9/9 Department Meeting

Hi Department!

We had a meeting yesterday after school; I'd like to hold the next meeting on Tuesday, the 23rd, at 7:45 in room 305. If we can hold two meetings every month that will be terrific. If you can't make a meeting please be sure to check the blog for updates.

One important point...Mia will be heading up the AP Vertical team; see Mia for details, and I'm sure she will post updates and meeting teams on the blog. The AP Vertical team, for those who do not know, is designed to improve students readiness for AP courses.

Pts. from yesterday's meeting:

1. Summer reading: Allow the students to complete a makeup assignment, but for less points and in a short time frame. If you allow students to use any book, then take some points off.

2. Portfolio assessment: We would like to have portfolios for students. If at all possible, students will leave McKinley High School with a folder of their best work from freshman to senior year. This will also give teachers a focus for writing assignments for each grade level. I will distribute copies of the form and we will solidify what we cover each year at the next meeting.

3. I need to talk to all junior year teachers to confirm January Regents testing as part of our SIP plan.

4. Book distribution: if you need any more books, please see me. Also, I have organized the small room n 305 as a book center. I am organizing extra copies of books that were found in classrooms or lockers; if you are short a few books, come up to the room or see me and I'll see what I can do.

5. Miscellaneous:

• Please let me know what class sets of novels you have.
• Lauren suggested organizing a Slam Poetry Festival. Lauren you're in charge! :)
• Amy Chase has contemporary books that students can borrow if they sign them out.
• Amy also is interested in suggestions or copies of books that appeal to male students.
• Lastly, the library may be closed this year; we will need to get very creative in terms of research and book assignments.
  

I will get copies of portfolio ideas out to everyone. Please be ready to discuss what you'd like to expect of our students each year. Feel free to comment on the blog with any points you'd like to discuss.

Thanks a bunch!

Cheryl

ELA Correcting - Half Day

Tomorrow afternoon we will be gathering together to correct practice exams for the 11th grade ELA exam. Students wrote a task two essay yesterday in the cafeteria. In addition to correcting the exams, I think we should:

• discuss ways to help students write about nonfiction
• define the different types of writing we want to see at each grade level

* * * * * * * *
Here are a list of concerns that we noticed:

• use a quotation..."Miss, no one's speaking"
• quotations/citations from article given, but in isolation...not connected or explained why significant.
• one stat from chart (if at all), or chart reference not tied in well
  
• message not addressed to senator or inappropriate tone
• too much personal info
• very poor organization and/or no paragraphs, topic sentences , transitions,
  
• thesis not supported by text, examples, analysis etc.
• too much summary from articles...
  

Discussion of "Syntax" in AP Vertical Team Blog

Hey folks...so, next Friday we're discussing "Syntax"...something I know I don't have a great handle on. It's going to be a learning experience for me, to say the least. Throughout the next week, if you have a comment on the chapter, or a question, or whatever, post it in the comments section.

AP Vertical Team Meeting 2/15/6

Today, three of us met in my room to discuss integrating strategies from the AP Vertical team guide in order to help transform the way we collectively go about our business.

Today, the topic of discussion was diction. We discussed the following:

• LEAD (Low or Informal Diction, Elevated Language or Formal Diction, Abstract and Concrete Diction, Denotation and Connotation) - This is an acronym the guide suggests for helping students indentify AND analyze diction in a work. We discussed how younger students would be able to handle identifying the level of diction, and the methods we could use to help scaffold them up to the analytical task.
• Vocabulary/Connotation - We acknowledged that connotation is a bit more difficult for younger students, which led us into a general discussion of vocabulary intruction department wide. Many times we have a hard time getting students to recognize and understand complex words, much less the meanings suggested by the words. We talked about the things we do when we "do" vocabulary. We also talked about working to create a vocab list. We weren't sure about the overall setup, but its a discussion we'd like to revisit. More on that later.
• We decided that next Wednesday, February 21st, we will have a working meeting to discuss and develop some semblance of a list of vocabulary words. (We should probably take into account the thematic units being discussed/developed at the lead teacher meetings.)
• We will discuss the section titled "Syntax" from 36-53 for next Friday, February 23rd.

Finally, we hope that more department members will attend these meetings. We are being paid through the grant, and think it is a great opportunity to talk about structuring and improving our instruction. If you can't, try to read along, and comment in the next post titled "Syntax".


(I am adding this note as I will be printing out this post to insert into people's mailboxes. Hey, check out our blog at www.mackenglishdept.blogspot.com! I'm posting any and all department information, so if you don't, you're missing out.)

Random Notes from the Underground

Hello folks...a few things:

Vertical Team Meeting 2/8/6
I owe Cheryl & Mia an apology. Yesterday I remembered that my meeting was this morning, so I spoke to Cheryl and then forgot to update everyone else. I knew that I had a meeting, but did not make the connection between that meeting and our meeting. Many apologies.

After I speak to Mia, we'll go from there.

Language Walk Through
The The Language! walkthrough scheduled for 2/14 has been rescheduled for March 21st. Robin is the only one who will be affected by this, but everyone else should make sure their respective house is in order (I don't know what I mean...I know I'm making sure my room is presentable. Cachinga.)

Door Design Contest
As I mentioned at the faculty meeting, and as displayed on the assignment sheet I popped in your mailbox yesterday, McKinley is doing an interhouse door design contest. Here is the assignment sheet in case you misplaced it.


Lead Teachers Meeting 2/8/7
We met this morning at Burgard High School. Julie Romain presided. We discussed a number of things, which are outlined below:

• Workshops for 3/28 Superintendent's Day - Julie is looking for workshop ideas for this date. She wants to know the type of professional development teachers are looking for. So, if you have any ideas, either email her directly through Lotus notes or shoot some ideas to me and I'll forward them. So far, we proposed Pre-AP strategies, Task 2 strategies, and a few more that I can't remember. Technology maybe. Something about books. Anyhoo, if you're looking for guidance, get some info to her (her email address is most likely jromain@buffaloschools.org...if not...look it up in the district address book that accompanies Lotus notes).
• AP Workshops - AP Language teachers and myself will be attending an AP workshop on 3/28. If we can think of any specific things we want the presenter to...present...we should send him suggestions at oman9@aol.com. His name is Frasier O'Leary and he did a 4-7 pm workshop for AP Literature teachers.
• Book Selection Rubric - We are continuing to hone the book selection process. At this point we have developed a rough rubric. We are making sure that books have a good combination of literary merit, scope (diversity/culture/cross curricular possibilities), accessibility (reading interest/appropriateness/reading level), and thematic relevance.
  
• Remember, thematic relevance means how well the works fit with the themes we will be using by grade level. If you've forgotten, 9th grade will be "Rites of Passage/Coming of Age," "Struggle for Self Definition," "Loss of Innocence," and "Journeys, Pilgramages, and Quests for Enlightenment." 10th grade will be "Crossing Borders: The Immigrant Experience," "Overcoming Obstacles," and "Our Heritage: The Family Saga." 11th grade will be "The Decline of the American Dream," "Alienation of the Individual," "Changing Landscapes: Cities, Factories, & Capitalism," and "Social Inequalities." 12th grade will be "Magical Realism," "Mystery; Reality and Illusion," "Romanticism/Victorian Ideals," and "Science Fiction and Fantasy." For the record, I hate the 12th grade stuff and will actively campaign for something different. Just don't tell anyone (smirk).

Anyways, if there are questions, comments, or concerns, let me know via email, air mail, in person, or via the comments.

AP Vertical Team Meeting 2/1 7:30

Well, we met again last Thursday morning. We all read the chapter beforehand, and discussed the following items:

• Utilizing a SIFT Method Chart/Graphic Organizer across grade levels and in all classes. We think that this is one possible option for starting to use the same terminology on a mass scale.
• We started to discuss structuring information and activities over the grade levels. We figured that a good way to get students to start discussing tone would be to have them read various opinion/editorial pieces in 9th and 10th grade. Then they could start working with texts with subtler tones in 11th and 12th (such as novels and poetry).
• We also talked about the best ways to go about building skills, specifically in reference to the literary elements. We think it best to limit literary element discussion in each grade to just a few essential terms. We realize that as much time as we devote time to literary elements, students have no idea what we are talking about most of time. We also spoke about implementation of uniform double entry journals.
• I'm sure we spoke about more, but, since four days have lapsed, I think I've forgotten some stuff. I guess random disfunctional notes in the margins of my AP Vertical Team booklet may not be the best way to go. CURSE YOU ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER! Anyway, if I've forgotten major things, pop them in the comments.
• Lastly, we are meeting again Thursday 2/8 at 7:30. We are reading pages 25-36. On the docket are tragedy, diction, and denotation & connotation.
  

AP Vertical Team Discussion Post - Pgs. 13-25

Okey dokey, Dukey. We're undertaking the beginning of the literary analysis chapter of the APVTGfE. Remember, we want to try to think about instituting terminology and common methods schoolwide and decide how to introduce and build these skills from 9th - 12th grade.

For comments, suggestions, etc., click on the "comments" link directly underneath this post.

AP Vertical Team Meeting 1/25 7:30

Before the Meeting: The Vertical Team was to read pages 1-12 of the AP Vertical Team's Guide for English

Minutes: Generally, we discussed different points raised by the AP VTGfE. These included:

• the overall look and feel of our vertical team. We decided to skip the ice breakers, and headed straight to the overall schematics.
  
• the need for gathering information about the incoming freshmen. With a change in curriculum, it is necessary to inquire about the ELA experiences incoming freshmen will be bringing to us in the 2007-2008 school year
• the need to develop common methods and terminology for the various things we do. The guide includes different strategies that support the type of thinking necessary for AP Language & Literature. In the coming months, while reading through the guide, we are planning on isolating strategies which are integral. We will then implement these strategies slowly this year, ultimately planning on wider implementation in 2007-2008.
• the possibility of creating student writing portfolios that follow students throughout their high school careers. These portofolios would be started with next year's incoming class
• the possibility of securing funds to buy AP materials & for training
  

Next Meeting: 2/1/7

Next Meeting Items: Read APVTGfE 13-24 in order to discuss S.I.F.T. method of literary analysis. Discuss schoolwide vertical implementation methods.

Fluency Update

Fluency stats must be completed by Wednesday, February 7th. Remember, at the very least, I need pre and post test results. It would help if could do a quick Excel document and provide the overall averages for each grade level that you teach. Talk to me if this is too large a technological mountain to climb.

AP Vertical Team Meeting

The AP Vertical planning team will be meeting Thursday, January 25th at 7:30 am to discuss backmapping the curriculum. So far the team consists of Chambers, Albano, Doerfel, Boquard, and myself. If anyone else wants to get on board, feel free to come.

I am giving you a copy of the College Board publication we will be using as a guide. It is in your mailbox. If you are coming, we are reading up to page 12 for next Thursday. This introductory chapter discusses the usefulness of Pre-AP.

Department Meeting - 7:40 am

We met as a department this morning in Mr. Hughes' room. Issues discussed:

* Blogger - Check the site every couple of days. It'll only take five minutes. We're going to post tons of stuff on here. I'm going to use this as my main way of disseminating department information. If you accept my invitation to join, you can post directly to the site as well. This could be a great tool for discussion. Hopefully, it will help increase dialogue and remove isolation.

* AP Vertical Planning teams - Ms. Doerfel, Mrs. Chambers, Ms. Albano, Mrs. Boquard, and myself have signed on to use the College Board's AP Vertical Planning Guide to help us backmap the curriculum. There are a lot of acronym type analysis methods and rhetorical strategies in that guide that could be implemented across grade levels. If we as a department could start to use the same language when discussing literary analysis, and the same language when discussing composition, I think we could make serious gains with student understanding (and, by extension, test scores). Likewise if we all use similar language in discussing composition and rhetoric. Common language, common goals...giddeyup.

* Barack Obama "What if McKinley Read the Same Book" & Schoolwide Memoir contest - Ms. Albano shared that Gear Up is ordering the Obama books today, so we should have 150 soon. We're going to start the memoir contest now, and this will lead up to the book project. We're creating a blog for the memoir & book thingy...we'll post the address ASAP.

* Regents Practice Task 2 - Back in September, we raised the possibility of doing a sample task 2 essay with all the juniors. The English department would then grade the papers based on the Regents rubric, fill out a rubric, and then give feedback. We could then discuss patterns that we noticed and areas that need strengthening. We're going forward with it. Details to come.

* Fluency - I need fluency stats as soon as possible. I need them by my February lead teacher meeting. I need post test and pre test results (or vice versa). Per Anne, make sure you are addressing fluency.

That's about it. If I remember anything else, I'll post it.

Department Meeting Thursday, January 18th

Last week we had to cancel our department meeting as I had to be somewhere else. We need to meet and discuss the following issues:

• AP Vertical Planning - Read the post below on putting together a team to help backmap the curriculum.
• Fluency - We need to assemble stats by February. It is Anne's expectation that each of us are pretesting fluency, employing strategies in our classroom, and giving a post-test to guage overall gains (or losses).
• ELA 11 Practice Exam - Per previous, Mia and others raised the idea of giving a practice ELA task to the juniors and grading them as a department. This would help us get a better sense of where the 11th graders stand, as well helping to norm our collective understanding of the rubric and grading procedures.
• Bloggedy Blog - BLOG...HUH...WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? ABSOLUTELY SOMETHING, SAY IT AGAIN, CHIL' (Seriously...let us discuss some possibilities.)
  

AP Vertical Mapping

Mrs. B would like us to meet to talk about ways to go about vertically mapping our ELA curriculum to help students prepare for the rigors of the AP curriculum. So, I am looking for interested parties. We would meet before and/or after school and be paid for it. See me for more information, and I'll raise the issue again at our meeting next week.