Hey!

Look at you checking the blog even though I didn't show it in class yet! You're awesome!

Just a reminder to bring in your signed Google account slips and syllabi.

I look forward to having a great year with you all. 3rd period seems like a great group...we'll see about 5th. :)

Almost Here!

We may not be quite ready, but the new school year is approaching very quickly. I'm hoping to finish painting my house this weekend and then shift my focus back to incorporating all my study from earlier in the summer into making this class better. I hope you are all wrapping up work on your summer assignment (yes, I know at least a couple of you just started looking around for a copy of Huckleberry Finn -- yes that is HUCKLEBERRY FINN. I heard a rumor that someone was convinced the book to read was Tom Sawyer.). See you soon. It's going to be a great year!


Some of you might be interested to find out who you write like. If so, check out this page. I copied several paragraphs from some of my old papers and I got three different results using different papers. Out of five tries, three came back the same though. I'd try it more than once. Kind of interesting. Evidently I write like H.P. Lovecraft with some features of Daniel Defoe's style as well. Though this blog post makes them think of Cory Doctorow. Different voices for different purposes, right?

Next Year

If you're here looking for the AP Summer Assignment, you found it!

Is it late August and are you terrified you won't finish the summer assignment and thinking about dropping the class?

Hey, future students!!

The Atlantic in my mailbox just today (July/August edition) has declared the End of Men. Read about it. It’s a long article, but it is well worth it.

If you’re a girl, be afraid of the demise of men.

If you are a guy, get mad. Get riled. Decide that you will not be left on the scrap heap of culture and history. Tap into your competitive nature. Decide to demand your education. Demand your future. Then earn it.

The world needs more Jacob Rummels and Maverick Antonios and Cody McKenzies (guys who work hard pursuing excellence in everything, at least everything I witnessed them do over the last couple of years).

We'll be talking about the issue of pursuing excellence this coming fall.