Monday, February 22, 2010

Word of the Day is obstreperous.

Holiday today is a trifecta: 1) George Washington's birthday, 2) Word Thinking Day, and 3) Single-Tasking Day (as opposed to Multi-Tasking Day, methinks.)

Gifted English II: Othello; we need to look at the questions for Act II. First period didn't get them on Friday, and second period only got page 1. Also, we need to review the Act II Content Vocabulary for Wednesday's quiz.

AP Literature and Composition: "When I Have Fears" by Keats, and introduction to Charlotte Bronte. Bring a pencil tomorrow!

School Advisory Council Meeting is tonight from 6-7 p.m. You don't have to worry about that, but at least you'll know where I am if I don't write back to e-mail during that hour!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Word of the Day: chinchilla

Holiday of the Day: Iwo Jima Day and International Mother Language Day.

Gifted English II: The Lupercal Festival is upon us. Each group will present an element of Roman life to the class, from Entertainment to Clothing to Food. Good luck all groups!

APees: Keats, Keats, more Keats. I love this guy.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Today is my half-birthday; not that I celebrate it or anything, but I am keenly aware that in a year and a half I will be forty years old. FORTY. I know people say that forty is the new twenty or whatever, and I know I don't look my age (between the generalized immaturity and the sole benefit of being fat--non-wrinkling, I am perpetually 27 or so) but dang. 40. Makes one think. I need to write that novel like NOW.

::self-pitying rant over::

Let's check out the curriculum!!!

Word of the Day: amalgam

Today's Holiday: Battery Day, Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (sounds sexist but is actually encouraging) and Chocolate Mint Day.

Gifted English II: Final Lupercal meeting; Othello again. Awesome!

APees: Shelley focus paper assignment (oh, don't act surprised) and Keats again--this time, "Nightingale." Romanticism creative project is due by March 2, 2010.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Word of the Day: emblazoned

Holiday of the Day: Ash Wednesday. For those of you commemorating Lent or the 40-Day-Challenge, what are YOU giving up? I am trying to give up negative thoughts. A few years ago I gave up caffeine and cursing at the same time, and it was an epic fail. This year, I long to be more focused on the positives of our lovely world.

Gifted English II: Othello vocabulary quiz, followed by a deep foray into Act II with related questions. Awesomeness abounds!

APees: Keats, Keats, Keats.

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.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Today is the FCAT Writes! First period will be as normally scheduled, after which everyone will report to their testing location. Seniors: You will NOT have third period today, but will stay in second period until the test is concluded. Sophys: Good luck on your test.

In light of recent events that have made me seriously question the logic of being a public school teacher, please allow me to reiterate some basic principles for functioning in 313:

1. Listen when I am speaking to you.
2. Turn off AND put away all electronic devices in class.
3. Do your work to the best of your ability and with integrity.

That last element is the most important; as the school year winds toward the conclusion, even the most diligent among you are losing focus. Friday's events will NOT be repeated or I swear I will run screaming into the hills and leave you to fend for yourselves. I am a firm believer in second (and even third) chances, but I am growing weary of chaos management, which second period in particular seems to relish.

Please think before you act. Every action has consequences. I take full responsibility for crafting an environment of informality; I was trying to create a safe place in which you could express yourselves. it is becoming increasingly clear to me that self-expression is not a problem for some of you, but self-restraint is. It would be unethical and irresponsible of me to allow this to continue, so expect regular reinforcement of expectation henceforth.

That said, here are the lessons:

1st Period Gifted English II: Othello Act II review and final tips for FCAT Writes!

AP Lit and Comp: John Keats, "When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be" and "Urn."

Here is the first poem, a sonnet of significant dolor:

WHEN I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain,
Before high piled books, in charact’ry,
Hold like rich garners the full-ripen’d grain;
When I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face,	5
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour!
That I shall never look upon thee more,	10
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love!—then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

What is Keats most sorry to abandon? What seems to be his central fear? How does our knowledge of his plight add to our reading of this poem? What kind of sonnet is this?

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Brrrrrrr!  The cold weather continues!  I hope you survived the evening with lows near 26--unprecedented chill for Central Florida.  Bundle up for school; you never know how cold the classrooms may be.  We like our air conditioning.  

Gifted English II:  After we review sample FCAT Writes! prompts and discuss strategies for next week's writing test, we will adjourn to our groups to go over the Lupercal Festival coming on Monday.  You need to have The Elements of Style by Strunk and White; we will be going over the first eleven rules in class each day for the next few days.  The first quiz is on this part of the book. I will post the rules you need here over the weekend; however, you still need the book to review the specific examples.  Trust me on this one--this book is THE definitive grammar text you will need for success in high school and beyond.

AP Literature and Comp:  Yesterday, we went through most of "Nightingale" by Keats; today, we will finish the final stanza with whole-class analysis, after which we will break into discussion groups to really delve into the discussion questions in the packet I gave you.

Reminder:  You need to have read through Chapter 4 of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte by tomorrow.  The book can be found electronically due to public domain should you still need a copy.  The copies in my classroom have already been distributed (in their limited way) but there are many copies available via the public library if you can't find one for purchase or do not wish to spend money on one.  

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Note to sophys: The FCAT Writes! list is posted on the wall at the Media Center and is on my computer via PDF; I would attach the list here but for student privacy laws. See me if you don't know where to test next week. Due to a glitch, I won't be proctoring, but I will be giving all of the proctors restroom breaks, so I may see some of you on testing day. Tips for testing will be posted in this space tomorrow.

Gifted English II: Othello vocabulary list for Act II and discussion of Act I. Some of the questions we need to consider regard Iago's manipulation of Roderigo (who, arguably, deserves to be manipulated) and Othello's sense of authority. Remember that Act I of Shakespearean works are almost always at least a little bit expository--introductory, teaching us characterization elements and plot points that will recur.

AP Lit and Comp: Continue with Keats and "Nightingale."