Upcoming work for next week and reflection upon our last writing task

"War is old men talking and young men dying."  While there is much from the film, Troy, that is nothing more than Hollywood maudlin (Sorry to my 8th period student who likes the film), this line is particularly poignant when we consider the themes and realities that emerge from World War I.  Certainly, the futile pain that is intrinsic to war is evident this week in our exploration.  Here is our schedule for the week:

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Monday- 1/13

Watch WWI Theme Film Clips in class for whichever class we have.

Find your 15 minutes.  Finish notetaking guides on videos watched in class today.  Extra Credit:  Click here to fill out a Google form based on World War I themes.

Tuesday- 1/14

Watch WWI Theme Film Clips in class.

Find your 15 minutes.  Finish notetaking guides on videos watched in class today.

Wednesday- 1/15

Finish watching WWI Film Clips. If you want another extra credit opportunity, click here.  The blue phonebooth awaits...

Find your 15 minutes.  Finish notetaking guides on videos watched in class today.  Write out one paragraph of WWI Themes in Video Clips.  This is due Friday.  If you are unclear about any of the concepts on the videos,  make an appointment to meet me during lunch or arrive early to school via appointment so we can square things away.  You can also email me or contact me via phone or through written note.  You must be clear on these concepts by Friday..  The primary sources  will be even more obscure if you are not clear on the themes..

Thursday- 1/16

Introduce primary sources.  Discuss goals of annotation and what is being sought.

Find your 15 minutes.  Paragraphs are due Friday.   If I don’t see you on Friday, your paragraphs are due on Monday.   Preview Keller’s “Strike Against War.”  If you are unclear about any of the concepts on the videos,  make an appointment to meet me during lunch or arrive early to school via appointment so we can square things away.  You can also email me or contact me via phone or through written note.  You must be clear on these concepts by Friday..  The primary sources  will be even more obscure if you are not clear on the themes..

Friday- 1/17 

For students, who are in class, we will read Keller’s “Strike Against War.”  Read in class and annotate. Click here for another extra credit opportunity.  It’s same, but also different… and that’s not a bad thing.

Find your 15 minutes. „„ Finish annotations on Keller’s “Strike Against War.”„ Paragraph on World War I Themes from the videos is due on Friday by the day's end.

Certainly, with a full docket, students must make sure that their complete focus is on work completion.  It is piling up.  Given the intellectual demands of the unit, the work is even tougher.

Let's imagine for a moment our student is having difficulty.  What can be done?  None of our students are forlorn in their quest towards academic scholarship.  There is hope and steps that can be taken:
1)  Set up an appointment with Mr. Kannan- I am available every morning from 8:00, except on Wednesdays.  Let me know and I will let the guardians of the front door know and we can meet up.
2)  Meet me at lunch- I am available every day during lunch.
3)  Send me an email with questions- I can respond back quickly with detailed analysis.
4)  Send me a googledoc with questions- They give you an account.  Use it.
5)  Send me a note- You know where I am and can certainly hear me.  Be slick, like you would be passing a note to a colleague without the teacher knowing.  Only this time, pass the note to your teacher!  Get it?  We've messed up the system!
6)  Give me a call- Calling a teacher at home or on cell phone is not ideal and probably won't enable the student to shark up the Julian social ladder, but it does open an academic dialogue.  It helps to build trust.

Any student  can undertake one of the six approaches to get help and to be an advocate for their learning.

Students have received their Close Reading work.  Our first go around was not bad, at all.  The average score in all of the classes was an 83% with only three students not submitting any work.  The largest element that has to be evident in the next go around is being able to substantiate student writing with textual support.  In so many cases, the ideas that students presented were solid. They were lucid and insightful.  They reflected an understanding of complex text and its implications.  The next phase is going to be using textual support in substantiating student thought and analysis.  There should be direct quotations from the text passage in student writing.  If you are seeing an abundance of quotation marks, you are in a good place.
Each student received individual comments on their written piece- either in my horrendous penmanship or in googledocs- and received individualized comments in the gradebook.  My hope is that in our next go around- which will be in about three weeks- we can move into an even stronger domains. A class average of 83% is not bad.  Yet, my hope is that each of our students embraces the Aristotelian approach to their writing:  "We are what we repeatedly do."  If a student did well on this last writing sample, let's do it again. If a student can do better, let's do better.  Progress and improvement is critical in all advancement of writing as it will prepare our student in a more rigorous manner for the demands of next year.

If I can be of any further help or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
All best.
Mr. Kannan