baby it's cold outside...

...and tonight's assignments are:

e3h: you guys have 29 days to put together a portfolio. what the heck are you waiting for? get off your duffs and work on your pieces! go! go! go! (writing workshop tomorrow) also: tonight's posting is on stephen's epiphany!

e2h: we'll be watching the film of death of a salesman tomorrow. posting on the american dream as it relates to the lomans is a great idea...

drama: tomorrow in class you'll grab a partner and work on two exercises: 1.8 and 1.9 in the books. 1.8 is a performance scene, so you should play it out; a group or two will try each scenario. 1.9 asks you to make some choices together and focus on writing those choices down... begin that exercise together and, if you don’t finish, complete it on the Assignment Board tomorrow night...

don't forget the wikicab, wikigram, and feedback boards!

random thought of the day: Always remember you are unique . . . just like everyone else

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topham's attic on a blustery day

**as the thermometer plummets from a balmy morning into a frigid night...

today is the final day to vote in the wikicab poll...

e2h: we begin death of a salesman tomorrow; read act one...

e3h: we have writing workshop, and you have less than a month before portfolios are due...

don't forget wikigram and feedback boards are ongoing...

drama: the "observing yourself act" section (begins on page 13) includes several exercises. think about the scenarios in exercise 1.8; we will be working with them tomorrow. read the section on subtext ("actor guidelines," page 17) all the way through to #5 on page 19. We'll cover the tactics section tomorrow night...

random thought for the day: work fascinates me . . . I could sit and watch it for hours

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another school week

and in today's news...

the wikicab poll runs through tomorrow; don't forget to vote!

check out the new wikigram boards: post and comment on grammar and usage errors that you and/or your classmates find are common among students and others.

keep the feedback board going: as portfolios draw nearer they become even more important!

e3h: your annotations are due tomorrow (tuesday), which is a reading workshop day.

e2h: tomorrow is a writing workshop day.

this is an A week...

thought for the day: If you can't be a good example . . . then you'll just have to be a horrible warning

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Workshop Pieces Needed!

Hi again, everyone,

If you are in E2H or E3H, now is the time to assess your progress in Writing Workshop. For one thing, if you are a junior, your countdown calendar reads 35 days. But, more pressing, there is a contest deadline coming up next week and I'd like to find out what you have that I should consider for possible submission.

The contest is the Best of Illinois Prose and Poetry contest, sponsored annually by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. It's a cool contest and we usually have several winners, some of whom take First Place awards and get their pieces published. I will select the best of those pieces that are in great shape by this time, whether they are in final shape or not, but I do have a limit on how many pieces I can submit.

Of course, most of the entries usually come from my Creative Writing class, both because they are more experienced and because they are finished. But last year (for example) 1/3 of the poems and 2/5 of the stories came from juniors and sophomores, and I had a winner in each of those classes (including a First!). So I need to know what you've got. And, more importantly, so do you.

Therefore, your homework this weekend in Writing Workshop is this:

Assess your Portfolio Progress. If you are honest with yourself, just how close are you? When I ask the juniors "Do you know where your portfolio is?" what is the real answer? How many pieces are really nearing fruition? How many need a whole lot of work? And do you have any--especially poems of 40 lines or less or stories of 1000 words or less--that are sufficiently finished that I might consider them? (Consider this: the First Place winner last year was a sophomore whose piece changed dramatically--even its title--by the time she put it into her portfolio and by the time it appeared in Young Idea. So your piece does not need to be done...whatever that means.)

By Monday, I want you to send me the following at my groupwise address:

• a current draft of each piece that you consider a potential portfolio entry
• a list of those pieces with commentary about what needs to be done to each
• an addendum to that list stating what is still completely missing.
  
  Oh yes, folks. It's Party Time!
  
  And don't forget...
  
• E2H: Read Death of a Salesman Act 1 by Wednesday. RW Mon, WW Tues; wikicab!
• E3H: 3/4 discussions Mon, RW Tues, WW Wed; annotations Tues; wikicab!
• Drama: work on boards! You have your own daily post and three assignment threads.

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All that school stuff

First a reminder:

What to do with your final exams:

(No, the answer is not
burn them
shred them and use them as kitty litter
make nifty papier mache hats.)

The answer is: go to the rubric and figure out why you got the scores you did. Then write a 1.5 page essay in which you explain very specifically why you got those scores or argue that another grade would have been more appropriate. This is due tomorrow.

OK, then...

Something new: I actually have another blog (and it's actually more interesting, since it isn't just about all that school stuff). It's called sunspark says and I invite any of you to check it out. I don't post to that one as frequently but when I do it's on subjects that I find interesting.

As to all that school stuff..

E3H needs to post tonight on Chapters 3 and 4. E2H needs to listen to Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" and discuss what it is saying on the new Death of a Salesman board. Drama needs to buy the book and do your daily reflection. Also, see below:

According to Robert Barton's book...

Mewling Infant
"Any of us may resort to mewling when we aren't getting enough (or the right kind of) attention."
Whining Schoolboy
"Is there anyone who hasn't whined and pouted through some responsibility that has been forced upon them?
Sighing Lover
"When we are smitten by somebody, many of our actions are guided by what we feel a lover should act like...you try to be wittier, smoother, better read, stronger, and/or wilder than you've ever been in your life--whatever qualities your beloved seems to admire."
Reputation-Seeking Soldier
"The main objective and primary performance is to appear unafraid, in control, tough, and possibly threatening--even when what you really want to do is cry and run home for a hug."
Saw-Spouting Justice
"Age is not the determinign factor here; a student returning home as a member of a winning debating team...may suddenly assume an exalted manner as he or she passes on advice to mere mortals..."

Find examples in your own lives of times when you give each of these performances.

--kt

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Exams and such

What to do with your final exams:

(No, the answer is not

• burn them
• shred them and use them as kitty litter
• make nifty papier mache hats.)

The answer is: go to the rubric and figure out why you got the scores you did. Then write a 1.5 page essay in which you explain very specifically why you got those scores or argue that another grade would have been more appropriate. This is due on Friday.

More writing workshop in E3H and E2H tomorrow (until we finish in-class conferences).

Drama: Daily posting is critical; don't fall behind. And add sensory memories to your posts! Oh, yes: buy the book. :-)

A note about grades to all who had me first semester:

Not everyone can end up perfectly happy, but I think that the final grades are reflective of the work that everyone did and the excellence of the classes overall. Let's make this next semester even better. :-)

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First Day of Semester

OK, everything went pretty well today, give or take.

Today's reminders:

1. We are in a B week for conferencing, so check your schedules. The following people have conferences scheduled for tomorrow:
   Will Kirsch, Peter Bassick, Heather LaVallee, Ashley Anderson, Alex Mucerino, Bobby Marshall, Matt Vogrich, Cecilia Buerkle, Emily Anderson, Vicki Anton, Colin Barry, Emily McDonough, Rohan Vashi, Jon Grum, Amanda Jenks. If everyone shows up we may not get them all in, but we can try!
2. E2H needs to find Death of a Salesman by Thursday.
3. Drama should log into the bulletin board (www.sunspark.com/smf) to post reflections about today's class.

If anyone has any issues, just post them here as a comment on the newest post. Anyone who looks at the blog can see the comments and (possibly) answer the question!

Have a good night!

--kt

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It's New!

Ah, yes, another semester, another new feature in the never-ending world of kt's techno-classroom!

This time around, along with the new Powerschool gradebook that you've all heard so much about, I'm adding a blog. Yes, I know, I already have a blog, as some of you have discovered at www.sunspark.com. True. But this blog is just for you, and it is designed to supplement the boards and replace the tedious email messages from Edline with which I attempt to communicate extra-classroom information to the whole group of you.

In the past, if I needed to get you information once class had ended, I emailed through Edline--a hit or miss proposition at best, as you know. And I posted online--which of course depended upon your logging onto the boards and actually noticing my post. But if you subscribe to this blog you'll get its messages sent to you automatically, and that is just simply cool. And you will be able to comment on them, so I will be able to respond to any confusion right here for all to see.

I'll use the blog for communication, but I'll also use it for many other random reasons as the year rolls on. I hope it becomes as valuable as I suspect it will be.

--kt

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