Off to the New Year!

AP Language

Solid day in AP Language land today. We looked at Act IV in some segments in order to understand the major changes at play from Act I to Act IV and the way in which these changes communicate meaning to us as readers. From there we worked into our final conversation on The Crucible to understand the main arguments that Miller is presenting and the connections that this text has to the overall line of reasoning that we're creating in this classroom through the texts that we read.

Over Winter Break there is no work assigned. If you have tasks to complete, it's recommended that you complete them. I've also opened up AP Classroom so that you can review your MCQ skills before our second AP Exam. This exam will happen soon after we return from break and gives you a chance to reset on all of your grades before we move into the second semester.

Enjoy your break! Check out the Weekly Exigence for some ideas on how to spend your time!

AP Research

Fun times in Research land today as we flexed our creative muscles. I'm excited to see the end result. If you're going to be doing anything for class over the break, work on writing your paper. This is the best thing to do to be ready for the return and the beginning of data collection.

15 December - Happy Break, Grey Day Students!

English 10

A solid day in English 10, even with the cold rain and lack of a school cancellation. We focused on Part Two of "The Overcoat" and looked at the coat itself. It's important that we notice the changes that come with the coat. I was also happy to see your attention to details as you looked at the text and considered their importance to the overall text. This story is all about Akaky, what happens to him, and how he reacts to that. I'm excited to take you through the end of the story when we return.

When we return we'll be working on our final essay for this unit. We'll also get started with our next unit focused on research skills. I wish you a happy and restful break. If you weren't in class today, be sure to review the recording and complete the Zoom test. 

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.

13 December

English 10

Great day today everyone as we started our final story of the year "The Overcoat" by Nikolai Gogol. We focused in on the character of Akaky and the various struggles that he faces including himself, his coworkers, and the weather in St. Petersburg. I hope that you enjoyed my photos of the city, it's an incredible place.

Next class we'll be finishing the story and getting started with our pre-writing for the final essay. The end of this story is really fantastic. I hope that you enjoy it. If you were absent, the story is posted in our folder.

12 December - The Last Week of School

AP Language

Good day today reading Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" - it's a rigorous yet rich text. I hope that you were able to see some of the larger connections to truth, reality, manipulation, lies, and power. There's also the idea that it's an allegory, which is what our play is, so there's a connection point there. Plato's ideas are at the heart of a lot of what we are doing in class and what a lot of our authors are pursuing in their texts. Use the multiple choice questions to practice before the examination. We'll do a second AP Exam in January.

For tonight, focus on finishing The Crucible. We've got Act III next class and then Act IV after that. This is also a key time to complete your vocabulary or any other tasks missing from the last unit. Show your skill before our mid-point examination. 

AP Research

Solid day today everyone as we had a lesson focused on the construction of the academic paper. Today's lesson I hope makes clear the need to focus on the essentials of the paper. What are you doing that's new? How are you showing what's new? Use your existing papers and the papers in your body of knowledge to help you structure your paper and your POD (remember, it's a buy one get one situation here).

It's important to be writing right now. You don't have time later to waste now. Working through a survey with multiple respondents is work! And that is also time. Your paper should be written to the method (or at least outlined) by the time we come back from break. Submit your drafts!

9 December - End of the Week

English 10

Solid work today in English 10. We had a great conversation and seminar around some major themes in this unit including heroism, bravery, villany, and justice. I was happy to see a lot of engagement, collaboration, and critical thinking. We ended class with reading "Misrule of Law" and discussing the rhetorical triangle in the text. Keep in mind that you can use this text as you are writing your essay, which we'll get started with next week. We have one more thing to read too - it's a fun story about ghosts and Russia.

Enjoy the weekend. If you have missing assignments, be sure to get them in!

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.

7 December

English 10

A good day in English 10 today as we finished one major text and reflected on some of the major ideas that it presents to us. It's an emotional film, and I always get really choked up at the end, but inspired too. Remember that this unit is all about preparing ourselves for our next attempt at our essay assignment. I hope that you're seeing some new examples of heroes and villains that you can use for your next essay attempt.

Be sure that you complete any missing assignments. We'll be reading next class and then taking some time to work through the pre-writing for our essays. I'm looking forward to a great last week before break begins!

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.

5th of December - Monday!

English 10

Easy day today in English 10. We took our vocabulary test on Membean (our first one!) and then went back to Poland and Escape from Sobibor. As we're watching and studying this film, I hope that you're getting the idea of your next essay. We'll go back to defining concepts, so how does this movie provide evidence for defining different concepts? We have two more things that we'll be reading before getting to that assignment, but it's always a good idea to be thinking.

Next class we'll finish with Sobibor and take time for a speech from another part of the world. I'm hoping that we'll be done with all our readings before we start Winter Break, then we'll come back and write about it. 

Have a great week, everyone!

2 December 2022 - Friday

AP Language

It was a feedback day today in AP Language as we reviewed our most recent demonstration of writing skills. The feedback really revolved around two themes - being explicit and supporting all your claims. We looked at the rubric, the high scoring samples, and prepared to write again after Winter Break. That's when our next timed writing will fall.

From there we spent the rest of class working through our summative tasks for Unit 3. Next week I'll be scoring your vocabulary cards and your visuals/reflections on color in The Great Gatsby. Everything should be submitted for me to review ASAP. Reading is Acts I and II of The Crucible. We'll have a Weekly Exigence recording for you to help you out, but focus on characters, conflicts and irony. Who knows what? Who doesn't? Why does this matter? Make connections to the world of the 1950's, and let's be active in our reading and thinking!

Enjoy the weekend and the reading. It's fantastic!

AP Research

It's the final day for IRB! Submissions are due! We're conferencing, we're writing, we're thinking, and we're doing wonderful things. I'm looking forward to supporting you next week as I present your work to the FHS IRB. 

Next week we'll review feedback and edits and take a look at another POD presentation. We'll also take a bit of a detour to writing the papers and outlining too. Remember that we want to have a good chunk of our paper done by the time we get going on break.

Happy December - First of the Month

English 10

Easy day today as we worked through the end of the week in English 10. We started off with our final Membean training before our first test. The test will happen on Monday of next week. If you want to keep training and practicing over the weekend, you can! The words on the test will be the words you've been working with. 

After we finished with that we took time for our film Escape from Sobibor. It's an intense, true story about a group of Jewish prisoners who escaped from their concentration camp. A story of resistance, bravery, evil, and heroism. Great concepts for us to reflect on in this unit. We'll finish the movie next week and start to prepare for our next essay.

30 November - End of the Month

AP Language

Full day in AP Language today as we discussed our choice articles for the end of Unit 3 and began our discussion and work on The Crucible. The notes at the end of the recording on allegory and The Crucible are important to review as you get started with reading. By the time I see you on Tuesday, you'll want to read and annotate Acts I and II. Pay attention to characters and symbolism. Consider the connections to the world of the 1950's in America we were discussing today.

Next class is our end of unit working day for The Great Gatsby. You'll have vocabulary due, your reflections and any other tasks for Unit 3. We'll also be reviewing the most recent timed writing, so you won't have a complete class period to work.

Enjoy the reading. The Crucible is an absolutely fantastic book!

AP Research

We're on our final days to prepare for the IRB which meets on Tuesday the 6th. You'll need to have your proposal folder complete with your: AP Research Proposal Form, any survey/interview questions, any consent forms, and other tools as needed. Be sure that you are checking yourself for alignment and for final touches. It's natural to make changes, be able to explain why you are making the changes you are making. 

Next class is the final working day. We'll conference as well. Be ready! Be justified! Be aligned!

29 November - Grey Day

English 10

Solid day today in English 10. We did our first silent conversation, took time for Membean, and explored a poem called "Babi Yar" by Yevgeniy Yevtushenko, a Ukrainian poet. In reading the poem, we started to focus on the ideas of memory, truth, and deception. The poem acts as a memory and a monument to a horrible event. We'll continue to focus on this theme in the next few days as we watch a film about a Holocaust concentration camp from which the Jewish prisoners escaped. It's a great story. We'll use this as well as our other texts from this part of the unit to complete our next definition essay. Be ready for that before the end of the month.

If you're missing any assignments, now is a good time to complete them. Check your SIS for an accurate accounting of your grades and assignments to this point.

Welcome Back! 28 November

AP Language

Today was a workshop day to construct our visuals displaying color at work in The Great Gatsby. The goal in this summative assessment is to display your skill as a reader and understand the way that Fitzgerald uses a specific color to create a meaning in his novel. The organization and construction of the meaning in this novel is painstakingly built by Fitzgerald, this is a means to display your understanding of that.

Be sure that you have submitted your reflection questions which display your thinking in words. Sometimes art can be difficult to understand, so the reflection questions will help you display your skill. If necessary, your motif tracker MAY be assessed if skill demonstration is lacking in the other areas. 

Next class will be our end of the unit seminar related to non-fiction connections to The Great Gatsby. Select one of the posted articles and read/annotate. Consider connections to the unit and novel. Be thoughtful and critical. We'll be starting our next unit on The Crucible this week as well. Be aware of your due dates for vocabulary to round out Unit 3.

AP Research

Today was a day for our first POD viewing. We watched, we analyzed, and we discovered the route to a high scoring presentation. The rest of this week is devoted to completing your proposal form and any supporting documentation for that proposal (consent forms, surveys, etc.). The IRB is going to meet next week, so everything needs to be completed this week/weekend. 

The next two classes this week are going to be workshop days. We will meet together to discuss your work to this point as a graded conference. I'll see half of you on Wednesday and half on Friday for conversations. Be ready to show me your IRB/Proposal at this point. 

Off to Thanksgiving - Grey Day

English 10

Easy day today in English 10. It was our pre-holiday catch-up day. If you are missing an assignment, today is the day to complete work. The most important work is the essay from Unit 2 on heroes or villains, since that is a major assignment. Many of you are also missing the work from the substitute day. That assignment is open to you in Schoology in the Unit 3 folder. 

If you would like to continue to work and submit things over the holiday, that is acceptable. I will continue to receive and score your work. When we return, we'll start to focus on resistance and fighting back as themes in our unit. I'm excited to share the next few texts with you. Enjoy Thanksgiving! Be safe!

Off to Thanksgiving Break - Blue Day

AP Language

Today was our day to finish our work and conversation on The Great Gatsby. We focused on conclusions and arguments - it's important to notice how Fitzgerald is completing the novel by making his various points clear to us as an audience. There are so many messages in this novel - consider the ones that you understand the most thoroughly. You don't have to understand everything, but you need to understand something and thoroughly.

We finished class by focusing on our motif trackers. These should be mostly complete when we return to school so that you can complete your visual and the questions at the back of the tracker. We also have vocabulary due the week that we return. The week we return is for summatives and wrapping up the unit. We'll soon move on to Unit 4 and The Crucible.

Note that if you were not in class for the writing day, then you'll need to come on 11/30 to complete your double timed write. If you are not satisfied with your writing scores there will be a reassessment option. Enjoy Thanksgiving. There's no work assigned, but if you are behind then you should get caught up.

AP Research

Easy day today in AP Research land. We took a quick assessment to check our ethical practices and alignment to our guiding principals of beneficence and non-maleficence. The rest of our class time was given over to preparing for our IRB meetings.

Remember that all of your documents to support your research proposal should be completed by the week of December 5th. The IRB will meet, review proposals, and then give approvals and/or edits. Remember the principal of alignment between the steps of your proposal. Check your surveys for bias and leading questions. Working with your peers is great during this time as they will often see your blindspots.

Enjoy Thanksgiving! I hope that it's a restful and relaxing time! Eat lots of pie!!

Cheers to the Weekend - 18 November - Friday

English 10

Solid day today studying "In Praise of Feeling Bad About Yourself" by Szymborska. She's a wonderful Polish poet, awarded by several presidents in Poland and the Nobel Committee too for her work. I hope you enjoyed it. We finished our day with vocabulary and time to get caught up. Remember that if you are behind on the work from last class, that assignment is still open to you.

Next class is going to be our Unit Catchup Day. If you have a missing assignment, that class is designed for you to get caught up before we go out on Thanksgiving Break. Let me know how I can help you. SIS has been updated with everything turned in to this point.

17 November

AP Language

Today was our assessment day - double timed writing - Question 2 and Question 3. I am very much looking forward to scoring these essays and getting you feedback to push you further into your development as readers, writers, thinkers, and communicators. I hope that you found that the prompts approachable and that you see improvements in some of your writing skills. 

Over the weekend, spend your time with Gatsby. We're finishing the novel before Thanksgiving Break so that we can focus on our summative assessments upon our return. Read and annotate Chapters 8 and 9. They run together to complete the conclusion of the novel. Think about who wins and who loses and how this helps Fitzgerald to communicate an argument about an idea. Your vocabulary can be submitted. Don't submit the motif tracker, but keep developing it. Be ready for assessments when we return from Thanksgiving. We'll complete most of the work in class. 

Our next unit will be on The Crucible by Arthur Miller. If you'd like your own copy of this play, now's a good time to order one.

AP Research

Today's class was very similar to our last class - it was our IRB Working Week this week. The work that we are doing now is some of the most important work that we have to do. I appreciate seeing your effort and the support that you are giving to each other. I'm also glad that so many of you are finding a new purpose for the work that we have done earlier in the course like our Annotated Bibliography and our Research Posters.

Next class we'll be having our Ethical Practices Check. This is for a grade. I've opened up your newest PREP Reflection question as well for the weekend. Continue to work, plan, and create. The goal is the pass IRB with as few revisions as possible in order to begin your work with your data.

Have a great weekend!

15 and 16 November - Blue and Grey Updates

Happy Tuesday/Wednesday Everyone - I'm going ahead and posting this today for everyone since I'll be out tomorrow doing some follow-up from last week's appointments.

AP Language

Class is focused on Chapter 7. Everything comes to a head in Chapter 7 and we have several turning points in the text. Remember that we're reading this novel not just as a story about these characters, but also as an argument about ideas related to America. The thinking and questioning of the text in today's slides should help you to see how these ideas are moving to resolution and to see the statements that Fitzgerald is forming. Considering who "wins" and "loses" in this text and why is a great way to formalize arguments. 

Next class is your double timed writing. There are tips in the Weekly Exigence for how to prepare. The best thing to do is review your feedback from your most recent writing assessment and the feedback to the class. Focus on a few points (remember you can't fix everything at once) and consider how you'll do that differently on Thursday/Friday when you write. Bring a charged laptop - you'll be typing since the exam has gone digital. 

Outside of class, focus on finishing The Great Gatsby. Before Thanksgiving Break we'll work through Chapters 8 and 9. You should also be wrapping up your motif tracker and vocabulary. You'll have summatives coming due after Thanksgiving Break - so adequate preparation now will lead to great outcomes then. I'll be after school on Thursday if you need anything. As always, feel free to reach out.

AP Research

Today we kicked off our working week focused on our IRB Proposal and the tools related to completing our inquiry project for the year. The deadline for IRB submission is December 6. This is a firm deadline. By this date I need your completed proposal form as well as every tool related to your study including consent forms and surveys. The team will give you feedback to prompt revisions and then you will be free to move forward.

All of the work that we've done up to this point has been designed to create the structures you need to complete this work. Pull together your various threads. Formalize your ideas. Show your process. 

As a secondary task, be sure that you are also writing your introduction and literature review - slay many beasts at once in order to be successful. Next week we'll be taking a few checks to help us keep moving forward.

English 10

Today's class is a day with a substitute since I'm out dealing with some personal medical things. During class you're completing the assignment on Anton Chekhov's "A Problem". Open the assignment and the slides and work through them. The story is posted as a PDF and there's a recording of me reading the story with pause points. Be sure to submit your slides as your grade by the end of class - the work won't be accepted late since today is a substitute day. I hope that you enjoy the story about Sasha and the idea of what it means to be a "criminal".

Once you've finished the story, take time with Membean. Remember that you need to do TWO, fifteen minute sessions each week. Once you've met your goal, you're set. Enjoy the day, and I'll be back with you on Friday!