Day 1 - 2020 - Virtual Schooling

Good Evening Fairfax Families,

Today was a great day to kick off the 2020 school year. The virtual start provided some amusing missteps (like my forgetting to allow chat and audio/video permissions), but overall we had a great start. I've enjoyed watching your FlipGrid videos and seeing your interactive notebook covers. Here are a few notes from our first day of school.

All Classes (Especially Parents/Guardians)

The Blackboard space for class is pretty barren, because the course content is housed in Google Classroom. The main thing for you to draw your attention to is the syllabus and course policies document. This is available in FCPS 24-7 as well as in Google Classroom. I would highly recommend reviewing the document with your student and filling out the Google Form at the end of the document together.

If you did not share your Interactive Notebook or complete your FlipGrid video, be sure to do so. I've noticed that some people have submitted one or the other, in which case I've awarded partial credit. I'll check again tomorrow and correct any scores. Remember that homework should be complete by the end of Monday (in a perfect world), since Monday is your asynchronous/homework day.

AP Language (3rd and 5th)

Tonight you should get familiar with your online textbook for our class since we'll be using this in our next session. If you need the links for the FlipGrid or a reminder of the Interactive Notebook, check out our class slides which are in Google Classroom. As always, you can email me with questions/comments as well.

Further reflection on our key question of "What is America/an American?" is also warranted. We'll delve deeper next class and throughout the unit.

English 10 (7th)

I enjoyed our opening conversation on culture and our work with the poem "About School". We were hitting on some important themes related to culture clash and conformity today, and we'll carry those forward next time we meet. For tonight, I would reflect further on these ideas and how you've seen or experienced them in your life. Additionally, if you need to submit a video or share your Interactive Notebook, please do so. I'm looking forward to seeing your recordings and getting to know you better.

I hope that you had as good of a first day as I did. See you on Thursday!

Homework for 15 September - A Day

English II

Keep thinking this weekend about our final question - Is it ever okay to break the law?  Think about examples of people in your life or in history who have done this.  Why are they doing it?  Were they successful in getting what they wanted?

Russian I

I hope that you all enjoyed the game today with Russian celebrities and greetings.  Keep practicing your new vocabulary - the goal would be for you to learn it this weekend.

If you finished your name poster then you have no real homework for the weekend other than to keep practicing your reading and writing of Russian.  If you have not turned in your name poster, then you would need to finish that to turn in on Monday.

Your quiz on the alphabet and handwriting will be on Wednesday.

Advanced Russian

Over the weekend practice with the various verbs and stems that you have been learning in advance of our quiz on WEDNESDAY of next week.  The quiz will cover transcription, verb conjugation in past and present tense as well as stem knowledge.  You should be using the level specific stems to guide your practice.  If I were to give you a verb with that stem or a conjugation of that verb you should be able to determine what to do with that verb.

Additionally, remember your new vocabulary lists.  Work with these regularly to learn your new words.

Homework for B-Day Students: 6 September 2016

AP English III

Tonight you have a few things to complete to prepare for our next class meeting.  First, please read and annotate Stephanie Erickson's "The Ways We Lie".  It is available in the first edition of 50 Essays or at this link.  As you read, pay attention to the way that Erickson sections her piece and the way that she uses definitions in her article.  You may also want to consider how this piece relates to Didion and Capote, especially as regards their idea of truth and lies.

Following that, make sure that you have reviewed Section III of In Cold Blood as well as the vocabulary for that section on your sheet.  We'll be working on the vocabulary in earnest next class in the computer lab.

English II

Tonight for homework we have some writing to do and some planning to do.  Please follow the instructions on your assignment sheet to review the prompt and to then complete the planning on the front.  You should then use the back of the sheet to draft your response.  This will allow me and Ms. McCormick to understand where you're starting as a writer this year.