january 29 - february 1

I’m going to be back in class either Thursday or Friday, and I don’t have great wi-fi here, so I’m posting ideas on journaling, reading, and posting for the week so you can pace yourselves. As always, please feel free to email or comment to this post with any questions or ideas. I will read and respond as quickly as I can. I love reading your blog posts and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on what you’ve read so far in person! -dp

JOURNAL TOPICS:

For each day, choose a character or a moment in the book you’re reading (bonus if it’s Gatsby!) — and describe it like you’re telling a friend about something that happened at lunch. This will tell me what gets your attention, what affects your mood as a reader, and what you remember. (Obviously, it will also tell me what you’ve read and understand.). When it comes to the characters and their words and actions, be as judgmental as you want.

-OR-

Choose your own topics (related to the book or not) as we discussed in class.  Please remember your writing goal each day: half a page.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Keep reading (as a class, in groups, or by yourself) and taking notes
3. You should be posting to your blog EVERY DAY now as part of your routine. You can do this during the last part of the period if that makes it easier. Please post your answers to the project questions and remember that these are due, along with your short story, by the end of the week. You can also post your reading notes (title: [BOOK TITLE pages xx-xx). (Don’t type “xx” — use the pages you read that day.)  You can also post about any Big Question work you’re doing and anything else you want to share with your readers.

January 26

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Think about the book you’re reading. What part of the story would be worth writing a sequel? What would make you want to read a seque— what more would you want to know about the characters and what happens to them? Describe.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Read 180 (minimum 15 minutes)
3. Project — by now you should be close to finishing your first book and answering a few questions

HW: (you can do this in class)

Publish a post on your blog (title: PROJECT STATUS). Describe what you’ve done so far and what you still have left to do.

January 25

JOURNAL TOPIC:
What’s the best thing about working independently this week? What’s the most challenging?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Read 180 (15 minutes minimum for each person)
3. Read your book and work on your project

REQUEST:
Please comment to this post and let me know how you’re doing on your book and your questions.

January 24

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Why do you think some people develop habits (like knuckle-cracking) and other people don’t?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2, Spend at least 15 minutes on Read 180
3. Read your book and or Gatsby
4. Take notes and (when you feel ready) begin answering Project questions

transparency

Here is the note I'm leaving on my desk for the substitute teacher/s:

2018_01_23_12_27_27 by dpreston1441 on Scribd

are smartphones bad for you?

Smartphones are still pretty new, and the fact is that we are not sure how they affect the way we think.  Some people are so addicted to their phones that it seems like there is a real problem.  Then again, as THIS ARTICLE points out, different generations of parents have been afraid that lots of things-- like TV, video games, the telephone, dancing, and even reading (!) would hurt their kids.  Is the smartphone different, or do you think we've just found something new to worry about? 

january 23

JOURNAL TOPIC:
What makes a person "great"?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Project / due February 2
3. A novel option
4. Read/Read 180 schedule

PROJECT

This project is due at the beginning of fourth period on Friday, February 2, 2018.

PART I: Literature Analysis

In this part of the project you will explain the book you're reading right now, using literary techniques we have discussed in class.  For each element you should include 1-2 paragraphs that describe:

• The element and its definition
• How the author uses the literary technique to make the book more entertaining
• 3-5 examples (with page numbers) of the literary technique from the book

Please remember to include the following literary techniques:

• Theme: What is the central message of the book?
• Tone: What is the author's attitude toward the subject, the characters, and/or the audience?
• Mood: How did you feel when you read the book?
• Plot: Where/when did the story take place, and what happened? Remember the ingredients for plot that we discussed in class:
• Exposition
• Inciting incident
• Rising action
• Climax
• Falling action
• Resolution/denouement
• Diction: What kinds of words does the author choose?  Simple? Complicated?  How does the diction give you a sense of tone or mood?  Are there more nouns and verbs, or adjectives?
• Syntax: How does the author put words together?  In short phrases, or long paragraphs?  Is there more action or does the author include a lot of description? 
• Figurative language: Does the author use similes or metaphors to create images in your mind?  Give an example and explain how this helped you think about the story.

PART II: Short Story

In this part of the project you will write your own short story, using the style and the literary techniques you learned about in reading your novel.  Your short story must be at least 2 pages long and include each phase of plot (see above).

After you finish the story, please write a paragraph about your favorite literary technique.  Explain why and how you used it in your story.

facebook is making you sad

When I was in high school, I could develop different parts of my personality and different ways of being depending on who I was with at the time.  Think about it: there is no way I would have talked the same way at my family's dinner table as I did in the locker room with my basketball teammates.  I'm grateful that I had the chance to make social mistakes -- and learn from them -- without everyone in my life seeing them at the same time.  I am also glad that some of the things I said and did in high school weren't part of some public record that followed me the rest of my life.

As social media has become more influential, I have wondered how today's generation feels.  Years ago I started to suspect that putting so much personal information out there would have negative effects.

Unfortunately, it looks like my worst fears came true.  Read more here.  (Thanks, BoingBoing!)

january 22

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Have you ever had a headache?  What was it like?  Describe in detail.

-OR-

Have you ever BEEN a headache?  Describe the feedback from other people that gave you that impression.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Read/ status report
3. Read 180
4. Notes on Plot
5. What games have in common with literature (see THIS ARTICLE for more)
6. Agreements about what happens over the next week

don't/learn to code

Should we code or not?  Should we learn to code or not?

Read these two articles and write a paragraph stating your opinion.

YOU SHOULD LEARN TO CODE

YOU SHOULD NOT LEARN TO CODE

january 19

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Are "secret ingredients" ever a good thing, or just a cynical ploy that entices us to eat cheaply manufactured nastiness?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Read & Read 180
3. Gaming: wrapping up the week

january 18

JOURNAL TOPIC:
What did you do in class yesterday?  Be honest and describe in detail.  For the win.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Decision: THE GAME or the game
3. About reading and Read 180

january 17

JOURNAL TOPIC:
When you play a game, are you more motivated to win for the good side or defeat the evil side?  Why?  Explain your answer in at least 3 sentences.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Epic fail!  After yesterday's talk in class, I did a search thinking I could find an example of someone who turned their math class.  I couldn't!  Can you?  Do a search online and see if you can find an example worth sharing with your classmates.  If you find something worthy, show the others and start the conversation about what works and what doesn't.  If you don't find something, consider this an amazing opportunity-- if this is the direction we go, we could be the first!
3. Continue reading your books and working in Read 180

*If you have any questions or need help, email me.*

for the win

This is a first-step schematic for our game:

january 16

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Think about the ancient game in the last post, and Jane McGonigal's comments about the civilization that survived famine and even moved to another country by using games.  Now imagine replacing one of your academic courses with a game.  Which course would you replace?  Science?  Math?  English?  P.E.?  Something else?  What kind of game would you play to learn the subject?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Tomorrow's agenda
3. Building on your journal topic
4. Building on what you learned last week
5. Read 180

ancient board game

Remember how we talked about games as ways to learn about other topics?  Here's one for the history books.  Click THIS LINK for the whole story and comment to this post with your thoughts.

january 12

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Describe the most fun you ever had playing a game.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. The character poll
3. Jane McGonigal and the benefits of gaming
4. Blog post: HOW GAMES HELP US
5. Read 180/ Game research (post: GAME RESEARCH)

january 11

JOURNAL TOPIC:
What did you learn yesterday?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Review blogs & articles
3. Choose planning tools
4. Read 180 audit

field trip

2018_01_10_10_50_50 by dpreston1441 on Scribd

2018_01_10_11_01_55 by dpreston1441 on Scribd

january 10

JOURNAL TOPIC:
There is a famous story about the inventor Thomas Edison where one of his assistants gets frustrated.  "Mr. Edison, we've tried this a thousand ways and it doesn't work!"  Edison smiled.  "You've actually accomplished quite a lot," he said.  "We've discovered a thousand ways it doesn't work."

Describe something we did in this class last semester that didn't work.  Then-- and this is the important part-- describe what you learned about yourself, me, learning, and/or this class as a result.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Let's build something!  At the end of last semester we agreed to build a game/app that people could play by the end of the semester.  That project is going to demand a lot from all of us (including me), so we need to start right now by planning, doing some research, and holding to our agreements about getting our work done.  That last part is especially important because we are now interdependent-- each of us will depend on the rest of us to move this forward.
3. Dust off your blog and post according to instructions in class