Blog Archives

Poverty Seminar Coaching

9/29/2023

DUE DATES- ON TIME

Seminar Pre-Write. DUE: Monday, 10/2, Start of Class. Google Classroom OR Hard Copy
Idea Fishing Part 2. DUE: Wednesday, 10/4, Start of Class (9:25 AM). Google Classroom.

DUE DATES- LATE (-10%)

Revised College Essay + Display Board. LAST DAY TO TURN IN: Wednesday, 10/4, Start of Class (9:25 AM). Google Classroom.

Announcements

Late Policy Reminder- I do not accept work after a week, so please submit missing assignments within that time frame!
First Honors Meeting- Wednesday, 11/4, 1st period. We will get you books, the reading schedule, and all due dates for this semester.
Lunch- We are continuing to work on this issue. A longer lunch comes with other tradeoffs. Be patient, and we will get your input soon on the hard choices here.

Starter 2: Why does poverty exist?
Why does poverty exist? Write at least 6-8 sentences that offer an explanation for why poverty exists in the United States. Draw on your knowledge of history, politics, what you read, the music you analyzed, your own experiences… Dig deep, and use specific examples to support your ideas.

Coach the Texts
Coaching Norms:

Take intellectual risks
Everybody speaks and participates actively
Speak up/Leave space
Take your time

The Uses of Poverty
Paragraph by paragraph. For each paragraph:

Summarize the main idea
Clarify confusions/define unfamiliar terms
Make a connection to personal experience, other text, song, movie…anything really

At the end: What is the thesis, or main argument of this piece?

Poverty by America
Page by page. For each page:

Summarize the main idea- what was most important about this page?
Clarify confusions/define unfamiliar terms
Talk about what kind of evidence was used on this page to support claims

At the end: What is the thesis, or main argument of this chapter?

Final Coaching Task: Have your group write two thought-provoking seminar questions on an index card and give them to me.

Seminar Prewrite
Choose ONE of the following questions to answer in a full paragraph (so, 1/4-1/2 a page). Make sure you have specific textual references/quotes in here.

Make two connections between texts (song, Poverty by America, Uses of Poverty). Quote the texts, then explain the connections you have made.
Why does poverty exist, according to the authors of these two texts?
Which text makes the more powerful argument? Why?
Poverty by America
1. Desmond defines poverty as “a tight knot of social problems,” breaking with conventional definitions that focusonly on low incomes. What are the implications of this view? How would you define poverty?
2. “America’s poverty is not for lack of resources. We lack something else.” What do we, as a country, and as a citizenry, lack in this context?
The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All
1. Of the different functions Gans argues the poor play, which seem most important to you? Why?
2. To what extent do you agree with this argument that poverty still exists because it is beneficial to society? Explain your reasoning using evidence from any of the texts.

Poverty Introduction

9/28/2023

Grayson’s Lesson (1st Period)
Songs with lyrics playing on the board, lyric sheets handout, notebook/google doc, pencil, highlighter, the slides.

Fortunate Son- All Class

Listen to it, then fill out the handout and discuss with your groups.

Made an America

Listen to it, then fill out the handout and discuss with your groups.

Walking in the Snow

Listen to it, then fill out the handout and discuss with your groups.

Final Debrief

How is poverty in America expressed in protest music?

Starter Set Up

Create a document for this class- title it “Your Name- Starters”
Share it with Lori- make sure I have commenting privileges
Newest starter goes at the TOP
We will self-assess these a few times a semester, and I will look at them then
The goal with starters is three-fold:
1. Settle into class
2. Capture your thinking and get your brains moving in ways that relate to class content
3. Practice specific skills

Starter #1- Poverty in the US (10-15 min)

How would you define “poverty?” Try to come up with a succinct (1-2 sentence) definition.
What do you know (or think you know) about poverty in the United States? These could be big generalities or little specific things.
What questions do you have about poverty in the United States? List at least 3- more is better.
Predict: What % of the United States lives in poverty? What do you think is the income threshold for a family of 4 to be considered in poverty? For a single person?

Overview of the Issue

What is poverty? Can we describe what poverty looks like in the United States?
What are the various impacts of poverty, at individual and societal levels.
What are possible solutions to poverty? What has been tried, and what has not?

Readings #1- The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All and Chapter 1 of Poverty
This essay will be the first reading we will seminar on and then write about. This will be the basis for your first formal piece of academic writing, and I will use this to give feedback, and so you can set appropriate writing goals for yourself. For today:

Focused reading. Phones away, all distractions away.
Annotate in whatever way you see fit. Take notes, underline, star, summarize- you know what works for you.
Have this read by the start of class tomorrow, as we will move into coaching and seminar prewrite tomorrow, to seminar on Monday.
The goal today is to take your time and deeply understand these texts. Try to curb reactions until you reach deep understanding.

Week 1 Weds- Idea Fishing Part 2

9/27/2023

DUE DATES- ON TIME

Idea Fishing Part 1. DUE: Wednesday, 10/4, Start of Class (9:25 AM). Google Classroom.

DUE DATES- LATE (-10%)

Revised College Essay + Display Board. LAST DAY TO TURN IN: Wednesday, 10/4, Start of Class (9:25 AM). Google Classroom.
Rough Draft College Essay. LAST DAY TO TURN IN: Monday, 10/2, Start of Class. Google Classroom.

Idea Fishing Part 2

College Essay Framing Steps (20 min)

Find your printed cover sheet and essay draft
Cut poster board to size (14 x 22)
Glue or tape your essay to the posterboard. MAKE IT STRAIGHT.
Put in frame
Hang frame in hallway. HANG IT LEVEL.

Idea Fishing Part 2- Where are you? (5 min)
Students sort into corners based on the following statements.

I am more confident than ever that my idea is pretty good, and I want to keep pursuing it.
I like my project, but am not confident about my thesis. I’m not sure if I should scrap it or keep digging into it.
I like my thesis, but am not confident about my project. I’m not sure if I should scrap it or keep digging into it.
I hate my original idea, or I think it’s not going to work. I need something new.

Idea Fishing Discussions (15-20 min)
Group them up, then split between Kyle and Lori’s classrooms.

Group 1: Confident in current idea
1. Get in a group of 4-5 people
2. Share your current ideas for your research question/topic and your project
3. Share why you are excited about this, and one interesting thing you learned in idea fishing
4. Discuss with each other how you need to narrow your topic. Help each other come up with a revised research question to pursue, based on the first round of research

Group 2: Confident in project, thesis idea is less good
1. Get in a group of 4-5 people
2. Share your current ideas for your research question/topic and your project
3. Share where you think your ideas are strong, and where they need refinement
4. As a group, help each other refine the pieces that need refining, and come up with a revised research question (or questions) to pursue.

Group 3: Confident in thesis, project idea is less good
1. Get in a group of 4-5 people
2. Share your current ideas for your research question/topic and your project
3. Share where you think your ideas are strong, and where they need refinement
4. As a group, help each other refine the pieces that need refining, and come up with a revised research question (or questions) to pursue.

Group 3: Need a new idea
1. Get in a group of 4-5 people
2. Share your last idea, and why you don’t want to do it.
3. Going in turn, spend 3 minutes for each person brainstorming new ideas they could research for this round

Idea Fishing Part 2- DUE next Wednesday at 9:25 AM.
Split between Kyle and Lori’s rooms.

Option 1- The Mola Mola
1. Repeat the previous idea-fishing process with an entirely new idea or topic
Option 2- The Lungfish
1. Repeat the idea-fishing process on the same idea
2. This time, try to start with a more specific question rather than a super general topic
3. Look for more specific pieces of information to fill in gaps or answer questions you identified in round 1

Conference with Lori and Kyle as Needed
A Look Ahead…
We have 6 weeks before we start senior thesis research (EEK). Here’s our rough plan for the next 6 Wednesdays.

10/4- Idea Poster + Gallery Walk
10/11- Senior Thesis Examples + Writing Goals + Question Refinement/Critique
10/18- Interview Scheduling + Start Final Poster + Research Part 2
10/25- Research Part 2 + Finish Final Poster + Interview Notes + Research and Project Critiques
11/1- Research and Project Critiques + Final Thesis Question Critiques + Revisions

Day 6- Revise, Edit, Display Boards

9/26/2023

DUE DATES- ON TIME

Revised College Essay + Display Board. DUE: Wednesday, 9/27, Start of Class (9:25 AM). Turn in Hard Copy of Display Board.

DUE DATES- LATE (-10%)

Rough Draft College Essay. LAST DAY TO TURN IN: Monday, 10/2, Start of Class. Google Classroom.

Announcements

WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE- For the foreseeable future (at least the next 6 weeks), we will be working on Senior Project and Thesis development on Wednesdays. To streamline this for you, we want ALL SENIORS here on Wednesdays for periods 2, 3, and 4. Kyle and I will be here 1st period for additional assistance and conferences, but 1st period is not required on Wednesdays. Happy sleeping! And this means you should DEFINITELY be on time for 2nd period on Wednesdays…
College Essay Grading- I will be grading the draft you turn in tomorrow. If you continue to revise on your own time (which many of you will), and you want to re-submit a more final draft later in the semester, I will regrade the assignment and replace the earlier grade with the later one.

Starter- Essay Refinement
Read this short handout to compare how one student refined his essay and reflect on:

What changes did the student make? (In other words, what was somewhat weak about his first draft, and how did he improve it in the second?)
What is one thing you are taking away from his refinements that you could apply to your own essay? (It could either be based on something you liked about the student’s refined essay or something you did not like, and thus want to avoid or do differently!)

Work Time Priorities

Conference with Grayson or Lori if you haven’t had adult eyes on your essay yet (or as needed)
Get another critique from a peer, OR have a classmate edit and proofread your essay when you think it’s done
Revise
1. Rewrite, re-organize, cut, add
2. THEN edit, proofread, nitpick, wordsmith, finalize
Create college essay cover sheet/display board

Day 5- Peer Critiques + Revisions

9/25/2023

DUE DATES- ON TIME

Rough Draft College Essay. DUE: Monday, 9/25, Start of Class. Google Classroom.
Revised College Essay + Display Board. DUE: Wednesday, 9/27, Start of Class. Turn in Hard Copy of Display Board.

Announcements

Honors Sign Up- If you want to do Honors in the fall, please put your name on this list! I need to order books… TODAY IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO SIGN UP!
Tomorrow is the LAST WORK DAY we have in class on these. They will be due at the START OF CLASS on Wednesday, when we will print and get them ready for display.
Don’t forget- Wednesday is different! If you usually have me 2nd and 3rd, on Weds you have Humanities 1st and 2nd. If you have Humanities 4th and 5th, on Wednesday you have this class 3rd and 4th.

Step 1: Prepare for the peer critique

What is one thing you really like about your essay/topic?
What is one thing you do not like or would like to change?
What is a question you need help with from your group?

EXAMPLES: Does my word choice and tone show my personality? How could my hook grab your attention better? How can I end my essay in a less obvious way? Do you understand the moral of my story clearly? How could that be clearer or stronger? Where could I add more depth and detail?

Step 2: Get in your groups (see the board)

Step 3: Essay Tuning Protocol

DONE? You could…

Revise and rewrite
Conference with Lori or Grayson
Seek out more feedback

Day 4- Magnet and WRITE!

9/22/2023

DUE DATES- ON TIME

Rough Draft College Essay. DUE: Monday, 9/25, Start of Class. Google Classroom.
College Essay Conference + Reflection. DUE: Complete sometime between Thursday 9/21 and Tuesday, 9/25. Turn Reflection in on Google Classroom after the conference.
Revised College Essay + Display Board. DUE: Wednesday, 9/27, Start of Class. Turn in Hard Copy of Display Board.

Announcements

FREE Rock Climbing Class- Take this survey if you’re interested!
Honors Sign Up- If you want to do Honors in the fall, please put your name on this list! I need to order books…

Starter- Creating the Magnet

Read Creating the Magnet
Go to your essay and write 2-3 variations of a starting sentence for your essay, using the techniques here..
Share with a partner for feedback.

Goals for Today

Revise and perfect your opening line
Have a completed rough draft that is within 100 words of the word count limit.
Conference with Grayson, Erin C-R, or Lori about your draft
By Monday, have a draft that is ready to share for peer critique! This should be turned in on Google Classroom BEFORE class starts.

Today’s Tasks:

Outline and draft your story idea. Your personal narrative.
Sign up for a conference with an adult
Help each other out! Talk through ideas with each other. 3 D’s ideas. The main message. Opening lines.
Come up to the front table and grab a resource! Or my DP!

Day 3- The 3 Ds + Drafting Time

9/21/2023

DUE DATES- ON TIME

Rough Draft College Essay. DUE: Monday, 9/25, Start of Class. Google Classroom.
College Essay Conference + Reflection. DUE: Complete sometime between Thursday 9/21 and Tuesday, 9/25. Turn Reflection in on Google Classroom after the conference.
Revised College Essay + Display Board. DUE: Wednesday, 9/27, Start of Class. Turn in Hard Copy of Display Board.

DUE DATES- LATE (-10%)

Starter: 3Ds and Example Essay

First, read the article The 3 D’s: Details, Dialogue, and Description.
Then read one more of these example essays, OR one of these from former AHS students.
In your starter, provide 2 examples of the three D’s from your example essay (Copy and paste them, or jot them down). Be prepared to share one example.
List where you might include details, dialogue, and description in your own essay

Goal for Today
By the end of class, have a solid outline DONE. If possible, have started your draft!

Today’s Tasks:

Outline and draft your story idea. Your personal narrative.
Sign up for a conference with me - your name needs to be on the board!
Help each other out! Talk through ideas with each other. 3 D’s ideas. The main message.
Use the Resources on my DP. Look there for more things you can do!
HONORS INTERESTED FOLKS- We will meet at the start of the 2nd period of class to talk through expectations. I need a commitment one way or the other by MONDAY.

Day 2- College Essay Brainstorm + Outline

9/20/2023

DUE DATES- ON TIME

Rough Draft College Essay. DUE: Monday, 9/25, Start of Class. Google Classroom.
College Essay Conference + Reflection. DUE: Complete sometime between Thursday 9/21 and Tuesday, 9/25. Turn Reflection in on Google Classroom after the conference.
Revised College Essay + Display Board. DUE: Wednesday, 9/27, Start of Class. Turn in Hard Copy of Display Board.

DUE DATES- LATE (-10%)

Starter 4- Model Essays (10 min)
Read at least one of these examples. If you have time, read more than one. Then answer the questions below on your brainstorm document for the essay you liked best.

Describe this person in one sentence
What did you learn about the individual?
What did you like? Dislike?
What did you notice about how this essay was written? What techniques did they use?

Debrief as a class

Ira Glass on Storytelling (10 min)
Listen to this. List 3-5 things that you learned about telling effective stories.
Turn to your partner- how can you incorporate this into your college essay?

So What? Exercise (20 min)
Based on your brainstorms yesterday and today, list your top 3 anecdotes/experiences for your college essays. This is going to be a rapid fire verbal brainstorm with different partners to suss out the possible So What of your essay. You will want something to take notes with.

Partner 1/Topic 1

Take 1 minute to explain your anecdote. Just tell the story, describe the experience. DON’T explain why it’s important to you.
Partner: Ask, “So what?”
Answer them (30 sec)
Partner: Ask, “So what?” again
Answer them (30 sec)
Take 1 minute to write down insights you want to capture from this process
Repeat with your partner’s topic.

Repeat with Partner and Topics 2 and 3

Choose Your Own Adventure:

Brainstorm some more (see resources linked on my DP)
Outline (see the outline resources linked on my DP)
Start writing a draft

Day 1- College Essay Bootcamp (Ideation)

9/19/2023

DUE DATES- ON TIME

Rough Draft College Essay. DUE: Monday, 9/25, Start of Class. Google Classroom.
College Essay Conference + Reflection. DUE: Complete sometime between Thursday 9/21 and Tuesday, 9/25. Turn Reflection in on Google Classroom after the conference.
Revised College Essay + Display Board. DUE: Wednesday, 9/27, Start of Class. Turn in Hard Copy of Display Board.

DUE DATES- LATE (-10%)

Starter- This is Water, by David Foster Wallace (10 min video, 15 total)

Jot down key ideas/takeaways- at least 3

Pair Share

To what extent do you agree with these claims or pieces of advice? Do any ring true for you? Others you know? How so?
Starting college essays today, where you’ll be focusing SOLELY on yourself and your own beliefs/experiences, etc… What is one big idea you can take from his speech to help you with your essay? (post it on board)

Instructions (5 min)

Log on to Google Classroom
Find the College Essay Assignment under Classwork
Open it and read through silently
Let’s look at the list of resources on my Resources page (2 minutes)
- College Essay Guy is amazing! You need to email to request access to the free guide, but it is worth it! Do it! We’ll check out the various resources he has listed in that guide real quick….

GOAL = Refined 2nd draft of at least one college essay.
Which phrase best describes your current situation in regards to college essay writing? (5 min)

I haven't started yet, and don't have a clue what the outcome might look like.
I have a prompt and have started writing, but I'm nowhere near done.
I have finished at least one essay, but it would benefit from some more refinement
I have mostly finished my college essays, but still have a few more and/or supplementary writing I can work on and refine.

Write your names on the paper in your corner- we will come back to this tomorrow to help us form some groups!

Narrative Structure- Straightforward, linear story.

Challenges + Effects or EXPERIENCES
This part gets into specific detail regarding a specific challenge the student has faced, and the various effects of that challenge. Tough stuff you’ve been through. Big experiences. Their subsequent impacts. Various obstacles you’ve had to overcome.
What I Did About Them
Actions you took to overcome those challenges and their effects, often to meet specific needs. These actions help to illustrate your values and growth.
What I Learned
Lessons and insights you’ve gained through these experiences. Reflection on how your experiences have shaped you and why that matters. What you will bring to that college because of these experiences.

Montage Structure

A technique that involves creating a new whole from separate fragments (pictures, words, music, etc.).
A few images tell the whole story. And you can use this technique for your essay. (Example - Bracelets)
Find a focusing lens: You can’t discuss every single aspect of your life; you can, however, show us a few important points through a single lens or metaphor.

GOAL TODAY = Lots of brainstorming and ideation
Even if you already have an essay, I can tell you that so many students throw out the drafts they have midway through this semester to start again. My goal here is to give ALL of you many ideas to return to and to start with, and to make sure that ideas that you have are unique and specific to YOU.
Create a brainstorming document! If you prefer to do this by hand, grab some paper. Here we go.

Brainstorm 1: Core Values Exercise

Narrow down your values.
Connect your values to your experiences- for each value, come up with an experience or story.

Brainstorm 2: I Love + I Know
Spend one minute making a random list of things you love. If you have a partner nearby, set a timer and speak your list aloud while your partner writes down what you say. Examples: I love ... the ocean. I love ... the way clean laundry smells. I love ... physics. I love ... my grandmother's pupusas, etc. Then switch roles, and you write while your partner makes their list. Here's a video of me doing this one.

After you've done that, spend one minute making a list of things you know a lot about. (Examples: I know a lot about ... board games ... World War II history ... constructed languages, etc.) Again, if you have a partner, take turns talking and writing. Write

Connect to values- star the ones that connect to your values when you’re done!

Brainstorm 3: Feelings and Needs
Walk through the handout.

Reading Model Essays

Read at least one of these examples. If you have more time, read more than one, and answer the questions below.
Describe this person in one sentence
What did you learn about the individual?
What type of essay was it? What did you like? Dislike?

Poverty Seminar Coaching

Poverty Introduction

Week 1 Weds- Idea Fishing Part 2

Day 6- Revise, Edit, Display Boards

Day 5- Peer Critiques + Revisions

Day 4- Magnet and WRITE!

Day 3- The 3 Ds + Drafting Time

Day 2- College Essay Brainstorm + Outline

Day 1- College Essay Bootcamp (Ideation)

Lori's Blog

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