Friday, December 14, 2007 Scribe

Today was the Hamlet Finale Fishbowl. :))

In the beginning some slacked off and forgot to get the laptops... so Mrs. Smith had to get the slackers.

Then we started the Hamlet Finale Fishbowl, but before that we did our greeting to Mrs. Smith.

Bullet Points is what the inside circle said to the questions.

First Question: What role does religion play in the theme of death in, Hamlet?

• Hamlet was going to kill Claudius but he decided against it when he saw that Claudius was repenting for what he did.
• Hamlet debated suicide because of Christian beliefs and the whole after life thing.

Does Hamlet truly love Ophelia?

• In the beginning he was using her but then at the end he ended up loving her.
• Potraying you don't know what you have till it's gone.

Did Hamlet stup down to Claudius' level with revenge?

• He felt morally obligated to kill Claudius.
• It ended up being a very emotional subject for Hamlet (that his father was dead) so he made it a passion.
• How he murdered Claudius was noble.

Do you think the mistakes Hamlet made, stupped him down to Claudius' level? ( kind of the same question from above)

• Hamlet was only trying to create chaos to get people to believe him.

What do you think Hamlet's tragic flaw is?

• Inaction.
• Selfishness.
• Killed Polonious so then he had to pursue murder head on?
• To much faith on people so he gets disappointed.

What is the signifigance of family?

• Rule of family: Comfort and Trust.
• To give you a sense of how much better your family is.

Is family important to the people in Hamlet?

• Alot of mixed feelings on this one.

Do you think anyone in Hamlet truly love another person?

• Polonius-Hamlet.
• Hamlet-Old Hamlet.
• Respect was missing except for in Hamlet and Old Hamlet's relationship.

What is the signifigance of incest in Hamlet?

• Gertrude and Claudius.
• Symbolic of corruption in relationships and royal family.
• Mrs. Smith said it adds to all the sexual tension in Hamlet and the other plays.

Do you think Hamlet was upset about Gertrude being with Claudius? Or her just being with Gertrude?

• Being with somebody.
• Hamlet was also upset about her moving on so quickly after Old Hamlet's death.

Do you think there was a message to the play Hamlet?

• People think of their family lives compared to this book.
• Family first.
• Revenge isn't the best thing.
• Analyze your own life.
• Think about your own goverment leaders and there flaws and problems.

Satire? Motifs? Symbolism? Signifigance? ... Of Hamlet.

(( I am adding this in... The sword in the play make the murders more signifgant... Noble people use swords/daggers it makes you commited to murder and murder through poison is not noble and not 100% commited {{poison shows alot about Claudius' character}}))

FOILS?

• Polonious' Family and Claudius' Family.(Polonious- Control and Truth and Claudius- Can't Control and Selfish)
• Ophelia and Gertrude.
• Fortinbras and Laretes.

Was Hamlet really crazy?

• Yes and No

When Hamlet had his brush with Laretes, did that change his crazyness?

• Yes

What do you think will happen to Hamlet?

• He sought forgiveness at the end so he will go to Hamlet.

How does Hamlet fit the four stages?

• We didn't really finsih this question.

I hope you like this scribe... I don't know if it makes sense.

I hope it is semi-good.

HAVE A GRREAT WEEKEND. :))

Hamlet Finale Fishbowl Question!

Hey everyone...

What message(s) do you think Shakespeare was trying to reveal in Hamlet?
After reading the play, do you think the ends justifies the means?

Good luck on finals and have a super fun break

Hamlet Final Fishbowl

Sribe for Wednesday, December 12, 2007

As usual, doughnut Wednesday started off with a bang when Emily H. brought Albertson’s Doughnuts. It was a big day for the class; we have never had Albertson’s doughnuts. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the privilege of tasting one, but there was debate on whether or not we should have an in-depth, intellectual discussion on the comparison of Albertson’s doughnuts to the other; I guess will just have to wait and see, maybe there will be a blog post to follow.

After the delicious carbohydrates made their way to our fat cells, Fishbowl over Act V began. The leaders for the day were Milenda, Ashley, Courtney, Sam E.(a.k.a. Option C), and KC.

And the questions began:
1. The diggers were signified as clowns, what could that represent?
a. Possible comic relief
2. Why does Hamlet have a revalation about death, and then go back to his old ideas at the end of the act?
a. Realization, stages of a hero
b. Hamlet is Shakespeares way of enlightening the audience with possible philosophies
c. By saying everything goes full circle after death, his is still asking for respect of Ophelia even though she may have committed suicide.
3. Why?
a. Pride
b. Past the point of no return
c. Jorney of the tragic hero
d. Self fulfillment
e. Nothing left to live for
f. Selfish
g. Never considered himself to be wrong
i. BUT, he does want to make amends with Laertes for what he has done
4. Why all of the sudden does Hamlet have a change of heart?
a. Enlightenment again
b. Once he realized what he had done, he realized an apology would hurt anyone
c. Death brings out the true colors in people, he doesn’t want to end up like his father
5. With the exception of Polonius, every character died from poison, what is the symbolism?
a. They wer poisonous characters
b. Polonius was a selfish, rude character
i. He died a more brutal death because of that
c. Poison fits into the theme of conceit
6. Why didn’t Claudius stop Gertrude from drinking the cup before she did?
a. Showed his selfishness
7. Before Gertrude dies, she cries out for Hamlet; why Hamlet and not Claudius?
a. Hamlet was the only true character
b. She knew she could trust Hamlet for help
8. If Hamlet would have married Ophelia, do you think she would have been mad about Polonius’ death and still would have committed suicide?
a. No to suicide, yes to mad
b. Would Hamlet have gone that far?
c. She would have sided with Hamlet
d. There was still a Father-Daughter bond
i. Polonius was supposed to be looking out for her best interest
e. If she was with Hamlet, it may have been easier for her to see her father’s wrongs
i. Hamlet would help her recognize her father acts as wrong
f. Ophelia’s father’s death was the spark to her suicide
i. What really could have done her in was her and Hamlet’s break-up
9. Why is Laertes in denial about Ophelia? What message does this convey?
a. It was the consequence from everything wrong they had done
b. Horratio is rewarded for being a true character
c. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were also punished for what they did
d. Understand what life is about, don’t live it in revenge
10. In short…is death worth it?
a. It depends
i. Hamlet – yes
ii. Gertrude – no, she died with guilt
iii. For some it was worth it
b. Those who brought death upon themselves, along with enlightenment had some sort of cleansing of the soul
i. Most who died accomplished what they wanted
11. Did Hamlet plan do die?
a. Most likely
b. He was ready at any moment to encounter death
c. Hamlet never envisioned a bright future
i. Lived day by day, didn’t care what was to happen
d. Selfish
e. Easy way out for hamlet to avoid the consequences
f. Hamlet was so committed to killing Claudius, it was worth his death


And alas, the fishbowl was stopped early so that we could all watch one of the films versions of the death scenes.


Homework: ~Friday there is a fishbowl as well over the entire book, so come prepared.
~Devote the rest of your time and energy to working on the final project!

Act 5 FishBowl Question.

Hello, here is the question. :))

Why do you think Laretes is in denial about Ophelia (her suicide)? How does this denial prove he is like his father? Why or why not?

Scribe for 12/10/07

First of all I would like to remind everyone that we have two fishbowls this week. On Wednesday we have a fishbowl over act five and on Friday we have our final fishbowl over the entire book. If you don't know which group you are in be sure to check with Mrs. Smith.

For the first half of class we discussed innovative ways of teaching. Sam was not happy with a certain teachers teaching style. To be perfectly honest politics does not thrill me either.
Our conversation was similar to our talk on Friday. Apparently we spent our weekends contemplating the future of education.

We also finished reading Hamlet in class. If you were absent be sure to read it before the next class period. The ending wrapped things up very well. It was a very fitting conclusion for such a complex story.

Finally: Make your final projects spectacular. We don't want to let Mrs. Smith down after all the time and effort she has invested in our futures.

Hamlet Act 5 Fishbowl

Friday December 7th

First everyone let KC and I apoligize for this being on here so late, there was a big confusion in who Mrs. Smith needed us to scribe on Friday.

Anyways...

-We started out class with our traditional “Hello Mrs. Smith”

-Everyone wished we had doughnuts
- We worked on “Reflections”

- The question was: “What changes have you seen this semester in regards to your education? What role did technology play in that change? What role did the constructivist philosophy play in that change? (constructivist-students becoming producers of information, students in charge of their own learning)”

-Mrs. Smith talked about what an amazing job it would be to be a “futurist”. A futurist pretty much just gets to sit around thinking of what the future will be like. Apparently if you a bad job you get fired.

- She talked about her meeting/ convention thing some more and added how insulting the title “learning agent” was.

-We met with our final project groups and planned and discussed

-Mrs. Smith told us how much trust she had in us and that many people do not believe that high school seniors can turn in a final project that was not crap.

- That was really all for today kids! Have a great night!

Reflections Period 4

What changes have you seen this semester in regards to your education? What role did technology play in that change? What role did the constructivist philosophy play in that change? (constructivist-students becoming producers of information, students in charge of their own learning)

Make sure to include specific examples and expand on each other's ideas.

Scribe for December 05, 2007 :))

This is for Ashley since she is unable to get on to this blog and post.

Amazing Mr. Rosenberg came back to visit. But not as amazing as Ms. Smith.

Courtney brought delicious donuts! Yummmm... and today was a short day.

Homework: Act three and four Take Home Quiz, Scribe (done), and Final Project (due date is coming around the corner)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wedensday and a fantastic Thursday.

See ya Friday. We are going to turn in are take home quiz, read act 5 of Hamlet, reality check..., and constructivist practices.

Hello Class!

HOMEWORK

• Blog question
• Semester project
• Quiz over ACT 3 &4 due Friday

• Friday we will start reading Act 5
• Next wednesday is next fishbowl
• Semester project is due on final day ( no exceptions)
• Smith will be gone on Wednesday so we will have Mr. Rosenburg as our subsitute

WHAT WE DID IN CLASS

Everyone got ready for the fishbowl
Inside Circle: Presenters, Discussors, and Three Open Seats
Outside Circle: Live-Blogging
Act 4 fishbowl

• If you were absent for the fishbowl, blog and post in depth comments related to the fishbowl comments on the post by annes

Blog Question Over Act IV

By the end of this act Laertes has found out a lot of new information, like his father being killed and his sister dieing. In a way he can be paralleled to Hamlet for the things that he is doing as well as what he is predicted to do. (act with revenge against Hamlet) What can you say about Laertes after this whole act is over? What characteristics does he emmulate from other characters?

Hamlet Fishbowl Act 4

Friday, November 30

HOMEWORK: scribe, get working on the semester project!! DON'T FORGET ACT 4 FISHBOWL ON MONDAY

In Class:
~We started class off by talking about the plans for next week
~late start Wednesday and possible quizzes over acts 3&4
~ reality check on Friday!
~Then we watched the Hamlet movies during Act 4. We started with the Mel Gibson version, where we concentrated on the Ophelia scene. Then we viewed the Kate Winslet version and watched the scene with Ophelia and then the plotting scene between Laertes and Claudius.
~For the remaining 15 or so minutes we had time to work on our semester project.
~Also much thanks to Charlie for those crazy assorted doughnuts!

Have a Happy Weekend

Scribe: Wednesday, November 28th

Hello class!

Today was a good day. We started off the class however with no doughnuts...

Ms. Smith wants to remind everyone to look at their grade, the end of the semester is slowly creeping up on us!

We got very far in Hamlet today, almost to the end of Act 4, read the rest for homework.

Ophelia has gone mad. She cannot handle the new loss of her father and all of the problems with Hamelt and spends a lot of this part of the play in song. It has become a general opinion in both the fish bowls and from Sam today that the women, particulary Ophelia, are at a great loss. Ophelia drowns at the end of Act four as we find out from her borther Laertes.

Claudius sends Hamlet to England and tries to arrange amoung his return for Ophelia's brother Laertes to challenge him to a fencing match where he will poison the sword and kill Hamelt. Claudius is worried that Hamelet will hurt his family name.

Meanwhile Laertes is wondering why his father was buried so "hastely" and in part blames King Claudius for the murder of his father for not watching Hamelt more carefully with the knowledge of his madness.

Some questions are still unanswered that everyone would like to know.

When will Hamlet be able to avenge his father's death?

What will come of Hamelt after he returns?

I hope that someone brings doughnuts on friday it might just have to be me!
Have a great day everyone.

Hamlet Act 3 Fishbowl

Scribe for November 19, 2007

Homework over the break:
Read act 3 scenes 1-4
Prepare for the fishbowl
Continue blog conversation online
Work on the semester project

What we did in class:
We met in groups at the beginning of class for the semester projects
We watched the Hamlet movie for act 3 scenes 1-4

Things discussed and questions to ponder about act 3 scenes 1-4:
Where do Hamlet's friends loyalties lie?
There were many references in the movie to the Devil. Why do you think this is?
The beginning of act 3 has one of the most famous soliloquoys ever: "to be or not to be"
A nunnery can refer to a prostetution house
What was the two way mirror in the movie symbolic of?
The motif of spying is growing. What does this say of Hamlet's society?
What is important about Claudius wanting "light" during the play?
Hamlet doesn't kill Claudius during his confession because he wants him to go to hell
Hamlet attacks and goes after his mom even though his father's spirit told him to "leave her to heaven"

Blog Question From Fishbowl 2

What do you think Guildenstern and Rosencrantz will do in the end? Will they continue to be puppets for the King and Queen, or will they choose to be true friends and help Hamlet? What affect will their decision have on Hamlet?

SCRIBE FOR NOVEMBER 16, 2007.

Class started with the doughnuts that were sadly forgotten to be brought on Wednesday… It was a great way to start the day of fishbowling.

Mrs. Smith… thought the whole schedule thing was weird. (new kids, kids in different classes, just the whole thing)

Everyone got ready for the fishbowl
Inside Circle: Presenters, Discussers, and Three Open Seats
Outside Circle: Live-Blogging

Act Two Fishbowl… What was discussed?

Why were actors coming to Denmark?
Polonius
What is your impression of Polonius? (manipulated, power hungry)
Why doesn’t Polonius manipulate the king?
Is Laertes not responsible or is Polonius not trusting?
Does Laertes do anything to lose Polonius’ trust?
Ophelia
What is your impression of Ophelia? (impressionable, likes attention, dependent on others, likes to please)
Is she dependent on others?
What happen to her mother?
Hamlet {[coming into def. of tragic hero]} {[with questions about Fortinbras, Gertrude, and Claudius]}
Is he like Fortinbras? (father murdered, same age, getting control of country, revenge {Polonius- For country and Hamlet- Himself})
Is Hamlet more selfish that Fortinbras?
Why doesn’t Shakespeare make the connection between Fortinbras and Hamlet?
Do you think as the story goes there will be more connections between Fortinbras and Hamlet?
What are the differences between Fortinbras and Hamlet?
What is Shakespeare’s reasoning for the whole Fortinbras-Denmark drama?
Where is the whole thing with Fortinbras and Hamlet going?
What will happen if they come together as friends?
Does Hamlet not care about his reputation?
What’s going to happen if Claudius shows no reaction during the play?
What will Claudius’ reaction be if he finds out that Hamlet know what really happens? (make hamlet seem crazy, manipulate everyone else)
Do you see Gertrude as a weak person?
Many other things were said… More about the whole play thing, Hamlet’s madness, Gertrude’s weaknesses, and More Fortinbras and Hamlet drama.

IT WAS A LOVELY DAY PACKED FULL OF QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSIONS.
{[LOOK AT THE TWO BLOGS AROUND THIS ONE: ONE IS THE OUTSIDE CIRCLE DISCUSSION BY BLOGGING AND THE OTHER ONE IS THE QUESTION YOU HAVE TO ANSWER FOR HOMEWORK]}

HAVE A GOOD REST OF THE WEEKEND AND GET READY FOR SOME TURKEY EATING]}

Hamlet Act 2 Fishbowl

scribe for november 14, 2007

• First, she collected our take home quizzes over act 2, as well as handed back the ones from act 1.
• Second, and most important, SOMEONE FORGOT TO BRING DOUGHNUTS! Shame on you, everyone was very sad because of this.
• We got new seats.
• We watched video comparisons from two videos, one was the Mel Gibson version, and the other was Kenneth Brahna. ( I think that's how you spell his name)
• We got about ten minutes to meet with our groups and discuss or work on our final projects.
• Homework: Make sure that the presenters and discussores are ready to participate in the fishbowl which is on friday. Also to everyone, make sure that you have read act 2 in order to participate in the fishbowl. Continue convesation, and final semester projects.

Just depressing because of the whole doughnut issue.... :(

-Emilie D

Scribe for November 12, 2007

This is what we did on Monday Nov. 12.

Homework

• · Quiz on Act 2(due Wednesday)

• · Fishbowl for Act 2 on Friday

• · Continue questions and conversation on the blog online

• · Use blog for any questions you have about the reading in class

• · Semester project

In Class

· We started off by collecting the quizzes over Act 1 assigned over the weekend.

· Then we discussed our thoughts on how the fishbowl went last Friday.

o Included some very interesting, original comments

o Tips- presenters have better time management and try to have more of a broad spectrum on the questions rather than little details. Also less restating of previous comments in discussion.

· Next we started reading Act 2 of Hamlet and distributed the 10 parts of the Act.

Thoughts while reading

• · In the beginning Polonius is very interested in finding out what his son Laertes is doing. He indirectly wants Reynaldo to get information on what Laertes is doing.

• · Polonius is manipulative, and not very trustworthy.

• · Hamlet runs into the room where Ophelia is and grabs her and then leaves the room. He is trying to make Ophelia think that he is crazy. He knows that Polonius is her father and Polonius is very close to Claudius so he planned this accordingly. He can get away with more if everyone thinks he is crazy especially the King. So he thinks that through Ophelia he can accomplish this task.

• · P.115-117 includes an important monologue that should be read carefully.

Well that’s about all we did today. Donuts Wednesday!

Ponder this...

Hey everybody, sorry if this is kind of late, but here is the question that the presenters would like to ask you. I believe that Mrs. Smith would also like you to respond to this but let me confirm that...yep, that is correct.

After reading Act I and seeing all the emotions that Hamlet has experienced and all of the events that have occurred, why do you think that Hamlet didn't instantly rush off to revenge his father? What was holding him back?

Scribe for November 9th, 2007

Hello class! This is what happened on Friday, November 09, 2007.

HOMEWORK: Respond to blog question (except for presenters), continue conversation about Act I, take-home quiz, semester project.

Ms. Smith made a comment about bringing your own laptops to school because they have wireless now! If you don’t have one, then ask your parents for one this Christmas, Hanukkah, etc.

• We turned in our big purple books (for people who hadn’t yet).
• We also got our take-home quizzes.

This was our first Hamlet fishbowl day.

• The inside circle had presenters (Brooks, Joe, Sam, Michael, Kyle), discussers (Jackie, Leigh, Weems, Steven) with three open seats.
• The outside circle got laptops and live-blogged. (You can see it below. :] )
• You had to make five comments (relevant and insightful, not stupid). If you didn’t want to blog, then you had to participate in the fishbowl in the open seats.

Some topics discussed in the inside circle:

• Questions anyone had about the reading
• Major events that happened through out the act
• How the ghost could be foreshadowing events to come
• Will Hamlet tell anyone about the ghost?
• Elements of a tragic hero (Hamlet is past the innocence stage and now entering initiation, chaos is bound to happen or already happened. Could the stages be in different order for Hamlet?)
• Comparison between Denmark’s problems and Hamlet’s
• Hamlet’s revenge for his father (What does it mean? Why does he have to do it?)
• Catholic/Christian themes in Hamlet
• Claudius and Gertrude’s marriage (How does Hamlet feel about it?)
• Possible reasons for Claudius killing the king
• Predictions on what will happen in Act 2

That's it! HAVE A NICE WEEKEND!

Hamlet Act 1 Fishbowl

Scribe for November 2nd

Hey there again,
-Today we started class off by Collecting our locker tags that we did with our groups
- Next we turned in our big purple books so make sure to get that in so you don't have to carry it around.
- We also read Act 1 scene 1 and scene 2 in Hamlet so make sure to get caught up on that.
- Were starting a new thing where we posts questions on the Scribe blog for the day.
- Make sure your signed up for a day to present AND discuss during the fishbowls.
- The Hw. is to work on your semester project with your group, plan for the days you are either a discusser or a presenter during the fishbowl.
- That about does it for todays scribe have a good weekend everyone.

Scribe October 31

Not much to report
Mrs. Ritzdorf was our sub
We had to write an in-class essay that discussed four elements of the middle ages that are found in Canterbury Tales.
If you were absent make sure that you set up a time with Mrs. Smith to take the test.

Scribe for Monday, October 29, 2007

Hello Class! I realize that I am posting this blog a day too late and I sincerely apologize to those of you responsible people who tried to look up the scribe for yesterday, Monday the 29th, because here it is on Tuesday, the 30th.

HOMEWORK: Locker Tag (tag with a long "A"), Hamlet books (buy your own if you want to), and of course, the Final Project.

So moving on.... At the beginning of class on monday, we all voiced our frustration of the fact that it is not a wednesday, therefor we had no doughnuts to soothe the roaring of our hungry stomachs. It was a little annoying, but we look forward to the doughnuts on Wednesday.

Ms. Smith then started off class with the explanation of our Fischbowl projects we will be presenting for our Hamlet unit, which will cover the rest of our first semester in English Lit. The requirements of the Fischbowl include but are not limited to...

1. Find Critical Analysis of text
2. List of in depth/though provoking questions over section
3. Everyone in the group participates
4. Typed Syllabus
5. College-Level prep class = college-level discussion
6. NO STUPID QUESTIONS
7. We should be learning Hamlet better through each discussion
8. Presenters need to post a blog question after class that everyone in the outer circle will answer by the next class period
9. 5 leaders, 5 discussers, 2 open chairs, while the outer circle live blogs
10. The Hamlet blog will be featured on this blog page
11. The only way for discussers to earn points for the day is by participating in the "inner circle" discussion

After the cryteria for the Fischbowl was presented, we then signed up for a specified date to present and discuss (seperate days with different people).

The Sign-up list included:

• Act 1 - Nov. 9

Presenters: Brooks, Joe, Michael M, Kyle B, Sam T

Discussers: Jackie, Soo

• Act 2 - Nov. 16

• Presenters: Soo, Emily L, Jackie, Ryan F, Leigh

  Discussers: Brooks, Allie, Emilie, Sam T, Dan

• Act 3 - Nov. 26

• Presenters: Weems, Iain, Steven D, Dan, Jake

  Discussers: Joe R, Emily L, Shaina, Rebecca R, Karm

• Act 4 - Dec. 3

• Presenters: Shaina, Allie, Emilie, Emily H, Charlie P

  Discussers: Melinda, Sam E, Kacey, Ashley B

• Act 5 - Dec. 12

• Presenters: Melinda, Sam E, Ashley B, Kacey, Courtney

  Discussers: Ryan B, Leigh, Ryan F

• Act 6 - Dec. 14

• Presenters: Rebecca R, Karm, Ryan B

  Discussers: Kyle B, Courtney

We then checked out Hamlet books (it was pretty exciting to say the least).

After sign-up we had the option of working on our Canterbury Tales Locker Tags (which are due on friday), or our final semester (grade-less) projects for the rest of the hour.

Again, I apologize for the late scribe, but better late than never! See you all tomorrow in class!

Scribe for October 24, 2007

Hello class, here is what happened this lovely day in Ms. Smith's 4th Hour English World Lit class:

I. New Seats
A. Everyone decided that Smith's computer generated seating chart was not suitable and we picked our own new seats.
1. Brooks obviously sits by Joe and Weems obviously sits by Iain.
II. Shaina entered with hands full of Krispy Kreme donuts
III. Homework
A. Locker Tag Assignment
B. Comment on blogs
1. Our own class blog about the final if you haven’t done so
2. www.learningandlaptops.blogspot.com comment about the conferences
3. Have your parents create a blogger account to comment on the conference blog on learning and laptops as well
a) example parent blogger account: BrooksKmom
IV. Circle wagons to read Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
A. The Merchant
1. The merchant is a conman and an expert at exchanges
2. He looks put together and quite well off but is really in a lot of debt
B. The Oxford Cleric
1. Spends all of his money on learning
2. No preferment in the church
3. “Borrows” money from his friends for books but pays them back only with a thank you or teaching
4. Concern and want for educations shows rise in middle class
C. Sergeant at the Law
1. Older and quite educated in line of business
2. Appears busy but is really just creating busy work to look occupied
3. Always gives black and white answers to questions of law
4. Hold a lot of power, people come to him for answers
5. Line of business has arisen with the emergence of the middle class because he needs to settle the disputes among the new landowners
D. The Franklin
1. Well-to-do landowner
2. Part of the government, holds power
3. Wealthy
4. Lives to please himself and his guests
a) Always has food and wine that are the best of the best
5. A view of what the middle class wants to emerge into
E. Townspeople
1. Their wives are making them call them “Madame”

F. Cook
1. Makes amazing food
2. Gross nasty open sore on knee
G. Skipper
1. From the rough and tough town of Dartmouth
2. Like a pirate
3. Used to traveling of the sea but is now having to awkwardly ride a horse on this pilgrimage
H. Doctor
1. Very well educated about medicine
2. In it for the money
3. Has a deal to split profits with the apothecaries
4. Health freak that won’t eat anything unless it is completely beneficial to his body and health
I. Woman from Bath
1. Represents women gaining power, wealth, and land
2. Gap teeth is a symbol for being bold for love
3. 5 husbands, married them all in the church
4. Religious but a little hypocritical about it
5. Pompous
J. Parson
1. Strong church and society leader
2. Does what he says people should to in his preaching
3. Believes that everyone is good and will end up in Heaven unless they are stubborn in not believing in the Christian way
4. Nothing bad to say about him
5. Represents commandments and the values of the society
K. Plowman
1. Good citizen
2. Doing work simply so that he can help out, doesn’t want pay
3. Parson’s brother
V. With the remainder of class we met BREIFLY with our locker tag groups

Scribe - October 22, 2007

Homework:

-Begin prologue, read 101-112 up to the Friar
-Locker Tag assignment is due November 2
-Canterbury essay question is to apply 4 elements of the Middle Ages to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (test October 29)


What we did in class:

-Went over Locker Tag assignment and rubric
-Got into groups for the Locker Tag assignment
-Read pages 101-112 in the English Literature book


Things we discussed on the reading:

-It was translated from middle English to modern English by Neville Coghill
-Christianity was moving away from the government because of the death of Saint Thomas a Becket
-Chivalry, battle, and religion were major parts of life in the Middle Ages
-There was a Feudal system/structure that locked people into castes (like father like son)
-The author shows how the church has become corrupt through the selfishness of the friar, monk, and nun (they spend the money collected from people)

scribe- Oct. 17 2007

Today is Wednesday 10.17.07
Today we had a very shortened day because juniors all had to take the PSAT! yay

Our Homework:
~React to blog posting about final project!!!
~Turn in the reality check letter to Ms. Smith, if not already done
~Bring our big book on Monday
~Enjoy the super long weekend

Here is what we did in class:
~We discussed parent teacher conferences, how they revolve around what you learn not just grades
~Our assignments for the oh say 20 minutes were
-reflection including:
^asses what you have learned so far in class
^where do you want to be at the end of the semester?
^How will you get there?
^How can Ms. Smith help?
^message to your parents
-Reality Check/Was Up? 411 haha
^ write a little letter or note to Ms. Smith telling her
how life is going for ya
~ We spent the whole time working on those 2 assignments and eating doughnuts.
~Last we turned in our projects and Ms. Smith posted them on the wall
~Thats all for our day! woo hoo 4 day weekend

Monday, October 15, 2007

HOMEWORK: Leave comments about how you feel about the final (worries, concerns, likes, dislikes....), Modern Pilgrimage Projects are due on Wednesday.

Hello English Lit Class! Today, Ms. Smith told us about how much she loved her $90 t-shirt, and that she signed up for a new marathon scheduled to take place in January. We turned in our college scholarships, and then moved on to more serious stuff... our final.
Here's what the outline looked like:

Final Project: What is a hero?

• Multi-media
• -- Photo story, movie maker…
• Group project
  -- 4-5 maximum
  -- Everyone participates significantly-veto power
• Individual reflection of contributions
  -- Self reflection
  -- Peer evaluation
• Modern examples
• OED Definition as a part
  -- Portfolio
  -- Document comprising all work
  -- Include OED written definition
  -- Overview summing up all ideas into one
  -- Organized
  -- Creative
• 10 minute presentation
  -- Clear and smooth transitions
  -- Organized
  -- Answers essential question
  -- Goes beyond the expectations
• Synthesize all text covered in semester
• Personal commentary
  -- React to what you have learned about a hero
  -- Give feedback through modern day heroes
  -- React to the evolution of the hero
  
  Point Value:
  No grade-intrinsic motivation
  
  Group One: Sam T.
  Group Two: Courtney W
  Group Three: Brooks, Joe, Bob, and Michael
  Group Four: Leigh, Ryan B, Ryan F
  Group Five: Jackie, Emily L. Rebecca, Soo
  Group Six: Charlie, Emily H, Allie, Emilie D.
  Group Seven: Matt, Ian, Steven, Dan, Jacob
  Group Eight: Samantha, Melinda, Ashley, KC

After we discussed and got into groups, we had the rest of the hour to work on our modern pilgrimage projects. They are bound to be funny.

Also, a freshman opened the door, walked into our classroom, looked around, said, "This is not my class," and walked out. It was entertaining.

HOMEWORK: Leave comments about how you feel about the final (worries, concerns, likes, dislikes....), Modern Pilgrimage Projects are due on Wednesday.

School on Wednesday starts at 11:00 for everyone except for the juniors. Poor kids.

Hasta luego

Emily

Scribe- October 12, 2007

I would like to thank Leigh for the donuts- they were good like usual.

Homework:
College Scholarships!!- Due Monday, October 15th
Modern Pilgrimage Projects- Due Wednesday, October 17th

In-class Work:
Today we divided into our groups for the Modern Pilgrimage projects.
-The different groups include:
-Airports
-Oversea Flights
-Baseball Games
-Vail
-The Beach
-Disney World
-School
We created lists of the different kind of people we see at each of these places and brainstormed for the project.
We have to draw ONE kind of individual for the project and list qualities and characteristics of four more.

Friday was a pretty slow day and very relaxed.

Hope this helps answers any questions,

--Joe

Scribe october 10th, 2007

Hey everyone! so today we had a late start day, We talked briefly about the dodgeball tournament and the classes great enthusiasm.
- We started off by talking about how to work Google docs for our final project that well make the rubric for next week, to get on Google doc you use www.docs.google.com and the best part is that it's free!!!
- For the rest of the hour we read background information on the Canterbury Tales pg. 75-88, 99-104 we took some notes on these pages but mainly just talked as a class about them
-You need to know the four centuries of change on page. 82.
-we got a purple packet on Canterbury tales that helps us see the class pyramid in Britain, the 7 cardinal virtues, 7 deadly sins and so much more make sure you get this!!!
- We also talked about our modern day pilgrimage project that were going to start on friday and we also get monday yo work on this. It's groups of 3-4 and it due on wed the the 17th. we also got a hand out on the guide lines of this project.
-Don't forget the college scholarship project is due Monday.
-Oh and Lee didn't bring donuts!!!

I hope this was helpful, Jake

Scribe for Friday, October 5th

Ms. Smith started out class with the exhilarating story about her painful ovarian cist, which prevented her from running for several aggravating days and caused her to miss class on Wednesday.

Next we went over the homework, which is to prepare a note card for the Beowulf test on Monday. The test will be two in-class essays on relating Beowulf to the Anglo-Saxon culture and whether or not he fits the four stages of a hero. These stages are still available on Ms. Smith’s website. Remember that the note card should be concise, with a few points and an outline. The college scholarships are due October 15, and the Modern Pilgrimage Project will be due October 17.

We will be starting the Middle Ages unit on Wednesday.

Then we….

1. Circled the wagon

2. Went over cantos 12 and 13 (this was our homework from Wednesday)

3. Finished reading Beowulf together as a class

4. Discussed these last cantos

5. Went over the four stages of a hero

· We all gave examples for each stage and whether or not Beowulf follows them (this is what one of the test questions will be)

6. Anglo-Saxon recap

· Does Beowulf represent this culture?

· Remember for your essay… women, animism, Celtic aspects, oral tradition/poetry, Herot hall (gathering place), loyalty gained through leadership, and of course Christianity.

Obviously this was a very exciting conclusion to the Beowulf unit. Good look to all of you on your test on Monday.

Scribe-Wednesday Oct. 3rd

Michael brought donuts today. They tasted great.

Homework

• read Cantos 12-13 of Beowulf for Friday
• Focus on essay questions while reading Beowulf
• Scholarships due 10/15
• If you have not already, set up a conference with Mrs. Smith about your college essay.
• Scribe

Lesson Plan
We had a substitute today so the quiz turned into a group quiz. We got into groups of three people and took out one sheet of paper for the group. The quiz was over Beowulf cantos 1-11. The quizzes were then graded by other groups in the class after you switched papers. After that was time for the students to get reading done in Beowulf. We are supposed to read cantos 12-13 for Friday focusing on the essay questions that we will do at the end of the reading. They involve how this story relates to Anglo-Saxon culture as well as how Beowulf fits the 4 stages of a journey for a hero.

Scribe For Monday October 1st

Homework:
College scholarships (Due 10/15)
Test-Beowulf 2 in class essay questions (10/8)
Quiz over Beowulf 1-11 (Wednesday)

Notes on Beowulf 1-7
1. Good vs. evil, Christianity replacing Celtic religion by creation of the world, Grendel comes from hell on earth, spawned in slime( evil, monster) born of jealousy
2. Gathering in hall/herot same as Anglo Saxon, Grendel=Shadow of death which is a kenning-combination of words to describe something
3. Beowulf- stronger and greater than anyone anywhere in the world
4. Leaves weapons behind- Hrothgar is cautious, Beowulf shows good leadership beginning at 134, God must decide who will be given to death's cold grip-Fate in hands of god
6. Unferth's challenge: Questioning of Beowulf, god is doing things that were unaware of
7. Gold ring queen (kenning) Beowulf puts Ecglaf in his place which makes Hrothgar realize his power

Good Evil
Creation Spawn of slime
Gathering at Herot Grendel
Hrothgar's throne Cain-jealousy
Protected by god Hell on earth
God above king
Beowulf

Anglo
Gathering at hall
influence of Christianity
God protects Hrothgar's throne
Sacrificed to old stone
Loyalty- repayment for deeds

Epic Hero
Larger than life figure from a history of legend, participates in cyclical journey or quest, faces adversaries that try to defeat him in his journey, returns home significantly transformed by his journey, recurring charaters in the legends of their native culture

Hey! Scribe of the day

Friday September 28, 2007
· Today we were without Smith (because she was at a pumpkin patch or something…), but we were taken good care of, by Mrs. Ritzdorf.

· At first, there was some confusion whether or not we were starting or finishing Beowulf. I guess the teacher was looking at the plan for next Friday, but all was ok because we in fact had not read any of the story, so we began reading Beowulf.
· We “circled our wagons,” but for some reason it was not the same as it is, without Mrs. Smith but we were able to move on.
· We read from pages 21-32 up to canto 8.
· While reading we kept in mind the questions:
o How does Beowulf fit the Journey of a Hero? (Innocence, chaos etc…)
o How Beowulf connects with the Anglo-Saxon history
· We compared an Epic Hero from a Tragic hero, learning that:
o An Epic hero fights a physical monster or life-form
o A Tragic hero fights internally with him/herself
· Major characters introduced were
o Grendel
o Hrothgar
o Unferth
o Beowulf
· Basically, the story needs to defeat a monster, and Beowulf comes and explains that he can do it, very boastful, saying he can do it without a weapon, is not afraid of danger and explains that he has defeated a monster in his past.

· Our Homework:

o College Scholarships due 10/15
o Our test over Beowulf Monday 10/8
o We have a quiz over cantos 1-11 next Wednesday
Thanks!
-Michael

Scribe- September 26, 2007

Today I thought would be a easy day to scribe because of the shortened class period but I was proven wrong. I would like to thank Karm and Rebecca for the donuts- they were very good.

Homework:
• Final Essay conference due tomorrow or by early next week
• College scholarships due October 15th
• Begin reading Beowulf on Friday

We addressed questions regarding Beowulf that should be kept in mind while we read the story.
a. How does Beowulf connect with Anglo-Saxon history? What are some specific examples to prove he fits with this era?
b. How does Beowulf fit the journey of a hero? Innocence, initiation, chaos, resolution

We had an in class project in which we had to create posters of Anglo- Saxon history. We divided into groups and created posters of 3-4 helpful points to keep in mind while reading Beowulf. These will provide good information for notes as well.
The group topics included:
1. The Celtic Hero’s and Heroine’s:
• Celtic religion was based around animism (spirits everywhere controlled all aspects of life).
• Celtic Legends: Full of women and stories full of magic, animals, love affairs, and adventures.
• Celtic Mythology: influenced writers for centuries
• “Celtic myths take you to enchanted lands where magic and imagination rule”
2. Anglo- Saxon Life: The Warm Hall, the Cold World
• Not barbarians, but usually depicted that way
• More interested in warfare and not in learning the arts
• Responsibility is most important in leadership
• Followers received fame, success, and riches through loyalty to their leader
• Ex: Beowulf earned his fame by defeating the monsters trying to kill his leader, King Hrothger.
• Important that they lived in a closely built community
• Created security, close relationships between leader and followers, helped with community discussions and rule by consensus
3.The Bards:
• The Anglo- Saxon communal hall was a place for shelter and art.
• They sang about the gods and heroes
• The “non- Christians” used poetry to allow heroes to love on after death
4.Women in Anglo- Saxon Culture:
• Women were granted rights curtailed in 1066
• Inherited and held property even when married
• Joined and highly involved in religious gatherings- often obtained power in Abbies
• Implemented various forms of educational aides/learning centers
5. Anglo- Saxon Religion: gods for warriors
• Odin was god of death, poetry and magic--- polytheistic
• Days of the week still bear names of Anglo- Saxon gods.
• Ex: Thors day= Thursday and Wodens day= Wednesday
• The dragon was a significant figure in mythology
• ----Treasure guardian and bringer of death and destruction


After we finished making the posters we discussed the meaning of each and then moved to modern day heroes. We compiled lists of our heroes and the qualities hero’s posses.
Our hero list included:
• American soldiers
• Oprah
• Firefighters and policemen
• Our families, including our parents, siblings and legal guardians
• Surgeon’s and physicians, including my uncle
• Teachers- Mr. Trotter, Mr. Hatak, Mr. Wallace, and Ms. Durow
• Best friends and girlfriends and boyfriends
And our list of qualities of a hero included:
• Brave
• Driven
• Loyal
• Kindness
• Respectful
• Trustworthy
• Tolerant
• Disciplined
• Do what is right
• Empathy
• Supportive
• Intellectual
• Experienced
• Love what they do
• Devoted
• Humble
• Go out of their way

Sorry Beowulf isn't underlined or italicized for some reason my computer won't let me.
Anyways enjoy,

-Joe

Scribe September 24, 2007

In class today many things happened, this is just an overview:
- Look at samples of final project, how do we combine the two ideas?
- Check out the big books ( if you don’t already have one)
- Read pg. 2-19 (in the big book) and take notes
- Homework:
o Complete writing conference (THIS MUST BE DONE BY FRIDAY)
o Finish the reading from class and take notes, THERE COULD BE A QUIZ ON THE READING ON WEDNESDAY IF THERE IS NO DISCUSSION.
o Post a comment on www.learningandlaptops.blogspot.com under the category google groups. This is about posting our college essays online. If it doesn’t work here are some helpful hints: First sign in before trying to post, then write your comment and watch for it to post, if it does not appear on the screen push the F5 button to refresh it.

When discussing the final project the main question asked was how to combine the idea of a time magazine article and the OED entry and how to present that. Some decisions were made it must meet there standards…
- Discuss the historical periods attributes
- Relate literature to modern times
- Define hero through the journey
- Must be comprehensive
- Work in groups
- Multimedia with writing
- Creativity
- Modern examples
- Use all pieces of Literature
- OED definition
- Documentary: What is a hero? (this is a possible style of project)
- Possible the using the OED entry as an introduction to the rest of the project
- Multimedia: Condensed OED entry
Movie clips to expand definition
- Definition in magazine
She is offering a time to conference on your groups idea before the project is due to let you know if it is a good idea etc..

We will be waiting to make the rubric (as a class) until we have read more of the works.

Also in class today we were told what the test for Beowulf. It will be an in-class essay on the following questions:
1. Relate Beowulf to the 4 stages of a hero (from the power point on her web page)
2. How does Beowulf fit the Anglo-Saxon time period?
a. Ex. If there a dominate woman? Is faith present?
One note card total will be allowed.

Thank you!! Enjoy!

September 21, 2007

Hey Everyone!

Scribe today..

1.I will start off by saying that the students who have not made an appointment yet with Mrs. Smith about the writing conference need to do that ASAP because it is due by 9/27. Also the students who already made an appointment; Don't froget your meeting time and be on time.
Mrs.Smith off hours are- MWF;1,6/TH;1,4,6(at the study center) So make sure you sign up.

2.Class started off today by Mrs. Smith telling the class about copying off the Beo Wolf story on the book that all of us got today. It will be alot easier for us that way because then we don't have to keep carrying the big huge purple book around.

3.Joe, Brooks and Michael were kind enough to hand out the Element of literature book to everybody in class which was really nice. Thank you guys. :)

4.Everybody got a chance to do their presentation today. The first group to present was Becka, Shanon, Sue and Shawn. They did Scene II, Ode III. They chose the View for their skit and the table was their significant prop.
The second group to present was Sam, Steven, Matthew, Ian and Dan. Sam played Jocasta which was pretty interesting, Steven played Oedipus, Matthew played Creon, Ian played the chorus leader and Dan played the Messenger. They did a stereotype of highschool. And I belive the Altar of the Monkey was their significant prop. They did the Scene II, Ode II.
The third group to present was Joe, Brooks, Michael, Kyle and Jacob. Brooks played as the driver/sphinx, Kyle played as King Laius, Joe played Oedipus the king, Michael played as the drunk, and Jacob played Jocasta. And this all took place in London by the way. :) The crown was their significant prop. And correct me if Im wrong but I think the scene they did was Prequil Part II..?!!
The fourth group to present was Emily D., Aly, Charlie and Emily H. Emily D. played as the news man, Aly and Emily H. played as the girls walking in the street,Charlie played Oedipus the homeless. They performed in class and the sign that Charlie (Oedipus) was holding was their significant prop.
The fifth group to present in class was Jackie, Ryan, Leigh, and Jack. Jackie played as the prophet and Merope, Ryan played as Polybus, Leigh played as the Messenger and Jocasta, Jack played as King Laius. They modernized their play. The baby and the trashcan was their significant prop. And the scene they did was Prequil Part II.

Everybody's presentation was awesome! Good job working together as groups and also Good job for the effort that everybody put in the presentations.

5.Mrs.Smith was talking about her interesting idea about our final for the end of the first semester. The idea was to pick our own groups and create a definition of a hero. And she also wants us to get ideas from the books we've read and are going to read to help us with this final. Mrs.Smith also wants us to use OED (Oxford English Dictionary) because it has some great definition of a hero. Mrs.Smith also wants us to start checking out that website to just get a feel of what we might do and to just gather information to get started.! So if you have any more questions ask Mrs.Smith or feel free to blog and ask me.! :)

PS. Our Hw. for Monday is- Writing Conference, Read 2-19, 47 and take notes, scribe and check out big books.

That's all for today..
Have a great weekend everyone! :)

WEDNESDAY THE 19TH OF SEPTEMBER
It's a great day to be a Warrior

Hello class! As you read in the scribe from Monday, Ms. Smith was not here (and it was sad), and we looked for scholarships for our project that is due MONDAY OCTOBER 15 (which also happens to be the other day I'm scribing)

HOMEWORK: FINISH OEDIPUS PROJECTS. MAKE THEM A+ PRESENTATIONS. EVERYONE IS PRESENTING THIS FRIDAY. Sign up for a conference to grade your college essay with Ms. Smith by Sept. 27. Work on your scholarship search and applications.

I'll try out the bulleted list for what we did today...

1. We ate delicious donuts that Jacob and Steven brought. Thank you, gentlemen.
2. We turned in our Oedipus is a Hero essay tests
3. We got out laptops to follow along with Mrs. Lewallen as we searched for scholarships
4. Mrs. Lewallen left and we had the rest of the hour to look around on our own

Here is what we learned about scholarships:

• Fastweb has tons of scholarships, but everyone who has a Fastweb account is also competing for them, which means you have to fight about one thousand other people for the money, which can be difficult, so instead we went to...
• Naviance (AHS page - For Students - link on the left side of page) has a list of scholarships that are local (which means that they will be a teeny bit easier to get)
• If you don't have a Naviance account, you need to go set one up in the Post-Grad Center
• Go to Scholarship List under About College, and you will find a list of scholarships that are marked for if they are need or merit based, if they require an essay, and if community service is needed to apply. It is a rather fantastic thing that saves a lot of time.
• Most of the scholarships have online applications, but if you need one, you can get one for any of the scholarships listed from the Post-Grad Center. Additionally, when you click on a scholarship, the description page usually has a link to the actual web page and/or a contact address. USE THE CONTACT ADDRESS! They are useful.
• The Peak Achievement scholarship we looked at was for Univ. of Wyoming, but Mrs. Lewallen didn't really like that one... A scholarship she did like, though, was the Student Integrity scholarship. It's local, and the website has a very extensive list of contact information.
• "Be aggressive when you apply for scholarships". Just do it.

Other resources you can use to find scholarships can be found if you go to AHS page, Guidance Center, Post-Grad Center, and then World Wide Web Resources. It has a long list of sites you can use.

If you weren't here today, you are lucky, because the laptops were being... unhelpful to at least 6 people today. I went through five before I found one that had enough battery, agreed to let me log on, and didn't have a screen that had been flipped upside down. Other people had some issues with the internet connection (even though signal strength was supposedly high) and battery levels...

Don't forget, this Friday we are presenting our Oedipus projects instead of doing the test because, of course, we have all already done it. Please make them good. We have no excuse for a bad one, because we got four extra days to work on it, and plus, we owe it to Ms. Smith for even giving us those days.

Blog me if you have any questions! emilyl :>

Scribe For Monday September 17th

To begin class Ms. Smith gave us two options to vote on which were about our modernized plays. The option which the majority of the class voted on was to work on our plays during class and then perform them on Friday, and get our essay question which we would take home and write and bring on Wensday.

Essay question: How does Oedipus fit the definition of a hero? Using the stages of the journey to explain. You can find the power point on Smith's web page titled hero. You should inclued a paragraph for eath stage, and your paper should be no more than three pages long. Once again the essay is due Wensday.

College Essays: Ms. Smith was having difficulties grading our essay's and as a class we decided that we would sign up for a conference by September 27th so that you could discuss your grade and learn what you did well and what you good improve on.

Wensday: Ms. Smith will not be at school. We will be looking up scholarships online, we must research and apply to 5 scholarships by October 15th. Also, you must print off application and what you sent in to turn in.

We were then given time to meet with our groups and polish our performances and at the end of class we watched one perfomance

Scribe For Friday, September 14th

Scribe For Friday, September 14th
Hello everyone! Today was a shortened class because of the homecoming pep assembly. However, in class we finished reading Oedipus. He finally discovered the horrible truth and reacted by stabbing out his eyes and talking to the people of Thebes. There was a class discussion in which many comments were made about why he did this. He was a very loyal leader to Thebes and it is thought that he still needed to be honest with his people. We also had a discussion about homecoming. Hopefully everyone has a fun and SAFE time. The skits for Oedipus are due on Monday and will be preformed in class, so make sure to bring all props and be prepared; which might mean you have to get together after your long night of getting down on the dance floor. Ha Ha. Have fun everyone!

The Superb Scribe! Wednesday 9/12/2007

Hello all! So this is the scribe for today, September 12, 2007! Enjoy.

• The class period started out today with a brief absence of Smith, in which we pondered as to her whereabouts. Our worst fears were cleared however, when she returned to tell us just how frustrated she was at homecoming week, because events such as Prom and Homecoming, are in fact called extra-curricular activities for a reason. She pointed out that we attend school for a reason, sometimes referred to as "learning", and therefor should not focus our energy on these other activities. (We'll be hearing the so dubbed "Homecoming Speech" in it's entirety on Friday).
• We then discussed the whereabouts of our 3 missing students, Ali, Leigh, and Steven, and came to the conclusion that Leigh was just MIA, Steven's at Virginia Tech, and Ali is either getting her appendix removed or she's just clumsy.
• Miss Emily then asked about the online college essays because her essay has no comments on it. Smith had the brilliant idea of listing on the scribe the titles of the essays that need comments on them. So, here are the lists of essays that need some constructive comments:

Smith 21 - "My Crossroads in Life - College Essay"

Smith 13 - "Goals for Life"

Smith 11 - "Search for Identity"

Smith 2 - "Who I am"

Smith 7

Smith 23 - "Christ Follower"

"Second Chance"

Smith 26? - "Who am I?"

• The class then voted on what we would be accomplishing in class for the day and then on Friday. The following options were voted on:

A: To finish reading Oedipus in class and work in our groups on Friday

B: To split the days into part reading, and part group work

C: (Brooks' choice) To finish reading Oedipus outside of class, and work in groups for the entirety of both class periods

D: (Sam's brilliant idea) To work in groups today and to read on Friday

• We decided democratically by majority vote on option "D", and therefor will be reading Oedipus in class on Friday.

A little something about Smith: She's a passionate fan of the Television series "Seinfeld"

I hope you all enjoyed my scribing, and if anyone has any questions, just post and I'll try to answer any question to the best of my abilities. Thanks!

Hello from scribe!!

Hello from the scribe
Hello to all who were abscent on Monday, Sep.10,2007. Or hello to those who just wanted to read my blog.So today was a pretty easy day. Today, we started the period of with Ms. Smith having to eat her pop tart. I guess it was yummy, since she HAD to eat it. Then we talked about our homework.- Homework
comment on other people's essay not in Ms. Smith's class. You need to have 5 comments by Wed.. If you make the comments too long, it will cut you off , so make it short but constructive and make suggestions.
Your final college essay is due this Friday. Make sure it is clean cut and spankalicious. If you want to get a really good grade, Mrs. Smith loves anything with chocolate and peanut butter combined, keep that in mind.Important Dates:
9/15: Final college essay is due.
9/17: The performances for modernizing scenes in Oedipus due.
9/19: Learn about college scholarships; if you want to get ahead, look at the scholarships your college offers.
9/22: The Oedipus test: in class essay, we will get the question we will be anwswering on Wed.
Now back to what we did. after we talked about the homework then the important dates, we then got a hand out about modernizing scenes in Oedipus. We then got into groups for about 5 mins., picked the scene we were doing and seeing when we could meet. Mrs. Smith wants these scenes proffesional, funny, and performed with excellence. You can either act it out in class or video tape it and show that to the class. if you are using any form of technology, it is your responsibillity to make sure it works before Monday. There are no excuses of why you can't go on Moday so BE PREPARED. If you weren't here today, you will need to pick up the packet and see what group you are in and any other things you will need to know. We will have time in class both Wed. and Fri. to work on it, so use yoru time wisely becuase you know that homecoming is this weekend.
Lastly, we began reading Oedipus. We started on page 48 and ended on page 62. We really didn't discuss that much about the book. Mrs. Smith did bring up the question, "Does Oedipus truelly see?" She said this because he really does not see what is right in front of him. That is a wrap on this blog, thank you and good night.
Mrs. Smith's joke:
Knock Knock?
Who's there?
An interupting cow.
An interupting cow who?
MOOOOOO!
At least I think that is the joke you told Mrs. Smith.
Posted by karmk at 8:47 PM

Today: Friday, September 07, 2007

Homework for the weekend: scribe (which is me), work on final essay (due next Friday, must conference before next Friday), make sure you’re signed up for a conference, post essay online.

Today wasn’t too eventful; it went a little like this:

We came to conclude that next week is going to be bomb (more like jacked, according to Smith). We’re going to have our Homecoming assembly Monday, PLC late start on Wednesday, and the Pep Assembly Friday. Wahoo!

Mrs. Smith continued to pass around the conference sign up, if you haven’t signed up by now, I’m thinking that you should probably get on that.

We then took out the laptops so we could post our essays online and did musical chairs (peer editing style) and peer edited other essays on each computer.

Also, Mrs. Smith posted next week’s schedule for all of you type A students out there.

So, that’s really all we did today, I would double check and look at what Mrs. Smith posted as to what we did today on her powerpoints on her teacher webpage, just incase I missed anything. Everyone…have a good weekend.

September 5, 2007

I. English World Literature
A. Introduction
1. Hope you like the concise format
2. Any questions, post them and I will answer to the best of my ability
3. Today was a great day to learn and Momma Smith was ready for it too.

B. Donuts
1. Lamar's Donuts distributed by Bobkowski, our hockey stud, and they were enormous donuts.
2. Ate in front of classroom away from laptops.
3. Wiped down with cleansing wipes to take glaze off our typing fingers, which later on would type upon the laptop keyboard.

C. College Essay
1. Go To Smith's Web Page, click on College Essay Link, sign in with Blogger account
-Blogger is owned by Google, Smith has hypothesized that Google will rule our world someday.
2. When signing in, you will be asked for a nickname. DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME! Youwill put "Smith#" (Your number corresponds with assigned numbers, if you need it talk to Momma Smith).
3. Once signed in, select College Essay Tab on Right Hand side. Underneath tab, an option will appear (add new page). Select this link to insert your own college essay onto the website.
4. From here you can copy and paste your finely polished and edited college essay. ADD YOUR SMITH NICKNAME TO THE END OF YOUR TITLE, THIS IS GOING TO BE ANONYMOUS!!!
5. Once completed, publish it and you will see it appear on the entire board of essays.
6. If you have any questions, please post!!!

D. Oedipus
1. We read through page 46 (I believe), we have heard Jocasta talk of why she doesn't believe in prophecies and summarize the prophecy of her doomed child. At this point, Oedipus' knees began to tremble in fear and his heart had dropped into the pocket of his stomach where his stomach had contracted into a twist which would crush his soul. At this point, his head span and the realization that this story was true of him hit him like a golf ball crack to the back of his head (As of last week I know how he feels). He now sends for a surviving witness to return to the kingdom so he can for once and for all decipher whether he truly has cursed himself to exile and death.
2. It was way legit and was an intense scene, even if you are too lazy to read for the grade, read for the edge-o-your-seat intensity thats about to rock the blood around in your head and your heart.

E. Homework
1. Refine college essay, post online by Friday.
2. Comment on five other essays (from Davis/Gaffney's classes ONLY!!!) by next Wednesday.
3. See Ms. Smith to take the oath of constructive criticism on blogging. There are serious parameters you must take and Ms. Smith would love to hear that you solemnly swear you can withhold society's Blogger criticism values. By the way, if she is lookin' down, gloomy, or even eccentric and happy, a caramel macchiado would satisfy her crave and cheer her up.

Remember, questions or comments, please do let me know.

Brooks

Friday, August 31, 2007

Hello, today in Ms. Smith’s class we….

1) Turned in college essay: Who am I?

2) Went over the homework for the weekend.

a) Select one college essay to post online for peers to comment and edit

b) DONUTS Wednesday

c) Writing conference on final essay

3) Circled up for Oedipus reading and discussion

4) Passed around Smith’s calendar to sign up for conferences

a) Must have an edited and improved copy of final college essay for the conference

b) These conferences will be the week of 9/4

5) Decided to add the insult “unholy defilement” to our vocabulary.

Oedipus Notes

v Tiresias (the blind prophet) didn’t want to tell Oedipus the truth about who the murderer is because he wouldn’t gain anything

Ø There was some serious dramatic irony action going on, which is always exciting

v Oedipus blames Tiresias for it, Tir. tells the truth, it becomes the “blame game”

v Oed. isn’t willing to listen to the gods because of pride; wants to control his own fate

v Tir. hints relationship between Oed. and Jocasta (ew)

v MOTIF OF EYES

Ø Oedipus has his sight, doesn’t see the truth

Ø Tiresias is blind, sees the truth and knows all

v Severe paranoia kicks in Oed. and he makes numerous accusations

v Townspeople are in “limbo” about what they think

v Brookes proclaimed that in real life, it is easier to accuse rather than admit

v Sam gave an example of how the truth is never easy to take

v Smart boys

The end.