Announcements
Turnitin Assignment Instructions
02 December 2008 06:05 PM
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.
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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22 November 2008 08:30 AM
Common Problems in SEP papers
19 November 2008 05:54 PM
Cienega Beats Sabino!
24 October 2008 10:02 PM
Updates
15 October 2008 08:45 PM
AP English: Independent Novel Essay
17 September 2008 05:29 PM
Senior English: Wife of Bath Essay
17 September 2008 05:29 PM
Senior English: Beowulf essay news
24 August 2008 04:43 PM
Why?
30 July 2008 04:06 PM
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.
SEP Paper Due Dates
25 June 2008 05:22 PM
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.
And the award for strangest Hamlet reference goes to...
10 June 2008 03:17 PM
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.
Update: viewed the RC&GaU trailer, and it’s not what it looks like. Still looks bad.
The Road
29 May 2008 11:49 AM
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.
AP Summer Work (Class of 2009)
19 May 2008 02:47 PM
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.
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.
Arisenet for 08-09
17 May 2008 07:53 AM
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.
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.
Lesson plans announcement
11 May 2008 03:51 PM
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.
AP students in the class of 2008 can still view lesson plans for May here.
The Pruning of MrTonk.com
10 May 2008 07:33 PM
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.
Or whenever I feel like it.
I need boxes
08 May 2008 02:00 PM
Recognitions
29 April 2008 10:50 PM
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/
http://www.districtadministration.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=1540
http://theroyaltreatment.wordpress.com/2008/02/14/
A+ designation for Cienega
19 April 2008 07:56 AM
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.
Announcement regarding site updates - new format
19 February 2008 04:51 PM
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!
Senior Exit Project presentations
01 January 2008 11:33 AM
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
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
New discussion forums
30 December 2007 02:40 PM
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!
Having trouble coming up with a career topic?
03 August 2007 11:55 AM
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!