The Eve Before School

Dear Students,

Tonight, August 15, 2010, is the Eve Before School for educators in OCPS. While you have another week to relax (or frantically start/finish summer reading, work in the sweltering heat, clean your room, or prep for a new school year) I have a week of meetings, meetings, and more meetings!

I really feel that this is going to be a good year for all of us. OPTIMISM NOW. This is my last year teaching sophomores--I think--and I want to go out with a bang; Project XMas and The Writing Center will both be active and ready for those of you interested in service learning/community service hours; we have tons of cool new things to learn.

This blog is a tool to help you see what we're doing in class each day, and to keep track of Authors of the Day (for sophys) and other Boone-related details. Please check this at least a couple of times per week to stay on top of things, and definitely use it if you are absent. I update at least every other day, and try to post in advance when I can.

Much love to all of you, Boone Braves. 2010-2011 will be amazing.

~Ms. Hilley

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Happy Wednesday!

Gifted English II: We will encamp in 313 and read, read, read. Reading is fundamental. See me if you need a copy of the CMC Character List.

APeeps: Multiple Choice Practice Session #2 (there are eight total) in the CLIFF book. You will thank me later--I hope! These practice sessions are geared to imitate the actual exam you will be taking in May, and I tried to select passages that judiciously reflected what we have been studying in class--in concept if not entirely in content. More Hamlet shenanigans tomorrow, possibly related to a timed writing of some sort. Possibly. NOTE: If you come to the Writing Center today or tomorrow with your MacPaper, you get FIVE POINTS on the final draft. FIVE POINTS. Think about it in this economy--FIVE POINTS!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Tonight is PTSA Parent Night! Festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. in the gym, after which parents can follow your schedule and see what you experience each day. Each class session will last seven minutes; I have prepared a handout with contact information, important dates, and further clarifications that can be found here, as well. Please encourage your parents or guardians to come if they can--I will have lollies! Room 313--the place to be.

Sophys: Final quick review for tomorrow's test, then headlong into Antigone and the related questions. We really need to finish this play and move on to Higher Levels of Analysis with Sophocles's language.

APees: MacStuff. Journal entry about Malcolm's duplicity, then discussion of honor and honors as it applies to the men in this play. What kind of commentary is Shakespeare establishing about the role of government in both the medieval world and his? And what kind of statement might he be making about free will and personal responsibility?

Word of the Day: eschatology: (noun) a branch of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world or of humankind

Today is Name Your Car Day. I have not yet named my vehicle and welcome suggestions; some of your car names as previously discussed are descriptive (Rusty, Shiny, e) and some are typical names (Beth, Stella, Charley) while yet others imply doom (The Dragon, Chuck Norris, The Yellow Monster). If you feel left out, feel free to post here with the ideal name for your car. I have no idea who "invented" this particular holiday, but it's fun. My iPod, or myPod, is alrady named "miss bronte" so that won't do; perhaps I should name my car Owen.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The Writing Center will be open today during both lunch shifts. Tell your friends! We need clients or we will no longer remain a viable institution of help, support, and love.

Today is a day of recess for those observing Ramadan, and is Rosh Hashanah for those celebrating the Jewish New Year. It's also, apparently, the culmination of Backpack Safety Awareness Month AND Subliminal Awareness Month. Can you subliminally clean out your backpack> Or should we have asked that on Sunday--"Ask a Stupid Question" Day?

Sophys: CMC Q&A session and critical analysis essay on Dumas. Segue back to Antigone--we're almost finished with this play!

APees: MacStuff, again. Bring a pencil tomorrow for MC #2--necessary evil. It shall be done.

Friday, September 12, 2008

This picture if of the train station in Wales next to the town with the huge name: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. And you didn't believe me. At least this town isn't as lengthy a name as the village in Thailand named
Krungthepmahanakornamornratanakosinmahintarayutthayamahadilokphop
nopparatrajathaniburiromudomrajaniwesmahasatharn
amornphimarnavatarnsathitsakkattiyavisanukamprasit. Don't even ask me what that means.

Today is Orange and White Day! Dress in our school colors today--I'm going to, complete with orange satin ballroom skirt--and you get to go to lunch ONE MINUTE EARLY! 60 whole seconds! Wheee! Our game tonight is away but I hope the weather plays nicely and ya'll get to go.

Reminder: Wear sneakers on Monday, if you care about the state of your feet. There might be a reason for all of us to dutifully troop out to the practice field during the first portion of first period. Just saying.

College Application Help Sessions before and after school today in my classroom.

Remember that the Writing Center is open next week in room 315 during A and B lunch on Tuesday and Thursday! Consultants can eat lunch in 313 on the off-days.

Sophys: Author of the Day is Louise Erdrich; vocabulary quiz #4 is today, too. First period can move on to Genre Studies (notes will be posted this weekend, btw) and second period still needs to finish the O'Brien tale. We get our textbooks next Tuesday. . .finally!

APees: Focus papers are due today by 4:30 p.m. in person AND on www.turnitin.com by midnight tonight. I'm gratified to see that many of you have already posted by now. Good for you! Today: Sophocles and his attitude towards women; modern implications of the tragedy; review of principal characters and quotations from the play. ORex test is Tuesday.

K12 Planet: I have been dutifully updating my electronic gradebook each day, which is supposed to automatically upload to K12 Planet. Several of you have been telling me that your classes are appearing on the site, but none of the grades are. Last fall, we had some technical problems with this company and 22% of our classes were off-line for weeks; I don't quite know what the deal is now, but we've just hired a new tech guy and I anticipate this is a priority.

So what can we do to ameliorate the woe?
First--if your parents are concerned about your progress, you can always get one of those progress reports and have each teacher fill it out. If you're seeking more instant gratification, I just learned how to e-mail your parents or you through the electr0nic gradebook (score!) so you can see how you're doing. And I am ALWAYS willing to print out a grade slip for you at any time.

Why not just post grades each week on the bulletin board?
I'm sketchy on posting grades with student numbers, as some of my colleagues do--I really think it compromises student privacy. Really--if your last name is Aardvark, everyone is going to know that you are the first student on the list; if your last name is ZZZZZ, everyone will know you're the last. Also, what if you go look at a massive list of grades and see a ton of As and Bs, and you are the sole F? Not that I can envision that happening to YOU, of course. See what I mean?

So please see me if you have questions--I give work back as quickly as possible, so youc an track your progress, and I will happily communicate progress with you between standard report cards and progress reports as you need it. I hope that K12 will get going soon, but we do have options. I will do all I can to help you succeed and learn.

Have a safe and productive weekend!