...Throughout the course of the first nine weeks in Mrs. Theisen's AP English Language and Composition class, my writing has changed dramatically. Towards the start of the year my writing was very weak, yet it has improved towards the start of the second nine weeks. My writing began in this class with bad thesis statements, weak transitions, awkward grammar, and lack of relevant evidence. My writing skills at the beginning of this class started in a rough spot. There are a plethora of examples of how weak my writing was at the beginning of the nine weeks. To begin, my thesis sentences lacked relevance and contained bad grammar - if I had a thesis sentence to begin with. In the very beginning of the year I had no thesis statements in my papers,...
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...Students consider information and then summarize what they understand about the text with a partner. Students discuss their responses with a peer before sharing with the whole class. Students mark the text to identify a particular concept and chime in, reading the marked text aloud in unison with the original reader. Purpose Students have to think about the sequence of ideas or events and their importance and then re-create the text in their own words. Students take a few minutes to think about the question or prompt. They pair up with a designated partner to compare thoughts. This strategy helps students develop fluency, differentiate between the reading of statements and questions, practice phrasing, pacing, and reading dialogue. It helps students learn how a character’s emotions are captured through vocal stress and intonation. Students learn to formulate questions that address issues (in lieu of simply stating their opinions) to facilitate their own discussion and arrive at a new understanding. Students also have the responsibility of supporting their opinions and responses using specific textual evidence. Using response devices, the teacher can easily note the responses of individual students while teaching the whole group. Additionally, response cards allow for participation by the whole class and not just a few students who raise their hands. This strategy requires engagement by all students and allows the teacher to check for understanding within a large group. ...
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...Mr. Macomber English 3 AP Syllabus 1.5 English 3 AP Course Overview Students in this introductory college-level course read and carefully analyze a broad and challenging range of nonfiction prose selections, deepening their awareness of rhetoric and how language works. Through close reading and frequent writing, students develop their ability to work with language and texts in order to establish greater awareness of purpose and strategy, while strengthening their own composing abilities. C16 Students examine rhetoric in essays, images, movies, novels, and speeches. They frequently confer about their writing by conferencing in class. C 14 Feedback is given both before and after students revise their work to help them develop logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence. Rhetorical structures, graphic organizers, and work on repetition, transitions, and emphasis are addressed. I comment on individual drafts, and I write memos to the class in a blog about whole-class concerns such as specificity of quotations, parallelism, and transitions. C13 Simultaneously, students review the simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentence classifications. We examine word order, length, and surprising constructions. Loose and periodic sentences are introduced. We examine sample sentences and discuss how change affects tone, purpose, and credibility of the author/speaker. In addition, feedback on producing sentence structure variety...
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...Spanish IV AP 2011-2012 Summer Assignment The activities in this assignment are meant to help me become familiar with your Spanish skills at this point. They will help you become familiar with the textbook, its Supersite and the WebSAM. You need to know how to use them by the beginning of the Fall semester. You’ll also do activities in the Barron’s AP Spanish book. If you encounter problems or know of situations that will keep you from submitting your work by the stated deadlines, you need to contact me at your earliest convenience. I will contact parents for verification. By July 16th. Write a reflection piece in English on your Spanish language skills and learning style. You may list your answers to the questions below or write a composition. Submit as a Word document to HYPERLINK "mailto:torres@ndhs.org" torres@ndhs.org. 1) In what areas do you do well in Spanish without putting out a great deal of effort? (You may address- listening comprehension, reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, spelling, accentuation, speaking, pronunciation, composing your thoughts clearly before writing or speaking, etc.) 2) In what area(s) do you do well in Spanish, after putting out a considerable amount of effort? 3) What types of activities help you learn more effectively? * Hearing others’ explanations and examples, * Reading numerous explanations of grammar or vocabulary items, * Writing diagrams, formulas or summaries of explanations...
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...Reflection Paper on Stand and Deliver “At a tough school, someone had to take a stand… and someone did. Together, one teacher and one class proved to America they could… Stand and Deliver” –taglines of the movie “Stand and Deliver.” Jaime Escalante has a steady job but left it for a lowly position math teacher at James A. Garfield High School. Knowing that the school is where rebellion runs high and teachers are more focused on discipline than in academics, he is determined to change the system and challenge the students to soar high in excellence. Of course, the students will not like a teacher who engages them in the things they don’t like. But as days passed, Escalante was able to convince the students and got their attention by adopting unconventional teaching methods and conveying the necessity of math in everyday living. He successfully instilled in the mind of his students that all use math everyday. With his determination and perseverance, he was able to turn gang members, no-hopers, and even the most troublesome teens into dedicated students who are ready to learn. The school board has low expectations on the students and the teachers even called them illiterates. But Jaime Escalante didn’t listen to the concerns and skepticism of his colleagues. Instead, he realized that his students are capable of more than the expectations and criticisms thrown to them. He developed a math program which requires the students to take summer classes, including Saturdays, so that...
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...Commonplaces Folder One objective of the AP Language class is to help students become informed, critical citizens. You are therefore expected to take up mature, well-reasoned and supported positions in your writing. In order to do this it is crucial that one become aware of opposing viewpoints on any given topic, acknowledging their respective merits and noting their respective drawbacks, always keeping an open mind and allowing your position to shift and gain nuance . Classically, an argument is not considered complete until the opposing positions are discussed, conceded to, and possibly refuted. In your Commonplaces Folder, you will gather articles that participate in arguments relevant to informed, democratic citizens. This ongoing collection will provide material, background knowledge, and perspective on current events, an essential for the AP exam, and to a functioning democracy. Each entry will consist of: 1) A hard copy of the article/column, no more than two months old, and at least two pages (Times New Roman, 12 pt, single spaced). It cannot be a straight news story. It must be taking on a current topic that is of some importance locally, nationally, or globally and address opposing viewpoints. Feature and op-ed articles are a good place to look. 2) An objective summary paragraph that clearly articulates the articles main points. The topic sentence should include the title, author, and source. Is the article taking up one position or discussing multiple...
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...Condoleezza Rice was the 66th and first black female Secretary of State appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005. Her accomplishments created a national spotlight. She became a faculty member at Stanford University while in her twenties and continued to excel through academics as well as on a national scale. Dr. Rice reached her success by her own accord. She grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, during the civil rights era with a strong family influence. Both of her parents were teachers and emphasized the importance of education. She is an accomplished pianist and speaks several languages to include French and Russian. Prior to the appointment to Secretary of State, Dr. Rice became the Nation Security Advisor during President George W. Bush first term in the presidency (Rice 2008). Dr. Rice studied political science at Stanford University and served as Provost. Dr. Rice’s expertise is concentrated on areas of Soviet Union and European countries. During the 1980’s Dr. Rice closely worked with Security of State George P. Shultz under President Ronald Regan. She was part of a forum, which held frequent meetings on foreign affairs. Dr. Rice served as a Soviet expert on the United States National Security Council, (Rice 2011). Serving on the council came during the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Dr. Rice served as Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. She helped develop Secretary of State James Baker’s policies in favor...
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...feelings of stress when she is surrounded by other people. Due to her lack of sociableness. This has always been a problem but increased ever since she took AP Biology. Even the thought of being around people or going to events makes her break out in hives and prompts her to cancel. After she started getting sick when her mom would invite people over she knew it was time to seek help for her problem. Since then she has started seeing doctor Mount and quit her AP Biology class. b. Baley Hryant is a 16, year old. She was diagnosed with Hypochondriasis. She first started showing symptoms after she got a stomach bug. She had a stomach bug for a few weeks so she missed quite a bit of school. After this she started assuming that everything was wrong with her. If she would get the slightest headache she would go home from school. Then she started not coming to school at all fearing that her life would be taken by the germs that the kids bring into the school. She decided to seek help after she shaved her head because she thought that she had cancer and thought this was going to be inevitable. She has been seeing Dr. Gabbard for 6 months and is continuing school...
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...Research papers made me stop liking writing because they had a lot of requirements and I don’t like doing research. I also use to like reading too but I find research boring so that also made me stop liking reading. I did not find any interest in reading or writing about research topics because history is my least favorite class. Every year of high school so far is a different type of writing in every english class. It started out in 6th grade with creative stories, 7th grade with holocaust research essay, 8th grade essays, 9th grade reading stories, 10th grade I had AP english so we did reflection essays over the book we had to read every quarter and that was very hard to me and made english my worst subject. Although, now that I’m in 11th grade english, I am starting to like english a little. I like how we have our own choice of books we want to read and the 10 minutes of reading everyday. I prefer free writing, like we get a topic and go from there, but doing research and having to have a lot of pages and all those requirements, is what i don’t...
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...SMART board so she can demonstrate today’s spelling lesson to her first grade class. Mr. Price is waiting for the bulb in his projector to achieve its maximum brightness before he begins showing his fourth grade history class an interactive map about Christopher Columbus and his discovery of a new world. Mrs. Peattie disperses electronic touch screen tablets for her students to use as they learn how to diagram sentences. Later in the day, Mrs. Thomas makes sure all the laptop computers for her classroom have a full charge so she can teach her seventh grade math students the importance of fractions as they work out exercises on the machines by themselves. These instances are a common occurrence in modern schools and classrooms. Technology is being integrated into classrooms all over to enhance and enrich students’ educations. But who really benefits from having this technology in the classroom? Both students and teachers benefit from the integration of technology in the classroom by creating new opportunities for learning, improving performance, and increasing involvement. The general purpose of having technology in the classroom may not be as evident to everyone. With the teacher/student ratio on the rise, individual attention for students is limited. Beneficially, technology is the answer. Teachers can utilize tech for a multitude of reasons. They can illustrate a particular method to the class, have the ability to interact with the students and immerse them into the...
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...I've spent at school I've met a great number of people that practice different customs and cultures. For example, I had a few friends that were catholic and took part in lent which is the season of penance, reflection, and fasting that starts on Ash Wednesday. This experience was worthwhile because it became part of a lesson I had in my world...
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...Differentiated Instruction and TRIBES Table of contents Inspiration for Inquiry 1 Inquiry 1 Hypothesis 2 Tribes® 2 Evidence from Literature 4 Critical Analysis 7 Conclusion 9 Application 10 Reflection 11 References 14 Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Tribes® Inspiration for Inquiry Ventana Ranch Elementary School is completing its second full year of existence in the Albuquerque Public School system. An educational model known as Tribes TLC®: A New Way of Learning and Being Together was selected for the school by the principal (Gibbs, 2001). One of the conditions for employment at this school was to attend a twenty-four hour basic training course and then implement the process daily in the classroom. This process centers around four tenants known as agreements: Mutual Respect, Attentive Listening, Appreciations/No Put-downs, and The Right to Pass. These agreements are not only applicable to the classroom; they are also applicable school wide. The outcome of the process “is to develop a positive environment that promotes human growth and learning” (Gibbs, 2001, p. 21). The Albuquerque Public School District (APS), responding to President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), is mandating that all teachers differentiate instruction in their classrooms in order to help all students learn and succeed in their school careers. . Even with this mandate there has been little...
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...academically. There were also non-academic goals that I worked on outside of the classroom. I can definitely agree that there are things that I have improved on and things that I should still work on a little more. AVID has helped me with my organization problems and has allowed me to plan things more effectively, as well as study better. I am now aware of how important college is, and how important it is that we work hard in high school so that we can become successful in college, and so on. From all of the activities, reflections, and field trips that we went on, I realized how beneficial high school is, and how it’s going to affect your future. Academically, I have gotten better with turning in my homework. I also take more time to do my homework, and make sure that it’s correct. AVID has helped me turn in my homework on time because Mr.Hansen stresses every day how important it is that we use our Google Keep to record all of our homework for each CORE class. I also make sure that my homework is correct because each teacher discusses the same thing with us; Doing your homework is optional, but it will prepare you for what you’re going to be tested on, and will make you...
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...Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Advanced Placement English III First Six Weeks – Introductory Activities: ▪ Class rules, expectations, procedures ▪ Students review patterns of writing, which they will imitate throughout the course: reflection, narration and description, critical analysis, comparison and contrast, problem and solution, and persuasion and argument. ▪ Students review annotation acronyms, how to do a close reading, literary elements and rhetorical devices. Students also review the SOAPSTONE (subject, occasion, audience, purpose, speaker, tone, organization, narrative style and evidence) strategy for use in analyzing prose and visual texts along with three of the five cannons of rhetoric: invention, arrangement and style. ▪ Students learn the format of the AP test, essay rubric and essay structure. ▪ Students take a full-length AP test for comparison purposes in the spring. Reading: The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne Writing: Answer the following question in one paragraph. Use quotes from the novel as evidence. Some readers believe that the elaborate decoration that Hester embroiders on the scarlet letter indicates her rejection of the community’s view of her act. Do you agree or disagree? Explain your position using evidence from the text. (test grade) Writing: Write a well-developed essay addressing the following prompt. Document all sources using MLA citation. Compare Hester to a modern...
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...should start practically from birth. Ever since I was little I knew school was important and in order to be financially stable I would have to stay focused in order to succeed. Beginning in my childhood my choices have put me where I am today. For example I have succeeded through all schooling from elementary through high school. My choice of classes in high school allowed me to come into UNF with 21 credits and gave me a semester to explore majors without having to make a scary decision. Also because I took honors, AP, and dual enrollment courses I ended my high school career with a 4.4 GPA. These decisions have helped me get on the right path to being successful. My everyday life decisions are a reflection of my overall goal. For example I choose to go to every one of classes daily and never make it an option to myself whether I am going or not. In order to be successful one must be organized which is why in high school I took a class called AVID to help prepare me for college and it taught about organization skills like keeping a planner which in college keeps me on track with when my assignments are due. Another factor in my life today is the fact that I work at Panera as an associate trainer and have worked there for over a year. Staying with a company for a long time shows longevity to my future employers when I have a degree. College is a tough transition for all students especially with the amount of distractions and newfound freedom most teens...
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