Wednesday, April 27, 2005

AP Literature: Hand back graded Jane Eyre essays and reading journals; go over elements of the novels; look at a sample passage for the AP exam.

Gifted IV: Collect Frankenpapers; finish looking at themes from Rocking Horse; begin to wrap up Victorian literature.

Gifted II: SAT Vocabulary Quiz; distribute copies of Sula by Toni Morrison; focus paper assignment for novel.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Writing Center open before and after school and during lunch.

AP Literature: 1st period is taking a brief Taming of the Shrew quiz (good times!) and then resuming our discussion of AP Review materials. 5th will keep reviewing and possibly have time to go back into WSS.

Gifted IV: Finish the D.H. Lawrence story and go into questions for it; Frankenpaper reminder.

Gifted II: Collect controversial commentary drafts; discussion of the novels we read; review SAT vocab list; look at documentation strategies.

Monday, April 25, 2005

I am drowning under a wide sargasso sea of grading. Just so you know.

APees: Handed out final focus paper assignment for the year, due May 4. If you are taking the AP Stats exam, you can get it to me by the morning of the 6th, since the 5th is our test. I also distributed the handouts to review the major works of literature we studied this year--we did a lot this year! If you need a new copy of the 120 Literary Terms list from the first week of school, please let me know.

Gifted English IV: We started D. H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner," and discussed maternal relationships. Frankenpaper due Wednesday.

Gifted English II: Author of the Day, went over irrelevant but interesting subject matter, and finished the check-read tests. Your SAT 4 Vocab Quiz is Wednesday, and your rough draft for the controversial commentary is due tomorrow by 3 p.m.

Author of the Day Quiz will be next week.

Friday, April 22, 2005

Whew. What a week.

AP Literature: 1st period: Watch brief scene from Taming of the Shrew; read, learn grow. 5th period: Finish yesterday's discussion of WSS; look over new questions in packet.

Gifted IV: Work on Frankenpaper.

Gifted II: Check-reading tests on Crime and Punishment, Candide, or Utopia. If you finish early you can color. (Half-kidding.)

Writing Center open. Thank goodness it's Friday.

If you are ushering for Midsummer Night's Dream, plan to be at the lake at 7 p.m. for call time with a blanket or some other kind of warming-up device (no, your date does NOT count.) We are also ushing Sunday night at 7.

Thursday, April 21

UPDATE: The AP Lit exam WILL be given on campus May 5, but in the isolated portables back by Blankner, intercoms disconnected. You will have additional desk space if needed and the bathrooms to the 700 will be unlocked for your use during breaks.

AP Lit: 1st period is going over Taming of the Shrew--gender stereotypes, and explication de texts. 5th is going over Wide Sargasso Sea and answering discussion questions on Part I. If you weren't here, get the notes on symbolism.

Gifted IV: "To an Athlete Dying Young" by Housman, and an inspired discussion of steroid use.

Gifted II: Work on commentaries and finish analysis of Grammy article.

Writing Center open.

Wednesday, April 20

Everyone, please pray for/have happy thoughts for Mrs. Tapley. She just lost her father-in-law.

AP Lit: Finished the Jane Austen passage.

Gifted IV: Focus paper due next Wednesday on Frankenstein.

Gifted II: Rough draft of cultural commentary due next Tuesday. It would be easier for me to evaluate if it's typed. We went over the "Grammy" article today and conferred on your topic.

AP LIT PRACTICE EXAM THIS AFTERNOON UNTIL 4:30.

Tuesday, April 19

On an unrelated-to-pedagogy note: We have a new Pope! Welcome Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, the new Pope Benedict XVI.

AP: Finish going over multiple choice.

Gifted IV: Frankentest.

Gifted II: Choice--some of you took the test, some read, some worked on controversial commentaries.

REMINDER: THE AP PRACTICE EXAMINATION IS TOMORROW IN ROOM 313 FROM 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Monday, Monday

APees: Jane Eyre final drafts due by 3 p.m.

Gifted IV: Victorian Novel video and discussion of Frankenstein preparatory for your test tomorrow.

Gifted II: More discussion of controversial commentaries, and Rimbaud as Author of the Day.

CLARIFICATION: I have made a horrible mistake, third period. Your test is NOT tomorrow. So here is what I am going to do: The test is available tomorrow, to whomever is prepared to take it. If you take it tomorrow, I will grade more gently than Friday. If you are NOT ready and wish to have three extra days to prepare, so be it. I am having an enormous amount of trouble this quarter keeping track of things--blame the doctor, blame my own age, blame whatever--but that seems a reasonable compromise. Sigh. It just doesn't end.

And for the record, all sophomores, you have had MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME TO READ YOUR NOVEL. Double sigh.

So there.

Friday, April 15, 2005

Did you file your taxes, my children?

AP Literature: Teeny little quiz on WSS in fifth period; work on multiple choice section in both classes preparatory for the REAL test on May 5. It's coming, whether we are ready or not. I think we are.

Gifted IV: Frankenstein discussion, part II,and more Browning.

Gifted II: POETRY COFFEEHOUSE. We will have cocoa and mood lighting and sit around and share poems. And wear berets. And snap to show approval of linguistic choices. Good times.

And now, what you all have been waiting for:

THE PROM SPEECH

Tomorrow night is the Prom for Boone High School at the Renaissance Hotel in Orlando. I know that many of you know all of this, and will do what you are planning to do anyway, but I think it bears repeating:

This is not the best night of your life.

If it is, I feel badly for you.

You have many other adventures awaiting you as you move through various rites of passage, and if Prom is the apex, then woe be it to your future.

So don't treat this evening like it is anything more symbolic or powerful than another nice dance. Don't feel that you have to make Huge Crushing Decisions on this night, or that you have to Try Something Just This Once because it is the Prom and you may never have another opportunity, or that you need to Show Him/Her How Much I Love Him/Her in that Dress/Tuxedo.

Lots of babies born nine months after the Prom.

Lots of scabrous diseases swapped about on Prom night.

Lots of kids arrested, grounded, humiliated, posted online, or worse--injured or removed completely from the planet--on Prom night.

I'm not trying to be the Moral Majority, but let's face certain facts. People can be stupid, and just because those people are wearing expensive or rented formalwear does not mean that they have control over their brains. Alcohol and teenagers simply should not mix. And don't even get me going on the incredible stupidity of drug use.

Six high schools are having Prom on this particular Saturday night, which means that the probability of you getting into an accident are higher than other nights of the year. Many kids will be littered all over the roads, trying to get home at a late hour OR trying to get to a party OR attempting to please-God-I'll-never-drink-again-if-I-make-it-home navigate.

So here is what I am asking you to do.

Have fun! Your spoon goes on the right and your fork on the left. A napkin, ideally, should go in your lap, and not tucked jovially into your bow-tie or decollatage. Dance. Take pictures of your friends. Take pictures of people you don't even know. Why not? Take a souvenir. Hug people--your date, your friends, your principal. Have a good time. Keep your dress on. Keep your tuxedo in returnable condition. Drink water or soda. And then, PLEASE, do NOT get into a car driven by someone who is impaired. Do not drive, yourself, if you are impaired. Please don't GET impaired. It's just another night, and I would like very much for you to survive to see more nights. Worst case scenario: You can call me and I will come get you. I WILL tell your parents, but you'll be alive and uninjured. You can e-mail me and I will check messages and I will come get you. If your date is a schlub, I will come get you. Any chaperone will get you a ride home. Any hotel employee can call you a cab. Do not ride home with some fool because you are afraid of being in trouble; there are far worse things than getting yelled at.

I love all of you. I have seen the deaths of 13 students I personally knew during my teaching career, and I do not wish to bury more. PLEASE BE CAREFUL.

And that's all I have to say.

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Well, after bragging to my students about how well I've been keeping up with these entries, I neglected to update in a timely fashion. Here goes:

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Writing Center open today and tomorrow--before, after school, and during both lunch shifts.

AP Lit: 1st period is finishing discussion on "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, then reading for Taming. 5th is reading WSS while I conference with some of you on your drafts.

Oh, and hug and kiss MaryGrace Bell for begging articulately this morning: Jane Eyre final draft is due MONDAY by 3 p.m. Have a nice Prom and brace yourself for The Prom Speech tomorrow.

Gifted IV: "My Last Duchess" by Browning. Hope you're reading Frankenstein.

Gifted II: Article by Marion Brady, and work on thesis paragraphs for controversial commentary.

Those of you who have been field-tripping recently (crew, chorus, band, drama, you name it) who still need make-up work, see me ASAP. Progress reports go out next Thursday.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

AP Literature: 1st period will peer-edit the Jane drafts; 5th did it today. Afterward, we will continue to work with the O'Brien story. If we have time, I will go over character development in both Taming of the Shrew (for first period) and WSS (for fifth). Please remember that Jane focus papers are due FRIDAY by 3 p.m.--NO EXCEPTIONS. EVEN FIELD TRIP PEOPLE NEED TO GET IT IN BY THAT DEADLINE.

Gifted IV: Continuing with Tennyson today. I will also give you the paper assignment for Frankenstein. You will be constructing a paper on the novel over the next two weeks, using at least 3 outside sources.

Gifted II: Commentary Paper Assignment and poetry. We will have the Coffeehouse Poetry Reading this Friday, April 15, to coincide with Tax Return Deadline Day.

I have a department meeting after school today and will not be available for one-on-one help, but I plan to be home in the evening if you want to e-mail me questions about your writing for either Jane, Frank , or controversies. Also, my AIM ID is oharagorn, and I might be online. If too many windows pop up, I may have to surrender and retreat.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Advanced Placement Practice Exam will be offered twice; once hosted by me and once by Covert. I will host on Wednesday, April 20 from 2:30 until 4:30. Mrs. Covert will host on the following Wednesday at the same time. That is the 27th. Plan to be at one of them. IT IS A GRADE.

All outside reading novels for Gifted II and IV are due on Tuesday, April 19. You have a week, guys! And I will know if you SparkNote it!

Today's Lessons and Information
If you would like to get in free to see Midsummer before the weekend, please show up at 6 p.m. Wednesday night at Lake Eola. Gina will tell you what to do. White on top, black on bottom, please. Thanks for helping!

Writing Center will be open before, after school, and during both lunch shifts. Some of my seniors might want to head over there.

AP Literature: In small groups, we are going to discuss and answer the questions for "The Things They Carried." Afterwards, peer edit the Jane drafts that I commented on last night.

Gifted English IV: More Tennyson. We need to finish our discussion of "Ulysses" and answer some thought questions about the poem, and then we will transition into "In Memoriam."

Gifted English II: We have mysteries to solve! Finish the video unit on the Flat Earth Society, and have Author of the Day presentations. I am trying to catch up on your grades right now, so hopefully I will have some things to give back to you today or tomorrow. We'll see.

Have a great day, guys! We are almost finished for the year, which makes me tremendously sad in some ways.

Monday, April 11

Wow--April is well underway. Can you believe it?

AP Literature: Your rough drafts for Jane Eyre are due today by 3 p.m. I will look at them this afternoon and give them back to you tomorrow. In class today, you will need your lit book.

Gifted English IV: We are reading an article about a Victorian writer named Mrs. Mortimer. She is a total nutcase. If we have time, we will segue into Tennyson.

Gifted English II: Media Literacy! Join B-FES, the Boone Flat Earth Society. Bring something to write with, something to write on, and an unerring sense of hope.

MUCH LOVE TO ALL. Have a beautiful day!!!

Friday, April 8, 2005

Writing Center open before, after school, and during both lunch shifts. I will be there to work with students both before and after school.

APees: Please bring your literary anthology with you today. We are going over another poem. Fifth period will get their copies of The Wide Sargasso Sea today; first period will be doing a different outside reading at this time until fifth finishes the novel. Expect a short due date on this book; it is only 194 pages and is quite easy to get through. First will either be reading To the Lighthouse by Woolf or Sula by Toni Morrison; we will take a vote democratically tomorrow.

Gifted IV: Victorian Era Quiz and then we will go to the Art Festival.

Gifted II: We are going to listen to a poem and then compare and contrast two sonnets by Shakespeare.

Art Festival Participants: Plan to come to my class. People made the wrong choice for Student/Teacher Exchange Day, and I am really unhappy about it.

Thursday, April 7, 2005

APees--Creative Writing Assignment for Jane Eyre. If you were absent, here is a synopsis of the assignment: Imagine any scene from the novel from the perspective of the "madwoman in the attic." Write from HER point of view, and feel free to get as off-center as you'd like within the confines of good taste. Your writing sample should be about a page in length.

Gifted IV: You need to read the essay on Victorian Literature in the Elements book, pp. 783-800. There WILL be a quiz tomorrow.

Gifted II: Author of the Day is James Baldwin, after which we are taking a short quiz on the Fowler article we read and discussed yesterday. We are also doing a grammatical activity in the spirit of Mad Libs. Do YOU know what an adverb phrase is? You will after today!

I will be here after school to go over any questions anyone might have. Currently grading reading journals; I will have some ready to return tomorrow, and look for the rest on Monday.

Wednesday, April 6, 2005

AP Literature: Jane Eyre Check-Reading Quiz today; bring a pencil. Reading journals are due by 3 p.m. in the Main Office.

Gifted English IV: Objective tests are graded. We will start the Victorian Age Lecture today. I have notes for each of you.

Gifted English II: We are going to look at language today, and review SAT List #3. I have a dandy article for each of you from The New Yorker about etymology and Fowler.

After school, I am not available--I have a department chair meeting, followed by a surprise party for Mr. Hattabaugh's imminent departure. Whooops. Not supposed to announce that. . .

Tuesday, April 5, 2005

Note to self: Your rent is due today! Don't forget.

APees: You need your lit book. For the first part of the period, I want to go over "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen. Then, I will let you work with the novel.

Gifted IV: Restoration Unit Test. Bring a pencil and a sheet of paper for the essay.

Gifted II: We are going to share our poems, then go back over the Neruda poem. Surrealism! Love it! And. . .SAT Vocab List #3. Good times.

After school, I am hosting the English Student of the Year Write-Off. Students of mine who need to attend are: Sean, MaryGrace, and Phillip. Whooot.

Monday, April 4, 2005

AP: Jane Eyre test has been shifted to Wednesday, at which time your reading journals are also due.

Gifted IV: Lecture/notes on Frankenstein and the Gothic Novel.

Gifted II: Author of the day presentations, followed by dramatic re-enactment of the poem "Crowded Tub," followed by a sizzling deconstruction of "Ode to My Socks" by Pablo Neruda.
Creative Writing Assignments due tomorrow! Come prepared to share!

After school: I have a meeting with Mr. Kinney from the County Office, but then I will be at Barnes and Noble grading papers until about 9 tonight. I expect I will get there a little before 7.

Back from Roma and still a little out of it

Today is Friday, April 1, and we are taking an AP Exam today.
Just kidding.
I am terrible at this April Fool Thing.

I am not yet caught up from jetlag and illness, but, dude, I'm trying.

So. . .

APees--finish multiple choice section and go over answers. Work on Jane Eyre assignments.

Gifted IV--review for unit test. Victorian Unit begins Monday, Restoration Unit Test Tuesday.

Gifted II--Author of the Day presentations, SAT Vocabulary Test #2, and if time we will start something pretty cool. If we have time.

I am leaving school early today for a doctor's appointment.