Well, here we are at the end of the semester. I want to thank all of my students this semester for being awesome. Sure, there were some challenging days, but all told, I think it was a productive semester. Here’s how we will be ending our classes:

ENG3U – Grade 11 English: Students will finish the week with the last few ISU presentations. I have to say that so far, the bar has been raised very high – these are among the best, most engaging presentations I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in ENG3U. Thank you to students for participating in your classmate’s work!

A reminder that all written components of the Independent Study Unit are due on Monday, January 19 at the beginning of class.

We will also have an exam review this week, between Wednesday and Thursday. The final exam is on Friday, January 23 from 10:30am-1:30pm! Study!!

ALC1O – Grade 9 Visual Art: Here’s hoping you had fun with the clay unit! It was nice to see student’s experiment with the medium and enjoy creating stuff – and I think it’s a good introduction to the possibilities of working with clay. Ideally the pieces will be fired tomorrow afternoon and we will then have a day two glaze and refire.

There is no exam for this class – just the class projects! Yay!

ENG2P – Grade 10 English: It is assumed that students have completed their poetry book culminating task. If not, these need to be completed in the next four days. In addition, any outstanding assignments including the literary essay need to be submitted in the next few days. We will review the exam on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

The Grade 10 Exam is on Wednesday, January 28 from 10:30am-12:30pm.

Once again, thanks for a great semester!

Ladies and Gentlemen… It’s 2015! Happy New Year, everyone!

A new year also means a mere three weeks until the first semester comes to a close. That means if you’re behind in your work it is absolutely important to meet with me to discuss how your credit can be rescued. I am usually available at 12:05PM Activity Period, as well as before and after school.

As the semester winds down, here’s what to expect:

ENG3U Grade 11 English: Students will be working on a blend of ‘Beowulf’ and their Canterbury Tales Independent Study Units this week and next. A reminder that the ISU presentations are scheduled for the week of January 12-16 unless arrangements to present earlier (due to absences) have been made. Please review deadlines for the other components of the work.

When it comes to presentations, you are expected to do more than just read off a PowerPoint or Prezi. A good example is to do some thinking about how you can make your presentation engaging and interesting to your audience (and me). Here are some suggestions:

• Make your visual elements uncluttered. Eliminate unnecessary content
• Don’t simply read off PowerPoint/Prezi slides. You should have key points on your slides and then elaborate/speak more about them
• Include something for your audience to do: Could be a discussion, answer questions, etc. that you moderate
• Practice ahead of time to check for timing
• Check out online resources, such as this one: http://aaude.org/system/files/documents/public/air2010.pdf and this one: http://www.wikihow.com/Deliver-Effective-Presentations

…And, on the topic of “Beowulf”….

Here’s a good introduction to “Beowulf”, provided by  the popular “Thug Notes” series:

ALC1O Grade 9 Art: We will be completing any outstanding printmaking assignments as we return to class and then transition to acrylic paint on canvas paper, using Woodlands Art as a guiding inspiration.

ENG2P Grade 10 English: Our class will do a wrap-up of “Romeo & Juliet” before we spend some time with short writing, including poetry. We will also be devoting two days to the Grade 10 Literacy Test practice, in advance of the scheduled test date in March.

Once again, Happy New Year. I hope your holiday break was fun and relaxing – but now it’s time to get things going to ensure this semester is successful!

We have one week to go before Christmas Vacation! Students will be wrapping up a number of items before the end of 2014. They include:
ENG3U Grade 11 English: Students have finished “A Christmas Carol” and will spend the week wrapping up all material. A few days will be spent focusing on the Independent Study Unit, which will occupy time after Christmas.

ALC1O Grade 9 Art: The class has completed watercolour painting. This week, students will be introduced to print-making. This short unit always results in some amazing pieces of art. Pictures of the watercolour paintings will be posted soon, too!

ENG2P Grade 10 English: “Romeo & Juliet” will continue to be the focus of this class as we wind down December. Students will also be responsible for completing an essay between now and our return to the classroom in January.

I’d like to wish all students and their families a wonderful holiday season. I will continue to monitor email over the break should students have questions or need assistance with assignments. Merry Christmas to all!