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Volkswagen Commercial: The Force

The single-best commercial of the 2011 SuperBowl.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Yesterday was rough.

Some of you stayed home; some of you struggled through the day; some of you, while personally unaffected by the tragedy this weekend, still felt the ancillary sting of loss.

I hope that you continue to take care of yourselves and each other and that you let one of us know ASAP if you need support during this difficult time.

Academically, I plan to move forward. If you need additional time for anything just let me know.

Love to all.

Gifted English II: Othello, resumed. Also, I will be collecting your JC focus papers and if time permits, we will have a Title Parade.

AP Literature and Comp: Two-part lesson: A) Listen to Iron Maiden's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and compare/contrast the lyrics to the poem (after finishing the poem in 3rd and 5th periods) and B) notes/discussion questions on Frankenstein.

Monday, February 7, 2011

As many of you no doubt already know, we had another loss to the Boone family on Sunday, February 7, 2011. Six young people heading to the beach this morning were in a terrible car accident and two--one, a senior, and one, a recent graduate--died. The others were injured in varying degrees.

Many of you know these kids, or their families and their friends. The ripple effect will be strong tomorrow at Boone and it will be a hard day for much of us.

Dr. McMillen has requested an emergency faculty meeting tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. to go over procedures so that each of you--our precious students--will have consistent support throughout the day should you need it. I am adjusting my lesson plans for tomorrow to allow for some breathing room--not a free period, certainly, but activities that you can do on cruise control if you need a distraction during a difficult time, or that you can do on full throttle if that serves you better.

Over the years, I have bid farewell to far too many students and fellow teachers, and each time we lose a young person I long to grab all of my students and shake them and say, "You are NOT invincible! Go live well, and for a long time, and be careful out there!" But I can't do that. All I can do is say that I love each and every one of you, and I am so sorry that these families have to suffer so untenably tonight. Much love to everyone, and know that there is support for you available should you need it tomorrow on The Reservation.

Adjusted lesson plans:

Gifted English II was going to proceed into Act II of Othello, but instead we're going to work with some content vocabulary terms relevant to both the play and the SAT.

AP Lit and Comp was going to listen to "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Iron Maiden and compare/contrast the lyrics to Coleridge, but instead we'll do that tomorrow. Today, a simplified chart to help you sort out the intricacies of Coleridge's figurative terms, to do or not-do.

Julius Caesar Paper

Gifted English II

Style Sheet: Julius Caesar Focus Paper

This paper is due Tuesday, February 8, 2011 by 2:30 p.m. (hard copy) AND 11:59 p.m. that night on www.turnitin.com OR e-mailed to jennifer.hilley@ocps.net for uploading. If you are absent that day, your paper is STILL DUE. Send it with a friend or fax it to Boone at 407.897.2466, attention Ms. Hilley.

Format:

--Typed, double-spaced, in a professional font (Times New Roman, Arial)

--Optional cover page with clip art of your choice

--Stapled in this order:

Cover sheet (if included)

Revised, typed copy

Rough draft with two signatures signifying peer review

--Proofread carefully for errors in spelling and conventions

--No works cited page is necessary, but be SURE to cite quotes in this

format: (Act, scene, line number) with a capitalized Roman numeral for the Act, a lower-case Roman numeral for the scene, and Arabic numbers for the line or lines. Example: “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good” (IV, v, 36). The punctuation goes on the outside end of the parentheses.

Friday, February 4, 2011

SOPHYS: Please talk to your parents about what kinds of classes you want to take next year. Registration will be the week of Valentine's Day and your teachers will be making recommendations for core courses. If you are vacillating about taking AP Language and Comp next year, please see me--in some cases, it might not be in your best interest to jump into AP English just yet. (Yes, you can take my class senior year, since that question keeps coming up.) In other cases, you might think it's too much work and you'd be WRONG. It is a challenging yet worthwhile class.

Gifted English II: Othello Content Vocabulary, and Othello, Act I.

AP Lit and Comp: Finish "Rime" if possible, and analyze the use of language in the ballad.