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!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

REMINDER: APees--bring your anthology today! Sophys--bring CMC today and your literature book tomorrow!

Gifted English II: Second and final state-sanctioned reading day for CMC. Some of you are woefully behind on your reading; you will have an opportunity to fill out a second progress slip today and we can confer about your reading speed. This novel is due October 1--still two weeks away.

AP Literature and Composition: "On the Road to Delphi" analysis and a poem by Muriel Rukeyser. Tomorrow--lecture fun!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Today is an anniversary felt very deeply and poignantly by many Americans; seven years ago, terrorists struck on American shores and the sense of complacency felt for so long here was shattered. I hope that none of you are particularly upset today, but I would ask you to take just a moment and consider how lucky we are to live in a country with all of the vast resources and freedoms as America, and if you know someone personally who suffered as a result of the 2001 attacks, you have my empathy.

On the the academic side of things:

Sophys: Thank you for being so focused and intensive with your reading day! Back to business today. Our Author of the Day is Margery Kempe. You have a vocabulary quiz tomorrow on the fourth subset of words; I am NOT reviewing this week (although I will make the distinction between oxymoron and paradox in class) so please be responsible and study diligently. Today: Finish "Billy" and analysis; short writing assignment.

APees: We need to talk about the T-shirt issue each period; there might be a pop quiz on ORex and we need to discuss the Glaysher essay in-depth. Focus papers due tomorrow; let's discuss themes and look at Jocasta's responsibility in all of this mess.

Writing Center training will be during A and B lunch shifts today in room 302. We relocate to 315 next week.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Tonight at Boone we are having a guest speaker in the auditorium at 7 p.m.--Dr. Something will be talking about a year he spent "as a teenager." Might be interesting, and it's free. Also tonight at BHS in my classroom, at 6:30, is the travel meeting for the spring break trip to Germany. This is probably my last year traveling abroad with students (I've been at it since 2002!) but I'd like to go out with a bang, so to speak. Come if you are interested.

(There are other travel opportunities this year that might interest you, too--the band is apparently doing a spring break trip, and one of the foreign language teachers might be organizing a trip to Italy at some point. I'll post more specifics if I find out for sure.)

SOPHYS (Periods 1 and 2): Today is the day for Edusoft Benchmark Testing. Some of you will finish quickly; others will require the whole period. Bring something to read. Would you like a suggestion? How about. . .oh, I don't know. . .The Count of Monte Cristo? Sounds good to me! Bring a pencil for your testing--I have some but they are of shockingly low quality.
Sadly--no Author of the Day today.

APees: Now that you have done your Guidance thing, I want to clarify what's due for the next focus paper. Here is the contract I'm willing to offer:

IF you turn in your paper on time, both in person and on www.turnitin.com;
IF it is double-spaced and has a cool title; and
IF you made a good-faith effort to address either prompt, then. . .

You get a 100 on this paper.

(I believe in a concept called "The One A Paper." Some of you write one each week, because you are always going to hit the 8 or 9 level on the College Board scale; some of you are so, so talented in other academic areas, but not language arts, and an A is as foreign to you as AP Calculus Success would be to me. So. . .you get a 100, and I mark the HECK out of it. Brutal. Slashy. How the AP readers would grade it. But you can take a risk, jump out on a limb, make outrageous claims, and experiment with your writing without the worry that your grade will die just in time for progress reports. Honestly, who doesn't like a 100?)

Focus paper due Friday--by 4:30 p.m. in my hand, and by midnight that night on www.turnitin.com.

Today in class--Oedipus Rex and oracles! We start with the four questions on the oracle sheet, and work our way into Higher Levels of Meaning.

Word of the Day: mendicancy (noun): the practice of begging for alms or food; related to extreme poverty. (This word occasionally appears in 19th century texts--Dickens, etc.)