Blog Posts

Poetry and the Planet

4/3/2018

April is National Poetry Month AND Earth Month. But here's the thing: not many believe that global warming is real. I do. Do you? We continue to be wasteful, over-consuming, greedy, gluttonous and self-absorbing. Have you ever thought for once what your actions are doing to the world?

Don't think you have an impact? A student said to me recently that one person can't change the world. Lies. Here are some "one persons" who did:

Malcolm X
The Buddha
Socrates
Jesus
Martin Luther King
Michael Jackson
Thomas Jefferson
Mother Theresa
Gloria Steinam
Mahatma Gandhi
Joan of Arc
Rosa Parks
William Shakespeare
Johan Sebastian Bach
Pablo Picasso

Should I go on? It just takes...one.

Directions: Watch the video above. Read the commentary after, then comment on the following: "What is one thing you WILL do this week to save the planet?"

1. INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

2. Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five.

CAUTION!! Do NOT embarrass me, yourself, your class, the English department, the school or your parents with tasteless, meaningless comments. This is for a grade.

Due: Fri., April 6, 2018 11:59 p.m. CST

Lunch & Learn

3/25/2018

All these school shootings are really starting to disturb me. They are making me afraid for humanity. As I’ve thought more about it, I’ve realized that in addition to a gun problem, America has a people problem. We don’t like each other! But then I wonder, why don’t we like each other when 90% of the time, we don’t even know each other.

Then, I thought about a column that my friend, diversity and inclusion expert, Risha Grant wrote just this year. She wrote that when people hear the word diversity, they roll their eyes, think of this word negatively as if it’s a rare disease. I’ve even seen people say it with air-quotes. Teenagers react the same way.

But like Risha noted, people see diversity as a problem. However, diversity is not a problem. It is a strength. The people, are the problem. I agree. And it starts when we’re young.

According to Risha, in our follow the leader culture, people feel emboldened to say things they haven’t said aloud before. It has become acceptable to bully and display hate toward others. She said Dr. King would not be proud of this America.

But despite the ill-feelings that people have toward each other in the world, Risha undoubtedly believes that despite all our issues, there are great people doing great things and love will always win over hate. She challenges you, and generations that follow, to leave this place better than we found it. Stand up and fight for those who are less fortunate or systemically underrepresented.

As a start, we can get off social media and talk to each other when we are amongst people. We can pick up the phone and talk instead of text. We can volunteer together. Anything. The gesture doesn’t have to be big. After all, “little things mean a lot.” Just do something to get to know someone who is different than you.

So, what are you doing to make America better than you found it? As the beginning of a solution, this week, you will be challenged socially more intensely than you ever have before.

Follow the instructions below for this week's Lunch & Learn Challenge, and have fun doing it!

1. Find someone of a different race/ethnicity or religion that you do not know and ask them to lunch.

2. While at lunch, choose one and discuss for about 5 minutes:

Make a connection between Christmas and a lorry
Make a connection between a park and a camera
Make a connection between light and an apple
Make a connection between a sign and a computer
Make a connection between the beach and a car
Make a connection between coffee and chocolate
Make a connection between a pig and a fish
Make a connection between a television and a plan
Make a connection between snoring and a vote
Make a connection between a potato and a shoe

3. For another 5 minutes each (10 minutes total), discuss a challenging moment in your life and exchange experiences on how the other person might have handled it.

4. As your Reflection, by Friday, answer the questions below:

How was this experience?
What did you discover about the student you lunched with?
What ideas did they contribute to your experience and how can you implement some of their ideas in other areas of your life?
How was lunch!

5. INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

CAUTION!! Do NOT embarrass me, yourself, your class, the English department, the school or your parents with tasteless, meaningless comments. This is for a grade.

Due: Fri., March 30, 2018 11:59 p.m. CST

March 21st, 2018

3/21/2018

A 9-word essay. Write one.

1. INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

CAUTION!! Do NOT embarrass me, yourself, your class, the English department, the school or your parents with tasteless, meaningless comments. This is for a grade.

Due: Fri., March 23, 2018 11:59 p.m. CST

You Do This...

3/4/2018

We all have something we're good at or we're responsible for or are born to do.

Truth.

Without a doubt, I'm why my students think deeper. When people read my poetry, I'm why they think harder. I'm why people swell with emotion when they read my memoir or my edits to their writing. I'm why I write for the very reason I breathe.

Read the commentary above, then comment on the following: "I'm why..... [fill in the blank]." (That means YOU..not me.)

1. INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

2. Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five.

3. You MUST respond to at least TWO other posts from any student. Your replies cannot be identical comments on different posts and posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn you a zero. Make sure your reply addresses the comment that you are responding to.
Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

CAUTION!! Do NOT embarrass me, yourself, your class, the English department, the school or your parents with tasteless, meaningless comments. This is for a grade.

Due: Fri., March 9, 2018 11:59 p.m. CST

Locked & Loaded

2/25/2018

Guns in schools. Are we ready? How would you feel if you had a pistol packing teacher for your English or Math class? Or the class you fell asleep in every day?

After the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting last month in Parkland, Florida, Trump wants to arm teachers. In some states, teachers think it's a crazy idea. In other states, like Ohio, teachers are already packing.

"Doesn't it get to be too much," asked Brianne Solomon, a teacher in West Virginia. "On top of all the things we do, to have to remember when we're supposed to use a gun?"

A guidance counselor in Baltimore, Maryland, thinks often about a time he had to tackle a student to the ground who shot a classmate in the back with a gun in their school's cafeteria.

He told the New York Times, "Never have I thought, 'I wish I'd had a gun,'" and that he thinks the president's idea of arming teachers is "simplistic and misguided."

On the other hand, according to the New York Times, "more than 100 districts in Texas" have been arming teachers with weapons since 2007, and Dallas Republican and State Representative Jason Villalba thinks that the president has recognized that teachers carrying guns is "clearly...the solution to the problem that we're seeing around the country."

And the world, continues to turn...

Read the commentary above, then comment on the following: "What would schools become if teachers are armed with guns in schools?"

1. INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

2. Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five.

3. You MUST respond to at least TWO other posts from any student. Your replies cannot be identical comments on different posts and posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn you a zero. Make sure your reply addresses the comment that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

Peril or Prosper?

2/23/2018

In the next 10 years, will your ages will range between 26-28-years old. Based on the statistics from the clip you just watched, will you be perishing? Or will you be prospering?

When I observe teens today, I get anxious about where they will end up. I listen to complaints about school work or having to read novels. I notice the effort and skill put into sneaking on phones or listening to headphones versus any effort or skill put into doing class work. I wonder what they are thinking when they ask to go waste time in the restroom. I wonder if they think adults do not know.

For some, any focus is difficult to detect. What motivates them besides, music, entertainment, food and trends? Do they weigh their investment on brand name clothes, shoes and gadgets against their return? What do they get? Do they not consider that they might be left behind? Do they look at the destitute on the streets and wonder, "what's the difference between him/her and me, 10 years from now?"?

Then I observe the ones who are focused. What motivates them to get to class on time and work hard when they get to school? How do they fight off the struggles of peer and societal pressures? How are they preparing to not be left behind?

As you just saw in the clip, technology is becoming...is already...a "thing." Do you have the skills to survive in a technologically advanced world?

Assignment. Watch the video above, read the commentary after it, then blog about the following: Knowing the habits and work ethic you have today, and considering the stats in the video, in 10 years, will you perish or prosper? How?

1. INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

2. Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five.

3. You MUST respond to at least TWO other posts from any student. Your replies cannot be identical comments on different posts and posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn you a zero. Make sure your reply addresses the comment that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

Mixed Ink...

1/18/2018

NO MIXED INK THIS WEEK!!!

Regrets? Do You? Should You?

1/6/2018

As you grow into who you will become, sometimes it is wise to look back on your life and reflect on things you've done, things you want to do, and things you'd change or keep the same.

While you're still young, now is the opportune time to make mistakes because at this stage in your life, most of them can be corrected. Whether it's in your personal life, school life, work life or relationships with people, you want to always strive to do your best and not blatantly be a sore.

You are in the exact place in your life where you want to pause, look at how your life is going and make plans on how to proceed. This is also the time to assess what kind of person you are. Do you give up easily? Do you look at mistakes as just that, then move forward as you correct them? Or, are you the kind of person who blames everyone and life for all the things that have gone wrong in your life?

Now is the time to look at the person in the mirror, and while you're young, reflect and decide how you will adjust moving forward. Your adjustments may be to stay the same, continue to improve, or make a total makeover of your actions and life as it is so far. Either way, it's not too late until you wake up one morning and know that some mistakes you've made have completely changed your life in such a way that it's too late to change.

Comment on the following prompt: Discuss any regrets that you might have about this school semester and also what you will do to adjust moving forward.

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

You MUST respond to at least TWO other posts from any student. Your replies cannot be identical comments on different posts and posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn you a zero. Make sure your reply addresses the comment that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

Net Neutrality

12/19/2017

Today, net neutrality keeps the Internet free for both consumers (you) and businesses (Amazon, Netflix, etc.).

However, it appears that the FCC is about to either repeal or dismantle net neutrality rules. Currently, talk of net neutrality is a hot topic, especially on the government level where the FCC's opinions are being questioned.

From Amazon and Netflix, to ATT and HBO, many companies have strong opinions about what net neutrality would do for their business. Many consumers have also weighed in and some are quite frankly, afraid.

Instructions: What is your opinion of net neutrality, and how do you think it will affect businesses and you?

INCLUDE IN THIS ORDER: Last name AND first initial AND class period.

You MUST respond to at least TWO other posts from any student. Your replies cannot be identical comments on different posts and posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn you a zero. Make sure your reply addresses the comment that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

Soundtracks & Movies

12/11/2017

What were you born to do? Do you know? Here's a hint: according to author, Steve Olsher, in his book, "What is Your WHAT?," he says it is "the one amazing thing you were born to do and is comprised of your inherent gifts, the vehicle you will use to share your gifts with the world and the people you are most compelled to serve."

Some people know, it appears, from birth what they want to do with their life, and chase it with strategic abandon until they become the John Coltranes, Nat King Coles, Beyonces, Martin Luther Kings, Malcom Xes and Michael Jacksons of the world.

Then you have multipotentialites. According to Emilie Wapnick, author of "How to Be Everything: A Guide for Those Who Still Don't Know What They Want to Be When They Grow Up," a multipotentialite has "many interests and creative pursuits."

So, how do you know? Some people spend their entire lives just living, not knowing what their purpose is or purposes are. Then some spend their entire lives chasing a dream that they never wake from.

Do you hurry and wait? Or hurry up and get to it? A clue: the famous Leonard da Vinci said, "people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happen to things."

So...you decided. You don't have much time no matter how old you are. Make life happen.

Comment on the following prompt: Your life is a movie. Based on all the movies you know about, write one title that would describe your life now or 10 years from now, then write a list of ten songs that you know of that could match that movie title and serve as the soundtrack for your life.

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

CAUTION!! Do NOT embarrass me, yourself, your class, the English department, the school or your parents with tasteless, meaningless comments. This is for a grade.

Due: Fri., Dec. 15, 2017 11:59 p.m. CST

Social Media?

12/3/2017

Social media says a lot about how we behave as a society. It dictates how we think, shop, interact, and look. If affects how we see ourselves and how others see us. It is the dictator of perception.

Nevertheless, it is important that people do not lose themselves in the melee. Is it possible to live in a world without social media? What would that look like? If it's not possible, how do you keep your balance in a world so off-balance with smoke screens and mirrors?

Instructions: Caption the image above in 10 words or less. Anything over will result in a 0 for not following directions.

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

You will not be able to read other captions in an effort to avoid redundancy.

CAUTION!! Do NOT embarrass me, yourself, your class, the English department, the school or your parents with tasteless, meaningless comments. This is for a grade.

Due: Fri., Dec. 8, 2017 11:59 p.m. CST

Who Will You Blame?

11/26/2017

At the beginning of my teaching career, I was a new teacher on fire. I wanted to change the industry of education by using my passion for learning as the fuel to propel all educators to give a damn. I promised to teach all my students everything there is to know about literature, words, writing, writers and especially reading!

So, I created this blog, R.A.W., EPIC Content, rubrics and my version of Socratic Conver-stations. I was on fiyah!

Then, just when I was floating on a cloud, an email from a parent poked a hole in my bubble and deflated my soul. In it, she blasted me for giving work that she claims her child did not have the resources to complete. She wanted her child out of my class. The expletives she used were not warranted for even the devil. But there I sat. In front of my computer. Reading my death warrant.

Then I wondered: what exactly did this parent expect me to do? Not teach her child? Allow her child to live in a world where her child could not read, write or communicate beyond a 5th grade level? Then who would she blame?

All too often, people blame others for their shortcomings. Not often enough, do people take responsibility for their role in their shortcomings.

Can you imagine a world, community or even a school, where people, citizens...students...always admitted to creating some of the situations that they find themselves in? One of my teacher mottos is: I don't give grades, I write down what you earn. That way, when my students receive failing grades and they claim, "She failed me," I always ask, what did you do? Was I supposed to do your work for you? Makes me wonder. Will you fault others for your shortcomings? Will you become a "blamer?"

Comment on the following: Read the quote in the image above, then defend or challenge whether the statement is correct. Please be concise and make your point. Diatribes do not mean quality.

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

You MUST respond to at least TWO other posts from any student. Your replies cannot be identical comments on different posts and posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn you a zero. Make sure your reply addresses the comment that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

Keeping Up Appearances

11/19/2017

According to recent NPR (National Public Radio) poscasts, TEDtalks, news reports on crime and other unfavorable experiences, many minorities feel that we have to code switch in order to do the most basic task of all: live.

In 1986, an article was published in Ms. Magazine about journalist, Brent Staples, who decided to code switch after intimidating a white woman on the street. She thought he was a "thug" and ran off. Instead, he was a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago, there to earn a Ph.D in Psychology. At six feet tall, he looked intimidating to her as he walked hurriedly behind her on the street, at night, trying to get where he was going.

Even I, in 2017, was told by a white colleague that, upon first meeting me and seeing my striking red hair, he thought I was "ghetto" and not very smart. I wondered why since I'd never opened my mouth to say anything to him except, "Hi."

Should code switching be a requirement for minorities?

Code switching is when minorities change how they look, speak, live or behave in order to live as "American" as possible. In this big melting pot of America in which we live, why is that necessary?

We do it for many reasons: in order to get the jobs we want, live in the neighborhoods we want, or be accepted by non-minorities.

Click on the two videos above, then respond to the prompt below.

Comment on the following prompt: To what extent should minorities change their appearance, how they speak, live and behave in order to seem less intimidating?

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class hour.

You MUST also respond to at least TWO other posts from any student. Your replies cannot be identical comments on different posts and posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn you a zero. Make sure your reply addresses the comment that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

Since Looks Can Kill

11/12/2017

"Beauty is only skin deep." It is in the "eye of the beholder." But when the eye is a camera lens and the beholder is a multi-billions in advertising and fashion dollars, then beauty is defined by eating disorders/mental illnesses that dictate society must be thin.

There are a few game changers. Plus-size yoga instructor, Jessamyn Stanley, urges women "to fight skinny stereotypes...no matter what their shape or size," and Sarah Rae Vargas is big, bold and beautiful.

Nevertheless, with so many strides in reshaping other "societal norms," the definition of beauty is still heavily debatable.

Click on the image to read the article. Look at all the images as well. Then, comment on the following prompt: How much responsibility does the media have in defueling society's image of beauty?

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

You MUST respond to at least TWO other posts from any student. Your replies cannot be identical comments on different posts and posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn you a zero. Make sure your reply addresses the comment that you are responding to.

These are blog posts, not essays. Your responses should not be lengthy. Be concise. Make your point, and move on.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

Guns. Who's Controlling?

11/5/2017

Texas is notorious for its big image. Big hats. Big trucks. Big food portions. And, big numbers of murder victims from mass shootings with big guns. The latest? A mass church shooting.

There is something terribly wrong in a world where people feel like they have the absolute right to walk inside a church, a movie theater, a concert..or anywhere..and kill people.

That's exactly what happened Sunday morning. As churchgoers clutched Bibles, prayed, worshiped God and pronounced their faith, a gunman walked inside and, with a big Texas-size gun, murdered more than 20 people in cold blood.

No one knows why he did it. It doesn't matter why he did it. Knowing why may help to wrap your mind around things, but ultimately, "why" is not a problem solver, resurrecter or bandage. It doesn't heal the hurt. It simply adds to the coffin of carnage that, once and for all, needs to be laid to rest when a solution is reached on what to do about guns, or people with guns.

As the smoking guns cool from the mass murders committed with them in this country, what will we do and who will we blame? The guns? The people with guns? The government?

Comment on the following prompt: To what extent do gun control laws really protect people from being killed by guns?

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

You MUST respond to at least TWO other posts from any student. Your replies cannot be identical comments on different posts and posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn you a zero. Make sure your reply addresses the comment that you are responding to.

These are blog posts, not essays. Your responses should not be lengthy. Be concise. Make your point, and move on.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

Low-fat Pig

10/31/2017

According to news reports, Chinese scientists have genetically modified pigs and "created" pigs with 24% less body fat than normal pigs. The plan is to make pig meat less expensive and "healthier" for human consumption, so they genetically modified pig genes with rat genes to make their body temperatures rise in colder weather. Slimmer pigs? Healthier meat: bacon, pork, ham and pork rinds.

Comment on the following prompt: To what extent should scientists manipulate genes to create genetically modified foods for the sake of artificially "fixing" the health of humans, instead of encouraging exercise?

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five. You must also reply to TWO classmate's posts. You cannot post identical comments on different classmates' posts. Posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will not earn you a passing grade. Make sure your posts address the reply that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

The Struggle is Real

10/23/2017

According to Winston Groom, "Life is like a box of chocolate. You never know what you're going to get." But what if you did? What if life was always exciting and rewarding? Could you still be happy? What about pain? Suffering? Heartache? Sadness? Are those emotions essential to living completeness? How would you grow? What would you learn from a life full of bliss? Do you need to struggle? Hmm..you decide.

Instructions. Comment on the following prompt: Is struggle essential to happiness? How or Why?

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five. You must also reply to TWO classmate's posts. You cannot post identical comments on different classmates' posts. Posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will not earn you a passing grade. Make sure your posts address the reply that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

#MeToo | #itwasme

10/17/2017

October 16-20 is Domestic Violence Awareness Week. All week long, people have been wearing purple in support, and social media has been flooded with stories about domestic assault, followed by the hastag, #MeToo.

First, the Harvey Weinstein scandal, then Alyssa Milano posted this on Twitter:

And women did it.

Then today, Roy Price, the head of Amazon Studios, resigned after allegations of sexual assault in the workplace were exposed.

Since, a firestorm of stories about women being sexually assaulted have blazed the Internet. To read these stories is stunning. Women are publicly exposing their abusers in unprecedented numbers. As of Monday, Twitter reported more than half a million #MeToo tweets.

Women have had enough.

Finally, women have forced a conversation about sexual harassment/abuse that is difficult to stay quiet about. Shockingly, even abusers are taking responsibility for their crimes, writing about them on social media with the hashtag #itwasme.

People have had enough.

Comment on the following prompt: What do you think will be the impact of women (and men) coming forth on social media about sexual abuse? Do you think it is necessary to expose those kind of truths on the Internet?

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five. You must also reply to TWO classmate's posts. You cannot post identical comments on different classmates' posts. Posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will not earn you a passing grade. Make sure your posts address the reply that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

Image Reflection

10/10/2017

In order to prevent swaying your opinion one way or the other, I've decided to let you give me your thoughts before I give mine.

The image above is a Dove ad that the company ran to "highlight the fact that all skin deserves gentleness."

Instructions. Analyze the image above then answer the following question: What do you think about the ad? Ready...go!

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five. You must also reply to TWO classmate's posts. You cannot post identical comments on different classmates' posts. Posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will not earn you a passing grade. Make sure your posts address the reply that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

Call A Spade A...Diamond?

10/2/2017

According to several news publications, in his possession, Stephen Paddock had 42 guns, lots of explosives and "several thousand rounds of ammunition." With some of these weapons, Paddock mortally wounded 59 people and severely injured more than 500.

However, as heinous as his crime was, it earned him the labels "lunatic," "psychopath," "crazed," "evil," "the gunman," "lone gunman," "desperate," a "lone-wolf," and many other woe-is-me type names. Also, pictures of Paddock and his family and girlfriend depict...a victim. Yet, unequivocally, not one media outlet will call him what he truly was: a terrorist.

Facts: all over social media, many people are expressing anger about the delicacy with which Paddock is being portrayed because they believe that had he been black or brown, the worst depictions of him would have been plastered all over social and traditional media within minutes of the massacre. They believe news stories would have ended with, "We'll update this story as more information becomes available," not waiting to report what's factual versus the character they want to present.

Something is seriously wrong in this country. And lately, with peaceful protests being defined as disrespectful, mothers being called SOBs by the free-world's leader, and racial injustice at its peak, America's makeup is starting to run and no one seems to know what to do about it. Do you?

Comment on the following prompt: How does the media's portrayal of cultural representations and practices influence society's behavior?

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five. You must also reply to TWO classmate's posts. You cannot post identical comments on different classmates' posts. Posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will not earn you a passing grade. Make sure your posts address the reply that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

Conspiracy or Coincidence?

9/24/2017

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE

According to the Natural News online news publication, "nearly every 'official source' is constantly lying to the public" about medicine, agriculture, geology and of course, meteorology.

Oddly, a plethora of hurricanes and earthquakes have occurred in places that, hauntingly, the United States have issue with: Mexico and Korea. Some experts say it is likely that these "natural disasters" are not natural at all, but instead, man-made phenomena.

With reports revealing that weather weaponization technology is real, and the United States Government recognizes and has granted 175 patents on weather modification/weaponization technology, is it possible that the US has secretly launched geological warfare on these countries? What information does there exist that proves or disproves this theory? Hmm..you decide.

Instructions. Comment on the following prompt: To what extent are the hurricanes and earthquakes, that have recently occurred, geological coincidences or geological conspiracies?

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five. You must also reply to TWO classmate's posts. You cannot post identical comments on different classmates' posts. Posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will not earn you a passing grade. Make sure your posts address the reply that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

....Rules the Nation?

9/17/2017

Instructions: On one hand, there's police brutality, gang violence, violence against teens and corporate corruption. Then on the other, there are neighbors helping each other through hurricanes and earthquakes and a police officer buying diapers for a woman accused of stealing them. In either case, read and think about the quote above. Is it true or not? Explain your answer.

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five. You must also reply to a classmate's post. You cannot post identical comments on different classmates' posts. Posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will not earn you a passing grade. Make sure your posts address the reply that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

True or False?

9/10/2017

Instructions: Defend or challenge whether the statement above is true and provide an explanation for your answer.

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

Respond in no more than FIVE sentences and no less than FIVE. You must also reply to a classmate's post. You cannot post identical comments on different classmates' posts. Posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will not earn you a passing grade. Make sure your posts address the reply that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

The Hate You Give...

9/5/2017

camMother Nature seems full of hate these days! Over the past few weeks, we've witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Harvey on Houston, Texas and all the surrounding areas it tangled with. Now, his side-kick, Irma, is on her way to Florida.

Instructions: Predict what you think is going to happen when Irma hits land. Do you think they are ready? Is the economy, residents and oil industry ready? Are we ready? How do you think it will impact Florida and the rest of the United States?

INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five. You must also reply to a classmate's post. You cannot post identical comments on different classmates' posts. Posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will not earn you a passing grade. Make sure your posts address the reply that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

After the Storm: Hurricane Harvey

8/31/2017

Instructions: One of the key elements of social responsibility is being knowledgeable about the world around you AND being able to form a well-educated position about topics that impact society, globally. The goal of this assignment is not to update you on the happenings, but to increase your knowledge of news media, expand your vocabulary, and help you form a world view. Watch the video above then provide an analysis about what you saw.

INCLUDE: Last name, first initial AND class period.

Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five. You must also reply to a classmate's post. Do not post identical comments on different classmates' posts. Posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn a zero. Make sure your posts address the reply that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

<<Previous

Forward>>

Mixed Ink

Mixed Ink is our class blog, the window into our souls. It was designed to improve students' writing, critical thinking and communication skills by giving them a platform to provide meaningful content based on their interpretation of what they see.

Although the students receive a grade based on a rubric for completing this assignment, they are not graded on complexity of thought. This is a place where students of all levels can freely, confidently and creatively express themselves and their opinions in a nonjudgmental platform. They are required to respond to and critique each other, but degradation, slander, lewdness, etc., will not be tolerated.

Bridge Builders

All subjects are vital to learning, but English is the bridge of communication. So let's build the arch, one word at a time...

Grading Rubric

Learning Objectives

Communicate effectively
Be aware of current events
Write concisely
Boost critical thinking skills
Be accountable
Follow directions
Have a voice about what goes on in the world around you