Today I began by returning Will's graded midterm exam (89/100) and going over it with him. Thereafter we spent considerable time discussing possible topics for Will's research paper, which will be due in October. After mentioning a number of topics in which we was interested, Will seemed most keen on researching and writing about some aspect of tobacco's role in US history. I told him that was a wonderful topic and proceeded to model for him how to do online research concerning this topic. I printed one of the searches, which contained several sources that WIll might want to consult. Will said that he would make progress on researching his paper topic, including a library visit, this weekend. We then began a brief overview of Chapter 9, which is to be discussed in detail next week. Finally, we conferred about the new time slot for Thursday sessions (per Connie), as well as my anticipated absence from 9/30/14 through 10/7/14.