English 4 Sep

Parents: please click here to complete a quick parent questionnaire.

Students: please click here to complete my student questionnaire.

September 2017

Week 4

Monday Sep 25

Finish Saving School Presentations
Let's start to Crush the College Essay
HW: read College Essay tips for tomorrow's class (pages 1-8 in packet).
- Annotate your top five tips to remember.

Tuesday Sep 26

What are your top tips?
Read our first model essay (page 18) and think like an admissions officer: What are this essay's strengths? What do we learn about the author?
HW: read through the Common App prompt options and their explanations (pages 9-17 in packet). Make note of any questions you have.

Wednesday Sep 27

Brainstorming round 1: randomness rules with the wheel of indecision
Brainstorming round 2: choose from the menu
HW: use any of the prompts to do some additional brainstorming if needed

Thursday Sep 28

Look at your brainstorm list and ask yourself the following:
- Which topic would be most fun to write about?
- Which topic sounds most like me?
- Which topic paints me in the strongest light?
- Which topic surprises me or sounds unique?
- Which topic do I care about most?
  - Choose 2 to 5 topics from your list that best fit these questions. Try to draw potential connections.
Now review your prompt options (Common App or your 500+ word prompt). Find one or two prompts that fit your topics.
Freewrite round 1: topic 1. 10 minutes.
- DON'T WORRY ABOUT SPELLING OR GRAMMAR. Just put pen to paper and write for the time. If you run out of something to say, write "I have 17 years worth of stories. I have 17 years worth of stories."
Freewrite round 2: topic 2. 10 minutes.

HW: At least a page and a half of writing will get you your paycheck.

Bonus:
- Read a second model essay. Think like an admissions officer.

Friday Sep 29

Free write spot check
Read essay model #3: think like an admissions officer. What's good? What impressions do you get of the writer?
For each of your topics, sketch out a rough outline.
- Then, turn this outline into an elevator pitch that communicates the following (in 60 secs or less):
  - What's your opening shot or scene? (consider in medias res). See intro of essay #3 and #4 (pg. 20-21).
  - What happens next (what other scenes, moments, or experiences do we need to show to reveal this story)?
  - What's your closing shot (or scene, or moment)?

Alternatively, if you're set on one topic, prepare two different treatments of it so you can learn which is most effective for your audience.

HW: your two different elevator pitches should be ready to present for our next class
Review the "15 Grammar Goofs That Make You Look Silly." You'll have a short quiz on these mid-week.

Bonus:

Want free money? Check out our scholarship resources on Schoology (or right here).

Week 3

Monday Sep 18

Presentation Pro Tips:
- Text: Do More with Less
- Fonts: Say No to Serifs
- Visuals: Quality Matters
- (and the rule of threes)
Work day: "Saving School" Presentations: set up slides
- See me if you're finished with everything besides the annotated bibliography

Tuesday Sep 19

Final work day: finish and prep for presentations
- Share with neffj(_at_)parklandsd(_dot_)net
Presentations worth 60 points total. See Learning Targets: for each target, grade will be determined as:
- Target met (full credit); Approaching target (partial credit); Target missed (no credit)
- Annotated Bibliography should be placed at end of slides. See my example and guide. See me if you need help with this.
- If you're looking for ideas on how to open your presentation and hook your audience, see me.

Wednesday Sep 20

Present: "Saving School" Presentations
- order: volunteers, then random draw
Help your presenters get even better by giving them feedback: one thing they did well, and one thing they could improve upon for next time...

Period 3

Period 5

Period 6

Period 7

Thursday Sep 21

You don't have school (I do). Enjoy your day!

Friday Sep 22

Finish Saving School Presentations / Friday team building

Learning Targets: Saving School Proposal.pdf
File Size:	192 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Week 2

Monday Sep 11
Grab your chromebook.

HW/independent: finish your post (source link and summary) before tomorrow's Socratic seminar
overview of Socratic seminar procedures and Mr. Neff's "tennis" approach

Tuesday Sep 12 (Parkland Parents' Night)
Grab "Conversational Moves" handout.

Socratic Seminar #1: "Are we in a creativity crisis? Problems, solutions, and paragons."

If so, what are its root causes?
What are potential solutions?
Who are the paragons of creativity in the modern world?
How can we learn from their examples to develop our own creativity?

Wednesday Sep 13

Watch: Inside Man, "Education"
- Identify a strength or a flaw that you notice in one of the schools profiled in this segment. Use your 250 characters to briefly explain WHY you think this is beneficial or detrimental.
- Respond on Nearpod collaborative board.
Read: "Saving School" excerpts if you're looking for some additional ideas
HW: Use your 15,000 hours to brainstorm potential problems/solutions

Thursday Sep 14

Studysync podcast opportunity
Bonus: Parkland's new elementary school
During the course of this project, you'll collaborate to prepare a 3 to 5 minute "Saving School" presentation in which you do the following (see Learning Targets pdf):
- Identify the problem.
- Demonstrate to your audience why it's a problem.
- Propose a "What can we do today?" solution (a short term fix).
- Propose a "What can we do tomorrow?" solution (a longer term fix).
- Document your sources.
Groups: meet and discuss your brainstorms. Narrow down and choose one problem to solve.
- Once you've settled on a problem, pitch it to us.
Once you've identified your problem, brainstorm and begin researching potential solutions

Friday Sep 15

Work day: "Saving School" Presentations
- learning targets: Saving School Proposal
- sample sources
- brainstorm and source search for solutions
Documenting your sources: the annotated bibliography

Week 1

Tuesday Sep 5
Grab a syllabus.

Welcome. Now it's time to marshmallow.
HW: Read through syllabus for tomorrow.

Wednesday Sep 6
Grab an index card and a piece of paper.

A test on day two?! Take the RAT test.
"What are humans for?"
HW: Read Bronson and Merryman's "The Creativity Crisis" for tomorrow.

Annotate three things you find interesting, confusing, strange, or revealing.

Thursday Sep 7
Grab a paper clip.

chromebooks: Nearpod: "The Creativity Crisis"
- Watch Sir Ken Robinson's "Changing Education Paradigms."
- Interesting, confusing, strange, or revealing
chromebooks: begin your research for next week's Socratic seminar: "Are we in a creativity crisis? Problems, solutions, and paragons."

Friday Sep 8

Team building, Werewolf-style.
HW: complete student survey
HW: Schoology: See "Socratic Seminar: Creativity Crisis." For Monday's class, find a source that provides some insight or a response to any of the essential questions listed at the top of the assignment (this is all you need to do for Monday. You'll have Monday in class to complete the rest of the assignment).