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, March 4, 2010

Word of the Day: norm-referenced

Holiday of the Day: Among a myriad of other weird days, the one I like the most is "March Forth--Do Something Day." I do think that everyone can benefit from a little bit of anti-procrastinatory impetus, so get to it! Whatever you have been postponing, from a HW assignment to a personal chore--get it done!

Gifted English II: We need to go over some FCAT stuff for next week, from test prep questions I will be sending home with you to the actual testing schedule. Afterwards, we will review The Elements of Style and take an awesome, if brief, quiz, before resuming our study of Othello. NOTE: There will be a quiz tomorrow on Othello, Acts I-III. If you have been conscious for the past few days you should be fine.

APees: Per my e-mail to each of you, today is Eyre in the Air! You will be given a reading pass and permission to sally forth and find a comfortable spot in which to engage in the world's most delicious activity: READING!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Gifted English II: After we review The Elements of Style in preparation for a quiz later this week, we are launching headfirst back into Othello, Act III. This act is the turning point of the play, and features a great deal of symbolism attached to a handkerchief.

APees: Romanticism Projects are due today! Each student will present his or her project to the class and explain how it ideologically connects to the tenets of Romanticism.

Monday, March 1, 2010

REMINDERS

1. Registration starts this week for rising seniors; it is online this year. Sophys: Go ahead and look over the curriculum guide on the BHS website and make some pre-selections, as you will be registering online at the end of this month, right before Spring Break. Although we anticipate some glitches, I think this is far better for you and gives you a LOT more control over your schedule.

2. If you are going to Ireland with me this Spring Break, the pre-trip travel meeting is tomorrow night at 7 in my classroom. This is not for people signing up--sorry, that train has sailed. If you can't make it let me know and we will get the info on Euros, weather, travel advisories, and packing directly to you.

FCAT IS NEXT WEEK. On Tuesday and Wednesday, our administration is encouraging seniors who have already passed the FCAT to avail themselves of the opportunity to visit colleges. If you have a note from a parental unit and/or documentation demonstrating a college visit (DBCC, if you know what I mean, ha ha) then it is an EXCUSED ABSENCE.

Now on to curricular things:

Word of the Day: vituperative

Holiday of the Day: Peace Corps Day, Beer Day (not for y'all), National Refired, not Retired Day, Pig Day, and Plan a Solo Vacation Day.

Gifted English II: The Elements of Style, Othello Act III, the final attempt to get Author of the Day off the ground. Goodness. Love to all. . .

APees: Close reading of Jane Eyre suggestions; William Blake.

Gifted English II:

Friday, February 26, 2010

Word of the Day: indefatigable

Today's Holiday: For Pete's Sake Day, Levi Strauss Day, and National Personal Chef's Day.

Gifted English II: The Elements of Style, Rules 1-11 (further review and application); Othello, Act III. Your Act II questions are due today by the end of business. See me if you have any questions. I will be finishing the last of the Julius Caesar papers this weekend and returning them to you Monday; the next paper is Othello-related and is a really intriguing topic. Go team!

APees: Yesterday, I had you construct a timed writing response to a DBQ related to a letter Charlotte Bronte had written to the then-famous poet Robert Southey, and his snarky response to her, and her snarkier response back. (I love the line where she assures him "I try not to think. . .") Today, we are going to look at viable approaches to thesis statements, do a peer review on our writings, and then look at student samples in the guidebook that were scored by College Board as rubrics. This may sound dry, but this is VITAL for success in May. Your reading assignment this weekend for Jane Eyre is through Chapter 5, please. Thanks!

MARY SHELLEY PAPERS ARE DUE BY 3 p.m. I will be in a meeting with Dr. McMillen, so you can either leave it under the door (risky) or drop it at the main office (much more solid option.)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Word of the Day: averse

Holiday of the Day: Inconvenience Yourself Day. (Does this mean to avoid 7-11 all day, or take alternate pathways around buildings, or what? I have no idea. Anyone who can shed light on this little mystery will be gratefully acknowledged.)

Gifted English II: The Elements of Style, Rules 1-11. We discussed Webster's definition of grammar yesterday, and today the Real Fun begins. At long last. And then, more Othello-osity. Although some of the choicest lines were uttered yesterday. . .

APees: Now that you have survived Multiple Choice Practice Session Infinity, I'll give you back your scan sheets and you can weep privately. AND we are going to discuss "The Cormorant" by Rosanna Warren (awesome, if sad) and Jane Eyre, chapter one. Nothing like a little old-fashioned explication de texte to get things rolling.

Note: See upcoming post later this evening on registration and FCAT. Importante!!!!

Shelley paper is due by Friday, February 26, oh APees. Although I will take it early and in fact already have a few. . .

Monday, January 4, 2010

Welcome to the new year, if not the new semester--we still have until January 25 or so to finish this quarter. I've been reading online about the debate between pronouncing this year "two thousand ten" vs. "twenty-ten" and I have to say that I am partial to the brevity and power of the latter. Regardless of what you call it, though, we have entered a new decade, and I truly hope that each of you finds great fortune, knowledge, and understanding in your future endeavors.

Announcements:

1. For those of you who still need service hours for NHS, I have an opportunity for you--I could really use some help this week cleaning 313 in preparation for district and state level visitors from the Advanced Studies Department. The first item on the rubric they are using states "A clutter-free classroom is evident," and man am I in trouble. Right-brained over here; need some help.

2. If you are on the Project X-Mas committee, thank-you note season is upon us! Many, many people helped us reach our goal this fall, and we need to thank them appropriately. I've already sent e-mails to the entire faculty indicating our gratitude, but see Mary Claire for individualized thank-you note plans. Service hours, as always, are given for your work on this committee.

3. Sophys: You will need to acquire a personal copy of The Elements of Style by Strunk and White before the end of January. It will be our primary grammar guide for the spring term.

4. Seniors: You will need to acquire a personal copy of Jane Eyre IF you wish to annotate as you read. Our first reading in the Romantic unit will be Frankenstein, available in the BHS library, but JE lends itself more to marginalia. If you are so inclined, it's a worthwhile investment--and you can take it with you to college next year for literary magic 8-ball purposes!

Today's Lessons:

Gifted English II: Julius Caesar--review key concepts from December, review Act I main points, and distribute thought questions for Act II. We will also be going over the memorization assignment, which is due by the end of this month as well. Two of you are already finished. Bravo! I will have a finished calendar for you by the end of the week with all of the registration dates for next year's classes, as well, and can start meeting with you one-on-one to help make decisions about your schedule.

AP Lit and Comp: I asked each of you to annotate "Preludes" by T.S. Eliot; today in class, we are going to analyze the heck out of this lyric poem. Come prepared to TP-CASTT and beyond, and to massage a lot of diction. Mere months to go until the national exam, my peeps. Months to go.

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.  

Monday, February 2, 2008

Groundhog Day!!!!!

So, will we Floridians have six more weeks of non-Winter, or six weeks of early Spring? So hard to tell!

Quick announcement: If you are at all interesetd in the Ireland trip next spring break (or, for seniors only, the Paris trip in the fall) I encourage you to sign up as soon as you feel you can commit. We have limited spaces. (Also, I do have thre open seats on this spring break's Germany trip for anyone who has an extra pile of money lying around. Yeah, it's last-minute, and it's a small, cozy group, but you'll be able to say that you saw Neuschwanstein Castle with Tony R. David B., Danielle M., and other cool kids!)

On to academia:

Gifted English II: Review Othello vocabulary for Act I; quiz tomorrow. Reading: Othello. Reminder: We will start with Strunk and White's The Elemens of Style on Friday in class.

APees: Before we launch into John Keats, I want to spend a couplef of days with William Blake. Totally worth it. However, I am going to give you the Keats stuff today for advance reading if you have time. Also, we will be going over some introductory elements of Jane Eyre today.