VitaBeard

Beards are the best. This topic has come up more than a few times before, especially since my beard, at least the important beard-centric side portions, has always come up a subpar. My beard envy was only exacerbated over the summer when IFC aired their original program, Whisker Wars, a reality show about competitive bearding. These guys were so good at growing a beard that they gathered in one place and awarded each other trophies as tributes to their manliness.

The star and villain of the show, Jack Passion, earned the ire of other beard competitors, the Austin Facial Hair Club chief among them, by attempting to become the face of bearding and cash in on his facial hair growing ability. They think he's a sellout. While Passion does come across as a pompous jerk and a sore loser on the show, I can't blame him for trying to go pro and make some cash off of the fact that he doesn't shave. And, heck, it's worked, hasn't it? I follow the dude on Twitter, want to purchase his book, and now I'm relaying his latest endorsement mostly because I want it for myself.

It's a supplement that aids facial hair growth. To be clear, I have no false notion that this is anything other than a multivitamin, and even those are widely considered less than effective when their of the over the counter variety like this one. But I want to believe! I desperately want to think that this one pill, taken 2 to 6 times daily will make my beard fuller, thicker and more luscious. Don't be another Rogaine, VitaBeard. Don't break my heart.

Frosh
On Monday, we continued our discussion of Fahrenheit 451. The important idea that we focused on was the idea of perception and how allowing others to craft the perception of an argument or a rule grants them the power to create said rule's implementation. If others have that power, they control the idea, and controlling an idea is very effective tool when someone has an agenda.

Tuesday, the Link Crew came in and gave a presentation for the first half of the period and you annotated your books for the second half.

Everyone received a work day on the Censorship Project on Wednesday. You will have one more work day next week where you'll receive the rubric for the presentation as well as sign up for a spot to present. As a rule of thumb, I'm usually a much more lenient grader on those who volunteer to go first than I am than those who attempt to go last. Presentations begin the week of November 7. You'll have a rehearsal day on the Monday, and the following three days after that will be devoted to presentations.

Today, the plan is to introduce the concept of irony and attempt to make sure everyone can identify it in practice in our reading of Fahrenheit 451.

Seniors
We discussed the idea and implementation of evil, both in practice and as a concept, on Monday.

Tuesday, I collected your Thesis/Theme worksheets, and we collectively attempted to fix the level questions and theme statements of volunteers. Hopefully, you took this as a chance to modify your own by applying your own understanding to how you should construct your theme.

You received a day devoted to working on either the CD creation project or annotating your lit books on Wednesday.

Thursday, I tried something completely new and foreign to me with mixed results. We discussed archetypes and I asked you to write down your own examples of archetypes in small groups on the whiteboards I provided. However, I don't think my instructions were very clear. I modified them in asking you to come up with an archetype together (My example was the arrogant jerk boyfriend.) and then have each individual in the group come up with a different example (Bradley Cooper in Wedding Crashers and Stu's girlfriend from The Hangover both qualified.) all written on those shiny new whiteboards. With some clearer instructions, I think this is something I'll look forward to doing again next year.

Meta Blogging

This guy is almost as frustrated
as I am with my lack of posting.

See what happens when I get bogged down with doing my job? I fail to update the blog about my job! THIS IS A TRAVESTY AND UNTOWARD! This is a disservice to myself more than anyone because holding off on writing the daily happenings of the class means that I tend to forget aspects of each day, resulting in this blog entry becoming a chore. If details are spotty, that's why. Also, I don't get to do the fun pre-amble as I instead focus on some expository writing on why I haven't been writing, which is the most boring writing to ever exist. But here we are.

Frosh
Monday, September 26 - You needed to have Fahrenheit 451 by this day. We began covering the Elements of Theme in our notes. When creating a theme statement, the key is to first decide on any of the number of topics a story addresses (what the story is about), and then figure out what the story reveals about said topic (what the story is trying to say).

Tuesday, September 27 - We continued our discussion on the Elements of Theme. You also began reading The Scarlet Ibis

Wednesday, September 28 - You continued reading The Scarlet Ibis and worked to fill out your story charts, which, hopefully, led you to creating a valid theme statement.

Thursday, September 29 - Everyone turned in The Scarlet Ibis story chart and then spent the rest of the period working on the newspaper projects in their groups.

Friday, September 30 - Newspaper projects were due this day, and we spent a portion of the period looking at everyone's work. We also attempted to come up with our own theme statement for The Scarlet Ibis so that everyone else could come up with three possible theme statements for the story by the following Monday.

Monday, October 3 - Students received an annotation day to work on their reading of Fahrenheit 451.

Tuesday, October 4 - You received the Thematic Paragraph assignment and we went over themes you created together as a class.

Wednesday, October 5 - I gave you a series of statements that are thematically linked to Fahrenheit 451, and asked you to respond to them with whether or not you agree or disagree. Meanwhile, I also checked your books for annotations on the first 35 pages of the book.

Thursday, October 6 - In small groups, you discussed your opinions on the Fahrenheit 451 anticipation/reaction statements. This led to a whole group discussion where we talked about the views of your group.

Friday, October 7 - You turned in your Thematic Paragraph and took a quiz on the first 35 pages of Fahrenheit 451.

Tuesday, October 11 - We graded the first quiz together as a class as a means to discuss the first half of Part One of Fahrenheit 451.

Wednesday, October 12 - I collected your annotations for the rest of Part One and you took an in-class essay addressing the need for people to read books.

Thursday, October 13 - We finally went back to discussing your take on the anticipation/reaction statements. The goal here is to make connections to the book and clarify some of the more confusing aspects of it by framing your understanding through these statements.

Friday, October 14 - You received a day to annotate your books.

Monday, October 17 - We spent this day becoming acquainted with the library.

Tuesday, October 18 - I assigned your Censorship Project and answered questions on it. In groups of your choosing, you began working on a worksheet that explored the meaning of censorship.

Wednesday, October 19 - Your group turned in the censorship survey and then used the rest of the class period as a work day.

Thursday, October 20 - You took a quiz on the rest of part one and all of part two of Fahrenheit 451. After finishing the quiz, you wrote down ten questions on anything that occurs in the first two parts of the book for our discussion on Friday.

Friday, October 21 - We discussed all of part one and two of Fahrenheit 451.

Seniors
Monday, September 26 - You received the Persuasion Portfolio, formed groups and began working.

Tuesday, September 27 - Everyone turned in their Timed Writing 1 Revisions and worked on the Persuasion Portfolio.

Wednesday, September 28 - We watched No Logo and you answered questions regarding the documentary/speech.

Thursday, September 29 - Everyone took the comprehensive lit terms test and turned in the No Logo questions by the end of the period.

Friday, September 30 - Students worked on the Persuasion Portfolio for the last day.

Monday, October 3 - Persuasion Portfolios were due this day. I gave you a proofreading assignment to ensure your understanding of sentence run-ons and fragments.

Tuesday, October 4 - We corrected the proofreading assignment together as a class with some explanation. You then received a day to annotate your lit books.

Wednesday, October 5 - I gave you a list of forceless words that you should avoid in your writing that also contained a few lists of suggested words to improve your analysis. We then explored what analysis looks like by looking at examples and discussing how much summary should be included when analyzing literature. The answer? Very little. Remember that the assumption when writing any type of analysis is that your reader is familiar with and has read the work in question.

Thursday, October 6 - I collected your second Article Selection assignment. We then read about and discussed the Radical Honesty movement and how it could feasibly apply to a person's everyday life. We also started to go over level questions. Here's a lovingly crafted example using a then recent episode of Mad Men as a base that I wrote last year.

Friday, October 7 - We continued going over level question and applying them to your lit books.

Tuesday, October 11 - You received a day to annotate your lit books.

Wednesday, October 12 - As a way to introduce ourselves to Beowulf, we went over a truncated (and sometimes sarcastic) look at the Anglo Saxons and their history.

Thursday, October 13 - This day was focused on your second in-class Timed Writing and turning in your books for an annotation check.

Friday, October 14 - After looking at laws that existed between the fifth and eighth century, you discussed what these laws said about the Anglo Saxon society in small groups.


Monday, October 17 - I assigned the CD Creation project and showed off examples, both good and bad, of past projects. The key for this one is having a viable theme statement that can apply to your lit book before you even attempt to choose any kind of song. Please keep that in mind, since this project is worth 150 points and due on November 17.

Tuesday, October 18 - You turned in your second Timed Writing Revision. I assigned two theme-based worksheets, one asking you to write down subjects and revelations and another exploring level questions leading to a theme, both of which are due Tuesday, 10/25.

Wednesday, October 19 - This was a CD Creation project work day.

Thursday, October 20 - We discussed the hero's journey and where we've seen examples of it in stories we have all experienced before. In a longer form, we applied the hero's journey to Finding Nemo and then you were given time to work on the bonus assignment that was due the next day.

Friday, October 21 - As a class, we discussed the idea of evil, and you answered some questions about its nature.

And SCENE.

Why Brock Lesnar never kept a beard during his WWE run will forever elude me.

With Veronica Mars arriving tomorrow, I'm left to wonder how Spider-Man will handle having another dog in the house. He's always had the attitude of a much bigger dog. Whenever he's hung out with them, he likes to put the bigger dogs in line by rough housing in an attempt to get the larger canines to chase him around. Dogs his size or smaller are another matter. He's always had a rough time with those dogs, getting a distinct growl going or just walking away from them altogether. It's going to be quite the adjustment for him tomorrow, but I'm hoping he figures it out.

Frosh
We continued reading The Scarlet Ibis. The older brother can be a bit of a jerk, but you haven't seen the worst of him yet. Keep track of those details and their larger meaning on the story chart. You are getting plenty of time to do this well since it isn't due until Tuesday, October 25.

Seniors
You worked on the Anglo-Saxon laws worksheet, which will be due at the end of class on Friday. Remember that examining the laws a society enacts is the best way to analyze the values that society holds dear. Tomorrow, the the third Article Selection is due, and I'll be checking your books for the next sections annotations. Be prepared to dive deep into the timed writing because there's more asked of you on this one than on any of the previous writings we've done in class before.

BROCKTOBER COUNTDOWN
Here's a video of Brock Lesnar giving an F5 to a shark.

Introducing Veronica Mars the Dog

Say hello to Veronica Mars (the dog).

My wife has never been able to solely name a pet. She's the youngest of three kids, so the pets her family had were named by her older siblings. When we first discussed getting a dog, I jokingly said that we should name it Spider-Man, and the name stuck once we met the undersized dude. Ever since we bought our house, we've been in the market for another dog. Angela, throughout all of the talk of adding a new furry friend to our household, has been insistent that she get to name our new addition. For a long time, she had her heart set on French Fry, no matter the dog we inevitably get. I fully supported this because of my love of the cartoon show, Futurama, as I could call the dog Fry. Once the naming pendulum swung back my way, it would make room for me to add a Bender to our brood, allowing the two to have intergalactic adventures. Never mind that I'm thinking two dogs in the future, I wanted the opportunity for matching names.

We were also waiting for the right time to add a new pet. One of the many things life has taught me is that there's never a right time for anything. Things just happen because the universe is equal parts random, beautiful and ugly. Which is why, despite the fact that we've had a weekend trip in place to attend UFC 121 for months, we still decided to adopt a three year old tricolor beagle from Rancho Cucamonga Animal Care & Services, which is a local no-kill shelter. We've been checking the site regularly for the past few weeks, and "Sadie" popped up. The moment my wife saw the picture (which is not the picture above, unfortunately), she immediately thought the dog was on some sort of caper. When anyone thinks of capers in the Talbot household, Veronica Mars, a short-lived detective show that launched the career of Kristen Bell, immediately comes to mind. The name suits her well, another reason that my wife is awesome in ways that words can't fully describe.

How Spider-Man will react to Veronica Mars back at our house will be another matter for another day. The two met and didn't hate each other, which is a promising sign. The shelter has to spay Veronica Mars before we can take her home, and the earliest that can happen is Thursday.

Frosh
We began reading The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst. While reading the tragic tale of Doodle and his older brother, you'll be on the look out for details that lend themselves to larger meanings. The story chart, which is due Tuesday, Brockctober 25, will need to have ten of those details along with the larger meanings in order to receive full credit. Additionally, you'll need to create a theme statement for the overall story; hopefully the chart will aid you in doing so. Look for patterns and motifs, especially Hurst's use of color.

Seniors
Today we started our unit on Beowulf by looking at a brief history on Anglo Saxons. It was a pretty tumultuous time in what is now known as England, but it makes for some fascinating bits of information. We'll look a little bit more at the historical context of the time period in the coming days. The key thing to remember is that Beowulf represents a transition between the pagan ways of the past to the newer ideas Christianity represents.

BROCKTOBER COUNTDOWN
As excitement for Brocktober 23 continues to build, let's take a look at Brock Lesnar's debut fight in the main event of K1 Dynamite USA's show at the LA Coliseum back in 2007. Just three short years later, and Brock is the UFC champ. The amazing thing about this show is that the guy made his MMA debut in the main event of a major non-UFC pay per view. Sure, it did lousy business because any company not named UFC has a hard time doing anything right when trying to market a big event. Still, Brock Lesnar's debut!

Spirit of 76 (Entries)

Who's the Teach?

While not a milestone entry by any means, I do like all of the patriotic connotations that come with number 76. Also, the gasoline is also a perk, especially if they give it to me free for the product integration. You hear that, Unocal? I'm on your side!

Since my jaw decided to be a jerk Tuesday, I spent a little time in front of the television. I tried to be productive during the first part of the day and largely succeeded as I read a hefty portion of a book I've been meaning to tackle. Eventually, when I turned on the TV, I saw this new A&E show called Teach: Tony Danza. And I'm conflicted.

Tony Danza is an older gentleman who was a well-known actor back in my formative years whose star has fallen a bit recently. He's best known for his role on a show called Taxi and his own starring vehicle called Who's the Boss: in both shows he played characters named Tony, which has been a bit of a running joke about the guy for his entire career. He may not be good at responding to names other than his own. This A&E reality show focuses on Danza taking a job as a 10th grade English teacher in urban Philadelphia. While this sounds like a horrible SNL joke, it's real, and the opening of the show tries to immediately cut down criticism by noting that the titular figure originally went to school and earned a bachelor's degree in History with an intent to become a teacher. There's good and bad that goes along with the show, so I'd prefer to break it down that way.

The Bad

• None of the particulars are laid out to the audience. From what I can gather, Danza has one class of 26 students, all of whom volunteered for or asked to be in the class, along with a "teaching instructor" who has the job of monitoring him all day, every day. This means that Danza is really more of a student teacher. That's probably in the best interest of the students, but it doesn't really explore the reality of the profession, especially that of an urban high school.
• Some of the administrators are incredibly condescending towards Danza. On the first day of school, Danza forgets to sign in and an assistant principal chastises him loudly in front of students and other teachers, going so far as to emasculate him by ordering him to stop being vain and put on his glasses to sign on the correct line. People are people and none of them are perfect, and despite any problems I've ever had with an administrator, and, granted, I've had very few, none has ever been so unprofessional as to berate me in front of students or colleagues. This is probably more of a problem with this particular school and that particular administrator. It's possible that she didn't appreciate the idea of an actor making a reality show mockery of a school she adores. Either way, it made Danza look incompetent, her look mean and the school look bad.

The Good

• The guy cares. At one point his instructional coach asks if Tony has cried yet today at which point he breaks down. He cries three to four times in the first episode alone, and nothing about his tears feels disingenuous. Trust me, I've seen plenty of episodes of Who's the Boss? and Tony Danza is not that great of an actor.
• However, what the show gets right is that caring isn't enough. Tony's good intentions aren't enough to make him a good teacher. It takes experience and failure before a person can start to learn how to teach effectively, let alone well. I still feel like I need to be vigilant in making sure that I don't become complacent as a teacher. The students think Tony's first test isn't fair and feel that he grades it too harshly. However, his first instinct is to blame it on the students not reading. Like most things, the truth is somewhere in the middle. After six years as a teacher at ALHS and two years prior to that as a sub, I'm still getting the hang of making sure that any assessment I utilize works well and truly gives me an idea how much or if students learn to be critical thinkers. The show showcases this idea remarkably well.
• My favorite parts of the show are the interviews with the students. They give completely honest opinions about Tony, and so far those reviews are rarely glowing. It makes me wonder what my students think of me, or what they thought of me when I was starting out. I know I'm better at my job now than I was when I started and would like to think that those kids from the past would benefit from what I've learned in the years since they were first in my class. 
• In a tumultuous time in education, when so many people are Waiting for Superman, it's nice to see a show dealing with education that doesn't make it, the institution or the people running the show out to be such abject failures. Sometimes, teachers do a good job, even the new and inexperienced ones who are having their hands held. I appreciate that most of all.

So check it out. The show repeats on A&E all of the time between the shows about paranormal children and people with debilitating drug habits.

Frosh

Friday, we moved forward.

Today, we finished off the Elements of Theme notes. Please keep in mind the theme statement checklist. You'll be incorporating a new section to the fourth Outside Reading Update, which is due this Friday. This new section will be worth ten points and require you to create a theme statement for the book you cover for the update.

Seniors

Today and Friday, we worked on creating level questions and converting those level questions into viable theme statements. I also increased the value of the CD Creation assignment to 150 points, the breakdown of which can now be found here. 

I love when my classes feel serendipitous. 

BROCKTOBER COUNTDOWN:

This week, I'd also like to extend the excitement for Brocktober 23 by posting reasons why I think Brock Lesnar is awesome. Back when he was in the WWE and was training to look as intimidating as possible instead of to become a human wrecking machine, the wrestling company released this video in anticipation of his Summerslam match with The Rock. Please note that at the one minute mark how he starts to modify his push-up routine because he was tired of the ground getting in the way.

That long promised Level Questions Example

We're going to skip the preamble tonight. Check it out next time as I have a bit to say about the new television show, Teach: Tony Danza.

Frosh
You worked on grammar when I was gone on Tuesday.

Wednesday, we finished going over the Elements of Fiction and you received the examples assignment. Remember that you'll be finding five examples of any of the elements we went over. You'll then fill out the following:

1. Element
2. Story
3. Quote from the text
4. 2 - 3 sentences explaining how the quote qualifies as that element

This will be due on Monday, October 18.

Today, we began going over the Elements of Theme, which is the final Element of Lit and the most important one.

Seniors
My jaw betrayed me on Tuesday, so I wasn't there, and you had a reading day.

Wednesday, we started going over level questions.

Mad Men

Today, you took the lit terms test that covered both sets of terms, and then we finished going over the level questions, an example of which is below.

Mad Men is an excellent show, and the episode that aired on August 29 provided the inspiration to complete a series of level questions.


Level 1 (explicitly from the text): Where did Don Draper first meet advertising executive Roger Sterling?

Answer: Don Draper met Roger Sterling at a fur store. The two later met for lunch where Roger offered Don a job, although the former was too inebriated to remember doing so. Many years later, Roger claims to have "discovered" Don.

Level 2 (implicitly from the text): Why is Don Draper interested in getting a job in advertising?

Answer: Dick Whitman took on the persona of his commanding officer, Don Draper, after the latter was killed in an accident during the Korean War. Whitman was unsatisfied with his life and felt like he did not belong with his family, so he took the opportunity to assume a new identity and craft a more preferable life. As Don Draper, he is able to mold himself into the man he wants to be. Advertising is a natural fit for this Don Draper; it is the one of the few arenas where someone is able to take a simple product and perfectly shape the image other people perceive, much like Draper/Whitman himself.

Level 3 (beyond the text): How does advertising reflect the people it targets?

Answer:  Advertising shows people the idealized version of the things they desire. In reality, the product never looks as good as the ad. Truly great advertising does not sell a product as much as it does a life style. People prefer to see themselves as the best possible version that they can imagine, regardless of if that is true or even possible. Advertising represents a lie that people sell themselves. It is meant to show human beings at their best but actually shows them at their worst.

Theme: A career provides a person with the opportunity for self-discovery.