Parrott AP English Language

UGA Early-Admission Notification

We are only a few days away from the moment that many of you are eagerly awaiting:  Notification of Seniors who have applied for Early Decision at The University of Georgia. I hope all of you who have applied will login to the UGA system on Friday or Saturday and scream with delight as you read the magical words that you have been accepted. I think you all have worked so hard in the past few years and jumped through so many hoops that you deserve to gain admission. Good-luck!

What is UGA looking for in their early-admission candidates? According to UGA's website, last year's applicants had

* Avg. GPA of 3.95
* Mean SAT of 1312 (without writing)
* Mean SAT Writing of 650
* Avg. of 5 AP courses

As your teacher, however, I also know that only a percentage of students who apply for early admission will be selected, and, unfortunately, some of you with high grade-point averages, excellent test scores, and wonderful personalities will receive disappointing news. We go through this every year, and your teachers will be just as perplexed and upset as you are over many of the students who receive deferment. Before you login to that cursed system, I hope you will consider the following.

• Let’s congratulate the students who have been accepted. They have worked hard and deserve our support.

• Let’s commiserate and help the students who are deferred. They have also worked hard and deserve our support.

• If you are deferred, do not start wondering “what did I do wrong,” or “why don’t they want me?” It’s a game of numbers, and sometimes the numbers simply do not make sense.

• If you are not admitted through early decision that does not mean you will not get into UGA. Most of you will be accepted, but you will just have to jump through a couple of additional hoops and wait a few more months.

• Your next step will be to write the short essays, obtain a teacher’s recommendation, and get everything to UGA by January 15th.

• If you need a recommendation, see a teacher as soon as possible. Most teachers will not write recommendations over the holidays, but they may be willing to write the recommendation during the first week of the new semester. Choose a teacher who knows you well, someone who has the time and desire to write a glowing recommendation that will make UGA see the error of its ways and beg you to come to Athens. (UGA guidelines stipulate that the teacher must be a teacher who taught you in an 11th or 12th grade academic course.)

I hope you receive wonderful news from UGA!

Former students, if you have any advice to share, please feel free to do so.

Upcoming Assignments

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Now that we have had a long Thanksgiving break, it's time to get back to work. Here is a snapshot of our remaining work for the semester.

This week

Monday - We will read during class (no homework, remember?) "Tongue Tied" and then discuss it. Please remember to bring your book.

Tuesday - Timed Writing / Time to work with your debate partner

Wednesday - Friday - Norton Reader discussions - see Syllabus

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Next Week

Monday - Friday - Debates and group discussions of books

Debate paper due Monday!

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Final Week

Monday - Debate and distribution of student comments (maybe with food!)

Character Sketch Due

Tuesday - Friday - Full AP exam for final exam

Student Comments and Turnitin Assignments

Because some of you are trying to figure out when to use your remaining precis passes, I have entered all of our remaining assignments in Turnitin.com. You can check it to determine when you want to use your passes. We have three assignments left where I will ask you to write a precis.

Don't forget to submit your student comments to Turnitin by FRIDAY! The file is on the website in an earlier post, and I have now entered the assignment in Turnitin.com so you can upload your comments when you are finished.

Have a great weekend! It's beautiful out there!

Research Paper Proofreading Sheet

As you finish your research paper, you might want to use this checklist to make final revisions to your paper.

Download Problem Solution Proofreading

Good-luck!  I'll see you tomorrow!

Student Comments: How Will We Remember Each Other?

During the last week of class, I plan to give each of you a small gift that consists of nice comments that your classmates and I have written about you. Obviously, I need your help!

Download the file for your class period. Write at least one kind remark about each person in your class. What will you remember about each person? What is the best thing you can say? Be serious and not sarcastic. I hope this doesn't happen, but if you select not to write comments about other students, I will not distribute their comments to you. Don't be a party-pooper!

Please submit your comments to Turnitin.com by Friday, Nov. 20th

Download Period 1

Download Period 2 corrected

Download Period 3

Update

Brian G. sent the following message:

Just a tip for those who aren't MS Word experts.

You can press  Ctrl + H  to use the "find and replace" tool. In the top box, type in "Your Name" and in the replacement box type "Brian" or whatever your name is. This will change all the Your Name's into your name.

Please type your first and last name.

Thanks, Brian!

World Day Essay Contest

Here's a great writing contest that many of you may want to enter. Please note the due date in November.

Download WD 2009 Essay Question Flyer

Download WD 2009 essay reg form

Tools for Panel Presentation

Work Log (Download and keep track of group members)

Download Panel_presentation log

Website for Editorial Cartoons

Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoons

Website for Creating Free Surveys
Don't forget that I must approve the survey before you distribute it. Please send me an email with the link to the survey or you can print out the survey on Survey Monkey and let me see it. Since I am checking for content, grammar, mechanics, and format, I will not approve a hand-written survey or a typed survey that has not been set up in Survey Monkey.

SurveyMonkey

Website for Detecting Bias

How to Detect Bias in the News 

KMHS Resources (Page down and click on Opposing Viewpoints)

KMHS Resources

I Am What I Learn

I am what I learn.

The U.S. Department of Education is hosting a video contest for students. The contest is open to students 13 and over who make a short video (no more than 2 minutes) about the importance of education. It looks like an interesting assignment for kids.

I Am What I Learn

Clarkdale Elementary School Relief Efforts

Clarkdale Elementary School was submerged in the recent flooding. Clarkdale students and their teachers will be sent to two different schools where they will remain until Cobb County decides what to do about the damaged building. If you would like to help these students, their families, and the teachers of Clarkdale, please see the attached file. Sadly, many Clarkdale students must endure the pain of losing their house and their school. They need our help. Thanks!

Download Clarkdale Contributions

Your Rain Vacation Continues

Make sure you finish In Cold Blood by Thursday. I still have a story to tell you!

The speeches that were scheduled for Tuesday (11 & 12) and the speeches that were scheduled for Wednesday (13 & 14) will now move to Thursday. We will complete speeches 15 and 16 on Monday.

The In Cold Blood test will still take place on Friday, and I’ll tell you more about it on Thursday.You will need to know all character names as well as why the characters are important. I have sent a message on Facebook (may take hours for Facebook to send it) suggesting that students get together to share names to help review for the test. Feel free to start a Facebook group so you can work together. You may even post the Facebook group URL on the AP English Language group gall if you so desire.

Enjoy your day off and take care!