Grades

     I just finished grading all of the make up work and the blogs for this week, and your grades are posted.  As of now, those are your final 4th quarter grades, which will be averaged with 3rd quarter and your project to see if you passed the class.  If you have any make up work that you would like to get 50% on, please get this in by the end of the weekend, before posting your project, and send me an e-mail so that I can read your post and revise your grades.  Remember that the projects are due by 11 am on Monday and are worth 20% of your grade for the semester. I'm sure they'll be awesome, and I'm looking forward to reading all about them! Enjoy the senior activities this week. :)
                                                                                                                                           CJF

Final Posts!

        Just a quick update of what you all have left to complete for the quarter!
1. Tomorrow's vocabulary/reading blog
2. Tuesday - final writing blog that combines a Tuesday/Thursday blog
3. Wednesday - final vocab/reading blog
4. Final project! - Planning, ten hours of action, 1000 word (twice as long) post due by 11 am on May 23rd.  This is 20% of your semester grade, remember, so please, please get it in on time.
        Late work should all be in by the end of this weekend.  Please e-mail me with any questions on posts, grades, or projects.  Let's all get to graduation! :)
                                                                                                              CJF

Sneak Peak of Thursday's Meeting Topic :)

                                                                  Final Project

                           Due by 11 am the day of the English final exam, date TBA

            Because this is not a traditional English class, we are not going to take a traditional final.  Instead of coming in for a long test for which you have (hopefully!) studied ahead of time, you are going to plan for, complete, and blog about a project of your choice.  This project should be based around an interest that arose during your reading for the semester, ideally fourth quarter since that will be freshest in your mind.  Everything that you do in relation to this project (research, planning, execution, and reflection) must be posted in your final blog of the semester, by 11 am on the day of the English final.  Please take this blog post extra seriously, as it is the representation of a project that counts for 10% of your yearly grade.  This means that you should write an outline and an initial draft, then self-edit and additionally have someone else look it over before you post a final version for me (and any other viewers) to read. 

             

Guidelines:

There are three stages to the project:  research/planning, action, and reflection.

Between these three elements, your project will take approximately 20 hours.

Requirements:

1.      The project must justifiably relate to one of your quarter topics. 

2.      Evidence of research, planning.

3.      At least ten hours where you take action and do something.  Action must be recorded in written testimonials from other people, photographs, or videos.

4.      Reflection/Blog Post (1,000 words):  This reflection should first lay out what you set out to do and why.  Feel free to post excerpts from your planning and link in articles that relate to your topic or goals.  Next, explain not just your project but the results, the way that it affected you (or didn’t), and its connection to your reading.  You may also discuss any challenges that you faced in completing your project.

Because this assignment takes the place of your final, it is worth 20% of your grade for the semester.  That means that if you get a zero on it, your grade will go down 20 points.  You have a month to complete it, so please make sure that you complete it to the best of your ability.

            I hope that it will be a great experience for all of us.  I’m really looking forward to seeing what you come up with and especially for witnessing how choosing your own topics to study has affected you both personally and intellectually.  As usual, please contact me with any questions. 

                                                                 Good luck! J

Final Project Meeting

Good morning,

Please meet me in Ms. Stekl's room (second on left in English hallway) 3rd period on Thursday morning so we can go over the project you'll be completing for your final. Mr. Ruland will be there with the Chromebooks so we can get started together. If you have another class scheduled 3rd period, please e-mail me to make arrangements. 

Thanks, and see you soon! : )

                                           CJF

Last vacation of high school!

Just a quick reminder to follow the same schedule as February vacation this week. Please read 80-100 pages and post your vocab words by 2:15 pm on Friday. No other blogs due. Back to work on Tuesday/Thursday entries after vacation, and we will be meeting about the final project soon. Have a fun week! : )

CJF

4th Quarter Plans

    Welcome to your last quarter of high school.  Let's make it a great one!  As you know, 4th quarter plans are due on Friday and are the only post due this week.  Next week, beginning on Tuesday the 12th, we will go back to the three post schedule.  Please remember that the posts are specific to the day, so Tuesday's revolves around a quotation, Thursday's an element to analyze, and Friday is to update me on your reading and vocabulary.  For full credit, please make sure that you are citing page numbers and also that you add something to your entries, such as images or links that enhance the written word.  Also, late work for 4th quarter (as we discussed at our meeting in January) will only be accepted up to a week after its due date, so please plan accordingly.
      I know that Ms. Costello has been working a lot with some of you this week to find new books and topics.  Make sure that you thank her for all of her hard work!  I am available daily over e-mail and will be in the building on Thursday.  Please e-mail me if you'd like to meet.  Additionally, I plan to meet with you all as a group in a couple weeks so we can discuss the final, which is a project that you will complete and blog about.  More on that soon!
       Please choose motivating topics and get ready for some awesome reading to finish out high school. :)   Be in touch.
                                                                                                             CJF

Late Work

     Hi Everyone,
     We're getting down to the end of the quarter here, so I wanted to write a quick post about late work.  Most of you are doing great with keeping up with your blogs and getting work in in a timely fashion when it is late, but there are a few people who have gotten considerably behind, and I want to remind you of a couple things.  First, remember that this class is a graduation requirement.  You can pass for the semester if you fail third quarter but your fourth quarter average brings you to a 60% or above, but who wants that kind of worry during the last quarter of high school?  Let's get those third quarter grades up now!  Secondly, you can't pass in late work after the quarter ends.  No exceptions to this.  The quarter is the quarter, and you will need a new topic once fourth quarter starts, so you can't be lingering with work for this one then.  So this week is a really big one.  You need to stay on top of your current work and also do any make up work that needs to be done.  You should be spending your one period a day working on this class and also doing a bit more at home each night.  Again, most people appear to be doing this, and it seems as if everyone is really enjoying their reading, which is great.  The grades are updated on School Loop right now (and every week) if you need to double check anything.  It's still early enough on Sunday to pound out some more work, so if you are in a position where you need to do so, please get some done and then e-mail me prompting me to check your blog.  I'm looking forward to a full class of passing grades.
                                                                                                  Thank you!
                                                                                                                  CJF