Monday, March 15, 2010

Beware the Ides of March; the Ides of March, beware! Mwahahahahahahahaha. . .

Some general housekeeping: A river of graded work needs to go back today, and for those of you who have been racking up absences, please see me ASAP to get make-up quizzes, etc. back on track. I am uploading grades for this quarter beginning next Wednesday, March 24, so the sooner the better. Go, ProgressBook, go.

ALSO: Several of you have asked for reprints of rec letters for scholarships. See me as soon as possible to facilitate this due to my increasing suspicion that my classroom computer is dying. It has made mastadon-like noises in the hard drive region of late, and it's eight years old, which in computer world is practically primeval. And it takes forever to boot up. And it no longer likes my Lord of the Rings screensaver. And it cusses at me when it thinks I'm not paying attention. We have long had an adversarial relationship, this computer and I, and now as it goes gently into that good night it is raging against the dying of the light. So letter-needers: See me ASAP. Really.

Today's Curriculum! 'Cause we got some!

Gifted English II: Finally, finally finishing the O. The Great Smother is upon us, and it does beg the question: At what point does someone who was smothered, then uncovered, then gives a speech, which denotes a use of oxygen, seem to unrealistically die? Desdemona embraces her quietus with fortitude and stumbles through a speech before succumbing to the great beyond, but medical scholars and disbelieving audience members alike say What What? Of course, we have to see what happens (if anything) to the dastardly Iago. Life's not fair, kids. Not at all.

APees: We put the F (as in Fun) in FRQ today, oh yes we do, and we apply said FRQness to Jane Eyre. And we will talk more about Jane, and possibly do a close reading of a selected passage. Bronte is so awesome. Like totally.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Word of the Day: pedantic

Holiday of the Day: International Pancake Day, Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday)

Gifted English II: Post-it note quiz on Othello, Act I, followed by a review of the content vocabulary for Act I for tomorrow's quiz (two in a row!) and a Lupercal group meeting for Friday's project. I will be collecting the Julius Caesar papers until 3 p.m. and need you to upload it to www.turnitin.com. If you can't recall your password, or need your account updated, you can e-mail me your paper as a Word attachment (double spaced) to my e-mail address either here or through the BHS website and I can do it for you. Or find me today and I'll take care of it for you!

APees: For the first half of the period, two scenes from Young Frankenstein (HILARIOUS) and for the second half, Keats. You will never look at a pot the same way again. "Ode on a Grecian Urn" rocks the free world. Happy, happy boughs indeed!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Today's weird holiday is fourfold: National Sports Wives Day (tell Tiger's wife), National Visit a Shut-in Day (tell Tiger), National Be Satisfied Staying Single Day (again with his wife) and National White Shirt Day (no idea who benefits from that one.)

Today's word is avarice, which means greed.

Gifted English II: Review the requirements for the JC focus paper, which I would like submitted by Friday but which I will take by Tuesday. See how nice I can be? And in class--Othello, Othello, Othello, and go over the content vocabulary preparatory to tomorrow's exciting little quizlet.

APees: Finish the TP-CASTT analysis of "West Wind" and take a stickynote quiz on said poem; then begin transition into Keats. I love Keats. Almost as much as Coleridge. And that is saying something.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

APees: If you need to make up the Frankenstein test, I really need to give it to you after school today during the English Department meeting. I will be in 315 for about 14 minutes (if the meeting goes as scheduled--fingers crossed!) and I will have you in the adjacent office/313 testing. Bring a pen or pencil and your brain. The make-up test is challenging.

Gifted English II: Today we need to solidify groups for the Lupercal project, which I think we should move to next Friday to give you time to plan. I'll let you generate a planning session and clarify the expectations for the project. Good times! If we have time after that, I'd like to go over the Julius Caesar focus paper assignment, too, which is due February 12, 2010 AND needs to go on www.turnitin.com. Tomorrow is the last chance to generate an account on this service, so see me if you have problems. Now that the first part of the FCAT is over we can start moving forward more purposefully to AP Language preparation.

APees: "Ode to the West Wind" by Shelley and TP-CASTT analysis. Our next poet is Keats, so you WILL need your lit books pretty much each day from now until further notice. Reminder: Frankenjournals are due Friday, and NEED TO BE TYPED. I am still vacillating on whether or not they need to be uploaded to www.turnitin.com considering the personal nature of the assignment, but this is the assignment last year that yielded the most plagiarism. I am at a moral crossroads and think I will err on the side of caution. Love to all, though; love to all.

Remember: THREE DAY WEEKEND COMING UP!!!!!!!!!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Our word of the day is lugubrious, which means sad or lachrymose.

Our holiday today is Boy Scout Awards Day and Laugh and Get Rich Day, whatever that last one means. I wouldn't mind celebrating that one repeatedly!

Gifted English II: I only have one student remaining who needs to take the JC Unit test, but SEVERAL students did not do their memorizations on Friday, and not due to lack of time, either. I am beyond annoyed and late penalties will be assessed--it's not fair to the students who did it on time, and with tremendous skill, too. See me to schedule a time NOT DURING CLASS. In class today, we are going over the testing locations for tomorrow's FCAT Writes and beginning Othello, Act I.

AP Lit and Comp: Frankenstein Unit Test and review of Frankenstein Reading Journals, due FRIDAY. I had said they were due on the tenth, but that's when I thought the tenth was Friday. Serves me right for guessing dates. Please bring your lit book with you to class tomorrow so we can analyze Shelley's "West Wind."

Friday, February 5, 2010

Today is International Nutella Appreciation Day, a day dear to my heart. I love the stuff, although it is probably the single worst thing I could possibly eat.

Gifted English II: Julius Caesar memorizations due today!!!

APees: Frankenstein check-reading test, followed by more "West Wind" madness. If we have time.

Thursday, January 4, 2010

Today is Liberace Appreciation Day! I have no idea how you'd like to celebrate this day of wonder and joy, but I plan to wear glitter.

Gifted English II: Julius Caesar Unit Test (easy!) and Othello Act I, scene i. Warning: It's saucy.

APees: Review for Frankenstein check-reading test tomorrow, complete with related allusions to Milton, Coleridge, and Percy Bysshe Shelley. If we have time, I'd like to start cranking through "Ode to the West Wind". It is all kinds of awesome, except for one weak line.

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 2, 2010

Happy Groundhog Day!!!

Gifted English II: Julius Caesar review part II; return graded work; memorizations; organize Lupercal festivities; transition into Othello.

AP Lit: Timed Writing on "Convergence of the Twain" by Thomas Hardy. It's a poem about a boat--a really big boat. Take a good hard look at the boat. :-)

Monday, February 1, 2010

Welcome to February!!!

Gifted English II: The Julius Caesar test has been postponed until Thursday, but we are reviewing in class today regardless. We are also going to begin the focus paper assignment--many of you may opt to revise the timed writing from last week into the final draft. Also, we are going to REMIND YOU about the memorization assignment due later this week.

AP Literature: Analysis of "Rime" and "Kubla Khan" with emphasis on the conflict between Wordsworth and Coleridge. We need to talk about what Wordsworth deemed faulty characterization and overwrought imagery, and then look at the allusions, imagery, and metaphors in both works.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Today's weird holiday is Free Thinkers Day and Fun at Work Day. Since I try to think freely and have fun at work every day, I'm not sure what to do differently, per se, today, but I might wear a funky hat.

Today's word is fungible, which means easily broken.

We'll leave Ireland alone for today. I can't pronounce anything anyway and will depend on the kindness of strangers, as I usually do when I travel.

Gifted English II: JC vocabulary quiz; plan for Lupercalia; review for JC unit test early next week.

APees: "Rime" journal entry/reaction paper; Iron Maiden Air Guitar Day with their version of "Rime." AWESOME.

NOTE: I will be out of town this weekend with limited internet access. I will try to check messages, but I am a busy girl. If you need a letter of recommendation or have an existential crisis, try to hold on until Monday. Have a great weekend, and have fun at BRAVE AID!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

'Allo, guvner!

Here are our lessons for today:

Word of the Day: abstemious

Irish Word of the Day: cuidiú (help)

Today’s Holiday: Thomas Crapper Day

Gifted English II: Julius Caesar Act IV questions; reminder of memorizations pending; transition to Act V

AP Lit and Comp: Begin “Rime”—notes on board; analysis chart.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Today is my Mom's birthday! What do you get for the woman who has everything--well, all she wants is time with me, so I'm taking her shopping and for a manicure. Girls day out. After school hours, of course--I'm a role model for today's youth and would hate to be absent on such an illustrious day as today, because. . .

Dun dun dun. . .

We have fascinating things to do and learn today! I am so excited!

NOTE ABOUT THIRD QUARTER: For many students, third quarter is the worst quarter. For seniors, graduation is just far enough away as to seem unattainable, yet close enough to terrify with the Real World Oh My Goodness Really thing. For sophys, it is an amalgam of FCAT-osity, scheduling joy, and the sudden sinking realization that your junior year is creeping up on you. Historically, many of my talented learners have removed themselves from school on their own recognizance more than usual during the famed and feared third quarter, but this need not be you. Think about this: Third quarter is actually a magical time, suspended between a three-day weekend and Spring Break, in which you can re-evaluate, re-assess, and re-vitalize your educational path. Did your grades suck worse than a vacuum cleaner first semester? Time to bring them up! Colleges will only see final grades! Get moving! Did you fail to invest in your relationships with others or did you falter in taking advantage of the rich social resources BHS has to give you? Did you make poor life choices and NOT listen to your English teacher's puppet shows? Now is the time. . .now is the time. . .to seize the brass ring of determination and wrap it exuberantly around your head. LET'S GET BUSY!!!!!!!!!!

Focal points for this quarter:

Gifted English II: Shakespearean studies, grammar, and the resurrection of the Author of the Day project, FCAT skills, Lupercal festival

APees: Romanticism unit; thesis statement development for AP FRQ prompts; writing conventions

Word of the Day: bilious

Irish Word of the Day: Dia duit (hello)

Today’s Holiday: Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (seriously)

Gifted English II: Resurrection of Author of the Day project, beginning next week/Julius Caesar recap of Venn diagram and new content vocab from Act IV; reminder about Elements of Style by next week as well. HOMEWORK: Finish definitions and acquire Elements of Style.

AP Lit and Comp: Review of Wordsworth concepts; samples from semester exam FRQs; transition into Coleridge (with pop-up goodness). Frankenstein reading quiz tomorrow for Part I (different format from first quiz.) Distribution of graded work. HOMEWORK: At least one journal entry for Frankenstein; bring lit book tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Today should, hopefully, be the last day of my medical woe. I will be on campus until the conclusion of B lunch, so if students in the afternoon classes have any questions come find me.

Word of the Day: ameliorate

Today's holiday: Unidentified, but I can tell you that January is apparently California Dried Plum Digestive Month. Yay for prunes!

(And many, many thanks to JM Bell for the AWESOME bubble wrap calendar. There was much rejoicing all day long.)

Gifted English II: A continuation of our compare/contrast analysis of The Speeches, followed by a brief screening of Acts II and III of the play.

APees: After a journal entry that is thematically related to Wordsworth's poem, we will begin analysis of "Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey," his landmark lyric poem--written entirely in blank verse, and entirely as a draft--about a return visit to a special place. I love this poem and hope you love it, too; one line in particular has always resonated with me: "The best parts of a good man's life/The little, nameless, unnumbered acts of kindness/And of love." Wow.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Mrs. Corbin will be with you today; be nice to her, as she is one of my favorite people. I have to do Medical Testing Part II today but will be back Monday, by hook or by crook. The final chapter is Tuesday afternoon, so Mrs. Corbin will be back with periods 5-7, but then I should be good (God willing and the creek don't rise) for a while. And thank you to all of the sweet children with good thoughts. It's been a rough few weeks.

Gifted English II: Turn in your HW to Mrs. Corbin, and then work for the first part of the period on JC questions related to Act III. (I'll be picking up the Act II questions, which are lengthier, by the end of the period Monday.) At the halfway mark of the period, she is going to turn on the DVD player and let you watch Acts I and II of the play. The version you will be watching is from the early 1970's, featuring Charlton Heston as Mark Antony and Sir John Geilgud as the doomed dictator. Enjoy!

APees: Today you will work on your reading journal with respect to Frankenstein. There are a few extra copies of the novel on the shelf up front if you need one, and there are extra copies of the journal assignment on the podium. Your first entry MUST be from one of the epistolary chapters (or can comment on all of them en masse) so today is NOT a day to be checking Facebook surreptitiously (I know what you are doing back there, you) nor frantically finishing calc homework for Dr. Tachon. Read! Read!

*hope it snows*

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Gifted English II: Your HW last night was to define ten words from Act III of Julius Caesar; your HW tonight is to craft ten sentences utilizing these words. Here are the guidelines: A) The sentence MUST reveal your understanding of the word's meaning and B) the sentence must somehow relate to Julius Caesar. Easy, yes? A tad tricky, eh? You can do it!

Today in class: The assassination of Julius. And he looked like such a nice old man. . .

APees: Introductory notes on the Gothic novel and Frankenstein, with a read-aloud from the first letter Robert Walton writes to his sister, Margaret Walton Saville. We will discuss the nature of exploration and the challenge of discerning the gender of an author from the text--and if that is even relevant to our analysis. Also, I will be distributing the reading journal assignment for the novel.

Tuesday, January 5, 2009

Gifted English II: Your HW last night was an open-play quiz on Act I; today, we transition to Act II. I have some questions you will need to answer for this part of the play, which is largely expository and not as action-oriented as the other acts. We are going to work through part of this today in class--your HW is to finish the questions.

AP Lit and Comp: We need to finish the analysis of "Preludes" and transition into Romanticism. Reminder: Please go by the Media Center to pick up a copy of Frankenstein. We will be working through the epistolary part of the novel (the first four chapters) together this week, while preparing for the semester exam/essay portion.

I will be giving you each an outline for note-taking purposes, but here is the essence of what you can expect for those of you super-organized types:

Romanticism Notes: APeees

People to Know

William Wordsworth

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Percy Shelley

John Keats

William Blake

George Gordon, Lord Byron

John Constable

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Mary Shelley

Concepts to Know

mutability

the quest for immortality

nature imagery

the paradox

spirituality

connections: landscape to sky; art to immortality

lyric poetry

the Gothic novel

romanticism and revolution

Specific Works for Reference

“The World is Too Much With Us”

“Tintern Abbey”

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

“Kubla Khan”

“Ode to a Nightingale”

“When I Have Fears”

“Ode on a Grecian Urn”

“On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer”

“Ozymandias”

“Ode to the West Wind”

The Gothic Novel

Frankenstein

Jane Eyre

Wuthering Heights

The Byronic Hero

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Mr Bailey will be your sub today, so be super-nice to him!!! He's a Gator!

Gifted English II: Julius Caesar Unit test, and content vocabulary for Othello. Use the dictionaries in the room to identify as many words as you can, although some are archaic and must be defined in context. IF YOU HAVE A COPY OF NO FEAR OTHELLO, BRING IT TOMORROW.

APees: "Ode to the West Wind" and TP-CASTT. Quick reminder (which will be posted on the board, btw): TP-CASTT is a College Board-recommended mnemonic device for analyzing tricky poems. Since "Ode" is in a complicated set of terza rima sonnets, this format will help you deconstruct what Shelley is attempting to convey about autumn, grieving, and the creative process (among other things.)

Title
Paraphrase
Connotation (figurative language, essentially)
Attitude/tone
Shifts
Title, again--symbolic interpretation, perhaps?
THEME

Also, also, also: www.turnitin.com is NOT an option. BOTH CLASSES will need to post their focus papers on this website by Friday, January 30 at midnight, or e-mail it to jennifer.hilley@ocps.net by the same time deadline to receive full credit for the paper. Each late day will cost you five points. THIS IS NOT AN OPTION.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Someone mentioned getting seamonkeys for the class in lieu of the ongoing attempt to keep a Goldfish cracker taped to the board in a cruel world where Goldfish crackers taped to the board are squished by nefarious types. Thoughts? Seamonkeys? A cactus? Some other easy-to-maintain class pet? A Chia Pet? Pet rock?

On to academics:

NOTE: I will not be here Wednesday; Mr. Bailey will be your sub. Be nice to him!! He is my friend and I will be upset with you if he is upset. Also, two of you still need to make up the AP Lit semester test. . .time is ticking. . .

Gifted English II: I just found out that I will be giving the FCAT Writes, but I 'll be using my own classroom to do it. Yay! Some of you will be with me, but I won't have the list until the day before the test.

Today in class: After we complete the peer review of the Julius Caesar paper, which is due Friday, we will have our first meeting fo the Lupercal Festival groups. I tried to accommodate everyone's wishes--everyone got at least their first or second choice!--and I'd encourage you to exchange e-mail addresses and phone numbers to facilitate our progress. The Festival date is Tuesday, February 9--the day before FCAT Writes. Why not?

JULIUS CAESAR UNIT TEST IS TOMORROW. BRING A NUMBER 2 PENCIL.

APees: Peer review for the Shelley paper, followed by an introduction to the poetry of Percy Shelley and John Keats.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Gifted English II: After looking over a cool article about the linguistic and intellectual value of Scrabble, we need to divide into groups and start planning our Lupercal Festival. Don't forget the peer edit assignment due tomorrow--in class, we will be peer-reviewing the Julius Caesar focus paper. Plan ahead: JC test will most likely be Wednesday.

AP Literature: I made enough copies of the Scrabble article FYI, but we're not going to belabor the issue since we have miles to go. You also have a a peer edit in class tomorrow--for the Shelley paper--and we are preparing to transition to the poetry of Shelley and Keats, both of whom have made appearances on past AP exams. Today in class, though--written assessment of "Rime" in journal form. Bring a pen and a full brain.