15 January - Wacky Wednesday

English 11

Welcome to Wacky Wednesday, y'all! Today was a great day because we were collaborating, critically thinking, and communicating a lot about our books and elements of their rhetorical situation today. I really enjoyed seeing you all do your author research, read further into your books, and engage in some analysis of political cartoons. We did some feedback today as well on our recent writing assignments. If you would like to revise your letter, or if you need to complete it, please make an appointment for LT on Wednesday the 22nd. Remember that you have until the 28th to complete any redos or missing assignments.

We took a bit of time for reading before lunch and then kept going through our vocabulary for this list. We'll likely have a vocabulary quiz to open up Quarter 3, so be prepared! For tonight, keep reading so that you can meet your goals. I've posted audiobook versions in our unit folder, and I'm looking for more. Next class we'll be spending more time with our books so that we can start to understand how they do what they do and what narrative elements the authors are choosing to employ. See you on Friday!

24 October - End of the Week

English 11

Not the most exciting day today in English 11 because we had to take an online reading test. I appreciate all of you working hard to show me your skills and abilities. I'll share results with you once I have them and know what they mean. If you weren't able to finish your test today we can set up a time at Lion Time next week or after school. You do need to finish the test by November 8. This is very important.

As you think about the weekend, there are a few options for you. Remember that you can raise your reading grades by the project (first time submission and revision) OR you can do the retake of the reading test. Let me know what I can do for you as you are working in the last part of the quarter. I've also posted the brainstorming assignment to start our research work. Please do not turn this in until we work on it in class next week, but you can start getting some ideas together now if you'd like.

Have the best weekend! Think of me on Sunday morning - I have my race, and I'm trying to go fast!

23 February - Chapter 10 and Explosions!

AP Language and Composition

Such a fun Friday today in AP Language as we got to do some arts and crafts to display our understanding of key passages in Invisible Man. I loved the way that you were all engaged today in the ideas and uncovering the arguments in the text. Keep in mind that this is a fulcrum chapter - it divides the novel in two and serves to really pull together ideas well. Be sure that you're seeing connections and pulling ideas together as we keep going forward. Take some time to use our key passages and your understandings so far to complete your motif tracker for the book - remember that this is a tool to aid your comprehension and your interpretation, not an assignment, but still a great resource. Next week on Thursday, we'll be diving in to Chapter 11 and 12. It's a short bit and provides a bit of a strange look at TIM in the hospital. Read with your symbolism glasses on, it's a wild ride.

The most important thing to complete right now is your research question and argument (at this point). If you don't know your side right now, write two potential arguments. Part of doing the research process is figuring out where you stand. No matter your topic or position, you need a starting point from which to move forward. Lock in, complete the checkpoint, and get ready to move forward. Remember that you have the document AND the discussion board as part of the revision step, there's also the first document on research questions if you need that too.

I'm loving how busy I am at Lion Time with all of you. Remember that you can rewrite this essay or write a new one; if you're satisfied, then in the words of Romeo from Romeo and Juliet, "Be satisfied." As always, keep reading, thinking, writing, communicating, and collaborating. I'm headed to North Carolina this weekend to see some friends and celebrate some good things. I'll look forward to seeing you Tuesday for a research focused day!

21 February - Oratory and Argument

AP Language and Composition

A rollercoaster day in AP Language, but I think we ended on a high and came to some good understandings about finishing out the year. Remember, you need to put in the real work. No more coasting, no more cruise control, it's time to move with purpose and intention. So, let's make that happen. Take the slides, feedback, and thinking to begin to revise your essays from our practice. Don't delete anything. I have some sample papers and other tools that are helpful - let's keep working together to revise and change scores to get to a 1/4/0. The goal is for you to figure out a method to devise an argument so that you can always employ that tool.

We started the day with reading skills and dug into reasoning and organization as well as rhetorical situation. I hope you all saw our connection to the AP Examination and some of the key questions and skills we're asked to demonstrate in our work. Take some time to read Chapter 10 for Friday's class. It's a strange chapter with a lot of symbolism, but I have faith in you. Pay attention to white paint, power, vision, and the connections to the American government. Use the video on Chapter 10 to get a handle on what's happening.

14 February - Happy Valentine's Day!

AP Language and Composition

Today we spent some time with Brent Staples and his article "Just Walk On By: Black Men and the Public Space". I appreciated the connections that you all were making between this text, Ellison, and all the way back to DuBois. I really like the way that Staples acknowledges alternative perspectives, confronts his audience, and crafts a message for them. Consider this as you write your own arguments.

From there, we looked at our Research Questions and refined them through the lens of the problem statement. Remember that you don't need to be looking at a "problem" per se - you could be looking at the problem of not knowing something and its effect on you or society. No matter what, be sure that you are focusing on being specific in your scope and focus. Use today's slides and assignment to refine and then post in the discussion board. Be sure to get and give feedback in the discussion board.

Next class we're headed back to New York and TIM's adventures. We've got more of the city in Chapter 8 and then a few key conversations in Chapter 9. Enjoy your reading! Try to make sense of what you can. Be sure to refer to your motif charts. See you Friday!

12 February - Chapters 5-7: Saying Goodbye to the South

AP Language and Composition

Fantastic day today in AP Language as we leaned into our reading skills and our presentation skills to work through Chapters 5, 6, and 7. In these chapters, we finish up our time in the South and at the College. TIM won't be returning, but the lessons - or lack thereof - will continue to follow him into New York. I really love the fact that so many of us were contributing to our class learning today. Great work with your new approach to Key Passages. Remember to continue to use these tools as you are working through this novel - especially the motif tracker.

Next class we'll be revising research questions and working through Brent Staples's "Just Walk on By: Black Men and the Public Space." It's a short article, so read deeply and carefully. Consider the connection to stereotypes and invisibility. This is a key connection between Ellison and Staples. We'll have our next set of chapters on Friday. Try to get ahead, we have some large chunks coming later. If you haven't submitted your research work, please do so ASAP so that you can fully participate in our lesson on Wednesday.

29 November - Ending Unit 3

AP Language

We crushed it today. My goodness. We had a fantastic seminar on Sullivan's "What Are Homosexuals For?" and considered key connections back to our larger unit on The Great Gatsby. I was glad to hear connections to the idea of fantasy versus reality, truth, identity, and the power of the past and society to dictate a person's actions. Sullivan's piece is one to keep hold of as we move on into our next novel unit. There will continue to be productive connections and conversations to be had.

We ended our day by looking at our last writing assignment and feedback. It is important that you dive in deeper to your analysis of language in your selected passages. Explain small details, show what they mean, and explicitly connect them to other pieces to show how everything builds on the argument. Revising your writing assignment from Chapter 8 is a great way to prepare for Friday's timed writing! Use the sentence frames provided in the slide deck for today's class.

For Friday, have your passage ready. You'll have to copy and paste the passage into your essay document on Schoology. You will have access to the passage as you write your essay. The passage can be one that we looked at before in class - this may be a great support for you! Consider the work we've done with our precis, formative writing assignment, and discussion board as support. Remember that your visual and artistic questions will be due next week on Tuesday.

23 October - Party at Gatsby's!

AP Language

Great times today in AP Language as we experienced our first party at Gatsby's house. I was glad to see the way in which you were able to discern the meaning of key details to see the messages that Fitzgerald is providing about the world and people of the 1920's. Keep paying attention to patterns. Consider what cars and characters are really symbolizing. 

If you've fallen behind, take today as an opportunity to get caught up. Next class we'll be having a day to pull ideas together and focus on skills. No reading is assigned for next class. Focus on revising your What's the Situation projects based on today's feedback session. Remember to focus on purpose and message as you guide your revisions. If you would like to conference, please reach out! As always, I'm here to support you.

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.

12 January

AP Language

Lovely day in AP Language land! We opened up our day with an understanding and teaching/learning lesson on specificity in our research questions/topics. Keep in mind that nothing is good, really, the first time you do it - writing and research questions are especially true of this fact. As you begin your reading and questing toward a research question, keep thinking and revising. The word is recursive. The process builds on itself. 

Check out the lesson progression and mark your calendar. Note that we're working through chunks to build this whole thing. If you miss class, you should see me to review what you miss and complete your tasks. 

The homework is reading. Meet your goals. Get ahead instead of playing catch-up. I will see you after the long weekend in honor of Dr. King.

AP Research

It was a workshop day for us today to get done the work we need to complete. If you're in the process of clearing your revisions from the IRB, be sure that you have shown those by the end of next week. If you're writing, then keep writing and submit your draft as soon as you can for me to review. If you're building presentations, then use some of our earlier recordings to help you set up your slides. Keep moving forward.

Remember that your final grades for this quarter will be your Quarter 2 Reflections (due next week) and your Intro/Lit Review Draft (currently due). The reflections will be scored for quality, the draft will be scored for completion. No feedback will be given on the draft because I can't, ethically. 

Next week we'll start working on Elevator Pitch v2.0. This will likely be a major grade to start Quarter 3 and Unit 4 - Data Collection.

14 December - Lookout for Snow and Ice!

AP Language

Great work focused on Act III. This is the turning point of The Crucible - we're baked in and the conclusion is coming. Notice how ideas come to conclusions and arguments are finalized at the end of this play. The ideas we saw around John Proctor and his connection to another person whose name starts with J is important. We also started to note the idea of tragedy. Consider why this society is tragic and why Proctor is a hero who fails.

For tonight, submit any tasks for Unit 3 and be sure to finish the play. Act IV reads quickly. Focus on who wins, who loses, and how ideas come to a conclusion. I'm excited to finish this and take us into the break.

AP Research

Easy working day in AP Research today. We're writing, we're planning, we're creating! It's important to use this time now before you're inundated with data and responses and the analysis. Remember that if you need anything, please ask. I'll do my best to get you what you need or want. Next class is our holiday celebration. Feel free to bring snacks for the good of the group. You have an assignment due when we return, but it should be pretty much complete now. Submit as soon as you can.

8 December - End of the Week

AP Language

Excellent day in AP Language today as we understood the rhetorical situation for The Crucible and some of the key motivations pushing Miller in the construction of his allegory. Be on the lookout for vocabulary as we are reading. The articles in this unit can get you all ten of your words. Continue to review previous readings if you need to. I hope that watching the film today brought some new understandings to the play.

For tonight, focus on any assignments you need to submit for Unit 3 including reading reflections and vocabulary. In Current Lessons there's a link to a cartoon. Watch the cartoon as you start reading the article I gave you in class "The Allegory of the Cave". You don't have to finish reading the article on your own, but you can if you want.

AP Research

Great day in AP Research. I love days when we get to talk and conference. The IRB had feedback for you all to push you in a good direction moving forward. Consider the edits and feedback you received today this weekend and into next week. I'll need to see your edits for you to clear the IRB. Remember that if you make changes to your research question, then those changes should be seen in other areas, like your survey questions.

Over the weekend, complete your newest PREP question. Check your email for your feedback written out. This is also a great time to be writing and pulling ideas together on your paper. I think that we're all going to be in a great place to get started with participants after Winter Break.

As always, I'm here to support you.

6 December

AP Language

Today's class focused on Acts I and II of The Crucible. This is a quick play with a very tight plot and message, so we'll move through it before break. We focused on the main plot, who's involved, and why that matters in terms of establishing conflicts and topics in the play. Remember that as Miller comments on Puritan society, he's also commenting on 1950's society. The work we'll do next class will help you make those connections.

For tonight, read Miller's article called "Why I Wrote The Crucible" - Understand his exigence, context, and the message he's trying to convey. We'll look at the article in more detail next class. Annotate to mark your thinking. Also, start collecting vocabulary now.

If you have tasks to complete to end Unit 3, turn in your work ASAP. I would like to have your scores finalized before Winter Break begins. As always, come to Lion Time or after-school if you need anything.

AP Research

Easy day today in AP Research as we await the feedback from the IRB. I'm looking forward to presenting your work and helping you gain approval. We'll conference next class to review your feedback and guide any revisions.

What can you be doing right now? Writing your paper. Designing your slides. Preparing for your final assessments. It's important to always use the time that you have to move forward. This is a great time to build your paper in process, save the time you'll need in January and February when you'll be chasing down data.

Friday the 9th of September

AP English Language

Time spent with Thomas Jefferson today as we worked through "The Declaration of Independence" and understood some of the keys to annotating in this class. I enjoyed your attention to our work related to topic, audience, and speaker. Remember that texts will often have several audiences, so speakers will tweak their approaches in order to address a specific audience. We saw this as Jefferson had slightly different arguments to his various audiences - the colonists, the representatives, and the king.

Over the weekend, you should start in on your next set of cards. If you haven't submitted your first set, be sure to do so as soon as you can. Grades will be updated next week. I would also suggest starting one of the three choice articles - Anzaldua, Apess, or Sedaris' "Go Carolina". These are available as PDF's on our course page or in the textbook.

AP Research

A day where we give and get feedback is always a lovely day in AP Research. It gladdens my heart to see you all so engaged with each other and with making each other better. I'm also enjoying seeing the development of your ideas - using your sources and your building Body of Knowledge to develop your ideas are key right now.

Our work today focused on learning how to test our sources for credibility and then getting some work on our research questions. Use the feedback from your peers to revise your research questions. This is so important. Also use the feedback and gaps on your organizer to go back to the databases. Keep building your reading log and source list. Lastly, your new reflection question has been posted for this week - be sure that you add your answer to the running list.

Hey September - Blue Day - 1 September

Happy Labor Day Weekend!! Remember there's no school on Friday and Monday. See you Tuesday and Wednesday!

AP English Language

Today was our day to discuss grading. I hope that you understand that this year you'll be graded in a different way than you have before. Grades reflect learning, and learning changes, so grades will change. Be sure to review the syllabus and the recording below as you work with your parents to complete the syllabus signature form (linked in the PDF). 

Our work in class looked at the FRQ rubrics and sample responses. I hope you found it helpful to understand the final goal of the course in terms of writing. Over the weekend, complete your vocabulary cards. Remember that you can use the texts posted in the Unit 2 folder to find vocabulary words if you haven't found any from the sample exam.

AP Research

Lots of great thinking and working today in AP Research as we understood the importance of the recursive process and revision. Keep using the qualities of a "good" research question as you continue to think and revise. Remember the process with the Disney research question. Keep asking yourself questions like, "Who cares?"; "What do you want to know?"; "How will you measure this?"; "Can you math?"

Over the weekend spend your time with the databases. Keep searching and hunting your rabbits. Remember to track your progress on the Reading Log. Keep revising your research question as you find papers that align with your interests. Keep reading and logging this weekend - next week I'll ask to see a reading log with fifteen sources logged. You also need to complete your second reflection question. See the document in Materials for this and the others as they populate.

4 and 7 February

English 10

Good times today in English 10. We took our class time to finish our work on Anton Chekhov's "A Problem" by reimagining the story in a more modern context - we changed the setting and the parameters, but we kept the story the same. This allows us to really understand the themes and the conflicts in a very real way.

Next class we'll be taking a brief quiz on the first section of Russian literature. Be sure to review your notes, slides, and previous lessons so far in the unit. The quiz will be a mix of multiple choice, true or false, short answer, and matching. This also gives you a great chance to pull your vocabulary together, too! 

AP English Language

Today's class was all about moving forward to our next steps - the outline! First, you have to revise your question. We discussed today in class the importance of reasons. As you do research, you'll probably find more reasons to support your argument, but it's important to have an idea of what you're looking for. Also it's important to define your concepts clearly. What does "effective" mean in the scope of your investigation? Pin down your terms so that your argument is clear.

We'll be back in the library next class to complete revisions and work toward our outlines. Use the rubric posted as you create your outline. 

2 and 3 February

AP Language

Wow! What a day! We did a lot of great work today as we really collaborated to make each other better researchers. We reflected on our questions, found some of their glitches, and then began the process of revision with our cohorts. Now - it's time to put the pedal to the metal and revise!

Your next step is to submit your revised research question (version 2.0). Use the same document, it's returned to you, make a copy and put it in your folder for this assignment. When you have finished your revision and written your argument, resubmit the document at the Step 2 assignment space. 

We'll be in the library next class, and we'll discuss the next steps of the project which involve the source pack and the outline.

English 10

It was a wonderful Wednesday for Anton Chekhov. We read "A Problem" today and discussed characterization, irony, symbols, and themes. I really love this story and the ending, especially. Seeing what Sasha does at the end to Ivan is a great example of an ending that works on a lot of levels. If you enjoyed today's reading, then you'll want to take a look at some of Chekhov's plays - I think they're even better.

Tonight is a great night to pull together vocabulary if you haven't already done so. Between our poems and our story, you can probably find ten words. Next class we'll be doing an activity with today's story and next week we'll have our quiz on the first part of our unit. Be sure that you're reviewing regularly so that you're prepared!

End of Week 28 - Friday the 9th

AP Research

Today was our day to meet very quickly and discuss the sections we're focused on creating right now - the Findings and the Analysis of the Data. Keep in mind that the section guide views this as one section, but we should really see it as two. The majority of our day was spent on Peer Review to give feedback and suggestions for improvement moving forward.

Next week we'll look at the conclusion section of the paper as we end Unit 5. By the end of next week, you should find yourself with a full draft of the Academic Paper. It's a beast coming in at 4000-5000 words. I hope you recognize your achievement here - it's a big deal.

Focus now on editing, revising and finalizing your report. Remember that it is a good time to also begin the construction of your slides. Unit Six will focus on the POD and we will also complete our presentations in the next unit to be scored. Mark your calendars for May 10th. This will be our presentation week. Remember that everything is due to Digital Portfolio by May 20 at 11:59 PM. You may want to access your Digital Portfolio now and review the requirements for submission.

AP Language and English 10

See the post below for your reminders over the weekend. Be focused on the reading of your novels as well as turning in assignments from this week. As a reminder, I'll be in BBCU on Monday from 10-11:15 for Office Hours if you need me.

End of the Week - 8 January

What a week, right? I'm glad that we've made it to the end, and that we've had a successful week of writing, reading, and thinking. Remember that the quarter will be ending soon - there are just a handful of assignments left for us to complete this quarter, so it's a good time to check in on anything missing. Be sure to submit work on Google Classroom - I'll be updating scores and sending progress reports on Monday.

AP Research

Over the weekend be sure to complete your IRB revision and resubmit your documents on Google Classroom. We'll review your work and give any last bits of feedback on Wednesday when we meet as a whole team again. Additionally, I would use time to begin reaching out to potential advisors. Like I said in class, "You never know until you try," so you may want to reach out to some of those professors and researchers. Even if they can't help, they may be able to direct you to someone who can.

We're about to get going into our work to collect and analyze our data - this is when the rubber really meets the road - I'm excited to see what you find! Remember to continue working in your PREP to reflect and document your process.

6 January - Grey Day

Announcements and reminders for English classes are the same as posted below.

AP Research

Today was all about getting organized, checking in, and making sure that we are ready to move forward. Like I said today with the writing and revising guides, today is a good time for us to make sure that we're ready to go forward by ensuring all of our preliminary work is gathered and organized. Be sure to keep working with your PREP as we move forward so that everything you've done and need is readily accessible.

Homework includes finishing Expert Advisor research to prepare for our brief presentations on Friday. Additionally, finish any and all revisions in advance of the IRB's next meeting. There will be a place for you to submit your revised proposal and tools on Friday.