10/31 HW/Review

HW:  Read and annotate to page 54 of BNW.

Review:
Today we had an hour-long session with Rachael Sands from college counseling
Then we posted our mask essays in the school
Had "Desk Olympics" and became more efficient at transitioning from different activities
Had in-class reading time

10/30 HW/Review

NO HW tonight, as we covered all the reading in class :)
REMINDER:  Romeo/Juliet film viewing is postponed to 2nd semester...more information to come after winter break

Today we:
--Read and annotated in class to page 45
--Discussed how Brave New World Society defines happiness...in short, discovered that they understand happiness to be "instant gratification"
--Watched Daniel Gilbert's Ted Talk and took notes on his conflicting notion of happiness.

www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html

--In short, Gilbert defines two types of happiness--the first, 'natural happines' is the same as the instant gratification that BNW society values.
--The 2nd type of happiness Gilbert lays out is "synthetic" happiness; which occurs when people don't get what they want, but manage to feel better about the outcome in any case.
-Most shocking example--a man who was unjustly jailed for 38 years called it "a glorious experience...I don't regret a moment of it".

--Dialectical journals and discussions on Gilbert's quote that "Emotion is a compass...and if a compass is set on north, it is worthless."

--What about you?  Would you exchange your freedom, as the citizens in Brave New World, for instant gratification?
Or do you agree with Gilbert that life is meaningful only when we go through the ups and downs of life?

10/29 HW/Review

HW: Read and annotate to page 29 of Brave New World
Romeo and Juliet film has been postponed to 2nd semester; it will be easier to schedule then without conflicting with Halloween and the weekend for everyone.

Review:
-First dialectical journal
-Shared our entries in our small groups
-Shared our group reflection in a large group
-Took notes  and discussed the implications of the quote "All conditioning aims at making people like their inescapable social destiny"
-Watched videos on Henry Ford's assembly line and noted and discussed similarities between Ford and Brave New World
-Read and annotated together.

10/28 HW/Review

HW tonight:  Read and annotate Brave New World to page 18.

Update:
--If you download the new Windows 8.1 AT HOME (not at school, it takes too long), then you will be able to get internet wifi at school.
--In case you're wondering why more recent grades have not been posted on powerschool, there's been school-wide issues with Powerschool and my system is still not back up and operating.  Apologies for the delay.


Review of class:
--Paper airplane assembly line
--Individual paper airplane making time
--Discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of each system.

Assembly line benefits= increased production and efficiency, uniformity, and simple, easy work
Assembly line drawbacks=little creativity, mediocre product, no room for genius

Individual assembly benefits=room for great achievement and innovation, superior product at times
Individual assembly drawbacks=some products were total failures, lack of structure could be confusing
                                                    or boring for some individuals.

The trip to watch Romeo and Juliet has changed to Saturday afternoon.  More details on the exact time to come once I get a group rate from the theater.

10/25 HW/Review

HW this weekend:
Write your final draft of your fiction piece.  Use the peer edits to improve it.  Staple the two peer edits to a printed copy and bring it to class on Monday.

On Monday we start our next big Project!  Reading Brave New World and demonstrating our understanding in an unusual format...more to come next week!
-matt

10/24 HW/Review

Fellow writers,
  Your HW tonight is to finish and print out your one-page rough draft of your fiction piece.  See the Class Handouts section if you need to review anything.  If you are still feeling stuck, remember my tips from the lecture today:
a.  Write about one moment
b.  Make the moment a moment of conflict when the main character is resisting society's expectations
c.  Show and don't tell.

Today we:
-Had a lecture and review of the tips to effective story-telling (including the tips above)
-Google-doc activity for showing and not telling
-Finished NWEA testing for those who needed to
-Had Mexican WhiteBoy seminars
-Independent worktime on fiction writing

10/23 HW/Review

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NQnXGwPS61yfb8D-Sh0XY1qZM0LLGm71thWwrUQVZ5E/edit?usp=sharing


HW:  Work on your rough drafts of your fiction piece.  Your rough draft is due as a hard copy IN CLASS on THURSDAY.
It MUST be only 1 page.  Follow all the other instructions listed under "handouts" page on this site.

Today we...
Did NWEA tests.

10/22 HW/Review

HW Tonight:  Finish reading Mexican Whiteboy.

Review of the day:
--Seminar pre-writes, seminar team-work and question generating
--Seminar for Group I
--Independent worktime for Group II on the ficition mini-project.

REMINDER--your rough draft of your fiction pieces are due on Thursday as a hard copy in-class, so make sure you are making progress on that.  You should have at least half of written by tomorrow so that you don't have to do it all tomorrow night.

Check the "Class Handouts" page if you lost the fiction piece handout and need a refresher.

Tomorrow is NWEA testing all class.   Come ready to rock and roll!

10/21 HW/Review

Check out the Class Handouts Page if you lost any handouts from today and need a reminder on what you should be writing about for your fiction piece.  
Also, the grading rubric for the fiction piece (rough draft hard copy due Friday, final draft hard copy due Monday) is posted under the "Project Rubrics" page.  

HW for tonight:
 1.  Read/Annotate MWB 210-225
2.  Finish Updating your DP, INCLUDING YOUR PROJECT REFLECTION (see item 'd' below) .  

Create 2 sub-pages under your Humanities page, one which is labeled "Projects", one labeled "Seminars"

Under the "Projects" page, upload
a. The title of the project "Masks Project"
b.  A picture of your mask (1st period, we will be taking pictures of our masks in class on Monday)
c. Your final essay
d.  Your Project Reflection-- post this under your final essay.
Mask--What are you most proud of about your mask and why?
Quote--Quote the section of your essay that you are most proud of and describe why you are proud of it.
Biggest take-away--What will you remember from this project and why?
Habit of Heart and Mind--What HOHAM do you need to work on to improve in project-based learning?  How will this HOHAM help you?

10/18 HW/Review

HW this weekend:  Read/Annotate Mexican Whiteboy page 163-210

Update your DP by

Creating 2 sub-pages under your Humanities page, one which is labeled "Projects", one labeled "Seminars"

Under the "Projects" page, upload
a. The title of the project "Masks Project"
b.  A picture of your mask (1st period, we will be taking pictures of our masks in class on Monday)
c. Your final essay

 Another survey--this time it is school-required. 
Please fill out within five mins thanks!
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/endprojectfeedback

10/17 HW/Review

--Homework tonight is to read and annotate MWB to page 168.  Come to class tomorrow prepared for a short "content review" of what has happened in the story so far.
We will also be reading an article about how immigrants to the US, from all times, have been characterized as "Un-American", and having a socratic seminar on the article.

--Today we:
a.  Watched the film "Precious Knowledge"
b.  Had a class discussion/debate on the decision of the State of Arizona to ban Ethnic Studies in the Tuscon Unified School District.

10/16 HW/Review

Homework tonight:  Read Mexican Whiteboy pages 136-148 and annotate.
Today--we got ready for our SLCs tonight!
If your parents want to set up an individual meeting, after tonight's SLC, they can email me
matt.dooley@animashighschool.com
to do so.

Tomorrow we will be watching the film "Precious Knowledge", which is about a Ethnic Studies high school curriculum in Tucson that aroused the ire of several state legislators who saw the program, which focuses on Hispanic history in the US, as racist and even revolutionary.
Should be a good film and an even better class discussion.  See you then!

10/11 HW/Review

Phew!  Great job everyone.  Friday Funday was ESPECIALLY fun today, seeing everyone try to impersonate a hobbit.  Good stuff.

Make sure your parents know the date/time you signed up for SLCs on Wednesday evening the 16th.  If you are unsure, look up the email that you sent them in class.

Your homework this weekend is to
-- Complete your SLC class checklist and your 3 Humanities cards.  Use the "Notecard Prep" handout for instructions if you've forgotten.  I posted a copy of this on the DP under "Class Handouts"
--Remember that we don't have school on Monday and Tuesday
--Come to school on Wednesday ready to practice presenting your learning to your parents.
--Enjoy the long weekend!

_Matt

10/10 HW/Review

Congratulations on a wonderful exhibition last night!
HW tonight:  NONE :)

Today we began work on preparing for SLCs.  We also completed a survey on how the project went.  I printed and posted the results on a classroom wall if you want to see the feedback that you and your classmates gave.  I'll be incorporating that feedback into our next project, during which we'll be reading the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and exploring the concepts of dystopias (not sure what that word means?  Look it up :)

Tomorrow we will also be working on SLC preparation.
Your grades for the project will be given back next week.
NOTE:  SLCs (student-led conferences) are WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 16th, 4-6pm.  IF your parents ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY cannot attend at the time they signed up, have them email me 
matt.dooley@animashighschool.com
to arrange an alternate time.  

10/8 HW/Review

Masks Exhibition:  Wednesday October 9th 5-7pm at the Fairgrounds. 
 Click Here for Map
Students please arrive at 4:45 pm and sign in with Matt by 4:50 pm.  Matt will be by one of the entrances and easy to see.
Students volunteering for set-up/take-down, please arrive at 4:30 and sign in with Matt.

You will be assessed on the following three things at the Exhibition:
1.  Did you arrive and sign-in on time?  

2.  Did you wear professional dress? 
Gentlemen--slacks with a belt and a collar shirt.
Ladies--slacks or skirt/dress with professional top.
No sneakers, jeans, tank-tops, etc.

3.  Did you stay at your station unless on a scheduled bathroom break?  

Tomorrow in class we will be practicing exhibiting and discussing our work.  Today in class we put final touches on our masks, prepared our essays and mask paragraphs for display, and began to prepare for exhibiting our work in person through written reflections and discussions.

10/7 Mask Project Final Touches!

DUE DATES REMINDERS FOR TUESDAY 9/8:
You should walk into class with the following three items, printed out.  DO NOT come into class and say "Can I go and print this in the commons?"  You need to take the time BEFORE class starts to print out the following.

1.  A hard copy of your final draft with the two peer reviews from class on Monday stapled to the back. This is what I will grade.

2.  A second hard copy of your final draft.  You will paste to construction/posterboard in class tomorrow in preparation for displaying it at the Exhibition on Wednesday from 5-7pm at the Fairgrounds.

3.  A hard copy of the mask paragraph that you wrote in class today.  If you lost the handout on how to do this, you can find it on this link:  Click Here

All of the above should be Beautiful Work. Correct citations, minimal spelling and grammatical errors, capitalization, etc.  

IF YOU MISSED CLASS TODAY (MONDAY), YOU DO NOT NEED THE PEER REVIEW SHEETS (BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T HAVE THE CHANCE TO DO THEM).  BUT YOU SHOULD BRING EVERYTHING ELSE.

Exhibition Times:  Arrive at the La Plata Fairgrounds at 4:45 pm.  The Exhibition runs from 5-7 PM.  
If you are volunteering for early set-up, arrive at 4:30 pm.  You will receive extra credit for volunteering IF you have no late work.  

Professional Dress for Exhibition (follow the norms or there will be negative sanctions...)
Males:  Collar Shirt (add a tie if you like) with slacks (no jeans), a belt, and appropriate footwear (no sneakers or sandals)
Females:  Appropriate female business attire--blouse or other appropriate top with slacks/skirt, or a dress.
It goes without saying that all students should follow the dress code in considering the appropriateness of their attire.  

 Review:
-- Today in class we had:
-- Independent work-time to put the final touches on our essays through peer critiquing each other's work.
--Independent work-time to put final touches on our masks
--Time to check-in with Matt about our Challenge Extensions

10/4 HW/Review

Your Homework this weekend is to
a. Finish the revisions based off the feedback you received from my comments and grading rubric, and also any ideas/suggestions from your mini-lesson
b.  Print out a hard copy and turn it in along with the completed "Essay Checklist" stapled to the front of the hard copy.  This is due first thing Monday morning in class.


Today we:
 - Had independent worktime/small group lessons on refining topic sentences
 -Researched in small groups different questions the basic facts about the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare"), and how the ACA is related to the federal government's shut-down.  We strove for FACTS not opinions in presenting our research to the other groups.

10/3 HW/Review

Scholars,
  HW tonight is to continue the revision process.  Make sure you are citing your sources correctly.  To check how to do so, visit the Class Handouts page and see "How To Cite".  I have modified the schedule slightly--you will be bringing a fresh hard copy of your revised paper to class on Monday.  Tomorrow I will give you a checklist of items that you need to have completed to have a complete essay for you to use over the weekend.
See you tomorrow for Friday Funday!
--Matt

10/2 HW/Review

Hi folks!
Your homework tonight is to read/annotate Mexican White Boy to page 124.  Tomorrow we will be revising our drafts further; Matt will be giving mini-lessons on specific topics depending on what aspect of your paper you need the most work in.

Today we:
Wrote twenty-three different short stories as a group, and also researched forty-four different new vocab words for Wednesday Word Day
Did Durango Connect
Emailed our parents with the Exhibition Date (Wednesday October 9th at the Durango Fairgrounds; students should arrive at 4:45 PM, and Exhibition runs from 5 to 7pm.)
  Remember to wear professional dress for the Exhibition (slacks and tie for gentlemen, appropriate business attire for women)