E3H: Practice Finals are due today*. Board posting was supposed to happen by today. Thanks to the three people who emailed me to say they were having trouble (Annie, Brandon and Bijan), I have found and fixed the glitch and you all should be able to post now. I have extended the deadline through the 29th so that good conversations may happen.
E2CP: Practice Finals are due TODAY!!!!!*
* In both cases, I'll accept them as "on time" through Monday. Merry Christmas. :-)
I don't know about you, but nothing says "vacation" to me like leaving school at 5:30 with two overflowing suitcases full of portfolios weighing me down and dragging them to my car, knowing that over the next two weeks I will not only be grading most of the, but also looking at essays that other students will be emailing me!
Yay!
(I think this is why, when asked for the Faces Board downstairs what I look forward to about Christmas Break, my immediate and emphatic answer was, "Summer Break!")
Actually, I'm kidding--sort of. I do have all of that stuff to do, of course, and I may get some of it done, but the coolest thing about any vacation is that it is a vacation. And I'm feeling that already! Let's see...my brain tells me there was something I was supposed to do today...it seems to me I was supposed to post something for you guys...
Oh! Right! A new video!
No? That wasn't it?
Well, then. I guess it must have been the whole
Final Exam Practice thingie.
So, all right. The prompt, such as it is, is this:
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.
Also, E3H-ers: I will be organizing the chapter 2 boards either tonight or tomorrow. Check back here for further info!
And don't forget that Capstone Project!
E2CP-ers: Do the Final Exam practice thingie by Christmas and work on a new WW piece for Jan 3. :-)
And all of you CW folks looking for a greater understanding of the final project for your class?
The assignment: Examine pieces from each of your high school years.Find work from each of the Writing Workshop experiences you have had and trace your growth as a writer through this fall.
What have you learned?
What have been the greatest catalysts of that growth?
With what do you continue to struggle?
Where will your future focuses be?
Quote from your own work. Liberally sprinkle this with bits and pieces of you. Finally, put it together in a micro-portfolio (no need for anything fancy this time) that illustrates your personal writing journey over the last four years.
You may do a mini-portfolio, but I’d actually prefer that you do this in a completelydifferentformat. Try something you’ve never tried before. Make a DVD* or CD-ROM. Make a web-site** or blog***.You are creative people: be creative! The rules are that you must explore your career in writing as noted above, but the format is wide open.
* Lots of programs make this easy. I’m a Mac girl myself, so I use iMovie. Easy as pie.
** Mac has one for this too: iWeb. I imagine Vista has one, but I don’t know that universe.
*** Here’s a super-simple option and it’s universal: use Google! If you create a free account on Google, they will guide you through the creation of a blog, provide templates, and publish it for you!
So…have fun!
This is due when we get back, so we can share them in class on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. (I won’t be here on Friday due to Theatre Fest.)
Want an example or two (or four)? Here are some blogs from last year (besides Betsy's that I showed you in class). I can't show you the videos or magazines, but I can show you these. :-)
Well, my voice is slowly coming back from the dead, so that's a good thing. Nothing like sleeping for 20 out of 24 of the last day's hours. And tea...lots of tea. I've consumed half of the tea in my classroom closet and no coffee at all since Sunday.
Of course, pretty much everything else gets screwed up along the way. I feel as if I need to restart E2CP. E3H has one section that is a day behind the other with a vacation looming. CW has portfolios due tomorrow and...well...we shall see.
But, hey: it's Christmas! It's all good! Ho ho ho? Fa la la? Jingle? Right? :-)
Anyway...
CW: Boy oh boy, if you don't know where your portfolio is by now, there just isn't any hope. Congrats to Maddie and Jori and Matt, all of whom have already turned theirs in and can get a good night's sleep tonight. :-)
E3H: First of all, the fishbowl conversations went very well this week. Nice work! Almost all grades will be excellent. (Those that are not: join in next time!!!) As to the ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, yes, Virginia, it's true: there is a Big Huge Gigantic Enormous Semester Project. But it's for the second semester, not the first. I'm introducing it now because, well, it is pretty darned big, and I thought having the Christmas break to begin considering and planning how to approach it might be rather useful for you. We will discuss this tomorrow, but I'd like to have each of you look at it tonight, so go to this link: Big Honking Semester Two English Project. Also, please bring in materials connected to your Writing Workshop tomorrow. I would like to take a moment to see where you are. This is the leftover Monday assignment.
E2CP: Please bring in your Writing Workshop materials tomorrow so I can see where you are. I need to know where you stand going into Christmas break. Also bring Sound and Sense (take another look at Ch. 4 tonight).
And now, possibly the single coolest video i will ever post here:
CW: The link has been repaired...again! Go here to find The List of Prompts. (Also available from the CW pages.) The Countdown is now 3. Do you know where your portfolio is????
E2CP: Bring journals and Sound and Sense tomorrow. Remaining Huck Finn scenes will be performed.
E3H: 1st Period: Counselors tomorrow. Bring me books to grade. (I decided we didn't need to go online tonight.) 7th Period: Fishbowls tomorrow. (Bring scuba gear.)
and because one silly beatles video isn't enough...
Hi, all. At this moment, I have NO voice. None. When I cough, it surprises me that any sound even emanates from my mouth. There is no there there. This ain't good.
E3H: I sent you all an email. Please check your school account for Very Important Information!!!
CW: Countdown is now 6: do you know where your portfolio is???
E2CP: Christmas decorating update: No one is making the television!!! That's sort of an important aspect of the display! Anyway, you all know what we need. You need to get it done this weekend despite the snow in the forecast. :-)
and while we're setting up those Christmas trees, make sure they are nice and sturdy, OK?
As we draw closer and closer to break, I realize the vast amount of crap that is accumulating not only in my classroom but also in my email files...old drafts, revisions, unanswered questions, etc. I have to clean house some time soon. I will do so.
Shortly I will finish responding to what I believe to be all significant files from my email and archive the remainder. I will tell you when I have done so. If at that time you feel there is something missing, please let me know; otherwise it will disappear into limbo forever...
Meanwhile...
Winter Writing Festival...bring in drafts of "finished" or "in process" works for the WWF (yes, I went there) tomorrow; put on them
your name (or code name)
my name
your class period
and a TITLE!!!
Stripe them as follows:Sophs JuniorsSeniors You may have as many pieces as you'd like, and 1 or 2 copies of each piece.
CW: Countdown is now 8.Do you know where your portfolio is???
E3H and E2CP: RW tomorrow. WW Monday.
E3H: For Tuesday: Finish reading Chapter 2 of Portrait. Annotations will be due.
E2CP: For tomorrow: Bring decoration materials, esp. Disney/Christmas decorations, sturdy poster boards and markers.
No crazy stuff today, but a few messages for tomorrow:
CW: Pete Ferry is coming!
E3H: Chapter Two is on the agenda for tomorrow. First period should have annotations. RW on Friday!!!
E2CP: Post your "I felt a funeral" poems online at this board (part of the Poetry boards). You may also email if you'd rather. The scenes are still coming!! So is door decorating. Bring all things Disney and Christmas! RW on Friday!!
Winter Writing Festival: turn in the pieces by Friday!!!
The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.
If you outlaw catapults, only outlaws will have catapults.
Is it too fast or am I too slow?
If knowledge is power but ignorance is bliss, some days I wish I could be completely retarded.
Is a well-made sign that says '' bad '' on it a good sign or a bad sign?
OK, I'm finished musing randomly. For more random musings, you might try randomthoughts.ws; I did. :-)
CW: Countdown now = 11. Do you know where your portfolio is? Pete Ferry is coming on Thursday!
E3H: Start reading Chapter 2 if you have your books. If I have them, you may pick them up in the room after 8 AM tomorrow.
E3CP: Poetry: Write a poem that starts with "I felt a funeral in my brain," which is the first line of a Dickinson poem. Also, tomorrow we start showing the Huck Finn scenes!
Don't forget: Readathon is next week! Bring in pieces! Seniors: Blue stripes. Juniors: Yellow stripes. Sophomores: Green stripes. All: Title, my name, class period!!
And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, a word from Your Sponsor:
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CW: Workshop!!! Countdown is 12: Do you know where your portfolios is?????
E2CP: Be on time tomorrow!!! Huck Finn scenes! Also poetry online!
E3H: Portrait online!
Today's journal music (at least the warm part):
You've got to be kidding me! This completely absurd video features just about every half-baked second-rate celeb you can think of lip-syncing to "Let It Be"; why is anyone's guess...
And if that was not weird enough for you, here's viral nonsense that defies description:
Of course it would happen when I have a forensics tournament.
Oy!
Better go out this afternoon and buy a car scraper (which is another item--besides all of the gloves in my house--that has mysteriously vanished into thin air). Otherwise I'll be blowing all of the snow off of the car tomorrow when I get back from Hersey HS...
CW: Countdown is now two weeks! Do you know where your portfolio is??? Also: We will be discussing Pete Ferry's Travel Writing on Monday. Be prepared.
E3H: Monday: Essay revisions are due. Tuesday: Boards are due. Board assignment: Discuss on the Portrait boards the pandybat incident, the Christmas dinner, and Stephen's thoughts about girls/Tower of Ivory/House of Gold.
E2CP: Monday: Writing Workshop Tuesday: Boards are due, but don't wait for Monday night because (as always) this is supposed to be a conversation). Board assignment: Discuss online the poems we were assigned last night but did not discuss today in class. Use the board called Poetry and use the poems' names for your topics.
Thank goodness I finally got a pair of gloves yesterday. It's true: there are about ten pairs of gloves in my house, and all ten have completely vanished! No one knows where they have gone. I have searched everywhere: every closet, drawer, cabinet, hiding place, nook and cranny. They have vanished without a trace. Even the emergency ones I used to leave in my car are missing.
WTH?
CW: More workshoppy stuff tomorrow. Countdown: 16 Do you know where your portfolio is?
E3H: We're sticking to Portrait. Your only HW though tonight is the revision of the Asher essay; there may be something else over the weekend, so I'm thinking you might want to take advantage of the lull...
E2CP: Read the rest of Ch 3. Pay attention to these poems: "Pathedy of Manners," "Naming of Parts," Cross," and "One Art."
Did someone say, "snow'?
I know I must have misheard you because I HATE SNOW!
Actually it isn't the snow that I hate so much as everything is symbolizes: the cold, the icy winds, the wintry weather, the months and months of chill, the shoveling, the scraping, the crappy slow driving...the only redeemable thing about winter is that it eventually ends. And that is the one fact about it that most seems in doubt while we are in the midst of it.
arrrrgh!
CW: Workshop day tomorrow. Countdown: 17Do you know where your portfolio is?
E3H: The Asher Lev notes from today are at this link. We are back in Portrait tomorrow.
E2CP: Read the first pages of Chapter Three of the Sound and Sense book, including information on denotation v connotation and the poems "There Is No Frigate Like a Book" and "When My Love Swears She Is Made Of Truth." When you don't understand something in a poem, here's what to do: if it's a word, look it up. If it's an image or metaphor, see if it makes more sense on second or third reading. (You should always read a poem more than once. The first time is just to experience it; the later ones are to make meaning from it.) Whatever it is, if it doesn't become clear when you are finished, write it down on a post-it and put it in the book for discussion in class!
And now, with December upon us, let's take on final look back at some of the highlights of November:
Today is the first post-Thanksgiving post! It's a short one, but then not much has happened yet since the holiday, so there is not much to post about. :-)
CW: 18 days left: Do you know where your portfolio is?
E3H: Read the links from last week!
E2CP: Scenes due next Tuesday! And I've changed my mind. Bring the Poetry book, not Short Fiction, tomorrow.
So I spent most of yesterday driving back and forth to Cedar Rapids, and that was fun. Today, I spent the day sleeping and shopping, getting ready for tomorrow. (And I got to go to Costco for the first time! Cool!)
Anyway, I promised to provide some details for the weekend. Here they are:
CW: This is the Thanksgiving letter. It is very long because it is a work in progress; I add to it almost every year in a hodgepodge of additions. You do not have to read it all. But I would like you to respond to it. :-) And for those of you who did not see it before, here is the reading workshop letter. Also: Don't forget that you need to have read Pete Ferry's book by next week.
E3H: Your assignment for the weekend is to read Chapter One of Portrait. That assignment would normally be due on Tuesday, but in this case I'd actually like it on Monday so I can check annotations and give you back your books on Tuesday. Here is a bit of useful background on Charles Parnell and Michael Davitt. It will help you to understand what is going on in this chapter.
E2CP: This weekend you should be working on the scenes you started Monday and Tuesday. For these scenes I expect the following:
Clear, strong scripts derived from the Twain text
Performances (live or on video) that are practiced and show evidence of understanding the issues within the scene you are playing
Appropriate and consistent costuming and prop use
Recognition of audience: be sure that you are aware that you have an audience and that you are playing and speaking to that audience
Length of scenes should be approximately 3-5 minutes and may include a Mark Twain narrative character who can explore the satirical elements of the scene and how it connects to the book as a whole
After each presentation, the entire group will present a prepared discussion of the important elements of the scene and be ready to answer any questions from the teacher or audience
The group should explain how this scene reflects Twain's view of the "damned human race" and why it is a part of the journey of Huck Finn and Jim
If you have any questions about my expectations, please email me. I'll be happy to answer them.
Ah, the deep philosophical conundrums we ponder when we are bored...
CW: Tomorrow we'll be in writing groups. Bring things to conference, esp the new pieces!
E3H: we'll be finishing fantasias tomorrow and discussing the SC projects.
E2CP: You need to get together (virtually on in person) with your HF groups this evening to write a preliminary script for your scenes. This script should cover the entire scene, though you will be allowed to change it and adapt it as you go. Make all necessary decisions tonight (live or video, how you'll costume, etc.) and include them with the script. Turn it in tomorrow.
It is 8th period and I am fried. I am getting too old to do the stay up until 3:00 thing on a school night. :-)
CW: Prompt #11: Take any fairy tale or children's story and retell it from a perspective that will alter our understanding of the piece. The narrative should be a more mature and in all likelihood darker one than is true of the original, though you should tell the same story.
E3H: Comment on boards (ongoing). New: create a graphic depiction of Joyce's use of Stream of Consciousness (SC) in the rugby scene. Be as specific as you can about the various elements (memories) that we see in this scene, but focus on the way they move into and out of each other. Creativity counts!
E2CP: You should have read all of the book by now. Your project for this book will involve getting together with 1-3 other classmates, scripting and performing a scene based on a segment of the novel. Select a scene from among the following options and email your selection to me. (If you have a really great idea connected to a scene I do not list below, ask; you never know.) After approval, try to get together with classmates over the weekend to begin scripting and planning your scene.
Scenes may (and probably should, in some cases) include a "Mark Twain" character who is there both to serve as a narrator and to highlight the satirical elements. Costume as you'd like--within reason--and use all needed props.
This project may be done live or on video.
Scene selections:
Sherburn-Boggs affair
Sarah Mary Crawford scene
Grangerford-Shepherdson feud
The Royal Nonesuch
Huck and Jim scenes highlighting their developing friendship
The Wilkes Plantation
The script will need to be turned in, but other aspects will most likely be handled presentationally.
Late starts: a blessing and a curse. You get to come in late (blessing!) but the day somehow seems to take forever (curse!). Right now I have been here about two weeks today. And I'm not leaving yet. :-)
Ah well...
CW: We'll be in workshop mode again tomorrow. BUY and READ Travel Writing!!! Reading is due after Thanksgiving weekend.
E3H:Tonight: board posts and responses on Childhood Memories. Tomorrow we will discuss these and the opening of the novel and then see some more fantasias!
E2CP: I hope that the "feud" game today was at least a little bit helpful. Tomorrow we will be discussing the Arkansas scene and the Wilkes Plantation. The book is due to be finished by Friday!
Today's Missed Conferences: Courtney, Eddie Kirstyn, Tomorrow's Conferences: Sarah, Kirsten, Nolan, Eric D, Heather, Christina, Jori, Matthew B
(I know: that's a total shock, right? I hide it so well!) The thing is that I really, truly loathe it. And I grew up in New Hampshire, where there is much more snow than there is here, and moved here, where there is much more cold than I can stand. What is wrong with me anyway? It is ridiculous: I hate the cold and I hate getting up early, so logically I am a teacher in Chicago. Oy!
Speaking of getting up early, you don't have to tomorrow! I do, but that--as previously noted--is my curse. You get a day to sleep in, which of course makes getting HW done all the more possible!
Read the first tiny section of Portrait (through "Apologize, pull out your eyes").
Online: go to the Early Childhood Memories board and post some reflections of your own earliest memories. (How many of you can make the posts sound like Joyce?)
If you cannot post online, email me what would be the post. But try!
E2CP: We'll be talking about the Shepherdson/Grangerford feud tomorrow. Maybe you could go back over that section? Write down at least one question that you have about it.
Have I mentioned that I really don't much like Mondays?
I mean, really: does anyone?
But here we are. And it's Monday, and the weather is crappy. So what? We have stuff to do together!
CW: Let's get things together, folks: I hate wasting effort, and the sestina seemed very wasteful because you guys didn't do what I asked of you. WG Tues tomorrow!
E3H: Bring Portrait and fantasias tomorrow!!
E2CP: You know where we are: read through Ch. 32.
Today's Missed Conferences: Katie S (1), Will S, Luke S Tomorrow's Conferences: Grant, Johanna, Duncan, Katie M, Molly, Briana, Nicole, Windsor, Zach, Christina
I'm not kidding! A hugely successful pop phenomenon in Japan is the "performance" of an anime-ish avatra with a live band in concert. "She" plays to sold out crowds and is amazingly realistic (not to mention gigantic).
Take a look at this:
and this:
Japan is just simply a hoot!
Anyway, about your HW for the weekend:
CW: Guess what? Here is another letter!!! Also: next week we have T-F Writing Groups and three work days...if you guys get those online sestinas done this weekend!
E2CP: WW Monday. Then: as follows:
Tuesday HF 26-31
Thursday HF 32-36
Friday HF 37-42
E3H: WW Monday. Fantasias continue on Tuesday. Check the fantasia instruction pages for an update including a scoring rubric.
And now, today's journal music (yet another trip to Japan!):
Today's Missed Conferences:Grant, Lindsay (2cp), Alex E Tomorrow's Conferences:Laura B, Matt P (2cp), KatieS (3h-1), Will, Mitchell, Mia, Tyson, Luke, Martha
And today, we began the presentation of fantasias in E3H...one of my favorite projects of the year. The following utterly incredible one was presented by Eddie Schutt and created using animoto.com:
I am in official "wow" mode. Great work Eddie and everyone who went today!
Major Announcement:
Tomorrow is the second Friday of November. E3H and E2CP will therefore have Reading Workshop!!!
CW: Today we were in WG's; tomorrow prepare for a regular day.
3H: Today we finished the musical. Tomorrow we will discuss it. After this, if anyone is ready with a fantasia, we can get them started. Portrait of the Artist is available in the bookstore for $11; buy it this week. You must have a NEW copy.
2CP: Today we started to discuss HF 8-16; we will do more on that tomorrow but you should also read 17-18.
Yes indeed! You not only get all the benefits of a four-day weekend, but this is "Fall Back!" weekend as well, the end of Daylight Savings Time, so you actually get an extra hour of weekend to enjoy!
When it rains, it pours!
CW: We are very officially in Q2 Workshop Mode: while there may be a few more prompts, for the most part you are going to find that most of the day are dedicated to your individual progress on the pieces you are choosing as your portfolio works. Reminder: T/F are WG days, so come prepared.
E3H: If by chance you have not received the Asher emails, and I did discover that I missed a few, you'll receive them this weekend. One revision on that essay is a freebie. Note to those whose parents I met early yesterday: The printouts from the gradebook program make it appear as if your "Hunger Artist" essay is missing even though you did it. I figured that out about two hours into the conferences, but earlier I had mentioned this to several parents. Please show them this to prove that you are correct in asserting that you actually did your work.
Fantasias are due Wednesday.
Writing Workshop is Monday. I apologize that I will not have a revised and updated conference schedule online this weekend; I forgot to send myself the file from school to post. I'll take care of it next week. (Try to remember if you have one scheduled though. This is a B week.)
The final cut-off for "What Is Art?" essay revisions will be Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. That is the last day on which I will accept revisions on that essay. Until then, you may do as many as you'd like.
E2CP: It was great meeting with so many parents last night! I hope that you all will enjoy the long weekend, though of course there is some work to be done:
Huck Finn chapters 9-16 by Tuesday.
Writing Workshop pieces for Monday. Remember that this means an x.0 draft with 3-4 printed copies so you can share in writing groups.
Out Town/Harold & Maude essays sent to me ASAP this weekend.
Hi, everyone, and welcome back to another (or your first) year at LFHS.
What you have heard is true. The English teacher has lost her ever-loving mind and is not going to be giving any grades at all in her classes this year. Not. One.
There will be no percentages, no numbers, no scores, no letters, no anything that will count toward anything that will end up being averaged for a final grade. But before you call in the men with the white coats, let me explain:
As I hope you have read in the doc your son or daughter (I have always hated the phrase "your student" when addressed to a parent) should have showed you, there is a wealth of research that indicates that grades--or the need to achieve them--are the single greatest thing that stand in the way of a great education. Studies show that the most influential thing a teacher can do to help a student grow academically is to allow him or her to self-grade. Most teachers would rather climb Mt. Everest dressed only in a swimsuit.
But the thing is: our academic system is severely broken. We say that our goal is to get our students to master Common Core Standards, and that is all well and good. But if that is truly the goal, then why do we care how long it takes them to master them? I'm serious. Think about it this way:
Try to remember back to when you were learning how to ride a bike. Oh, it was scary. You needed all kinds of support at first, lots of help from Daddy or Mommy. Then they let go and you were very, very wobbly. Probably you fell off, maybe several times. It took quite a while before you completely mastered the skill. But when you had...you had it down perfectly for the rest of your life.
Now imagine if you were being graded on that learning experience the way schools grade you. We would not score those first scaffolding attempts with Mommy and Daddy, but then...oh, you failed those quizzes when you fell off. And those wobbly rides? C's at best. Then a bunch of B's probably before you finally settled into 100% forever. But if we graded you right at that point, you'd probably average, oh, 83% or so. Why?You've mastered the skill perfectly. So why do you not get 100% if that is what we say we care about? Why on earth do we care about all those earlier times when you didn't have it down yet?
That will be what we go for here. Students will know what the goals are. They will understand what an "A" student looks like. And they will know when they have mastered an objective. Those who do so earlier than others will become tutors to those who have not yet done it: everyone gains from this and the newly learned skills, instead of being quickly forgotten as things studied for a test usually are, will continue being applied as masters tutor their classmates.
That is an awful lot to imagine will happen because I don't give grades this year, but what the heck: if you don't dream big, you never win big, right? The research is behind this, as is the school administration. I'm happy--well, actually I am excited--to pilot this concept at LFHS. As always, I'm glad to discuss this or anything else with you.
