Mr. O'Brien's College Now English BW Class

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Welcome Parents!

Mr. J. O'Brien

Assistant Principal

English Language Arts

English as a Second Language

Physical Education and

Foreign Language

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Unit One: Personal Perspectives in Literature

Readings:

"Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin

"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant

"Young Goodman Brown" Nathaniel Hawthorne

"The Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway

In Class Writing Assignments:

1. "Memory Trigger"

An informal writing assignment where students write out a memory (Physical description or a narrative account of the event) that has been tapped by any of the course readings.

2. "Letter to the Author"

An informal writing assignment where students write a letter to the author expressing their own thoughts and feelings regarding the text.

3. "Top-quoting"

An informal writing assignment where students quote a passage from a text that resonates with their own experience. Students will quote the passage then explain why it seems particularly meaningful for them.

Formal Writing Assignment #1: "The Personal Essay"

This first personal writing assignment is a personal essay that grows out of a close, sensitive reading of the first few texts in the course. The purpose of this piece is for students to articulate and develop a connection between their (or their family's ) own experience/memory/identity and one of the readings. This essay is equally grounded in the student's reading of an assigned text and their own experience. This essay requires students to quote directly from the text.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Habits of Mind

"Habits of Mind are the characteristics of what intelligent people do when they are confronted with problems, the resolutions of which are not immediately apparent." (Costa)

Understanding what Habits of Mind are, and what each of them encompasses, is something that develops and deepens as we work with them. The table below gives a brief description of each Habit of Mind. Note that all the Habits are verbs.

Professor Costa describes the idea of Habits of Mind as well of each of them in more detail in this article. (pdf format)

	Persistence Stick to it! Persevering in task through to completion; remaining focused. Looking for ways to reach your goal when stuck. Not giving up.
	Managing Impulsivity Take your Time! Thinking before acting; remaining calm, thoughtful and deliberative.
	Listening with Empathy and Understanding Understand Others! Devoting mental energy to another person's thoughts and ideas; Make an effort to perceive another's point of view and emotions
	Thinking Flexibly Look at it Another Way! Being able to change perspectives, generate alternatives, consider options
	Thinking about your Thinking : Metacognition Know your knowing! Being aware of your own thoughts, strategies, feelings and actions and their effects on others.
	Striving for Accuracy Check it again! Always doing your best. Setting high standards. Checking and finding ways to improve constantly.
	Applying Past Knowledge Use what you Learn! Accessing prior knowledge; transferring knowledge beyond the situation in which it was learned.
	Questioning and Posing Problems How do you know? Having a questioning attitude; knowing what data are needed and developing questioning strategies to produce those data. Finding problems to solve
	Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision Be clear! Striving for accurate communication in both written and oral form; avoiding over generalizations, distortions, deletions and exaggerations.
	Gathering Data Through All Senses Use your natural pathways! Pay attention to the world around you Gather data through all the senses. taste, touch, smell, hearing and sight
	Creating, Imagining & Innovating Try a different way! Generating new and novel ideas, fluency, originality
	Responding With Wonderment and Awe Have fun figuring it out! Finding the world awesome, mysterious and being intrigued with phenomena and beauty. Being passionate.
	Taking Responsible Risks Venture out! Being adventuresome; living on the edge of one's competence. Try new things constantly.
	Finding Humor Laugh a little! Finding the whimsical, incongruous and unexpected. Being able to laugh at oneself.
	Thinking Interdependently Work together! Being able to work in and learn from others in reciprocal situations. Team work.
	Remaining Open to Continuous Learning Learn from experiences! Having humility and pride when admitting we don't know; resisting complacency.