English 9 Class Notes
Objective: Freshmen began writing expository-analytical paragraphs about theme.
Freshmen, we began to tie three autobiographical pieces we’ve read over the last few weeks together into a coherent paragraph about the learning and adversity. We compared the main characters’ struggles, the people from who they gain valuable insights, and the progress of their stories. You crafted topic sentences and your first chunks in new writing-pairs; you’ll continue to work on these Friday.
Remember that you must have your ID with you next class so you can be issued our next two texts, the ones we’ll finish out the year with.
See you in a couple of days.
APELC Class Notes
Second and fourth, we did the same as you peers yesterday. Please check their notes for details and objectives.
As we discussed disease clusters, some ideas relating to genomics were tossed around class and, as always, there are current or recent issues of genomics in the news. Here’s a timely piece from the New York Times that has to do with discovery versus creation and human identity, “Judge Invalidates Human Gene Patent”. (Point of Inquiry covered this subject last year with a podcast worth listening to: “Who Owns You?”.) And in third period we briefly touched upon the subject of designer babies, during which I mangled the story of Jeffrey Steinberg’s Fertility Institute: “Custom-made babies delivered: Fertility clinic doctor’s design-a-kid offer creates uproar”.
Yesterday in the liberry, while listening to the ever-groovy (and commercial-free) internet radio station SomaFM, I also mentioned Tucson’s own community radio station that you’re not listening to, 91.3 FM KXCI. Dig the station’s program guide; there’s something for everyone. (The kids and I usually listen Saturday afternoons while we’re cleaning the house.) I encourage you to listen to and support KXCI’s efforts to bring high-quality programming to the Desert Southwest.
See you next class kids.
APELC Class Notes
Objectives: APELCers 1) processed an essay, and 2) researched their worldviews.
As the objectives state, so we did today. Here’s more about the controversy (?) surrounding autism and vaccinations from TIME, “The Autism Debate: Who’s Afraid of Jenny McCarthy?”. And here’re two more episodes of Skeptoid that you might find interesting:
- “Mercury, Autism, and Chelation: A Recipe for Risk”
- “Ten Most Wanted: Celebrities Who Promote Harmful Pseudoscience”
Attend your homework, and I’ll see you on Thursday.
English 9 Class Notes
Objectives: Freshmen identified and explained literary concepts in autobiography.
Freshmens, we completed the Hayslip text today but not before we had to make to the Lecture Hall for registration. I appreciated that you followed instructions completely and maturely; I like when I can point to my students as models for others, and models you are. Well done.
We discussed your answers to the study questions near the end of the period and I was impressed by the quality of the majority of your answers. The quality of your responses to the questions about the fiction and non-fiction texts as we’ve practiced will continue to have a direct influence on the quality of your compositions, the next of which we’ll begin Wednesday after we attempt to tie our most recent three texts together.
Attend the homework detailed on your class page, and I’ll see you in a couple of days (or maybe during tutorial tomorrow to work on that homework?).
APELC Class Notes
Objective: APELCers processed an article.
Juniors and seniors, we attacked the Kolata piece variously in each class, getting further in more than others, but the discussions, as usual were worthwhile. Our discussion of cause and effect in fourth yielded more discussion of the idea that people need to find causes or answers and direct blame when they lack such and so we touched upon free will and choice and some of the worldviews that several APELCers are currently studying, specifically materialism, determinism, fatalism, nihilism. For a brief treatment of the first, you might examine the following essay by Richard Vitzthum “Philosophical Materialism”.
Coincidentally, I heard the following on NPR during my drive home: “Morality Study Narrows Gap Between Mind And Brain”. Observe the explanation at the end of the piece,
The new study is really part of a much larger effort by scientists to explain how the brain creates moral judgments [. . . .] The scientists are trying to take concepts such as morality, which philosophers once attributed to the human soul, and “break it down in mechanical terms.”
This is the type of reduction that some would argue could potentially be used to explain away behavior: If a person is the product of merely material and mechanical activity, and his or her behaviors an effect of deterministic and biochemical causes, his or her actions, no matter how abhorrent, can be dismissed as merely natural processes. This itself is answered by compatibilism. I’ll let you take it from there.
Remember that the deadline for the final draft of your worldview project is Thursday, April 29.
Attend your homework, and I’ll see you next class.
English 9 Class Notes
Objectives: Freshmen identified and explained literary concepts in autobiography.
After assigning new seats, we began the third short autobiographical piece in this text series, another story of a young girl learning about herself in her context. We again got into a brief discussion of rights and relativism. We’ll complete the story Monday.
See you next week.
APELC Class Notes
We covered as much as the Saukko piece as we could today, or as much as you own preparation allowed, really, but we spend the last half of class in the liberry.
For more on perceived hazards and prayed-for solutions, check out the following podcasts from one of my favorite’s, Brian Dunning at Skeptoid:
- “Rethinking Nuclear Power”
- “The Miracle of Ethanol”
- “The Sargasso Sea and the Pacific Garbage Patch”
Attend your homework.
APELC ClassNotes
Objectives: APELCers 1) processed an essay, and 2) researched their worldviews.
Periods 1 and 3, we tackled the Saukko piece today before we headed to the liberry. I thought it would go well with our recent timed-writing.
We briefly discussed e-waste, and I mentioned a 60 Minutes piece from last year, “Following The Trail Of Toxic E-Waste”, that I think is worth examining. Here’s the show segment highlighting the problem.
from
Here’s a piece from Smithsonian Magazine, about e-waste, “E-Gad!”, the first text that brought the issue to my attention.
Attend your homework, prepare for your conference, and have a fine weekend.
English 9 Class Notes
Objectives: Freshmen identified and explained literary concepts in autobiography.
We completed “The Village Watchmen” and I asked you to answer the remainder of the study questions, but I noticed that too many students were being pokey about the activity. I dropped the hammer and had you recopy what you’d done Monday and complete you were asked today for turn-in. You read independently after while I was pestered by some junior students.
One more brief story to go before we begin composing.
APELC Class Notes
APELCers, we met with the counselors as your peers did yesterday, but we spent more time talking over English options for next year, what university credits are, and some post-secondary planning. Here’re the details for AP exam-earned credits for our three state universities:
Look them over, but don’t stop there. Be sure to check the credit schedule for each of the institutions you’re even thinking of attending so you can make informed decisions.
Please come to sign-up for a revision conference and to pick-up your essay. I’ll have updated grades for you Monday.
APELC Class Notes
Objective: APELCers reviewed an excerpt from a non-fiction text.
First and third APELCers, we spent most of the period with counselors covering registration information for next year, and what time we had left we spent on the analyzing the prompt and text from yesterday’s timed-writing.
Check your class page for homework details and come to tutorial tomorrow to sign-up for revision conferences.
English 9 Class Notes
Objectives: Freshmen identified and explained literary concepts in autobiography.
Freshmens, I welcomed you back with a new short autobiographical text, “The Village Watchman”, which we’ll complement Friday with another. From our study of these and the Angelou text we read before break, you’ll compose a brief piece of writing. These’ll take us to the end of next week and on to our novel (I’m not sure if we’ll do one or two, but I’ll figure it out in the next few days).
Peace.
APELC Class Notes
Objective: APELCers wrote a rhetorical analysis.
You did as the objective states, juniors and seniors, no more. I’ll have the work you completed today back to you next class, and I’m catching-up on scoring your other work, including your worldview drafts. We’ve got plenty of liberry time scheduled, so you’ll have no excuse for not turning your best work at the end of April.
Also remember that Thursday, March 25 is the last day to pay your deposit for all AP exams. Deposits are due in the bookstore no later than 1:30 pm; late fees will be applied to registrants afterward. Students who take the AP exam will not be required to take the final (which I’ve not yet devised). If you’re wondering whether you should try the APELC exam, come speak with me about your concerns in tutoring.
Lastly, here’re two items I came across over the break which are related to your last timed-writing, the synthesis paper on space exploration, that I thought interesting: “Protecting Earth and space from people” and “Professor Believes It’s Our Moral Imperative to Launch Packets of Life Into Space”.
See you soon.
English 9 Class Notes
Freshmens, we met with counselors today to discuss registration for next year; here’s the link to the Course Descriptions Handbook so you can review your options over the break. The last half of the period, you had the option of working out your course choices for 2010-2011 or reading your liberry books.
Have a nice break. Enjoy your time off as much as Russian crooner Eduard Hill seems to be enjoying himself singing “I Am Very Glad Because I’m Finally Back Home”:
See you in a little over a week.
APELC Class Notes
Second and fourth APELCers, you did the same your first and third period peers. I’d ask you to read their notes from yesterday regarding performance on the exam.
I said I post these reminders again regarding your worldview drafts due the day we get back so there’d be no excuse for misunderstanding my expectations for your work. The closer you follow these, there better I’ll be able to assess your work and help you craft a suitable final product.
Your four page (minimum) worldview drafts/outlines are due Monday, March 22 in the form of a paragraph outline; that is, it should resemble an encyclopedia article of your own creation from your various sources of topical paragraphs that explain content and ideas, written with complete sentences and punctuated appropriately. Focus on worldview facts and your evaluations; include narrative elements if you’re able.
Include a rudimentary Works Cited page with your work; group your sources by type (Books, Articles, et cetera) so I can check them quicker. For quotation and citation purposes, refer to the MLA Formatting and Style Guide at the Purdue OWL. Know and use the following pages:
Details for content and sign-up for presentations will be available when we return. Final drafts due and presentations begin Thursday, April 22, and Friday, April 23.
Have a fine break, kids.
APELC Class Notes
Objectives: APELCers 1) completed a critical reading assessment, and 2) assessed their thinking, reading, and writing skills.
First and third period, you completed the multiple-choice section of the practice exam today and you calculated your overall scores. As I suspected, there were plenty of fours and threes, with some a handful of scores on the top and bottom ends of the scale. If you’re disappointed in your score, I encourage you to think more positively: This was the first full exam you’ve completed and the testing session wasn’t authentic as it was spread out over the week. We will continue to prepare throughout the fourth quarter; I have every faith that you’ll do as well as you’ve prepared and you’re intended to do.
Your four page (minimum) worldview drafts/outlines are due Monday, March 22. I expect a paragraph outline, essentially, again, an encyclopedia article of your own creation from your various sources of topical paragraphs that explain content and ideas, written with complete sentences and punctuated appropriately. Focus on worldview facts and your evaluations; include narrative elements if you’re able.
You should include a rudimentary Works Cited page with your draft, and I’d like to you to group your citations by type (Books, Articles, et cetera) so I can check them quicker. For quotation and citation purposes, as I’ve mentioned repeatedly, you’ll find no better free resource than the MLA Formatting and Style Guide at the Purdue OWL. Know and use the following pages in particular:
Final drafts due and presentations begin Thursday, April 22, and Friday, April 23. Details for content and sign-up for presentations will be available when we return.
On a last, more serious note before you go into the break, I was stunned to discover so few students were familiar with Pearl Jam, who, along with Nirvana and Soundgarden, formed the (popular) triumvirate of grunge rock in the early 1990s. This is your cultural heritage; here’s work from all three:
Have a restful but productive break.
English 9 Class Notes
Objectives: Freshmen identified and explained literary concepts in autobiography.
We completed the short Angelou piece today, freshmens, and you had time to begin your homework based on the reading.
Here’s more on “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, also known as the Negro National Anthem: The song was featured on an NPR broadcast several years ago as part of a series detailing American cultural icons. After you listen, check out the following videos of two versions of the song, the first by the Soul Children of Chicago and the second by Marvin Gaye’s often-partner Kim Weston’s.
And here’s a video of “Graduation” author Maya Angelou’s reading her poem, “On the Pulse of Morning” at Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993. (And here’s the text.)
You have homework. Check details on your class page.
APELC Class Notes
Same as yesterday, kids. Have your work highlighted for next class so we can figure your composite scores after the multiple-choice practice.
APELC Class Notes
Objectives: APELCers wrote a rhetorical analysis and an argument.
So did you as the objective states, first and third. We talked over your impressions of your own work with the little time we had before you were dismissed. Highlight and score your essays for next class when you’ll figure your overall score after completing the multiple-choice section of the practice exam.
Nothing else, but here’s something interesting, I guess: “The goat woman: Chinese grandmother, 101, grows mystery horn on forehead”.
English 9 Class Notes
Objectives: Freshmen identified and explained literary concepts in autobiography.
We continued with “Graduation” today, freshmens, and we discussed a bit about the differences between the “black” and “white” schools in the text and Mr. Donleavy’s expectations of the different groups of students. I asked if expectations of young minority men have changed much since the time of the excerpt. Here’re two texts to read and think over: “Cool-pose culture’ hurts young black men” and “Hip Hop War”.
You’re not required to read the articles, and I know many of you are loathe to do more than required to make the grade, but I heartily encourage you to examine these articles. By engaging them you’ll be connections outside of our text and begin to see how authors work out their ideas in answer to questions posed by our cultural context and how the latter inspires authors’ work.
See you Wednesday for the last day of rigor for the quarter. Friday we’ll meet with your counselors who’ll advise you about registration; bring your independent reading book both Wednesday and Friday.
Peace.