Blogger was Down....Again....

Hmmm...once Google purchases you, it seems like the service diminishes. YouTube seems to be suffering from the same problem. Remember, the bigger the corporation, the worse the service. That's true of government too!

Well, in short, you took the PSAT today. I didn't ask you about it because I figured it would just delay us from working. Since we were short on time, I didn't want to do that. Thus....HOW WAS IT????

Next, we completed Literary Circles Day 4 and 5. Then, we went over the parts of speech from two nights ago, including MORE clarifications. We then defined "grammar", and finally, we discussed language and what's occurring to it.

Tonight, you are completing sentences 1-8 on the handout. Write the POS on top, and use the abbreviations I gave you! See you tomorrow.

MjB

Getting Better All the Time...

Well, tomorrow is the PSAT, and if I do say so, I feel like we're as prepared as we're going to be. Do you know what's on the test? Do you know how to approach the test? Do you know how to attack the test? Do you know how to pace yourself? Now, you need some vocabulary skills, but that, my friends, is a lifelong goal.

Today, we took a practice PSAT, and then, we began to unravel the mysteries of parts of speech. Thus, as we go FORWARD and TOWARD our goal, we'll do a better job. Double check your answers tonight, and read!!!

MjB

GRAMMO, GRAMMO, GRAMMO

OK...today, we completed Literary Circles Day 4, and after being horribly annoyed by your socializing, I turned it into individual assignments. Do you realize how counterproductive that is? It's a literary circle! Yoy!!!!

Anyway, then, we covered the rest of the PSAT material. Remember, tomorrow, we're going to take a "practice" PSAT. It will be a shortened version. Then, we scored them, and we scaled them.

Finally, we played GRAMMO...everyone's favorite game. This included parts of speech explanations. Finally, I gave you some practice sentences to work on tonight. I'll see you tomorrow.

MjB

PRACTICE SENTENCES

1. These boys make me laugh very hard with their tiny vocabularies; however, they do appear to have decent spelling skills.

2. Wow, I almost believed for two seconds that you were going to know your parts of speech; thanks for studying over the weekend.

3. Barney is my best friend, and in honor of that, I am going to use his speech patterns the rest of my born days.

4. In the beginning there was light, and the light was good.

5. If you continue whining for the remainder of the period, I will continue typing sentences that are so long that you will need to work for six hours just to figure out how long of sentence I can compose, uh!

Busy Day, but a Better Day

Well, we're doing a little better with the talking, but it's not perfect by any means. Today, knowing that you were going to be out tomorrow, I had a great deal to accomplish. That's why we were so busy.

Today, we completed literary circles assignment three. Then, we took a quiz on confusing words and went over it immediately. Next, we looked at some basic concepts about parts of speech, and I gave you a grammar cheat sheet. After this, we talked about the grammar section on the SAT, and we went over the homework. Finally, we began working on the other writing sections on the SAT.

Over the weekend, you are to do all of the following:

1. Continue reading
2. Finish Section V. from the PSAT booklet.
3. Memorize your parts of speech if you don't know them yet.

Let me know if you have any questions. Have fun tomorrow.

MjB

Powder Puff

Hmmm...as I'm in the middle of it, I'm asking myself, "Why did I agree to do this?" It's a truly thankless job, but at the same time, I enjoy it. Psstt...I'll let you in on a secret. We could have called a penalty EVERY SINGLE play. However, that's no fun! The underclassmen were VERY impressive. Sorry seniors.

Regardless, today, we completed Day 2 for the literary circles. Then, we finished covering the confusing English words. Then, we took a timed version of the PSAT, and then, we talked about the scoring while scoring it.

Tonight, you are to read, and you are to complete the grammar section on the practice PSAT. Remember, you have a quiz on confusing words tomorrow. Set..HUT!

MjB

Something Must Give

Boys,

As I'll address in class tomorrow, something must change. Ever since I changed seats, the talking in the room has grown to epidemic proportions. OK...I'm sure to you that I'm exaggerating. However, I don't tolerate any type of talking when I'm talking. It must stop.

Today, we read our self-selected texts. Then, we met in our groups to answer the Day 1 question. Next, we began defining confusing words in the English language. We'll finish that in ten minutes tomorrow. Remember, keep reading your literary circle books.

MjB

Rainy Days and Monday Days

Never got me down until I started working with teenagers....sigh...can't work on Mondays because it's a Monday. Sigh... Today, we received our essays back and discussed them. Then, we chose a book for reading in small groups. After establishing a reading schedule, we, in theory, started reading them. After this, we took a diagnostic quiz on word choices. After going over that, we dismissed for the day. You are to read your book tonight.

MjB