Reading Alan Levine’s blog post entitled “What? Another Do X A Day Project?” this morning got me thinking. See, I participated in National Novel Writing Month in 2004, 2005, and 2006, and last year I spent several evenings surfing through Alan’s (and D’arcy’s) 365 Flickr challenge. I knew nothing about this challenge and thought anyone [...]

Posted in AP Lang, blogs, nostalgia, reviews

I’ve been teaching Into the Wild, the journey of Christopher McCandless, since early in 2005 so when Changing Hands Bookstore announced that they were bringing Jon Krakauer to town I was stoked. Into the Wild seems to touch more of my students than any other required novel. Last month Krakauer released his next nonfiction novel- [...]

Posted in AP Lang, books, presentations

APLang_Podcast1_July2809
Podcast transcript
This is Devon Adams and today is July 24th 2009. Welcome to the first AP Language & Composition podcast. The purpose of these podcasts is to relay information about the AP Language class at Basha High School. My goal is to get these out weekly or biweekly depending on the materials being covered in [...]

Posted in AP Lang, podcasts

I’ve always been under the impression that students appreciated getting due dates well in advance so they can plan ahead. I know parents appreciate deadlines way in advance. About six weeks ago now we gave an assignment to make a WIKI for class. I think my biggest mistake was not making stuff due all along. [...]

Posted in AP Lang, wiki

Last year at this time, you, students, knew more. Part of this may’ve been your preparation in the past, but I feel like part of this is my fault. See, the last couple of years I had the curriculum all planned out and I really enjoyed my job. This year, things are different. Planning is [...]

Posted in AP Lang, APUSH, curriculum, reviews

This week I am at the AP Institute in Bellevue, WA. Last year I came to this same institute alone, because I’d heard it’s the best around. I agree. Last year it rocked, and my presenter was the Chief Reader for AP Language. The beginning of the week began a bit quieter until my friends [...]

Posted in AP Lang, conferences, curriculum, eng11, travel

Last week we “hired” a new AP Language teacher. As you may know Shirley Crabtree is headed to Perry, so we desperately needed someone. We did discuss in house people, and Ken James had someone in mind. When Liza and I met her, we were really excited and recommended her to district immediately. She seemed [...]

Posted in AP Lang, technology

At the end of the week I had a sit down with my new boss, Ken James, who is a pretty cool guy. I wanted to talk to him about American Studies and the trip to Boston. He explained how team teaching has and has not worked in the past, and the successful scenarios are [...]

Posted in AP Lang, American Studies

We’ve begun going to talk to the current Sophomore Honors students about AP English & American Studies. Mostly the course curriculum they disregard until we get going because there’s just too much, and typically they can’t wrap their minds are AP vs American Studies vs AP Exams vs Dual Enrollment. I get a lot of [...]

Posted in AP Lang, American Studies, Summer Reading, google docs, google groups, nhs

After school today we had a meeting about summer reading. In our district, we cannot really call it “Summer Reading” so we make it due 2-3 weeks into the school year. This really isn’t feasible anymore given all of the higher ed institutions who require summer reading for incoming freshman. Ladies & Gentlemen, get with [...]

Posted in AP Lang, American Studies, Summer Reading, books, literature, wiki