2020-2021 students, welcome to AP English Language and Composition!

In case you've stumbled your way onto this class website, welcome! We'll be using Google Classroom this year for your convenience as all of your classes begin online in the fall. Google Classroom codes will be provided on Monday evening in an e-mail and posted for each class on Aeries, after most of the scheduling adjustments are complete. That will be the "home base" for the class, rather than this delightful website.

G'day!

 Since you're here, I may as well introduce myself and the class. I'm Ms. Mogilefsky (also known as Ms. M). I'm excited to work with you this year as we prepare as a team for the AP Language and Composition exam and explore a variety of well-known books, short stories, nonfiction articles and essays that are an important part of the conversation about the nature of American life, past and present. I know junior year can be stressful: SATs, ACTs, extracurriculars, and of course the AP exam on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. The Covid-19 situation also calls for us to be flexible in the face of uncertainty. We'll take on the challenges one step at a time, and all of the activities we'll work on will help you succeed. I've given it quite a bit of thought, and I know we'll make this year fun and productive. I'm excited to get to know you! Now...back to my home office...

Congratulations, AP!

The AP exam scores are available at the College Board website. You really performed well, especially considering you had to adapt to massive changes for this exam, and in your entire life.

I know scores are important, and they were outstanding this year, but beyond this one score I truly appreciate the level of engagement and the high quality discussions, debates, and all of the written work you completed last term. As always, e-mail me with any questions or concerns.

Hope you're enjoying summer! Connect with me on Goodreads, if you're so inclined.

All the best,
Ms. M.

FINALS WEEK: June 8 and 9

Thank you
It was truly an honor and a privilege to facilitate such an exceptional and interesting group of students this year. In the "before times" I often joked about "the four-hour version of the class" and my (ambitious? quixotic? bloated?) lesson plans are a reflection of how much I enjoyed your reading and writing, and especially your discussions. Even though the quarantine limited class time and personal interaction at the end, I am grateful for the valuable discussions and debates we were able to engage in before mid-March.

I've learned so much during our time this year and I hope you find that your reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills are better than they were a year ago. As you move forward into senior year and beyond, my advice -- for what it's worth -- is to continue to be fully engaged, keep up with current events, read while SOAPSing, participate in civic life, and travel and have as many adventures and experiences as you can. Also, visit me next year or drop me a line and keep me posted about what's going on in your life.

Here's what this entry will cover: 1. the agenda and final assignment info, 2. summer reading, and 3. a message from the College and Career Center.

TUESDAY: Last class session, live on Zoom. Go through the final checklist for college essay drafts: push for details, remove cliches, fix any diction/syntax issues. Introduce free choice summer reading, college and career center updates. Time for me to say "thank you" to all the students, and congratulate you on a wild, but wonderful year!

Due: by noon on Tuesday, June 9: full rough draft, in the ballpark of the required word count (within 200-250 words) to Turnitin.com.

SUMMER READING
 Click here for the summer reading information; this year, it's free choice*!

*There's always a catch, isn't there? There are guidelines: 150 pages, at grade level, dialectical journal.


FROM THE COLLEGE AND CAREER CENTER
There are a few links of exceptional importance before we break for summer... the first is the YouTube Junior JumpStart presentations that the counselors put together to provide detailed guidance and a timeline of what the junior class could be/should be thinking about and working on this summer to prepare for the likelihood of college applications in the fall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URlkSPcKUU8

Class of 2021 Counseling Presentation, Spring 2020 - YouTube Palos Verdes High School, Palos Verdes Estates, California. www.youtube.com

Besides the video presentation, there is the second link to the corresponding powerpoint that follows the video, but has exceptionally good hyperlinks to additional information and resources: https://4.files.edl.io/a76c/05/28/20/164024-f7d4959c-f5c0-407b-86c4-888d182d259b.pdf

I've also included a link to another opportunity for our students/parents to sit in on and participate in panel discussions next week with colleges ranging from West Point, to the Culinary Institute of America! Topics iclude: Engineering Your College Essay: A STEM Perspective on College Essays / Admission to The U.S. Military Academy at West Point 

https://www.marist.edu/hrcc

Hudson River College Cruise - Marist College Marist College is a highly selective comprehensive liberal arts institution noted for its leadership in the use of technology in and out of the classroom. www.marist.edu

Considering the fact that we will not have "business as usual" college visits next year, together with the fact that the vast majority of colleges have gone test optional, there's just a lot of pro-active and individual research our juniors have to begin doing... there's also a lot they need to know about how to approach their applications in the fall.

Which brings me to the last link which is to info/registration for a Common App Crash Course that the CCC will offer on June 16th.  It's a 4hr intensive on June 16th that I would have loved to have done differently, but under the circumstances I believe it will provide some much needed direction, insight and information.  This is the first time the CCC will ask for a donation because of impending budget restraints, but it is a donation and all juniors are welcome.  For juniors, whether at PV or a different high school, please just send  an email to me at lewisja@pvpusd.net with an email address so I can send the Zoom link:

https://pvboosterclub.com/product/class-of-2021-common-app-crash-course/

June 1 - 5

With all of the civil unrest in the country right now, I assuage my own grief and anger by thinking about my experiences with you in the classroom. You are the future, and you give me hope that we'll heal and become stronger and more just than we have in the past.   

The last full week of school

This week, we'll begin typing rough drafts of the college essay. We'll be reading successful samples, all different kinds, for inspiration.

Remember, Wednesday, June 3 is the last day to turn in late work for partial credit.

 
MONDAY: Online, Zoom class. How to avoid writing the same college essay that everyone else writes: be specific, add imagery and details. Read actual college essay samples and critique them together as a class. On a volunteer basis, discuss any specific challenges matching essay topics to prompts, or about prompt selection.

Due: Go through the admissions pages of the colleges and universities where you plan to apply, and see which essay prompts they require. Bearing in mind the strategies we discussed in class, choose the prompt(s) you'll write for the final assignment for English class, and begin the process of matching your stories with a specific prompt (or two, if you choose the UC prompts). 

Homework: Do a free write where you completely answer a prompt and just get all of your thoughts down. Don't pay attention to word count, pacing, order, making sense, or any other restrictions, just let it flow. You are writing the crappy version, including any associations and tangents that come to mind in answering the prompt. Once it's all out on paper, we'll work on editing it during the next couple of classes. (If you prefer, you are piling up all of the clay onto the worktable; we will sculpt it into something polished, unique, and interesting once it's all there.)

WEDNESDAY: Offline, work independently. Make sure you have an extremely rough "outpouring" of all of your ideas about how a personal story of yours matches one (or, for the UC prompts, two) of the prompts for next class. DO NOT CENSOR OR JUDGE YOURSELF at this point.

Read this really long, but very important and interesting article. There is some adult language included, but the perspective and message are thought-provoking and worth a read about how we make choices about career paths and life decisions.

Due: n/a

Homework: (same as Monday)

FRIDAY: Discuss the article, discuss the very rough draft you have. Look at editing reference sheets. Go over the two most important issues in working with the very rough draft: pacing and specific details/imagery. Make sure the draft is about YOU, not someone else. Go over more sample essays as a class and evaluate them.

Due: Do a free write where you completely answer a prompt and just get all of your thoughts down. Don't pay attention to word count or any other restrictions, just let it flow. We will work on editing during the next couple of classes.

Read this really long, but very important and interesting article. There is some adult language included, but the perspective and message are thought-provoking and worth a read about how we make choices about career paths and life decisions.

Homework: Go through your draft again with the editing sheet. Graph out the pacing, and replace generalities with specific, vivid details on the page. It's coming along nicely, now! Have this still-very-rough draft ready for the last class on Tuesday of next week, June 9 for our last class session together.

May 25 - 29

On Tuesday, we're beginning the last unit of the year: the college essay. The final assignment (which is the Final with a capital "F") is a good draft of the college essay. If you already have a draft going, consider using the time to write other prompts and get a jump on the summer/fall semester of senior year. If you don't need a college essay, I have an alternate, short paper you can write about a job title of your choice: the official and unofficial requirements, salary and benefits, and trends in the industry.

NOTE: Last day to turn in make-up work for partial credit: Wednesday, June 3!

TUESDAY: Online, live Zoom class (see sidebar for class times and codes). Pull up a copy of the Brainstorming Sheet. Answer questions in small groups, typing in your own responses, in different arrangements. 

Due: n/a

Homework: Finish typing the answers in your Brainstorming Sheet. Don't censor yourself of try to write what you think a college would want to hear, just let it flow.

THURSDAY: Online, live Zoom class (see sidebar for class times and codes). Go over UC prompts, Common Application prompts, Coalition prompts, and the alternate assignment. Discuss strategies for selecting prompts, the subtext of your personal stories. Think about your answers on the Brainstorming Sheet and how they might match up with your own unique strengths and personality, as well as any "holes" in your overall application. Read and evaluate the first real college essay sample as a class, and discuss why it was successful. 
 
Due: Finish typing the answers in your Brainstorming Sheet. Don't censor yourself of try to write what you think a college would want to hear, just let it flow.

Homework: Go through the admissions pages of the colleges and universities where you plan to apply, and see which essay prompts they require. Bearing in mind the strategies we discussed in class, choose the prompt(s) you'll write for the final assignment for English class, and begin the process of matching your stories with a specific prompt (or two, if you choose the UC prompts).  

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Just to be clear, for the final assignment, students will upload one of the following to Turnitin.com before noon on Tuesday, June 9, the last class of the year:

1. A good draft (unique details, close to word count restrictions, proofread) responding to one Common Application prompt. 
2. Good drafted (unique details, close to word count restrictions, proofread) responses to two of the four required UC prompts.

3. A good draft (unique details, close to word count restrictions, proofread) responding to one Coalition prompt

4. A good draft (unique details, close to word count restrictions, proofread) responding to a specific prompt not listed above for a university, art school, or vocational tech school. Please include the prompt and a URL at the top of the submission. 

5. One polished, well written job title research paper.

 

You did it!

Congratulations, AP Lang! 
I've heard from a few of you already, and I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow for the "debrief." 

I had to include this....I was working, but did get distracted and checked Twitter a "few" times.

May 18 - 22

It's finally here! The AP exam is this Wednesday. I think the classes are in pretty good shape, and it'll be great to have an opportunity to show off your skills. The College Board readers understand it's a best first draft -- they are asked to reward writers for what they do well, keep that in mind.

Note: due to reported issues last week with some of the submissions, the College Board released the following update on Sunday, May 17. This is great news for us:

	Beginning Monday, May 18, and continuing through the makeup window, there will be a backup email submission process for browser-based exams.
•	This option will only be available for students who were not able to submit in the standard process—and they must then email their responses immediately following their exam.
•	These students will see instructions about how to email their response on the page that says, "We Did Not Receive Your Response." The email address that appears on this page will be unique to each student.
•	Any student testing between May 18–22 who can't successfully upload their response through the exam platform or send it to us by email, will need to request a makeup exam.

PRINTING THE PROMPT:  

Here are some suggestions I found from hearing from teacher contacts whose students took the AP Lit exam last week:

 

Student 1: I pressed file and then print on my laptop

Student 2: I went to the “share” option on the top right of safari, then the print option.

Student 3: I wasn't sure how I was supposed to go about printing, so I quickly just copy and pasted the text into a word doc and printed it out.

Student 4: Ctrl +P, but it cut off a few lines

• • My Lit/Gov students - ctrl-P (or go to the three dots in Chrome and choose Print). Hide the timer first so it won’t cut off the bottom.

From what I gather, a person can print directly from their browser when they access the exam. I'd suggest some trial printing directly from your default browser to see what the process is, and make sure it's smooth. I might even create a post-it about the process and stick it on the computer itself. 

Here's the agenda for the week: 

TUESDAY: Live on Zoom: in groups, come up with dos and don'ts for the exam. Check to make sure you received and/or can access your ticket to the exam. Go over last-minute information and any questions. (See the bottom of this entry for additional AP info.)

WEDNESDAY: The day of the AP exam. Log in at 10:30 a.m. to take the exam. Take the submission time seriously and begin the submission immediately after the 45 minutes.

THURSDAY: Live on Zoom: debrief after the exam, celebrate.

Have a marvelous Memorial Day weekend!
We will begin the college essay (or short research paper) after the three-day holiday. 

Additional info for the AP exam: 

1. If you are most comfortable typing in a Google Doc, you will want to 
choose the paste option for submitting. Some districts which have issued
devices block downloads/conversions of Google Docs for attachment purposes.

2. You have a limited time to enter your info at the beginning before the exam 
question appears. Have handy your 8-character AP ID and email address which
you use for MyAP.

3. If you choose copy/paste, some of the formatting does not seem to transfer
such as indentations for new paragraphs. Instead, double space to show paragraph
breaks. Once you paste into the provided text box, you can't edit your response and 
have to click on "clear field," revise on your original, and re-paste.

4. You can't have any browser add-ins like Grammarly on the browser you use to
access the exam, but you CAN have Grammarly in a different company's browser
and copy/paste your text back and forth. Be sure to budget time for going back and
forth before the five-minute submission time.

5. If you choose the photo upload or attachment upload, prepare your paper/doc
before exam day. For photos, you should write your AP ID, initials, and page numbers
at the top of at least 5 pages of paper (I'm encouraging my students to write in black ink).
For attachments, set up a header with your AP ID and initials on a doc and then save the
doc so that it's ready to go! 
 ***************************************************************************

If you're nervous about the exam, read the following quote from Theodore Roosevelt:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”