november 30

JOURNAL TOPIC:
This morning I drove around a bend in the 101 -- and traffic stopped.  I got off the freeway (feeling not very free at all, and looking for a better way) and drove into more traffic.  Very, very frustrating.  Then I came over a hill and saw the accident that was blocking the 101.  I quickly realized that the drivers of those crumpled cars were having a much worse morning than I was, and I felt very, very fortunate to be alive, safe, and on my way to work.

We are all aware of the obstacles in our lives, but what about the good things?  Describe something that makes you feel lucky to be you today.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Tangerine
3. Paragraph: Introduction to Essay
4. Read/Read 180

november 29

JOURNAL TOPIC:
It's often been said that, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression."  What does this mean to you?  Who are the impressive people in your life, and what impressed you about them in the first place?

*** 10th GRADERS TO MMLC 4th PERIOD ***

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Tangerine
3. ONE QUESTION: paragraph
4. Read 180

november 28

JOURNAL TOPIC:

You thought you wanted to do this, but now you're not sure.  The small plane doesn't feel like anything you've ever experienced.  There is just a thin sheet of metal between your feet... and nothing.  Just thousands of feet of empty space to the Earth below.  You stand up as the experienced skydiver next to you yells, "You're next!"  Every bump makes your knees week.  Your stomach feels like it wants to live in your throat.  You're numb, but you move toward the open door.  Suddenly the wind whips at your hand and this is all suddenly too real. 

What do you do next?  Will you sit back down or will you take the leap?  Describe your actions in detail.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Pick up the action and the questions from Tangerine
3. Read/ Read 180
4. Plan for finals

immigrants in our own land

Immigrants in Our Own Land

By Jimmy Santiago Baca

We are born with dreams in our hearts,

looking for better days ahead.

At the gates we are given new papers,

our old clothes are taken

and we are given overalls like mechanics wear.

We are given shots and doctors ask questions.

Then we gather in another room

where counselors orient us to the new land

we will now live in. We take tests.

Some of us were craftsmen in the old world,

good with our hands and proud of our work.

Others were good with their heads.

They used common sense like scholars

use glasses and books to reach the world.

But most of us didn’t finish high school.

The old men who have lived here stare at us,

from deep disturbed eyes, sulking, retreated.

We pass them as they stand around idle,

leaning on shovels and rakes or against walls.

Our expectations are high: in the old world,

they talked about rehabilitation,

about being able to finish school,

and learning an extra good trade.

But right away we are sent to work as dishwashers,

to work in fields for three cents an hour.

The administration says this is temporary

So we go about our business, blacks with blacks,

poor whites with poor whites,

chicanos and indians by themselves.

The administration says this is right,

no mixing of cultures, let them stay apart,

like in the old neighborhoods we came from.

We came here to get away from false promises,

from dictators in our neighborhoods,

who wore blue suits and broke our doors down

when they wanted, arrested us when they felt like,

swinging clubs and shooting guns as they pleased.

But it’s no different here. It’s all concentrated.

The doctors don’t care, our bodies decay,

our minds deteriorate, we learn nothing of value.

Our lives don’t get better, we go down quick.

My cell is crisscrossed with laundry lines,

my T-shirts, boxer shorts, socks and pants are drying.

Just like it used to be in my neighborhood:

from all the tenements laundry hung window to window.

Across the way Joey is sticking his hands

through the bars to hand Felipé a cigarette,

men are hollering back and forth cell to cell,

saying their sinks don’t work,

or somebody downstairs hollers angrily

about a toilet overflowing,

or that the heaters don’t work.

I ask Coyote next door to shoot me over

a little more soap to finish my laundry.

I look down and see new immigrants coming in,

mattresses rolled up and on their shoulders,

new haircuts and brogan boots,

looking around, each with a dream in their heart,

thinking they’ll get a chance to change their lives.

But in the end, some will just sit around

talking about how good the old world was.

Some of the younger ones will become gangsters.

Some will die and others will go on living

without a soul, a future, or a reason to live.

Some will make it out of here with hate in their eyes,

but so very few make it out of here as human

as they came in, they leave wondering what good they are now

as they look at their hands so long away from their tools,

as they look at themselves, so long gone from their families,

so long gone from life itself, so many things have changed.

meet jimmy santiago baca

Baca by dpreston1441 on Scribd

november 27

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Describe your Thanksgiving.  Start with the details: Who was around your table?  What did you eat?

Then think back:

What were you especially grateful for?  As you look back on last week and consider today, what are you grateful for right now?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Meet Jimmy Santiago Baca
3. "Immigrants in Our Own Land"
4. Tangerine
5. Table Discussion: Freedom
6. TWO QUESTIONS (readers' choice of text)

november 17

JOURNAL TOPIC:

People joke about the "Zombie Apocalypse" -- what if it's already happened?  Voters can't tell a good candidate from a terrible candidate.  We have no idea what's in the food we eat.  At least half the people on campus today are dying to get out of here so they can spend next week... doing what?  Binge-watching Netflix and stuffing themselves with turkey?  WHAT IF WE ARE THE ZOMBIES?

For today's journal, please explain why you think this school is or is not full of zombies.

(Or choose your own topic, like describing how you intend to spend next week.)

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Correct yesterday's test
3. Tangerine
4. TWO QUESTIONS
5. Read/ Read 180

tangerine test

Here are the "10 Best" of your questions-- please answer them with complete sentences.  Good luck!

1. What is a SCION?

2. What is a Quonset hut?

3. Who is Luis and what does he do?

4. Who drives Paul to Luis' house?

5. Why isn't Joey still in the science group?

6. Why isn't Tino in school?

7. Why will Tino be back in time for the soccer game?

8. Why isn't Theresa mad at Paul?

9. Do you think Tino will still be mad at Paul when he gets back?  Why/ why not?

10. What does Paul remember about Erik and standing in the middle of a clock?

november 16

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Review yesterday's journal topic and wake up your imagination. (Explanation in class-- if you're reading this online and need help, please send DP an email.)

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Tangerine
3. FOUR QUESTIONS
4. Read/ Read 180

november 15

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Imagine you are one of the ants in our room.  What do you make of all these giants talking nonsense?  Describe your experience.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Read/ Read 180
3. Complete any work you have due in other classes

november 14

JOURNAL TOPIC:

Invent a sport.  Explain the rules and how to win.


AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Return work/ discuss paragraphs
3. Tangerine
4. TWO QUESTIONS
5. Read/ Read 180

november 13

JOURNAL TOPIC:

What's the point of tests?  Why do your teachers and the school give you so many?  Describe a time you did well on a test and/or a time you did poorly.  Are you prepared if we have a test today on Tangerine?  What would you need to know in order to prepare?

(PLEASE NOTE: If you see this post before class, and you have any questions or want help, please ask in a comment below and I will answer.)

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Prepare for test on Tangerine
3. Test on Tangerine
4. Read/ Read 180

november 9

JOURNAL TOPIC:
One year when I was a kid I went to a summer day camp.  At the pool on at hot, sunny San Fernando day, a guy named Brick (I don't know if that was his real name :) was trying to impress a girl.  "I love the rain," he said, "it washes away the..."  I don't remember hearing the end of the line.  I don't know if it was poetry or his personal philosophy.  But for the last 40 years or so since I heard him say it, every %&*$!!! time it rains, I find myself saying silently, "I love the rain, it washes away the something something something..."  Literally.  I finish the line with something something something.  This is both funny and deeply dissatisfying.  So, dear colleagues, I am asking for your help today.  Whether you love the rain or not, please rewrite this line with a better ending.  Mahalo.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Reading Inventory test (online)
3. Read 180/ Read
4. Tangerine pp. 145-155
5. TWO QUESTIONS

november 8

Today is only a test.  Meet in the MMLC.

(Extra credit if you can explain why I included the image above.)

november 7

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Think of a moment you'd like to last longer.  Or go by quicker.  Or that you'd like to revisit in the past.  Or go back to long ago.  Or see in the future.

Describe the moment in detail.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Résumé: writing the objective statement and completing Draft 1
3. Tangerine: finish 4 questions from yesterday (if necessary)
4. Tangerine: pp.140 - 145
5. Read/ Read 180

résumé objectives

Here are templates and examples for the three types of objectives we discussed in class:

1. FOR A SCHOLARSHIP

(template)
To win the [AMOUNT/NAME OF SCHOLARSHIP] Scholarship that will help me pay my tuition at [NAME OF SCHOOL] where I will earn my degree in [MAJOR/FIELD] and realize my dream of [CAREER/ACCOMPLISHMENT].

(example)
To win the $1000 Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce Scholarship that will help me pay my tuition at the University of California Los Angeles, where I will earn my degree in Biology and realize my dream of curing Asthma.

2. FOR A JOB

(template)
To apply my experience in [SKILL] and my knowledge of [FIELD] as a [JOB TITLE] at [COMPANY].

(example)
To apply my experience in customer service and my knowledge of cosmetics as a Makeup Guru at Sephora.

3. FOR UNIVERSITY ADMISSION

(template)
To apply my passion for [FIELD/MAJOR] as a student at [NAME OF SCHOOL] in order to earn my degree and become a [CAREER TITLE].

(example)
To apply my passion for law as a student at Harvard University in order to earn my degree and become an environmental attorney.

november 6

JOURNAL TOPIC:
If your phone could talk, what would it say about you?


AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. They're/There/Their
3. Résumé objectives
4. Tangerine pp. 133-140
5. TWO QUESTIONS
6. Read 180/ Reading

they're their there

Please number your paper 1-16 and write the complete sentences on your paper with the correct word inserted.  Please remember to capitalize if it appears at the beginning of the sentence.

1.	...... coming tonight.
2.	Do you have ...... books?
3.	I always thought they were .....
4.	No, ....always placed on the table.
5.	My friends said they weren't ......
6.	Is that where they place...... supplies?
7.	Not really. Usually they are over ......
8.	So, do you think ...... happy to have them?
9.	...... still waiting for the test scores.
10.	...... challenge is to arrive before sunset.
11.	We found the medallion over .....
12.	I thought .... near the edge of the table
13.	Is ...... a place for the group to meet?
14.	If ...... group does research, I will be happy.
15.	.... are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio
16.	Was ...... first son born at home?

november 3

JOURNAL TOPIC:
What would it take to make your day absolutely GREAT?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Select a Read 180 book to read for 20 minutes
3. On a piece of paper, write a paragraph comparing the book you chose with Tangerine; how are the books similar, and how are they different?
4. Tangerine
5. TWO QUESTIONS

résumé template

Please see below-- we will discuss in class. 

AP Resume Embed

November 2

JOURNAL TOPIC:
If someone made a movie about your life, what would the title be?  Why?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Résumé
3. Tangerine
4. 2 Questions
5. Read 180

november 1

JOURNAL TOPIC:

When is it best to speak up and be honest even though you know it's going to piss someone off?  When is it best to "go along to get along"?  Is there ever a time you should follow the herd to fit in, even if this goes against your best self or your truest instincts?  Why/why not?  Explain your answer.

-OR-

Describe something about yourself that makes you really proud.  (This can be a skill, or accomplishment, or...?)

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Brag sheet
3. Vocabulary
4. Tangerine
5. TWO QUESTIONS
6. Read 180 (if time)