The last thing I see before I sleep

This is the last thing I do before going to sleep every night of the school week. I took this picture after I turned off the lights, just before sleeping to make the point how necessary it is to make charging your electronic devices a part of your normal routine.   I make sure to plug in my laptop and iPad in the evening and remove the charge in the morning before heading off to school.

Gentlemen, I have stressed throughout the school year the importance of coming to class with your electronic equipment we use in class fully charged at the beginning of the day; moreover, I have made G210 available during both breaks to allow students to recharge their devices securely if necessary in order to be prepared for their classes. Please make sure to follow IAT's rules and regulations regarding the use of your electronic equipment, secure it during the school day and keep it charged for use during classes.

Reading Summaries

One of  our daily tasks is to spend 20 minutes reading books from ATHS' Learning Resource Center, more commonly known as the "library" and to write a report about the text we read during that time.  The summary of the daily reading should focus on the main idea that you read, and condensed or shortened to be approximately 3-5 sentences focusing on the setting, main characters, and the main action that occurred.  However, the summary that you write after you've read the entire book must be written with these minimum length requirements in mind; if your story was

20-100 pages long -10 sentences
100-150 pages long- 15 sentences
150-above- 20 sentences

Change in plans

 

There's been a slight change in plans. G10-02 on Thursday, please finish the mind mapping exercise on the author's information that  you started during your library session with librarian Ms. Smallpeice.  Enter the account you made the map with complete it then go to the settings menu, click on "export-pdf" and note where the pdf version was placed on your laptop. Go to your Schoology account's assignment and submit the mind mapped .pdf at the assignment tab labelled, 'Mind Map Screen Shot'.  This must be turned in by closing time Thursday. If you have any questions, please ask.  See you in class.

The Desert Ecosystem

Today we will be looking at the desert ecosystem. Here is a short video that explains what the desert is like.

G10-02 & 10-06 News here!

We've just finished week 4 of school, taken our first English quiz and still there's a lot more work to do.  Our oral vocabulary exercises will continue on Sunday with those students who were given vocabulary words on Wednesday coming back then to dictate spelling, pronunciation, meaning, part of speech and usage of their vocab words.  The next recorded reading homework assignment will be due on Monday and has been loaded into your Schoology accounts.  Finally, there's an important notice for those of you who cannot access your ebooks because of login error.   Information  appears on the home page of your Schoology accounts about what you must  provide if you are one of the students with login problems for your English ebook.  If you have any questions, drop me a line at Schoology.....otherwise, see you in class!

First Impression research project

Each class has been assigned five things most humans use to form a first impression of someone they meet for the first time.  Now each group in the class has to describe the role primacy effect, schemata, self-fulfilling prophecy and prediction play when we judge someone based on their body shape, clothes, hair, manner of speaking and expressions.

Each group has to summarize in 250 words the role one of the five things we judge people plays in making a first impression.  That means you must get your information online, edit, summarize it and present the important points in any program you and your group decide. Before you start writing you have to show me the sources you will use to write your summary.  You may use as many sources as you like but you and I have to agree the sources you have contain the information you need.  Along with the text you have to have at least five illustrations that show how your item can have a positive or negative effect on a first impression.

You will have time to do all of this project in class, but it must be completed by the end of this week; i.e. September 27, 2012.  If you have any questions please ask them in class. 

Catch up time!

I am aware there are new students who do not have their laptops and even others with mechanical problems which make it impossible for them to do the homework assignment that was given last Thursday for you to have turned in on Sunday, so everyone who has not turned in that assignment has until Thursday, September 20 to turn in the recorded reading task. The file you have to work on is on the home page of Schoology's English class.  Save the file like this:  yourname-ddmmyy then go to the assignment  folder to the "submit assignment" tab on the right side of the page. Don't forget this homework must be done in Word.

On Monday we will begin our daily reading task.  Please choose a book from the box at your group's table and send me an email with the name of the book you  have chosen.  You can only choose from the five books in the box at your table.  You cannot swap books with other tables or groups and once you have selected a book you must read it until you complete it, so choose carefully.  I will have detailed instructions on what you  have to write together with the daily writing, that is to say what questions you will answer or what words you will need to look up.  Everyone will be required to read from your selection  20 minutes each day while in English class so that even students who haven't received their laptops should be busy with this class task.

Finally, please make sure your laptops are fully charged when you come to school in the morning. Any student can charge his laptop in my class during either break.  I apologize for the late response to the Schoology questions some students sent me; God willing I will answer your questions more quickly in the future.  See you in class!

Laptops and ATHS

Gentlemen, this is something we posted for G10 students last year and it is still relevant today. The post is what I think should be your attitude about your laptops and how they fit in the English classroom.

  
We have discussed this before in your class; you cannot charge your laptops during class but I do allow charging during breaks.  Starting September 23 you will not be allowed to go to the IT staff during class to fix laptop issues because your laptop problems should have already been resolved; in other words all repairs will have to be made outside of class.

Please don't let anyone play with your laptop or don't carelessly leave it unattended.  Your laptops are a valuable learning tool that if taken care of will last you for many years.  Please respect it and respect and honor the reason for which it was given to you.