the new culture project on Russian poets - remember that if you are planning to participate in the Olympiada you MUST do one of the poets listed and one of the poems in Google Classroom. If you're not planning to participate, then you can choose whom you like.

Over the long weekend you should complete the translation exercise at the end of Chapter 1. Use your vocabulary and your skills with grammar to do this. Don't use an online translator. Try to first find the words you need, put them in order, and then make the changes to the words that are needed to form the sentence (conjugate verbs, put nouns in cases). We'll review this work on Friday so that we are ready for the Unit Exam. That will happen on January 30.

Advanced Russian

Today we took a second attempt at our Unit Examinations. I hope that you were able to feel more confident in the sections that you reassessed today. From there, we went back to the mines to learn another verb of motion - to go by vehicle/transit. There's an irregular verb here - but it's really not so bad. I hope that our writing today in class (Vladimir Putin's errands around Moscow) was helpful for you to understand how the verbs work and the way that the choice of verb really does depend on the point of view of the speaker above anything else. Remember that language is a living thing; people can use it how they want. The exercises this weekend are helpful with this. Choose the correct verb for the situation and then conjugate for the needed form. You may need to translate in order to do this work.

Also be aware of how often verbs of motion are used in everyday sayings. They're are so productive in Russian!

We also have our poetry project in this class, the poet choices and poems are more weighty than those for Russian 1. Remember that you should choose a poet and poem from the Olympiada materials even if you're not planning to participate.

Homework for the Weekend - 24 October - A Day

AP Research:

You did it! First major milestone reached - you pitched, presented, and gave feedback to each other. One of the first things to do before moving forward is to reflect on the feedback you were given and make any needed alterations. Remember, it's all about having a solid foundation and course before we chart out into the wilderness.

This weekend you should be sure to read the instructions for your proposal. I gave you a paper version of the packet so that you could read, annotate, and write any questions you may have. This is also a good chance to start to plan your proposal and the supporting documentation that you will need.

Lastly, I'll be doing a final check of PREP folders on Sunday. Be sure that you have the following:

1. Your Assessment Task Drafts Folder should have your pitch, poster, Annotated Bibliography, and the Introduction Outline (list of nine elements with description and purpose).

2. Your Planning Out the Work log should be reflective of all the work you have done this quarter.

3. Don't forget to download the instructions to your PREP folder.

4. Do you have all seven reflections from Quarter 1 as well?

Russian I

We did some great work this week as we really learned how to conjugate verbs in Russian as well as the various ways to talk about possession and people. This weekend, your homework is pretty light. I would recommend being sure that you have focused on any information you're still not sure on since we'll be moving a bit quicker in Quarter 2. 

First, I really recommend Duolingo - especially when it comes to verb conjugation. Download this program and use it. Many of you can probably test out of the first few exercises and lessons.

Second, decide on the city you'll study for your project. Write an ACES paragraph which goes over why you have chosen this city. Write at least four sentences in English. Be sure to use clear evidence and explain your evidence in your paragraph!

Advanced Russian

Today in class we finished watching Anna Karenina Part Two before moving on to our language task for the day. The main thing we did was discuss and review the five types of verbal action in Russian. We really focused on the first three, since the last two are a bit complicated. This was what we used to write about Anna and her story as we focused on choosing the proper verb (imperfective or perfective) as well as conjugation. Russian IV was focused on combining the sentences using words like who/which/that and then.

This weekend for homework we have some various assignments:

Russian II - Using the chart on types of verbal action, a dictionary/translator, and your skills at verbs, complete exercise 5.15 on page 213. Look for key words in the sentence to help you make the verb choice. Then conjugate to fill in the blank.

Russian IV - Read Chapter One of Anna Karenina and answer the questions in English to review your comprehension of the story. Then, in your textbooks, complete exercises 11.8 and 11.9 on pages 482-483.

Also - remember our talk at the beginning of class. You don't have time in this class for anything except learning more Russian. Stay focused on that and everything will still remain fun.

AP Research - 10/23 - B Day Slides

AP Research

It's about building the beast today so that we can move forward knowing we have a good course set for ourselves. Today was all about organizing the LIT REVIEW around the elements of the discipline. Remember that there are many ways to organize the LIT REVIEW, but you want to make sure that you are always JUSTIFYING the choices you have made and using the LIT REVIEW to show those justifications.

For Friday we have our posters and our pitches. Remember that you'll give feedback and present. This is the last major grade. Our super awesome last grade for the quarter will be a final PREP Folder Check. I'll be looking for all of your reflections, your assessment task drafts, and your task log. It's a good time to start reviewing those documents now.

Homework for 10/22 - A Day

It's nearly the end of the quarter! Be sure that your grades are complete and indicative of your work and abilities. If there is anything missing it should be settled up before the end of the week.

AP Research

Today in class we had our second LIT REVIEW lesson. I think that this lesson makes good sense after the work we did last week on the webs to develop our subtopics and key details. Remember that your purpose is to educate your reader on what they need to know in order to fully understand the choices that you have made in your investigation.

On Thursday we have our posters and our pitches. Follow the templates that you've been given. Remember that your pitch should cover the three sentences in under 120 seconds. You'll receive feedback from your peers.

Next week we'll start Unit 3. Be sure that all of your work for Unit 1 and 2 is complete before we move forward.

Russian I

Today in class we took our reassessment on gender, possession words, and agreement. If you're still confused or having trouble with the concept, let me know. After that, it was time for our work on verb conjugation. Remember that when we conjugate a verb we have to know some information before we start - mainly if it's first or second, and if there's a mutation or not.

Tonight I want you to practice both of our key skills by working through Exercise 15. You're going to fill in blanks using pronouns, possessives, and verbs. Be sure that when you work with the verbs that you work with the information around the verb. Who is doing the action? What ending will show that this person is doing that action? Remember that this is the goal of conjugation - to state who does what clearly.

Advanced Russian

Today was a day to put our toes into our work in the new unit and then it was on to Anna Karenina. Tonight for homework/practice - you should continue to work with your new grammar skill related to Anna's story.

Russian II students should use a dictionary or the vocabulary in Chapter 5 to make a list of verbs that work for Anna both to discuss regular actions and one time actions. This will allow us to think about how we use these verbs and how to make key choices related to aspect. Russian III is looking at some new types of pronouns/adjectives which all undergo declension of some sort of declension. Think about using these to discuss Anna's life. Where can you use "all"/"each other" and "oneself"/"one's own" to discuss Anna's life? Russian IV are looking at который phrases and clauses. Remember the work this little word does, and how it acts like a pivot point in a complex sentence. Remember that it works on both sides. Write two sentences and then combine them!

Homework for Monday - 21 October - B Day

AP Literature

Ignore your bookmarks! We are reading Chapter Four and Five tonight for homework. We'll make it up to you with Chapter Six, since that one is a bit lengthier. Be sure as you read to continue to follow your motifs (find them in the body of the text) and keep paying attention to how our philosophies are coming into play (especially as you notice tone and other narrative elements).

You should complete two more vocabulary cards based on these chapters. If you missed the first two, you can turn them in on Wednesday.

If there are any grades that are missing in the gradebook, those must be submitted by Wednesday for credit. Be aware of what your gradebook says and if there is an error, let us know.

Be sure to update your covers as you read (we discussed plenty of characters today).

AP Research

Today we worked well to develop our web of subtopics branching from our question as well as the details that support those subtopics. Be sure that you are using your BoK and AB to fill out the details and pair those with sources. This is the beginning of the end of your introduction.

Parallel work to this is our poster and pitch. Next class we'll have a quick lesson to finish the LIT REVIEW and then we will spend time preparing for posters and pitches. Remember that the work on posters and pitches is the final grade of the quarter.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 17 October

AP Literature

Today we had a great day working into Camus and the ideas of existentialism and absurdism at play in The Stranger. This is one of my favorite novels, and I'm so excited to take you through it. As you are reading Chapter Two and Three this weekend, continue to annotate around the ideas that we started with today in class - but be sure to find more too and add to your lists. As you read, I would also direct you to the notes we've done on absurdism and existentialism. This will help you make sense of a lot of this text. Please complete two vocabulary cards from Camus this weekend.

The other thing to take care of this weekend is any missing or incomplete work (especially as it refers to the Unit 1 Exam). If you haven't yet presented your project, be sure that this is settled as soon as you can.

AP Research

Today we had a workday in class related to our introduction development. Remember that we will give our pitches and our posters next week, and they can't be presented late, so it must be done on time. All of this work should be in your Assessment Task Drafts (poster, pitch, and your outline introduction). 

Next class I'll be going over Annotated Bibliography scores and feedback. I'm very happy with what I have seen so far. I think that there's a lot of great work going on in 309.

Homework for A-Day: 16 October 2019

AP Research

Today was our workday devoted to our first posters and our first pitches. We should also be working on the introduction outline which at this point is just the descriptors of what goes in the outline and then the purpose of these items. Completing this now will help you to complete the elements of your introduction and to find them in the work you're already completing.

Remember that we will present our posters and pitches on the 24th. This is the last grade of Quarter 1. Everything should be submitted by that point so that we can move forward. If you need additional time or help, please let me know.

Russian I

Today in class we reviewed the concepts of gender, possession, and simple sentences in Russian. Next week we'll retake that quiz, and show a lot of improvement on these skills. Tonight your homework is to keep practicing by writing about your house. Create a Google Document and put a photo of a room in your house in that document. Then write five sentences about the items in the room. Who owns what?

Advanced Russian

Today in class we had our unit assessment. If you didn't finish, time will be given next class to complete the work. Our next unit will be different based on the different levels. If you are in Russian II, please review Chapter 5 (pink book) and complete the Chapter Preview. Russian III and IV will use the Carolina Blue book and refer to Chapter 8 (III) and 11 (IV).

Please have your textbooks next class as we are starting new units!

Homework for B-Day Students - 15 October

AP Literature

A pretty easy night tonight as you don't have much to do. Be sure that your projects are complete and that you are ready to present them this week. We can't grade your final product until you complete your presentation.

Tonight, it would be a good idea to find time to work with Camus. Get to know him by doing some preliminary research on his biography, his beliefs, and his philosophy. Jot down some notes since we'll be getting into the text next class and understanding him will help us a lot in understanding the text he's written.

Additionally, remember what I said about your recommendation letters. Be sure you have my correct email in as I do not have a Common App account with Daniel _ Miller.

AP Research

We're moving quickly to the end of the quarter and the end of our second unit. Next week we will be presenting our FIRST poster and pitch. For the poster, you need to work only through the required elements in the slides from today and your pitch is only three sentences (though filled out with details).

Don't forget to create a document in your PREP folder in the Assessment Task Drafts Folder. Go through the nine elements of an introduction and write a definition of this element and its purpose in the academic paper. This is the beginning of your introduction outline which we will continue to work through next week.

Remember that all Annotated Bibliographies should be in this week. I will be conferencing with you on Monday about your work, so be sure that what you need to have in is in.

Homework for A Day Students - 14 October

AP Research

Today's class focused on the first pitch and poster. Remember that we will present our posters and our pitches on the 24th and this will be the last grade of Q1. All other works should be submitted by that point.

If you haven't yet completed and submitted your AB to Google Classroom, please do so as soon as possible. It is my goal to return feedback to you on Friday and conference with each of you on your AB work. Help me to facilitate that process by submitting your documents as quickly as you can.

Our next major step is the outline and draft of the introduction - to follow the posters - and then the research proposal. The proposal will go through two steps - a draft and formal review by the district. I'll share the forms with you once they are approved by Dr. Spencer.

Russian I

Today in class we took a quiz on gender and vocabulary before finishing our film, Russia Revealed. I really like this film due to the fact that it shows that Russia is a very diverse land with not just a bunch of blue eyed, blond people.

Tonight for homework I want you to do a few things. First, complete the exercises to review gender and possession. This is good practice especially if you weren't too prepared for the quiz today. After that, you should work on the back. Look at the verbs. What can you tell about them? How do they work? What do they mean? These are examples of many of our verbs in this unit. So knowing these patterns will help a lot!

Advanced Russian

Today in class we spent time working with Russian texts so that we would be better prepared for the examination next class. Remember that the exam will be focused on verbs in their various forms. You should be able to work with verbs in all tenses (past, present, future) and be able to identify key information about them (tense, stem, form, infinitive, etc.). For the examination on Wednesday you will have a section that asks you to conjugate given some information about a verb. Then there will be a section much like today's in-class progress. Find and explain a variety of verbs.

Prepare by reviewing old quizzes, studying verb cards, and reviewing the appendix in your textbook starting at page A-25.