Second Log Entry Due Friday/Room Assignments

What have you done to further your project this week?

A downloadable list of room assignments for your Jan. 19 Senior Presentation is available on my teacher page (I can't add files here). Click on Honors Expository Composition and Homework.

Project Log Entry Due Friday

The first of your six project log entries is due Friday. What have you done to further your project this week? Look at your physical project task analysis: have you accomplished any of the items you listed on your timeline? If not, why not? Do not put off for tomorrow what you can do today. It's a cliche because it's true.

Senior Presentation Guidelines*

This information is also on the Senior Project Survival Guide on the school's website.

The purpose of the Senior Presentation is to tell the story of the Senior Project by synthesizing what was learned from the product creation with the information from the paper. It is your chance to describe what you learned to a group of interested adults and peers.

Guidelines:

• The student should explain the process of creating the product and writing the paper. There should be an introduction, body and conclusion.

• The presentation must include visual or auditory aids such as PowerPoint or iGoogle.

• The presentation must be 7 to 10 minutes in length including a question and answer period.

• The presentation should be rehearsed in front of an audience at least three times. You may use note cards or PowerPoint presentation as prompts.

• This is a formal presentation. Students should dress in business attire.


*Adapted from Santee Education Complex Senior Project Student Survival Guide

20 Hour Project

The deadline for completing your 20-hour project is Monday, Jan. 18. It will be graded as follows: 20 hours = A, 16 hours = B, 14 hours = C, 12 hours = D, 10 = F (beats a zero).
This includes six detailed log entries, one per week (see Pathfinder pgs. 40-41).

Interview is Part of the Research Paper

In case anyone missed the 50 times I've said it, here's 51: Your interview is part of your research paper! It is not separate. It is one of the six (or eight for an A) sources used in your research paper. Do not include the questions. Do not use the first person (I or me).

After your interview, read over your notes and choose the most interesting or pertinent ones. Put the quote or paraphrase in the part of your research paper where it fits best. In parentheses, write personal interview.

On the Works Cited page, list the interviewee alphabetically by their last name, first name, followed by personal interview (or phone interview, or email interview as the case may be) and the date on which you conducted the interview.

Final Drafts of Research Paper Due Nov. 25

Your 7-to-10-page research paper (with 6-8 sources) is due Wednesday. It may be turned in Monday for a lower grade.

Be sure to see your Writer's Choice book on citing sources, revising and presenting the final draft. You may also want to see the MLA citations link on this page.

If you are looking for an expert to interview, see the link to USC experts on this page.

Style Notes on Research Paper Rough Drafts

Many of you are making the same mistakes. Here are some notes on style:

Punctuation goes inside the quotation marks. That means commas, periods, exclamation points are followed by the quotation marks. "I fell down the stairs and nearly broke my neck!"

Book titles are italicized. You underline when you are writing by hand since it is hard to write in italics.

There's no need to use the words "out there" as in, "There are many people out there in the world."

There is no comma between the author's name and page number in a parenthetical reference. Example: (Smith 40)
There is no comma between the student's name and the page number in the upper right hand corner. Example: (Hernandez 2)

Grades

I will be turning in midterm grades this coming week. Consider your research paper rough draft your midterm exam.

Many of you are behind schedule. Too many people have not turned in their note cards; a few have not turned in their bibliography cards.

I am enlisting the help of your advisory teachers. I've spent the past two hours compiling lists of my students according to their advisory and writing letters to the advisory teacher. I've asked the teacher to meet with you individually to track your progress. I provided a color key to show who is getting an A/B and who is getting a D/F. Those who have a D or F, I made a note of your percentage and what assignments you are missing. Ms. Estangui, Mr. Tuomala and Mr. Alas are on board; I will speak to Mr. Garcia and Ms. Langer on Thursday.

Congratulations to those of you who have an A or a B. Good work!

To those with a D or and F, you have been warned.

Rough Draft of Research Paper due Friday

Monday: Turn in any late note cards by the end of class. Watch the section of the Standard Deviants video on "writing the first draft." Prepare an outline if you have not done so already.

Tuesday:Read the section on Drafting in your Writer's Choice book. See the link MLA Citations on this page.

Wednesday: school holiday. You should plan on setting aside this day to write your rough draft.

Thursday: You may continue to type your rough draft in the library. See handout Rough Draft Self-Evaluation Guide.

Your typed rough draft (including an outline) is due by the end of class on Friday. Any rough drafts turned in after this date will receive one grade lower for each day it is late.

Note Cards: Direct Quotation, Summary, Paraphrase

To review: the bibliography cards that you actually use in your research paper become the Work Cited Page of your research paper.

The notes you are working on become the seven (or more) pages of exposition for your research paper.

Your notes should be a mixture of direct quotation, summary and paraphrase. Remember to write only one idea per card. Include the author's name and page number on the card. The rest of the information is stored on your bibliography cards.

Twenty note cards are due Friday, but you may turn in up to 40 cards (total) for extra credit.

Bibliography Cards, Note Cards Due

You should have turned in 10 bibliography cards by now. Although you will only need 7-8 sources for your research paper, it's good to have some wiggle room.

You will now begin take notes from each of your sources. Write one idea per card. Use as many note cards as necessary. You may take a lot of notes from some sources and a few notes from another. (You may need to buy note cards.)

Due Friday: 20 note cards

Are You an Intellectual?

Other small learning communities encourage their students to choose research topics that pertain to their SLC. As School for Advanced Studies students, you are free to choose nearly anything, but it should be intellectual.

According to Dictionary.com, the word intellectual as an adjective means:
1. appealing to or engaging the intellect: intellectual pursuits.
2. of or pertaining to the intellect or its use: intellectual powers.
3. possessing or showing intellect or mental capacity, esp. to a high degree: an intellectual person.
4. guided or developed by or relying on the intellect rather than upon emotions or feelings; rational.
5. characterized by or suggesting a predominance of intellect: an intellectual way of speaking.
–noun
6. a person of superior intellect.
7. a person who places a high value on or pursues things of interest to the intellect or the more complex forms and fields of knowledge, as aesthetic or philosophical matters, esp. on an abstract and general level.
8. an extremely rational person; a person who relies on intellect rather than on emotions or feelings.
9. a person professionally engaged in mental labor, as a writer or teacher.

Those of you whose topics are less intellectual by nature will need to find a way to treat your topic in an intellectual manner.

Time Management

By now everyone should have selected a topic, read a general article and written a thesis statement. If you have done that, you should be working on a rough outline for your research paper. This may change as your research progresses, but it it good to have a road map, so you don't get lost or wander around the library, figuratively speaking.

Tomorrow will be a catch-up day for those of you who are behind or need help. I don't want anyone to feel they are hopelessly behind. I also don't want people who are ready to go to feel that they are being held up. Those who are on schedule can go to the library and start their research. The rest will use the laptops to get up to speed.

One more thing: buy some index cards on which to take notes. You can split a set of 100 with a friend. Or you can sell them individually when less organized people become desperate.

Revised Syllabus

I've revised the syllabus for this class to add the date for your presentations to the judges: Tuesday, Jan. 19. The revised syllabus can be downloaded from my teacher page. Click on teacher pages, my name, the name of this class, and you will see it.

Fast Food Nation Lesson

Plan on presenting your lesson based on a chapter from Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser. It should be about 10 minutes in length and should include some type of check for understanding, such as a quiz.

I'm looking forward to seeing these.

Changing Schedules

I really hope you are all finished changing your schedules. Didn't you all meet with your counselor last year? Mr. Grijalva is a saint; I'd never be able to do what he does.

We will be working with the Expo Comp book all week, so be sure you have it with you. We won't be using the Writer's Choice books just yet; I will keep them in the classroom for the time being. That is, unless you piss me off, then I will issue them to you and you can add them to your heavy burden.

You should also be thinking about topics for your Senior Project.

Requirements for Assignments

All major assignments are to be typed and saved on a flash or hard-drive. You must be able to reproduce your work in case your essay is lost or misplaced. All work is to be turned in at the beginning of the class in which it is due. Do not wait until the night before to begin printing out any major assignment. Unexcused late work will lose points on a daily basis until it is submitted, and cannot be turned in after a unit is completed. We will be taking notes daily, both in class and on outside assignments.

Summer Assignment Due Sept. 9

Download the assignment from the Summer Assignments page of the SAS section of the school website.

Senior Project Presentation Tuesday

I am very encouraged by what I've seen during your practice presentations in class. Remember, the more you practice, the easier time you will have on Tuesday afternoon. I suggest practicing in your advisory class on Monday or Tuesday, or in another advisory if your teacher doesn't have a laptop/projector available. You can also practice in our classroom during nutrition.

Please bring your flash drive on Monday. I will have the laptop cart, so everyone should make sure their program opens and works properly.

I'm very proud of the progress you have shown. I'm confident that you will do a great job.