30 August - Tuesday and Back to School Night

AP Language

Good day today in AP Language land. We went over the process and resources we have for completing vocabulary this year before having time to finish up what we needed - either the diagnostic exam or the vocabulary set. You'll have your exams back to you next week and we'll review the feedback. 

For tonight, the best thing to do is to complete your vocabulary cards. Next unit we'll have some articles to read and those will be posted for you to read and annotate. If you'd like to get ahead, feel free to pick one of those to read and consider.

AP Research

What a day! We are really getting in deep with our problem statements which are the foundation of our eventual research. I loved your conversations today related to the Nobel Prize winners and the realizations that you were able to make around their work and the work that we'll be doing in this classroom.

I want to remind you of one of the most important words of the class - recursive. The work we're doing right now is building on itself. As you spend time with the databases, keep going back to your problem statements - the data you find in the sources should help you to further refine your problem statement and eventual research question. I would recommend rewriting the problem statement as you find new information.

For tonight, continue to work with the databases. Log your articles and sources. Revise your problem statements. Consider your questions. I'll see you Thursday.

26 August - End of Week One

AP English Language

Our first long winding slog is complete! Huzzah! Now mine begins as I read and evaluate your first timed writings with the AP rubric. We'll review feedback and the skills of the class later next week. Remember, all of these grades will go in the gradebook - but with a rolling gradebook they'll be quickly replaced. You're not expected to know everything at the beginning of the class. Of course not! But, it's good to see where we need to be at the end, and where we are now, so we can figure out how we'll get there.

Over the weekend, take it easy and recover from your three-day baptism by fire. Our next class will be focused on vocabulary, provide some extra time on the exam if needed, and give you your first working day.

AP Research

We pushed through today in order to discuss the disciplines of study as well as the foundational work for this class. Understanding Research versus research and the importance of the problem statement as it relates to your research question. The slides for today's class are very crucial and helpful - I'd suggest downloading the specific slides you need. We also completed our first reflection - keep those together in your Weekly Work folder as we keep moving through the year.

Over the weekend you have a few things to work through. First, complete the Nobel Prize Research assignment and submit that to Schoology by Tuesday. Follow the instructions in the document posted. You should also find additional sources for your research interest. Now that you know about problem statements, you may want to restart your quest, but you can also feel free to use the two you already have. The databases are your friends! Get friendly.

See y'all Tuesday!

Homework for the Weekend - A Day - 13 September

AP Research

Good work today in class - I hope that you enjoyed learning more about the work that we are doing and how to make the pivotal transition from little r to BIG R research. Now we have the staircase and we've got to go up!

As you work this weekend remember that our main goal is the building of the Source List. This will help with completing Reflection 2 and making the needed revisions to your question and problem statement and gap as they currently stand.

Next week we have two assessments - your CRAAP quiz and then the Speed Dating of Research Questions. Your Source List will be due by the end of next weekend (9/22).

Russian I

Today we took our first quiz! Hooray! Ура! I'll have the scores to you as soon as I can. Remember that we'll review it and then you get to take it again if you need to. Over the weekend you should learn your new vocabulary! Focus on reading the new words, sounding them out, and practice with the dialogues on the reverse side!

Advanced Russian

We also took a quiz today! If you were unprepared, spend time with Google Classroom reviewing our notes. You may also want to refer to the textbook appendix (A-25) to review the different verb stems and what they do as they conjugate. I'll have the scores in PowerSchool soon.

Over the weekend you should be writing! Focus on your building. Write a short story using PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE tenses. Russian II should have three sentences, at least four for Russian III, and six for Russian IV. We'll be getting into cases next week - so consider where those are needed in the writing!

Homework for Friday - 6 September - B Day

AP Literature

The main thing for the weekend is the reading of Ha Jin's "A Contract" and the beginning of your revisions. Use the notes from today's workshop to guide your revisions. Apply what we have talked about today and if you don't know what to do, let's talk. Remember that you have the next ten days to focus on this task.

Be sure that you've submitted all of your work - vocabulary cards and summer work as well. We'll keep this party moving. Ask for what you may need as we keep working.

AP Research

This weekend we are really getting into our QUEST. So, it's time to develop the reading and task log. Are you finding sources? Are you developing your Body of Knowledge? Does this work help you to define variables? Terms? Get ideas for method and data points? As you work, log your work on the Reading and Planning Logs. Keep track of everything you are doing.

Begin to draft and revise your question. Are you taking it through multiple iterations? How is it changing? Why?