period 5 big questions

Alvaro: How does the world of video gaming meet our basic need for competition?

Mario: Why is it that so many Americans are obese when so many around the world are starving?

Andrea: Why is there still racism in America, when everyone came here to get away from segregation and fit in?

Elizabeth: How do I grow two plants from the same branch?

Jesus: What makes us human?  What separates us from other animals and why do we feel emotions?

Beatrice: What do people do with leftover food?  How can we use it to help those in need?

Victoria: Why do males and females have different standards for sexual conduct?

Angel: Where does a black hole take you?

Isaiah: Why does the sun give off so much heat?

Avelina: What is the purpose of life?

Ruby: Why don't people care more about being with family for the holidays?

Cynthia: Why do I have to get good grades?

Amy: Why are there so many hate crimes?

Adamari: Why are elephants treated cruelly in captivity even though they're smart and well-trained?

Elyssa: Why are we forced to grow up so quickly and choose what we want to do / be in high school?

Carlos: What's the reason to be alive?

Michael: Was 9/11 an inside job?

Andrew: Why are we expected to figure out our career right after high school?

Ricky: How big is our galaxy?

Edmundo: What happens after death?

Noelia: Why do so many people judge others harshly?

Tanya: Why is the alphabet organized the way it is?

Yamile: What is being done to cure cancer?

Isaias: Would you believe in what you believe if you were the only one believing it?

Devin: How was Earth made?

Alex: Why are we considered adults at 18?

Dom: What inspires me?

Jesus: How am I going to lose weight? 

Uri: How can a freshman in college make $3.1M?

David: How can video games help in medicine?

Jose: Are we really human or characters in a virtual reality simulation?

period 4 final

Quotes of the Day:

"Smells better than IHOP in here!"

"I brought half eggs and half chorizo because I'm half white and half Mexican."

period 4 big questions

Cesar: Why do people think they can't get better when in reality they actually can?  How can we overcome this?

Eric: How much of the Earth's water is yet to be discovered?

Daniel: How would we tell time if it didn't exist?

Isaac: How can I decide on a career?

Adan: Why do people doubt that there is life somewhere in the universe besides Earth?

Giselle: Why are there so many homeless people?

Ana: Why are so many people so judgmental?

Michelle: Why is there so much racism in the world?

Jackeline: Why do we get homework when we spend most of our day in school?

Roxy: Is time real or is it just a concept?

Cassidy: Where do actors and actresses find the characters in themselves?

Angelina: Is heaven real?

Kaylee: How was the Earth created?

Claudia: How can we move forward in life if we dwell on the past?

E.J. : How do sports help people communicate and get to know each other?

Sokratis: Why does the world around us work the way it does?

Angel: Why do we develop our ways of thinking?

Jose: Why doesn't society succeed?  Why can't people agree?

Robert: Why are there so many different religions in the world?

Blake: Was President Bush in on the attack on 9/11?

Trevor: Why do people procrastinate?

Leo: Was America ever really great?

Alicia: Why are people afraid to show the real person inside themselves?

Cynthia: How can I find which career I want to pursue?

Araceli: What will the future hold for me?

period 3 big questions

[Stay tuned to this space; later today I will post each class member's Big Question along with a link to his/her blog.  I'll do the same for each period at the end of each final session.  On Friday I will post "Big Questions / Next Steps" -- this will be your guide for the break.]

Satchel: Why do we need a national government?  Why can't we have 50 state governments?

Carlos: How is my future going to be?

Luis: What can I do to be successful?

Jocelyn: What makes things funny?

Natalia: How will I be after Grizzly Academy?

Emigdia: How can we decrease abortion?

Abigail: Will I actually get my sh*t together?

Jason: What makes a sports team great and what makes it fall?

Victor: Will God ever send another prophet?

Nicol: What will life be like after I graduate?

Ofelia: Why do people fight and why can't they control their anger?

Marcos: What does my future hold?

Jay: What makes people nice and mean at the same time?

Jose: Who organized the alphabet?

Luis: Is there an afterlife?

Chris: Why is life hard?

Robert: What is the best way to pursue my goal of becoming a police officer?

Alex: Is there life on other planets?

Katie: What will my future be like after I graduate?

Vivian: Why do certain animals have specific behaviors?

Maria: What will my future be like after I graduate?

Angel: Why do we have nuclear bombs if we're not going to use them?

Richard: Why does music have such a big impact on people?

Kleiff: What will my future be like?

Jaime: Why do teachers give final exams?

Etzell: What would life be without music?

Elvis: What will life be like after high school?

period 3 final

Quote of the day:

"This is a third generation recipe, and I nearly burned the house down-- so enjoy!"

period 6 big questions

[Stay tuned to this space; later today I will post each class member's Big Question along with a link to his/her blog.  I'll do the same for each period at the end of each final session.  On Friday I will post "Big Questions / Next Steps" -- this will be your guide for the break.]

Demi: How can you use handwriting or speech accents to profile a person?

Paola: How does the human body work & how can I become a neonatal nurse?

Arielle: How does the human body respond to surgery?

Jorge: Why do some colors match and some colors clash?  How do we see beauty?

Jish: What's beyond the galaxy?

Jesus: What can we learn about human anatomy?

Yasmin: Why is it that children hurt the most during family problems?

Leo: Why are so many people homeless and starving when there are so many rich people?

Polo: If man evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

Bruno: What do I need to learn to become a mechanic for Nissan?

Danny: How can one small change in history alter the course of world events?

Angel: Am I on the right track in life?

Regina: Why do we do things?  Why do we follow orders?

Axel: Who killed Biggie and Tupac?

Lionel: How do we win?  What are some successful strategies for gaming life?

Anahi: Will school get harder?

Joe: How can we explore the fifth dimension?

David: What is time?  What is the point of immortality?

Angel: Is this world actually part of a big video game?

Maira: Is heaven real?

Edgar: Why do people wear clothes?

Elizabet: Are we reincarnated?

Esperanza: Why are people lazy?

Daniela: Why do people lie?

Neri: Why are things designed as they are?

Maria: Why are we here?

Lesly: How was the universe and everything in it created?

Madi: Are ghosts real?

period 6 final

Many thanks to period 6 for a great kickoff to finals week!  Everyone agreed this was the best food they'd ever had in a classroom, and we learned a lot about each other and our Big Questions (more on that in the next post).  Thank you for a great semester!  Looking forward to seeing periods 2 & 3 tomorrow.

december 13

JOURNAL TOPIC:
[force of habit. still, I'm wondering: are you thinking anything interesting?  bet you are.  or maybe you're just wondering why I'm not capitalizing anything here ee cummings style.  what if you got in the habit of writing your thoughts down on a regular basis without being asked?  what would that do for you?]

AGENDA:
1. Return/discuss essays
2. Final planning & big questions

HW:
Be a better person today than you were yesterday.

just so you know i wasn't kidding

After making those comments in class just now I looked back to see if I could find this... Check out the date.  At least once a semester ever since.

december 12

JOURNAL TOPIC:
[Just kidding.]

AGENDA:
1. Return/discuss essays
2. Summative assessments for the semester
3. Planning for the week

december 9: fall semester final essay prompt

According to author Salman Rushdie:

"A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it from going to sleep." 

Ordinarily, a student's job is more like, "Get to class on time, do your homework, stay out of trouble, get good grades, and make adults proud of you."

Today you are a poet.

Analyze Rushdie's quote and contribute your own verse(s).  Write an essay in which you explain yourself as a learner in this course.  Describe how reading the texts and listening to discussion has advanced your thinking and enabled you to more effectively participate in the world outside high school.  In the process, address as many of the elements below as you can.  Please remember to do a pre-write (heaven knows you'll need to organize this!) and if you use this semester's vocabulary words please underline them.

• Explain the theme, tone, and mood you associate with Rushdie's words, and analyze in terms of diction and syntax
• Address ethos, pathos, and logos as rhetorical tools (and use your own truthful premises and sound reasoning to persuade the reader)
• Explain how the juxtaposition of this quote with the role of the student addresses intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
• Include at least three examples of literary devices and/or quotes (with citations) from this semester's readings that illustrate and/or support your points

Please make sure to use blue or black ink.  Please write on one side of the paper only and write your name on all pages you submit.  Please (please, PLEASE) proofread for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.  And-- however perverse this may strike you-- have fun.  You have learned a great deal this semester; this is your hour to show off.

A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/salmanrush107281.html

healthy kids survey

Please take the Healthy Kids Survey.  If you'd like the grade bump on your final (and why wouldn't you?!?) please complete the survey and post the the image on the last page (see below) to your blog by Monday morning.

Here's how to take the survey and post the image:

1. Go to surveys.wested.org/chks/YD696PW?lang=en
2. Enter School Code (case sensitive): WQ27QE
3. Take the survey
4. Take a screen shot of the last page and post to your blog.  It looks like this:

december 8

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Beginnings" by Chicago]

This is your last journal entry for the semester.

What have you learned in this course so far?  About English/rhetoric/story/communication?  About learning?  About yourself and what you want out of life?  About [?]?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Final review

HW:
Get a good night's sleep and look forward to tomorrow's exam in a post entitled WOW, THAT WAS QUICK

december 7

JOURNAL TOPIC:
*Surprise!* What a terrible thing to say on the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.  Homo Sapiens are the only animals that contemplate our futures (and imagine our own deaths)-- why is it important to remember the way things were even as we contemplate what will come? 

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Final review

our final

Final.  That word sounds so... well, final.

The truth is, learning's never over.  We're just going to take an hour at the end of the week to see what we've learned so far.

So: what have you learned so far?

Please comment to this post with something you think is worth remembering from this semester.  Also please note anything you'd like me to emphasize/explain during our in-class review conversation.

december 6

JOURNAL TOPIC: ["Watch Me Shine" by Everlast]

This is a time of year when many people make wishes and resolutions.  Do you have any wishes, for yourself or others?  Is there anything you plan to do to improve your life in 2017?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Interactive final review

december 5

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "A Hazy Shade of Winter" by Simon & Garfunkel; "A Hazy Shade of Winter" by The Bangles]

Today you have a choice.

You can either write about winter-- whatever comes to mind-- or you can listen to the two versions of this song and think on paper about how two different bands can interpret the same idea.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Return essays

HW:
Think about something interesting and post about it to your blog (title: SOMETHING INTERESTING)

ways to win

Did you recognize the essay prompt?  Here it is again:

Describe Baca's attitude toward life, learning, and prison.  Use your analysis of diction and detail to support your points.

I ripped off the idea from question 2 in the 1981 AP exam (so I guess here I was partying like it was 1981, but whatever-- you can see it top/center here).

As we discussed, this is a formative assessment, and my intention is to help you learn, so if you didn't feel like you crushed it in class, you have options.  Here are a few:

• take another crack at the essay with more time and thought, and post it on your blog;
• memorize and recite a stanza (or the whole poem, if you're rad like that) and post the video on your blog;
• create a photo essay, animation, or some other kind of multimedia wonderfulness about the poem and post that on your blog;
• research Jimmy Santiago Baca, fall in love with a different poem he wrote, and post that with your commentary on your blog;
• compare Baca's poetry with someone else's poetry, or a different sort of writing altogether, and post that on your blog;
• research strategies for answering questions like this on the AP exam and post that on your blog;
• come up with an idea I didn't mention here and post that on your blog;
• create intellectual value and establish yourself by [?] -- and post that on your blog.

Whatever you do, don't forget to post it on your blog. :)

december 2

Today we partied like it's 1982*:

I'm looking forward to reading your journals this weekend, because I want to know exactly how you see "Immigrants in Our Own Land" and how you see yourself as a learner at this point in your life.

I'm also looking forward to reading your essays and seeing whether you adopt any of the other opportunities we discussed (video, recitation, photo essay, etc.) over the weekend.

(*This is an allusion.  It's a reference to a lyric in the song "1999.  The album came out in 1982, when I was 12 and Prince was the Future.  Enjoy.)

poetry resource

I was just nosing around the Internet and found this great resource for "Immigrants in Our Own Land"-- and then I smiled, because Jessica was a student of mine years ago...  Enjoy.

december 1

[*Happy December!  Unfortunately I won't be on campus today, so please complete the following journal topic and assignment to prepare for our conversation tomorrow.]

JOURNAL TOPIC:

Every culture throughout history has had some idea about peace.  Some cultures do peace better than others.  What do you think is necessary for peace?  You can think about peace within yourself, peace within your close circle of family or friends, or peace between nations.  How can you relate the idea of peace to Jimmy Santiago Baca's "Immigrants in our own Land"?

AGENDA:

1. Journal

2. Table discussion:

a) Consider Jessica Parra's blog entry about the poem

b) Compare your answers to the questions about theme, tone, mood, and devices

c) Change your mind about (at least) one of your answers based on the conversation and update your blog

PLEASE NOTE: Either every single one of us will have a blog entry to show for this week's thinking about the poem, or we will have a gut-wrenchingly difficult in-class exam on the poem tomorrow (Friday).