Hi All —

Since there have been several technical issues this morning, I’m going LIVE on Zoom from 10-11 today.  ** I’m live again now if you want to drop in.  I’ll be there at least until 2, and possibly later. 🙂 ** If you have any questions or just want to pop in and say hi, you should be able to do so by clicking HERE. (You may have to create a zoom account, it’s pretty straightforward. )

Also – apparently just for fun our email has stopped working!  I created a gmail account I’ll use today (mhstaylor20@gmail.com) so if you send me an email- please include a NON FISD email where I can respond to you…or better yet, show up to ask your question in Zoom!

I’ll be waiting to see if anyone shows up!

(For instructions for class today, please scroll down to the previous post! )

Here we go!!  It’s time to get this online party started! 

So the best laid plans of mice and men…are sure to go awry. Unfortunately, this lovely Corona Virus has thrown us all a nice curveball, and basically everything from the last blog post is out the window.  Frisco ISD has declared this week a “week of review,” so we can’t take any grades on new content, and getting together to record a radio show MIGHT break a few quarantine rules — so the comic book/radio show is a no-go.  🙁 Our hearts are broken — we were excited to hear and see your amazing creations.  Membean still works because it’s an ongoing grade – but we’re adjusting the due date and minute expectation to fit this week.  Speaking of this week:

Officially: THIS page has a list of your assignments.  You are EXPECTED to do each assignment on the day it’s assigned (hence the “suggested due dates.) I’ll also try to update things daily on here with a bit more detail, but you are responsible for everything on that lesson plan.  Here’s where it gets tricky, though….these assignments are all technically “DUE” t 11:59pm on Friday night.  You won’t get grades for them, but they will be used to count you absent or present for each day.  (Yes, procrastinators, that means you could technically sleep and game all week and then do all your assignments on Friday night…but that would suck.  Seriously. And imagine if you don’t get them done…can you even imagine losing credit for two classes due to “absences” when you didn’t even have to leave your house?? Come on…. So…my advice? Knock things out as early as you can, get them finished and submitted (where needed), and be done with it. Then you’ll have plenty of time to stare at your walls and make Tik Toks.)

Big picture, because we are doing “asynchronous” learning, even though I’m going to give you an assignment every day (and if you’re smart you’ll DO the assignment each day) you don’t HAVE to turn it in until 11:59 on Friday.  Specific to AMSTUD, though — the later you turn things in the less chance you have of doing any corrections. That’s not as big a deal this week, but will come into play moving forward (if we keep doing this whole onlin thing…)  Completing these assignments will be proof you were “present” each day.  Each assignment should take about 20-25 minutes – so for AMSTUD we have up to 50 minutes of your time (25 for APLANG and 25 for APUSH) but we’ll try to keep it under that.

For today, here’s your assignment:

1. Complete your own blog post for today.  Make sure you’ve read the instructions HERE.  You can take as much or as little time as you’d like on this, but make sure you have at least one solid, AP level paragraph per day.
2. Go to myap.collegeboard.org and work on your Unit 5 Personal Progress Check.  Most of you are already either done and can just review this – or close to being done. A few haven’t started. It must be finished by 11:59 on Friday night in order for you to get attendance credit.
3. You need 30 minutes of Membean by Friday at 11:59 – the first time you log onto Membean on Friday it will give you your 9 weeks Membean quiz.  This quiz can be reset ONE time if you email to request the reset during office hours on Friday (9-11am or 1-3pm).  That means if you take the quiz after 3 on Friday the grade stands.
4. Your DBQ rewrite is due by 11:59pm on Friday.  Today’s assignment isn’t very long (because you should be mostly done with PPC 5), so use this time to do the rewrite if you want to improve your score.  Email the corrected DBQ to Taylor before 11:59 on Friday night.

Coach is working on finishing grading your Argument essays now, and will scan them and send them to you ASAP so that you have a chance to do corrections on those as well.  We’ll keep you posted.

For now, we will both be hanging out by our email from 9-11am and from 1-3pm ready for any thoughts, comments, funny stories, oh..or questions about all this stuff! Feel free to reach out and break up our monotony! Have a great first day of eSchool!

Ciao…

Taylor

To get you guys engaged, huh?

Today’s discussion was intense and animated (get it…animated…as in…yeah…LOL).  For anyone who missed all or part of it, we looked at the role of Superman in the golden age of comics as the first superhero. We talked about how he reflected the time period in which he was created and how he embodied the American people. It was fun to see some of you making some of those connections for the first time, and others of you geeking out over superheroes in general.  Clearly Coach and I share your obsession!

Then we switched over to the Golden Age of Radio and looked at radio as a cultural unifier and art form pre-television.  Hopefully you enjoyed listening to a radio broadcast  -if you want to listen more, or to a different show, I’ll leave the links up.  Be forewarned it can be a deep, dark hole to fall down! LOL!

We ended class with a quick introduction to your next project.  It’s due March 20 (the Friday we get back from Spring Break), and you’ll have all of class to work on it tomorrow.  Remember, it’s your choice: Radio Show or Comic Book? (Unless you’re absent for the work day, in which case you are doing a solo comic book!) This will be your last major grade for the 9 weeks.

Speaking of grades — we also mentioned that you have the normal 30 minutes of Membean due by 9am Monday when we get back, but if you want to do an EXTRA 30 minutes (for Spring Break Fun) we will grant bonus points.  If you’ve already maxed out Membean we’ll find somewhere else to add the points.

See you tomorrow for a work day! Have a great night

Ciao..

T&H

I’m hoping this sends out a quick note to all of you — please bring your headphones tomorrow, and spread the word! 🙂

Ciao..

T

Hi Friends –

I hope you’re enjoying a wonderful weekend! It always seems like it flies by too quickly, doesn’t it?

I’m going to make a few quick updates and change a few dates around (all to your benefit, I hope!)

I think Coach is out again tomorrow for at least part of class, so we’re going to switch around Monday and Tuesday.

Monday – 1920s writing (it’s about time for a DBQ!) and then review of causes of Great Depression.  Make sure you’ve reviewed the 1920s – the webquest you did should help, as should the reading you’ve done. Adam Norris and Crash Course can also help!!

Tuesday — Gatsby — the WHOLE book needs to be done!!  Also, your “I am/I am Not” portfolio is due by the time you come to class. This is your next Portfolio project – but this time it’s digital!

Wednesday – Silent Films are due! I’ve heard so many great things — I can’t wait!! We will watch those and then you’ll be writing an RA….the exams are getting closer, so it’s time to double down on all the skills.  Be ready to write, write, write for the rest of the year!

Thursday – We will look at artistic responses to the Great Depression — you guys seem to enjoy the artistic elements, so hopefully this will live up to expectations!

Friday –  I’ll be gone and Holtrop will be here.  You’ll be looking at one of the greatest responses to the Great Depression, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

Have a great Sunday!

KT

Hi Friends –

It’s SOOOooo nice to have a long weekend!! 🙂 A few reminders for the upcoming week as you kick back and relax:

1. Tuesday – will be a reading/work day.  You choose what is most helpful for you from the following:
   1. Work on your silent film — write/plan the story, film, divide up work – whatever you need
   2. Read Gatsby — read the rest of the book. You can use this time to quietly read and annotate so that you have more time outside of school to work on your film
   3. Work on APUSH Content – you can use the time to work on study guide, notes, whatever you need. Holtop and I will be there to answer questions, discuss Gatsby, help with film ideas…whatever you need.
2. Wednesday we’ll be exploring the Harlem Renaissance
3. Thursday Gatsby 6 – 9 (the rest of the book) is due
4. Friday we’ll be looking at Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright and the connections between the city and the suburbs! **HOMEWORK** — By Friday you need to bring in a 5×7 picture PRINTED (it can be black and white on printer paper) picture of your favorite room.  This might be at your house, at a friend’s house, at a local coffee shop, at school  — it should just be the room (whole room, not a close up) where you feel most comfortable in the world. Yes, it must be indoors.  It MUST be PRINTED OUT and TURNED IN BEFORE Friday!! 

Have a great weekend! We’ll see you Tuesday!

Ciao…

H&T

Since there’s no Friday this week! 🙂

Just a quick recap – we decided to postpone Gatsby to tomorrow so that Coach can be here for our discussion.  That means if you did the whole “I looked at the words, does that count as reading” thing you have time to go back.  Tomorrow we get to deep dive into the greatness of Tom’s racism, Daisy’s voice that sounds like money, Nick’s narration, and of course…Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book.

In other news – film project is out and all images are assigned.  If you want to look at the images you chose (and other choices) you can look HERE.  On Tuesday of next week you will have 45 minutes (at least) to work.  You can use that time to work on your movie OR you can use it to read Gatsby (thereby freeing up time outside of class to work on your film.). Just remember we’ll be having a viewing party on Monday Feb 24 — when we have the Inaugural “MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL WARRIOR AWARDS CEREMONY.”  Yes, there are real statues, and since you’re the first, these will go down in history.  Best actor, best actress, best director and best picture.  You want one of these.

For those of you who liked Modernism, we’ll keep exploring it over the next few weeks.  If you want to go back and bask in Gertrude Stein’s portraiture, you can listen to her HERE.

Test corrections are finished, and I’ll be putting grades in the next day or so.  We’ll try to get everything updated by Tuesday if we can.  Don’t forget Membean over the long weekend — since it surprised some of you during advisory this week, I’ll tell you all now…I just finished my 30 minutes too. 🙂 My favorite new word is rapacious — very greedy and grabby — wanting to take everything. My sophomores were definitely rapacious when I offered candy in class today! 🙂

Have a great night…Ciao!

Ms. T

Realism “for the win…” I mean.

Today was an exploration of Realism — we’ll come back to it in a few days too.  For tomorrow we’ll cover Spanish/American War and Imperialism quickly (7.2 and 7.3), then it’s off to GATSBY!!

Both Holtrop and I encourage you to get a copy of Gatsby you can annotate all over.  We will have plenty of copies for you to check out in class if you want to, and you’re welcome to check one out and then return it after you obtain your own copy if you’d like.  HalfPrice book usually has several copies, and I know Amazon had used copies for as little as $1.50 today!

Just so you can plan ahead:

Gatsby chapters 1 – 5 are due NEXT Wed (Feb 12), and the rest of the book (6 – 9) is due the following Wed (Feb 19).

In other news – your Realism Activity was due at the end of class today, but we’ll take it up until 9am tomorrow.

Your Muckraker portfolio (see below) is due next Monday

also, remember test corrections can be worked on tomorrow (Thurs) morning, and next week during advisory Mon, Tues and Wed or before school on Tuesday.  The absolute final (no exceptions, no ifs ands or buts) deadline is end of advisory Wednesday.  Remember you can work on the notes portion at home, but the corrections must be hand written and completed in class.

Have a great night….Ciao..

H&T

Really good job overall on the test today in class!  Hopefully it gave you a good idea of areas for improvement.

As far as corrections go – you may do corrections during advisory Tues/Wed of this week and Monday/Tues/Wednesday of next week.  As of the end of advisory on Wednesday  2/12 grades will be final.  I’ll also be here for tutorials tomorrow (Tuesday 2/4) morning and Thursday (2/6) morning, so you can come in either of those days this week. Again, though, corrections for the test will be final at the end of advisory on 2/12….no extensions for any reason, so plan accordingly.

Tomorrow we pick back up and keep moving forward!  Tomorrow is the Progressives, section 7.4.  It’s been pushed back like 5 times, so hopefully you are really prepared and ready to go! (yes, you will have a 1 question quiz over it!)  (Note, I added the quicklink to Period 7 in the side bar to make it easier for you to access as we go.  We’re jumping in to 7.4, but we will go back and pick up 7.1 – 7.3 later.) Also, if you haven’t already turned it in, your “Background” Portfolio is due tomorrow too.  Make sure you have a hard copy to give us — sharing a document is a great “backup,” but you still need to find a way to print it.  Come in early and ask us to help you, go to the library, whatever you need to do to find a way to solve the problem.  The assignment is to hand it in hard copy.

Finally, make sure you are reading To Build a Fire.  It’s due on Wednesday, which seems appropriate now that the high for Wednesday is a whopping 36*! (Remember I TOLD you the best way to read it is on an ice day??? Maybe we’ll all get lucky, but don’t put it off until then! )

That’s all until to morrow…Ciao

KT

Greetings and Salutations!

It’s been a crazy two weeks for me, and I apologize for dropping the ball and not doing better on updating this page.

Let’s plan on using tomorrow to recap,  recover, and review in preparation for your check test coming up on Monday.  We will pick up from there with the content starting Tuesday in Unit 7.

On that note, I’ve updated the reading calendar – -the link is HERE.

Also, if you want to redo your Success Portfolio assignment, it must be completed and turned in by MONDAY in class – final offer. Your Background Portfolio assignment is due in class on Tuesday (Feb 4) .  Here’s the prompt:

(I know the slide says it’s due Monday, but I want you to be able to prep for your test, so we’ll say Tuesday instead! MEMBEAN IS STILL DUE AT 8AM ON MONDAY!!!!)

I’m hoping we’re all on track now for the mad dash to the finish line in May…buckle up! I love some of the stuff we get to cover this semester, and I hope you will too!!

Have a great night…see you tomorrow!

Ciao…

KT