Happy Halloween

Shout out to the cutest costumes I have seen in a long while...the ramen alone...At any rate, I hope you have a safe and happy evening.  My littles don't check this blog so I will have candy for the taking tomorrow as the "switch witch" will be visiting our house this evening to replace the tootsie rolls with tantalizing toys.

As a gentle and loving reminder, just because we don't have grades per say doesn't mean you aren't being assessed as a student so quizzes like the one today, the TED Talk Chart, prom dress notes, reading, etc. - they all MATTER.  Perhaps not on a numerical scale yet but some of you are training quite nicely for the "race" that is next semester and some of you are just dressed in workout clothes and headed for coffee.

Decide who you want to be and go be it.

A few deadlines to keep in mind:  Outliers  needs to be read in its entirety by MONDAY, DECEMBER 5th.  (I just went on Thrift Books and bought some copies for cheap so you can too.)  And your CREATE SOMETHING 1.0 is due FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9th.

 Tomorrow is our TED Talk and the next 3 weeks are all about our favorite things...

Love and light,
Beltran

Daily Journal #43:  Traditions are often a part of the holiday season and it seems we each have "normal" things our families do to celebrate.  Describe one of your family's holiday traditions.  (Keeping in mind, of course, that there is no "normal" and the definition of family is fluid.)

GO CUBS.

I'm Baaaack As Promised

Cubs lost.  Boo.  But life, as all things, must go on.

I know most of you will be very busy this weekend but I wanted to link this lovely document.  It would help you to study since Monday's spooktacular quiz will be the exact same thing. (The precis format and the devices are linked on older posts.)

More importantly, get some rest.  I know I could use some...and as the fates would have it, I rushed out of school so fast (to go get my littles) that I left every SINGLE one of your essays at school.  I'm taking that as a sign.  So off to bed I go.

Love and light as always,
Beltran

I Wear Pink

Today was great. The Lady Gaga alone...have fun this weekend but don't forget to study for Monday's quiz. And write 3 journals - all topics of your choosing. See what comes out.

I'll post more later (tonight or tomorrow). I've gotta go be a mama.

Xoxo

Thursday Thoughts

So you wrote today.  Thank you for that - it's never an easy thing to do and I appreciate your sincere effort.  For tomorrow, have SAS ready and remember, those of you who are legit (GO CUBS) about this class will either present or make sure I know you have your "stuff".

I thought it would be important to link THIS.  In my experience, knowledge is power so you might as well get to know the "beast" you'll be facing in May.

Hope you have started to read Outliers or The Opposite of Loneliness or BOTH.  They are so good for you (GO CUBS) and your brain and your soul...

Remember that Monday the quiz is happening and then next week, just dropping some good, good, good goodies on you. 

Love and Light,
Beltran

Daily Journal #39:  Write about your car - either the one you drive or the one you ride in.

Alfred M. Green Is a Mean, Mean Writing Machine

Thank you so much for rapping today.  Too.  Much.  Fun.

As for the work, tomorrow you will be writing an essay in response to Q2 so be ready with your mind and a blue pen.

For those of you looking to add to your bookshelf, here's the link to Thrift Books.  You can find Marina Keegan's book, Outliers and East of Eden so...

Friday is SAS so heads up and your quiz is on Monday.  Spooky!!!

Love and light,
Beltran

Daily Journal #38:  Write in the style of Marina Keegan (from the excerpt I read in class).  Write at least a paragraph in which you write detail rich sentences followed by a simple declarative statement. *Excellent future resource for your Personal Statements!

Drew Dudley - Everyday Leadership

Thank you so much for enjoying Drew Dudley's TED Talk with me today.  Despite being short, it is sweet and falls in line with Sir Kenneth Robinson's definition of creativity - "an original idea that has value".

Speaking of TED Talks, your chart will be checked on Monday while you complete the quiz.  Make sure you have all 9 rhetors and their talks completely handled.

Tomorrow we will be returning to Alfred Green and this time we will read and annotate his speech.  Bring a pencil to class...

Seriously check out Marina Keegan and her book The Opposite of Loneliness.  It is so, so, so very good.  And good for you.

Daily Journal #37: What is your "lollipop" moment?

Monday Mania

So much to write about...

First things first...here's a great link to a cool resource for rhetorical devices.  Thanks S.O.  You can also check out Quizlet.

In case you want to watch, here's the PBS documentary on "Hamilton".

And here's the Marina Keegan piece.  Enjoy the read and get the book.  It's gooooooood.

Tomorrow is the TED Talk.  Can't wait.  The rhetor has potential to be on the boyfriend short list.

Love and Light,
Beltran

Daily Journal:  Talk about a socially awkward moment you have experienced.  

Prep for the 10/31 Quiz

Out of respect for you and all your effort (truly) I thought I would go ahead and link the Rhetorical Precis format I will be looking for on the upcoming quiz.  You can find the format HERE and it also includes an example based on Angelou's Passports to Understanding.

I also just deleted the rhetorical triangle and its questions so it's now a blank template.  There are no surprises there so make sure you study.

As for the rhetorical devices, I will be providing you with a word bank and you will be responsible for definitions and examples.  Forget a particular order - that's moderately insane.

We can discuss tomorrow to clarify.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

xoxo

FRI-YAY!!

Great, great job on SAS today - especially periods 2 and 3.  Wow.  Just wow.  I am amazed by how much I can learn from you.  Much gratitude.

Daily Journals for today and the weekend will be listed below.

Have your packet completed for class on Monday so we can learn, learn, learn. 

A huge thank you to JK and PR for the final push of spirals.  Their purpose will become clear soon.  I promise.

Have a safe, happy and healthy weekend.

Love and Light,
Beltran

Daily Journal #33:  What do you believe in?
Daily Journal #34:  10 minutes and GO.
Daily Journal #35:  Think of a person you admire and write about why you admire them so much. 

There Are No Words

Today it was good to be back in the land of dancing, learning, and simply being.  Thanks for all the well wishes for the littlest little.  She is doing much better.

We reviewed Prom Dress notes and what they should look like.  To cover my bases, I will be collecting your first semester Prom Dress notes on Monday, January 30, 2017.  Anyone who says they didn't know that is not reading the blog.

We also worked on the Banneker prompt so that was fun (said no one ever).  Writing practice is tough.  Not gonna lie.  The four page packet should be completely done by Monday 10/24.  And your quiz on the devices, the precis format and the rhetorical triangle will be on Monday 10/31.  Start studying.

Tomorrow is SAS (except for period 4 - I'll see y'all in the Big Gym).

Love and Light, (I ONLY NEED 9 MORE SPIRALS.  PLEASE...)
Beltran

Daily Journal: Write a poem (any style) that expresses gratitude toward a loved one.

Now It's 11:45 AM and The Kid is On the Mend (I Hope)

So sorry for missing a day - even if it was a PSAT day and I was only going to see 2 classes.  I don't like to miss school.  But Thing 2 (the little one) is doing much better...or so it seems.  Fingers crossed and I will be back in class tomorrow.  Nothing like a little 3 am projectile vomit to put things in perspective...all that ultimately matters this go 'round is health.

I obviously don't know how periods 5 & 6 fared in the classroom so I will simply trust that all went as it should.

For tomorrow, whether or not I am there, your job is to complete and review the 4 pager on Analysis.  There's also a quiz on the Rhetorical Triangle, the Precis and the 2 lists of devices on Monday 10/31 so study up!!

Friday is SAS...except for period 4.  We will meet in the Big Gym for the Kaiser presentation What Goes Around.  So you pancakes need to email me your SAS so I know you did it.  Include links, publication information, why you chose it, visuals, etc.  Thank you.

Daily Journal for today is a free topic/free write so go forth and create.

Love and Light (and maybe some more spirals, too?),
Beltran

It's 3:07 AM and My Kid is Sick

I know this only impacts periods 5 & 6 but my littlest one just woke up puking. Not good. Needless to say, I won't be at school today. Please work on and go over the 4 page Banneker packet. Compare answers, look at your returned précis, examine the model essay (it got a 7 on a 9 point scale). And if that's not appealing, read for pleasure or prep for SAS on Friday.

I hope to see y'all tomorrow.

Xoxo

Sir Kenneth Robinson is My Jam (Don't Tell Shawn Achor) * UPDATED

** Forgot the Daily Journal...oops.  Here goes:  What are some of the things you absolutely love to do and are "good" at?  What would you do (besides sleep and veg out and eat) if you encountered some unexpected free time?

One of my favorite TED Talks today.  Find it here and re-enjoy again and again.  He is the epitome of a composed and quality speaker and he uses such magnificent rhetorical strategies to engage his audience.

Tomorrow for the morning classes (period 2, 3, 4), y'all need to go to the Big Gym for attendance.  If you don't, you will be marked absent.  Work on the documents for class tomorrow so you can show up prepared.

Create Something (1.0) was introduced today.  It's due Friday 12/9 and presentations will take place the following week.  It is what it sounds like for those of you who were absent - create something that is "original and has value".

I'll miss your faces tomorrow but I will see periods 5 and 6.

Love and Light,
xoxo

Monday Post #2 - Comments

Do you want me to publish your comments???

What You Risk Reveals What You Value

Today I risked some of you judging me for my high standards but that's because I value your futures and your success as human beings on this pale blue dot.  My sincere care for you is what makes me want to make you sparkle and shine as I know you can.  I slay and slay, so get outta my way...

If you missed today's truth tea class, someone can fill you in I'm sure.  Just be prepared for Thursday with the four page work from Saturday's post.  Wednesday I am proctoring the PSAT so I won't see periods 2, 3, and 4.  Periods 5 and 6, we will be working on sentences (you think boring?  I think thrilling!!)

Tomorrow is our TED Talk Tuesday and you are going to meet boyfriend #1...so jazzed.

And Daily Journal below:  Write young, lovelies.  WRITE.

Daily Journal #29:  Jeanette Winterson wrote in her book The Passion that "what you risk reveals what you value".  What do you risk in your life?  And does that show what you value?

Spread the Word

I know I  am busy multitasking like a boss on a Saturday night.  Watching the Cubs game, grading essays, taking notes, crafting a lesson that may or may not take a couple weeks...I know I'm busy so in an effort to respect your time as well, I am posting the document that you will need for class on Thursday 10/20.  You will have plenty of time to print this out so take care of your business.

GO CUBS!!!!!!!

Friday Night Fun

Hi, Lovelies...I just spent the past 2 hours reading your grade reflections and searching my inbox for shared documents and some of you didn't send me or give me anything.  So either you forgot or you are allowing the opportunity to self-select your grade pass you by.  At any rate, those of you who read the bliggity blog might want to text/notify your people who don't about the grade reflection thing...If I don't have your reflections by tomorrow night at this time, I am just going to input what I think you deserve.

This next 6 weeks is going to have a few more twists and turns - more "lego pieces" - but don't forget the "stuff" you've been exposed to already.

Before I sign off, shout out to the one kid whose clever interpretation of the reflection earned him some mad, mad respect.  #props

GO CUBS.

Happy Friday

I actually enjoyed not having electricity for the better part of the day - something sweet and sincere about returning to simplicity that my heart seems to need every once in a while.  As usual, you lovelies did an excellent job on SAS.  Very, very impressive.  From baseball commentators to coral reefs to tattoo artists, I walk away from this desk very well-fed.

I will be going through your reflections and inputting grades.  If I have any questions, I will email you or talk to you on Monday.

Your Daily Journals are below and I am still in need of spirals so please help if you can.  It is much appreciated.

Love and Light,
Beltran

Daily Journal 26:  What sets you on fire (in a good way)?
Daily Journal 27:  What advice would you offer your 9th grade self?
Daily Journal 28:  Write for 10 minutes and see what happens.

Banneker is a Boss...

...at least I think he is.  Thank you for your hard work on the Banneker prompt today.  Not gonna lie - it's one of my favorites.  As a heads up for those of you who like to know what's coming around the corner, we will be using the model essays from College Board to help inform our reading next week, so be sure to read them, check them out, print them, etc.

Tomorrow we have the final round of SAS for the first six weeks.  And while I have your attention, the STD presentation is next Friday 10/21 and the PSAT is on Wednesday 10/19.  I have to proctor the exam so periods 1-4 won't have class with me...Who will you be with?  I have no idea.  Use the time to read, prep for SAS, work on the model essays, study rhetorical devices, etc.

Daily Journal is below...And your 6 weeks reflection is due tomorrow.  TYPED.  HARD COPY.

Daily Journal #25:  "Forces are lined up (internet, television, movies, advertising, just for starters) that tell us who we are is not about how hard we work, how curious we are, or how much we are willing to make a positive difference to others and to our world in distress.  No, these forces say: You are what you wear, what you buy, how thin or buff you are, how many like you - on [social media] - or for the elite college bound - where you go to college.  When we focus on the wrong things, we create conditions for monumental cynicism in our kids." - Michael K. Mulligan 

What are your thoughts on this claim?

Daily Journal

Making a list of all the ways you occupy my heart and mind isn't going to be easy. Why not ask me to put all the stars in the universe in the palm of my hand? That would be more manageable than articulating the manner in which I'm obsessed with every tiny detail of your day, curious about every nook and cranny of your mind. My questions loop incessantly making my sleep interrupted and my dreams dismal. I breathe you in and breathe you out.  And what's more obsessive than my breath? My list - numbered one to infinity - is you, you, you.

The Arch Method, Milk and Honey, Bones

Thank you for sharing your shades of meaning today.  Very, very good, lovelies.

I expect you to be ready to write tomorrow on the prompt we previewed in class.  Feel free to bring in your devices cheat sheet (posted earlier this week) and the framework for the precis. And a blue pen!

Daily Journal for tonight is simple (kinda):  Make a list of your obsessions.  Be honest!  And if you have any people on your list, use initials or code names.  I don't need to know all your business.

Be well and, as always, love & light -
Beltran

TED Talk Tuesday Times Two

Y'all, Tom Thum and Reggie Watts...looks can be quite deceiving after all.  Rewatch these goodies at your leisure and make sure you fill out the Rhetorical Triangle. 

For your Daily Journal tonight, create a list of at least ten topics you can write about.  This will make sense later.

I'm in need of spiral notebooks - the ones with 70 sheets or so.  Thank you......

Friday you have your Six Weeks Reflections due and tomorrow you need your Shades of Meaning.

See me with questions.

And GO CUBS!!!

xoxo

10 Minutes

I just did what I asked y'all to do: write for 10 minutes without stopping, no edits. I started at 8:12 and stopped at 8:22, writing with a pink pen in one of my trusty journals. What came out? Wow. Something so raw and personal and revealing that I'd be a fool to publicly post it. All I can say is Natalie Goldberg is spot on. Just go.

Xoxo

A New Best Friend

Compliments of the other AP Language teacher, Mr. C, here's a sweet little list of rhetorical devices and terms that should be viewed frequently, memorized, owned like Adler would support.  If I were you, I would print this out (or at the very least, copy it) and have it handy when reading...well, pretty much anything that requires thinking.  Here is an additional, albeit shorter list, as well.

I'll be back later tonight.  I'm going to do my journal on the bliggity blog and see what comes out, but first, lunches to make, Cubs to root for, children to bathe, patriarchy to dismantle...you know, stuff.

xoxo

Oh Monday, Monday!

Hope you guys and gals had a good Monday.  Mine was all sorts of wonky.  But alas, what's a girl to do?  Make sure you have your rewritten Rhetorical Precis (if you chose to rewrite it, that is) for turn in tomorrow.

Shades of Meaning - connotation and denotation - is due Wednesday for presentation.  Make sure you have a visual with it and choose your neutral word wisely.  See me with questions.

The Daily Journal prompt is below and was inspired by Natalie Goldberg's book Writing Down the Bones.  Any of you interested in becoming a better writer should check it out.

I'll see y'all tomorrow for TED Talk Tuesday.

xoxo

Daily Journal:  Set a timer for 10 minutes.  Settle yourself and "GO".  Don't stop, don't make edits, don't censor yourself and see what pours forth.  

p.s. - I will be posting a Rhetorical Devices cheat sheet/guide later tonight.  Feel free to make it your best friend.

Top Ten Things (I Think) A Teenager Should Know

Someone requested this list so I thought I would oblige.

Here goes...

1.  How to change a flat tire.
2.  How to balance a checkbook.
3.  How to make a decent, well rounded, nutritious meal with a $20 budget.
4.  How to do laundry.
5.  How to have a face-to-face conversation with an adult.
6.  How to ask someone you like out on a date.
7.  How to read and navigate around an unfamiliar city/town.
8.  How to ride public transportation.
9.  How to write a "thank you" note.
10.  How to sew a button, mend a rip, etc.

These are my thoughts as a 40 year old woman who was once a teenager who knew how to do all of the above.

Love and Light.
Go Cubs!

SAS Round 5

Thanks for another great round of SAS...I always enjoy listening to you and learning from you.

For Monday, have your Rhetorical Precis ready on Klosterman, Angelou, or Strayed.

Daily Journals below:

Daily Journal #19:  Write about "that night...".
Daily Journal #20:  Write about accomplishments.
Daily Journal #21:  Write about a "leap of faith".

Much love to my pancakes.  You done real good today.  xoxoxoxoxoxxo

Rhetorical Precis Information

For Monday, have a Rhetorical Precis written for either the Angelou text, the Klosterman text or the Strayed text.  Your call.  In order to help you, check out this template.  It's got a word bank and sentence frames that might be useful.

Thanks for being ready for SAS tomorrow.  Cannot.  Wait.

xoxo

Daily Journal:  Write a Jessup like speech to someone in your life you kinda sorta want to belittle and demean.  Why not?  It's for creative purposes.  

For My Kiddos from 2015-2016

All of you from last year hold a special place in my heart because you are the class that carried me through a very difficult part of my life.  I spoke to my mother often about my "kids" at school and she knew of your names and your stories and how you positively (and maybe sometimes not so positively) impacted each of my days.

Today, several of you from last year's period 2 SHOWED up for me and for a little dancing.  Even though we had to FaceTime some people in, and a couple are at college, it was exactly what my heart and soul needed.

Thank you for dancing, lovelies.  Love on top...ALWAYS.  xoxo

For Your Consideration - Please Check Out

If you can help, please do.  Click here for more information.

xoxo

Rhetorical Precis

Rhetorical Precis work due tomorrow on the movie clip from "A Few Good Men".  Can't wait to see what you write.

xoxo

Daily Journal: Free Topic!!!

My Man Maz

You can access today's TED Talk here.  Make sure you rewatch and fill out the rhetorical triangle and your notes.  We also started the TED Talk Chart so don't be lazy with it - it will save you and help you come May. 

Also make sure you research the Rhetorical Precis so you can have a leg up for tomorrow's class. 
We will be learning how to use that sucker to write introductions worthy of AP consideration.

And...don't forget to sign up for our google classroom page.  See the earlier post for login info and see me tomorrow during Advisory if you need help.

xoxo

Daily Journal #16:  Chronicle an incident where you were stereotyped or you stereotyped someone else.

p.s. - I am working on a list of rhetorical devices you can use as a reference guide
p.p.s. - Look up a movie called A Few Good Men...

Class Code for Google Classroom

The code for Google classroom is: do1c8c

Your login is: IDnumber@stu.sandi.net
Password: Active Directory Password

Rhetorical Precis Look Up

Thanks for showing up to class.  For tonight, please use this link and sign up for our new google classroom site.  It's a work in progress so be patient. AND I just realized I left my class code on my desk. Oops! I'll update later after hip hop...

Also, look up Rhetorical Precis and be sure you know the format, what it is, why we use it.

Tomorrow is our TED Talk...so come ready.

Daily Journal below!

xoxo

P.S. - I just wanted to let you know that I love pancakes.  Sometimes I make them and they don't turn out great the first go round but I keep trying and trying and eventually they are on point.  So delicious and so great - everything they are supposed to be and more.  I won't ever give up on my love of pancakes.  They mean too much.

Daily Journal #15:  Describe your weekend.