end of the crappiest january ever!

(Weather-wise, anyway!)

OK, E3H-ers, you asked and you shall receive:

On the E3H page you may now find two alternative Portrait final projects. One is a personal essay reflection project, and one is a creative presentation project. Each is due on 2/11. You may group yourselves across classes if you choose.

In addition, we have a few more issues to post about to finish our discussions, and I'll join the conversations:

non-serviam, and the final cranly conversation
stephen and the tundish
davin's story
emma and the villanelle

You're going to specifically talk about his artistic philosophies in your projects, so we don't to do so on the boards, but we certainly can. Let's post this weekend and bring closure to the Portrait boards.

As to the E2H class:

We finished up major discussion of Grapes of Wrath today. The GW final essay is available on the E2H page. This will be the final weekend for all GW boards. If you've got anything else to say, now's the time!

Assignments:

• For Monday: The Powerpoint exam assessment is due. In this assessment, you should explore with great specificity and creativity the reasons that your essay was scored as it was against the rubric. Be certain to quote from both your essay and the rubric (available to the right from the link). Bring the ppt. in on a flashdrive or email it to me.
• For Wednesday: The GW final essays are due.
• For Thursday: Bring Death of a Salesman.
  

Drama:

On Monday, be ready to perform your monologues. On your script,

• indicate any connections you have made within the lines;
• indicate the specific objective that you believe the character has for this monologue;
• indicate the subtext you are playing in this scene.

Remember that subtext is the emotional context you are playing that lies beneath the words. It is not actually in the script, but you apply it to the script as you speak the words.

Check back later in the weekend for conference schedule updates.

and never forget this:



j: worlds apart from the world we knew
music: world spins madly on--weepies
silly 70's: falling apart at the seams--marmalade

--kt

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the dusty road ahead

Or, looking out the window, maybe it's the snowy road ahead. Whatever it is, we're definitely on it now, so let's make the most of it.

Here is a recap of What We Know:

• Juniors have Course Information Day tomorrow.
• Sophomores are discussing final issues in The Grapes of Wrath tomorrow and Friday (and then we hope to be finished).
• Drama students are working on their monologues.

About the boards:

After listening to everyone, I have come to the following decisions:

• I'm closing all old boards, leaving only current ones available.
  
• I'm asking you to alert me via board IM if a board seems to have passed its useful life.
• I will make an effort to split the two E3H classes at least once as an experiment.
• I am going to combine the wikicabulary boards.
• I will try to remain far more on top of how the boards are being used, participating when needed but staying out of the way if discussions are going well.
• I will try to give you a "heads-up" if your posting is weak halfway through a posting period.
• I am going to try to pump up the use of wiki boards, starting with the fact that there is now a Word of the Day here on the blog to add to discussion on the new combined Wikicab boards.
• We all need to remember that it is not the number of posts that is important but the quality of the discussion. Number is only important insofar as it helps to foster that conversation.
• I will continue Post of the Day, which I began last night.

Look also for the new link on the right: Midterm Evals. It contains your thoughts (and my reactions). It will be there before I leave school today.

j:sequins, floral prints, and a dead end road
music: down a dusty road--john hiatt

--kt

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full speed ahead

Hi again!

So we find ourselves in a new semester. I hope that today went all right and that you were able to say whatever you needed to say on the "For Better or For Worse" journals. I'll be reading those tonight...

Meanwhile...

Let's get back to posting, shall we? :-)

And E2H: you need to explore your finals in a powerpoint presentation...

And Drama: work on getting those monologues onto your tongues so they don't trip you up when you speak them aloud...

Meanwhile, why not sit back and watch some legos play the Joad family...



--kt

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Where are...

...your portfolio updates? I am missing these from about a dozen people, and all of them are going to take zeroes instead of the automatic A+'s unless I have them ASAP. Grades are due first thing in the morning!!!

If you have not sent yours, send it right away!!!! Email it here.

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it's a new semester

Hi, All!

The boards are open for semester two. And for the sophs, there are two new ones for this weekend's conversations, as I mentioned earlier: Ma's Philosophies and Other Dialogue Philosophies. Post post post. :-)

For juniors, we'll be finishing up lots of issues re: Portrait this week, so the two newest boards there, Connections and Backwards and Forwards will be helpful in summing things up.

Have a great weekend.

Here's something for a laugh:



--kt

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it's a new day

President Barack Obama was sworn in today a little bit after 12:00 EST.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

--kt

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Practice exam and Portfolio Update

1. I've had a request for a "practice" story for your final. It happens that I do have access to one of the stories we used to use a long time ago for juniors and no longer use. Unfortunately I do not have similar access right now to any stories for sophomores. Still, if you'd like to take the time to test your talents (cool alliteration there, eh?), go here and give yourself two hours with the rubric to write a brilliant essay on "Teenage Wasteland" by Anne Tyler. (Scroll down once you get there.)

2. The final assignment for the semester is to let me know where your portfolio stands at this point. This is an automatic A+ if you do it right. All you need to do is this:

Send me an e-mail in which you:

• Discuss, in three paragraphs or so (in the body of the email itself) where your portfolio process stands. What is working for you now, what is not. What pieces are nearing readiness, what is left to do on them. Which early-stage pieces might be possibilities if you work on them.
• Attach to this email the most recent draft of any pieces that you currently feel might be destined for your portfolio.
  
• Be sure you have discussed any pieces you attach in the paragraphs.
  

--kt

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the finals are coming, the finals are coming!

Curious about finals?

I suppose that is fair. Let me say a few words, then. First of all:


OK, that being said...

The final is only going to count for about 5% of your grade. It will not adversely affect you unless

1. Your grade going into the exam rests almost exactly on the edge between two grades, and
2. You score significantly lower than your average on the exam.

This is an unlikely scenario. In 99% of all cases, you'll get whatever you'd have gotten without the final.

So why, you might well ask, worry about the final at all? Good question, and I have a good answer. Actually I have two.

1. Personal: It is a way to measure your progress, as it is the exact type of exam you receive at midterm in all three of your first years at LFHS;
2. Practical: Final exam grades are reported on your transcript.

OK, for those who have forgotten, here's how it works:

You will receive a story that you have in all likelihood never seen before. From there, you'll have two hours to read it and compose an essay about it. Simple, right?

Here is the ACTUAL prompt:

Step 1:

Write your name, the date, and your teacher’s name on the back of your composition paper. Do not write this information on the front of your paper.

Step 2:

This exam tests your reading as well as your writing skills. Be sure to read the story carefully. If time permits, reread the story to be sure you understand the message(s).

Step 3: Prompt

Write an essay that explores an important idea suggested by this story.

That idea may relate to a character or characters in the story, a dominant theme that emerges from it, or literary techniques the author uses to convey its central concepts. You may also use a combination of these approaches if you prefer.

Before you begin writing, plan your essay using any strategies you have found helpful—brainstorming, outlining, free writing, webbing, etc.

Focus your essay on a strong thesis statement; use mapping statements, mapping points, or some other clear plan to establish the paper’s organization; and prove your

arguments with solid textual support.

Remember, this essay is an exploration of ideas, not a plot summary.

Step 4: Editing

Go back and edit your piece.

Before you hand in your essay, check to be sure that you have included your name, the date, and your teacher’s name on the back of each page of your essay. Staple the pages of your essay if at all possible.

And here is my suggestion for how to proceed on the exam date:

1. Take a deep breath. (Don't panic, remember?)
2. Read the story, no pen in hand, just to experience it.
3. Try to formulate a thesis about it that you can test while re-reading the story.
4. Re-read it, highlighter in hand, searching for evidence of your thesis or, if you were unable to come up with a tentative thesis before, seeking to formulate one now.
5. After re-reading, organize your thoughts into an outline. Be sure you have a thesis, map, and support for points on the map.
6. Think of a good way to open, and start writing.
7. At the end, return to your opening idea as a way to bring things to a close.
8. Put a title on it that reflects the thesis and the opening idea.

You may bring the rubric (which is of course right here on the blog, linked to the right) and handwritten notes. You can't, unfortunately, just print this out and bring it with you. Not allowed. You may also bring dictionaries or thesauruses. I'd advise bringing extra paper and pens; rooms have been known to run out.

Any questions? You know how to ask them!

--kt

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it's been a week...

...and I've been sick for most of it. But now, as I slowly recover and you inexorably crawl toward exams, let us examine where we are:

in CW...

you are at the edge of the end of the line. Please email me your blog addresses and and other projects that can be emailed. See you Tuesday for The End. (Bring goodies.)

in e3h...

you are finishing up Portrait of the Artist and have this weekend as one great big online talkfest centering on the notion of "Backwards and Forwards": looking at concepts we've mentioned with the perspective of the entire book in mind...

in e2h...

you are finishing up The Grapes of Wrath and have this weekend as one great big online talkfest centering on the things you discussed in class yesterday when I was not here and looking at concepts we've mentioned with the perspective of the entire book in mind...

Have a great three-day weekend!

(Four days until the inauguration of President Barack Obama...)

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

j: chillin'
music: cold outside--lowen and navarro

--kt

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t-fest bound

This is for my sophomores. :-)

As for today's blog...

Everyone: I am going to Theatre Fest tomorrow...

It's Writing Workshop Thursday and Reading Workshop Friday.

CW: You need to get those projects done for Monday.

E3H/E2H: annotations due Monday.


and now, the video of the day...bollywood is doing a bush mockumentary...




j: the world before coffee
m: black coffee in bed--squeeze

--kt

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39 days until valentine's day

Yes, I'm counting down the days. Why not? I have nothing else to do.

:-)

Meanwhile...back in the English classroom...

Today we had a quick overview of Chapters 2-4 of Portrait in E3H and Chapters 7-19 of Grapes in E2H; we'll be doing much more with both as the next few days arrive.





E3H & E2H: Keep reading! Books and annotations should be finished by Monday. Keep posting also; that's where all of the fun happens!

CW: Work on those projects!!!

Video of the day:



j: thermal underwear for camels
music: hot'n'cold--katy perry (velle remix in 3h/cw)

--kt

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we're baaaaack!

Hi, all!

It's a new year and a new month for the blog. In class today we got portfolios from the CW-ers, and the rest of you went over big huge gigantic outrageously monstrous essays.

Must be time to party.

Yep: bring those goodies tomorrow. We'll find someone to eat 'em. It's time for...

The Room 305 Snow-Delayed Secret Santa After Vacation Quiet-Because-It's- Academic-Time Sort-of-Christmas-ish Party (With Workshop Included)

We'll be doing Writing Workshop while we munch.

In CW, you'll be working on your Final Project.

j: 101 things you didn't get done over break
music: bubbly---colbie callait

(get it? bubbly? like champagne???? like new year's eve????)

(i'm clearly tired)

--kt

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