We finished watching the movie and had a very good discussion about some of the topics Will wants to address on the paper due next friday. I'm very pleased with how well he paid attention and he came up with some very interesting ideas. He spent the remainder of the class, working on his pre-writing/outline for the paper.
Will was feeling much better today, and we continued watching the movie. After major moments in the film, we stop to discuss what's going on and the connections between the two stories. Will has come up with some very interesting ideas and should be able to put together a good paper.
Will was having a tough time today, and did not feel well. We tried to talk about what we watched on Friday, but he was having a tough time focusing. So we just continued to watch the movie, but he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open and following along. We'll try it again on Wednesday.
We watched the final act of Hamlet today, which really is much better than reading it. Will has done such a great job with the play, I've decided to give him a more creative writing assignment for his final grade on this section. We're going to watch a post-9/11 movie, (V for Vendetta) and he is going to write a comparative analysis essay about the two stories.
We finished reading the play today. Will has really done an excellent job with following the story and major themes of the play. While he has trouble with the language, he knows the play as well as any student I've worked with. I truly appreciate his effort.
Today Will reviewed the lives of the British monarchs including the Tudor and Stuart kings and queens. We extended the discussion on absolute monarchy, and discussed the political and religious tensions which arose during this time, and the subsequent historical implications (i.e. Ireland's "Troubles" up until the 20th century; our U.S. government system). Will explored the life of Oliver Cromwell and his decision making, and how different peoples interpret his influence in different ways.
We held class outside today, in deference to Will's wishes. I handed back his graded Chapter 5 quiz (24/30) and went over it with him. We discussed the decline in Will's recent quiz performances and the need for him to study the assigned material in this class. I specifically suggested to Will that, if studying at home presented a problem (and I do not know that it does), he might want to try studying at the Palm Beach Gardens branch of the Palm Beach County Library, the Jupiter branch of the Palm Beach County Library, or the FAU Honors College library in Jupiter. In response to Will's remark that he sometimes forgets to bring his book home, I suggested that he consider asking Elyse to remind him to do so before he leaves school each day. Following this constructive discussion, we took up Chapter 6, addressing the national debate over the need for a stronger central government in 1786, the call for a consitutional convention in 1787, the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan, the Great Compromise of 1787, and the concepts of (1) federalism, (2) separation of powers, and (3) checks and balances enshrined in the Constitution.
Assignment
Read Chapter 6
Session Minutes
75
Minutes Student Attended
75
Lesson Comments
I conferred with Will's math teacher, who informed me that Will has in fact been given math homework (though not every day), including today.
This section of the text could be subtitled "Separating Overlapping Congruent Triangles." It involves using given information and the various ways of proving triangles congruent to do so and following up by using CPCTC to deduce further info about the triangles. A key component, for which there is no cut-and-dry algorithm, is sketching the two relevant overlapping triangles separately.
Assignment
p. 243-244: # 1-6, 8.
Session Minutes
60
Minutes Student Attended
60
Lesson Comments
Will stayed with me and seems to have a good grasp of the material, albeit a little uncomfortable with the lack of a set routine for separating triangles out from the polygon in which they overlap.
