Get it together, people!!!!

So, I just checked my email and saw that SIX people have completed the "Habit Two" worksheet. To those of you who did it, thank you for doing the right thing. You're showing that you have the motivation and maturity to succeed.

That mean the rest of you are currently failing the class.

The mission statement assignment will be posted by the time you walk into class on Wednesday. remember, it is worth 25% of your grade, and should represent significant effort. I will post the course and self assessment either tomorrow or Thursday.

You're young adults, and should be able to complete a worksheet in two days. Frankly, you should be disappointed in yourselves. I'm certainly disappointed in you.

And now, for something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!! You need a PEN!

So, yesterday after school I told Karen M. that we're reading poetry today. She was EXTREMELY concerned about this, because she's afraid that I'm going to DESTROY whatever poem it is that we're reading.

I understand her concern; sometimes we worry that over-analyzing something can ruin it. It's sort of like figuring out how a card trick works--once you know the trick, the magic is gone.

But poetry isn't a card trick; it's deeper than that. And, figuring out the trick of a poem can make it seem more magical, not less.

OK, enough of that sentimental old-school "Dead Poets Society" English teacher nonsense. 

In front of my desk is a copy of "If" by Rudyard Kipling. Grab a copy, skim it, and circle any words you don't know. Take three minutes to do this, no more, we have a lot to do.

Monday, April 23

Hi!

Some of you missed A LOT of work. See me Wednesday during office hours or after school.

Because the idea of a portfolio is new to me, I haven't been good about keeping them updated. You should have "Assignment One They say, I say,"  "Assignment Two Assessment 1," and "Assignment Three Academic Resolution" saved in your portfolio.

After you've organized your portfolio, please open today's assignment, "Covey, Habit 2"

what did you do while I was gone?

So, I just got home from Philadelphia, and logged onto my email to do my grading. This was an EXTREMELY fast process, as almost none of you did your assignments. Please realize this means that some of you already have 2-3 zeros on your classwork grades, and are not going to be in a good position to do the work, or the assessment, for this quarter. And, because this quarter is foundational work, you may find yourself struggling for the rest of the trimester.

Thanks to those of you who did what you needed to do.

Last day!!

Essays due by 11:30 today (paper copies of rough and final drafts, email final draft to me).
Self and course assessment due by tomorrow at noon AT THE LATEST). Make sure you read the directions.

The last Thursday

Your final essay is due tomorrow by the end of third period. Please email me a copy of your final draft, and give me paper copies of your rough and final drafts.

The final self- and course assessment is posted. I must receive it by Saturday at noon. I will not be checking this email account again before the weekend is over.

And, to those of you who are done with your classwork tomorrow, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Almost done!

If you gave me a rough draft, I read it and provided feedback. You have today and tomorrow to complete your final draft.


Final drafts (in paper and electronic form) are due Friday, March 16, at 11:20 AM. At that time, I'm leaving the building. I will not be accepting any essays after that time.


The self and course assessment will be posted by this afternoon. I will be grading those Saturday morning. I will not be checking this email account again after Saturday at noon.


I will be here today until 6:00 PM, and tomorrow until 4:30, if you need access to a computer.

Due today!

If you want feedback on your rough draft, you MUST turn in a hard copy by 4:30. NO exceptions.

Where we're at

Do you realize how close we are to the end of the trimester? And how much needs to be done BEFORE the trimester ends? If you're not sure what you're missing, it's YOUR responsibility to come see me. I strongly suggest you do so.

Assignments that have been graded so far:
Andrew Sullivan article analysis (10 points)
Argument-counterargument-rebuttal + revision (10 points)
Revision checklist (5 points)
Getting Started sheet (10 points)
"When Truisms Are True" (10 points, 5.5% of your grade)

Due today:
Essay outline (10 points)

Due Monday
"They're, Like, Way Ahead of the Linguistic Currrrve" (article of the week)

Due Tuesday
Rough draft of your essay

Due Thursday
Final Draft

Due Friday by NOON
Self-assessment and course assessment

LUNCH AT SIDEWALK CAFE FRIDAY, MARCH 16 FOR ALL STUDENTS WHO EARNED AN 80% OR HIGHER FOR THE TRIMESTER.

Work for Tuesday

Hi!


Get back to work!


Today you should be getting started with your essay.


Complete the "Getting started with an argument essay" worksheet and send to me. When you are done, you should begin working on your outline (labeled "How to develop an essay outline").


Remember, I am here every day after school; you should be coming in to work on your essay/make-up work.


The "Truisms" article must be turned in, and you should pick up the next article.

Monday, March 5

1. If you did not do your argument-counterargument-rebuttal piece (including checklist), please complete and send to me. If you completed it, I've graded it.

2. Article of the week ("Truisms") is due today. Please turn it in. This weeks's article, "They're, like, way ahead of the linguistic currrve" is availabele. Please pick it up and annotate it for homework.

3. If you are done with #1, move on to "getting started with your argument essay" worksheet. By the end of Wednesday (4:30 PM), you must turn in this worksheet as well as complete an outline (assignment will be available tomorrow). Use your time well! Both assignments will be graded.

4. Your rough draft (four pages [five for repeaters], Times New Roman double-spaced 12-point font, one-inch margins, proper use of citations) is due Tuesday, March 14. If you do not get it to me by the 14th, I will not be able to give you any feedback on your draft.

Thursday, moving on

Take the first ten minutes of class to finish your paragraph from yesterday. If you need more than ten minutes, you're going to have to figure out who can work with you after school on the writing group protocol.

Last quarter most of you stated that you wanted to do more peer revision tasks, but it would be useful to get feedback from more than one person. Today's writing groups are designed for just that reason. Remember, you need to go through this process for FOUR people. That means you have about seven minutes per person. There is a "notes and reflections" sheet (I'll show you!) that must be downloaded, completed, and emailed to me at after you're done with the assignment.

Trip to the Sidewalk Cafe for those with an 80% or higher for the trimester--Friday, March 16.

REMEMBER, IF YOU WERE NOT HERE WHEN WE ANALYZED THE ANDREW SULLIVAN PIECE, YOU MUST DO IT ON YOUR OWN!! I HAVE COPIES OF IT FOR YOU. 

Work for Wednesday

Hi,

I'm going to try very, very, hard to NOT get out of my seat today. I'm training for the Tactical Strength Challenge (http://www.tacticalstrengthchallenge.com/), and I've been getting serious about dead lifts (I can dead lift 225), which means I am SORE.

This quarter, we've had one graded assignment--analyzing the Andrew Sullivan essay according to the PERSUADE structure. If you were here, you completed it with a partner. If you were not here, you'll need to do it on your own (you can print out the article on your own).

If you were not here, or if you're not 100% clear on the argument structure, there's a PowerPoint that you can look through. When you are done, there is a WRITING assignment, the "argument practice piece." It is due today, with no exceptions. I will not accept this work late. Tomorrow, you will complete a revision task.

I will not be here during office hours today, as I'm going out for lunch, but I will be here after school if you need to come finish your work.

Remember the burger incentive program. Sidewalk burgers and a milkshake for anyone who earns an 80% or above for the trimester! We'll be going on Friday, March 16 (last day of the trimester). 

Tuesday, February 28

Hi!

Take the first fifteen minutes of class to work with your partner on yesterday's assignment. We'll go over the article together, and then you can begin your writing assignment, which is due at the end of class tomorrow.

Monday, February 27

We're in the home stretch--last quarter of the trimester!! If you've been doing well, keep it up! If you HAVEN'T been doing what you need to do, it's time to step it up!

We're going to begin today by looking at the components of a argumentative essay. Today, you have a reading assignment. Tomorrow, we'll work together to break it down, and then start working on some practice pieces in preparation for essay writing.

PICK UP COPY OF THE ARTICLE OF THE WEEK!!

Thursday

You essay is due tomorrow, no exceptions. Remember, you must turn in a hard (paper) copy of the essay, along with your rough draft, (for those of you that turned one in). Your self-assessment is also due tomorrow.

Please go to Progress Report Period Three and download "Revision Task Two." This document contains your revision guidelines (complete it and send to me by the end of the period). if you were not here yesterday, make sure you look at "Revision Task One." That document contains guidelines and expectations for your essay introduction.

Wednesday

If I a have "glass is half-empty" view, most of you did not turn in your rough drafts, and have not-such-a-good chance of passing the class.

However, if I have a "glass is half-full" point of view, some of you guys managed to get your essays in, even if you weren't here yesterday. Special shout-out to Andrea, who came after school, WITH HER SON, to turn in her essay. Also, shout-outs to Cassandra, Alexis, and Rafael, for sending me their papers, and a special shout out to Irina, who printed out essays for Cassandra and Alexis (and delivered them, along with someone else's essay, but I don't remember whose. Sorry).

Those of you who came in during your lunch, free periods, after school, or angered some other teacher by writing by essay in their class, nice job, and nice show of commitment. Especially Andrea, that was truly amazing, even if her son made it clear that he hated me.

For those of you who completed your essay, I'm giving you a revision partner piece. For those of you who did not complete your essays, I'd suggest you look at those revision assignments on your own, and incorporate them into your essays.

Tuesday

Today is the last day you have to finish the rough draft of your essay. It's due today by 4:30. Please turn in a PAPER copy.

Monday, February 13

Hi!

Please turn in your article of the week ("Why We Love Zoos").

The rough draft of your essay is due tomorrow. I need a hard copy by 4:30 PM, no exceptions. Wednesday we will begin revision work.

The rubric is posted on the website. Your rough draft will be graded on the basis of your use of cause-effect structure, CEE model paragraphs, and your use of citations.  The final draft will be graded according to the same criteria, plus evidence of revision.

Wednesday, February 8

Today we are going to begin working on the rough draft of your next essay.

The rough draft is due Tuesday, February 14, at 4:30 PM. I cannot accept late essays, as we will have revision tasks to complete.

It should be three pages (four for repeaters), 12 point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, with citations. Remember to use the claim-evidence-explanation model, as well as cause-effect structure.


Exciting incentive program!!! All students who earn an 80 or above for the trimester will be invited to the Sidewalk Cafe for  a Sidewalk burger. More details later. 

To get started, please share whatever, if any, organizing strategies you currently use in your writing.

Tuesday, February 7

Get started by completing your revision task from yesterday. Send to me with the subject line "cause and effect paragraph and revision." If you were not here yesterday, you will need to find a partner who also was not here, and see me after school, or during office hours tomorrow.

When you are done, you have the period to research your cause-effect essay topic. Send me topic and two sources by the end of the period. Tomorrow we will talk about how to organize your essay. 

Turn in last week's Article of the Week (Asperger's)
Pick up this week's Article of the Week (Zoos)--annotation and summary (using SWBS model) is due Monday.

Moving on to the cause-effect essay

Your job: In a comment below, explain how the paragraph below the burger shows a cause effect relationship. What is/are the cause(s)? What is/are the effect(s)? What words did I use to show this relationship? You have seven minutes to answer those questions. 

On Saturday, I went out for lunch with a couple of Muay Thai friends. I had a burger with cheese, bacon, ham, avocado, crispy onions, and a fried egg. You don't believe me? Here's a picture:

           Eating this burger changed the course of my weekend.  I had no idea that a single meal could disrupt my plans to such a degree. To start off, I developed a serious case of the itis. I felt the same way I do after Thanksgiving dinner. As a result of the itis, I needed to take a nap. I slept for two hours, and woke up at 5:00 PM.  I should not have slept so long, because I was supposed to meet my friend Laura for coffee at 5:15, in Manhattan. Therefore, I had to call Laura and cancel our meeting. Because I cancelled at the last minute, Laura got annoyed with me, and I had to promise to buy coffee next time we got together. This burger was going to cost me money, because Laura always gets a large cappucino AND a cookie. This was going to be an extremely social weekend; after coffee with Laura I was going to have dinner with Lance and Amanda. But, that burger probably had 4000 calories, and when I met up with Lance and Amanda at 8:00 PM, I wasn't hungry. Consequently, I sat and watched Lance and Amanda eat a rack of ribs while I was still too stuffed from lunch to eat anything. Watching them eat their ribs made me cranky; I got cranky because I really LIKE ribs, and was too full to eat any. After dinner, I went home and got into an argument with my husband, which made me feel stupid, as it wasn't his fault I ate that burger. As a result of our argument, my husband went out with his friends and left me home.  Given that I was home alone and cranky, I went onto the J.Crew website and bought three sweaters, which cost $310.00. That was money that I had been saving towards my bicycle. Consequently, it will be another month before I can afford my bike. Clearly, the next time I go to the Sidewalk Cafe and have a burger, I'd better make sure it's on a day that I don't plan to do, or eat, anything else.

Continuing summarization practice

Yesterday we began summarizing "Student Faces Town's Wrath in Protest Against a Prayer." Please get started by taking the first ten minutes of class to summarize paragraphs 5-8. We'll go over it together, then you'll have the rest of the period to complete the work on your own.

Remember, annotation and summary of the article of the week is due MONDAY. Most of you have not yet picked it up. Get it together, people!!

Summarizing Revisited

Pick up article of the week. It is due Monday.

As many of you requested, today we are going to revisit summarizing. To get started, please write a 1-2 sentence summary of the text below. Submit it as a comment on the blog,. We'll then look at a new summarizing strategy.

"Challenging Arizona's Ban on Ethnic Studies", Peter Rothberg on February 1, 2012, The Nation Magazine

 In January 2011, Arizona state Attorney General Tom Horne declared the Tucson Unified School District MAS (Mexican American Studies) program illegal. This despite the curriculum’s astonishing success in graduating 100 percent of its students from high school and obtaining college placement for 82 percent of its alumni.

Over the past year, teachers, students and administrators have come together to challenge Horne’s ruling, but on this past January 10, the TUSD school board voted four to one to immediately cease all MAS classes.
Horne’s decision entailed the widespread removal of select books that were used in the curriculum. The list of banned books is extensive, includes important Latino authors and activists’ books that were banished from the school system and has provoked particular outrage in Arizona and beyond.

Adding insult to injury, officials recently went into schools during the school day in front of students and “confiscated” seven books from the classrooms deemed to promote “ethnic resentment.” Among them were several best-selling classics including Pedagogy of the Oppressed, by Paulo Freire, and Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years, by Bill Bigelow."

Rainy Wednesday....

Take the first fifteen minutes of class to complete your paragraph from yesterday.

Make sure you pick up this week's Article of the Week (Asperger's piece). In addition to annotating it, you must summarize it using the SWBS method. Annotation and summary are due Monday. I will not be accepting them after Monday.  

Day One, Third Quarter

Welcome back! I'm writing this at yet another Brooklyn hipster cafe. It's the middle of the day, so no one else is here.

If you took Regents exams last week, I hope you did well. If you had no Regents exams, I hope you had a relaxing week and returned to school ready to work. We're halfway through the trimester; depending on how you're doing, you may have to step it up a bit in order to earn the credit.

This week is going to be a bit of a review. From your essays and feedback, it's clear that we need to go over CEE writing again, as well as paraphrasing and summarizing.

This quarter, I will not be accepting any essay rough drafts after the due date (Tuesday, February 14).  Plan accordingly. Your rough draft and course/self-assessment are due Friday, February 16, Again, plan accordingly.

I am here after school for at least an hour EVERY DAY. If you're falling behind/in need of extra help/need computer access, take advantage of that.

In a comment below, give an example of a cause-effect relationship. If you understand what a cause-effect relationship is now, you can begin thinking about your essay topic.

Today's revision task

When I read your essays, I couldn't help but notice the following: You DID NOT use the claim-evidence-explanation structure; you DID NOT cite your sources, and you DID NOT follow the compare-contrast structure. That is what you are being graded on (rubric is posted, if you weren't here yesterday).


Reread your essay, looking for those components. If they are not there, make sure they are. When you are done with that, read the introduction PowerPoint and revise your intro according to it. This is not optional.


Time is running out for getting your make-up work in. Chances are good you're failing.

If you are done with your rough AND final drafts of your essay, you can complete your course and self-assessment. This is worth 8% of your grade. 

rough draft due today!!

Hi!


The rough draft of your essay is due today by 4:30. If you get it in on time, I will grade it tonight using the rubric for the assessment, and we'll conference about it tomorrow. If you don't get it in today, I'll still look at it, but you will not have the benefit of a conference.


Rough draft (hard copy) AND final draft (hard copy AND emailed) are due Friday. On Friday you will also have your course and self-assessment due.


If you're not sure what you're missing, see me.

Get started!!

You should begin the note-taking process for your essay today. Take the first ten minutes of class to identify two sources of information for your essay. We will then go over note-taking strategies.

REMEMBER, YOUR ARTICLE OF THE WEEK IS DUE TOMORROW. 

Moving on--compare/contrast essay

So, today we are starting the compare/contrast essay. Remember when I said you're unlikely to pass the class if you don't do work outside the classroom? That is doubly true now.

From yesterday's work, you should understand the basic format of a compare/contrast essay. I strongly suggest that you go through the outlines for a compare/contrast essay, as well as the PowerPoint. If you need an additional example of what your essay should look like, there is one more posted on the site.

I am assuming you know something about internet research. If not, there is a self-guided "Evaluating Websites tutorial" that you should go through. Stay away from sources like wikipedia, ask.com, and so on. See me if you have further questions.

You must create a bibliography for your essay. There is a model for your bibliography, titled "Creating a Bibliography." Use it!!!

I strongly suggest that you create an outline for your essay. You will be graded on organization, and nothing is more helpful than an outline, in terms of organization.

Your rough draft is due TUESDAY, at the end of the day (I'll accept it until 4:30 PM). I want a hard copy. If you are taking this class for the first time, your paper should be 12-point Times New Roman font, double spaced, with one-inch margins and a SEPARATE cover page. The body paragraphs of your essay should all be written in CEE format, using quotations, paraphrasing, and summarizing as necessary. Cite your sources!!

If you get me your rough draft on time, I'll go over it with you. If your rough draft is late, you are totally on your own in terms of figuring out revisions.

Due at the end of the period today: A paragraph in which you provide the two things you are comparing,  the criteriacategories/ you are using to compare them, and a minimum of two websites you can use for research. Send assignment using subject line "essay topic." Tomorrow we will briefly go over note-taking.

Moving on--compare/contrast essay

To get started, take the first ten minutes of class to complete the work from yesterday. If that's done, you can use these ten minutes to work on your Article of the Week.

Today we are going to explore the structure of the compare/contrast essay. I'm assign you to a partner/group, and give you a copy of a compare/contrast essay. Your task to figure out the structure of the compare/contrast essay. Your comments should be general comments that can help someone understand a compare/contrast essay. Do not make comments about the specific content of the essay.  To do so, answer the following questions:


1. Where does the author first introduce the things that are being compared/contrasted?
2. What are the criteria being used for the comparisons/contrasts?
3. What pattern, if any is the author using? 
4. How does the writer organize his/her paragraphs?
5. What signal words, if any, does the writer use to signal that comparisions and/or contrasts are taking place?


You should answer these questions on the chart paper. Highlight signal words, point out patterns, claims, etc... You will then present your work to the students who read the other essay.

Remember, article of the week is due FRIDAY.

Using paraphrasing and summarizing

Make sure you pick up the new Article of the Week. It's due Friday. Three assignments have been graded so far; too many of you have a ZERO average.

I think we all struggled last week with paraphrasing and summarizing. Paraphrasing and summarizing aren't writing skills as much as they are reading skills. And, in order to paraphrase and summarize, you have to read really closely, paying attention not only to all the words, but to the way phrases connect to each other. It's possible that your classes haven't required you to read this closely; you'll definitely have to in college. Struggling with this is OK; summarizing is generally recognized as one of the hardest skills to learn (and teach!) We'll continue working with summarizing and paraphrasing next quarter.

Today, we're going to continue with our summarizing and paraphrasing practice. We looked at how to use this in isolation, but today we return to the CEE paragraphs we worked on last quarter. Instead of using direct quotations, however, we are going to use paraphrases and/or summaries. Please open the document entitled "Using paraphrasing and summarizing in a paragraph."

Friday

1. Complete the summarizing article.
2. If you are finished with that, and haven't finished your paraphrasing piece, finish that.
3. If those are done, complete your article of the week (due today!)
4. If all of that is done, move onto the "Evaluating Websites" piece.

Moving on to summaring

 Last night I graded your work on paraphrasing. If you did not send it to me, you currently have a zero for that assignment, and need to complete it ON YOUR OWN TIME. Please realize that working in a chill fashion, giving yourself time to chat, listen to music, write lyrics, etc... will NOT give you enough time to complete your work. You need to step up your game, because I am not going to lower my expectations.


Please open the summarizing PowerPoint. We'll go through it together, and there is an assignment in a Word document for you to complete on your own. This is due TODAY, because tomorrow you're going to work on using these skills in a CEE paragraph.

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK IS DUE TOMORROW!!!

Hi!!

We're going to continue with the paraphrasing work from yesterday.


If you WERE here, you know what you need to do--complete the article paraphrasing and send to me with the subject line "Paraphrasing."


If you were NOT here yesterday, read the "paraphrasing" powerpoint, and get the article from me.


Remember, article of the week is due FRIDAY. If you finish early, you can complete work on your "Article of the Week."

Welcome Back! Second Quarter begins today!

So, here we are at the beginning of the second quarter. I hope your break was good; I was sick with bronchitis for most of mine. Got some reading done, and began shopping for a bicycle.

While grading, I noticed a direct correlation between completing the articles of the week and high grades. So, if you're hoping to squeak through with better than a 65, I suggest that you make another New Year's resolution, to complete your weekly homework assignments!

This week, we're going to look at how to paraphrase and summarize, and how to use paraphrases and summaries in our CEE paragraphs. Over the weekend, you should be thinking about your compare/contrast topic. Next week, we're going to look at the structure of a compare/contrast essay, and begin writing. Your rough draft (more about that later) is due on Tuesday, January 17, and your final draft (more about that later, too) is due on Thursday, January 19.