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

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.

Epic Fail/Update

Dear Students,

Let's do the negative part first, then move on to Optimism Now!

If a substitute ever does something that you KNOW isn't part of the lesson plan, you have my permission to get up, walk next door to Mrs. Nicoll's room or across the hall to Mrs. Alami's room, and tattle. The substitute instructor I had yesterday violated about four rules when she decided to not follow my lesson plan, acquire a DVD player from the Media Center (!) and show Taming of the Shrew all day long--which is NOT part of my scope and sequence. When she wasn't discussing fashion magazines with you.

Now, I know beggars can't be choosers, and I certainly didn't plan to get an epic level of stomach flu that has made me wish fervently for a vacation from myself, but c'mon. I was fifteen kinds of furious today. Then, the sweet little sub who showed up today kept assuring me, "You will be SAT-is-FIIIIIIIED," so I hope that worked out, fire drills notwithstanding.

And please forgive the bitter tone and tenor of this post. I feel icky.

Now, on to GOOD THINGS FOR YOU!!!

1. Bright Futures will be handled Monday or Wednesday in the AP classes; you won't have to do much but show up and get the information. You will be able to handle your financial aid online and monitor your own account, so above all else do NOT lose this vital data. Hang on to your username and password in about six different places, as it is very difficult to get DOE to redo either.

2. Hamlet test is officially on Tuesday.

3. Progress reports go home tomorrow, but they are inaccurate and unnaturally skewing higher than actual averages in some cases. Which gives you two options: revel in the joy and avoid being grounded, or ask me for a printout of Where You Really Are.

4. Poetry reading is tomorrow after school in 313 with Covert/Hilley co-hosting. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Project X-Mas has taken a hit from my recent illness, and we need to redouble our efforts if we want to reward the custodial staff. I will meet with Mary Claire and Katie tomorrow to re-establish our efforts; we need to collect from every classroom, club, and organization on this campus to make this work. Any and all ideas are welcome.

Sophys: Edusoft Benchmark Testing is Monday/Tuesday; for those of you in academic trouble, this presents two golden opportunities for ten points extra in the gradebook. And then we are moving on to finish our Satire/Media Literacy/Snark Unit, preparatory to Shakespeare, which I swear will change your life.

Thanks and happy Thursday; TGIF tomorrow! Much love to all of the peeps.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

NOTE: I am leaving very quickly after school today for an appointment, so if you need help with a college essay or an existential crisis, please see me during A or B lunch. I will be in 313 during A lunch and 315 during B lunch.

NOTE NOTE: Poetry Reading is Friday after school from 2:30-4:00 in room 315. Bring a beverage; I will bring cookies.

NOTE NOTE NOTE: Project X-Mas is having an organizational meeting Thursday after school in room 313. The meeting itself is fairly short--we need you to "pimp the cause" to your various teachers and clubs--but afterwards Katie C. will be hosting crafts for sale for the cause.

Gifted English II: Reading Day for The Count of Monte Cristo. You get 10 points for reading, so BRING YOUR BOOK.

AP Lit and Comp: Finish the questions for Macbeth, then do an amazing MacScavenger Hunt to prepare for the inevitable, but fun, Mactest, which I think is Friday. I could push it to next week, but why would I? I LOVE THIS PLAY.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Before school today, Project X-Mas kids will be gathering to collect the coin jars/bags from all of the participating classrooms. I will send one more e-mail encouraging club/team involvement. As of right now, each custodian gets a check for just over 100 for Christmas--a notable feat by any measure, but not quite our goal. The economy has affected everyone and we are grateful to all who participated, from students to parents to clubs. Some clubs went way above and beyond--FCA, Spanish Club, Math Club, Bravettes, and the Cheerleaders. Awesome. I'll post a full update once we are finished and see what admin can do to assist.

Further note to Project X-Mas students: I will be giving out service letters on Friday to each of you, and would request your attendance at the faculty pre-holiday meeting on Wednesday, December 17 after school in the Jr/Sr Cafeteria to present the checks and appreciation program to the custodians.

On to curricular matters!!!

Sophys: Today is Edusoft Benchmark Testing. As I told you in class yesterday, PLEASE take this endeavor seriously. FCAT is just around the corner.

APees: R and G Are Dead, Act II. Students going on the very cool trip to New York with the Academy of Finance--see me before you depart. I need to check a play out to you for reading on the plane.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Blogging here from Vienna! I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving holiday and is preparing for their final weekend of relative freedom from the loving embrace of Orange County Public Schools. Tomorrow morning at 4:45 a.m. I will be going to the Vienna airport to begin a loooong day of travel.

I just wanted to post a few friendly reminders.

• APees: Yes, your paper is due on Friday. Really. And we have a Hamlet test next week, so if you have fallen behind, please catch up now.
• Sophys: Candide MUST be read by Monday and you have a test on Tuesday. I just reread it on the plane for the umpteenth time and want you to be prepared.

These assignments are out of LOVE, people.

• For anyone interested in any of my last three trips ever= Germany this spring break, which still has spots open and will be great now that I've checked out Austrian culture, Paris next fall for graduates only, and Ireland next spring break= we will have a trip meeting Thursday, December 4 in my classroom at 7 p.m. If you can't make this meeting see me Friday for written info.
• Project XMas needs your help!!! This should be our final week. See me, Mary Claire, Kaitlyn, or Maddy if you'd like to help us help our beloved custodians.
  

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Project X-Mas helpers: We will be collecting jars before school tomorrow. I have a parent conference at 9:00 this morning and won't be back in the classroom until probably right before first period starts. I have additional Ziploc bags for collection on my desk;' take what you need.

Today is saxophone Day and Marooned Without a Compass Day. If you could find an inventive way to combine both celebrations, that would be. . .interesting.

Gifted English II: Discuss elements of "A Modest Proposal" and segue into the related essay, "Top of the Food Chain" by T.C. Boyle. Satire afoot! NOTE: You need your literature book tomorrow. Not the yellow one we keep in the classroom, either--BRING YOUR BOOK TOMORROW.

APees: 25 minutes to finish the multiple choice, then we're going over Act III, scene iv. I will score the MC tests after school and we will go over the passages tomorrow in class. HW tonight: Act IV, scenes i-ii.

What are we going to do with all of the previous words of the day? I have a master list of the words we've already learned, and I will post them here in the next day or so. We will add ten more words and then either have a quiz on all of them or find a creative way to assess your understanding of the words. I think vocabulary is important, but diction enhancement cannot be our only focus at this stage of the game.