Mr. Jolly’s Room

It was exciting to see your reactions to the film I Am a Promise.  The movie does a great job of raising a lot of educational issues in ways that might be different from how you would normally approach them.

Answer one of the following questions: 

1. Was principal Deanna Burney justified in her decision to leave? 

2. Are single-gender classrooms (similar to Mr. Coats’) a good idea?

3. After viewing the movie, would you be interested in teaching in a similar school?

Answer thoroughly, and respectfully respond to someone else!

The nominees for the National Book Awards have been announced.  You might be interested to know that one of the categories is for young people’s literature, and that Scott Westerfield is among the judges for that award.

And the whole world has known since Thursday that Doris Lessing is this year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

immutable

incorrigible

mitigate

nullify

pacifistic

pretentious

prologue

recant

servile

trepidation

Bilingual students in New Jersey are using ipods in school to learn English.

If you’re looking for one-on-one help, you guys are lucky, because I have fourth period planning.  That means I am available during three of the four lunches at our school.  Here’s how to find me:

Fourth Period: I am usually in the library for the entire period.  Just ask someone on staff.

Fifth Period:  My advisement group switches lunches a couple of times a week to do some intensive peer tutoring with another advisement group.  This makes things trickier, but I am still available.  Just ask me in advance, and I can let you know exactly where I will be.

Of course, I am still available by appointment before and after school on any day except Monday, when I go to school.

You have plenty of opportunities to seek help!  Take advantage of them!

The MacArthur Fellowships (lovingly called “genius grants”) have been announced.  Check out the winners.  They include scientists, writers, artists, and even a blues musician.  Each fellow gets $500,000 paid in installments over five years.

abstruse

affable

audacity

contrite

credulous

depravity

deprecate

didactic

dormant

enigmatic

erudite

exotic

fastidious

furtive

gregarious

hypocrite

innate

lethargic

melancholy

opaque

prolific

reprove

symmetry

tranquil

If you’re stumped about how to cite a source (or if you have any other questions about MLA style), go to owl.english.purdue.edu for all the rules you’re going to need.  Scroll down to the right and you’ll see links to their MLA formatting and style guide, as well as a nice introduction to plagiarism.

As I have told some of you already, here is another translation of Beowulf available online.  This translation is roughly the same level of difficulty; however, it includes a list of characters, a glossary of words not commonly used in modern English, and sidenotes explaining the action.  Enjoy.