11 March - Thankful for Tuesday

English 11

Wonderful version of a Tuesday today in English 11. We got so much done and really worked through items related to our upcoming presentations and our study of poetry. Let's do a quick review and recap of the day.

We started with presentations. Remember that these presentations are going to count as EIGHT grades for you. We've got THREE for Oral Communication and FIVE for writing. We reviewed the rubrics and scoring guidelines for each element. Remember that if you're working on a team, you'll share the Writing: Central Idea score as the thesis should be owned by all members of the group. Consider the most approachable type of presentation for you. Will you record yourself? Do a video? A slides with a recording? Or will you do it live? Think about what you'll write and what you'll say. We'll keep prepping and working through this into next class and next week.

From there we did our quick poetry study of Phillis Wheatley and then our quiz to check for understanding. Sorry for the error with Question 2 and 3 - that's what happens with Performance Matters, sometimes. I'll review your work and we'll review for our test. The main thing that I'm seeing is that I need to teach some more literary devices related to poetry.

We didn't get around to vocabulary today because of the time constraints, so we'll do that next time. Remember that we'll also start working on Book Projects next class. If you need special materials, I'd recommend bringing them. As always, reach out with any questions or concerns.

Tuesday the 25th - See Ya Next Week

English 11

Today was a busy day in English 11. We were starting a few tasks which we'll continue to work on and finish over the next few days. Remember that I'll be out for the next two classes, so today you started some of the tasks that you'll be finishing up. Let's review what we did and talk about what we have coming up.

We started the day by doing some vocabulary review. Your quiz will be next week on Wednesday. Your review assignment is due on the day of the quiz. It's a formative grade, the quiz will be a summative one. After our vocabulary time, we worked on analyzing non-print texts. I really liked the outcomes that you all were getting to related to the images, the way to draw details from them, and the connections that can be built. After that, we went to the work on our presentations.

The presentation work will be the main work for you on Thursday and into next week. It's time for you to find sources, finalize your research question, and consider your argument. If you're working in a group, each person needs to have ownership of a part. On Thursday and Monday you'll continue to find and process sources to contribute to your final presentation. You'll also be focused on reading so that you can get finished with your books. 

I'll keep up with you the best I can while I'm away. Be respectful stewards of our space and welcoming to our guest. I look forward to seeing where your presentations are going and to wrapping up our unit in the coming weeks.

21 February - Happy Friday!

English 11

A good day to end the week today in English 11. I'm really excited to see what you all did today for your reading quizzes, and I was so happy to see the great thinking related to Gloria Steinem's article. Here's our review of class.

We started the day by reflecting on our central question for the year - What are some American problems? Why are they important? Whom do they effect? We had some very vibrant conversation and drew a lot of connections between problems, their impacts, and the various texts we've read this year. From there, we looked at "Women Are Never Frontrunners" by Gloria Steinem. In the article she discusses sexism, misogyny, and the impact that this has on women no matter who they are in America. Steinem takes a political approach, but we can see the reality of her words in every day life. 

To end class, we completed our quiz on our books. If you didn't have time to finish, please be sure that it is turned in by Monday morning so that I can score it. In the quiz, we focused on a key passage and demonstrated our ability to understand and interpret the passage. The quiz was open book. If you were not in class, you can feel free to complete the quiz on your own, or we can meet at Lion Time.

Be in touch with any questions or concerns that you may have. We're going to be pivoting to focus on our projects here at the end of the unit, so be ready for that! Keep reading and making progress through your books. That's the best way to prepare for what we have ahead.

Have a great weekend!

31 January - Ending January and Beginning Quarter Three

English 11

Happy Friday, everyone! There were a lot of absences today. I hope that if you were away that you are doing well. Know that you're very much missed in A101. Today's class focused on preparing for our upcoming writing test and setting up some vocabulary work. 

We started the day with our List 4 Quiz. These grades have been put in the gradebook. If you were absent, or if you need a retake, please see me next week during Lion Time to get this done. After our quiz, we rolled into our review of the WorkKeys exam. Remember that this exam is your credit for writing, and you need to pass this test in order to graduate. Thankfully, we're in a good place when it comes to writing. You all did very well on your letters. The main issue is time and the fact that we don't know the question. Over the next few classes we'll focus on preparing for this by quick thinking and quick writing.

Over the weekend, keep reading your books. It looks like a few of you are stuck in the beginning. Meet your goals! Be true to yourself and what you set out to do. Next class will focus on writing and reading, like most of our classes, and we'll be diving forward a bit in our WorkKeys preparation.

Have a great weekend! As always, be in touch with anything that you may need. 

24 January - The Return of Mr. Miller

English 11

It was so absolutely wonderful to be with you all today and finish this week. Given how I spent last class trapped in a metal tube on the Atlanta airport runway, this was a marked improvement. We did a few different activities today - note that these are grades for Quarter 2, so if you were absent, you need to complete them.

First we had our vocabulary practice. See the slides and the assignment posted in Unit 3. I want you to work on a few words to review their meaning to prepare for next week's quiz. The quiz will be on Friday. Focus on learning meaning of the words and using them. The practice assignment was aligned to this. After vocabulary, we went into book work. The quiz is a bit of a different beast - see the discussion board and reply to your group's thread if you were absent. Remember that this is just temporary for now - you can change your topic/idea down the road. The main thing is to keep reading! Get your content down and behind you. We'll keep working with these books more and more over the next days.

Next class will be our registration meetings with counselors. If you're interested in moving to the Honors English option for second semester, you'll have that conversation with them on Tuesday. If you have any missing major assignments, these are due by Tuesday. We're moving to third quarter, so we need to finish up our residuals. Please make your appointment for Lion Time on Tuesday! I really appreciate those of you who came in today and so far.

17 January - End of the Week

English 11:

We had a really great day today in English 11 to finish out the week. It was a filled day where we worked on a few different skills. We also took some time for reading and group meetings. Some of you were absent today, and you were missed! Your groups will be waiting to submit the group contract until next class when you're with us.

We started the day with a bit of grammar and talked about combining sentences. We reviewed the ways in which we can combine sentences and the sticky bits about some pieces of punctuation and their usage: Remember that colons are only used when the second sentence directly adds on to the first. Try applying some of these strategies as you're writing. We'll keep working more on this soon. From there we did some review of narrative elements and then began to apply them to our books. These are the terms that you'll be asked about on your Virginia Reading SOL, so it's important that we learn them now!

I'm really enjoying watching you all collaborate and read in your groups. It warms my heart! Next class you'll have a quiz on your books, so the best thing to do is to read in order to prepare. Weekends, especially long ones like this, are great for us to read. At the very end of class, we finished our last five vocabulary words. We'll practice and review next class.

Remember that the end of the grading period is right around the corner. If you're missing your letter or reading test from Unit 2, please make a Lion Time pass to settle that up. You can submit your vocabulary project whenever you'd like. All grades will be finalized on January 29, so don't wait! 

13 November - Middle of the Week

English 11

Today was a great day in English 11 because we were working on speeches and arguments. I loved the way that you were making connections to other authors and texts in this unit and the concept of responding to conflict. We focused on Booker T. Washington and ideas like conformity and appealing to audiences. It's also good that we see that there are two different approaches to the same idea in the same time period. There was a multiple choice review to get us ready for next class (we have a quiz) and we did some work on understanding writing and writing structures.

The end of class looked at preparing for future tasks. We've got a vocabulary quiz coming next week on List Three words, and we'll keep working with our research work as well. Remember that the goal is to find multiple sources that you can use in your letter. We'll be moving into the planning and writing phase soon.

Next class is a substitute day - you'll have time to work on your Research Write-Up, focus on vocabulary development, and then you'll take a quiz on reading non-fiction. Follow the rules of the classroom and support our guest in the classroom. I look forward to a good report. I look forward to seeing you all next week!

17 September

English 11

Another solid day today in English 11 as we finished studying "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" by Tim O'Brien from his novel called The Things They Carried. If you're interested in reading more from this book, let me know if you'd like to check out a copy. It's a fantastic collection!

In class we did some practice SOL problems before our reading time. I loved the engagement, the notes, and the ideas that you all got to when it came to our discussion on American problems reflected in the story. At the end of class, we took time for finishing missing work and preparing for our quiz on Thursday.

Focus on learning your vocabulary for next class. You have a quiz coming! Remember to complete the practice assignment for a grade - I attached it here. We'll get into our first projects next class and some feedback on the first essays. Here's to Thursday!

Getting into September - Mid Week Check-ins

English 11

Thank you all for being so good while we had technology problems in class today. Unfortunately, this means that we won't have a recording for today posted over on Schoology. Oh well. 

Today's class started with a quotation response in our notebooks followed by our first graded class discussion. Y'all did a fantastic job reviewing the four authors that we've read so far and discussing some of their major conflicts, resolutions, and perspectives in their texts. We made some great connections between the various authors as well. Some of these connections were a bit ironic, but that makes them even more powerful. As we keep going through this unit and year, consider how more texts combine together to create richer meanings and ideas.

We started reading one of the longest pieces of this unit called "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" by Tim O'Brien. This is a war story that blends a bit of fact and fiction. We'll finish the story next week. To end our day, we looked at vocabulary. Remember that you have a quiz next week (Thursday). Be sure to complete your review assignment before Thursday. Don't forget that you also have your discussion board due this week.

On Monday we had a good day as we read and studied "The Gettysburg Address" by Abraham Lincoln to review the ideas of the rhetorical situation as well as the ways in which emotions are created in a text by an author for a purpose. We also closed out our first vocabulary list. We'll have time next class and Friday to prepare for next week's first quiz. Remember to focus on learning the words and their meaning. This will take you into most of the quiz. 

Next class is Picture Day! We'll take pictures at the beginning of class. After that, we'll take lunch and finish our day with writing. I hope you enjoyed today. See you on Friday!

24 August - Happy Weekend!

AP Language

A lovely experience today in A132 as we explored tone and its importance for our class. Remember that tone is one of the most meaningful devices because of how connected it is to the author and their feelings. You got a great handout today, the Tone Word Bank. Be sure to keep this and reference it often as you work on analyzing and interpreting tone. We dipped our toes into some practice today related to opening passages and got to some great outcomes related to providing a claim about a text and using evidence to support the claim.

If you haven't yet joined AP Classroom or gotten your notebook, be sure that you do over the weekend! Next class we're going to focus on learning about the rhetorical situation and do a bit of a quiz on tone. Study and review. See the recording and the posted slides in the Materials Folder.

15 March - Hey Wednesday!

English 10

Great day in English 10 today as we completed our Poetry Scavenger Hunt. We looked through the poems we've read so far this year and reflected on our changes in our approach to poetry, our favorites, least favorites, and some extensions on poetry around the world. Keep in mind that this assignment serves as your quiz on poetry, so it's open to be resubmitted if you need to.

Be sure that you've checked in on your SiS. We have two stories left in this unit - Marquez and Valenzuela - and then we'll be moving on to our final projects. We should have everything done by the time we go out on Spring Break. 

8 and 9 February

English 10

Today was a quiz day for us - so it was a pretty simple day. The quiz asked you about all of the things that we've studied so far in this unit including fairy tales, poetry reading, our short story "A Problem" and some of the historical and cultural context we reviewed to open the unit.

After the time for the assessment, there was time available to complete any remaining tasks and begin with your vocabulary for this unit. Remember that you are responsible for ten words each unit we read texts together. You can submit your work electronically or on paper, as long as it's complete - we're good! Remember to give me the text, the word, the definition, and two synonyms.

AP Language

Today was our first full-on library day. Huzzah. You know how to access the databases, how to find resources, and how to outline, so now it's time to do it. As you are working and researching and finding, you should also be revising. Remember, this is a recursive process - it builds on itself. Your outlines are due next week - you have ample time to build this boat, but stay on your grind.

Next class we'll take time for our AP Classroom MCQ and FRQ followed by time in class for researching and outlining. See you then!

Ending the Week - Thursday the 18th of March

AP Language

Today in class we had an assessment and working day. The main goal was to complete our assessment on the Prologue to Chapter Seven in Invisible Man. I look forward to reading your responses and interpretations of elements of the novel so far. Expect the scores to be entered on Monday.

Beyond that, there was time for a poetry exploration and discussion as well as time for conferencing, reading, or vocabulary. Remember that next week your vocabulary cards will be collected and that you will meet the end of the grading period. Any papers to be reviewed need to be resubmitted by the end of the day on the 26th.

Please reach out during Office Hours on Monday with any questions or needs. I'm here to help!

English 10

Today's class was a bit of everything. We engaged with each other in a discussion board on unwritten rules before taking time to read through a bit more of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. We looked at characters, especially the differences between two guards, and thought up some great topics and symbols before some discussions on the book. 

Next week we'll take a break from Solzhenitsyn to write our third SOL essay of the year. The prompt and planner is posted for you to use as you'd like. We'll write the essay in class on Tuesday/Wednesday. The essay will be the last big points of the quarter. Remember that if you're missing something from earlier this quarter, now is the time to turn it in. 

Enjoy the weekend and the beginning of spring. You may want to start reading a bit on your own to keep moving through the novel. Next week I'll start assigning reading on your own.

Ending the Week - Thursday, 10 December

AP Language

Today was time to review the requirements and process for the group argumentative essay as part of the Satire Website project. As a group, you had time to generate an argument (or the beginning of an argument) so that you all know from which perspective and for what purpose to use your text now. Over the weekend, you should take time to work through this and anything else required with your project. I'll be available on Monday to review your work and conference in Office Hours.

Next class is devoted to the websites. You'll have nothing but time in your group to write, edit, revise, and construct. I'll be available throughout class for help. Don't forget that vocabulary cards are due, and the place to submit them is posted.

I'll have quizzes scored and returned to you by the end of the day on Monday. If you want to retake or apply extra credit points, let me know via email.

English 10

Today we took time to do some individual reading and study in Persepolis as well as a brief grammar review. Remember to submit your slide from your reading today - it's a small ten point assignment.

Over the weekend, you should finish your work on your comic book and turn that in. Use the recording on Google Classroom to review how to turn in pictures of your work for this project. If you need help, come see me on Monday during Office Hours. I'm looking forward to seeing your stories!

Wednesday - 9 December - Grey Day

AP Research

We'll meet as a group on Friday for a working day together. This will give me the chance to check-in and conference with each of you so that we can make sure that everything is going in a good direction for submitting proposals and tools. Don't forget that we'll also have a small assessment on Friday related to ethical practices. 

Keep developing your proposal and tools. A quick email or meeting can help save you a lot of time and energy. This is also a good time to check in with your reflection questions and Body of Knowledge - you've got a lot of answers and resources there as well. As always, let me know what you'll need, and I'll do my best to provide it.

AP Language

We got through the activity today! Thank you to the classes yesterday for struggling through it and giving me feedback to make changes for today. Remember that you have a quiz on Friday on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Prepare by reviewing your notes, our slides, and other resources. The quiz will focus on identifications, quotations, and short answer.

Don't lose your project work while this is going on. If you haven't drafted your rhetorical analysis - be sure that you do now. Remember that the goal is to show how the author makes their argument clear to you via the choices they make. Our next step is the group essay, which is very simple. You should be able to complete everything in advance of the due date.

English 10

Good working and thinking today as we began our work in Persepolis, Part 2. We'll keep seeing how Marji responds to her new life in Austria and the new potential she has. We'll finish this part of the book pretty quickly, as you'll see next class.

Ending Week 13 and Looking Ahead...

AP Language

Good day filled with collaboration and support for each other. I was happy to hear that you were able to work together and get goals accomplished. Keep in mind that this weekend is a key weekend for writing. Focus on completing your rhetorical analysis. Keep working with your peers. Remember that I'm available on Monday for help with individual editing and review if you need it.

Outside of finishing the draft of your analysis, be sure that you complete Vocabulary Cards #2 and your reading of Huckleberry Finn. We'll have a quick assessment on Thursday to see your understanding and knowledge of the text.

Keep in mind that we'll have everything due for this unit BEFORE we go out for break. That way the break will really be a break instead of a chance to do work. I've attached a video from today's class to help you with your process.

English 10

Today we took time for our first quiz and then to finish up any loose ends. Next week we'll be focused on finishing our projects and our study of Persepolis. We'll be reading some important chapters in Part Two before we take a look at the film version of Persepolis to compare and contrast the two. I hope that all of you felt prepared for today's quiz. I'll have them graded and returned to you ASAP. Remember that you can cash in rubles to raise your grade, or you can redo the quiz if you'd like to improve that way too. 

Make sure that you have finished the earlier parts of your project and that you are moving into the creation phase of this work. Next week you should be drawing and writing so that you can turn in your stories on Monday, December 14. Keep in mind that you'll turn in a photograph of your page(s). There's also a quick video that you'll post where you explain your work. When you turn it in your story, you'll see the link to record your response. 

Beginning Week 13 - Blue Day

AP Language

If you weren't able to finish the reading of Toni Morrison's piece of literary criticism, I highly suggest that you do. Remember that the main goal is to find ways to open up our own perspective on a piece of literature and see new things to consider. I appreciated seeing your own reflections on her article and what you were able to understand. 

Moving forward to Thursday, your focus should be on your individual analysis. Come to class with a good draft of that on Thursday so that you can work with your group through class to provide feedback and move into the final phase of the assignment.

Next week we'll be finishing TAoHF, so complete the reading of the final chapter set and your second set of cards. As a reminder you can choose words from Tan, Sedaris, Twain, and today's essay from Toni Morrison.

As always, reach out with any questions or concerns.

English 10

I included the link to our class review game on Google Classroom so that you can further review the questions before our quiz on Thursday. On Thursday for the quiz you'll be able to use your book, notes, and study guide from today's review game as you work. I hope that you enjoyed the chance to do something a little bit different today.

Outside of preparing for our quiz, it's a great time to finish any of your work with your project. Start drawing and putting the story together. Remember that you can use no more than two pages, so you might want to focus on the most important part of the moment/story. You'll turn in the project by December 14 by turning in photographs of your work to me. Be sure that any of our planning or earlier work is turned in so that you're ready to move forward.

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 12 March 2020

AP Literature

Today in class we had a day for group work. First we completed our review of Act 3, Scene 4 via a translation into a more modern context. From there, we went into our Sonnet Group Presentations in order to prepare for the final presentations on 3/24 and 3/26. Please be sure that you have downloaded and shared the templates amongst your group. The project is due by 3/23.

Over the weekend, prepare for your assessment on Act II, III, and Sonnets. There are also vocabulary cards due. This also is a great weekend to get ahead on your reading for the Companion Novel Assignment.

Stay safe! Stay sanitized! I'm sorry that our field trip was cancelled, I'll have refunds to you as soon as I can.

AP Research

Today was a day to kick-off Unit 5. This unit's goal is for us to have ample time in class for us to finish the work that we are doing in this classroom. Remember that your paper is the key because the POD is based off of your paper. I hope that our reading of a paper today was helpful for you. The takeaways related to the METHOD/LIT REVIEW/RESULTS and connections between these sections were key. You may find it helpful to reflect on all the papers we've read today as you consider what you need moving forward. If you need another sample paper, please ask and I'll find what I can.


Tonight, complete Reflection 23. This is the end of Week 23. Tonight you should complete writing through to METHOD (perhaps revising based on what we saw today) and start to outline your RESULTS section. We'll be doing some PEER EDITING on the 18th after our next work day. Be ready!

Homework for A Day Students - 11 March 2020

AP Research

Today was a day to kick-off Unit 5. This unit's goal is for us to have ample time in class for us to finish the work that we are doing in this classroom. Remember that your paper is the key because the POD is based off of your paper. I hope that our reading of a paper today was helpful for you. The takeaways related to the METHOD/LIT REVIEW/RESULTS and connections between these sections were key. You may find it helpful to reflect on all the papers we've read today as you consider what you need moving forward. If you need another sample paper, please ask and I'll find what I can.


Tonight, complete Reflection 23. This is the end of Week 23. Tonight you should complete writing through to METHOD (perhaps revising based on what we saw today) and start to outline your RESULTS section. We'll be doing some PEER EDITING on the 17th after tomorrow's work day. Be ready!

Russian I

Today we had a great day learning some new grammar/vocabulary as well as playing with dominoes to see the matches we can make in Russian for agreement. Remember that some of our words can be wild-cards -- they work with any gender and case.

For tonight you should finish your house project floor plan and a rough draft paragraph. You'll turn this in to me on Friday before the quiz so that I can check for completion and mark any errors. We will have our quiz on Friday - it will cover adjectives and their endings. I think that you'll be prepared if you keep studying your charts.


Outside of this, focus on vocabulary. We'll be wrapping up the quarter soon. Be sure to check for any missing work.

Advanced Russian

Today in class we had a day to work with music and find lots of language related to our verbs of motion. I enjoyed seeing a lot of you really listening intently, and finding that you were able to understand a bit of these songs once you focused on the grammar you know. This is a great type of activity to learn how to use language and grammar more conversationally.

Tonight, you should all focus on your projects. You should walk into class with a ROUGH DRAFT of one of your stages of your journey. Use the slides to see the example. Follow the template and remember that you're writing only A and B type sentences for the stages.


Your unit examination is going to fall on the 23rd of March. The projects will be due shortly. I'll have a unit study guide for you soon.

Homework for B Day Students - 10 March 2020

AP Literature

Today in class we had time to review the various ways in which language is manipulated to create meaning in Shakespeare's sonnet as well as in key moments of Act 3. We finished our day by watching the comedy come alive as worked through the Globe Theatre production.

For tonight you should spend time reviewing Act II and III in advance of the assessment on Monday. Remember that vocabulary cards will also be collected. The tenth card can be one of your own choosing. Remember that we have multiple major assignments coming up soon to prepare for including a timed writing, MCQ, and our group presentation. Next class you should be coming in with a clear idea of what your portion of the presentation will be.



AP Research

Today was our final working day for this unit. Hopefully by the end of today you were able to get to the point that you are either done with your POD/PAPER through to the data section. If you don't have this complete, I hope that you have a clear plan by which to complete this.

I will be checking all PREP Documents for you today. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Be sure that you are continuing to work as you can daily to maintain your progress toward your eventual goals.


Our next drafting workshop will occur on March 16. We'll take another look at another sample paper before then. We also have another round of pitches coming up soon! Be ready to keep going through the process!