Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 26 October

AP Seminar

From all the work we've done this week I'm excited to see what you all are going to present on Tuesday. Remember to submit your slides by Monday evening to Google Classroom - they'll be marked late after 6:00 PM. Be sure that you are continuing to collaborate and offer assistance this weekend as you make finishing touches to your presentations.

Advanced Russian

Today in class we spent our time looking at our aspectual pairs as well as some of our new vocabulary and grammar through conversation. I was very happy about the work that you all did and the level of engagement in the room. I also noted that many of you found yourselves to be much more comfortable doing this type of work.

As we move forward to Tuesday, continue to work on your research outline as well as your quiz preparation. The quiz will focus on vocabulary as well as grammar for all of you. Be ready by studying your topics. Remember that you can have a notecard for this quiz, but it has to be made by hand. Topics for your quiz are in the slides on Google Classroom.

Russian I

Hopefully given today's class you feel confident with using possessive pronouns in Russian to claim ownership or state ownership of items as well as agreement with gender. Be sure that over the weekend you are studying your Chapter 1 nouns, and reviewing the information in your textbook around pages 38 and 39. All of the information is also in the slides on Google Classroom. If you've missed days or are behind, I would recommend coming in on Monday to prepare and review with me.

At this point all work has been collected for Quarter 1. I'll be grading this weekend. If you have rubles or Falcon Feathers to turn in, come see me on Monday for that!

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 25 October

AP English III

Good work today finishing up our discussion on The Crucible and how some of the big changes in the play are indicative of Miller's overall arguments. I also think that many of you had some great breakthroughs today as you were working with your groups to develop your rhetorical analyses. Let's keep all of this moving forward as we consider the weekend's tasks.

First, continue your reading of Denisovich and be ready for some work on the text on Monday. You should be to the point when the men return to the prison from work. You will want to read the scene that involves the searching of the prisoners as they return. This is an important scene to consider the dehuminization and the injustice that Solzhenitsyn wants his reader to understand.

Second, keep working on your websites! Next week should really be the end of the work so that you are revising and editing in advance of the final due date. We'll present these websites on Thursday, November 8.

Lastly, remember that you have your final quiz on The Crucible on Wednesday. Vocabulary cards (11-15) will be collected no later than Tuesday, November 6.

English IV

We did a lot of good work today in class focused around the secrets that Nora is keeping from her husband. I was also really happy to see a lot of good vocabulary work going on at the end of class as you all investigated new words.

For this weekend, be sure that you go through and answer as many of the Act I questions that you can. We'll go over them on Monday as we prepare for our Act I Quiz. Also, remember we started to talk today about our adaptation for your final project. An adaptation is an update of a play or story for a new audience. As you consider this think about the soundtrack, the setting, the costumes, the movie poster, and how the people would talk. We'll start working on this more next week as we prepare for our final project and move on to the other acts.

Homework for 24 October - B Day Students

Hey everyone! Many of you were absent today due to testing, be sure that you go to Google Classroom to check the slides from today's class. If you have questions, please see me outside of class.

AP Seminar

We're all about the TMPOD for Friday. Continue the great work from today's class. It's also a great idea to go back to the high scored TMPOD that I shared with you as an exemplar of what you need to produce. Friday should be about practicing and finalizing since you should have the whole team together to work.

Advanced Russian

Today in class we reviewed our homework in order to get a better understanding of verbal aspect (Russian II) and of our new pronouns and reflexive language (Russian III). We should continue this work for homework.

Russian II Students - Write five sentences about yourself based on the work we did today. Write in Russian. Be sure that you have a sentence for each of our tenses and aspects - Imperfective Past, Present, and Future as well as Perfective Past and Future.

Russian III Students - Complete your exercises. Translate to the best of your ability. If you don't know, ask in advance.

Additionally we began to outline our research papers. Continue to work on these as we'll be quickly moving through the process of doing this work in Russian. Remember that the final paper is only about three pages, double spaced, so you can't actually write too much. Also remember that you're writing in Russian, so your language is going to be a lot simpler.

Russian I

Today in class we fully reviewed the concept of asking WHOSE and answering IT'S MY/HIS/HER/THEIR/OUR. This was the goal of our speaking and of our exercises number eleven and twelve. For tonight, you have two major tasks to finalize this work.

1. Find ten items in your house and claim ownership of them in Russian. Say who owns it. Use your vocabulary and grammar notes. 
2. Next week you'll have a spelling test on your new vocabulary words from Chapter 1. Be sure that you are studying these words to prepare.

Russian Students - Remember that test corrections are due on Friday so that I can score them this weekend.

Check us out!

Look how wonderful we all look at the Forest Theatre at UNC Chapel Hill.

Homework for A-Day Classes: 23 October 2018

AP English III

I'm going to go over your tasks for next class and the week ahead in order of priority. Be sure to complete all of these tasks as we prepare for the end of the quarter.

1. Resubmit your essay if you need to. All that I need is the new draft and the old draft. I'll rescore and change your scores in PowerSchool this weekend.
2. Read and annotate Act IV of The Crucible as you finish reading, consider what Miller's overall themes and arguments are. Look back over your topics and motifs and consider how some of these ideas interact with each other in order to create meaning.
3. Are you seeing any parallels to Skeleton Crew? I think it's important to draw connections here as we move forward in to our later texts and unit.
4. Have you done your close reading of your selected text and seen the social commentary? Be sure that you have uploaded your annotations and analysis to your websites. If you're having issues with uploading content, I'll be able to help you on Thursday during our workshop.

Be aware that the website projects will be presented on or around November 8th. It's important that you begin to finish your work here so that you can edit and perfect your final product.

English IV

We'll be finishing up with Act I of A Doll's House very soon. Likely next class. I'm very proud of the work that all of you did today with your essays. I'll have them scored over the weekend for you all. Tonight, you should begin to work on your study guide for Act I. Can you answer these questions? Try to answer all that you can based on what we've seen and read so far. This is a good look at the type of questions that I will have you answer on your Act I quiz.

Homework for B-Day Classes: 22 October 2018

AP Seminar

This week we will be moving toward our TMPOD, so all work outside of class should be devoted toward that goal. Hopefully by this point your group knows your question or problem and the answer or solution that you are trying to sell. Now it's time to sell it.

Be sure that you are relating back to the research that you have already done. As I said today in class, many of you have looked at what's been done already - perhaps the best way to move forward is to discuss that as you begin to propose your own idea.

Next class and Friday we'll be working on these through class. Be sure that you've shared your Annotated Bibliography and highlighted where your teammates should focus on Wednesday and Friday. Also remember that you have all of your Oral Defense questions - it would be a good idea to begin to prepare those now.

Presentations will be done and scored on Tuesday. Then, Tuesday afternoon, I'll submit your final grades for this process. Remember that the TMPOD is the other half of the grade with the AB.

Advanced Russian

Today's class was a good one, though some of you should invest in more sleep or more coffee (or both) before coming to class. We are now working on a split unit - Russian II is focused on Unit 5 and Russian III is focused on Unit 8. Be aware of this as we move on.

Tonight, Russian II's are focused on showing they know the difference between perfective and imperfective aspect. Write about your day in English - use about 10 sentences. Then, go through and identify the verbs. Would the verb be done in perfective or imperfective if translating to Russian? Why? Consider the discussion today and the notes we took.

Russian III students are focused on learning declensions for new vocabulary. Your exercises are 8.6 and 8.19. Be sure to fill in the blank, check for agreement, and to translate what you have.

As well, you should all be developing your team outline - IN ENGLISH. We'll hopefully have some time devoted to this later in the week.

Russian I

Today in class we went full force into Unit 1 by learning the different words to talk about ownership. There are two ways that we can do this in Russian that you know right now. One is through the preposition У and the other is by using a possessive pronoun. Remember that the possessive pronoun agrees with the item owned, and not the owner.

Use the slides in Google Classroom if your notes are lacking. Remember that you also have all week to resubmit your alphabet examination if you need to. Tonight, there are a few things for you to do. First, keep studying your vocabulary words for Unit 1 in advance of our spelling quiz next week. Second, complete the exercises on page 56 - number 11 and 12. Read the sentence and fill in the blank using the words that we have learned today.

Homework for the Weekend - 19 October 2018

English IV

Be sure that over the weekend you take a look at your scores on PowerSchool on the most recent assignment - if you have an A on the assignment then you are ready to move on to your final drafts. If you have anything less, then you are missing big pieces of your "This I Believe" Paper and need to finish those ideas.

We'll try to finalize these papers next week so that we have our big final grades in before the end of the quarter.

AP English III

Today was a crazy day since we didn't have a lot of time. Hopefully the slides on Google Classroom will help make sense of what we've done. Here are your reminders about what to consider over the weekend:

1. Act III will be discussed on Tuesday. Remember that this is a great section for you to consider around social commentary - look at power and the justice system in Act III. There's a lot of commentary to consider.
2. Essay revisions are important! A lot of you made a lot of great strides today and I think that you understand what you have to do a lot better now than you did before. Keep pushing, keep collaborating, and keep asking for feedback. Remember that final revisions are due on Thursday. You must turn in your first essay with your new one.
3. You should also be working on a draft of your rhetorical analysis for your projects. With the work we did last class you know how to organize and set up your approach to the essay. Look over your text and focus on how the author is making the point to you. Explain that as you explain elements of the text.

Homework for B-Day Students - Substitute Day - 18 October

Hey Everyone! No negative reports from the substitute today and the room was left in pretty good shape. Thanks for that. Here are your reminders going into the weekend.

AP Seminar

Monday and Wednesday are going to be focused around preparation for the TMPOD. Moving from your individual research and collaborating in order to develop and present your solution and explanation of that solution. These presentations will be on Friday.

If you did not submit your AB today in class, then please be sure to do that tonight. I extended the deadline to 11:59 PM tonight. I want to review these over the weekend, so it's very important that it is submitted ASAP. Remember that this is half of your final assessment score - the other half is the TMPOD.

Advanced Russian

We are beginning new units and continuing to focus on our skills related to research. Over the weekend you should stay focused on the new vocabulary in your chapters. Chapter 5 will focus more on verbs, you may find it helpful and useful to stay focused on the verbs and look at how they are paired together. Notice the use of prefixes to put the pair together. You should also share your outline with me via Google Drive. We'll keep working on these through the next few weeks.

Russian I

Today we focused on vocabulary and a film focused on modern Russia - geography and culture. We'll continue this film next class. For the weekend, focus on your new vocabulary in Chapter One and keep learning your words! Remember that next week we'll have retakes of the alphabet exam.

Homework for A-Day Students: 17 October

Remember tomorrow is our field trip day to UNC Chapel Hill to see Skeleton Crew. Be sure that you are behind the school no later than 9:15 to board the buses that will take us over to UNC. All that you will need is yourself and some money for lunch while we are on the trip. You'll be back at school for the last part of fourth period.

AP English III

We all received our essays today as well as feedback on how to improve them as we begin the writing process. I think that the main takeaway from today's lesson is that this is a different type of English class than what you've had before, so it's important that you work differently for this class. Please be sure that you are using me, Ms. Coco, and your peers as resources as you are revising your essays. Final revisions will need to be submitted no later than October 25th in order to be graded.

Additionally, we have our first Denisovich day on Friday. Be sure that you've read to the work site. The guys have had lunch and they're working out in the cold. We're going to focus on the characters, the plot, and the elements of social commentary running through the text - I think that this will be very helpful as we approach our projects. I expect that you all have a lot of questions about Russia and what you're seeing in the text, so generate those for me.

We also have Zinn for Friday. Be sure that you've read and annotated that excerpt - pay attention to the appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos in the text.

English IV

Today we started to delve deeper into the complications of the Helmer family, and we met Mrs. Linde - Nora's friend. Next class we'll get to the film version of A Doll's House and probably spend more time looking at some vocabulary as well. Be ready for tomorrow and for the end of the week!

Homework for B-Day Students: 16 October

Remember everyone that I will not be with you on Thursday since I am taking my A-Day classes to UNC Chapel Hill to see a play. Follow the instructions of the substitute and have a productive day.

AP Seminar

Today I think that all of the groups had a great breakthrough because you all started to formalize your question. This is going to be super important moving forward as it's going to help you to ground your work for your TMPOD. Tonight, continue developing your Annotated Bibliography. These are due to Google Classroom by the end of class on Thursday.

You've got the full class period on Thursday in the media center - be productive!

Advanced Russian

Tonight for homework you should do your Chapter Preview for Chapter 5 (Russian II) or Chapter 8 (Russian III). I found more textbooks with Chapter Eight in it, but there is also the scan of Chapter 8 which is uploaded to our Google Classroom page. I've also got a link to that information here. You'll have to tweak the settings since it copied upside down.

Russian I

You all will continue to work with Chapter 1 next class as you review your vocabulary and the content in the chapter more thoroughly. If you didn't feel prepared for the alphabet exam, spend your time studying over the weekend so that we are able to reassess before the end of the quarter.

Homework for A-Day Classes

Phew - It sure is good to be getting back to normal. Here are the announcements for today. Be aware of what's going on and prepare for what we have ahead!

AP English III

Ms. Coco and I ended up changing the homework ever so slightly for you since it makes more sense for us to change things. The reading of Oluadah Equiano's "Narrative" will not be done until later in this unit, we'll be using it more as a bridge piece to Beloved instead.

For Wednesday, prepare for your quiz on Acts I and II of The Crucible. Remember that the multiple choice section will be open book, but the quotation identifications and the short answer will be closed book. You'll also be getting back your essays and timed writings on Wednesday as we discuss revisions and the process moving forward.

Thursday is our field trip - dress for the theatre. No athletic attire will be accepted as attire appropriate for the theatre. Jeans are acceptable. Shorts are acceptable. But please, no athletic shorts.

Friday we'll be discussing the first half of Denisovich. Focus on your characters and the front cover annotations. Remember that these characters are not actual people but more the amalgamation of many people that Solzhenitsyn was in a prison camp for many years and that these people are based on whom he met while he was there. We'll also be discussing Zinn on Friday.

Lastly, keep working on your group project. By the end of this week you should have thoroughly analyzed your chosen text for its social commentary and the way that it makes that commentary clear to you.

English IV

Over the long weekend I had a chance to look at your rough drafts online. Some of you have really complete drafts and you've settled up your "This I Believe" essay. In this case you received either twenty or nineteen points. Others of you need to keep writing, probably because you weren't here for all of the days at the beginning of the unit. If this is the case then you have fifteen or sixteen points.

If you need to spend time revising or finishing, please do so. We'll be submitting final drafts soon to finish Quarter 1 - be aware of this deadline!

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 10 October

DPS will be closed tomorrow - Thursday - for staff and students with the approach of the hurricane from the south. This means that our next B day will be on Monday.

Russian I

You all now have an extra few days to study for your alphabet examination. As a review of your study guide, be sure that you can:

• pair letters with their sounds in Russian
• recognize printed and handwritten letters
• understand basic rules for formality in greetings, farewells, and names
• put a Russian name in the proper order (first, middle, last)
• identify key elements of Russian geography

This is a unit examination, so everything that we have done all quarter could be on this test. Study and prepare yourselves. Remember that all of our important slides and handouts are located in Google Classroom.

Advanced Russian

The storm coming in also is a bit of a relief for some of you as it gives you extra time to complete any of your reassessments or redos of old work. For the test on Monday you'll be asked to show that you can conjugate a variety of verbs in both past and non-past. You'll be asked to identify stems and show an understanding of what these stems do to verbs.

There will also be information related to prepositional, accusative, and nominative case on this exam since these are the cases that we have been using the most often so far.

Remember that you have your replacement assignment for Quiz 1 and you can redo Quiz 2 and earn back partial credit. Please be sure to reach out if you need additional help as you are preparing for your exam on Unit 4.

AP Seminar

I would direct all of you to the slides and to your TMPOD groups if you were not in class today. We spent the majority of our time working on our Annotated Bibliographies and consulting in teams about how the IRR work is helping us to better clarify and define our topics. With us not having school tomorrow we will see each other again on Monday. Be sure that you watch the high level TMPOD (video in Google Classroom) and that you have worked through approximately SIX sources for your annotated bibliography.

Homework for A Day Students - 9 October 2018

English IV

Today we all submitted rough drafts of our "This I Believe" Essays. Some of you were even able to work together in some small groups to edit and receive feedback on your essays before I collected them. Next week you'll get your drafts back and we'll move forward to presenting our essays and getting our final drafts together.

In the second part of class we began reading A Doll's House to connect to our research from last class and to kick off our new unit. As we are reading the play, make connections to the world around us and to your own lives - Do you think that things are fair between women and men? Why or why not?

For tonight's homework, engage in some interviewing. Talk to at least three different people and ask them what they think are the rules for men or women in relationships. Record their ideas. Next class we'll have a bit of a debate around these ideas before reading more of the play.

AP English III

Today you all did your first timed writing! Hooray! You'll get these back on Monday next week with your essays so that we can compare and contrast skills between the full length process essay and the quicker timed writing argument. Looking at both gives us a good idea of where our writing skills are.

Tonight you should put in some time moving forward on your work for The Crucible, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and your group projects.

• Be sure that you've thoroughly read and annotated Act II. We'll be discussing it on Thursday. We've looked at a lot of texts related to women and their roles in Puritan society. You will find it helpful to consider these texts as you look at Elizabeth Proctor.
• You should have determined your personal focus text for your group project by now. You should be annotating and analyzing with an eye toward social commentary. What is the comment that text is making about society? Which part of society? How is the commentary communicated?
• In terms of One Day, you should be at the worksite. We'll be discussing up to page 49/50 in the purple books on Wednesday's class next week. Again, keep an eye toward social commentary and don't forget all the work we did last week with Soviet Society.

The last day to turn in permission slips is Thursday. I must turn them in for audit, so Thursday really is the last day!

Homework for Wednesday - 8 October - B Day

AP Seminar

Hopefully after today's conversation related to dinner parties, similarities and differences, and points of view or perspectives, you have a bit more of an idea of what to do. Be sure to check the slides in Google Classroom if you need to.

As we move through the week, your task is to construct your annotated bibliography for your IRR. Remember to use the planning document and arrange your work around the rows of the rubric for the IRR. Your draft of the AB is due to me at the end of class on Friday. I'll go over the rubric with you on Wednesday for this.

Advanced Russian

Given what I am seeing from some of these quizzes it looks like many of you have a better idea of what you are doing and some of you still are struggling. Again, this is the last week to reach out for help and to make real improvements in what you are doing and in what you are able to do. Be sure that you are ready for the examination on Friday.

As you prepare be sure that you have settled any missing assignments or assignments with low grades. Be sure that you have learned your stems, your conjugation rules, and your cases that we have focused on in this unit. If you are still having problems, you know where I am.

Russian I

Today's class really was our final day of new information related to the unit examination. On Friday you'll have an exam that will cover the alphabet, sounds of the Russian language, greetings/introductions/farewells, information related to gender, and vocabulary. There may also be some questions related to our Russian city presentations as well as the cultural knowledge related to names and formality. We've gone over everything - be sure that you are ready.

If you need to, check out Google Classroom and Duolingo as a way to study and prepare.

Homework for the Weekend - A Day - 5 October 2018

AP English III

Due to the fact that so many in 1A had to go to do PSAT pre-registration and coding it is very important that you all access our Google Classroom slides to see what was covered in your absence. You'll also want to go to see that your group website has been created and shared. Knowing that, the homework will begin to make sense. This weekend, make sure that you have:

1. Navigate to the team website in order to access your page. You'll also want to take a look at the instructions page and rubric (via Google Classroom). Now that we have discussed rhetorical analysis you have an idea of what you need to do. The individual aspect of the project should be done first - it contributes to the group task.
2. Select your text for the project - remember that you can pick an excerpt from our main unit texts, an image, another text, or a video. Begin the process of analysis and annotation.
3. Continue reading. We'll be discussing Act II on Thursday. Our first day to discuss Denisovich is Wednesday the 17th. You should have the first half read by then.
4. Prepare for your first timed writing! It'll be on Tuesday, and it'll be an argumentative prompt. Review your notes and skills around argumentative writing in order to prepare!

English IV

We'll be returning to the computer lab on Tuesday to finish and print our rough drafts. Some of you returned today after an extended absence - it's great to have you back. Be sure that you are trying hard to get caught up for lost time. It would be a good idea to make sure that your written rough draft is finished over the weekend so that you can type on Tuesday.

Homework for the Weekend - 4 October - B Day

AP Seminar

So, we're starting on the major task, huh. I'll have your template for your IRR outline posted in Google Classroom. Be sure to take a look at that. For the weekend, it's time to devote ourselves to our task. Remember a few very important things:

• as you work on your IRR you are also working on your TMPOD - these processes are related to each other
• work with each other and collaborate
• keep finding sources
• you may continue to revise your TMPOD as well

Begin to work in your lens and perspective to your group's issue/problem in education. What solutions are out there? What information exists? What are your thoughts?

Russian II/III

Next Friday is our unit examination, and that means that everything needs to be in by Friday to be scored. Today we worked through finding verbs in Bunin's story "Dark Avenues" - remember that if you are doing the replacement assignment for the quiz, you'll want to do what we did today in class.

I was very happy to see how well you found verbs and were able to work with them. This is a key skill, keep improving. Working with this skill will help prepare you for the miniquiz on Monday on verbs and conjugation.

Additionally you have your research to continue with. Now we know how to navigate databases and how to find Russian sources. Get information together - we'll start planning responses next week!

Lastly, there's some practice for cases - accusative and prepositional - work through the exercises at your leisure for practice. Submitting these is a great way to earn some extra points on your TPRS scores.

Russian I

We've also got a big exam coming next week on the alphabet, formality, and Russian geography. You'll need to know your vocabulary (greetings/introductions/farewells and cognates) as well as your alphabet sounds, and your rules around speaking formally in Russian.

You should make sure that any missing work is turned in by Friday. You should also be practicing and reviewing the work that I've returned to you so that you can increase your scores by reassessing or by submitting rubles for extra credit!

Homework for A-Day - 3 October 2018

AP English III

Today we did a lot! We got through Act I of The Crucible, we set up our annotations for the text on our covers, and we started to work through the final project in this unit. I've put the contract, link to the instructions, and the slides from today's class in the Google Classroom page. Take a look.

For tonight, you need to focus on your vocabulary and your reading. First, vocabulary. Complete your next set of FIVE vocabulary cards and turn them in! Be sure that you apply your feedback from the last round to these. Your words should come from Miller, Edwards, Solzhenitsyn, or any other documents we have given you.

Next, reading. We'll be looking at Act II on Thursday the 11th. And you should be at the point in Denisovich where he is going out to work from the camp.

The main reading for next class is Mary Rowlandson's "Narrative of the Captivity". As you read, remember that you are looking at a primary source. Consider how Rowlandson views herself as a woman, her views of the Native Americans she is with, and how this text reinforces what we already know about Puritan society. Always remember the RHETORICAL TRIANGLE as you read - she has a very specific audience in mind.

English IV

We are really working intensely on our "This I Believe" essays and you're getting consistent feedback. Be sure that you are reflecting on your feedback and applying our lessons in grammar and writing in order to make your draft stronger. By the end of next class, most everyone should have a complete draft!

DON'T FORGET YOUR PERMISSION SLIPS!

Homework for B-Day - 2 October 2018

Russian I

Today we had some time to play with our new vocabulary and to review some of our basics around reading and writing. All of this is getting us ready for what is to come. Next week on Friday you'll have your overall alphabet examination. It's important to start preparing now. Focus on learning all of your vocabulary. Today in class we made flash cards, if that works for you, then make cards for your other words too.

I've also given you your progress reports and your graded work. You can either redo work in order to correct your points, or you can use rubles to improve your scores. Whatever you do, be sure that your score is reflective of your abilities in Russian.

If you need any additional help, please seek it out. Be sure to check Google Classroom for assignments you may have missed. Next class we'll have more presentations, be ready if you didn't go today!

Advanced Russian

Thanks for being with me for that surprise today! We have been spending a lot of time in class going over our tenses in Russian as well as the use of nominative, accusative, and prepositional case. For tonight, you should focus on finishing your reassessment. Remember that you can either make corrections to your quiz, or you can complete the replacement activity.

For the replacement activity you need to find a text (poem, song, article) in Russian and then do an analysis of that text. Find all of the verbs (at least fifteen) and determine the stem, tense, and infinitive of that verb. Turn in your analysis and your original text.

Lastly, you have determined your research topics as a team now. It's time to start the research. Take a look at what you've created, and start to consolidate your source material. I would suggest sharing a Google Doc amongst your team and dumping helpful articles.

AP Seminar

You all have a lot of videos to watch. As you watch, you may want to consider the idea of a powerful presentation as we are really focused on presentation skills in this part of the unit. Start off by watching the required video and write a brief reflection on the ideas he presents. You can choose to agree or disagree, or you can perhaps further clarify what he means with further information.

Then, move on to the choice videos. You have Option 1, Option 2, and Option 3. As you are viewing this text, perform a RAVEN analysis of the text and determine its credibility. Next class we'll really be delving deep into the TMPOD, so a lot of thinking about presenting is key.

Homework for Monday - 1 October

We're on to October which means that the quarter will end at the end of the month! Keep staying focused and prepared as we move forward!

AP English III

Thank you to those of you who submitted your papers today on time. If you are submitting it late, please have it in to us ASAP as we should have them back to you all next week. You also received progress reports today. If you would like to use your rubles for extra credit, please do so. Come outside of class (A lunch, before or after school) with your rubles and progress report.

Extra point on classwork will cost 25 rubles. Extra point on major work will cost 50 rubles. There is a maximum of five points that you can put on any one assignment.

For tonight, you have a few things to settle -

1. Be sure that you have read and annotated Act I of The Crucible for next class. As you are reading, add to your cover annotations. Be sure that you are connecting the text to the larger background and context that we have been discussing in class.
2. Your next set of vocabulary cards will be due on Friday. This will be cards 6-10.
3. In One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich you should have read the scene at breakfast and in the infirmary.
4. We'll be starting a group project soon around social commentary - consider what you think are some appropriate ways of commenting on society's flaws.

Be ready with your reading everyone! You never know when the coin toss won't be in your favor!

English IV

Today we began class by looking at gender roles and gender expectations from an excerpt of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. The next unit is focused on gender roles and expectations, so it's a bit of a jumping off point for us. Then we went to the lab to begin typing our rough drafts of our "This I Believe" Essays. We will continue to work on these through the week. Be sure that you are keeping your belief at the core of the essay. How did you learn this? Why is it important? Where and when did you learn it?

Remember that with personal writing you really want to tell a story - so tell us a story, and describe it all!

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 28 September

AP Seminar

For the weekend be sure that you are using RAVEN and your question development sheet to continue generating your research topics around education. You should complete the form this weekend and find additional resources that you could use in your IRR/TMPOD.

Remember that the main goal here is to be able to get immediately started with your team. By coming together with more refined ideas and topics, you'll be able to move into the work around the TMPOD/IRR a lot more quickly than if you just stated with "Issues in Education".

Advanced Russian

Over the weekend everyone we should all be focused on refining the research question in our teams. I'm planning to give you all some time on Tuesday to meet as a team and decide on your final question moving forward. I think that you did some great work today to consolidate your ideas - be sure that you keep refining the question through your use of research.

Russian II and III students should focus on their resubmissions for the weekend as well. You can make corrections to your quiz, or you can complete the replacement assignment on pages 174-175 in Chapter Four. For the replacement you will read the article and find no less than fifteen verbs. Then, analyze the verbs in the way we did today: determine the stem, the infinitive, and the tense.

I would also spend time with the nominative, accusative, and prepositional cases as they are the main focus for now.

Russian I

Over the weekend you should all be focused on finishing your study of the alphabet, learning your phrases around saying hello and goodbye, and your cognate vocabulary. The vocabulary learning was definitely one of the weakest places of the quiz - so hopefully next week we'll show a higher level of success so that you are able to gather some of your points back.

Remember as well that progress reports will go out on Tuesday. Everything's been updated in the gradebook - so if it's missing, be sure that it gets in to me.

Also, we will start project presentations on Tuesday. Have your project finished before that point!

Homework for the Weekend - A Day Students - 27 September

With that our lovely September has come to a close, be aware that we are now in the second half of Quarter One, and it will end at the end of October.

English IV 

Today we did a lot of good work in class including our first major unit test and then drafting for our "This I Believe" essays. I think that many of you have a good idea of what you'll be doing for these essays now - remember that we're investigating a belief that is important and explaining what it means and where we got the belief from.

Over the weekend, keep thinking about your belief. Next week we'll be writing in the computer lab for these writing assignments.

AP English III

Today in class we began our discussion of The Crucible and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by discussing allegory, 1950's America, McCarthyism, and Soviet Labor Camps. Quite the mix of ideas. We also finished working through our sample argumentative prompt, so our first timed writing will be coming soon!

For the weekend, there are a few things to accomplish.

1. Assemble your draft pack in your envelope. Be sure that you have your outlines, rough draft from peer editing, and final draft with cover sheet and rubric.
2. Begin reading and annotating The Crucible. I have copies in my room that you can check out. Remember that you should have Act I read by Wednesday.
3. Read and annotate "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry G-d" for class on Monday. From it, understand how Puritans conceptualized G-d. By knowing this, you'll really understand how they viewed the whole world.

As always, if you have questions, let me know!

Homework for B Day Students - 26 September

AP Seminar

Tonight we are moving forward into our first theme based unit by developing questions around the topic of education. Take the work that we did today in class around topic development and go further. Take at least four lenses and develop questions related to these lenses.

Once you've worked out a question that you like - move forward into the development via research. Be sure to find an adequate source and use that to further refine your question/idea using the second graphic organizer. On Friday you'll be meeting as a team, so it's important to have this work done in order to meet your goals as a group on Friday.

Advanced Russian

We didn't get as far as I would have liked today - but we did get a lot of good speaking and listening done, so that worked out well for us. First, to go further from the speaking and listening today, spend time writing a paragraph in Russian that deals with your plans for the weekend. What are you planning to do this weekend? With whom? Where? Everything we did today while talking is great to set you up for this. You should write anywhere from five to ten sentences.

Next, collaborate with your team. Share a Google Document among your teammates and with me - dump all of your ideas as a team into this document. On Friday you'll meet and determine your topic.

Lastly, if you are working to correct your quiz to earn back points - do so. If you feel as though you really don't understand the One Stem Verb System, then I would complete an exercise. The exercise is on Pages 174-175. There is an article and a list of vocabulary words. Not all stems are there, and some are repeated: your job is to read the article and find your verbs. Organize them around stems - notice how they are used and conjugated in the text. Like Pokemon, gotta catch 'em all!

You'll want to turn in your resubmission work by the beginning of next week!

Russian I

Today we had our quiz on the alphabet as well as some time to work on our Russian city research projects. Next class will be the last day to work on our research before we present next week. For tonight, there are a few things that you should settle:

1. We're coming to the end of this first unit so all work is due. Make sure that you've done your handwriting packet, your name and paragraph about yourself, and any other assignments in PowerSchool. Missing assignments will be marked as a zero on Friday.
2. I'll have your quizzes graded for you next week. You'll be able to make corrections - remember that we'll have an exam on this same information, so it's important to learn all of these letters and sounds.
3. Focus on learning your new vocabulary - the greetings, introductions, and farewells. We'll be working with these words next class as we begin some speaking.

I think that's really it! Stay on your grind everyone - keep moving forward!

Homework for A Day - 25 September

Today we had a big assessment in AP English III and the preparation for one in English IV. Let's be ready for what awaits us as we march forward to next class.

AP English III

For tonight you have two texts to read from our two key authors - Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Arthur Miller - these are texts where the authors explore their reasons for writing. Read these texts carefully and consider their purpose for writing. Why do they write? What challenges are they overcoming? What do you understand about these men?

An understanding of these texts and these questions will help us to understand some of the larger context behind their works - a discussion we'll be having on Thursday.

Don't forget to prepare for the unit ahead by looking over the unit outline, purchasing or finding your texts, and sketching out your reading schedule so that you have accomplished your reading in advance of class.

English IV

Today we reviewed our grammar, vocabulary, and the story's we have read so far this unit ("Heartbeat," "I Go Along," and "Theme for English B"). Remember to look over the guided notes from today's class to help you study for the assessment on Thursday.

We also began brainstorming for your personal "This I Believe" statements. I saw some wonderful starts and cannot wait to see what you all come up with! If you are still thinking of a topic, look back to the identity wheel's we've been filling out in class as well as the graphic organizers from today to get you started. We'll be working on these throughout the next two weeks.

Good luck studying for your assessment, let us know if you have any questions.

Homework for B-Day Classes: 24 September

AP Seminar

My general policy is that if we have an assessment, the only person with homework is me - and we'll keep that policy in place for today. I would ask that you review the Unit 2 Plan and consider issues or problems related to education. We'll begin in earnest next class as we review our tasks for this unit and get to work.

Remember that all summer work needs to be submitted this week if it is still not accounted for.

Advanced Russian

Please remember that when I give you homework or ask you to make things it is not to waste your time or give you busy work; it's to help you. Hopefully tonight many of you will go through and make those verb cards. If so, show them to me for some partial credit.

Tonight you have two things to accomplish for class on Wednesday. First, as it relates to the Learning Through Languages Symposium - brainstorm topics of interest related to our different areas of the world. I'll place you in teams next class, and you'll have the goal of determining your focus as a group. Be ready to contribute. Here is the link to the sample questions and topics and more information on the competition.

The second assignment is to complete some writing for me as a bridge to speaking next class. Select a few key verbs of different stems and work with them through all tenses (past, present, and future). Show that you can conjugate and show that you can work with nominative, accusative, and prepositional cases. We'll be speaking next class - so your work with this will help you to achieve great things in terms of our work on Wednesday.

Russian I

Thanks for your great work today with writing your names and getting started with your Russian cities project. We'll keep working on these city projects through the week and present them next week. For tonight, your main goal is to prepare for your quiz next class on the alphabet. You need to know all thirty-three letters and the sounds that these letters make. We'll have listening, writing, and reading on the quiz.

If you're missing any work (viewing guide, paragraph, or handwriting packet) have that turned in next class!

Homework for A-Day Classes - Weekend Edition - 21 September

AP English III

Next week we have a busy week since we have things being turned in as well as our first unit assessment. Let's talk about Tuesday's assessment and then the work due on Thursday.

On Tuesday you'll have your assessment on the texts that we have read so far this year. The authors will be Eudora Welty's "Listening", Stephanie Ericsson's "The Ways We Lie", and Joan Didion's "On Keeping a Notebook". There will be two questions on Capote's In Cold Blood. In order to prepare for this I would recommend:

1. Reviewing your notes related to the texts.
2. Going over any terms related to rhetoric and argumentation.
3. Check over your annotations.

Remember that if you want to resubmit your annotation check, you will have to bring your book with you.

On Thursday, we'll be collecting final drafts of your nature/nurture essays. In your draft packet you'll be putting your final draft with rubric, your rough draft with feedback, and your outlines. Also, we'll collect question resubmissions on Thursday.

Lastly, we'll be starting our next unit soon. You'll want Arthur Miller's The Crucible and Alexander Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. We'll be focusing on social commentary and rhetorical analysis. Be sure that you have these books by the beginning of October as we'll start reading then.

English IV

Don't forget that you also have an assessment next week as well. We've read two stories so far "Heartbeat" and "I Go Along" as well as focused on grammar and vocabulary. We'll get you ready for this on Tuesday, but be sure that you're reviewing what we've learned so far so that there are no surprises.

Homework for B-Day Students: 20 September 2018

See you all next week! Remember that there are major assessments coming for all of you next week - be ready by following the guidelines below.

AP Seminar

We will have our first Unit Examination on Monday. Remember that this will cover Freakonomics through fifty multiple choice questions and the EOC Task A. You'll have all 90 minutes to complete the assessment. Remember that you will be timed.

In order to prepare I would do the following:

• review your annotations and summer questions on Freakonomics (remember that if you added the class late/didn't turn in your summer assignment on day one then it is due on Monday)
• review our key terms for class, especially - Line of Reasoning, Claim, Evidence, Argument
• review our notes from Unit 1
• go over the sample responses from today's class and the prompt for EOC Task A

I think that many of you will do very well on this assessment. If you need help, please ask!

Advanced Russian

You all also have an assessment on Monday - it will cover the One Stem Verb System in Russian for some of the most productive stems. I've uploaded the review sheet into your classroom on Google Classroom. You should be prepared to:

• show a knowledge of how stems indicate important information about verbs
• show how to read a conjugated verb in order to determine its stem
• apply knowledge of stems to give a most likely conjugation of new verbs
• show an understanding of Structural Transcription as it applies to stems

I would highly recommend working through the rest of your verb cards if you already have not, and you should complete Exercise 8Г on your own or with a colleague in order to review all of these skills together.

Russian I

We will take our first quiz on the alphabet on Wednesday. I would like to spend more time on Monday with another activity as well as with some cultural work which will help you to finish learning your sounds and shapes. Over the weekend, take time to finish your handwriting packets. This is the most important task. The handwriting packet is worth 100 points - so it is a large amount of work to complete. Be sure that you have finished learning your sounds and shapes - like I said in class, there are tons of online resources to help you with this.

Lastly, if you see anything missing in your gradebook - be sure to have it ready for me by the end of next week. Some of you need to turn in a paragraph on the film we watched. Take care of that this weekend, and then turn it in to me

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 - 18 September

Due to the two-hour delay today we did not get through everything in our classes. Be aware of this if you look at the slides from class in Google Classroom. Here are your reminders of what to do before our next class.

AP Seminar

At the end of class today we divided up Freakonomics in order to prepare for next class. Next class we'll start working through some parts of our final assessment - the End of Course examination from College Board. To prepare for our first task, Task A, I want you to go through your chapter of Freakonomics and look for the:

• claims that the chapter is making
• evidence being used to support the claim
• overall argument of the chapter

You will also want to consider the "line of reasoning" - we'll be discussing this more on Thursday.

Don't forget that you have your first major assessment coming on Monday. You'll be answering questions on Freakonomics and you'll be completing EOC Task A. Remember that if you are submitting the summer work late (questions and annotations) you need to have that in to me by Monday.

Russian II/III

Today we reviewed the formation of the future tense as well as the declensions for accusative and prepositional case. Next class we'll apply many of these notes to our writing and speaking activity. Tonight, you should spend your time preparing for your assessment on Monday. Take a look at Exercise 8Г at the end of Chapter Four. This exercise identifies verbs and stems. Work with these - understand what the stem is telling you and the process of conjugation. That will be your major task on Monday. Make sure that you have your cards complete.

Russian I

We finished learning the alphabet today! Hooray! Now you can complete your handwriting packet as we get ready for our first quiz on the alphabet. You need to be sure that you know all 33 letters and the sounds that they make. We'll continue to play and practice with words and sounds as we review and prepare for the quiz. I would like to collect your handwriting packets from you on Thursday, but if you need to finish over the weekend, that's fine too. If you're having trouble with the alphabet, I would suggest that you listen to the alphabet song several times or find another good video to review. So much of this is auditory, so just looking at the letters won't help too much.


As always, come and see me if you need any help or assistance! See you Thursday!

Homework for the Day of the Flood - A Day - 17 September

What a day! Phew! I'm happy that we were able to make it through to the end. Be mindful of the announcements and updates here as we prepare for Wednesday's class. Remember that Wednesday is now a FULL DAY OF SCHOOL!

English IV

Today we spent a lot of time working on vocabulary, and we started to get into reading for us. Always a fun thing to do in class. Continue to review your vocabulary skills and apply these skills as you are working and reading in the world around you. You may find that you know a lot more words than you think! All you have to do is break them up!

AP English III

With the fact that the world exploded this morning and got all over us, we didn't have the chance to do our essay drafting workshop today. No worries, this will now happen on Wednesday! Be sure that you have a hard copy of your draft, and your outline (redone and original) if you plan to resubmit for a new grade. This is the main task for Wednesday. Your other Wednesday task is to bring in your copy of In Cold Blood and review Section IV. Don't forget to take some time to update your back cover annotations too.

On Friday you have FIVE vocabulary cards due. You've already done one - apply the feedback to make it perfect if it isn't already, and then do four more. Get into the habit of having five cards due every two weeks (aka - they're due when we have class on a Friday!)

Did you miss our film?

Russian Students:

Some of you may find it helpful to rewatch portions of Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears / Москва слезам не верит - some of your viewing guides were a bit lacking in some areas and a few of you missed a day.

Here's part one:
And here's part two:

Enjoy!

Russian Students - DUOLINGO

Now is a great time to hone your Russian skills using Duolingo. Remember that by completing assignments you can earn extra credit. The first assignment is complete, but you can start working on assignment two. The instructions for joining your class are below.

First for Russian I Students. Your assignment is to complete the Alphabet section in the classroom!

And for Russian II/III Students. Your assignment is to get a certain number of XP.

Homework for B-Day - 12 September

Durham Public Schools has officially closed on Thursday and Friday. The notes and announcements here are meant to prepare you for your next class. A-Day Students - The notes and reminders in the previous post should be ready when we return. Stay safe and secure during the storm!

AP Seminar

Today we took our terms quiz on important ideas from the Course and Exam Description - we covered several of these in class via a presentation and you were able to encounter others during our work with the QUEST framework. If you felt unprepared, study and review so that when you are reassessed on this content in your later examination, you will be more ready. Then we moved on to understanding how to RAVEN something and why this is a helpful tool.

You should accomplish the following tasks before next class. First, go back to your work with sources and online resources that we did on Monday. Look at one of your sources through RAVEN. What does the RAVEN model help you to understand. You may find it helpful to go to Google Classroom and use the blank sheet. Second, read the article called "Is Google Making Us Stupid" and annotate it. Consider the ideas around perspectives, questions, and thinking as you read this.

Advanced Russian

As I said in class, we will have an assessment on verbs, stems, and conjugation shortly after we return from the storm. To help you prepare, I have the following suggestions for you.

1. Work through your verb cards and the sheet with your exemplar verb for each stem. Have a good understanding of how to work through conjugation in past/non-past and the idiosyncrasies of each stem.
2. Review Exercise 8Г on page 170. Can you do this work? Can you develop those forms from the given information?
3. Review the verbs in Chapters One through Four. Know their meaning, the stem, and the conjugations.

Russian I

We know all of the alphabet except for a few letters, so hopefully you'll be able to complete all of the handwriting packet with a few small exceptions. I gave each of you a list of cognate words today in class as we were leaving. Be sure that you spend time this weekend practicing with your reading, spelling, and writing. Hopefully you will all see that you can already read words in Russian. 

We will have an alphabet quiz very soon! Be sure that you are prepared for this assessment. Don't forget to use YouTube and DuoLingo as you are studying and reviewing!

Homework for A-Day Students: 11 September 2018

Good afternoon everyone - For now we still have class on Thursday, but it will be shortened since our school will dismiss three hours early. Be prepared with the notes below.

English IV

You all did a great job today finishing "I Go Along" and considering some of the major ideas of the story. Next class we're going to be moving on to another text and looking at another way to display information about ourselves. For tonight, continue to focus on your vocabulary studying as well as your literary terms. We will have a quiz on this information next week - after the hurricane has passed and we have gathered back together.

AP English III

We have now returned and reviewed the parts of our summer assignment - yay! Now it's time to apply feedback and learn from what we have done before. Be sure that you are applying feedback and working through the questions and comments that have been raised with your work. If you are unsure of what to do, see one of us for help and support. Your revised outlines are due in two classes and your revised questions are due in four classes. Remember that if you received full credit on a question, you do not have to revise or change it in any way.

For next class, you should focus on two things. First, read and annotate Eudora Welty's "Listening" which is available in some editions of 50 Essays and at this link. I think that this is a beautiful piece about writing as a craft and as a skill. As you read it, consider what you think are the most important parts of being a writer. How would Capote respond to Welty? Secondly, prepare your rough draft of your In Cold Blood Nature versus Nurture essays. You should have a full introduction paragraph and about two topics which have been fully developed. Apply the notes that we have reviewed over these last few classes as you are revising and writing. Remember - it's all about making your point in a convincing way to your reader! Explain, explain, explain!

Homwork B Day - 10 September 2018

AP Seminar

Today in class, we focused on our sub-topic questions. Your questions were fascinating, and I can't wait to see what information you all find on your new questions.  Thank you all for staying focused in the Media Center today. I know you all got some great information from Ms. Stacy, she is a wonderful resource for us, and the databases she showed will be useful to you the rest of the year (and beyond). Databases will have much more reliable sources for you, rather than just googling information. I'm sorry I didn't get around to everyone to ask your questions - I'll make sure to touch base with you next class.

For HOMEWORK: Watch these two speeches: "I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King Jr. and "The Perils of Indifference" by Elie Wiesel. As you watch, analyze them for claim/argument and evidence. We also have a terms quiz on Wednesday - the terms will be in your glossary at end of the Course and Exam Description.

Russian II/III

We continued viewing of Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears. I hope that you are enjoying the film (I know I did). Please continue to work on your verb cards. You'll have a quiz this week on conjugations and stems. To study, I recommend looking over your vocab cards, as wells as going over your verbs fromt the textbook. Be sure to look for mutations as well as the process of joining the endings to the stem. You should be developing your cards so that you have a good study aid for our upcoming quiz on verbs and stems.
 
Russian I

Continue working on your alphabet skills for homework. The shapes and sounds of the letters thatyou have learned. Keep working on that handwriting packet Mr. Miller assigned. Keep that in mind as you are working this weekend. Be able to read and write what you see in that packet. Also keep practicing with Duolingo, it's a great way to reinforce what you are learning in the classroom.

Friday will be your first day of Russian Speaking!


Mr. Miller will be back tomorrow on Tuesday, September 11th.

Have a great day everyone, we'll see you Wednesday!

Homework the Weekend - A Day - 7 September 2018

AP English III

Today we talked about arguments in section III of  In Cold Blood. For homework this weekend you have three things to focus on. First, complete 5 vocabulary notecards. These vocabulary words come from your vocabulary bookmarks. Choose five words (from In Cold Blood, Didion, Ericsson, or the AP Multiple Choice). On the front side of the card put the word, sentence in which you found it, page number (not necessary if you chose it from AP multiple choice), other forms of the word (verb, noun, adjective, etc.), and its etymology. Google is one of your best resources for finding the prefix/root/suffix. THIS is also a helpful website. One the back of the card, you should put your own definition and synonyms (explain any difference between the definitions!). Remember – 5 cards on Tuesday, they will be checked for completion.

The second part for homework this weekend is to revise your outlines. Ms. Coco will be available Monday before and after school, as well as A lunch if you have any questions. Mr. Miller will be back on Tuesday. You can always email either/both of us as well if you have any questions.

Finally, work on your rough draft of your In Cold Blood essay. You should have ½ of the rough draft done by Thursday, Sept. 13. Come to class with a printed copy so we can have a writing workshop.

Period 4 – Thank you for your patience and cooperation during technical difficulties. I appreciate you all staying on task for that final activity.

English IV

No real homework to complete over the weekend. Do keep reviewing all of the new vocabulary (aka literary terms) that we learn on a daily basis so that we are able to keep moving forward! We will have a quiz coming up on those terms next week– so be sure to keep that in mind.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend! We’ll see on Tuesday!

Homework for the Weekend - B Day - 6 September

AP Seminar

Today we went forward into our work on questions and lenses. This work can be very difficult and really frustrating - remember that the goal is to have something to guide your search. Without some sort of a map, even a bad one, you begin your journey with no plan in mind - thus you're immediately lost.

For tonight, delve deeper into your topic (diversity, innovation, space) and develop a sub-topic of interest to you. For example, you may want to look at diversity of Native Americans, or personal space, or cancer innovations. Go in the direction that you see fit, and develop new questions. Apply 5-7 of the lenses for your work on Monday with online resources and databases. Technically, this is the homework for next class - we are flipping the two, because of my absence.

Russian II/III

We will complete our viewing of Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears next week. I hope that you enjoyed the beginning of the film today. I think that Russians are great story tellers and this film is a wonderful example of that skill. For our next class, apply what you have learned today to your verb cards - work through the non-past conjugation of your verb types. Be sure to look for mutations as well as the process of joining the endings to the stem. You should be developing your cards so that you have a good study aid for our upcoming quiz on verbs and stems. This quiz will likely fall next week on Friday.

Russian I

For the weekend you should all be focused on learning the shapes and sounds of the letters that we have learned so far. That would be the letters in Groups One through Four. As you are going through your handwriting packet, remember to complete any exercises which have the letters that we have seen so far. By the end of next week you will be turning in a complete handwriting pack with everything complete. Keep that in mind as you are working this weekend. Be able to read and write what you see in that packet.

Also, don't forget to practice with our classroom on Duolingo. That's another great way to reinforce and develop your skills.

Enjoy the weekend everyone and have a Happy (Jewish) New Year! I'll see you all on Wednesday!

Homework for A-Day - 5 September 2018

AP English III

Sorry that we didn't get to touch on the outlines that you built around Section II of In Cold Blood. Please hang on to this work as we will likely take a look at it next class or next week as we spend time working on outlining and writing skills. Today you all got some great direct instruction in writing an argument, particularly on structure, organization, and thesis/argument statement writing. Start to apply this now to your outlines. Begin the revision process.

Next week will will have a rough draft workshop - more instructions will come on this Friday and Tuesday. You should work through half of your outline and turn it into a rough draft. To me, it makes most sense to do your introduction paragraph with your argument as well as a topic or two of the body.

Next class we'll be focused on Section III of In Cold Blood. Be sure that you have updated your vocabulary bookmarks with words from Sections I, II, and III - have pages numbers and synonyms. We'll be going on to the next phase of vocabulary work on Friday, and you'll need full bookmarks to do that.

English IV

Thank you all so much for the amazing celebration! I'm going to remember this for a long, long time! We even found time to do some work! Bonus! Today we were able to review grammar rules around apostrophes and start understanding how word families work. Remember - if the words share a root, then they share a meaning.

For tonight, take a look at your vocabulary notes and your literary terms from "I Go Along". We'll be reading more of the story on Friday, and doing some work about ourselves.

Homework for B-Day - 4 September 2018

Remember, the next time that I see you I'll be a bit smarter since I'll be a bit older! Make sure that you're ready for our next class by preparing the proper tribute aka gifts aka homework assignments.

Russian I

We're almost halfway through the Russian alphabet! Hooray! As we keep working, remember that you should be working through your handwriting packet on a daily basis. Be sure that you remember to review and study every day so that you are able to memorize these shapes and sounds. Looking at the letters we have done so far, you should be able to complete the following exercises:

1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 13

Feel free to do more if you would like, but those would be the minimum requirement. See you all next class!

Russian II/III

Today we spent a lot of time drawing and writing outside before getting back to our work on verbs. Tonight, you have two assignments to work on - one you'll complete and one you'll just begin.

Start by completing Exercise 8B - complete what we started in class by finishing the even questions. Remember to follow the chart format where you address the process of joining, the stem, and show how the process works. Then, move on to your verb cards.

For the verb cards you'll be assigning one verb to each card. For tonight, I want you to try to show the verb in its Standard Transcription for the infinitive and past tense endings. Show the stem + the ending, and how they combine.

Next class we'll start looking at present tense (aka non-past) to understand more about what stems are telling us.

AP Seminar

For our next AP Seminar class we'll be focusing in on the idea of perspective and approach to questions and inquiry. We started to discuss some of these ideas today at the conclusion of class. For this, you'll be taking a look at the film Blackfish and considering the perspective on the issue that the film explores.

Take a look at our previous post so that you remind yourself of what to follow as you watch the film. Take notes as you watch related to those ideas, and don't forget to read over SeaWorld's official response to the documentary. We'll have some interesting ideas to bandy about on Thursday.

31 August - Homework for the Weekend - A Day

We're done with August and done with the first week of school! Hooray! See the information below as you prepare for our next class.

AP English III

In class as we were leaving I handed out the questions to go along with Section II of In Cold Blood. Over the weekend, I would like for you to outline your response to ONE of these questions. I direct you to certain parts of the text in the questions - use those areas as a starting point. Remember that at its core an outline is a plan. We should be able to read your outline and have an understanding of what your answer will be and how you will use evidence to clarify and explain that answer. You are outlining a response of around a paragraph in length.

Further, there's a piece called "The Ways We Lie" by Stephanie Ericsson that I would like for you to read and annotate. It's available in some editions of 50 Essays and at this link. As you are reading, pay attention to the idea of honesty versus lies. Is Capote using any of these "lies" in his text? Are any of the characters? How does this piece help us to better investigate the idea of author credibility in the text?

Lastly, this weekend your scores for the Summer Outline will be populated into PowerSchool. Remember that you will have the chance to resubmit this work as we go through our writing and revising process. Class on Wednesday will focus on proper outlining procedures and expectations, so the revisions will begin then!

English IV

No real homework to complete over the weekend since we got through much of what we needed to do in class today. Do keep reviewing all of the new vocabulary (aka literary terms) that we learn on a daily basis so that we are able to keep moving forward!

Enjoy the long weekend and take it easy if you can!

30 August - Homework for the Weekend - B Day

AP Seminar

This weekend you have two tasks to accomplish. Now, you really don't have to do the second one until next week, but I would recommend getting it done now while you have the three-day weekend.

For Tuesday I want you to have read and annotated the article called "Put Your Husband in the Kitchen" - remember to keep your notes and have them to show if asked. You may print and annotate the article or just take notes as you read. We'll also be finishing our QUEST posters on Tuesday. For Thursday I want you to have viewed and considered the film Blackfish. There's also this response to the film by SeaWorld which you should also read. As you are viewing these documents, consider the following tasks:

• Identify EVERY invested party brought up in the documentary
• Identify parties that were NOT brought up.   
• Make a list of lenses that the film focuses on and the lenses that are neglected.
• Lastly, write a strong paragraph that analyses the approach that the documenary creators use in specific regards to lens and how it relates to their purpose/objective. 

I will collect the paragraphs for a grade. You may not be able to complete the whole assignment for Thursday until class on Tuesday due to what we'll be covering related to lenses and approaches.

Advanced Russian

For homework over the weekend I want you all to practice working with verbs in transcription and going through the process of joining verbs and stems together. Take a look at Exercise 8B on pages 168-169. Organize the work through a chart. Identify the process of joining (truncation or addition), the stem of the verb, and then join them together to show HOW they combine.

This, and then working through your vocabulary from Units 1-4 (focusing on the verbs) will prepare you for Tuesday. We have a holiday to celebrate on Tuesday - bring sidewalk chalk if you have it!

Russian I

Today we finished learning our Group Two letters (the tricksters) while we also reviewed our Group One letters. I think that everyone so far is showing me some impressive skills. I was very happy that while we were doing our cafe simulation you were able to order coffee drinks and read a Russian menu! That's really great work!

Over the weekend be sure that you're prepared for Groups One and Two. You should start working through the handwriting packet in earnest now so that you can start to complete the exercises. As I said to the Russian II/III students, if you have sidewalk chalk, bring it to class on Tuesday!

Enjoy the long weekend everyone!

29 August - B Day - Homework and Announcements

We're well into the swing of things now; here are your reminders and announcements as we prepare for next class.

English IV

Ms. Coco and I were very happy to see how engaged you all were today in class as we worked through Langston Hughes. Next class we're going to continue reading and spend a lot of time focused on vocabulary learning.

For tonight, we are going to stay focused on learning about ourselves and telling others about ourselves. For this, find a song that you think represents you well. Bring in the lyrics or the song itself (YouTube video, website, recording) to show us how the song connects to you. If the song is not in English, translate a bit so that we can understand.

AP English III

Our main goal for next class is to work through Sections I and II of In Cold Blood. Be sure that you have reviewed your annotations in these sections and prepared your vocabulary bookmarks for these sections too. We'll be working through these sections through some group activities and we'll also start looking at outlining skills in advance of giving back your first part of the summer assignment next week.

As always, if you have any missing paperwork, please get that turned in as soon as you can!

Homework for B-Day Students: 28 August

AP Seminar:

Tonight we have some important work to do in order to stretch you as you develop yourselves to be more creative and critical thinkers. Tonight you'll be watching the video below, analyzing your letter of the QUEST model and then completing your paperwork for class. So, here are your tasks.

Watch this TEDTalk and take notes on the following questions as you are watching:

1. Explain the story of Alfred Dreyfus?
2. What is motivated reasoning? What is problematic about this?
3. What is the scout mindset?
4. How are mind sets rooted in emotion? What are they and how are they different?
5. Seriously, what do you most yearn for?
6. How do you think this connects to our class?

Remember - answer these questions as bullet points, not necessarily as complete sentences or paragraphs. Be sure that you can show me your work on this if I were to ask for it.

Secondly, take a look at the Course and Exam Description booklet. Go to pages 11-24 and read carefully your assigned element of the QUEST framework. Read and annotate your section in order to better understand what that part of the Framework means. Be able to explain it to your classmates and to yourself!

Lastly, complete your paperwork - Honor Policy and Parent Contact Form - and turn those in to me next class.

Advanced Russian 

Welcome back to all of you, дорогие мои! I am so happy to continue working with you in Russian class. Hopefully we had some fun today reviewing the basics and delving a bit further. Our first unit is focused on verbs, so for tonight I want you to make a list of ten verbs you use commonly to talk about your day. With each verb, be sure to write it down in Russian, in English, and make a list of the various cases that the verb will use to communicate meaning.

Russian III Students - You should attempt to transcribe the verb using structural transcription. That can be found at the beginning of your Russian language textbook if you still have that. This will help us to move forward into the One Stem Verb System.

Russian I

I hope that all of you enjoyed class today. Be sure that you access our Google Classroom page as well as our Duolingo page as well. You may find it more helpful to access these using the desktop site rather than the app or mobile site.

For homework tonight I want you to be practicing with your new letters A, K, M, O, T. Go through the handwriting packet and work with exercises that feature these letters. Practice your reading and writing. Remember that I'll collect the whole packet at the end of the unit.

Also, don't forget your Parent Contact Sheet too. I like to call parents and tell them how great you are.

See you all on Thursday!

27 August - Homework - A Day

Welcome back to Jordan High for the 2018-2019 year! I'm so happy to be back to teaching and learning with you all in Room 301. Here are your reminders and announcements to get you going into our next class on Wednesday.

ESL English IV

Today was a wonderful day where we all got to know each other just a bit and we began to work on some of the important work in our class, like how words are built to create meaning. Next class we'll keep working with these new vocabulary skills as well as with a poem related to our opening theme.

For tonight, be sure that you've completed your Parent Contact Sheet - you'll want to turn that in to us next class. Then, take some time to think and make a list of about five things that are important parts of your identity. Try to make these specific to you. Don't just say "cooking" but think of an item that you like to cook more than any other. What does that say about who you are as a person?

AP English III

Today we had a great opening class in which we reviewed the class policies and procedures, you turned in your summer assignments, and you've already received some grades as well! Ms. Coco and I will be working hard to score your summer work and return it to you in a timely fashion, likely later this week or at the beginning of next. Remember that you can resubmit most of your summer work for new scores after you've learned the new expectations related to writing, outlining, and annotating.

For tonight, your main goal is to complete your paperwork (Contact Sheet/Honor Code) as well as complete the reading of "Keeping a Notebook" by Joan Didion. The article is available here as a .pdf file. Remember to read and annotate - take notes in your notebooks, take notes on the article, or on post-its. Never forget that annotating is a key skill and a standing assignment.

On Friday we'll be reviewing Sections I and II of In Cold Blood. You may find it helpful to start reviewing your annotations and reading tonight. Don't forget to add to your vocabulary bookmark as you do this work.

Opening the Year - 2018-2019

Hello Parents and Students! Below is some important information to be aware of as we start our classes. Please see the notes below about each document.

Parent/Student Information Sheet

This is the same as the paper version which will be sent home on the first day of class. Please complete this online version or paper version for my records. If you complete an online version, please return the paper version with the student's name filled out and actual signatures at the bottom.

Google Classroom

Outside of this classroom blog I will be posting a lot in our Google Classroom space. This is a wonderful place to go if you have missed class or if you have missed something in class. Handouts, class notes, and other important resources will be posted here. Use the codes below for your specific class to gain access. Remember to join class using your DPS Google Account (first_last@dpsnc.net) and your DPS password (the same you use to access computers on campus).

AP English III: t86rhds

English IV: bu7bl

AP Seminar: tzooce

Russian I: 662ysix

Advanced Russian (II/III): df3adf

And now, we're through!

All the grades have been posted and finalized. The room has been boxed up. My flight to Russia leaves on Thursday! First World Cup game is a week from today!

Cheers to an overall successful year in Room 301! To my graduates, I look forward to saying your names on Tuesday! Congratulations on this first step into your futures! To my under-classmen and rising seniors, don't forget to take a look at the Jordan website for your summer assignments! Remember that ALL English classes next year have summer reading, not just AP - the difference is that AP has required work to go with the book, whereas non-AP classes just have reading. Everyone should enjoy at least one good book each summer; hopefully you'll find more than one!

Happy Summer!

Grades Complete

I have FINAL GRADES calculated for all students who have taken their final examinations before today. If you tested today or will test next week during make-up testing, then I (obviously) do not have your grades ready.

You can email me or see me on campus if you would like to know your final grades.