Welcome to Great Expectations

Juniors, welcome to English III!! We are going to be incorporating a lot of different ideas and approaches into this course this year so this will be a great communication tool available for you at any time. This site will include the following: Weekly Schedule and Assignments, Online Journal Entries, Useful Links to sites you might find helpful, and a Parents' Page to keep our families informed and involved.


Friday, December 12, 2008

Online Journal Entry 13

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ~Norman Vincent Peale
What is your favorite thing about this time of year? Is it the lights, the music, the family, the food, the sales and the shopping, the candlelight services, the cookies or the caroling? Other than the presents, what do you enjoy about Christmastime? Why do people brave the crowds and the lines and the weather or even stand in the freezing cold ringing a bell by a bucket? Why do they do it? Why do you?

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. ~Charles Dickens

Instead of being a time of unusual behavior, Christmas is perhaps the only time in the year when people can obey their natural impulses and express their true sentiments without feeling self-conscious and, perhaps, foolish. Christmas, in short, is about the only chance a man has to be himself. ~Francis C. Farley

Friday, December 5, 2008

Online Journal Entry 12



Believe in love. Believe in magic ... Believe in Santa Clause. Believe in others. Believe in yourself. Believe in your dreams. If you don't, who will? ~Jon Bon Jovi


What are you going to ask Santa for this year??




After today, I'll bet Santa takes a shovel to the reindeer stalls to fill your stocking.~ Bill Watterson,


Wednesday, December 3, 2008

As all good things end, we finally finished The Crucible!

A good man's life is never quite ended; something of it always remains to touch and illuminate other lives.
Edward H. White

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Online Journal Entry 11


Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action. ~W.J. Cameron


What are you thankful for on this Thanksgiving break?


Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Online Journal Entry 10

Barbara De Angelis:
Living with integrity means:
Not settling for less than what you know you deserve in your relationships.
Asking for what you want and need from others.
Speaking your truth, even though it might create conflict or tension.
Behaving in ways that are in harmony with your personal values.
Making choices based on what you believe, and not what others believe.


Think about this quote and compare it to the situation in The Crucible. What do you think the accused should do? Lie and compromise their character to save their lives? Or hang with their names and integrity intact?

Monday, November 3, 2008

Online Journal Entry #9


"I quote others only the better to express myself." --Michel de Montaigne

English teachers usually REALLY like quotations--can you tell? For this entry, I would like for you to surf the web and find a quotation that you believe offers us some wise words to live by. It can be concerning a particular situation or general good advice for life. Find some wisdom and share it with the rest of us!

Here are some great sites if you need somewhere to start!
http://www.quotegarden.com/
http://thinkexist.com/
http://www.theotherpages.org/quote.html
http://www.quoteland.com/
http://www.quotationspage.com/

Be sure to copy and paste the quotation (as well as whom said it) and say what it means to you! Dig deep! :)

Monday, October 27, 2008

Online Journal Entry #8

"Men are respectable only as they respect." --Ralph Waldo Emerson


RESPECT!
What does it mean to you and how should you show it in the classroom? How do you feel others should show respect to you?

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Online Journal Entry #7

We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light. --Mary Dunbar

What is ONE word that describes you, and why?

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Online Journal Entry 6


“The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.”
– Oscar Wilde, the Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

Please visit Mrs. Schreffler's blogsite http://schreffblog.blogspot.com/, read the entry entitled "Banning Books! Are You Crazy?!" Then post a comment here describing your opinion of book banning. BE SURE to come back here to post as I do not grade postings on Mrs. Schreffler's site! :)

“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
– John F. Kennedy

Friday, September 26, 2008

Online Journal Entry 5


It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life. ~P.D. James

What would you do, if you had a perfect fall day to spend however you wanted?

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Online Journal Entry 4

"I would have been better pleased if you had never made such promises than that you should have made them and not performed them. . ." --Shinguaconse ("Little Pine")

Consider this in the context of the Native American unit we just finished. What do you think the quotation means? Would it have made a difference either way? What about today? What if it were your life in question?

Friday, September 12, 2008

Online Journal Entry 3

"Coming together is a beginning, Keeping together is progress, Working together is success." --Henry Ford

Consider the above quotation specifically as to how it applies to you being enrolled in a high school with an extremely high student turnover rate. What do you feel would be some good ways to ease the transition of the new population into the returning one? How could school spirit play a part in this? BTW, don't forget to dress up next week for spirit week--the winning class gets candy bars on Friday!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Online Journal Entry 2

Who is wise? He that learns from every One.
Who is powerful? He that governs his Passions.
Who is rich? He that is Content.
Who is that? Nobody. --Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Journal entries do not have to be controversial to have purpose. Their purpose is to inspire you to think and incite written expression. Sometimes writing about something can actually help you understand how you feel about it.

Consider the quotation above by Benjamin Franklin. Do you agree with what he says? Do you think it's meaning has changed any over the last two hundred years? What does being wise, powerful, and rich mean to you? Post a reply (enter your ID as your email address and the password you set and it will post under your display name) and check back in a couple of days to make your entry has been posted!! No post, no grade. Now, write, write, WRITE! :)

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Blogging Rules

"A few strong instincts and a few plain rules suffice us." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

This blog site is intended for classroom use but parents and/or guests are welcome to post at any time so long as they adhere to the rules.

This site does have public access. Please use screen names only and do not include any personal information such as your name, age, address, phone numbers, etc. (nor that of anyone else's!).

No vulgar or obscene posts will be allowed.

No disrespectful remarks about another student, teacher, or any person will be allowed.

Anything that could be perceived as a threat of physical violence will be punishable according to school policy.

Do not use this post to advocate the immediate violation of any law or school rule.

The teacher reserves the right to delete any post that does not strictly adhere to these rules.

Journal entries are an assignment and will be given a grade for participation.

Zero credit will be given on a deleted entry—it is the student’s responsibility to check and make sure their entries have not been deleted and, as needed, replace them with appropriate responses by the due date to get credit.

Parents' Page

Communication works for those who work at it. --John Powell

Welcome Parents! This is a site designed to give our students access to their homework as well as keep you informed about our schedule, classroom activities, and upcoming events. We have finished our to everyone's delight and those grades will all be going in this week. We are starting the last six week term--the spring semester is flying by!! We are now beginning our novel unit. We are currently reading Tim O'Brien's powerful work, The Things They Carried, a collection of fictionalized stories about the time he really spent in Vietnam. The Walden projects turned out to be AMAZING!! Ask your child which one he/she did, because they were so creative--I'm very proud of them all. Book reviews or another Writers' Workshop projects are coming due soon (if they chose to do their book review first), so your student should have plenty of things to be working on at home! It sure is a busy time of year!! Email me anytime when you want to check up! I am located on the bottom floor in Room 121; school phone: 417-334-6511 ext. 5121; email: snowl@branson.k12.mo.us. Thanks so much for your encouragement and your support in the education of your students.

Schedule and Assignments

In times of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists. --Eric Hoffer

Be sure to read this section so you may be adequately prepared for class time. I will try to have all materials listed if you are going to need something out of the ordinary. Also check it after school to make sure you have your assignments done and ready to hand in the next day (unless otherwise specified). Remember as the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius said, “The secret of all victory lies in the organization.” So be organized, be prepared, and victory is ours.

Week of April 27-May 1

Monday--"The Ghost Soldiers"

Tuesday--"Night Life"

Wednesday--"The Lives of the Dead" (finish novel!!!)

Thursday--No class; 3rd hour report to commons

Friday--Themes of TTTC

:)

Weekly Online Journal Entry


How can I tell what I think until I see what I say? --E.M. Forster

Every week you will be responsible for posting a reply to an online journal question. This response needs to be at least one full paragraph (minimum of 5-6 sentences, no more than one full page). Being an online journal, this is somewhat informal in nature but you do need to use complete sentences, watch your spelling, and fully develop your thoughts. Make sure your responses are adhering to the posted rules or they will be deleted. Be open, be creative, be yourself.

Consider the following quotation:

Don't do whatever you like; like whatever you do. --Anne M. Jennings

Describe an instance where you have applied this advice in your own life or a situation in which you could give it a try. In the picture, see how an ordinary chore like walking the dog can become a great adventure. Life is full of amazing possibilities. It is our attitude that can lift us up or hold us back if we let it. Consider how our attitudes can be changed if we will try to see the potential in any given situation. An online journal, for instance ....


Useful Links

Zeal without knowledge is fire without light. --Thomas Fuller

Here are a few links to sites you may find useful to our coursework. Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com will be invaluable during our vocabulary lessons as well as quite beneficial during our writing exercises and assignments. We will be adding to these as we go. Use them well.

Dictionary.com
Thesauras.com

OWL at Purdue (apa & mla guide)