Turnitin Assignment Instructions

Your final draft is due this evening on Turnitin.com.  Read the following instructions carefully:

If you turned in more than one draft....
Draft 1 goes in the "SEP Paper - 1st Draft" assignment.
Draft 2 goes in the "Revision 1" assignment.  If you were not required to complete a 3rd draft (if you scored over an 85% on the second draft and are choosing to let that grade stand), you are now finished.
Draft 3 goes in the "Revision 2" assignment.  

The last draft you completed WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT IF YOU HAVE NOT UPLOADED IT TO TURNITIN.COM.

If you only turned in ONE draft, please submit it to the "Revision 2" assignment.  
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Watch me grade!

27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="320" id="utv405209">Live TV : Ustream
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Follow me on Twitter

Having trouble checking your email on a regular basis? Obsessed with your cell phone? Go to Twitter.com, sign up for an account, link your cell phone to your Twitter account, and follow mrnoahtonk on Twitter in order to get announcements and assignment reminders on your cell phone.
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Common Problems in SEP papers

Be sure to check your class web pages for some up-to-date materials on recommended revisions to your SEP papers.
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Cienega Beats Sabino!

The Bobcats beat the Sabercats tonight 17-13. Our own David Abeyta made a number of interceptions, including one that was simply beautiful and was possibly “the best in his career,” according to Cox 7. Nice work, David - and to the whole team.

unknown
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Legal dictionary for AP

Legal Dictionary
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Creating a Header in Microsoft Word

Obviously, this may not be the same version of Microsoft Word that you have on your computer, but the essentials are the same. Please see the video below to learn how to insert a proper header into your research paper. Thanks. Don’t forget to insert a space after your last name!

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Updates

Podcasts and lesson plans have been updated for the last week or so.
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Status?

How’s it going? I’m referring, of course, to your research outlines....

Click
here to see a Senior English version of the research outline presentation.

Click
here to see an AP English version of the research outline presentation, plus a discussion of Frankenstein.

Admittedly, the Senior English presentation is probably the better one.
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AP English: Independent Novel Essay

Click here to view the requirements for the independent novel essay.
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Senior English: Wife of Bath Essay

Click here to view essay requirements.
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New Link to AP Wiki Page

Click here to visit the wiki page.
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Parent-Teacher Conference Letter

Download it here.
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Senior English: Beowulf essay news

The Senior English Beowulf essay assignment was posted on Turnitin.com last night. Enjoy.
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SEP Manual posted in the file cabinet

Get it here, along with the rubric for the SEP research paper.
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Note card example, with annotations

notecard
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Annotated Bibliography

I have fixed the download for the annotated bibliography.  Click below to download it.

annotated_bibliography.zip
FIXED AGAIN - 8/13, 2:17 PM.

1. Unzip the file.
2. Open the enclosed document, annotated_bib_rtf, in Word (or other word processing application).
3. READ THE DIRECTIONS.
4. Replace the appropriate text with your research sources.

Your personal interview should be cited as follows, with the name being the person you interviewed:

McCain, John. Personal interview. 8 August 2008.

If you have no mentor yet, please cite as follows:

Mentor, My. Personal interview. Date TBA.
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Research Paper PowerPoint

Click below to download the research paper PowerPoint presentation in either QuickTime or PowerPoint format (if you don’t have PowerPoint, try the QuickTime link).

PowerPoint

QuickTime
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Why?

photo.php
Alexandria Salinas, age 14

This post has been rolling around in my head for a couple of days now, and only really became verbalized today.

Today it was the day it became anger.

On Saturday night, Alexandria Salinas, a beautiful and talented young lady
by the measure of those who knew her, was senselessly murdered by a family member last weekend. She was 14 and a newly enrolled freshman at Empire High School - a student in our extended Vail family.

As a teacher, I am saddened. As a parent, I am devastated.

I’ve lost three students during my time as a teacher, and I remember every one of them. It’s extraordinarily difficult to know that a blossoming young adult will never graduate from high school, will never make a lifelong commitment to someone, will never have children of her own - will never even have the chance to experience another moment in her life.

I hugged my children extra tightly on Sunday evening, the day that I learned of the tragedy. Rubbing the hair on the top of my older boy’s head and kissing the plump little cheek of my toddler, I could only imagine the wailing grief that must fill the home of Alexandria today. I would be lost - utterly lost - if I one of my children were to be taken from me in such a horrific way. The pain must be doubly bad in the case of Alexandria’s parents, since it was her half brother who took her life - shot her in the head at close range while she talked on the phone with a boy. How do you reconcile the love you have for your children with the knowledge that one of them brutally murdered the other? These parents are mourning the loss of not only one, but
two children.

There were other children in the home at the time, younger than Alexandria. Scarred by the sound of the gunshot that took their sister’s life.

I wish I were filled with prayer - with sadness and nothing but good wishes for Alexandria’s family - to mourn and recover from the death of their daughter and to reconcile this with the knowledge that their son is the one responsible.

But I am filled with anger instead.

Click here to read EHS Principal Matt Donaldson’s letter home to parents regarding the incident.

Read the post below to see how to report things you see anonymously. Please - join with me in pledging to prevent another tragedy. Alexandria could have been an astronaut, or President, or a mechanic; a mother of children who had children who had still more children - but now she has no chance to choose which future would be hers. Don’t take a risk -
the students who didn’t report this gun when he brought it to school on Friday are wracked with horrible guilt, and this incident will haunt them for years.

Thanks for reading. I hope you were paying attention.

**UPDATE**

I saw this posted on
KOLD.com and thought I would share it:

In a statement released to KOLD News 13, Pruitt's father and stepmother say the boy had just recently come to stay with the family.  They also say he brought with him a gun he took from his mother's house in colorado.
The parents call it a shocking event for the whole community.
The full statement, as we received it:
Our family is devastated by the senseless, tragic death of our daughter & sister    Alexandria Salinas. "Alex" just started school, at Empire High School in Vail.  She was in honors classes and she had just sung the national anthem in front of the whole student body. She was the kind of fourteen year old that everyone wanted to have, and kids wanted to be like. Alex attended her first high school dance and had shared her first real kiss with her boyfriend of many months the night before her untimely death.
We had gone to a movie to celebrate our wedding anniversary, and were shocked to receive the call that Alex had been shot. We frantically left the movies and sped home, to find that Alex had passed away.  Andrew had just recently come to stay with our family. We opened our home and hearts to Andrew. We now know that Andrew brought with him a gun he took from his mother's house in Colorado. We are angry and in such pain. This was a tragic and shocking event for the whole community; it is intensely magnified for our family. Alex had a heart of gold, and went out of her way to help all. She will be deeply missed.
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Letter from Superintendent Calvin Baker

Parents,

Just a reminder that the Vail School District has a 
Safe Schools Hotline.  Anyone can leave an anonymous message at 879-1111.

Please talk to your children about their responsibility to report any activity that could threaten the safety of other students.  While we would prefer students talk directly to us or to you about concerns, the Hotline is available to anyone who for any reason does want to be identified.

The same applies to you.  Should you hear students talking abut something school officials should be aware of, we would prefer to be called directly.  However, if you wish for your report to be anonymous, the Hotline is available.

Student safety is everyone's responsibility.   Please help us in our efforts to make our schools and our community safe.

Calvin Baker
Superintendent
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Ah, the Brits

LONDON - A British high school student received credit for writing nothing but a two-word obscenity on an exam paper because the phrase expressed meaning and was spelled correctly.
Read the rest of this article
here.
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SEP Paper Due Dates

If anyone is interested, the due dates for the Senior Exit Project research paper have been posted on the Assignment Calendars for both Senior English and AP English Literature & Composition.
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And the award for strangest Hamlet reference goes to...

The universe is filled with references to Shakespeare’s work, and to Hamlet in particular. I thought I had seen the bottom of the barrel when I viewed the trailer for Hamlet 2, but that was before I saw the trailer for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead. For those of you that don’t know, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are minor characters in Hamlet whose characters are the focus of the 1966 Tom Stoppard absurdist work, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Apparently, somebody thought it would be a great idea to rework the concept as a zombie piece. Filed under “more evidence of the collapse of Western civilization.”

Update: viewed the RC&GaU trailer, and it’s not what it looks like. Still looks bad.
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Tribute by summer school student

Submitted today by a summer school student.


powered by ODEO


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Can't think of a career for SEP?

I saw this article on CNN.com today and thought of you. The article is titled “Nine cool jobs that pay well.”
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The Road

Interesting article posted by the New York Times regarding the Viggo Mortensen film version of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (virtually certain to be included on next year’s reading list, by the way). Click here to read the article.
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AP Summer Work (Class of 2009)

Updated 5/19

You will find the summer work listed in the AP English Lit submenu on the left. To download the summer assignments, please visit the File Cabinet page or click on the links below. There are three handouts you need:

1.
Summer Assignment
2.
Contract (due by the end of the 07-08 school year).
3.
Scavenger Hunt (due by June 1)

Please note that the Online Commentary portion of the summer assignment needs to be completed in the Discussion section of Turnitin.com. Log in to the class at Turnitin, then click on "Discussion." You should see the appropriate assignment listed. Click on it, then post your observations. Thank you!

I have been asked about the requirements for the literary terms definitions. You may write the "dictionary" definition if you understand
exactly what it means; however, if you have some trouble with the dictionary definition, you should put it in your own words. In other words, I don't really care which definition you use, as long as it is a definition that helps you to remember the meaning and usage of the term. Hope that helps.
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Arisenet for 08-09

From administration:

AriseNet is up and running so students can choose their AB teacher and Enrichment Cluster for next year.
We have some fliers around campus with log-on instructions and would like you to also talk to your kids about how to log on.

www.signmeup.arisenet.net
user name - should be their last name / first initial

password - should be their metric #

Students may have changed their username and password and if they have they should use that one.

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Lesson plans announcement

Class of 2008: I have reset the lesson plans for the next school year. Sorry - had to do it for part of my AP summer work for next year. You're almost to graduation!

AP students in the class of 2008 can still view lesson plans for May
here.
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The Pruning of MrTonk.com

Both students who visit this site may notice that some blog posts have gone missing. As we are approaching the end of the school year, I am eager to remove most of the material pertaining to the 2007-08 school year in order to start with a "clean house" in July. I will leave the material that remains online until May 30 or so in order to allow next year's students to see the kinds of materials I post on the site. After this date, it will be removed.

Or whenever I feel like it. Happy
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I need boxes

I will be changing classrooms for next year, and I could sure use some boxes. I would like to have the room moved by the end of the academic school year, so if you could bring any boxes you can in by next week, I would appreciate it. Thanks!
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Great examples of allusions

Click here to read a great example of what allusions look like. A tongue-in-cheek article on The Onion.....
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Recognitions

Got some good press for MrTonk.com and Vail in general. Check it out.

http://www.districtadministration.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=1540

http://theroyaltreatment.wordpress.com/2008/02/14/
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A+ designation for Cienega

Cienega High School has been named an A+ school by the Arizona Educational Foundation. We are greatly honored by this designation. Read more about what this means for Cienega here.
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What is wrong here???

Teens videotape beating as revenge for online posts
By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 2 hours, 16 minutes ago
For 30 minutes, six girls ganged up on a classmate, slamming her head into a wall and taking turns pummeling her and videotaping it all to post on the Internet. And when they were arrested and were being booked into juvenile detention, they joked about not being able to go to the beach, a Florida sheriff said Tuesday on TODAY...
To read more, click
here. Feel free to leave a comment below on this page.
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Announcement regarding site updates - new format

I have found lesson planning software that publishes to the Web. What this means for you is that MrTonk.com will be updated far more often than it was before. As I plan my lessons, they will appear on the web - this way, I don't have to type everything out twice and YOU don't have to wait for me to update it. This space will now be relegated to uploading announcements, podcasts, and resources. Check back often, but if you want to know what we did on a given day or what we are doing on another day, just hover your mouse over your class on the left side of this page and select "Lesson Plans." Senior English - be sure you are selecting either 4th period or 0 hour. Thanks!
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Geeky fun + feeding the poor

Check this out.
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Senior Exit Project presentations

Hello, Mr. Tonk.

I saw this video that can be considered relevant to the Senior Exit Project
presentation. I thought you might like to show it in class or put it on
mrtonk.com. It's a PowerPoint by a stand-up comedian about common
PowerPoint mistakes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLpjrHzgSRM
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English is great

English is so confusing and yet so clear. Click below to read about how mechanics like to use their wenches.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucjk/20071230/cm_ucjk/whydontyouusethelittlewench
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New discussion forums

Check out the new discussion forums, found under "Forums" on the left-hand side of your screen. You have to set up a username, and you must include information in your profile that reflects your real identity, class and period to get approved. Outsiders cannot view or search for users, and cannot post anything. Check it out!
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Fluffy

killer_dog[1]
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Let this mess with your head....

231-focus
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Having trouble coming up with a career topic?

If you're struggling to decide on a career, try the Arizona Career Information System's career aptitude tests. The user name and password are on the left-hand side of the web page. You can use the tests to get an idea of the kinds of careers that would be good for you. Check it out!
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First day shuffle

I was in a bit of a hurry today to get things together for my first hour class....
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Happy 1st birthday, Caleb Tonk!

No, he didn't stab himself in the eye with a fork; he's celebrating the joy of lasagna.

DSCF0017
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Senior Prank, Class of 2007

Click here to see how I was the target of this year's senior prank.
Podcast
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Hilariously bad writing

Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays.

These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country.

Here are last year's winners…..
1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. Instead of 7:30.
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. Traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. At a speed of 35 mph.
15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.
16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.
18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
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Impact video

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