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November 18, 2019

  By 2019-2020

Notes and updates for Monday, November 18, 2019, which is the start of the second quarter. Read carefully, take notes, and ask questions.

Skill Building: Organization

We are going to take a few days to work on organization as an essential skill. The reading and writing components are here:

Organization: Getting Things Done

It’s worth noting the SWOT analysis assignment that is given context within that post. You may also benefit from reading this post, which is also another example of how feedback works best:

Exemplary Feedback

Don’t drag your feet about this organizational work until a formal assignment is posted to Google Classroom. Show that you can take steps forward before then. Let the posts guide you.

Soft Reboot: Q2

You need to make better use of the physical space, starting with the following directions.

The whiteboard table needs to have a more limited number of students using it at any given time, and those students need to be working on an assignment that requires a whiteboard.

The office chairs need to stay by the touchscreen TV for small-group instruction, which can be expanded to include the conference table lined up with the TV.

The rest of the furniture needs to be spread out — no more bunching up in groups of five or six just to be near each other. If it’s not a conscious decision to improve collaboration, rethink it.

If you don’t need your phone for reading or writing, it should be stored somewhere else. If you do need it for an assignment, you also need permission. Any other use is distracting you.

You can still choose to work with any peers you’d like to work with. If you’re not productive in those groups, that will be reflected in feedback and assessment.

Start of Class

The information from this handout/post is required:

This is posted to Google Classroom, right above the required daily calibration. It’s on the front page of this website as direct links:

It’s on the walls by the cell phone cubbies, too, and you will be using those more frequently.

You need to learn self-reliance and self-control. It starts with goal-setting. Do the daily calibration form every day until it’s a habit.

You also need to get to work immediately after any announcements or directions are given. You need time to transition into the right headspace, but you must be moving in that direction.

Feedback Chain

You should have a printed copy of this post on feedback:

The Feedback Chain

It is required reading. The post is obviously a better place to read this information, because you can enlarge images, click on links, etc; it’s been printed so that you can shut down your screens and read without distractions, if you need to.

Snap&Read Universal and Co:Writer Universal

This is part of the organizational mini-unit, but it needs to be isolated here. It will help with the amount of instructional reading you must do.

Review the plug-ins Snap&Read Universal and Co:Writer Universal. You can use them to eliminate distractions, define words, look up references, and so on. If you don’t already have these from last year, we can take a period to install and review them as a class.

The Things They Carried

Continue reading the book. Don’t stop reading it. Don’t ask what page number you have to reach — the answer is that you should keep reading until you finish.

There will be a post on what you’ll do with this novel, but not until we’ve completed a soft reboot of the course through an organizational mini-unit.

The next few weeks of Q2 will be spent studying The Things They carried or incorporating it into other lessons. Keep reading.

River Writing: On Empathy

Continue writing the essay. Here again is the prompt:

River Writing: On Empathy

Don’t wait for another deadline to be posted to Google Classroom. One will be there, but not until we finish these organizational lessons.

Just keep writing. Set up conferences, ask questions, and collaborate with each other. Show that you can be self-directed.

Pareto Projects: Q2

We had a chance to talk last week about sharing progress through structured discussions, small presentations, and other showcases. Starting in December, we’ll use the occasional Friday to do this.

Note two things:

  1. This low-stakes work will be good practice for the end-of-year senior talks.
  2. You will only have to share out your progress according to your comfort level.

Interstitial Instructional Posts

Lastly, another reminder to read actively and interstitially — that is, when you have a few minutes to dedicate to it — every post like this one.

If you aren’t clicking on links and actively taking in information from these posts, start clicking on links and actively taking in information. Every post will teach you more than what’s indicated in its title or subheading. Most posts will review important skills, traits, and knowledge, if you read actively and deeply.

Mostly, though, you can’t be lost if you read and click and think a little bit. These posts are the textbooks, packets, and lectures of the course. They also provide flexibility for every assignment. But you have to read them.

If you have questions, including questions about these updates, ask them in the comment section, where other students can benefit from the answers.

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Update: June 8

  By All Junior Classes (2016-2017), AP English Language & Composition (2016-2017), English 11 Regents (2016-2017)

This is an update to our last post, which more precisely covers what you should be working on at the end of the year. There are copies of that post available for anyone who might benefit from a printed version1. If you find yourself idle or distracted for more than a moment, use that to refocus.

On that note, your self-assessed GAP scores for Q4C are due on Monday. The required Google Form is now available, but you should not — absolutely should not — complete it until after class on Friday, June 9. Start compiling your understanding, insight, and evidence. Plan to attach something appropriate to the Google Classroom assignment. All recent instructional posts in RE11 and AP11 have invited you to be more critical of your efforts in here; this is an opportunity to make up lost ground through self-conscious testimony and analysis.

On the corner bookshelf, near the copies of that “Aged Paper” post, you have copies of pretty much everything else you need for the end of the year and exams2. Take some time on the last two days of school to peruse those piles. Most stacks are labeled. The unlabeled piles on the bottom shelf are less universally useful, so I’ll cover them now. One is a copy of the article on valedictorians and future-proof skills and traits that was recently shared with you; the other is a guide to transitional words and phrases, which I will paste below.

Click here to load the site.

As you prepare for the Regents Exam, this guide can help you to hone your essay arrangement. You can indicate for the reader how ideas are connected, how sections of your essay transition, etc, just by memorizing a few phrases from these lists. Most of you naturally use this language, but in timed writing, it pays to be deliberate. Tell your reader when you are contrasting concepts, when you are adding information, when you are concluding, and so on.

Pareto Project Update

In Room 210, near the windows, you’ll find a remarkable sculpture created by Grace H. in P7. You might have been lucky enough on Thursday to hear Sarah C. perform her spoken-word poetry. Those are the first two examples of what the last post encourages you to do with these projects. There will be workshops on blackout poetry on Monday, for instance, and several groups have reached out about posting their projects here, on this website. I hope that inspires many more of you.

Keep in mind that this was never about the closed-loop learning of a classroom, so it doesn’t hurt you to step away from your project without a final product or performance. Through the end of final exams, however, and through the summer online, I can help you share what you’ve created. That might be as simple as coordinating how to share a link to your podcast or Instagram account, and it might be as complicated as helping you film and edit a performance. It might be a physical product that you’d like to leave in Room 210 for a few weeks, and it might be something you’d like to leave in the Room for all of next year. I can imagine some of you wanting simply to talk with me about a printed portfolio of writing, while others might want to build a blog online to house future essays you’ll write.

The course doesn’t really end on Monday with the last bell of the day. It doesn’t really end on Wednesday when the Regents Exam is over. It ends when you want it to. For a few folks, it ended months ago, and the rest of this time has been a long slog through disinterest and disdain; for most of you, however, this has very much been about lifelong learning. Remember that.

  1. I really did try to go paperless, back in September, and still think it’s worth minimizing the amount that we print in a class like this. That said, there are copies of what you need, if you need them. ↩

  2. Everything you need for your summer work, remember, is on the other side of the entrance. Make sure you know what’s expected of you over the next two months. ↩

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Academic Update: RE11

  By English 11 Regents (2016-2017)

The following updates cover current and upcoming course work and are written to help you organize your time as you begin your Pareto Project on Thursday, December 8. Read this information carefully. Then ask any clarifying questions in the comment section below.

Ongoing: Personal Journey Essay

It’s been a while, so you may need to jog your memory:

Journey Writing

The majority of you will not return to this, especially with more essays and a Pareto Project upcoming. Some of you, however, have continued to meet with me and/or work on your own toward a final draft. This minority will now be tasked with publishing their work on Medium. Then they will use our nascent atelier format — essentially a souped-up form of proxy feedback — to teach their peers how to use Medium when we get to that step of the Pareto Project.

If you are in the group that will continue to work on these essays, you will need to make that part of your Q2 plans. Schedule time to conference with me, share works-in-progress, collaborate outside of class, etc. There is no formal deadline, but you will need to have learned how to use Medium before you return from the winter recess, if you plan on helping folks with their first Pareto Project posts.

Regardless, everyone in the course will need to account for their choice to continue working on the essay or not. That reflective writing will not have a formal assignment issued; instead, you will need to have read this post closely enough to know that you must sit down for 15-20 minutes to answer the question, “What happened with that journey essay?”

Ongoing: Q2 Novels

For future reference, here is the list of Q2 novels embedded in an earlier post:

Remember that each of those is available, for free, online. We have some copies of Stevenson’s novel and one or two copies of The Invisible Man, but only 1984 is stocked.

You should continue to read these novels. Keep the original post in mind:

Quarter 2, Day 5 [Juniors]

Just as important is John Holt’s essay and his criteria for reading a novel: Give each one 20-30 pages, and if you don’t want to finish, just make sure that your decision is deliberate and based on the text, not a lack of time or a general dislike of reading. Account for that choice metacognitively.

One note: Please push 1984 up in your schedule, as another teacher needs 50 copies of it to teach it to her class, and we should accommodate her. This might give us an opportunity to partner juniors with sophomores who are reading the same book, too, which could be interesting.

Ongoing: Regular Metacognition

This is simply a reminder that you need to reflect and be metacognitive regularly. Spend 15-20 minutes at least once a week analyzing your choices, your progress, and your subsequent goals. This is the best way to develop the skills and traits you need for the future and to generate evidence for your grade abatement profile.

If you struggle to think of how to frame this regular reflection/metacognition, respond to these three basic questions:

  1. What have I accomplished?
  2. What have I learned?
  3. What’s next?

Answer #2 by referring specifically to the skills and traits of grade abatement (e.g., organization, amenability, assiduousness).

Upcoming: In-Class Activities

Meanwhile, there will be in-class activities that bring us together in a more traditional way. (Well, our version of traditional.) You will retain choice from period to period — you can spend the time in whatever way is most productive or effective — but certain days will be dedicated to an activity or focused lesson. The vast majority will be provided interstitially a few days in advance, so you’ll be able to plan accordingly. Some examples:

  • A divergent-thinking activity about capturing the Invisible Man from The Invisible Man
  • Poetry reading with Maya-Angelou-inspired hip-hop
  • Poetry reading with Bob-Dylan-inspired hip-hop
  • Dialectical discussion of topics from, e.g., The Pig that Wants to Be Eaten

For lack of a better way to phrase it, think of these as one-off lessons.

Upcoming: Formal Units

Once the Pareto Projects are in motion, we will return to more formal units. This needs to be mentioned, because it would be easy to forget that Pareto refers to only 20% of our work. You will need to plan your time around the reading, thinking, and writing that has characterized all of our learning this year, as we study specific ideas and answer specific essential questions.

The next unit, for instance, will build on the questions you’ve recently answered and the novels you are currently reading. We will learn about lying — how it works, how we learn to lie, the types of lies, and the nature of systemic/societal lies like the myth of Santa Claus. After that, we are likely to do a smaller unit on memory itself — how it works, how we construct collective memories, and how your individual memories function.

As always, you will need to watch this space and Google Classroom for instructional materials, assignments, and feedback.

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Academic Update: AP11

  By AP English Language & Composition (2016-2017)

The following updates cover current and upcoming course work and are written to help you organize your time as you begin your Pareto Project on Thursday, December 8. Read this information carefully. Then ask any clarifying questions in the comment section below.

Ongoing: Personal Journey Essay

It’s been a while, so you may need to jog your memory:

Journey Writing

The majority of you will not return to this, especially with more essays and a Pareto Project upcoming. Some of you, however, have continued to meet with me and/or work on your own toward a final draft. This minority will now be tasked with publishing their work on Medium. Then they will use our nascent atelier format — essentially a souped-up form of proxy feedback — to teach their peers how to use Medium when we get to that step of the Pareto Project.

If you are in the group that will continue to work on these essays, you will need to make that part of your Q2 plans. Schedule time to conference with me, share works-in-progress, collaborate outside of class, etc. There is no formal deadline, but you will need to have learned how to use Medium before you return from the winter recess, if you plan on helping folks with their first Pareto Project posts.

Regardless, everyone in the course will need to account for their choice to continue working on the essay or not. That reflective writing will not have a formal assignment issued; instead, you will need to have read this post closely enough to know that you must sit down for 15-20 minutes to answer the question, “What happened with that journey essay?”

Ongoing: Q2 Novels

For future reference, here is the list of Q2 novels embedded in an earlier post:

Remember that each of those is available, for free, online. We have some copies of Stevenson’s novel and one or two copies of The Invisible Man, but only 1984 is stocked.

You should continue to read these novels. Keep the original post in mind:

Quarter 2, Day 5 [Juniors]

Just as important is John Holt’s essay and his criteria for reading a novel: Give each one 20-30 pages, and if you don’t want to finish, just make sure that your decision is deliberate and based on the text, not a lack of time or a general dislike of reading. Account for that choice metacognitively.

One note: Please push 1984 up in your schedule, as another teacher needs 50 copies of it to teach it to her class, and we should accommodate her. This might give us an opportunity to partner juniors with sophomores who are reading the same book, too, which could be interesting.

Ongoing: Regular Metacognition

This is simply a reminder that you need to reflect and be metacognitive regularly. Spend 15-20 minutes at least once a week analyzing your choices, your progress, and your subsequent goals. This is the best way to develop the skills and traits you need for the future and to generate evidence for your grade abatement profile.

If you struggle to think of how to frame this regular reflection/metacognition, respond to these three basic questions:

  1. What have I accomplished?
  2. What have I learned?
  3. What’s next?

Answer #2 by referring specifically to the skills and traits of grade abatement (e.g., organization, amenability, assiduousness).

Upcoming: In-Class Activities

Meanwhile, there will be in-class activities that bring us together in a more traditional way. (Well, our version of traditional.) You will retain choice from period to period — you can spend the time in whatever way is most productive or effective — but certain days will be dedicated to an activity or focused lesson. The vast majority will be provided interstitially a few days in advance, so you’ll be able to plan accordingly. Some examples:

  • A divergent-thinking activity about capturing the Invisible Man from The Invisible Man
  • Poetry reading with Maya-Angelou-inspired hip-hop
  • Poetry reading with Bob-Dylan-inspired hip-hop
  • Dialectical discussion of topics from, e.g., The Pig that Wants to Be Eaten

For lack of a better way to phrase it, think of these as one-off lessons.

Upcoming: Formal Units

Once the Pareto Projects are in motion, we will return to more formal units. This needs to be mentioned, because it would be easy to forget that Pareto refers to only 20% of our work. You will need to plan your time around the reading, thinking, and writing that has characterized all of our learning this year, as we study specific ideas and answer specific essential questions.

The next unit, for instance, will build on the questions you’ve recently answered and the novels you are currently reading. We will learn about lying — how it works, how we learn to lie, the types of lies, and the nature of systemic/societal lies like the myth of Santa Claus. After that, we are likely to do a smaller unit on memory itself — how it works, how we construct collective memories, and how your individual memories function.

As always, you will need to watch this space and Google Classroom for instructional materials, assignments, and feedback.

Upcoming: Test Prep

Before the end of Q2, we start exam prep. Everything else on this list is makerspace learning — student-driven, creative, exploratory, iterative, even fun. Exam prep… not so much. Still, it will take up time, and you need a sense of how much effort and attention might be required of you when it comes to timed writing, timed reading, and multiple-choice analysis. Read this essay when you can:

View at Medium.com

That will give you an idea of how we’ll approach test prep: as an act of gamesmanship steeped in critical thinking, collaborative planning, and logic.

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Academic Update: RE10

  By English 10 Regents (2016-2017)

The following updates cover current and upcoming course work and are written to help you organize your time as you begin your Pareto Project on Thursday, December 8. Read this information carefully. Then ask any clarifying questions in the comment section below.

Ongoing: Emulation-Through-Analysis (ETA) Essay

These essays will continue to be our focus during the class period, even as you begin your Pareto Project. The next step will see you learn the SOAPSTONE tool, apply it to your chosen essay, and then begin to outline your essay. Refer back to the previous post for information on this second ETA step:

ETA Essay: Next Steps

Ongoing: Regular Metacognition

This is simply a reminder that you need to reflect and be metacognitive regularly. Spend 15-20 minutes at least once a week analyzing your choices, your progress, and your subsequent goals. This is the best way to develop the skills and traits you need for the future and to generate evidence for your grade abatement profile.

If you struggle to think of how to frame this regular reflection/metacognition, respond to these three basic questions:

  1. What have I accomplished?
  2. What have I learned?
  3. What’s next?

Answer #2 by referring specifically to the skills and traits of grade abatement (e.g., organization, amenability, assiduousness).