Last Honors Blog

How has your thinking changed regarding American history or literature? 

The magazine reflection!

In a highly informative, deep, and profound reflection, explain to us what you learned during the magazine (book) project.

In this reflection, you can cover (but are not required to do all of):

* Writing

* Editing

* Drafting & Revision

* Layout & Design

* Photography

* Creativity & Originality

* The printing & publishing process & industry

* Your own thoughts about your path beyond 11th grade (and beyond HTHMA... that's what internship is about, right?)

* American society

* The American economy

* History & social studies

* And much much more!!!!

What did you learn?

How did you learn it?

Why is this important?

This should be posted as a blog entry by the end of the school day on Monday 6/1

Not a Blog Entry Take 2!

In this "blog entry" you are writing an email to me! 

In this email, you should:

1. Reflect on the qualities in your writing that you developed and displayed in the magazine project.

2. Specifically explain your understanding of yourself as a developing writer. 

3. Propose a score out of 50 points for this specific article. When doing so, consider:

* Structuring writing (the loop; into, through & beyond)

* Intros

* Conclusions (or outro's)

* Incorporating evidence

* Sentence structure

* How to use nouns and verbs effectively (where in the sentence, what types, -ing's, etc.)

* Making your writing a concert, not a pancakes.

* Avoiding sledgehammer words

* Writing about more than the specific topic at hand (how to get deep)

* Using various types of evidence

* Originality & Creativity

* Sleek prose, clean prose... and colorful prose employed to communicate meaning

* Copyediting

* I think there's more--what did I forget???

This email is DUE by 11:59:59 AM on Sunday 5/31

Good luck!

Magazine Reflection Take Two!

Look through your drafts of your article. Look at the revisions and edits that you and your editing group made. Look at the various PDF's of your layout. Look how your writing changed over time.

Think about the following things that we worked on in this project:

* Structuring writing (the loop; into, through & beyond)

* Intros

* Conclusions (or outro's)

* Incorporating evidence

* Sentence structure

* How to use nouns and verbs effectively (where in the sentence, what types, -ing's, etc.)

* Making your writing a concert, not a pancakes.

* Avoiding sledgehammer words

* Writing about more than the specific topic at hand (how to get deep)

* Using various types of evidence

* Copyediting

* I think there's more--what did I forget???

1. Overall, when you think about the big picture of your writing, what improved? How did it get better? Why?

2. Overall, when you think about the big picture of your writing, what still needs work? What do you think will help you improve? Why?

3. Specifically, show us something that improved and describe the path it took to get better. You can quote your article, your drafts, link to evidence, etc.

4. Describe something specific (or a few things!) that you learned about writing.

This is due at the end of the day on Wednesday 5/27!

Not a Blog Entry

Hey kids! It's time to.... update our DP's! (insert cheering sounds here)

Please make a page for Ampersand, the student journal of school & work, on your digital portfolio. this page should link to your humanities page and your internship page.

Your DP page needs to have: 

1. A detailed project description that fits in a few sentences.

2. Your pages from the magazine embedded into the webpage. 

3. Your pages view-able and print-able at full size (i.e., a link to a pdf).

4. All pages that are spreads should view as spreads

5. A quick but detailed description of what you did.

6. Room for a detailed (and probably somewhat lengthy) reflection to come.

When is all of this due?

At the end of the day on Friday May 22!

Magazine Reflection: the beginning

The reflection is due by the end of the day on Thursday. Please take your time and look through your own work as well as others classmates'.

Think of the process, which began weeks (or months ago)--you started with an idea or maybe an earlier draft of piece of work. That was edited and revised many times for content, substance and style. You created or re-used artwork or photography. This was editied and resized for our magazine. Finally, all of this was compiled into a layout that was critiqued and revised until you could do the final steps of "file > package."

1. What went well for you during the process of creating this magazine?

2. What challenges did you face as you moved from an early draft or idea to a final product?

3. What other examples of work—student and professional—stood out as exemplary and served as a good model for your own work?

Obama & Socialism

Google the phrase "Obama Socialism". What do you get? Try google news... what did you find?

Do you feel that the label "socialism" is applied appropriately or correctly to Obama, his proposals or his policies?

Do Obama's proposals or policies have historic precedents in America? If so, what happened in the past?

This blog is due at 3:30 on Wednesday 4/22

What are you bringing to the Magazine?!

Please answer all of the following to help plan the Magazine!

Every student will contribute at least one polished, high quality piece of writing. This could be an article, interview, photo essay, or editorials, personal narratives, reflections, or more.

1. What article(s) would you like to write for the magazine? What photography could you contribute? Art? List three different ideas for your major contribution.

2. Suggest at least one (or more) possible title for the magazine. This could be a title with or without a subtitle. For example, I work for UnBoxed: a Journal of Adult Learning in Schools.

3. Suggest a topic for an article that you were personally like to read in a magazine inspired by the internship semester.

This one is due by 11:59:59 pm on Tuesday March 24.

Honors Blogs

Hey Honors students!

Complete the following blogs before One World Week begins.

History:

In a thoughtfully composed essay, explain whether or not you would have recommended the use of nuclear weapons at the conclusion of WW2 if you were asked by Harry S Truman. Be sure to place this decision in it's proper historical and military contexts. Also, remember that two weapons were used and that there can be many answers in between a simple "yes" or "no". What would your advice have been if you were there?

Literature:

Choose three main characters from your current honors novel.

Find pictures or create pictures of what you believe they look like. You can draw a picture or use a picture from any online source as long as you cite your sources.

Write a character sketch that answers all of the following:

1. What physical presence does the character have? Include height, weight, size, physical fitness, posture, etc.
2. Describe the characters further visual details. Include hair, eyes, face, teeth, scars, tattoos, etc.
3. What distinguishing items does the character wear? Include clothes, jewelery, shoes, and any other physical item the character keeps with him/her.
4. What distinguishing behavior does the character have? Include habits, preferences (music, food, literature, etc.), speech (sayings, stalling words, etc), and demeanor.
5. What is the characters role in society? Include his/her job, hobbies, and uses of time.
6. What is the character's religion or philosophy? What beliefs does he/she hold? How does this create or mitigate internal conflict within his/her psyche?
7. What do others in the book say about the character?
8. What connections does this character have to history, established religion or the world beyond the book?
9. What does the character's name suggest? Authors rarely (if ever) name characters at random. What could the name symbolize? What evidence do you have for this?
10. How does the character develop during the plot? How does he/she change?


Now, look back at your answers to these ten questions. What patterns do you notice about each character? What conclusions does this lead you towards?

PHOTO ESSAY

Please turn in your photo essay in two ways.

First, put your captions (saved as a word doc) and your pictures (saved as yourname1.jpg, yourname2.jpg, and so on) into the appropriate folder on my hard drive.

Second, post all of your pics and captions on your blog. Post a pic, then the caption, and so on. Make it look good. You will probably have to resize your images in photoshop and save them for the web in order to meet blogger's size requirements for pics. Do NOT save over your original pictures! Make sure you have turned in or otherwise organize your pics before you resize anything!

Third, post a link to this blog entry on your DP in both the Humanities and Internship sections.

Fourth, send the blogger link to one or more of the following people: your mentor, your advisor, a great teacher, law, an HTHMA administrator, etc. Include a message inviting him/her/them to view your blog & comment on your immersion experience photo essay. Be sure to cc me on this email!

All of this is due at the end of your last period with me on Thursday 3/26.

Internship Immersion!

Choose one of the following and write a detailed, well-developed, organized blog entry!

1. What did you learn during immersion? How did you learn it?

2. How could immersion impact your experience as a student?

3. How important were the following at your internship site: profit, social welfare, advertising, promotion, industry, markets, economics, politics, information and specialization? You can write about some or all of these--whatever is best for your internship site.

4. What connections did you make between our class and your internship immersion experience?

This blog entry is due at 3:30 pm on 3/18.

Immersion!!!

As you prepare for your internship immersion, please answer the following questions:

1. What are you most excited about in regards to your immersion experience? Why do you feel this way?

2. What are you most concerned about (what causes the most stress) regarding immersion? Why do you feel this way?

Please answer each in as much depth as you can--I am so very interested in learning about how you'll be doing out in the "real world"!

Honors Blogs

Literature:

Choose three main characters from your book.

Find pictures or create pictures of what you believe that they look like. You can draw a picture or use a picture from any online source, as long as you cite your work.

Write a character sketch that answers the following questions for each character:

1. What physical presence does the character have? Include height, weight, size, physical fitness, posture, etc.
2. Describe the characters further visual details. Include hair, eyes, face, teeth, scars, tattoos, etc.
3. What distinguishing items does the character wear? Include clothes, jewelery, shoes, and any other physical item the character keeps with him/her.
4. What distinguishing behavior does the character have? Include habits, preferences (music, food, literature, etc.), speech (sayings, stalling words, etc), and demeanor.
5. What is the characters role in society? Include his/her job, hobbies, and uses of time.
6. What is the character's religion or philosophy? What beliefs does he/she hold? How does this create or mitigate internal conflict within his/her psyche?
7. What do others in the book say about the character?
8. What connections does this character have to history, established religion or the world beyond the book?
9. What does the character's name suggest? Authors rarely (if ever) name characters at random. What could the name symbolize? What evidence do you have for this?
10. How does the character develop during the plot? How does he/she change?


Now, look back at your answers to these ten questions. What patterns do you notice about each character? What conclusions does this lead you towards?


History

Analyze the responses of Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration to the problems of the Great Depression. How effective were these responses? How did they change the role of the federal government? Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1929-1941 to construct your essay.

Good luck and have fun!

Outstanding Blogz

What blogs are out there with outstanding examples of:

1. Economic advice to Barack Obama?

2. Literary Analysis?

3. Historical Writing?

4. Anything else that makes blogs great?

Quote examples for each and explain why you picked them! Show us and tell us what makes them great!

This is due at 11:59:59 on 2/17

How Progressive was the Progressive Era?

How progressive was the Progressive Era in American history?

Things to consider (choose some, not all!):

* Constitutional Amendments?

* Workers & Working Conditions?

* Imperialism?

* Civil Liberties?

* Conservation?

* Democracy?

* Freedom?

Make sure that you take a stand and establish a judgement, comparison in relation to a specific standard.

Happy Birthday Charles Darwin!

In honor of Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, please read this editorial. Feel free to supplement this editorial with any other information or timely articles.

Darwin was a famous scientist.... As humanities students (and humans), what responsibility do we have for the understanding of science? What role should scientific inquiry and scientific knowledge play in our own society? How should science influence our decisions, laws, and culture?

PS—Yes, I know that it's also Abe Lincoln's birthday, but I thought it might be interesting to change the subject a little, since we've already done so much with him... If you'd much rather write about Lincoln, that will work too.


PPS—Both Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin had luxurious, beautiful, manly beards. And, so does your humanities teacher. Coincidence? Or is there a relationship waiting to be discovered?

This blog is due at 3:30 on Friday 2/13.

If you were Obama's economics advisor... Part Two!

Post a second blog entry of economic advice to the president. In this entry, you should:

1. Revise & refine your ideas from the original post.

2. Increase the number of current events and historical references. You started with one current event and two historical references. Your second post will have a total of two current events and three historical references.

3. Make sure all historical and current events/references have direct references and evidence seamlessly integrated into the blog entry. Try to include a variety of evidence such as facts, figures, quotes, graphs, charts, pictures, videos, etc!

4. Cite all references professionally.

5. Organize your blog entry and present it professionally (this could mean as an article, an outline, etc. Just make sure that your ideas are logically and persuasively structured!)

This is due at 3:30 on Wednesday 2/11

If you were Obama's economics advisor...

Part one:

Imagine this: President Barack Obama has granted you thirty minutes of face-time in the Oval Office to discuss the problems with the American economy. You can discuss whatever you'd like, but you know he wants to talk about the economy and he needs your help! You can give advice, ask questions, and use your time however you'd like.

You can focus on any segment of the American economy that you want or you can consider the whole thing. The only rule is that your advice must be grounded in historical information (either taking "good" ideas and adapting them for today's world or developing new ideas and showing why they are "better" than the old ones). Your advice must make reference to at least one current event and at at least two historical events, laws or circumstances.

Check out Barack Obama's editorial in Thursday's Washington Post

Good luck and please save our economy!

Part two: Post the time, location, and technology you are using for your mentor interview.

This is due at 3:30 on Friday 2/6

Honors Blog for 2/10

Honors Blog: This is due at 11:59:59 on 2/10/09

Please have an outline and/or draft with a thesis statement and possible pieces of evidence in class on Friday 2/6.

Literature: Describe how your author develops the theme of the novel through the use of three selected literary devices. Be sure to identify a specific theme and show the relationships and/or patterns in the use of literary devices in the development of this theme.

History: In a well-developed essay, describe how multiple factors in the late 1800's such as economics, military ventures, and populism culminated in the election of 1896. 

What makes a great interview?

Over the course of the next few weeks, you will interview your mentor (or another suitable, appropriate and interesting person at your internship) and produce a high-quality print interview that could be published.

With your reading & writing partner create three design principles for a great final product. For each design principle, give it a name, write a brief explanation (two or three sentences that show how to do it, what the design principle looks like in a final product, etc.), and show a professional, published example of this design principle in action.

Like this:

1. Design Principle Name: Two or three sentence explanation. Professional, published
example.

For each example, include a quote into your blog and provide a link to the whole interview.

This is due by 11:59:59pm on 2/3.

Mentor Interviews!

Post 20 interview questions that you could ask of your mentor (or other suitably interesting and relevant person at your internship).

This one is due at 3:30pm on Friday 1/30

Blog: First Day of Internship!

What happened today?????

How did you get to internship????

What did you do for lunch???

How did you get home??

How did everything go?

I am excited to read about your first day at your internship and I hope you'll check out each other's entries. Please post your blog entry before 11:59:59 on Tuesday, Jan. 27. Come to school ready to discuss and directly refer to entries from our class.

Historic Addresses

Select an inaugural address or farewell address from any president in American history. Then, in a thoughtfully composed essay, explain the relevance of the selected address in modern society. You must also directly refer to at least one current event through a related news article.

Here are a few suggested addresses:

Eisenhower's farewell address (regarded as a landmark relating to American military & industrial capabilities.)

George Washington's farewell address (he never actually spoke it—it was printed in the newspapers. This one is famous for themes and references to political factions, foreign alliances, and religion/morality)

Lincoln's second inaugural address (the Civil War and slavery were almost over; Lincoln spoke of sadness, the Divine will and more. This is one of the most famous speeches in American history)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first inaugural address (the Depression was starting, FDR proposed wartime powers to approach crises; "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself")

John F. Kennedy's inaugural address ("ask not what your country can do for you..." the link has the video for this one w/full text)

Don't feel limited by those! Check out Lincoln's first inaugural, check out Teddy Roosevelt, or Ronald Reagan or any other that interests you.

This blog entry will be worth up to 40 points, according to the following guidelines:

Clarity: Complete, elegant thesis that answers the question and lays out the organization of the essay? Does the writing act as an efficient & thoughtful guide through the author's points and to a powerful conclusion?

Evidence: Does the author thoughtfully select relevant pieces of direct evidence to support his/her thesis and topic sentences?

Structure: Is all of the writing logically and systematically structured? Does the author use topic sentences to frame paragraphs? Does the structure support the overall message of the writing?

Citations: Does the author use professional citations whenever necessary?

This blog entry is due at 3:30 on 1/23/09.

Obama's inauguration

Quote at least one section of Barack Obama's inaugural address that resonates with you. Then answer the following in two or more thoughtfully composed paragraphs:

1. Why did you choose this section?

2. How do Obama's words relate to the everyday life that you know and understand?

You do not need to post an additional news article, but you do need to quote from Obama's speech.

This blog entry is due at 11:59:59 on 1/20/09

Revise your outline!

Revise!!!

Revise your outline, paying careful attention to:

1. Your thesis statement. Make sure you really communicate something original (and hopefully, interesting) about the connection you have established between your icons. Look through your body paragraphs and consider their order. Is this reflected in your thesis?

2. Body Paragraphs: Everything you write in your paragraphs should be one of the following things: A topic sentence; A piece of evidence; a statement of analysis; bonus: Transition to the next paragraph. Make sure you select a wide range of evidence, perspectives and sources!

3. Conclusion: Looks to the future, leaves us thinking, refers to the thesis but keeps us moving beyond so our experience in the real world now includes your perspective.

Make sure your writing is significantly revised. To do that, post your new outline as a new entry, so the reader can easily refer between the last two entries. If you have multiple ideas, such as multiple thesis, show us! Also, skip lines between paragraphs. Label everything that is important, such as a thesis, lists of evidence, conclusion, etc.

Due at 11:59:59 on 1/15/08

Artist's Statement Outline

In this piece of writing, you are attempting to explain the relationship that you establish in your art. You might discuss your specific icons, related concepts from American culture, the significance of context and more.

In your blog entry, please post:

1. Your thesis statement. This should communicate something original (and hopefully, interesting) about the connection you have established between your icons.

2. Body Paragraphs: Topic sentence. Evidence. Analysis. Bonus: Transition to the next paragraph.

3. Conclusion: Looks to the future, leaves us thinking, refers to the thesis but keeps us moving beyond so our experience in the real world now includes your perspective.

Due at 11:59:59 on 1/13

GWB & the Environment

In a well-developed, detailed blog entry complete with thoughtful evidence, compare events and ideas described in the following two articles:

1. George W. Bush protects marine areas

2. George W. Bush's Environmental Sins

This blog entry does not require additional news sources. Please post your entry before 11:59:59 on 1/8/09.

Your Internship

Please answer all of the following before 11:59:59 pm on 1/6/09. You should write a brief paragraph for each answer (this entry does not require a link to a news story).

1. What do you hope to learn or discover about the "adult" world of work while you are at your internship?

2. What do you hope to learn or discover about yourself and your identity while you are at your internship this semester?

3. What goals do you have for yourself for your internship experience?