3/30 Outline and Prezi

No need for computers today. If you finish your outline on paper and would like to type it, come ask! 

My Prezi - who wants a mini-tutorial?

Outline or script should be done at the end of today. Hand written is fine - don't forget to think about how you’ll incorporate your visual.

I. Personal Background: 2-4 minutes

    A.

    B.

    C.

II. High School Experience: 2-4 minutes

    A.

    B.

    C.

III. Personal Passion or Meaningful Life Experience: 6-7 minutes

    A.

    B.

    C.

IIII. Conclusion and thank you

1: Limited Depth, vague, confusing.     2: Thoughtful, thorough, obvious achievement, logical, easy to follow.     3: Insightful, passionate, reflective, significant achievement, remarkably smooth.

Sample Panel Questions if you want to keep practicing.

And a guide to job interviews - a lot of the same questions may come up and this is a good resource for when you are interviewing for jobs.

This is the last day we'll work on Senior Project in class, but I'm always open to individual questions and if you want to practice your speech in front of the class, just ask! Keep working on Personal Statements if you want extra credit - I'll take them any time before Senior Project and let me know if you want feedback.

Have fun and be safe over break!

3-29 Outline

We're going low-tech today! You don't need a computer, just get out paper/pen.

Interview Questions:

• If you had the power to change one thing at PLHS for next year, what would it be and why? 
• Do you feel that good attendance and being on time is an important "skill?" Why/why not?

Interview Rubric - 1: Off topic, lacks depth     2: On point, thoughtful    3: Artful, perceptive

Outline or script due end of tomorrow. Hand written is fine - 

I. Personal Background: 2-4 minutes

    A.

    B.

    C.

II. High School Experience: 2-4 minutes

    A.

    B.

    C.

III. Personal Passion or Meaningful Life Experience: 6-7 minutes (think about how you’ll incorporate your visual)

    A.

    B.

    C.

IIII. Conclusion and thank you

1: Limited Depth, vague, confusing     2: Thoughtful, thorough, obvious achievement, logical, easy to follow     3: Insightful, passionate, reflective, significant achievement, remarkably smooth

Over break, I'm going to grade cover letters and outlines. Keep working on Personal Statements for extra credit!

3/27 Proposal and Outline

Sample Questions for Jobs

Rubric

Interview Questions:

• What was one major problem did you encounter during your time at PLHS and how did you deal with it?
• What do you realistically see yourself doing in three years and what is your dream job for further down the road?
  

Vid

If you weren't here yesterday or haven't completed it...

Open Senior Project Proposal, fill out, and email as an attachment to sbrandl@sandi.net and cynthiaeduncan@gmail.com.

• To edit the document, click File, Make a Copy.
• To download the document as a Word doc, click File, Download As, Word.

You can either script your presentation (write everything out) or you can outline it. Outline/script due by the end of class Friday. This document can help.

3/27 Proposal

Sample Interview Questions:

• In which high school class were you required to "think" the most? Why?
• What extracurricular activities/hobbies are you planning on getting involved in/continuing after high school?

Speech - She's only 12! Notice the Prezi...

Open Senior Project Proposal  and complete at least the first portion - explain your topic in 3-4 sentences. Decide on visual and email this to sbrandl@sandi.net and cynthiaeduncan@gmail.com by end of class tomorrow. 

• To edit the document, click File, Make a Copy.
• To download the document as a Word doc, click File, Download As, Word.

In the future or if you finish early...

By Friday, you will have an outline of presentation:

• Personal background: 2-4 minutes
• High School Experience: 2-4 minutes
• Personal Passion or Meaningful Life Experience and your goals for the future related to it: 6-7 minutes

Keep working on Personal Statements in your own time and over break!

3-26 Peer Editing and Proposal

Pick one and write for 5 minutes, will call at random to be 'interviewed' in front of class.

•  If you were to come back next year, what advice would you give to an in-coming 9th grader?
• Do you feel prepared for what you plan to do next year?

Those of you who have finished cover letters will do some peer editing. Those that aren't finished will work on your own - use this form later to edit your own rough draft. Your grade is lowered a half grade for every school day it's late!

I've shared another person's cover letter with you if you're done with yours. There will be an email in your inbox.

Peer Editing Form You can read their letter online and type into the form (file, make a copy, then share form with cynthiaeduncan@gmail.com) or you can print from your computer one or both and do it by hand.



Next required piece:
Senior Exhibition Proposal: What and How; You can adapt your cover letter to explain your topic in 3-4 sentences. The more detail, the more likely they will approve it the first time!

In your notebook, or the form above (file, make a copy), write a summary of what you will present and the types(s) of visual you are thinking of using. (Not just PowerPoint - PowerPoint of what?)

By the end of tomorrow, you will send this proposal to Mrs. Brandl and me.



Extras you can submit:
The personal statement essay format is (I just found out!) flexible and they will accept a memoir or a poem instead. Whatever it is, it needs to be at least three pages double spaced, 12 pt. font to get extra credit from me.
Other extras that you can include are explained here.

3-23 Outline Presentation and Planning Visuals

I am missing Cover Letter docs from Zalyn, Vince, Wesley, Enrique, Diana, Rachel, and Eddie - let me know if you need help sharing it.

All resumes are graded; memoirs and cover letters I will finish over the weekend

Now, I want you to start working on outlining your presentation and creating a visual for it.

Presentation:

• 10-15 minutes
• Personal background: 2-4 minutes
• High School Experience: 2-4 minutes
• Personal Passion or Meaningful Life Experience and your goals for the future related to it: 6-7 minutes

Visual: Displays high school experience, personal passion/experience, or a special project.

• PowerPoint
• Prezi
• Timeline
• DVD/video
• Some kind of performance 
• Other ideas?

Rubric
Personal Statement Sample
Personal Statement Questions  These questions can also help you with brainstorming for your presentation - they're questions about the same topics.

Work on outlining your presentation, think about your format of visual, and work on your personal statement if you want the extra credit!

3-22 Finish Cover Letters and begin outlining presentation

You should have a paragraph introducing your topic and a paragraph saying which ESLRs it connects to. If you don't, check the posts from the last two days to guide you.

Keep referring to the Sample to help you.

Today...

1. Move your cover letter to a new document titled 3 Cover Letter LastName (ex: 3 Cover Letter Duncan).
2. Share it with cynthiaeduncan@gmail.com.
3. Format like a letter with the date you're presenting (May 24, 2012) in the top right. One space, then 'Dear Panel,' aligned to the left.

May 24, 2012

Dear Panel, 

[4. Copy and Paste in your two paragraphs]

Thank you for your time/Sincerely, 

Cynthia Duncan

5. The third paragraph should thank the panel for their time. Start with "Thank you" or "I want to thank you" and finish however you would like. It should be one to two sentences.

6. When you are done with all that, swap computers with someone who is also finished and peer edit. I will be taking off points for incorrect punctuation, grammar, spelling, and formatting. I will be grading what is done by the end of class, if you need more time you need to tell me today.

7. When you finish peer editing, move onto outlining your presentation and thinking about your visual or work on your Personal Statement Essay for extra credit.

3-21 Second Paragraph of Cover Letter

So far, you've chosen a personal passion or meaningful life experience to talk about in your presentation. Yesterday, you were supposed to finish the first paragraph of the cover letter, which tells the panel about yourself and introduces the topic of your presentation.

Today we're editing the first paragraph and moving onto the second paragraph. The second paragraph ties the topic of the presentation to one or more of the school's ESLRs: Expected Schoolwide Learning Results

• complex thinker
• effective communicator
• responsible and self-directed worker
• involved citizen
• healthy life-style advocate

Continue to use the school's sample to help guide your writing.

Paragraph frame to get you started:

Point Loma High School expects us all to be ____________ (mention some or all ESLRs). My personal experience/passion has helped me become a _________________ by...


By the end of class today you need to have your second paragraph written in your online notebook or a separate document shared with me. That's another 10 points to your final grade for the cover letter.

Tomorrow, we will edit with each other and begin outlining your presentations. If you want to move ahead, you can begin thinking about your visual or start brainstorming for your Personal Statement Essay for extra credit.

3-20 First Paragraph of Cover Letter

Next Step: complex thinker, effective communicator, responsible and self-directed worker, involved citizen, healthy life-style advocate. Think about which of these apply and look at the sample to think about your next paragraph.

Today at 2:30 with a coffee at Starbucks, I will put in final grades for your resumes and memoirs. I won't accept any after that time, so you need to have a document shared with me or you'll get a zero.

I will also be checking your online notebooks (or a new document if you want to create one) for your first paragraph of you cover letter. You'll get 10 points for having a full paragraph in there by the end of today. If it's not a full paragraph, or it's not shared with me, you'll lose 10 points on the final grade for your cover letter.

Yesterday your chose a personal passion or meaningful life experience to talk about in your presentation. Today, we're finishing the first paragraph of the cover letter, which tells the panel about yourself and introduces the topic of your presentation.

Sample

Paragraph frame: you can use this as a start and then add to it.

Hello, my name is _____________, and today I will talk about ____________________ (topic). I will explain/discuss/present _______________(details about your topic). This is important to me because ____________________.

Tomorrow we'll edit these and begin to work on our ESLR's paragraph.

3-19 Cover Letter/Presentation

Those of you who have still not completed a resume:

• Use the school's guidelines  and mine to help you complete it. 
• The school requires that it be one page or less.
• Click "File," "Download As...," "Word" if you want to turn your GoogleDoc into a Word Document for your own use (but don't delete the GoogleDoc).

Cover Letter for Senior Project: Sample
3 Paragraphs:

1. Describe yourself; introduce topic of presentation (personal passion or most meaningful life experience that you can talk about for 10 minutes).
2. Explain how it relates to ESLRs (complex thinker, effective communicator, responsible and self-directed worker, involved citizen, healthy life-style advocate).
3. Thank the panel for getting to know you. 

You'll need to:
1. Pick a topic for presentation (due by the end of class today; use Questions  to help you think of a topic) and begin brainstorming what you will talk about in your presentation.
2. Write first paragraph of your cover letter describing yourself and your topic (due end of class tomorrow in your online notebook, we will peer edit Wednesday). 10 points for having this complete on time.
3. Decide which ESLR your presentation relates to. Write second paragraph of cover letter (due end of class Wednesday in online notebook). 10 points for having this done on time.
4. Outline presentation and edit/finish cover letter (due end of class Friday in new documents). 30 points for having this done on time with correct grammar, punctuation, etc.


Next week we'll work on our visual for the presentation and let people practice their presentations who want to.

If you finish all this early, you are welcome to work on a Personal Statement Essay for extra credit. I'll put up instructions soon for those of you that want to take that on.

3-16 Finish Resumes and Memoirs

Use this document as a model. These are the elements I'm grading on and the professionalism Senior Project panelists want.

Spell out numbers. (six-year old; ninth grade).
No contractions (it is not it's).
Capitalize every word in a title and the beginning of each bullet point. Put a period at the end of descriptions.
No 'I' or 'my' in your resume.
Include name of business or organization you worked for or got an award from.
Include WHEN you did the job or got the award. Can say "All four years of high school," "Freshman and sophomore year" or "Sept 2010 - Sept 2011." "For a month" is not specific enough.

I will grade what is in your documents by the end of the period. We'll work on new projects next week!

I have memoir documents from:
Helena, Esaie, Zalyn, Ryan D., Lauren D., Lauren E., Enrique, Michelle L., Chris, Pedro, Rachelle, Eddie, Alberto, Tevin, Kendal. Rest of you need to share your document titled 3 Memoir LastName.

If I didn't print your resume, I don't have a document from you to grade. Title it 3 Resume LastName and share cynthiaeduncan@gmail.com

3-15 Cover Letter Intro and finish Memoir

Make sure your resume is in a NEW document titled:
3 Resume LastName

Get a computer if you want to work on your memoir on a computer today.



Cover Letters for Jobs: 3 Paragraphs

1. What job you're applying for and how you learned about it. Why you want to work for them.
2. Why are you qualified? Talk about specific things on resume and how they qualify you.
3. Thank them and ask for interview.

Cover Letter for Senior Project: 3 Paragraphs

1. Describe yourself
2. Introduce topic of presentation (Personal background, High School experience, personal passion, most meaningful life experience)
3. Explain how it relates to ESLRs (complex thinker, effective communicator, responsible and self-directed worker, involved citizen, healthy life-style advocate)

CoverLetter/Presentation Questions 

Work on Memoir! It is due by the end of class tomorrow and we'll only have about 20 minutes of class time for you to write tomorrow. It needs to be in first person, have a focus on an event or a person, and tell me about who you are at this point in your life.

You need to move your memoir to a new document if you haven't already. 3 Memoir LastName. That way, tomorrow I can see clearly who hasn't shared.

You should then have 4 documents shared with me:
Slam Poetry
Notebook
Resume
Memoir

3-14 Resume Formatting

Action Words
My Instructions if you need reminders at home.

3/13 Memoir

David Sedaris

Reminders about memoir:

• First person
• Telling a story, not writing a poem
• Need a focus for that story: time period, event, relationship, place
• Not JUST reflection - like any story, need actions, dialogue, characters. Just because they are Micro-memoirs doesn't mean it's entirely "I have learned..." Show me how you got there.
• It's easiest to start with a story and then end with reflection - you can mix that up, but you need both.

I'm going to call you up one-by-one to check-in. These are due Friday by the end of class!

3-12 Resumes

Tomorrow we'll come back to editing our Micro-memoirs.

Today and tonight for homework (if you need to check information at home) you will work on the content of your resumes. The form should be filled out on the computer by Wednesday before class so I can help you with formatting in class.


A resume is a one page summary of your skills, education, and experience. Resumes act much like an advertisement for a company trying to sell something. A resume is your advertisement to get you an interview.

You can either type your responses directly into this form (you'll need to log-in to GoogleDocs to see it) or you can ask the sub kindly to print off copies for you and type it for homework.
Resume Form - GoogleDoc (click on the link, then click File, then click Make a Copy and you can type in your own responses). No need to share it with me yet.


For work experience, You should include at least two one-line descriptions of what your job duties and responsibilities were. Do not use “I” in descriptions of  work or activities. Each description of your responsibilities should begin with a verb. (For example, "Led small-group discussions." Not, "I led small-group discussions."

Descriptions of your experience and abilities can begin with things like:
accomplish; achieve; analyze; adapt; balance; collaborate; coordinate; communicate; compile; conduct; contribute; complete; create; delegate direct; establish; expand; improve; implement; invent; increase; initiate; instruct; lead; organize; participate; perform; present; propose; reorganize; research; set up; supervise; support; train; travel; work (effectively, with others)

If it's a current job "Supports and mentors new staff members."
If it's a previous job "Supported and mentored new staff members."


Resources:
Sample Resume
More Resume Action Verbs

If you finish, look back over last few blog posts for more prompts about your memoir. Continue expanding and editing it - tomorrow we will work with it again.

3/9 Memoir Controversy and Writing

By the end of class today, you need to have a Rough Draft of your Micro-Memoir in GoogleDocs and an answer to the question "What do you want the reader to learn about you from this?" Write as much as you can about your chosen topic - we will shorten them next week.

Memoir Controversy - Million Little Pieces 1 2 3

Do you think it is ok to change events/details to tell a better story? Do you think that creating new things or changing facts makes a story less true?



If you are stuck, or you are done with your rough draft, pick one of these prompts at a time and write as much as you can about it. The more material you have, the better your final product will be.

Where were you at this specific moment? Describe the setting as much as you can, try and describe it in a way that shows your emotions or the tone of your memoir.

Who was with you? Describe what they look like, what they were doing.

Describe yourself. How old were you at this time? What did you look like, what were you wearing?

Describe how you felt at this time in your life.

Brainstorm analogy, metaphor, simile, or imagery to show what was going on in this time in your life, rather than just telling the reader (remember, the micro-memoir we read he had puns and extended metaphors).



Make sure your rough draft and what you want the reader to learn about you is in your notebook and shared with cynthiaeduncan@gmail.com! Have a great weekend and bring or put in GoogleDocs your latest draft on Monday.

3/6 Ideas from Yesterday and Personal Statement

Get netbook, pull up the blog and Gmail.

www.plhswritingworkshop.blogspot.com

Get into GoogleDocs and look at my comments from yesterday. If you had a digital version of your poem, notes are on that too (only three I haven't gotten to - Heather, Rachelle, Michelle L - I will get to those soon!).

If you were absent, it's your homework to look at the blog and create a document/notebook following the directions posted yesterday. Come to me at lunch in 861 if you have problems - it needs to be done before class tomorrow.

Your ideas from yesterday...

Next project:

"The purpose of the personal statement essay is to introduce yourself to your panelists as you reflect on your high school years and all that you experienced and learned, and how you changed from day one until now."

Many of your ideas fell into personal experience, a passion in your life, and plans after graduation, which are the prompts for the Personal Statement. That is a link to the guidelines the school has provided. If you want to look over all of it, you can look at that. If you want to keep a copy that you can edit in your own documents, click File and then Make a Copy.

Micro-Memoir and Flash Fiction/Short-short Stories

Jim Ruland's Class in San Diego: "Participants will explore how short intense bursts of autobiographical prose can illuminate the larger truths of our lives." He calls the class Micro Memoir: The Art & Craft of Quick Confessions.

Jim Ruland's Homeward Bound Article

To annotate with me and keep a copy in your documents, open this and click 'File,' 'Make a Copy.'

If you want more inspiration, here's a flash fiction I wrote for a class and put on my friend Ryan's blog - He'll get really excited if 34 people looked at this link today ;)

School Prompts: Look over these questions (you do not need to answer each one, just to help you brainstorm) and then in your notebook write a list of experiences that have affected you in your life. 

What has been your most significant and meaningful life experience? Was it a community-based service activity? Was it an assignment for a class, a school based program, a field trip? Was it a personal family experience?

How has this experience influenced your daily life? Your goals for your future?

How has this experienced changed you and the way you think or live?

What is the most important thing you have you learned through this experience?

Think about a relationship, an event, a situation, a moment.... you have a short amount of words!

3/5 Set up Netbooks and Senior Project

Get your netbook (list on the cart with your name and number). Ask Ms. Duncan if you need your password.

Go to: http://plhswritingworkshop.blogspot.com  

Make sure you write it down somewhere so you can check it when you're absent or when you need to finish classwork at home. All assignments will be posted here daily.

Open another tab and log in to Gmail. Open GoogleDocs (select 'Documents' from top bar after logging in) and create new GoogleDoc (red button, top left 'Create' then select 'Document').

Re-Title (click on the words 'Untitled Document'): 3 Notebook LastName

Example: 3 Notebook Duncan

I won't grade until you've titled it correctly including one space between words. I sort by title to grade, so if your title is off it won't be there for me to grade.

When titled correctly, share (blue button, top right) with cynthiaeduncan@gmail.com

Just copy and paste it to make sure you get it right. Click 'Share and Save' and then 'Done'.

Hint: If it won't let you scroll to see a button below, you can zoom out by pressing 'ctrl' and '-' at the same time. Zoom back in by pressing 'ctrl' and '+' at the same time.

Senior Project

Required by school:

Resume

Cover Letter

10-15 minute presentation with a visual (PowerPoint, video, performance, art) "The presentation should consist of the student speaking about a passion they have and their goals for the future. They must have a Power Point or some other dynamic presentation piece (no poster boards)." 

Recommended by school:

Personal Statement, Post-Grad Plans, or proof of Community Involvement

For this class you will be required to complete (and graded on) a Resume, Cover Letter, and a Personal Statement.

April 24th to May 2nd there will be help available during the CSTs and teachers/counselors will look over your work. We'll have all this done before then so you can utilize that help fully. May 24th you'll present.

The school website can help you prepare further.


For today, in your new document, copy and paste these questions and type responses. These answers will help me plan more interesting things for you in the next few days.

1. What are you going to write about for the assignment Mr. Posternack gave you? Give me topic and format.
(Something you're passionate about, something about Point Loma High, Top 10 list, etc.)

2. Any specific interests/topics you want me to look into for the semester? What kind of writing/reading/thinking do you want to do?

3. What did you like about the slam poetry unit? What did you not like/not want to do? Writing about specific assignments will help me when I'm planning the next unit.


Any time left, start typing up the writing assignment Mr. P gave you! Put it in the same document above or below your questions for now.