start 2018 with some great stories

Hi Everyone,
I hope you and your families are enjoying the holiday season, and I wish you all the best for 2018! 

Here is a list of 20 great American short stories:

https://americanliterature.com/twenty-great-american-short-stories

Please choose at least three and:

1. Read the story
2. Create a blog post (use the title of the story for the title of your post)
3. In your post, explain:

• what interested you about the story and/or attracted you to it in the first place;
• what happened in the story (plot)
• what the story was about (theme)
• what the story made you think about after you finished reading
• whether or not you would recommend the story to others, and at least one reason why/why not

Oh, and the answer is: Yes, of course.  If you read and write about more than three, you will receive more credit.  Happy reading, and see you next year! -DP

5 posts for break

Between now and the time we get back to school, please post the following to your blog (titles for each are in CAPITAL letters):

1. A description of your BIG QUESTION and why it interests you;

2. A brief summary of THE ROAD to your Big Question (how did you get interested in the topic?);

3. A description of THE BENEFIT to investigating your Big Question-- how will learning about this help you and the world in general?

4. The NEXT STEPS you will take in exploring your Big Question;

5. What you hope to ACCOMPLISH in your learning by June 2018.


Happy Holidays & Best Wishes for 2018! -dp

welcome to the halftime show

Language is important.  The words we use create thoughts, feelings, and expectations.  Take the word final for instance.  Final means "last" or "ultimate" -- it signifies the end of something.

So many people have been using the words final exam this week that it makes us feel like this is the end of something.

Wrong.

We're just getting warmed up.

Use the break to recharge your batteries and regain your momentum.  And check back here before 3:00 P.M. PDT today.  This is just getting interesting.

Happy Holidays to your and your families. -dp

sometimes i'm not sure what to write

Every once in a while, just like you, I sit down to post to my blog -- and find that I have no idea what to write. 

Plus, I wonder: will anyone read this?

Please comment if this has ever happened to you.  How do you deal with writer's block, especially when it happens in front of an audience?

period 6 final

The final for this class is one of my favorite moments throughout the year.  It's the only time we get to spend two whole hours together, which is just enough time to let the conversation get interesting -- and think our way through it with each other without being interrupted by the bell.  You can see an example of what this looked like in last year's class here.

We all play a part in making the final a success.  You all will be doing most of the talking.  As we discussed in class, you will also be doing the cooking and feeding.

Since we don't have today's class to plan, we're going to have to do this online.  Please comment to this post with the following information:

• What are you bringing?
• What if anything do you need?  (Plates, utensils, cups, microwave, or... ?)

(PLEASE NOTE: This post is for Period 6 students to sign up.  If you are in Period 2 or 3, please go to those posts and comment there.  Mahalo.)

If you have any other comments or questions, please feel free to comment with those as well, or send me an email, or find me tomorrow immediately before or after the period 6 final.  Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at 9:40 AM (I will be there earlier if you want to arrive ahead of time or drop something off).

period 3 final

The final for this class is one of my favorite moments throughout the year.  It's the only time we get to spend two whole hours together, which is just enough time to let the conversation get interesting -- and think our way through it with each other without being interrupted by the bell.  You can see an example of what this looked like in last year's class here.

We all play a part in making the final a success.  You all will be doing most of the talking.  As we discussed in class, you will also be doing the cooking and feeding.

Since we don't have today's class to plan, we're going to have to do this online.  Please comment to this post with the following information:

• What are you bringing?
• What if anything do you need?  (Plates, utensils, cups, microwave, or... ?)

(PLEASE NOTE: This post is for Period 3 students to sign up.  If you are in Period 2 or 6, please go to those posts and comment there.  Mahalo.)

If you have any other comments or questions, please feel free to comment with those as well, or send me an email, or find me tomorrow immediately before or after the period 6 final.  Looking forward to seeing you Wednesday at 11:00 AM (you can come to class anytime before then if you want to drop something off; the classroom will also be open at lunch).

period 2 final

The final for this class is one of my favorite moments throughout the year.  It's the only time we get to spend two whole hours together, which is just enough time to let the conversation get interesting -- and think our way through it with each other without being interrupted by the bell.  You can see an example of what this looked like in last year's class here.

We all play a part in making the final a success.  You all will be doing most of the talking.  As we discussed in class, you will also be doing the cooking and feeding.

Since we don't have today's class to plan, we're going to have to do this online.  Please comment to this post with the following information:

• What are you bringing?
• What if anything do you need?  (Plates, utensils, cups, microwave, or... ?)

(PLEASE NOTE: This post is for Period 2 students to sign up.  If you are in Period 3 or 6, please go to those posts and comment there.  Mahalo.)

If you have any other comments or questions, please feel free to comment with those as well, or send me an email, or find me tomorrow immediately before or after the period 6 final.  Looking forward to seeing you Wednesday at 8:30 AM.

december 11: best laid plans of mice and us

The title of today's post is an allusion to Robert Burns' poem "To A Mouse," which he wrote after turning over a field mouse's nest with his plough.  The basic idea is that however we plan, and however hard we work, sometimes forces far larger than we are screw everything up.

Which brings us to the fires, and the classes we aren't having today.

Today I planned to have you all sign up and tell us about the food you are bringing to the final exam.  As you may remember, we are not having a "party," for the simple reason that classroom events have been ruining that word for decades.  We will have a fully catered learning experience that will include your food, your stories about your food, and a structured conversation about your Big Questions, your work over the break, and our course calendar for the spring. 

Today I also planned to have you write your self-assessments so that I could include your thinking as I file grades this week.

Since none of that will be happening in person today, I am going to post sign-ups for each period next.  Please comment to the post for your period and let us know what you'll make and bring.  We will do the self-assessments during the final exam period, and I will just have to hustle harder to get grades done toward the end of the week.

Keep a good thought for the many people whose lives and homes are being threatened by the fires, and stay inside if you can.  Breathing this air is like sucking on an ashtray.

high school student wins $250k

When students post their work on the Internet for experts to see, things like this can happen.  Check out the award-winning video below:

winter finals schedule

Winter Finals Bell Schedule 2017-18 by dpreston1441 on Scribd

december 8

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Please write today's journal on a separate piece of paper.  Please slip that piece of paper into the front cover of your journal and put both into the box for your period.  Mahalo.

1. What have you learned in this course this semester?  Please describe in detail.
2. What have you done well, and what do you want to do better in the spring semester?
3. What have you tried hard to do, and where can you try harder in the spring semester?
4. Given what others can see-- your blog, your journals, your projects, your essays-- and what others can't see (what/how you think), what grade do you believe you have earned this semester?  Why?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Presentations
3. Planning for next week

december 7

JOURNAL TOPIC:
(After you finish the final) Did you do as well as you planned?  Why/why not?

AGENDA:
1. Final exam
2. Journal

december 6

JOURNAL TOPIC:
We spend so much of our lives looking forward and looking back-- in fact, much of what we call "American Literature" consists of historical fiction or futuristic imagining.  How would you describe your life RIGHT NOW, in this present moment?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
* [Call for presentations]
2. Q & A / Final Review
3. Check notes for those who want to use them

december 5

JOURNAL TOPIC:
What's exciting to you about finals?  What's making you nervous about finals?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Return/ discuss proposals
3. Study/review for final

december 4

JOURNAL TOPIC:
What did you do over the weekend to prepare for our final and your project?  What will you do this week to achieve the results you want in this course?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Project proposal
3. Final review/ Q&A

project options

Thanks to all of you for contributing ideas for end-of-semester projects!  Please have a look at the three most popular recommendations below.  If you are passionate about doing something different that you think will more effectively highlight what you learned in this course this semester, please persuade me via email. 


OPTION ONE: PAPER

Please write a 3-5 pp. paper in which you explain how any of the texts we read this semester create understanding of their themes through at least three of the following: tone, figurative language, allusion, symbolism, diction, or syntax.


-OR-

Please write a 3-5 pp. paper in which you explain your Big Question.  Specifically, you must: 1) describe your topic; 2) explain why this topic is of interest to you; 3) share the steps you have taken to explore the topic so far; 4) share your plan for further exploration between now and June 2018; and 4) introduce leaders in the field and/or prospective mentors for you as you progress.


OPTION TWO: VISUAL ARTIFACT

Please create a visual representation of a concept you learned through reading any of the texts we read as a class this semester.  You may use any digital or analog medium, as long as you post a one-page explanation of the artifact on your blog.  (Also, please note that posters are notoriously easy to produce, and as a consequence they very often suck, so if you choose such a traditional approach, make it AWESOME.)


OPTION THREE: INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE

This may take the form of anything you do with a live studio audience-- performing a song or a skit, or presenting with Prezi/PowerPoint/GoogleSlides/etc., or leading participants on a treasure hunt, for example.  Experiences must be 4-6 minutes long and incorporate at least three literary elements and two texts we read this semester.

the student has become the master

Thanks Lesley!  Here is the link to the resources she described in class:

december 1

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "A Hazy Shade of Winter" by Simon & Garfunkel; "A Hazy Shade of Winter" by The Bangles]

Today you have a choice.

You can either write about winter-- whatever comes to mind-- or you can listen to the two versions of this song and think on paper about how two different bands can interpret the same idea.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Review

poetry resource

I was just nosing around the Internet and found this great resource for "Immigrants in Our Own Land"-- and then I smiled, because this was Jessica Parra's original post when we studied the poem years ago...  Enjoy.