Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Thank goodness I get paid my minor ducats today for my labors. Not that I'm in this for the money, mind you. But little things like "rent" and "car payment" and "ongoing handbag fund" must be ameliorated. . .

Today, the lesson is easy--for me. Not so much for you. Love to all!

Gifted English II: Things Fall Apart assessment, which is a fancy-dancy way of saying "test." Mwahahahahaha. Bring a pencil or pen and your BRAIN.

APees: Heart of Darkness assessment, and y'all are cynical enough to know that it's a test. An old-fashioned test. Please be grateful I postponed it a day in light of the AP Calc, AP Gov, and AP Whatsit tests of yesterday. Can't you feel the compassion? Now take your test!!!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Word of the Day: truthiness

Holiday Today: Yeah, we're not going there. It's illegal and there you have it.

Author of the Day: Stephen Colbert

Gifted English II: Collect HW and go over principles of pronoun/antecedent agreement preparatory to AP Lang next year (Short Handbooks will be ready for each of you Wednesday); go over discussion questions for TFA; go over "Janet Waking" by John Crowe Ransom; go over review writing assignment.

APees: More Heart of Darkness, Books 1 and 2. And if we have time, further reflection on "The Hollow Men" with respect to the novel.

Reminders: AP Practice Exam (mandatory) is after school on Wednesday, April 21 from 1:15-3:15. I will be hosting. 3rd period: The Mock DUI will be in the stadium during your class session on Thursday. ALL STUDENTS: If you need comm serv hours, please see me ASAP and I can help you make arrangements.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Happy Monday! Another week takes us closer to AP exams. Oh, and Prom. Oh, and the end of the school year. Spring has sprung and we have stuff to do. To wit:

Word of the Day: narcoleptic

Holiday: Today is the anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing (to be taken very seriously as a commemorative event) but the two accompanying, sillier holidays are Boston Marathon Day and National Hey Let's Hang Out Day.

Author of the Day: Edith Wharton

Gifted English II: How to Write a Review (by establishing criteria); pronouns and antecedents, by request of the AP Lang instructor, and a cool poem about a dead chicken. It doesn't get any better than this, folks. We still need to do those discussion questions for TFA, as well. Next reading deadline: the rest of Part I, due Thursday.

APees: Heart of Darkness--notes on the board (Layers of Meaning) followed by questions to do or not-do. Remember the Macpacket? The students who followed the questions did CONSIDERABLY better on the test than their counterparts. Just saying. Jane Eyre papers on the extended deadline are due, in my hand, by 3 p.m.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Ah, the joys of mid-April. So much left to do this year, and so little time.

Author of the Day: Vaclav Havel

Word of the Day: neophyte

Holiday: High-5 Day/Wear Pajamas to Work Day (no, I don't plan to)

Gifted English II: TFA Quiz; Elements of Style part II.

APees: Focus Paper due on Jane Eyre with title parade; Heart of Darkness passage analysis ("The Accountant")

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Today is Tax Day. Many of you don't have to file at all, since you made below the national minimum, but I encourage any of you who worked in fiscal 2009 to file since you may get a refund AND learning to fill out government paperwork is a critical life skill that will take up much of your first year of college. Just saying.

Author of the Day: Thomas Aquinas

Word of the Day: vacillate

Holiday of the Day: IRS Awareness Day/McDonald's Day

Gifted English II: Content vocabulary for Things Fall Apart; review for Part I of the novel; grammar.

APees: Farewell to Romanticism; peer review of prompts in class preparatory to AP exam; Heart of Darkness again.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Today is the first opportunity to test in the Media Center after school for the AP Practice Exam. PLEASE see me immediately if you cannot make it today OR next Wednesday due to LEGITIMATE conflicts so that I can find time for you to take this. THIS IS MANDATORY.

Author of the Day: Sophie Kinsella

Word of the Day: truculent

Holiday: Be Kind to Lawyers Day (you never know when you might need one!)

Gifted English II: In-class "Review of a Review" assignment. It's a little bit of a meta-cognition thing, but I think it's pretty cool. And don't forget that the quiz on Part I of Things Fall Apart is Friday.

APees: Heart of Darkness background; super-review packet #1; MC passage analysis. Exam is hurtling towards us like a freight train.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

I know that some of you will be out today for the Photo III field trip with Mr. Allen. If you see something cool in Augie that would make our classroom even weirder, get it!

Author of the Day: Truman Capote

Word of the Day: calumny

Weird Holiday Day: Thomas Jefferson Day (remind me to tell you a cool anecdote about something Kennedy once said about Jefferson.)

Gifted English II: Notes on the board regarding criteria for writing reviews; example of a review by Anthony Lane from The New Yorker. Our next non-fiction foray is writing a review of a cultural text from the past three years; anything from a concert to a CD release to a movie. I hope I don't get 58 reviews of Avatar.

APees: The transition to Heart of Darkness begins with a reading of T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men". The epigraph at the top of the poem is from the novel.