This is a brief post that covers the start of the 2022–2023 school year. Students and other stakeholders should rely on Schoology as the hub for assignments and materials.
Read on for the syllabus, first-day resources, course policies, and more. These are also available on the Current Course page.
Carefully read the updates below. Ask questions in the comment section.
The most recent Regents Exam available from the state was assigned to you, in full, on April 29. It has been prioritized in class since then. As of May 14, all of you have finished Part 1 and entered your multiple-choice answers in the appropriate Google Form. You should be finishing your responses for Part 2 and Part 3.
Here are the instructions, pulled directly from the instructional post:
JAN. ’18 ELA EXAM: PART 2
Jan. ’18 ELA Exam: Part 2 | https://goo.gl/forms/Qd96mHQacYBieUy73
This is the source-based argument. You’ll need to type your handwritten response, and then you have some metacognitive analysis to complete.
JAN. ’18 ELA EXAM: PART 3
Jan. ’18 ELA Exam: Part 3 | https://goo.gl/forms/V61DNFuFN4wdQdei2
This is the text-based analysis. You’ll need to type your handwritten response — remember, it’s not a full essay — and then complete a bit of metacognition.
Get these writing responses done immediately. You have had two weeks; you’ll have only two hours or so on the day of the exam, once you finish Part 1.
We will use the data you generate to design lessons on particularly difficult questions. That’s why you are entering your responses. For Part 1, for instance, it leads to a spreadsheet:
That’s a randomized sample from all classes. You can see that certain questions, like Question 23, had more incorrect answers. (Green indicates correct responses.) That shapes what we focus on in class.
The same thing is possible with the essays and short responses, but you first need to write them, revise them, and post them to Google Forms.
The last three weeks have seen a couple of deaths in my extended family, a move to another state, and a bit more of the most disruptive stuff life has to offer. That’s why GAP scores aren’t yet finalized for Q4A. Q4B ends Friday, so you’ll receive both scores around the same time.
Changes to the GAP report:
You are still strongly encouraged to do the now-optional analytical writing (It is the only way to justify high profiles and one of the best ways to improve low ones. I’m making it optional to speed up the reporting process: If you neglect these paragraphs, that’s evidence enough of a lower profile.))
If (when) you sit down to analyze your progress, do it having studied the form in advance. Here it is again in offline form:
[pdfjs-viewer url=”http%3A%2F%2Fsisypheanhigh.com%2Fmalachite%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F05%2FGAP-Report-Offline-Template-Google-Forms.pdf” viewer_width=100% viewer_height=500px fullscreen=true download=true print=true]
The online version will be posted to Google Classroom on Thursday.
By the end of this week, you will shift your focus away from test prep and onto a couple of end-of-year assignments. This is the good stuff. We will circle back to the Regents Exam, but not in class; instead, you’ll do a kind of triage through Castle Learning. In class, you’ll be splitting your time two ways.
First, we will finalize this year’s work on your Pareto Projects. We’ll talk details in person. I’ll also post more directions toward the end of the week. It looks very much like we’ll be able to use the iLC and some space online to showcase your accomplishments.
Second, we will look back on your writing. This will be a bit like compiling a writing portfolio, but you will be encouraged to stretch your focus beyond this year. The simple goal will be to write reflectively and metacognitively about your growth as a writer; the more complicated goal will be to make sense of the last decade, give or take a few formative years, of your writing life.
Start thinking about how you will spend the three weeks from May 21 through June 11 in those terms:
This is why it is so essential that you complete the practice Regents Exam, including the revision and reflection work, as soon as possible. That will free us for more authentic learning.
If you have any immediate questions, ask them below. We will be fine-tuning these plans all week, though, so there is no rush.
Another potential metaphor for us: The blobfish, when removed from the pressure to which it is accustomed, explodes a little bit. This is the much-less-horrifying plush version.
48 hours from now, you’ll be on the other side of the hadal pressure of the AP exam. Very few of you have typed up the free-response practice assigned a while back, which means I had little to give feedback to this weekend. That shifts your focus for these next 48 hours, because
Instead of writing and revising, focus on decoding the prompts and brainstorming approaches. Do outlines. Only write and revise responses if you know that will help you.
Doing the multiple-choice is still valuable, if you haven’t done it yet. Find an hour. Otherwise, study the glossary of terms and review the format of the test. Here’s the glossary work again:
Copies are in Room 210. They actually have some utility beyond the exam, but not much. As the last post suggested, you might also benefit from reading over the summer reading:
That folder contains other review material, too. Reading now helps. Writing, less so.
The 2017 exam was assigned on April 29. It was due on May 4. Then it was prioritized in class from May 4 through May 11. As of May 14, however,
Some of that is due to apathy and poor self-control; much of it is due to anxiety, pressure, and burnout. Whatever the cause, 45% of you didn’t enter the data necessary for us to work together2
I’m going to send you notes on the nine most pressing questions from Section I, based on the 55% of you who did the work:
That will be posted tomorrow, when there are no other AP exams but this one in front of you.
The last three weeks have seen a couple of deaths in my extended family, a move to another state, and a bit more of the most disruptive stuff life has to offer. That’s why GAP scores aren’t yet finalized for Q4A. Q4B ends Friday, so you’ll receive both scores around the same time.
Changes to the GAP report:
You are still strongly encouraged to do the now-optional analytical writing (It is the only way to justify high profiles and one of the best ways to improve low ones. I’m making it optional to speed up the reporting process: If you neglect these paragraphs, that’s evidence enough of a lower profile.))
If (when) you sit down to analyze your progress, do it having studied the form in advance. Here it is again in offline form:
[pdfjs-viewer url=”http%3A%2F%2Fsisypheanhigh.com%2Fmalachite%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F05%2FGAP-Report-Offline-Template-Google-Forms.pdf” viewer_width=100% viewer_height=500px fullscreen=true download=true print=true]
The online version will be posted to Google Classroom on Thursday.
By the end of this week, you will shift your focus away from test prep and onto a couple of end-of-year assignments. This is the good stuff. We will circle back to the Regents Exam (in all its ignominious glory), but not in class; instead, you’ll do a kind of triage through an online practice test.
First, we will finalize this year’s work on your Pareto Projects. We’ll talk details in person. I’ll also post more directions toward the end of the week. It looks very much like we’ll be able to use the iLC and some space online to showcase your accomplishments.
Second, we will look back on your writing. This will be a bit like compiling a writing portfolio, but you will be encouraged to stretch your focus beyond this year. The simple goal will be to write reflectively and metacognitively about your growth as a writer; the more complicated goal will be to make sense of the last decade, give or take a few formative years, of your writing life.
Start thinking about how you will spend the three weeks from May 21 through June 11 in those terms:
Add a footnote about Regents Exam triage, too, but focus on three weeks or so of authentic, makerspace-infused work.
If you have any immediate questions, ask them below. We will be fine-tuning these plans all week, though, so there is no rush.
The lesson, as always, is about organization: The more organized and prepared you are, the better you’ll do. Procrastinating only works when the process isn’t all that important. That’s often the case, unfortunately, but not when it comes to test prep in a course like ours. Spamming a lot of prep work in the hours before the exam will just exhaust you. ↩
This is why we started the year with a focus on self-control and akrasia, talked frankly about blame, and continue to emphasize accountability and self-efficacy. 45% of you didn’t meet expectations. For the free-response section, the time required to write and then to revise might pose a problem, even across two weeks of steady in-class focus; there really isn’t an excuse for this multiple-choice work to go unfinished. You know the metaphor about shooting oneself in the foot? You’ve murdered your feet like they are Rasputin and you’re his assassins. It’s brutal. ↩