End of the First Marking Period

The scholars have done very well with making their webpages using HTML. They have accomplished much in design and tackling a difficult assignment like the Hypertext Haiku. They have achieve much in this first marking period and generally speaking I see us as being on track and proceeding beautifully.

Scholars are doing well

I am impressed with how the scholars at West Side HS have come along and have developed their webpages. Attendance is good! Everyone is engaged. As scholars finish and accomplish a task, they move ont help another. The cooperation is good and healthy. They are using the Style Sheet well and beginning to make decisions about their page without conferring with me. They are beginning to not rely on me for every step. The use of the Smart Board is very important so that I can use their pages as models to lessons about HTML, writing,and design. I'm glad I decided to teach this class and to get back to CyberEnglish.

Welcome to a new year

This year, 2008-09, marks my return to using the Internet in my class. I plan on having my scholars obtain a Google account and then make a webpage using HTML on sites. I plan on having them use Blogs and docs as well. I'm hoping to have their final projects, webfolios, be multimedia. The class can be found here. I'm looking forward to this class.

Summer School is over!!

I had lots of fun this summer with my scholars. We built Blogs. I gave them assignments and they built their blogs around them. I was very impressed with how quickly they took to blog writing. Their pages are to the left under the Scholars Summer 08 heading. I was very happy with their final piece, self assessment. In it they speak about their experience with the blog. They speak well about their successes and failures. They provide context for the reader before reading the blog posts. I was most excited by their love of the Habits of Mind. I like blogs, but their has to be more as Earl said. There is and this fall I plan on playing around with them again and for the first time in some cases. I'm jazzed about this fall.

The first alpha list of scholars by first name are those who did the self assessment, the second alpha list are those who did lots, but not self assessment, the third are those who started but didn't make it past midterm.

My Favorite Quote

Imitation is Suicide.

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Copying someone else and giving up my identity to be like another is the death of me, suicide. It is important for me, to be me and not to imitate another because I think that person has a better life or is smarter. I can use the qualities of another to help me understand myself better, but I should move on and develop my own skills. Using another as a model so I can shape myself is fine, but I do not want to imitate that person, become a clone of that person, because then I lose myself and that would be like suicide. It is good to admire others to help me know myself better, but I do not want to become them, I want to become myself, with their help.

What is peer review?

Have you heard of peer review? Do you know what it is? What do you think peer review is?

What is an essay?

When you see or hear an assignment that has "in an essay" describe, explain, analyze, discuss something, what are your thoughts or ideas about writing that "essay"? What is your definition of an "essay"?

What does that quote mean?

Briefly explain the quote:

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.
Vince Lombardi
1913-1970, American football coach

Harrison Bergeron

Are we equal? Can equality ever be achieved? Do we really want true equality? How are each of us "differently abled"?

How do you write a paragraph?

Explain how you write a paragraph. What is the process you follow? What do you do first? What aspects of the paragraph do you consider? What do you know about the paragraph?

Ted