A List of Assignments For The Ambitious

As I said at the beginning of the year, I'd like your blogs to be a place where you exercise your intellectual freedom, where you keep writing for the sake of writing.  Some of you have been running with this and your blogs are amazing.  Many of you have been posting things from other classes, which is also fine.  You should be proud of your work and put it up for others to read.  However, please let me know what it is in the title, or briefly introduce it.  If it's something you wrote just for fun yesterday, make sure that's clear. 


So basically, I want to keep you writing.  As I said before, towards the end of the semester I am going to holistically grade your blogs, which will be based on some of the following considerations:

• Class Participation:  Did the student stay active and fulfill the goals of assigned class work? Did they visit other blogs and leave comments?  Did they get things done on time?  Did they take pride in their work?
• Attention to Detail: Did the student make things look nice?  Did they embed videos, include pictures, and use links within their writing to show sources? Did they keep a close eye on spelling and grammar? 
• Creativity: Did the student try to produce original content, showing original thought and personality through a desire to write? 

If you are a person who wants to write, here are some things I wouldn't mind seeing on your blogs.  You can work at your own pace, and most of these won't have due dates.  One thing I will say - I've already discovered three instances of "plagiarism," and I'm not easily fooled.  I have a sense of each student's writing style, and I'll know if you weren't the one who wrote it.  Plagiarism is a crime, and it can result in expulsion.  There are plenty of Sparknotes, Cliffnotes, and Wiki pages out there for Shawshank and The Body.  I've looked at them, and I don't think it's a bad thing if students use them to strengthen their knowledge.  But don't copy and paste!!

These are sort of in order, and should fall in line with how much time we have left this semester.  Generally, I'd like to see something appear on your blog weekly.  Any questions or concerns, reply below. : ) 

Assignments	Degree of Requirement
1. Reading Journals on The Body. At least two.  First 30 page response is mandatory.	Required
2. Reading Journals for Apt Pupil, The Breathing Method.  If you read these, you might as well comment on them.  These stories won’t be covered in class.	Optional
3. A Review.  You are allowed to review anything you want – a book, movie, video, album, game,  restaurant, hotel…. Just about anything.  You should have personal experience with that thing, and supply factual data to dress up your writing (Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon, IMDB, and Metacritic etc).  React to opposing or supporting reviews that might add to your response.  You must include a rating system.  Stars, thumbs, out of ten or our of five, A- or C+ etc.	Required
4. Additional Reviews.  Is there an album you like?  Film you saw on the weekend? Write about it. Post a video.  Give it a score.	Optional
5.  Review a TED video of your choice (not Ken Robinson), and include a minimum of 20 SAT words within your writing.  Underline them in bold. If you want to use more without sounding ridiculous, you are welcome to try.  Select them carefully before you write.	Required
6.  Reflective Essay about an experience you’ve had at KMLA recently (not last semester. I know you wrote this in Mrs. Choi’s class to).  You should weave in the theme of a “learning experience” and come to a resolution by the end.  Club activities, homate experiences, how to deal with rules that are made to be broken etc. are all themes you might consider.	Required Writer’s Choice: Option 1.
7. Creative Essay about where you’ll be in life in either 10, 15, or 20 years from now.  Must be written in First Person narrative as if you are experiencing a particular day at that time.	Required Writer’s Choice Option 2.
8. Since we spent so much time with Ken Robinson, let’s continue the theme of creativity with this admissions prompt from MIT.  The tricky part is – can you confine your writing to the word count? Quality over quantity. Here it is: Tell us about a time you used your creativity. This could be something you made, a project that you led, an idea that you came up with, or pretty much anything else.(200-250 words)	Required In Class
9.  “Stuff Korean People Like” or “Stuff KMLA Students Like.”  You’ve seen the book in my classroom, and if you haven’t you can read the original source here. This is your chance to write satirically in a comical mode about something you should be familiar with.  Stuff KMLA Students like?  Word Smart quizzes.  Morning Exercise.  Elevators.  Pen twirling.	Optional
10.  “A Book I’d Write If I Had The Time.”  Referencing the Hero’s Journey, shape the plot of a book you’d love to write if you had the time.  Introduce us to the story, the characters, and then take us through what would happen.  I think we all have a story we’d love to write.  If only we had the time! Maybe you will find the time.  Now is your chance to discuss it.	Optional
11.  A Synthesis Essay about a story or stories in Different Seasons (as a more dynamic Reading Journal). Synthesis essays are common in AP exams.  You have to select three sources that either agree or disagree with your opinion, and work them into your central argument through referencing.  In this case, I’ll ask you to read what other students wrote in class in their reading journals.	Required