It's been one week.

And like that, your first week is finished. Usually, I reserve this space for a short little ditty that I find interesting on any particular day, but we're getting back into the swing of things together, blogging about class happenings included. However, I will use this spot to plug a few things that hopefully grab your attention.

One, my Twitter feed is located to the right and when I'm not using it to make lame jokes or observations, the daily agenda will take up a lot of the timeline. Since keeping track of the agenda is worth a point per day, this is a great place to catch up on it should you ever be absent from class.

Second, you can "like" Mr. Talbot at Alta Loma High School on Facebook if you so desire. Look, I know it's lame to declare your "like" for a teacher in a public forum on the Internet, but I urge you to do so not because you actually do like me or the class yet. Do it instead because I post the link to all of the blog posts through the page; that way you don't have to constantly check the blog itself and a new entry's presence will just announce itself to you by way of your regular presence on the Facebook. Or don't. Ultimately, it's up to you.

Finally, Jon Morris has launched a new project called DC Fifty-TOO! that begins on Monday, August 15, leading up to the relaunch of DC Comics' latest big project, which I discussed over the summer. He's gathered a bunch of different cartoonists to do their own take on the DC Universe if they were given carte blanche to reboot the various series and characters. I'm really excited to see what comes out of this, moreso than the actual DC reboot since the latter has been either nonsensical or underwhelming save the idea of Grant Morrison getting a shot at building the Superman mythos from the ground up.

Frosh
Tuesday was the first day of school. I learned a little bit about you, and you learned a little bit about me. This is what's known as "building a foundation.

The administration decided to make a few changes and created a brand new fourth period on Wednesday. I asked you to look around the room and find something that caught your eye. You, in turn, described the object and then analyzed it for what it says about me as a teacher or the class overall while avoiding use of first person. Additionally, everyone came up with two facts about themselves and one plausible lie, and the class tried to determine which was which to varying degrees of success. Also, a few students should try to keep in mind the idea of "plausible," since being eight feet tall or Batman doesn't really fit that definition.

Thursday, you gave me a writing sample, and Friday you completed the Brigance and Botel assessments. Both of these were attempts to figure out where you stand at the current moment. Anything you weren't able to finish on these two days will be completed on Monday.

Seniors
On Tuesday, we did our introductions and I got an idea of some of the things you like.

Wednesday, we began reading This is Water by David Foster Wallace, discussing the speech at various points. Throughout the year and during the lit project, I'll be referring back to this piece as a means to remind you of your ability to choose. You get to choose what's important in your life and how important it is to you. Acknowledging your ability to do so is vital when determining things like theme and symbolism, so I hope you remember Wallace's speech while attempting your best analysis. I also assigned the quote assignment, urging you to focus more on the interpretation than the quote itself, since I care more about the words you write than the ones someone else has already written.

We finished This is Water on Thursday, and I asked you to write a short paragraph discussing your interpretation of the big idea to take away from it.

Friday, you turned in your quote assignment and we discussed the class overview as well as the Rules, Policies and What Not sheet I passed out to you the day before. We'll take another stab at discussing the quotes on Monday.

Banner Day, Banner Weekend, and a New Banner

Banner courtesy of Samir's Photoshop skillz (with a z!)

Take the time to check out the new banner of the blog. The previous one was made with my woefully inadequate Photoshop skills where I did a poor job of using the clone tool. Now, however, thanks to Samir, we have a banner worthy of a high school English class blog. Seriously, Samir took time out of his schedule to create this awesome banner, and for that, everyone should give him a hearty pat on the back.

My wife and I finally moved into a home that we "own." The bank actually owns most of it for the next 15 years or so, at which point, she and I become the majority owners. We won't own it outright until 2040, but all the problems that come with owning property are now mine, so it gives me the appearance of ownership. After all of the hassles of getting to last Saturday (of which there were many), I'm going to give into the illusion and say that I am a homeowner. Amazingly enough, I will be 60 years old when 2040 rolls around, and it's hard to believe that between now and that year is the same amount of time between the year of my birth and today. Our concept of time is astounding sometimes.

Frosh
You received the personal narrative essay guidelines and prompts on Thursday. Through writing the essay, you'll showcase the skill of demonstrating the difference between concrete detail (CD) and commentary (CM) by writing a four paragraph essay with a total of four chunks. Remember that a chunk consists of three sentences, a concrete detail followed by two commentary sentences.

Friday was our first Forward Friday where you took a pre-test to provide a baseline for where you currently stand in your test-taking abilities. The idea here will be to provide you with tips, tricks and knowledge to do well on the CSTs in the spring and the CAHSEE next year. The effort you put into this will directly correlate into how well you ultimately do, so make sure to be here and take it seriously.

Tuesday, you finished the pre-test and we briefly covered MLA format. Formatting your essay in the MLA stye will not be a major priority for this essay, but the sooner you get the hang of doing so, the easier the rest of your high school English classes will be. The final draft of the personal narrative essay will be due on Thursday, September 9.

Seniors
On Thursday, we really got the chance to discuss Plato's Allegory of the Cave in depth. Much like DFW's This is Water, Plato's Allegory provides a way of looking at life from a different point of view than many aren't used to taking. Part of why I really enjoy discussing this text is its relevance. Nearly 2400 years later, we can find connections between the prisoners in the cave, the puppeteers and the enlightened to any number of institutions. In a media-fueled world on a 24/7 news cycle, it's probably more relevant today than it has ever been.

Corporations that own the few media outlets available to a majority of the populace decide what those people are able to see; they determine what qualifies as news. Oftentimes if a piece of news doesn't fit the narrative that they wish to be the driving force of a story, it doesn't make air. Those in charge -- the puppeteers -- will attempt to make it more difficult to achieve enlightenment. There are avenues that you are able to explore, though. And that leads us to our bonus time down at the bottom of the entry.

Friday, you took the first lit terms test. A second test will be coming up on Friday, September 17.

Meanwhile, just about everyone had a lit project book on Tuesday. We discussed some of the best methods to be successful when annotating said books. Here are the things we decided:

• examples of lit terms in action (especially the proceeding three)
• motif
• theme
• symbol
• unfamiliar words (define them)
• commentary on what happens (explain your thoughts & opinions)
• important/notable passages (briefly explain why you think said passages are notable or important)
• character development (note new characters, character descriptions, or major changes to characters)
• ask questions (provide answers later, when possible)
• chapter summaries (describe three important things that happened)

Keep in mind that I'm a big fan of making sure you have equal parts highlighting and writing in your annotations. The first annotation check will be on Thursday, September 23.

Bonus Time (10 points) - In a modern world, what is the best practical way to achieve enlightenment? Notice the word practical is emphasized here. Keeping an open mind and allowing yourself to accept new ideas are ways to achieve enlightenment, but what is a specific action that an individual can take? What is something that an individual can do in today's world to achieve enlightenment? Respond in the comments in a minimum of five sentences with your name and period. This is geared toward seniors, but it's an opportunity that is open to everyone. Freshpeeps that wish to take a stab at answering will seem extra cool and probably earn a few more points if the answers are impressive.  Answers must be submitted by 11:59pm on Friday.

P.S. I won't have Internet access at home until at least Friday, but I do receive email during that time, which means that I will have the ability to read your comments. Blog updates (for the five people that actually follow) will probably be light until then.

3

And on the third day, Talbot phoned it in.

Frosh
Students finished the Brigance, completed the Botel and then utilized the rest of the time working on the I Am poems, which are due tomorrow.

Seniors
We finished and discussed "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace, with many people sharing what they believed to be the big idea from the speech. We also discussed what other things could be analogous to the water used in the anecdote/joke in the beginning of the speech. Ideas included school, societal life and the idea that everyone is living on a giant rock flying through space. After that, students wrote down questions about college life and class expectations, but we didn't get to delve deeply into too many answers.

This is School

Day two ended with me collapsing onto my couch with my dog for a nap. This going back to work thing is not easy.

Frosh
Students received the I Am poem assignment and worked on the Brigance assessment after I locked everyone into their seats. My goal is to know everyone's name by the end of next week, but please remember that I'm human and will make mistakes. If I happen to get a name wrong, feel free to flog me only in relation to the severity of the mistake.

Objective: Having completed the Brigance assessment, A S W write a first draft of the I Am poem.


Seniors
David Foster Wallace is one of my favorite authors. This was such a great way to start the year and I really hope it sets the tone for how we view everything we study. There really is a common through line between "This is Water" and how we can read the rest of the core literature. Additionally, there are many books in the lit project that also tie into some of the major themes of the speech. It's a tremendous piece of writing and I'm really looking forward to finishing it and hearing your thoughts tomorrow.

Objective: Having read "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace, A S W discuss its meaning and impact with the rest of the class.