Monday, August 25, 2008

With any luck, we will have an undisturbed week of education--if the weather holds! Oh, the joys of living in Florida.

Gifted English II: Vocabulary Quiz today (I'll give you a few minutes to review first) followed by the delayed peer edit for the paper on Loman and Meursault. I will be extending that assignment deadline, by the way--if will be due on www.turnitin.com by midnight on Wednesday, August 27, and you may bring your hard copy by 4:30 the next day. Hopefully, we will also get textbooks this week, but if we don't, never fear--we have plenty to do! Your homework tonight is to work on your revised draft and define your next set of vocabulary terms--numbers 21-40. Author of the Day today is Alice Walker.

APees: We will be going to College and Career to see Mrs. Cadman today for a brief visit; also, you have the Senior Assembly tomorrow during third period AND counselor meetings by alpha on Tuesday and Thursday in the auditorium. Please check my board to determine what period you need to attend; I will post it in this space as well once I determine if any changes will be made due to last week's cancellations.

Upcoming Issues:

Seniors! Please follow up on your recommendation requests to teachers and other adults in your lives; please also involve your parents in your application process. As you will discover in meetings this week, financial aid and scholarship applications will require financial data from your parents, some fo which may be private. Talk with them now about what they would like you to do, and how much help they are comfortable with seeking from an outside source. I will be happy to help you fill out your online apps and I will also be available to proofread your college essays. However, please do NOT ask me to proofread a paper for another instructor. It is highly unethical and places both of us in a bad position. The Writing Center may be open as early as next week; stay tuned for more details.

Community Service: In the past, I have hosted ushering opportunities at the Orlando Shakespeare Festival. This year, I will not be associated directly with this organization, but I am in the process of handing the reins to another faculty member so you can still earn service hours. The schedule change for high school was a large factor in this decision; I just can't do as much as I used to.

Travels Abroad: I generally chaperon two trips abroad each year with a local non-profit organization that is a licensed vendor for OCPS; last year, we went to London and Italy, and this year, we are going to Vienna/Prague for Thanksgiving Week (you must be eighteen or older to attend, and I only have two spaces left) and Germany for Spring Break. I will be hosting an informational meeting after Labor Day in my classroom, and anyone interested is welcome to attend. I will have informational handouts this week in my classroom. I know travel is expensive, particularly in a recession, but if this is something that your family is interested in anyway, going as part of an educational group is not a bad way to go. (I don't speak German, by the way. . .)