october 31

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Happy Halloween! If you could BE someone/something else for a day, instead of just dressing up, who/what would you choose? Why?


AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Elements of a good story
3. Logic and leadership
4. Hamlet

POST:
Write about what you think makes a story compelling (title: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?)

october 30

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Honesty comes up more as a topic when something may make someone uncomfortable.  (Think about it: if she looks fantastic in that dress, honesty is no problem.  If she looks like an elephant seal, however...)  Describe a time you felt challenged in being honest.  Was it because you risked embarrassment or getting in trouble?  Were you protecting someone else's feelings (or yours, if they got upset with you)?  What was it that made you think twice about telling the truth?

AGENDA:
1. Wednesday on Tuesday: catch up on blog work, journals, college/scholarship research, job applications, and big question thinking

BLOG:
What did you do today? 

october 29

JOURNAL TOPIC:
We know that dinosaurs and other species lived on Earth and then became extinct. Can you imagine a time when humans are extinct? What might cause this, and what might take our place? Describe in detail.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. The votes are in: meet Hamlet

october 26

JOURNAL TOPIC:
You thought you wanted to do this, but now you're not sure.  The small plane doesn't feel like anything you've ever experienced.  There is just a thin sheet of metal between your feet... and nothing.  Just thousands of feet of empty space to the Earth below.  You stand up as the experienced skydiver next to you yells, "You're next!"  Every bump makes your knees week.  Your stomach feels like it wants to live in your throat.  You're numb, but you move toward the open door.  Suddenly the wind whips at your hand and this is all suddenly too real.

What do you do next?  Will you sit back down or will you take the leap?  Describe your actions in detail.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. To read or not to read?

october 25

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Remember that fortune you won yesterday? Easy come, easy go. Due to a computer error, 24,999,999 other people also won. That means your winnings total $2 (actually, more like $1.35 after taxes). How do you react? What thoughts and feelings do you experience? How will your plans change?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. *ugh* could we PLEASE grade that Prologue test and get on with it??

october 24

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Today is your day! You find a lottery ticket-- THE lottery ticket. After Dr. Preston cashes it for you (you're too young and smart to play the lottery), you have $50 million. What will you do with it?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Wednesday
3. Finish Prologue key

october 23

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Why is it legal for businesses to put up all sorts of ugly signs, but graffiti is illegal?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Correct Prologue exams

october 22

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Describe a time you thought of just the right thing to say to someone-- after the conversation was already over.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Test: Canterbury Tales

test: canterbury

If you read, this will not suck.

If you didn't read, best of luck.

The Prologue

1. Who did the narrator meet at the Tabbard Inn?

a. He met the King of England

b. He met the Archbishop of Canterbury

c. He met 29 pilgrims


d. He met St. Thomas a Becket 

october 16-19

You're on the journey.  Chaucer would be so stoked.  Remember from our conversation on Monday-- this isn't going to be easy, but it will be rewarding.  Each day, follow the formula:

• Write in your journal (topics below)
• Read the tale you selected in the textbook
• As you read, stop to look up words you don't know and/or consider Chaucer's ideas
• Create a blog post for each reading session where you can respond to ideas, define words you didn't know, and ask questions for us to consider next week (title: TODAY'S CANTERBURY READING)
• Leave yourself 10 minutes or so at the end of each period to summarize your thoughts and edit
• By Friday, be sure that you have posted questions for each tale you read (title: Q & A ON THE [ ___________]'S TALE) 
• Work on your literature analysis

JOURNAL TOPICS:

(Tuesday)

The Canterbury Tales describe characters on a journey.  Sometimes, characters get lost.  This can be disorienting and stressful, but in finding his/her way a character can discover something about him/herself.  Describe a time you got lost.  How did you respond?  Why is this such a disconcerting experience, and what can it teach us?  What did it teach you?

(Wednesday)

Which tale did you choose?  Why?  What appeals to you about the title character?

(Thursday)

Describe your favorite memory of a meal.  Was it with family?  On a date?  At a fancy restaurant?  At home?  What made it special?  Was it the taste?  The company?  The emotions you felt?

(Friday)




Reflect on the week.  How did you do with the reading?  As you think back, what makes you the most proud about your performance?  Why?

october 15

AGENDA:
1. Checking in and planning the week (and yes, you're going to read more Canterbury Tales :)
2. Notes/review on symbolism
3. Journal

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Happy Birthday"]

As an expert in symbolism, please explain the relatively new trend of throwing flour and eggs on people to "celebrate" their birthdays. Older people may regard this behavior as assault or a desperate plea for attention; is there a deeper significance to this practice, or is it as dumb as it looks?

COMMENT to this post with the fiction novel you're reading.  Please include the title, the author, and the reason you chose it.

POST to your blog about your thoughts on working independently (title: I'M IN CHARGE/ 1st sentences: "Some high school students need to be told what to do all the time and reminded or threatened when they don't get the job done.  Independent work can be challenging, but I like it because...")

october 12-13

NOTE: Dr. Preston will be out Thursday and Friday.  We will pick up our study of Canterbury Tales on Monday.  In the meantime, please work independently on:

• Completing any missing journals (please turn in your journal on Friday)
• Completing your literature analysis (due Friday)
• Completing your vocabulary work 
• Reading and posting your notes on "The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online"
• Completing any old business from the course
• Updating your blog

JOURNAL TOPICS:

(Thursday 10/12)
Give some advice to the people who design and run school.  What could be changed that would help you the most? 

(Friday 10/13)
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”  What does this mean to you?  How can you do this in a world that seems to pressure you in so many ways to be something else?

-OR-

Why do some people believe Friday the 13th is bad luck?  Do you really think that the day or date can somehow influence your experience of being alive?

october 11

JOURNAL TOPIC:

Please write about something important to you.  If you can't think of something, think of a person who is important to you, and write about something you think is important to him/her.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Discuss the vocab terms with a friend.  Do you have the same understanding of the terms?  Did you represent them differently? 

POST at least two things you learned from the conversation (title: SAME WORDS DIFFERENT PEOPLE)

3. Read "The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online"

POST a summary of the main points (title: THE ART OF HOSTING GOOD CONVERSATIONS ONLINE)

october 10

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Imagine that you are sitting at home one evening when you see a big spider walk across the floor in front of you. Do you ignore it, take it outside, smash it, or do something else? What information do you consider before you decide? Explain.

AGENDA:
1. Journal

*Since I'm out, and our Wednesdays are promised to life beyond high school, please use the period to define and post about the following terms.  Learning vocabulary the old-fashioned way involved copying the dictionary definition, using the words in sentences, and memorizing them.  If that helps you, go for it!  Since you're doing this on your blog, you have more options, so please also consider using images, memes, videos, animations, music, etc. etc.  Have fun!  (title for your post: VOCABULARY WE NEED)

meme
virus
viral
blog
wiki
URL
website
www
Internet
2.0
open source 

class of winners

Congratulations to Cristian for being named to the Homecoming court!*

(*Clearly today's journal topic made the difference. :)

how we read

It stands to reason that anyone who isn't a professional reader (teacher/professor/editor/literary critic, e.g.) is an amateur.  One connotation of the word amateur is a person who doesn't get paid for a particular talent.  In a culture that overwhelmingly--and often erroneously--associates value with money, an amateur is often considered less proficient than a professional who gets paid for doing the same thing. 

But it's the second connotation of amateur that makes something worth doing and life worth living.  The word comes from a French derivation of the Latin verb for "love."  Amateurs love what they do.  In fact, amateurism is often defined as, "the philosophy that elevates things done without self-interest above things done for pay."  In this sense, although I have been paid for teaching, consulting, researching, and writing about learning for nearly 25 years, I am a proud amateur.

I'm thinking about this now because of some recent discussions with students about reading.  I understand how important it is to read what you love and to think about the text in your own way.  When I read for pleasure I want to suspend my disbelief and lose myself in the story.  I imagine the characters so intensely that sometimes when I turn the last page I actually miss them a little.  The furthest thing from my mind is whether I can write an essay explaining the author's tone or theme with a thoughtful analysis of genre or techniques like anaphora or synecdoche.  In fact, analyzing a text in that way distracts me from most of what makes me want to pick up a book in the first place.

We are not alone in thinking this sort of analysis can make a person fall out of love with reading:




However, at this point in history it's easier to portray that idea in a movie, where appreciation of the beautiful approximates Schopenhauer's pure intellect free of any worldly agenda, than in a real-world classroom where the pressures of life so often intrude.  Still, we all want to ensure successful outcomes on exams, transcripts, etc.  This demands that we account for our understanding of the tools and techniques authors use to convey their ideas and connect with our experience.  So, in addition to seeing a novel or poem as a work of art that speaks to the human condition:

you will also need to analyze technical elements of composition to form arguments based on your understanding of academic principles of writing.

Now, you may or may not be interested to know that Leonardo Da Vinci used over 30 layers of paint to add only about half a hair's depth to a painting that looks like it has no brushstrokes.  But millions of people (including me) have stood just feet away from the painting, gawked in amazement, and wondered how Da Vinci did it.  For centuries this was considered a mystery of genius.  Finally,

october 9

JOURNAL TOPIC:

I was about to post a journal topic when Cristian wandered in with a picket sign, yelling about homecoming court like it was the end of the world, so now I am distracted and wondering about this instead:

What's the big deal with homecoming courts?  Why do high schools do this?  Is it important to you?   Why or why not?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Setting up the rest of the week
3. How We Read

october 8

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Meeting of the Minds" by Bad Religion]

Today I will attend a(nother) meeting about teaching English, and this gets me to thinking: Why do any of you care about learning English? What will you gain from being a better reader/writer/listener/speaker?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Canterbury decisions
3. Next steps

october 5

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Celluloid Heroes" by The Kinks]

Advertisements and reviews often say that a book or movie will "change your life"--describe a time when one actually did.  (If you can't think of a time when that actually happened, imagine what it would take for a book or a movie to make that much of an impact on your thinking or your way of looking at the world.)

AGENDA:
1. Journal/ audit blogs
2. Discuss Canterbury Prologue

3. (Depending on time) Continue reading & make some choices

POST
What do you think about our conversation and our decision today?  (title: TO READ OR NOT TO READ)

october 4

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "The Bug" by Dire Straits]

Tell the story of a bug getting mashed on the windshield of a truck driving down the 101. You may tell the story from the point of view of the bug, the windshield, the driver, or an omniscient third person. (Choose with an idea in mind.)

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Canterbury Tales/ Prologue pp. 94 - 115

POST
Answer the questions on p. 115 (title: CANTERBURY TALES: PROLOGUE)

teaching that stands the test of time

Sometimes I'll get an email from a student years after they take my class.  I just got another one last week:

Good teaching -- teaching that really makes a difference and helps us LEARN -- is priceless.  And it follows us throughout our lives.  Consider this story.  Take 10 minutes and watch the video.  Share it with your family.  And, if you haven't yet had a teacher who made an impact like this, start looking for one.  As I look back on my life so far I realize how important these people really are.

Link: 

FULL STORY HERE

october 3

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Eat the Rich" by Aerosmith]
If you could have dinner with anyone (living or dead, real or fictional), who would you choose? Why? What would you talk about? Describe in detail.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Checking in: résumés, stories
3. Résumé final revisions
4. How to hunt for money

POST:
How are you going to start fundraising for your life after high school?  (title: INVESTING IN ME)

october 2

JOURNAL TOPIC: ["Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett; "Strength, Courage & Wisdom" by India Arie]

Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden observed, "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."  Briefly describe your character and your reputation.  What similarities & differences do you see between the two?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Discuss Prologue to Canterbury Tales
3. You are such a character!

POST
1. In a post to your blog entitled CHARACTER STUDY (I), use in/direct characterization to write yourself as a fictional character preparing to embark upon a journey.

october 1

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Words" by the Bee Gees]
People believe that words have so much power that we've declared some words "bad." George Carlin, on the other hand, said, "There are no bad words-- there are bad people, bad intentions, and words." What do you think?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Grammar/using quotation marks
3. Canterbury Tales

POST
After you read the Prologue & peruse the characters, create a brief post in which you: (a) share your first impressions of Chaucer and Canterbury Tales, and b) indicate which characters you'd like to read about most. (title: FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF CHAUCER AND CANTERBURY TALES)

HW:
Literature analysis #2 due Friday, October 14