Thursday, April 22, 2010

Today is the mock DUI activity for juniors and seniors only. Report to third period, after which we will have dismissal to the stadium for the duration of the period. This should not affect the rest of the campus, except for a slightly extended third period should the program run late.

Word of the Day: fruition

Author of the Day: David Sedaris

Today's Holiday: Take Our Daughters/Sons to Work Day/Earth Day (!)/National Jellybean Appreciation Day (I wonder if these counts for Bott's Every Flavor Beans. . .)

Gifted English II: Author of the Day; review rules 2 and 3 from the Short Handbook; finish analyzing "Janet Waking" by John Crowe Ransom; instructions on how to write a cultural review; return graded work; begin questions on TFA.

APees: Obviously, third period is a wash due to the Mock DUI, but the afternoon classes will do two things: go through Heart of Darkness through the beginning of Part II and analyze a few key passages, and begin the comprehensive review for the entire course. Also, if we have a moment, I'd like to address the second prompt from yesterday/last week's AP Practice Examination.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The FCAT Writes! test will be administered next Tuesday, resulting in an elongated second period session. If you have late arrival, please check with an administrator or check the adjusted bell schedule for your arrival time on that day. I will be administering the test to a small group of learners in my classroom, which means that 313 is strictly off-limits to non-testers. We cannot interfere with the integrity of the test. See me if you have any questions throughout the week.

Sophys: The focus paper for Julius Caesar won't be due until after the FCAT Writes, even though we are already beginning Othello. Also, I can extend the memorization assignment into early next week due to overlapping deadlines with the Lupercalian project, the standardized testing, and scheduling for next year. I will clarify in class tomorrow.

Students in second/third period: The School Board will be paying us a visit tomorrow. Be nice.

Gifted English II: After I distribute the Othello content vocabulary, we will be writing a quick, informal response to a quote from the tragedy for pre-reading purposes. Also, we will be going over the Lupercal festival concept with more detail.

APees: I will give each of you a packet of student-generated essays on the prompt you outlined/addressed yesterday in class. As a group, we are going to read over the student samples and determine the criteria the College Board is seeking for poetic analysis on Hardy's text.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Today is Registration Day for the sophomores. Meet in the Guidance lobby. Second period--this means you will be watching BBC in the lobby. I think this is a good day for a subsequent BBC quiz. . .

Note to all students: 8 seniors and 11 sophomores still have not posted their essays to www.turnitin.com OR e-mailed me a copy so I could do it for them. I WILL NOT RECORD YOUR GRADES UNTIL IT GOES THROUGH THIS PORTAL. Progress reports go home Friday; do you want a zero sitting there? You have two very simple options for fulfilling this requirement and if it is not done by Wednesday afternoon the zero goes in.

APees: Since we haev been discussing the autobiographical elements of Jane Eyre, I think it would be interesting for us to look at a bit of Bronte's correspondence. She sought advice from the then-famous "Lake Poet" Robert Southey, and reading their letters to each other offers a great deal of insight into both of their personalities. Not to mention that these letters lead to a terrific AP prompt. . .