january 31

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Choose a character or a moment in "First Love" and describe it like you’re telling a friend about something that happened at lunch.  This will tell me what gets your attention, what affects your mood as a reader, and what you remember. (Obviously, it will also tell me what you’ve read and understand.)  Pro tip: When it comes to the characters and their words and actions, be as judgmental as you want.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Keep reading (as a class, in groups, or by yourself) and taking notes
3. You should be posting to your blog EVERY DAY now as part of your routine. You can do this during the last part of the period if that makes it easier. Please post your notes (title: FIRST LOVE CHAPTER(S) xx-xx). (Don’t type “xx” — use the chapter(s) you read that day.)  You can also post about any Big Question work you’re doing and anything else you want to share with your readers.

january 30

JOURNAL TOPIC:
What advice would you give the narrator in "First Love"?  Do you think he will get the girl?  Why/why not?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Finish Kahoot quiz
3. Read as far as you can in the story

POST:
1. How did you do on the Kahoot quiz (title: MY KAHOOT)
2. How far did you read today (title: TODAY'S READING) -- what happened and what do you predict will happen next?

kahoot challenge

link:

https://kahoot.it/challenge/0921644

pin:

0270337

january 29

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones]

Sometimes when we start a book it's easy to get impatient with all the background information the author gives (on places, characters etc.) before something actually happens.  Why do we get all of this stuff first?  How does it help to know these things when the action starts and the plot gets going?  What would we miss if "First Love" started with a chase scene?

AGENDA:
1.  Journal
2. Chapter 4 vocabulary
3. Read/discuss Chapter 5
4. Quizlet? / Kahoot?

POST: How did you do on today's quizzes?  Did how we took them make a difference in how well you performed?  Does having fun help us improve our performance? (title: GAMING THE TEST)

"first love" chapter 4 questions

1. How old is the narrator?
2. Who is the woman he visits?  (Name & description)
3. What is the woman's daughter's name?
4. What does the girl ask the narrator to help her with?
5. Who is Byelovzorov?
6. What does Byelovzorov bring the girl?
7. Why does the narrator cry at the end of the chapter?

january 28

JOURNAL TOPIC:
This morning weather forecasters are predicting temperatures down to sixty degrees below zero in some parts of the country.  Imagine that you live in a city like Chicago.  Describe your morning and the experience of not being able to feel your face while you listen to the crunch of your boots in the snow as you trudge to school...

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Reading: The Chapter Challenge
3. Vocabulary

POST:
Did you read faster today?  Why?  What motivated you?  Did you read slower today?  Why?  What challenged you?  (title: READING FAST AND SLOW)

when was the last time you were this excited about anything?

january 25

JOURNAL TOPIC:
What do you think of when you see the word FUTURE?  Do your ideas depend on your experience in the past, or your imagination, or both?  Please explain.

AGENDA:
1. Journal (please remember to turn yours in, it's Friday)
2. Vocab quiz
3. "First Love" chapters 3-5
4. Vocab quiz

POST:
Describe your experience of reading alone and reading together today.  What helped you understand the reading?  Was it easier once you learned the rest of the vocabulary words?  How will this help you understand what you read in the future?  Please explain your answer.

facebook is making you sad

When I was in high school, I could develop different parts of my personality and different ways of being depending on who I was with at the time.  Think about it: there is no way I would have talked the same way at my family's dinner table as I did in the locker room with my basketball teammates.  I'm grateful that I had the chance to make social mistakes -- and learn from them -- without everyone in my life seeing them at the same time.  I am also glad that some of the things I said and did in high school weren't part of some public record that followed me the rest of my life.

As social media has become more influential, I have wondered how today's generation feels.  Years ago I started to suspect that putting so much personal information out there would have negative effects.

Unfortunately, it looks like my worst fears came true.  Read more here.  (Thanks, BoingBoing!)

practicing what i preach

Sometimes it's useful for a teacher to do the same work we ask you to do.  So, here goes:

I just ran across a quote online and it really made me think.  The quote is,

Anyone who isn’t embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn’t learning enough.

While I think the word embarrassed may be a little harsh, I understand the idea.  Even if I look back at last year's version of myself with kindness, I am forced to admit that there were things I did not know -- and that I didn't even know I did not know.  I am proud of the fact that I am constantly learning, and I wonder... if I feel that way now about who I was last year, how will I feel next year about the person I am now?

I recognized the name of the author of the quote-- Alain de Botton-- but I don't know much about him, so I looked him up.  He wrote his first book in 1993, and since gathering an audience he has tried to help people understand how philosophy can help them in their every day lives.  You can read more about him on Wikipedia HERE.  

january 24

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Take a moment and search the internet for a quote you admire.  What is it about the quote?  The idea?  The person who said or wrote it?  The way s/he put the idea into words?  Write the quote in your journal and explain how you think about it.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. First Love

*DOH!!! Our agenda has been hijacked.  After the journal, we will be taking the Renaissance Learning test online.  When you're finished, take any leftover time to work on your blog. 

 

Depending on how long the assessment takes, we will read Chapter 3 (and maybe 4) and review vocabulary in "First Love."

january 23

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Yesterday our journal topic had to do with seeing things in the world that demand our empathy and our effort.  Then, in the afternoon, I talked with an old friend and colleague in Los Angeles who told me that he can't bring himself to watch the news anymore.  Now, this man is very successful in every sense of the word, and I respect him very much-- but don't we all have a responsibility to stay awake and pay attention, even if the news is painful and out of our control?  What do you think?

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Status: does your blog have a logo/design?
3. "First Love" chapter 3 (and maybe 4)
4. Internet security 101

POST:
Recommend security strategies to your readers. (title: HOW TO KEEP YOURSELF MORE SECURE ON THE INTERNET)

january 22

JOURNAL TOPIC:
It's a common phrase: "The best years of my life..." What makes one year better than another? Assuming there is such a thing, how will you recognize "the best years" (or moments) when they happen?

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1.  Journal
2. Discuss reading poll and spring semester schedule
3. Begin "First Love" by Ivan Turgenev (background, about the author, introduction, Chapter 1)

POST:
Write about the experience of getting to choose what we read.  Adults often assume that, if they're given the choice, students will choose the easiest option-- but you didn't do that.  You chose the options that were most interesting to you.  What does this say about this group of readers?  (title: READING DEMOCRACY)

poll: the results are in

Thanks to everyone who voted for the short stories we'll be reading!  You made some excellent choices.  As we explore these, I will work with you to take the skills you build and translate them into higher lexile scores that reflect the rigorous path you've chosen.  Congratulations!  Here are the results, which we will use to build our calendar for the rest of the semester (the poll results are on two pages because you found so many great stories):

poll: what shall we read?

january 18

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Sick.  It's an awful feeling.  And it seems like when we get sick, everyone around us has an opinion: rest up, drink fluids, see a doctor, sweat it out, take an ice bath, walk it off... How do you know what to do when you get sick?

AGENDA:
1. Journal (please turn it in when you're finished writing)
2. Class blog audit
3. Finish your logo and post it on your blog
4. Short stories: poll
5. Begin first short story
6. POST

POST:
How do you feel about the short story we're about to read?  How do you feel about the decision-making process?  What did you learn by researching the stories that other students found yesterday?
(title: I CHOOSE TO READ)

in class

1.  Find two short stories you'd like to read.  On a piece of paper, please write:

• the titles and authors of the stories
• the search terms you used to find them
• the website where you found them

2. Take the logo you designed in your journal and put it on your blog.  You can design online or you can design on paper and scan it in.

january 17

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Imagine a logo for your blog.  What image would you use to describe yourself?  Think about other logos you've seen, and imagine an icon and colors that might represent your personality, your purpose or goals, and the work you do best.  Describe this in detail.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Share your logo
3. Design your logo on the computer and put it on your blog
4. Paul Simon & the art of collaboration
4. Reading together
5. Building together


POST:
We often think of reading and learning as an individual experience, but in reality these activities are often better when they're shared.  What is your experience?  Does your experience align with what you saw in the Paul Simon video?  Explain.

essay exam topic

Read the article HERE and then take a position: is listening to a book the same as reading it?  Is it better, worse, different?  Please explain your answer using three reasons based on your own experience.

STRIKE: your thoughts?

This week, teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District are on strike.  Do some research (the LA Times is probably a good place to start) and take a position: are the teachers right, is the district superintendent right, or is there a way to meet everyone's needs?  Write your answer in a comment to this post and/or in a post on your blog.

january 16

JOURNAL TOPIC:
There is a famous story about the inventor Thomas Edison where one of his assistants gets frustrated.  "Mr. Edison, we've tried this a thousand ways and it doesn't work!"  Edison smiled.  "You've actually accomplished quite a lot," he said.  "We've discovered a thousand ways it doesn't work."

Describe something we did in this class last semester that didn't work.  Then-- and this is the important part-- describe what you learned about yourself, me, learning, and/or this class as a result.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. ESSAY EXAM
3. Let's build something!  At the end of last semester we agreed to build something that people could play/use/read by the end of the semester.  That project is going to demand a lot from all of us (including me), so we need to start right now by planning, doing some research, and holding to our agreements about getting our work done.  That last part is especially important because we are now interdependent-- each of us will depend on the rest of us to move this forward.
4. Dust off your blog and post according to instructions in class

welcome back (in advance)

Hi Everyone,
I hope 2019 is off to a great start for you!  I didn't originally plan it this way, but I wound up away from my computers until now, so you got the benefit of the full break.

Since we had an agreement that you would check the blog, and there hasn't been anything here so far, this is your golden opportunity:

Wednesday we will have an essay exam in class.

If you post to your course blog tonight you will automatically receive a boost in your letter grade for this essay.  If you earn a B, for example, you will receive an A.

Here are some suggestions about what you might post:

• Progress in working on your Big Question
• What you did over break
• Goals for this semester

As always, I look forward to reading your thoughts.  See you tomorrow!

Best,
Dr. Preston