Beginning Week 11 - 17 November 2020

Dear Students - In all of our classes today we opened the day with time to reassess and resubmit assignments, to get caught up on some assignments which may be missing, and to get ahead on assignments which are coming up. I hope that all of you were able to use today's class time to be productive and show your skills and knowledge. Reminders for the classes are below.

AP Language

Today we spent time in class going back to the idea of language, identity, and the skill of rhetorical analysis. I hope that as we are reading, thinking, and discussing, you are able to see the way in which you will accomplish the individual part of your group project - the rhetorical analysis. Keep in mind that as you are writing a rhetorical analysis, you're doing what we do in discussion. Picking out small details and finding the way in which they contribute to the author's argument. We're focusing our work on satire and social commentary, so hopefully this helps you to set a purpose and goal for your reading and notetaking.

Next class we'll be working through Chapters 29-33 in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and we'll have time to work in our groups on our project. Come prepared with your choice text and the beginnings of your notes/annotations. We'll review an outline structure you may find helpful to complete part one of your project.

English 10

Today we took time to settle up some of our missing assignments or to get ahead on the parts of the project yet to come. The most important things to make sure we submit (if missing) are the major point assignments: Day 16 Analysis, Unit Project Brainstorming, and the Teenage Rebellion quickwrite. Remember that you can always turn in assignments late and still get full credit.

After that we discussed and read "The Shabbat" and thought about how the death of her friend will affect Marji moving forward. Next class we'll be finishing Part One of Persepolis, so we'll see if we are right.

For tonight, stay focused on submitting any missing work from today. I won't be assigning anything over Thanksgiving break, and Tuesday will be an asynchronous day, so you'll have more chances to get caught up as we move forward.

Closing the Week - Friday, October 2nd - Grey Day

Reminders below for AP Language and English 10 are the same as for today's classes. Remember that if you have decided to check out books from school, please let me know. You will be able to come to school on the 12th of October to retrieve your books for the year. I'll share more details about this next week. Over the weekend/Monday be sure to complete your assignments, especially if anything is missing. 

AP Research

Today we took time to conference and continue our development of our research questions and the supporting elements of those questions. Some of you may find it useful as your question develops to continue to go back and revise your problem statement. Consider how your evolving question will continue to send you back to your sources and databases to find more information that you need. There's always more to do, but we're making great strides.

Next week you'll have two assessments - first will be your quiz on our CRAAP method for testing sources. Second will be the submission of your source list. The magic number is twenty five. I'll have all of this uploaded next week for you! Remember that as you work on your own, I'll keep myself available for questions and check-ins.

Happy October! Blue Day - 10/1 - End of Week 4

Time certainly flies when you're busy and having fun! Congratulations on making it to the end of the first month of virtual school. We've been adjusting and supporting each other through it - and I'm a fan of all of that. Below are your reminders moving into the weekend.

Please, mark your calendars! Book collection for my classes will be on October 12 at Fairfax High School. Remember this is your time to collect your novels for the year. Please see the Book Form (Day 5) and register your preference if you haven't already!

AP Language

Today was a day to brush off our close reading and annotating skills as we investigated the conclusion of Occom's "Narrative". This was a great way for us to pair our work with rhetoric and the rhetorical situation as we were able to dig deep and explore his message to his audience. 

Over the weekend your priority is Mini-Project 1. If you have questions or need a review, feel free to email me/share a draft with me and ask for feedback/or attend Office Hours on Monday.

The other items hovering on us are our first vocabulary cards - use Google Slides and follow the template on Google Classroom. Our revisions of our diagnostics - next week we'll discuss structure and organization. 

Lastly, the reading which will be discussed next week is Vowell's "The Wordy Shipmates." It's available on page 267 in the textbook. This is low priority right now, but it's our next text to consider if you'd like to get ahead.

English 10

Today we had our timed writing in class to finish our writing diagnostic. Remember that you're getting four grades on this assignment - one for your argument/thesis, one for the examples, one for explanation, and one for style. I hope that you were able to use your planning and earlier work to be ready and feel prepared for our task today. If you were not able to complete the planning steps, you will be able to get partial credit based on your essay that you wrote today. Also remember that you can redo this essay if you're not happy with your score.

Our other task for class today and on to the weekend is to work with Desmond Tutu's speech from our textbook on forgiveness in South Africa. Remember that the questions and tasks in the textbook are there to help you but aren't required. To get credit, complete Homework Assignment 4. Interact with one of the two choice activities at the end of the speech - there's an interview and a Google Earth field trip. Then, submit the South Africa reflection.

Be sure that if you're missing anything from before that it's turned in. We're at our mid-point, and I don't want anyone to fall behind.

Friday - 25 September - Grey Day

Hello All and Happy Friday!

Remember that next week we will start our Lion Time rotations. If you need help with a schedule or calendar of the days and where you should be, let me know.

Reminders for AP Language and English 10 are below. Remember to check-in on any missing work and get things submitted as quickly as possible. We're going to continue to learn and develop those writing skills, and I'll accept work for rescoring as you develop your skills.

AP Research

Today is your final day for reading and preparing before we meet again. Remember that there is a new reflection posted for you to answer in Google Classroom for this week. You should also spend time to work with the graphic organizer to develop the first iteration of your research question. Next week we will meet to give some feedback and develop our questions even further. We'll also be learning a method by which we can review and evaluate our sources - a great step in the development of our annotated bibliography and eventually our literature review.

Also, please remember, I will not be available on Monday. Please feel free to email me over the weekend with any questions or concerns you may have.

Thursday - 24 September - Blue Day

It's the end of Week 3, and we're moving on along. Lots of good things are happening in class as we develop our classroom culture and our skills for critical reading and writing. Below, there are a few notes to take you into the weekend.

English 10

I loved what we were able to do today in class. We collaborated really efficiently to build our class values and responsibilities before doing some work with vocabulary.

Make sure over the weekend to check on any missing assignments from this week or before. You can also finish your vocabulary notes as you build your word families with our roots.

The major assignment this weekend is to finish your essay planner. Use the question work you already did to do this work. Submit your slides so that you're ready to write!

AP Language

Great class today everyone as we began our analysis of Mario Cuomo's speech and applied some of our rhetorical elements in our approach. On Google Classroom you can find your takeaways/notes from the day. A few reminders for the weekend/Monday.

1 - Your mini-project is not due for a bit. Take time to consider your text. Make sure it's school appropriate. This is an opportunity to think about your favorite song or movie/tv show in a different way.

2 - Finish your work with the Cuomo speech as well as the final slides in the PearDeck for today to reflect on the speech. You may also find it helpful to draw connections between the various texts we've been working with so far.

3 - Be sure that any missing assignments are submitted ASAP. We'll begin the writing workshops (bootcamp) on Tuesday - so having your feedback in hand will help a lot.

Lastly, for everyone, Monday is Yom Kippur, and I'll be observing the fast, so I will not be available for Office Hours or to answer emails this coming Monday. Enjoy your weekend, and if you also observe the holiday, g'mar tov.

Asynchronous Monday - 21 September

Good Day Students and Families - 

Today is a day to get things done which may still be floating over us. I've been hard at work grading this morning and am happy to report that most everything from Week 1 and the summer has been updated in the gradebook. If you see that something is missing, go check Google Classroom - you may have not hit the submit button.

Assignments for today are anything from Week 2 - Especially the Homework Assignment 2. We'll begin to focus on writing skills, so these opening assignments are a good way for me to understand where we are in those skills.

As always, if there's anything I can do to assist, please let me know!

18 September - Happy Friday! - Grey Day

Happy Friday Students and Families -

We're getting off to a really great start as we're beginning to work with texts, think, discuss, and analyze key ideas. Next class will be an asynchronous day for everyone - the materials will be posted for you to access and work through at your own pace. I won't be available on Wednesday, due to the fact that I'll be helping with the SAT at Fairfax.

Reminders for AP Language and English 10 are the same as below. Be sure that work is submitted for Week 1 and that you're completing the assignments for Week 2 as well. Turn them in on Monday or sooner. I'll be grading a lot this weekend, and hope to have everything returned and grades updated by the end of the day on Monday.

AP Research

Today is the first of three days to work independently, with each other, and with other sources of support in the building for you. As you work over these days, continue to build your Body of Knowledge and use this as a means for your Gap, Problem Statement, and eventual Research Question. Over these next few days continue to think and drive forward - remember our dialogue between The Riddler and Batman, draw your focus in and begin to be more specific. I look forward to seeing the results of your work.

17 September - End of the Week - Blue Day

Good Afternoon Students and Adults!

Today was a day full of reading and thinking. We're also getting more acquainted with our classroom procedures like using our interactive notebooks for our journals and using PearDeck to take daily notes. I also really appreciate all of the help that you offer to each other with finding and accessing materials!

Over the weekend make sure that you have any missing work from Week 1 turned in. I know that getting oriented in online/virtual school is difficult, so I want to make sure that we get the support and time we need. I'll be grading on Sunday and Monday and changing scores. Further reminders are below.

AP Language

We have our Writing Diagnostic this weekend which is our main focus. The diagnostic should take you no more than 40 minutes. Time yourself. Remember that you're just submitting an outline, so don't write a whole essay for me.

Additionally, if you didn't submit your Close Looking Practice, please do so. This is just a simple completion activity so that I can see how you're processing non-print texts.

English 10

Be sure that you complete your Homework Assignment 2 this weekend. It's a document where we will look at our first essay question and break it down to understand it. The assignment is pretty simple, turn it in on Google Classroom. Also, be sure to play with your online textbook more since we'll really use it a lot next class.

Next week we'll start moving into the land of writing more, one of my favorite places to visit. Enjoy your weekend and let me know what I can do to help!

16 September - Grey Day

Today was a Grey Day, but it was a pretty great day in my guest room (aka A132, for now). The homework posted below for the Blue Day sections is pretty much the same for us today. Remember our discussion today on grading - I view this as a class where you should resubmit, and where you should turn in things late. Remember that I grade by standards, and that there is often much more to a piece of work than if it came in on time or not.

AP Research

The next few classes will find you working independently to build your Body of Knowledge. I'll be available in our meeting space if you need me for anything, but you've also got plenty of other support. Keep reading to build your reading log. Look for the elements of an effective research question that we discussed today. 

I've also posted your first weekly reflection. You will have a question every week. Be thorough and thoughtful in your answers - some of these will also be POD questions, so it gives us good practice for the future.

As always, everything is available for you in Google Classroom. If you've got a question or concern, feel free to email me. I'm continuing to score your assignments right now and hope to have your work from this week back to you by the end of Monday.

15 September - Blue Day

Good Afternoon Students and Grown-Ups,

Be sure to continue to check Google Classroom for daily updates and reminders. Please ensure that any work from Week 1 is turned in today, including the Homework Assignment 1. Also, remember that in this class I will grade on standards, not assignments, and you have the opportunity to resubmit work after it is scored to improve your grade. Here are your class specific reminders.

English 10

If you didn't submit your Homework Assignment 1 - "My Single Story" please do so. I'd love to take this opportunity to better know you and your story more. Be sure to follow the instructions on Google Classroom.

AP Language

Today we focused on visual rhetoric and the rhetorical situation. We practiced with a painting, and tonight you'll continue that practice with a prescient image. Use your online textbook to find Ana Juan's New Yorker Cover. Apply your strategy from class. Answer the three "READ" questions with this text. You can answer them quickly (no more than a paragraph for each question). Submit your work as a quick practice with our skill.

Also, be sure that you've submitted HW Assignment 1 and your Summer Assignment. If there are questions or concerns, please let me know.

Monday - September 14. Asynchronous Day.

Happy Monday and Good Morning!

Today is a day for independent working as well as submitting any assignments to be scored/marked as completed. Remember that there is a list below outlining what should be turned in for credit. If you see an error in your grades, wait until the end of the day, because I will be scoring and updating the gradebook through the day.

As a reminder you have a homework assignment which should be submitted before our next class meeting/at the end of today. Remember that Mondays are the official end of our week in this class - ironic, I know. 

I am available today for Office Hours as well as Back to School/Meet the Teacher Drop-Ins. I will have my Blackboard Collaborate Space as well as Google Meet (AP Research) available this morning from 9:30 to 12:00. Please visit or email if you have questions.

Don't forget to do your Google Form check-in for today's attendance!

End of Week 1 - Blue Day - 10 September

Good Afternoon Everyone -

Today was a great day in class - we all were engaged in some critical reading and thinking in all of our classes today as well as some getting to know each other activities. Our week in this class officially closes every Monday - so remember that assignments described below are due on Monday.

AP English Language

Today was a day to start our work on "What is America?" by looking at Thomas Jefferson's "Declaration of Independence" in order to understand the elements of and relationships between elements of the rhetorical situation. We'll be considering this with many of the texts we study this year.

For your first homework assignment, I've presented to you the "rough draft" of our document as well as a TEDEd video related to the revision of the document and Jefferson's writing process. Follow the instructions and submit your work via Google Classroom. If you have questions, please let me know via email or Office Hours.

Other graded assignments for this week are as follows: Notebook Cover + FlipGrid Recording. Tell Me About You Survey. You can also submit your Summer Assignment. It's due on Day 3 - Tuesday.

English 10

Today we investigated the idea of the "single story" by watching an EdPuzzle video and considering the connection between culture clash and stereotypes. I enjoyed our chat in the class and seeing your responses to the questions. Remember that if you didn't finish the video, or the survey, both are still available for you.

Your homework assignment is available in Google Classroom, and it will have you consider the idea of the single story in your own life. Follow the outline in the instructions to construct your slides. Be as creative as you'd like, but be sure to follow the outline. I'll be available for help via email or in Office Hours if you need me.

Other graded assignments for this week are as follows: Notebook Cover + FlipGrid Recording. Tell Me About You Survey. EdPuzzle - Single Story Questions

Also, as a final reminder for everyone, BTSN open office hours for parents will be next Monday, the 14th, from 11am to 12 pm, and next Wednesday, the 16th, from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm.  Students will need to make sure that their parents have their teachers’ office hour links and that they need to share their school laptop with their parents.

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

Day 2 - Grey Day - 9 September 2020

Good Afternoon Grey Day Students!

The major announcements and reminders are posted below for AP Language and English 10 students, since the lessons are basically the same between the two days. The important reminders for all classes are to complete your FlipGrid postings and to complete the sharing of your notebook covers. There is also information for parents to review - including a Google Form for signatures.

AP Research

Today was a great first day of our investigations. Your reminders are generally the same, but we don't have a FlipGrid since we're so few in number. I loved seeing your notebook covers and starting the process of getting to know you. Once you've finished your syllabus review, it would be best to start reading. Remember that you should cast your net wide as you're finding sources. You don't know right now what's going to be the best source, so grab it all.

As you read and review, use your interactive notebook. Slide 9 is where you can record your annotations and other important notes.Try to read a bit every day to keep the momentum up!

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!

Kicking Off 2020-2021

Good Morning Fairfax High School - 

Welcome to Tock the Dog - in Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth - Tock was a Watch Dog, who patrolled the entrance and gave helpful advice to those entering beyond the tollbooth. I hope that you will find this blog to be a place where you can find such advice and help.

All of our classroom content will be housed in Google Classroom. We will use Blackboard Collaborate Ultra for our live meeting sessions. You should have received a link to Collaborate in your FCPSSchools email account. If you navigate to Blackboard (FCPS 24-7 Learn) you can find our course there, and there is a link to our Google Classroom space for you to use.

Parents - I hope that this space will be helpful for you so that you don't have to log in to Google Classroom every day. This is a space for you to find helpful information about due dates, course content, and general updates. Please see this as a resource for you as well as your student.

End of Week Three - April 24, 2020

Dear Students -

I hope that all of you have been able to find some peace and security this week. I had a bit of a downward turn myself this week, but a little bit of time alone to think, reflect, and write about where my feelings were coming from really helped me. It's about learning how to react and adapt to a new situation, and we have to remember that it keeps changing day to day.

Now that Governor Cooper has closed schools for the rest of the year, know that I will continue to provide online opportunities for instruction for you all. I hope that during this time you can find a bit of a chance to learn for learning's sake. Delve into your interests and passions. Investigate and ask questions that spark your curiosity. READ! The Regulator (a great, independent bookstore here in Durham) is still open and processing orders online. I found that they're faster than Amazon right now.

If you are still working on AP or Google Classroom to submit work for scoring, know that I will do a final check on Monday morning. I'll be changing and submitting paperwork on Monday. Some of you have already been contacted as to how grades will be changed in your favor. If I didn't contact you, it was because I did not see evidence of completion of work samples or  I do not have an email on file for you. If you would like to reach out, please do so. I will respond on Monday.

With that being said, I hope that you all will enjoy the weekend. I'm tutoring English to my favorite little Russians tomorrow morning and then tackling my workshop/barn outside. I've got to get that thing organized and this gives me the time to do it, right? I've done really well with food this week - I made everything that I planned to make and ate leftovers for lunch, so tonight I'm getting take-out. I don't know what, just yet...maybe Chinese?

All my best!

DM

Beginning of Week Two - Phase Two // 13 April 2020

Good morning everyone! Welcome to Week Two. Today is technically a holiday for Durham Public Schools, so I will not be available today. I will be on my regular schedule for the rest of this week. I have posted the assignments for the week in Google Classroom today and will have everything returned to you by the end of the day tomorrow if there is something waiting for my eyes. For now, let's look at the summary of our week.

AP Research: Complete Week 1 (if needed). Finish paper (original timeline). Review final section guide. Meet with me for final review. Submit paper.

AP English Lit: AP Exam Review Packet - Annotations, Outlines, Responses. Submit one essay to be scored and commented upon.

Russian 1: Begin Chapter Three. Learn about adverbs and how to use and form them. Complete DuoLingo lessons for support.

Russian 2: Begin Chapter Seven. Focus on learning plurals in all cases. Focus on the difficulty of genitive plural (tons of irregularities/exceptions).

Russian 3: Begin Chapter Nine. Using modals and imperatives to tell people what to do. Focus on aspect and how aspect choice leads to mood and emotional connotation. Videos to support.

Russian 4: Begin Chapter Twelve. Final Chapter! Learn about verbs of positioning and placement. Review conjugations.

Remember that we still have AP Examinations (Research, Literature, Advanced Russian) to prepare for and tasks to do in order to keep sharp. I am here to continue to support and help you no matter what it is that you may need right now. Please reach out. I also wanted to say a quick thing about grades.

Seniors - Any work that you submit can be added to your S1 grade. This grade will be used to determine your GPA and class rank for final transcripts this year. You will get a PC19 (Pass due to COVID-19) for the Spring Semester as long as you are passing the class in Q3. If you submit work right now I can add points to S1 or Q3 if you are not already passing Q3. The maximum number of points is TEN.

Underclassmen - Since you are not graduating this year, you will remain focused on your Q3 grade. Any work that you complete right now can be applied to your Q3 grade in order to raise your GPA/Class Rank for the year and earn a credit for the class. Again, the maximum number of points is TEN.

Tuesday, April 7, 2020 - Happy Passover!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

I appreciate that I am seeing you all working and turning in assignments for feedback. As always, let me know what I can do to support you right now. I wanted to let everyone know that tomorrow (April 8th) will begin Passover. I'll be busy all day cleaning and cooking, so I'll be taking the day off and won't be available. I will return work with feedback for the rest of today and on Thursday.

Chag Pesach! Happy Passover!

Beginning Phase 2 - Online/At-Home Instruction

Good Morning Students!

All classes in Google Classroom have been updated with assignments for Week One of Phase Two. If I've given too much to do, let me know. It's a bit of an adjustment for us all right now. I'll be making recordings later today for each class to go over what is available for you all. Those should be posted later today.

Here's a brief overview of our week in each class.

AP Research: Check-in on your progress in completing your paper. Reflect on where we are. Prepare for what's ahead with conclusions.

AP English Lit: Finish Twelfth Night and working on Question 3 and poetry. Prepare for modified AP Examination with literary devices. Keep working on writing skills.

Russian I: Finish working with Chapter Two. Unit assessments. Practice on DuoLingo for cases and vocabulary needs. Culture.

Advanced Russian: Finish working with Chapter Six/Ten. Unit assessments. Practice on DuoLingo for verbs, cases, and vocabulary needs. Finishing Anna Karenina.

All week I'm available for you from 1-3 PM for Office Hours. Other availability this week is below:

Wednesday: 9-10 AM - AP Literature: Media Talk
Tuesday-Friday: 10-11 AM - AP Research: Extra Office Hours
Wednesday: 11-12 PM - Russian: Grammar/Vocabulary Help Session

Friday: 9-10 AM - AP Literature: Feedback on the Week
Friday: 11-12 PM - Russian: Feedback on the Week

If you need me outside of these times please let me know. I can be flexible!

March 26 - Zoom Lessons/Recordings and General Information

Happy Thursday Everyone! Though do the days of the week really mean much to anyone anymore? Today I posted recordings on Google Classroom for each of the groups. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns related to any of this.

Remember that I'm available from 1-3 PM for Office Hours. We can review this work or just chat about anything you'd like.

AP English Literature: Today we took a look at the poem posted by College Board and the writing task. We did some close reading and analysis to really deal with how elements of a poem's structure are connected to meaning. Tomorrow we'll take a look at some of the materials posted for today as well as other feedback related to AP Classroom assignments.

AP Research: Today we built two calendars and discussed what a final assessment may look like given that there are no more PODs. One calendar is for those who aren't really affected by the school closure/national shutdown; the other is for those on the other side of that line. Please keep in mind that we still have working days in our calendar where you can conference and ask questions.

Russian Language: We discussed the main usages for nominative, genitive, and prepositional cases as well as some new/review vocabulary. A lot of what we're doing is just reviewing and reinforcing the basics. Tomorrow we'll go over the other cases. Remember that you have access to DuoLingo for free and you can join our class so that you can do focused lessons. Ask for the code if you need it.