YES! TO JOURNALISM!

Many of you may recognize the poster on the left from my classroom. Cleaning out a filing cabinet one year, Ms. Beeley happened upon this little treasure, which sends a great message but is, like just about anything given enough time, hopelessly dated. But, at the same time, it's charming because all of those kids are incredibly enthusiastic (except for the one in the middle row of the center who looks like she got hit in the head with a sandbag just prior to the photographer snapping the picture). When my journalism students mentioned that they wanted to recreate the picture at the beginning of the year, I laughed at the idea but quickly forgot. Besides lots of students will often say they want to do something in a whimsical flight of fancy and never follow through with it.

However, this is the class that met every deadline in order to see me do a backflip. These are the students that have impressed me as a group in ways that I can't even manage to put into words. These are the students that have made my job the easiest that it's ever been in my six years as adviser to the Brave Times. Should I have really been surprised that they followed through with their intentions? Of course not. I don't think I was prepared for how much it would make me laugh.

This poster is going to be a high water mark for any future class to live up to. Seriously, future Brave Times staff, this is what you will be measured against so the onus is on you to make a bigger impact than the "Say NO to drugs and YES to Journalism" folks.

Frosh
Last Thursday, due to the STAR testing schedule shortened period, you received a work day.

Friday, we began reading chapter 6 of To Kill a Mockingbird and you were assigned to read through chapter 8.

Monday, you took a quiz on chapters 6 through 8 and we then worked on creating a thesis statement for chapters 1 through 5.

Tuesday was another shortened day due to STAR testing, and we used the time to continue revising the thesis we started on Monday.

Wednesday, I was under the weather and you had a reading day to hopefully finish chapter 11.

Today, you had a work day to give you time to complete the Character Chart and Themes worksheet for chapters 1-11 along with ORU 7, all of which are due tomorrow.

Seniors
Last Thursday, you continued working on the questions from Tom Wolfe's chapter of The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test called "What Do You Think of My Buddha?" during the shortened period for STAR testing.

Friday, you finished working on the aforementioned chapter and started to work on questions for section two.

Monday, you finished the section two questions, and we discussed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest up to that point.

During our final shortened period on Tuesday, we viewed Jill Bolte Taylor's TED talk on her experience having a stroke. I enjoy having you watch this short speech because it ties in to how Ken Kesey explains his experience in dealing with writing the first chapter of Cuckoo's Nest and gives us some insight into how Chief views the world. Living in the moment without context and then immediately seeing the world in full view using both sides of one's brain has much in common with how Chief views the world in such a figurative way. Chief feels the connections the world shares, much like Taylor describes, and he dislikes the way machinery attempts to make everyone the same. Her book, My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey, is available in paperback. I plan to read it this summer so I'll be able to have a review up then.

I felt a little under the weather on Wednesday, so I stayed home and you had a reading day. The day allowed me to get caught up on some grading, so at least there's that.

Today, you took the quiz covering chapters 5 through 14. We only had time enough to grade the quiz and not do my planned activity, which we'll get to next week.

Break your crown already, Jack.

Adam Sandler as Jill

Sometimes I get emails for advanced movie screenings, probably because I've purchased tickets on Fandango or Movie Tickets in the past and didn't click on the right button when I created the account that would spare me from annoying spam. However, every once in awhile a gem might sneak through and maybe, just maybe, I'll get a chance to go to a sneak preview of a new Marvel or DC superhero movie or some comedy that might actually be funny. Most of the time, though, I get invitations to things like Fright Night 3D or Jack and Jill starring Adam Sandler.

No, really. This is something that exists:

Everything was going great in Jack's life, until the most annoying person in the world came to visit....His twin sister, Jill. Come see the comedy event of the season, as Adam Sandler plays both Jack and Jill.

A little bit of web-fu on my part revealed this HIGH-LARIOUS picture of Adam Sandler in drag, so it's not like this is some joke invite that serves as a set-up in order to get me on a reality show or something.

Additionally, Katie Holmes plays Sandler's love interest which continues a theory of mine I like to call the Sliding Sandler Sweetheart Scale...because alliteration is awesome. The theory states that for each year that Adam Sandler gets older, more out-of-shape and/or uglier, his love interests in his films get younger, fitter and more attractive. Now, granted, Katie Holmes throws this trend off just a little bit, but every other movie, culminating in the recent and abysmal Just Go With It neatly falls into this phenomenon. Someone with better Excel skills could create an impressive chart detailing this idea; sadly, that person isn't me. Also, the theory only applies to Adam Sandler comedies, not his dramatic work that usually ranges from passable (Spanglish) to quite good (Punch-Drunk Love).

Frosh
On Monday, you took a quiz on the first three chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout's first day of school is an even better introduction to the social politics of small town Maycomb than the exposition heavy first chapter. Remember Walter Cunningham and the details of the discussion between him and Atticus as those will come up later on in the story. We began reading through chapter four after that. By Thursday, you need to be finished with chapter five for a quiz that covers those two chapters.

Tuesday (and, as I look into the future for fourth period, Wednesday) was the first day of STAR testing. Make sure you get a good night's rest and a substantive breakfast before each testing day. It's good to do that each day, but studies have shown that those two things play a big part in your performance on these kinds of tests. Third period received the Themes Worksheet and the Thesis Assignment. Fourth period will get them tomorrow.

Seniors
You received time on Monday to work on your group discussion questions for section one of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. We then discussed section one at length. Let me reiterate that this first section of the book is, by far, the most difficult. The tedium of the fourth chapter in particular is difficult to finish, but it's there by design. Without it, there's no way to tell how much of an impact McMurphy makes on Chief and the ward as a whole.

After finishing the discussion on Tuesday (and, again, Wednesday for sixth period), you began reading chapter four of Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test titled "What Do You Think of My Buddha?" which details Ken Kesey's introduction to the counterculture movement. There are eight questions at the end of the chapter which will be due on Thursday at the end of the (shortened) period.

Good news, everyone!

Professor Hubert Farnsworth
approves!

Shortly before we went on Spring Break, I interviewed for a position to teach honors next year. And, well, I got it!

Next year, instead of teaching frosh college prep, I'll be teaching the freshman honors class along with Mrs. Windt. I'm really excited to take on something that's completely new yet also a little familiar. It'll be an interesting challenge that will allow me to grow as an educator and as a person.

And now it's a ketchup time, in that we will catch up with all of the days I have neglected to blog about previously.

Frosh
On Thursday, March 31, you worked on deliberations in the case of the Choctaw Three and we discussed the results you determined. The lesson here is that despite years of progress, racism is by no means dead or done. It still exists, but hopefully that is something that all of us can combat in a meaningful way over the course of our lives.

Friday, April 1, you moved forward.

For Monday and Tuesday, you viewed the documentary titled Scottsboro: An American Tragedy, detailing the case of the nine black men accused of raping two white women. There will be an opportunity later on this quarter where you will write a compare and contrast essay, and one choice will be comparing the court case in To Kill a Mockingbird to the Scottsboro boys' case. If that is something that interests you, then make sure to hold onto those notes when I return them to you in the Graded Work tray.

Wednesday, we finished watching the documentary, picked up To Kill a Mockingbird and discussed the pre-interviews that you handed in.

You took the quiz on the "What Was Jim Crow?" packet on Thursday. Once that was done, we began reading the first chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird. By Monday, you should be finished with chapter three. That first chapter is challenging and somewhat long for the book but the story deals less with the history of the town and the Finch family after that point, so it should be less confusing. Keep with it and write down any questions you have so we can discuss your understanding after the weekend.

You moved forward on Friday for the final time this year.

Seniors

On Thursday, March 31, we listened to The Cure's "Killing an Arab" and Guns 'N Roses' "Civil War" in order to discuss the connections to both Cool Hand Luke and The Stranger. There were four questions dealing with each song, and your group chose which song to discuss the answers.

I told you a story on Friday, April 1, in the hopes that you would all make safe decisions on prom night. Hopefully, you did. We also attempted to watch a short film made by Mr. Rubel on the birth of the hippie movement, but my DVD player was uncooperative. 

Monday was a big day. You checked out One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest from the library and received both the reading itinerary and the Table of Contents assignment. We began reading chapter one. Keep in mind that Chief's perception changes throughout the novel, so the beginning is much more difficult to understand than the latter parts of the book. He views things from a metaphorical point of view, and it's up to you to determine, at least in the beginning, what is literally happening on the ward. 

On Tuesday, we finished reading chapter one and discussed the most important line in the book in terms of understanding Chief's perspective. We then focused on some terms that will aid your understanding of the novel.

Wednesday saw us finish the terms and read through the article "Tarnished Gallahad" by Matthew Rick. Ken Kesey lived a pretty fascinating life and writing this book was just a small part of his experience.

I gave you Thursday to read after you turned in your latest ORU. 

Friday, you took the quiz on section one, which consisted of the first four chapters of Cuckoo's Nest. You then received some questions that you began to answer in groups and will get the chance to complete on Monday. 

YOUCANHASCHEESEBURGER

Spring Break was fun, wasn't it? Mine can be summed up in one word: Youcanhascheeseburger.

YOUCANHASCHEESEBURGER - $5.50 worth
of delectable.

I CAN HAZ?

When I look back on my life and think of how I came to the point of suffering my first heart attack, I'll look fondly on this picture knowing that it was all worth it. This is no ordinary cheeseburger; it's a cheeseburger that replaces regular buns with grilled-cheese sandwiches. Normally, this is the kind of novelty food item that sounds good on paper due to the decadence and pure gluttony involved but ultimately proves untenable when actually eaten.

That is not the case here.

Somehow, the fine folks at The Brunch Box overcame this problem. I'm guessing because they use Texas toast for the bread on the grilled cheese sandwiches. Either way, it's the most delicious burger I've ever consumed, and I plan to make this a ritual of every visit I make to Portland, Oregon.


Frosh
Way back last Thursday, March 17, you spent the period self-editing your most recent draft of the essay using the self-edit guide provided to you. The next day, Friday, March 18, you turned in the final draft of the Character Analysis Essay along with the Character Quote Sheet. We spent time that day discussing what made this particular assignment different and why so many of you chose to complete it and hand in the essay. The rest of our time was spent discussing the final on Romeo & Juliet and what you could expect for it.

Tuesday, we returned from spring break and you took the aforementioned final.

Today, you received the pre-interview assignment for To Kill a Mockingbird. Remember that any interview subject must have read the novel previously and be over 30 years old. Make sure that you ask your subject to elaborate on their answers so you can get enough information to fill out the entire sheet. We then read the article dealing with the Choctaw Three, who were convicted of killing a baby whose mere existence came into question. If you're interested in reading more about them, there's a fairly in-depth article located here that provides an update to their story. You then spent the last part of the period in groups determining what information in the article goes towards their innocence and what information leads the reader to believe they are guilty. We'll continue the article and talk about this some more tomorrow.

Seniors
Thursday, March 17, we continued our analysis of Cool Hand Luke. The following day, Friday, March 18, you took your final on The Stranger and then completed the film.

Upon our return from spring break on Tuesday, we spent the period discussing Lucas Jackson and Meursault. As I said in class that day, I hold no grand notions that every single student fully read The Stranger, which is really too bad considering what an easy book it is to get through. Understanding it's deeper meaning may be a bit tougher, but the prose of The Stranger itself is simple to read. And now that opportunity is squandered along with the points available for the unit. Our next book, Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, is much deeper, longer and more difficult to understand initially. It's also the final unit of the year and you're last chance to improve your grade. If you're already in a good place grade-wise, then keep on making that happen and stay the course. If you're not? Skipping the reading won't help.

Today, you read Albert Camus' preface to The Stranger and began answering questions about it with the whole period at your disposal. The assignment is due on Friday.