Tuesday: I’ll be handing out your syllabus first thing and covering the finer points of it in class. I expect that you’ll have it back in my hands by Friday, at which point there will, in fact, be a quiz on it. I’ve got a little warm-up/getting-to-know-you activity with some notecards to cover, and then we’ll be transitioning into our first essay, the Reflective Essay.

Wednesday: Your first actual assignment will take place on Tuesday. I’ll be asking you to start brainstorming metaphors… you’ll see. It will be fun. We’ll also be dealing with part 2 of our notecard game.

Homework: Complete your Metaphor Pre-Write and prepare your objects for presentation.

Thursday: We’ll be presenting our objects, so be prepared to go. We’ll also be working on our introductions in small groups and completing part 3 of our notecard introductions.

Friday: Our last day with notecards will be on Friday, and we’ll be finishing up our object presentations as well. We’ll also be transitioning to a conversation about the thesis in a reflective essay.

Tuesday: I’ll be hand out your syllabus and covering some of its finer points. There is a quiz on the syllabus on Friday, and I’ll be collecting them then as well. Of course, you can turn them in early if you really want. We’ll also be playing a little game with some notecards that I quite enjoy.

Wednesday: We’ll start Wednesday with part 2 of the notecard game so that we can continue to get to know each other, then we’ll be jumping right into our first essay of the year, which is an Expository Essay. It will deal primarily with you, so you don’t need to worry about the topic. Finally, we’ll spend some time beginning our essay with a pre-writing assignment.

Homework: Complete the Expository Essay Pre-Write assignment for the start of class on Thursday.

Thursday: We’ll start day number 3 with the 3rd installment of our little notecard game, then we’ll be transitioning into a warm-up activity based around your pre-write, so be sure to have it (and your notebook, as covered in the syllabus) ready to go. We’ll also be discussing introductions and hooks, then practicing them together in class.

Homework: Holy cow make sure your syllabus is in my hands on Friday.

Friday: We’ll finish up our notecard game on Friday, share our hooks in small groups, then transition to a discussion about the thesis. I cannot stress this enough. You need to be here for this. It will set the stage for the entire year. (Of course, if you aren’t in class, I’ll be posting all the materials online). I’ll also be collecting your syllabus.

Infographics. This presentation will guide you through some quick ideas for infographics that don’t suck.

Grid Systems. In this little ditty you’ll learn all about different ways to organize information on a page.

Copyright 101. This short presentation will show you how to avoid those pesky lawyers.

Captions. How to write captions that don’t make people mad and might help them read your paper.

The following items are all for the Teen Pregnancy page.

Main (Doll) Picture

The pregnancy story

These are for the fashion page.

The following are all pictures of shoes.

Shoe #1

Shoe #2

Shoe #3

Here’s a picture of pants.

Here’s the story.

Here’s a little something I made for you.

10 Things You Should Know from Mark Isakson on Vimeo.

Enjoy.

Your final week of high school is fairly easy, and simply involves some thoughtful writing on your part. Here’s what it looks like:

Monday + Tuesday: If you haven’t already grabbed it, I’ll be handing you the final essay prompt on Raymond Carver and his work. We’ll be working on it in class on Monday and Tuesday. My expectation is that you’ll turn it in via email or in person no later than 6 PM. This will allow me ample time to finish grading it so that I can sign (or not…) your graduation forms.

Wednesday: Right…. Enjoy your last day of high school.

Here’s the week. It is our last big week together, and it has the potential to make or break grades. Three major things are happening: the Taming of the Shrew exam, the final essay, and The Blog Unit self evaluation.

Also, I’m nearly done with grades. I received a fair amount of late work, and haven’t quite finished with it yet. Expect those to go up on Monday evening.

Monday + Tuesday: For fun, and to help make darn sure that you mostly understand the story in The Taming of the Shrew, we’ll be viewing the 1999 film Ten Things I Hate About You. This modern remake of Shakespeare’s play was filmed at Tacoma’s Stadium High School, and is a rollicking good time. I will also be distributing the final essay prompt on Monday. A (tiny) part of your grade for this essay will be showing me that you have come up with a defensible thesis.

Wednesday: Wednesday will be your final exam for The Taming of The Shrew. Make sure that you study and study well. It is the same format as the exams for Things Fall Apart and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with a 10 multiple choice questions, two passage identifications, and one longer response. As a bonus, I’ve added one extra credit passage ID.

Thursday + Friday: Two things will be due for your final. First, the entirety of your final period will be devoted to writing/completing your final essay. Of course, you can have it done prior to class, but if you choose to write it in class only, you are welcome to attempt to do so. I recommend that you prepare your essay by completing your thesis statement, drafting an outline, and finding passages to support your claims. It will be challenging to complete the essay if you haven’t done this prep work. Second, your Blog Unit Evaluation is due. Make sure that it is typed, beautiful, and really, really easy for me to read.

This is the last week of class. Make it good.

This sign actually exists?

Here’s the quick skinny on grades: they’re nearly done, I’m going crazy, and your last day to turn in work is June 14th. Cool? Here’s the week.

Monday: We’ll start off this week by taking a quick look at two more ultra short stories by Raymond Carver. “Mine” and “Little Things” are two versions of the same text which explore a tragic and profound moment in a couple’s relationship. I’m going to be asking you to do a short in-class analysis of the text, so if you were gone, make sure to ask.

Homework: Read “What we talk about when we talk about love”

Tuesday: After we discuss “What we talk about when we talk about love” I’m hoping to give you some time to start in on your homework, which is to read “Cathedral”.

Homework: Read “Cathedral”.

Wednesday: We’ll be working through an assignment to compare “Cathedral” and “What we talk about…” that will specifically focus on what you and a partner think that Carver has to say about the nature of relationships. It is a tricky thing to do, so I’ll be guiding you through it bit by bit.

Thursday: I’m dedicating the entire class period to the reading of our last Carver short story, “Will you please be quiet, please?” This story, in heart wrenching detail and alarming lack of specificity, examines what happens when our relationships are founded on less than truths. We’ll be discussing it, along with one more of Carver’s poems, on Friday.

Friday: In addition to the discussion mentioned above, I’ll be distributing the prompt for the final essay, which will be due next Wednesday.

All late work is due this Friday, June 11th. There are no exceptions. None. If you are missing assignments, come talk to me. I’m here every single day by 6:45, and I rarely leave prior to 3:00. I’m available via email. (All the time. My wife hates it). I am willing to do almost anything to help you out.

Okay, now that that’s done, here’s your week. It is reading heavy, which is good, because it is clear to me that many of you are not working hard on keeping up with the readings.

Monday: We’ll be reading Act IV.i and IV.ii in class today, as well as reviewing a bit of Act III. I cannot stress enough how important it is that you keep up with the reading in this last week. If you fall behind there is hell to pay.

Homework: Read Act IV.iii and IV.iv. I have copied them for you, and they are available in class. If you choose not to take home a copy, you can find them online here.

Tuesday: We’ll be watching Act IV.v in class. I have a great version of this scene to share with you, and I think that it will stimulate some pretty good conversation about how Shakespeare views gender. I’ll also be handing out the work that I’m asking you to do in preparation for our character debate on Thursday. This work will be due on Thursday in order to participate in the debate. You can find it here if you missed it.

Homework: Please complete the response for Act IV. You can find it here.

Wednesday: We’ll be reading Act V.i and V.ii in class, which amounts to finishing the play. I’ll also be collecting the Act IV response.

Homework: Make sure that your work for our debate is prepared for class on Thursday.

Thursday: I’ll be collecting the debate prep work, and we’ll have ourselves a nice little conversation about love. Good times.

Friday: We’ll be in the LibLab on Friday, and we’ll be working on Blog post #5. This will be our last post, and I’ll also be handing out the evaluation criteria for the unit.