Tuesday, April 13, 2010

I know that some of you will be out today for the Photo III field trip with Mr. Allen. If you see something cool in Augie that would make our classroom even weirder, get it!

Author of the Day: Truman Capote

Word of the Day: calumny

Weird Holiday Day: Thomas Jefferson Day (remind me to tell you a cool anecdote about something Kennedy once said about Jefferson.)

Gifted English II: Notes on the board regarding criteria for writing reviews; example of a review by Anthony Lane from The New Yorker. Our next non-fiction foray is writing a review of a cultural text from the past three years; anything from a concert to a CD release to a movie. I hope I don't get 58 reviews of Avatar.

APees: The transition to Heart of Darkness begins with a reading of T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men". The epigraph at the top of the poem is from the novel.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Mr. Bailey is my sub today due to various doctor appointments. I am NOT out in political protest over SB 6, although I strenuously oppose the measure. Let me be clear: I am all for teacher accountability, but not this way. This is an unfunded mandate that will cut another five percent from our already-slashed budget and it will ultimately harm kids. HOWEVER I also do not support skipping work to protest. I have sent letters, waved signs, and spammed e-mail boxes, and I will continue to do so--on my own time.

Gifted English II: Grammar assignment (sentence modeling, really) and a chance to finish your memoir.

APees: Three assignments! Yeah!

1. Read a passage from Jane Eyre, then answer the multiple choice questions from a past AP test.

2. Read another passage from Jane Eyre, then answer the discussion questions with a partner/partners.

3. Work on your focus paper! Due Friday!

Friday, April 9, 2010

So I completely forgot to post the assignment for this date. There was some learning, some fracas-happenings, and an art show. It was a good day, considering the weather and distractions. And the Jane Eyre test for the APees. Good times!

And now to post for Monday, April 12, since I forgot to do that, too. Call it middle age, call it teacher burnout, call it April. TS Eliot was right: April is the cruelest month. Love to all.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Word of the Day: anodyne

Weird Holiday of the Day: One Day Without Shoes Day, National Buddha Day, and National D.A.R.E. Day

Author of the Day: Believe it or not, Dan Brown. I'm bitter but willing to discuss him.

Gifted English II: Author of the Day, discussion of Things Fall Apart by Achebe, and further assignment of Elements of Style, Part II. Also, we are going to go over your memoir topics.

APees: Review Jane Eyre for the test tomorrow, and then peer-edit the timed writings from yesterday. I'd like to remind you that the Jane Eyre focus paper is due next Friday, 4.16, and you can earn five extra credit points by taking your work to the Writing Center by the 15th.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Today's Word: faux pas

Today's Odd Holiday: National No Housework Day, National Day of Hope, and (dare I print this in a high school student blog--be mature, people--we are talking about the dam-builder here) National Beaver Day.

Author of the Day: Tom Stoppard

Gifted English II: Author of the Day, followed by "A Whole Society of Loners and Dreamers" by William Allen, since we did "Porphyria's Lover" on Monday instead. And a review of memoir-writing. And various other cool things.

APees: Yes, you are going to hate me, but it is incumbent upon me to adequately prepare you for the upcoming AP exam. To wit: Timed Writing on a DBQ. We have been FRQing our brains out, and now it's time to put the D in DBQ. Yep. And it's about Jane Eyre! I am so, so relevant. :-)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Word of the Day: specious

Author of the Day: James Joyce

Weird Holiday: Tartan Day, Teflon Day, and Drowsy Driver Awareness Day

Gifted English II: Bring your ID; we are going to the Media Center to pick up copies of Things Fall Apart, available earlier than I anticipated. (Yay!) Remember the rules: Silence in the halls, the scamper across the KemoSabe Commons, then silence, then scampering, then silence. THEN: Memoir studies and transition to other examples of nonfiction.

APees: There might be an outdoor activity third period. If you know what I mean. Afterwards, sharing Bertha info, and beginning the review for Friday's Jane Eyre test. Tomorrow: TW on a DBQ. Necessary evil; don't say I didn't warn you. And remember please that the AP Practice Exam is either next Wednesday (4/14) or the following Wednesday (4/21).

Monday, April 5, 2010

Welcome back from Spring Break, kids! I hope you paid attention to the Spring Break Speech and made good, judicious choices. I hope to see all of you in good health, ready for the last quarter of your sophomore year (brace yourself for junior year, sophys!) or the last quarter of high school (OMG, APees. Here goes the rollercoaster. . .) I must say that the students who went to Ireland with me this past week were an absolute joy, even amid travel complications with flights and with occasional hailstorms on the Dingle Peninsula. If you know any of the following students, ask them about Eire 2010; they were WONDERFUL. I have been blessed to have taken many trips with many special students, and I was so glad that this trip--my last for a long while--was filled with so much positive energy. Thanks to Brittani A., Alex C., Amy C., Spencer C., Margaret D., Liz G., Julianne H., Madeline J., Corry M., Erin McD., Emily O., Colby S., and Olivia S. Awesome kids, every single one of them.

Welcome back!

Today's lessons:

Word of the Day: surcease

Today's Odd Holiday: National Deep Dish Pizza Day and White House Egg Roll

Author of the Day for the sophys and other curious types: OSCAR WILDE

Gifted English II: Author of the Day and new protocol for this activity; review of the memoir genre; review of "Once More to the Lake" by EB White; "A Whole Society of Loners and Dreamers" by William Allen. Our next outside reading is Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, but the novels won't be available for another week or so from the Media Center. If you wish to purchase your own copy for annotation go ahead and order it on Amazon, but be aware that copies will be provided for you eventually.

APees: The Jane Eyre check-reading test is Friday. Yes, that's the Art Show, but since you can pop in and test at any point during the day I fail to see the problem, unless you are like one of the students on the Ireland trip who confessed to having read only four chapters. I proceeded to tell him that he HAD to keep reading to find out about the robots. He is now excited about the novel and I hope he's not too disappointed. . .it's like when you bite into an eclair, waiting for the custard, and you keep going and there is no custard, but you hope fervently that you will hit the custard at some point so you keep going. The robot motif will be his missing custard, if you can follow that analogy. (I have had very little sleep.)

Today, though: Creative Writing based on Jane Eyre. Imagine the strangest character in the novel, and then re-imagine ANY scene from the novel (or that could conceivably be in the novel) from HER point of view. This could be fun.