Week 10 Syllabus: March 31 forward
GREETINGS, ONLINE SCHOLARS! Our administration is attempting to make online learning more manageable for all of us, creating a split-day schedule. In a typical week, our English class falls on BLUE days, and except for shortened weeks, we will run class twice a week. GREEN days are when your other classes meet. And GREY days are set aside for longer term projects, and office hours where you can communicate with teachers (via email, phone, video-conferencing). To help you manage this schedule, I will keep our calendar as it has been both here on Squarespace and on Canvas. I hope this well help you better manage your time, and give you more time to focus in the weeks to come.
MONDAY: NO CLASSES
No classes will meet today. Teachers are conferencing with the Administration and making adjustments to their courses to fit with the new schedule the Administration has created.
I should have the new syllabus up by seven pm on Monday night.
TUESDAY: OUR FIRST GREY DAY
Students should check the syllabus for week-long assignments and activities . You have this entire day to plan for your own learning.
The English Department will keep office hours on GREY days from 12:50-1:50. I will either be responding to email live, or be hosting a live Q&A via Zoom, or possibly both.
Teachers are using this day for planning the week and grading materials.
HW: In this new model, you will be more in control of determining what you need to do and when. Yes, there will still be specific deadlines for assignments. But Grey days are set aside for you to plan your own learning.
WEDNESDAY: OUR FIRST BLUE DAY (Periods EB-4)
We will be working on finishing up the last five books of Homer’s Odyssey.Today you will start with a check in on book 18, on canvas. What does the reader learn about Ithaca, as a society, based upon Odysseus’ conflict with the beggar, Idros? Complete this BEFORE our Zoom meeting today.
From 10:10 to 10:40, first period will meet for a Zoom, where we’ll have a classroom wide discussion about communities in crisis.
From 11:20 -1:1:50, second period will meet for a similar large group discussion.
Students will be reading the Odyssey, reading books 19 and 20, and keeping annotations about how Odysseus attempts to save his kingdom. What lessons has Odysseus learned while travelling home from Troy? How are those lessons applicable in Ithaca, his kingdom in chaos, his very life—and his family’s lives—in mortal danger?
THURSDAY: OUR FIRST GREEN DAY (Periods EB, and 5-9)
On Green Days, you will working primarily working on Early Bird and Periods five through nine.
There will NOT be specific, homework assignments due on these days. Neither will we have planned, classroom activities.
Plan out your reading between now and next Monday, the next blue day.
FRIDAY: Second Grey Day
From 12:50 to 1:20 today I will be available to take any questions about 3rd quarter grades. You should only reach out for a conference if you see a missing assignment in the canvas gradebook AND if you believe your grade is lower than it should be.
Next week, Monday and Wedensday are blue days, Tuesday and Thursday are green days. No school Friday for the religious holiday, so no grey days next week.