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!

27 and 28 January

AP Language

Today was our day to begin our fourth unit on research and synthesis writing. We reviewed our task on the exam - the synthesis prompt and two student responses. Though these responses are scored using the old rubric, they're still indicative of what the assessors are looking for in your response. From there we discussed the importance of specificity and the development of the research question. This is going to be our focus over the next few classes because the question is the key to the paper.

Next class we're in the library to explore databases and develop our questions further. Your questions are due first for completion, then we'll revise and resubmit for quality. Don't fall behind in this unit! Each day we have a goal to complete.

Remember that your Gatsby assignments are due tonight. Please submit your quote, annotations, and essay electronically.

English 10

What a wonderful class today! We did some great work today as we read Russian folk tales to understand some of the essential elements of narrative and of Russian culture. I loved seeing you all read, think, and communicate with each other about these stories. Remember that most of them exist on YouTube as cartoons - check that out if you'd like.

There's no homework over the weekend. Be sure to begin your vocabulary list for this unit from our reading today. I look forward to seeing you next class to begin looking at some poetry.

Opening Up Quarter 3 - 25 and 26 January

AP Language

Today was a super simple day for us - registration day! We met, reviewed the requirements of our writing assignment due next class, and then we headed down to the Career Center. Remember that Mrs. Kim is here to help you as you make your plans for after high school. There are a lot of different pathways you can take to get to your goals. Make the best decisions for you!

Work through the completion of your 1Q1P (it's due next class) and be ready to get going with Unit 4. We'll have days in the library to start and lots of working days ahead of us - use your time wisely to accomplish your steps!

English 10

Today was a solid day! We started a new unit focused on Slavic Literature - the literature of Eastern Europe and Russia. We did a lot today to focus on the culture, some of the authors, and some of the major themes that we'll be looking at through the unit like power versus freedom, individual versus society, and the power of literature to speak truth. We played bingo to do our learning to make it a bit more fun.

After bingo we took time to set some intentions for ourselves. We didn't finish the entire activity, so give yourself some time to check out more of those videos later on. Next class we'll look at some fairy tales from Russia to get more of a handle on the culture and what these people believe.

Beginning May - Tuesday the 4th

May the Fourth be with you all!

AP Language

Today was our whole and total review on the AP Examination as well as our time to review the full length MCQ and its answers. Remember that if you haven't yet submitted MCQ 8 - it's unlocked again until Friday.

This week you should complete your MCQ reflection and tracking log and prepare to submit it on Monday the 10th. Also, keep in mind that vocabulary cards are due. This will be our final set of cards and it's a lot of points, so be sure that you're working to complete all of your final tasks.

We'll be discussing Chapters 20 and 21 next class. These are important chapters and important not just for our class but for all of us as people who live in the United States at this time. I look forward to an engaging day with you all next class to discuss this difficult portion of the novel.

English 10

Today's class was a day for Anna Akhmatova's poem called "Requiem". I was really impressed with your work today. You were able to pull out a lot of great insights and ideas as well as connections. Remember that the most important thing to do when studying a poem is to put it in your own words to understand the situation. Once you have that, you'll notice a lot of the patterns which create some of the meaning.

We went through our TP-CASTT model and then answered a discussion question based on our work today. This discussion question is your grade for the work on this poem. 

For tonight, be sure that any missing work is done and submitted. Use the recordings for any of the reading tasks that you may have missed. Next class will be a reading day - we'll be moving through a big chunk of the novel before we finish the book next week.

Friday the 12th of March

AP Research

Today in class we really did a deep dive on the Academic Paper rubric. We noticed that many rows of the rubric (1-3 and 6) are identical in their score description for a high pass - level 4/5. This means that it is Rows 4 and 5 where we must focus as writers and researchers to earn our distinction. As we discussed in class, the best style for this type of paper is one that is clear and direct, so that you are able to clearly guide your assessor through the choices you made and why they were the best choice for you. Sources from your body of knowledge can be really helpful in adding to your justification.

As we keep writing and developing, keep working with your peers to share drafts and get constructive feedback. Be sure that you're always using the rubric to guide your feedback and conversations.

Next week we'll move on to Unit 5. These final units of the year involve mostly finishing our writing and our POD as most of our data has been collected by this point. We'll meet as a group on Wednesday next week to kick off the unit. Be sure to submit any assignments from Unit 4 before the end of the day on Monday.

AP Language and English 10

Be sure to complete any of your tasks from Unit 3 as we're now fully moved in to Unit 4. If you need any assistance with anything, please let me know. I'm happy to meet you Monday. Research papers should all be returned by the end of next week. I appreciate your patience as I read and review your work. Remember that you will have the chance to resubmit your essays before the end of the quarter.

Ending the Week - Thursday the 11th

English 10

Today was our day to begin our work on Solzhenitsyn, Soviet Realism, and the novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. I first read this novel when I was your age, and I remember being very affected by it. I think that it will give us all some great opportunities to think and reflect.

We played bingo today to review important concepts. I was glad to see so many of you engaged in learning and responsive in the chat. We didn't start reading in class, so this weekend, try to read the first seven pages of the novel. Fill out your notes focused on characters you meet. Next week we'll focus more on reading and discussing the main ideas.

Remember that we are finishing Unit 3 this weekend as well. If you haven't turned in your final interpretation, be sure to do so. It's one of the last big grades of the quarter.

AP Language

Today was a day to dig deep and analyze to put together some of the threads we looked at last class. I was excited to see the connections that you're making in this novel and the ideas that you're building. Remember that we're just starting, so it's best to view all of this as ideas in progress.

Over the weekend be sure to read and focus on our next chapter set - Chapters 5-7. This is a shorter span of the novel, the videos will help on YouTube, especially Chapter 5. There is a fair amount of violence in Chapter 6 - consider your motifs and how this violence is representative of cycles in the text. As you read, collect vocabulary - cards will be due soon.

Don't forget to submit your analysis assignment for today by Monday.

Beginning the Week - 9 March 2021

English 10

Today's class was a bit of our transition from Unit 3 to Unit 4. We took time to brush off our grammar skills and get familiar with authors and the places that they called home before taking time for conferences and time to focus on our final interpretation from Unit 3.

You should be focused on turning in your final interpretation from Unit 3 this week as we start Unit 4. Remember that for your final interpretation you can use a Google Doc or use Google Slides. Take your information from your outline as a starting point, then clean up your grammar, focus on making your transitions clear, and show that your claims have evidence. Aim to submit the assignment this week. 

If you didn't finish our Kick Off document in class, be sure that you submit that soon. It's an easy twenty points to get you some background knowledge, which we'll keep doing on Thursday.

AP Language

Today in class we focused on some of the big ideas of Chapters 2, 3, and 4 in Invisible Man. We also touched in on our annotations of our covers - especially symbols, characters, and settings. Next class we'll dig a bit deeper on these chapters and look at some rhetorical analysis to really find a lot more meaning than we already have. Continue to pay attention to cycles as they appear in the text as well as how meaning is created through the use of key details in the text.

You'll find your recording and PearDeck takeaways posted. Remember to keep reading, thinking, and annotating. I look forward to seeing you Thursday.

Opening May!

Good Morning Students!

Happy May! The weather is beautiful, the birds are singing, and soon I'm going to go for a run. But before I do that, I wanted to post an overview of what you can find on Google Classroom.

Russian Students - This is a great time to be in Russia (usually) because of the May Holidays. For this week's assignment we have some language and cultural skills to work on. See the details on Google Classroom.

AP Literature - The final round of practice prompts are posted for you to peruse. (See what I did there?) Feel free to turn in your essays for my scoring and feedback. Exams begin NEXT WEEK! Be sure that you are ready by following the College Board guidelines. I'll have a recorded lesson later this week on Zoom about final tips for the exam.

AP Research - The last three weeks are upon us before papers are submitted. I look forward to reviewing your paper with you before you submit. Please reach out for any and all assistance you may need.

Lastly - If you've signed up for my texting service, please let your friends who are in our classes know as well. Shoot me a message with your name, and I'll get you signed up for my class reminders via text!

Homework for A Day Students - Weekend - 5 March

AP Research

Dear students! Please turn in your documents for your PREP Check 3.1 to Google Classroom. If you don't turn them in by Sunday, I'll go hunting in your portfolio for what I need. As a reminder you should submit your:

• Data Sets/Planned Data Sets (depending on where you are in the collection process)
• Task Log
• Reflections to Number 21
• Record of Communication (Expert Adviser and Participants - If none, say none.)
• Paper Draft to Method Section

This is forty points for completion. This is also a good weekend to check on everything! Be sure that you have POD Slides started, you've revised your paper, you're continuing to get ahead for what you have coming next!

Russian Classes

I hope that you all enjoyed your day with Russian culture and investigations. If you did not turn in your work to the substitute today in class, then give it to me on Monday. Remember that next week we will have quizzes (Russian I) and the days to complete our grammar/vocabulary project (Russian I-IV). This weekend is a good one to study vocabulary, complete exercises, and work on your projects.

Homework for A-Day Students / 18 February 2020

AP Research

Today was an important day. If you were absent, be sure to see me for the handouts that you missed and to see your classmates for the information as well. Our mini-lesson was geared on the Literature Review and how to create that section of the paper. Be sure to see the slides and the templates below.


Next class will be a full workday. We will also finish any conferences that we need to. There will be a drafting day on Monday. Be ready with your Intro + Lit Review and Method section ready to go!

Russian I

Today in class we worked on reviewing the differences between our nouns and our adjectives as we looked at the endings available to us as we activate cases. From there, we spent time with our poet projects. By the end of today's class you should have selected a poet and set up your slides on that poet. I hope that all of you will enjoy this quick foray into Russian literature and culture. Be careful - this is how I got started in Russian!


Tonight, be sure that you complete your exercises on Nominative, Genitive, and Prepositional Cases. Learn your colors. We'll have a quick spelling quiz next class, then on to our new grammar and our movie!

Advanced Russian

We did a lot today! We learned our final verb of motion (to run) and we also learned that Mr. Miller can't conjugate the verb after seventeen years with it. From there we took time to work on the poet culture project. Remember that these projects will be due next week.


After that, we spent time reviewing our quiz. As we did this we were focused on cases (accusative or dative) and the idea of the A, B, and C type sentences. Remember that identifying the sentence type is so important to do this work. Look for your clues in English! Tonight, check in with your new exercises and keep studying your verb cards. We'll have our second quiz on Verbs of Motion next week on Friday. It will be similar to this one we reviewed today, but will focus on newer verbs.

Final Day! 20 December 2019 - A Day

That'll do it, y'all! I hope that you all had a wonderful last day of school for the year today. Remember to rest, relax, and recharge. When we come back it's a pretty quick march forward into summer (I know that sounds crazy, but trust me, it's going to fly by!)

AP Research

Off we go to Winter Break! Today we watched at POD on American Anti-Semitism and discussed the ways in which the rubric is applied to this particular presentation. This presentation allows us to see another approach to the structure of the slides and presentation, as a whole. Remember that there are positives and negatives in each presentation that we watch - it's important to view these as a guide for your own future work and decisions.

Over the break you should be working through your process. If you are able to collect data - move forward into that, so that you are able to spend January analyzing and drawing connections. If you aren't able to, find your participants - make your groups - make your hypothesis - WRITE YOUR STUFF!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Russian Classes (Russian I and Advanced Russian)

I hope that you all appreciated the New Year celebrations in class today. We did things that Russians do for New Year - and that was the point as we engaged in cultural practices today. Over the break there is no homework assigned, but you should spend some time each day with Russian. If you're preparing for an exam or reassessment, great. If you're studying vocabulary, fantastic! Be sure to spend a bit of time each day on Russian so that you are building up and not tearing down. С новым годом студенты!

Homework for Tuesday - 12/10 - A Day

AP Research

Today was the kick off of our revision and workshop days. I saw writing, conferencing, and revising. Remember to refer to your IRB notes as you are working and charting your progress. If you're making changes, consider why you're making them and how you can communicate your intentions to your assessor.

I've posted Reflection 13 for you to complete in the Classwork Tab on Google Classroom. You'll also find today's slides as well as the Consultant Letter and Forms in electronic format. Remember that I need a form for each of your consultants before we leave for break.


Next class is a workday as well. You'll have a bit of a small task to complete in getting feedback and giving pitches if you need yourself something to do. This is a good time to check in on your PREP folders to make sure that they are ready to be checked at the end of next week.

Russian I

Today was a day for us to review what we already knew and delve a bit deeper into sentence building and cases in Russian. Today in class we learned how to create sentences with direct objects by using the accusative case or the genitive case (if we have a living male). Remember to learn the process for changing endings to use this case.

Tonight, practice this case further by completing the practice exercise number five by putting the items in parenthesis in accusative case. Use the verb in the question to start your answer. Also, there is a fill in the blanks exercise for you in your regular textbooks. Complete Exercise 8A and 8B on page 52.

Don't forget to study and review for your test reassessment. You can retake the test next week!

Advanced Russian

Today in class we had a quiz. I'll have these back to you on Monday to be reviewed. If you plan to reassess then you should plan to do that next week before Winter Break begins. For tonight, you should focus on your upcoming projects - the space to turn them in is below. There is also all of the information related to preparing for the Olympiada of Spoken Russian.


Outside of this, focus on your vocabulary development. Without the words, the language doesn't work. Next class is a film/culture day with Anna Karenina - I hope you'll enjoy it!

Homework for the Weekend - 8 November - A Day

AP Research

Today we had our workday on our proposals as well as time to finish our conferences related to where we are so far. As you are working this weekend it's important to finish your DRAFT proposals. Remember that all work related to your proposals (including surveys, interview questions, consent forms) should be in your PROPOSAL FOLDER so that you can easily share with Dr. Spencer for review.


The newest reflection question is posted in Google Classroom, as are the slides. Enjoy the long weekend! Be sure that you are documenting all of the work that you are doing in your PREP folders and in the documents.

Russian I

Today in class we had an assessment on verbs and conjugation as well as a bit of vocabulary. From what I saw, I think that a lot of you need to spend time with your vocabulary lists this weekend. Make a way to study the words. Write them. Say them. Use them when you can! Try to listen to Russian music and catch these words when they're used by others. The more you use these words, the better you'll remember them.

Next week we're getting into the really difficult part of Russian grammar. It's going to require some memorization. Be sure that you are studying and reviewing every night. Remember that if you didn't finish your project today in class that it should be done ASAP and turned in on Google Classroom.

Advanced Russian

This weekend gives you a great opportunity to get working on your projects and to review anything that was difficult from the quiz we took today in class. I'll have these back to you next week - after that you can resubmit what you would like.

For the projects, remember that we have different projects for the different groups. Russian II students should find a text (I recommend a song, poem, or short story) and then analyze different examples of aspect being used. You'll pull out sentences and then analyze how aspect is being used and why. This is paired with a small artistic component. Share the text with me for points!

Russian III and IV - You get to make a presentation on any choice of Russian culture. Maybe you like science, maybe it's fashion or art or music. Whatever your interest is - that what you should explore for us. The goal is about a five minute presentation in a mixture of English and Russian.


The vocabulary for this weekend is NUMBERS! Russian II should learn from zero to twenty. Russian III should learn up to 1,000. Russian IV can go to 1,000,000. Next week we're focusing in on numbers since it's a place where we can all work together for a bit!

A Day Notes and Homework

AP Research 
 Great job being productive today-especially on a Monday!
   Make sure to keep working on:
1. Annotated Bibliography (25ish sources) Refer to the template on GC.
2. Reflection Questions (5 in the doc)
3. Meet with Ms. Stacey (if you have not already!)
4. Conferences with Mr. Miller or me.

Remember: AB's are due this Friday! Keep updating your task logs! 

Russian I 
Thank you for being cooperative and courteous during the movie today. I hope you got a taste of Russian culture, especially when seeing those pastries, yum!!

Remember to study for the possessive pronoun quiz on Thursday! 


Advanced Russian 
Thank you for paying attention during the movie today! I hope you got a great look into one of the most prominent Russian novels of all time! Also, you will always remember who wrote Anna Karenina, right?

Remember to turn in your case worksheets on Thursday!