Thursday August 28th- A Day

It's not every day you put in a solid 12 hours, but I guess today is a special day. I must admit, I enjoy talking to parents. It is nice to connect the parent with the student because I feel like I learn a lot.

A1- Adv. HAVPA- What a great group! We went on what could only be described as a kinda lame scavenger hunt (we didn't leave the room. or our seats), but then we took a little field trip to the glass highway (which is what I accidentally said instead of hallways). As we observed the painting and attempted to fill out our first Visual Art Viewing Guide I was impressed with how well behaved every one was. Seriously. Great group!!

A3- Sports Writing- Today we did our article summary on the UK/UL running game and even the most die hard football fans learned a thing or two. We then went through the UK schedule game by game to make our analysis, reviewed the football work, and completed the Chapter 2 worksheet. A busy day!!

A4- HAVPA- The kids were great for the scavenger hunt (probably still a little lame), but everyone seemed to run out of gas when we went upstairs to fill out the Art Viewing Guide. A large number of kids (not mine) were wandering the halls during A4 and this only served as a distraction. We will probably need to spend some time going over the guide next class. All in all, however, still a good day.

I am waiting for the final two sections of open house and then it is on to watch some football, Obama, and grade some papers!

Wednesday August 27th- B Day

I realize I haven't used a picture in for a couple of posts, so here you go. UK kicks off the season on Sunday against UL. I will be watching that game, even though I should be grading AP English papers.

B1 AP English- A little late on the start because of the senior group picture. And I kind of forgot to remind them to read the Plot and Structure section. We did talk about "The Destructors" and tried to figure out who exactly was the protagonist and antagonist. It was a little bit harder than it sounds. HW: Read the essays and give an Above 5 or Below 5 score to the circled essays.

B3 AP English- More of "The Destructors"!! I like this story. How can you not love a scrappy bunch of kids who come together to achieve their goal? Apparently, it's quite easy based on our discussion. Homework is the same as B1.

Tuesday August 26th- A day

I am getting bad at keeping up with this stuff. Last night, I was preparing for yet another fantasy football draft. What can I say?

A1- Adv. HAVPA- We had a nice fun review over the visual art terms we learned last time and we slowly, but surely, finished the PowerPoint. Not that we have the visual art terms, and the illustrated examples, we need to learn how to use them.

A3- Sports Writing- My bet with Beau was changed from TO v. Chad Johnson to TO v. Braylon Edwards. That makes me a little more nervous. We learned about football positions today and read an article about Bud Mackey and his prison sentence. We also watched a couple of clips from ukathletics.com.

A4- HAVPA- We also finished the PowerPoint. It took us a little longer, but hey, what are you going to do? We did have a fire drill last week during this block.

I will see this crew again on Thursday, which is also Open House!!

Monday August 25th B Day

I am pooped. I had my first night of grad school for this semester at EKU and I did not get home until 9:45. Considering I left my house at 7:30 this morning it has been a long day. Quick shout out to fellow Bulldog Stacy Clark who was my carpool buddy for the night. And thanks for also getting the parking pass. On to the summary!!

B1- Wow. The coffee had not kicked in this morning so it took me awhile to get going. However, my computer works better now so thanks Alyssa. We discussed "The Most Dangerous Game" and "The Child by Tiger". Lots of good points and lots of great discussion, although no one volunteered to sing "The Lamb", unlike B3. The highlight of the day belongs to Maggard and we will just leave it at that! HW- Read "The Destructors" as well as the introduction to the section and complete a story card.

B3- This class is a lot more eager to volunteer to read and to sing! Anna got the ball rolling and Jorie busted out a little opera. Pretty crazy! Another great discussion and they have the same homework.

Well, I thought I would get to bed early without the Olympics, but I am watching Michelle Obama deliver a pretty good speech, so it could be another sleepy morning.

See you next time!

Thursday August 21st- B Day

Another day, and another day behind. As Kurt Cobain ( or Kirk O'Bain if you read About A Boy) might say, All Apologies.

A1- Adv. HAVPA- Some good discussion over the journal entry about art and artistic intentions. We have a lot of people who are not big fans of modern or interpretive art. That should be fun this spirng. Chris gets the prize for best contributions, but Ebony was good as well. We began taking notes on Visual Art.

A3- Sports Writing- We read a couple of great stories in the newspaper and did our article review on one that was less than three hours old. UK football received a commitment from Morgan Newton and the UK fans in the class (yours truly included) were excited. We also discussed football, fantasy football, and Beau and I made a bet. More TDs on the year: T.O. or Ocho Cinco. I took T.O. and I will win. Sorry Beau.

A4- HAVPA- We had a fire drill to start off the block and the students were OUTSTANDING!! They left in an orderly fashion, stayed off the concrete, and came straight back in the building. Very impressive. They also had some good discussion about the journal entry with Jerrell leading the way. We took some notes on Visual Art and will finish that up next week.

Well, it's a three day weekend that has already started. I celebrated by coming to PLD and doing work, but I did squeeze in the USA v. Argentina basketball game. Although the zone used by Argentina caused the US trouble, they ended up winning by 20. Go USA!!

Wednesday August 20- B Day

Whoa!! I fell behind a little bit and we haven't even had a full week. This is what happens when you get buried in AP Summer Reading Assignments!!

B1 and B3- AP Senior English- The students finished their tests. Well, some of them did. Well, some of them finished some of it. Hopefully, this will all be finished very, very soon because I am SO READY to get into some discussion. We had a little taste of it today as we discussed the difference between Commerical and Literary Fiction. I don't think my opinions on what texts go where were that popular with everyone, but hey! What are you gonna do?

I would like to give a shout out to two former students who came by today to say hi. Cynthia Lu and Nan Hu are on their way to MIT and Princeton. Two extremely bright and awesome students!!! I will miss them and I hope they stay in touch.

Tuesday August 19th- A Day

I felt a picture of Sherlock Holmes was appropriate for today, because in both HAVPA classes we talked about clues. No big news for today. I had a really good run with my friend Tyler out on the PLD track, so I am a little beat, but you guys probably don't care about that so on to the summary.

A1- Adv. HAVPA- Finally a full block! We did a nice journal entry and then proceeded to listen to each kid present "Art You Know". It was fun and I felt like I learned a lot about the students. We then discussed context clues and how we use them in life and in art. No homework and next time we start taking notes on the Elements and Principles of Visual Art.

A3- Sports Writing- We did our article review over the USA v. China baseball game that featured a couple of bean balls. Pretty interesting story and I am a little surprised they chose it. We talked about the Olympics for awhile and then began to read and work on Chapter 1 in the Sports Writing text book.

A4- HAVPA- Ms. Gaines led them through the journal entry and we discussed that. The number of students who completed the "Art You Know" assignment was a little lower than I would have liked. We ended up allowing them to work on it some in class. The context clues notes and discussion went really well. They were able to be "Art Police" and take the evidence in the different painting and reach some very logical conclusions.

All in all a good day. I did have one teacher tell me that a kid in my Sports Writing class said his class was CRAZY!! I'm not so sure about that, but I guess I'll keep my eyes out. Now, I have to get back to grading some AP Summer Work. Is it fun? A clue.....no.

Monday August 18th- B Day

The students don't like to hear this, but it's true. Days when they have a test are really difficult.....for me. Seriously, I get bored walking around and making sure people are working hard. I would much rather have a discussion over anything than watch people take tests. Anyway, we all got through it. On to the rundown!

B1 and B3- AP Senior English- Took the summer reading test. Received their copy of Perrine's. You will receive some extra time in class on Wednesday. Also, if you arrive early on Wednesday or want to stay later, you can use that time. About the test, just a word of caution. Don't stress too hard. You all know who you are. Yes, it is your first grade, but it is only 10% of your overall grade and the assignment counts for TONS more. You should stress over whether UK will be able to move the ball on offense. That's what I'm stressing about.

See everyone on Wednesday!!

Kevin Faris

August 15th- A Day

I know the first week of school is not really a week, but these past three days have felt like six. I think teachers and students are slowly adjusting to the schedule. Having to stay up late to watch the Olympics has not helped.

A1- Advanced HAVPA- The discussion, which dominated most of the class, centered around one question, "What is art?" This was actually a really good discussion. I have a feeling this class is going to be a very good one. Plus, they laugh at my jokes, which I always like. HW- Art You Know. They will bring/describe something from home and write up a paragraph about it.

A3- Sports Writing- We did our first Article Review with the assistance of student aide Caitlin Bryson working the computer. The kids chose an article about the USA v. Greece basketball game. We watched some highlights from the Olympics, the boys really like the gymnasts, and wrote a paragraph about an early sports memory.

A4- HAVPA- Ms. Gaines gave the students their first journal entry, the same as A1 "What is art?" The discussion was pretty good, Henry in particular added a lot. The students were a little tired so we took a short walk around the school looking for "art". Their homework is the same as A1.

I hope everyone enjoys the weekend. I have already watched the USA/Spain basketball game and then Liverpool v. Sunderland in the EPL. My soccer team, the Tottenham Hotspurs unfortunately lost. On the bright side, I bought a new UK t-shirt, so it wasn't totally wasted.

August 14th- B Day

I took a break from the Olympics last night and saw "Step Brothers" starring Will Ferrel and John C. Reilly. I had high expectations and I was not disappointed. Great movie, funny, and deserving of the R rating. I am also contemplating calling my Fantasy Football team "Prestige Worldwide". Anyway, here is the rundown of Thursday at the PLD.

B1- AP Senior English- Today is my "AP Day" and it kind of stunk that this class was cut short because of homeroom. I would have loved to get to talk to the students more. We discussed the syllabus and what would be on the summer test. They will take their test on Monday and will turn in all of their summer work at that time.

B3- AP Senior English- This was the full 90 minutes, so I didn't feel rushed. I even had time to discuss Harry Potter for a little bit, which I enjoy. Contrary to what some people think, I really enjoy the HP novels. I just don't believe they are high level literature. On a different topic, I found someone else who has read "A Separate Peace". Their test and assignments are also on Monday.

B4- AP Study Hall- All the students are working hard. That is the best thing I can say about this class. I have high hopes that all the students here will benefit from the in school time to finish their work. And I hope I don't get a lot of difficult math and/or science questions.

Well, I think Michael Phelps is going for a gold medal tonight. The US Basketball team got revenge on Greece today. I love the Olympics! I better enjoy them now, because starting next week I have a ton of stuff to grade.

August 13th- A Day

The first day of school is officially over, and not a moment too soon. I am a little tired and am glad it is only a 3 day week. So, let's get to what we did:

A1- Adv. Humanities- A great group of kids, featuring a few I know, but not the Pleasants Liz Bryant wanted in class. Oh well. We passed out the syllabus, I took some questions, and the kids filled out an "Arts Survey". We learned we have a lot of athletes and a few musicians. And we learned if the guys from the freecreditreport.com commercial had an album I would buy it. Students need to return their parental permission slips as soon as possible.

A3- Sports Writing- A whole bunch of guys (and a few girls) ready to talk about sports!! Tons of fun. We passed out the syllabus, went over rules/procedures, and reviewed bathroom safety. No homework for these guys, although I cannot believe there were some arguing that Kevin Garnett was better than Tim Duncan!!!! Unbelievable.

A4- Humanities w/Ms. Gaines- Finally, a sidekick! Actually, Ms. Gaines is a great teacher to collaborate with and I am looking forward to working with her. We did a lot of the same things as the A1 class and they also have to return their parental permission slips as soon as possible. We did learn that Ms. Gaines loves Karaoke and that Lil' Wayne is the most popular rapper, even if Greg can name at least four other guys who are better!!

All in all, a good first day. Hopefully I will have time to squeeze in a nap before the Olympics.

See you tomorrow!!

First Day of School!!

OK, I will have to admit that I am a little tired. I blame the person seen in the pic to the left, Olympic Champion Michael Phelps. Instead of going to bed early and getting a good night's sleep, I stayed up and watched the Olympics. Phelps is DOMINATING and it has been a lot of fun.

My wife was excited for the gymnastics, but alas the US Women fell short of the gold medal. But hey, silver's not too bad.

Anyway, I am a little tired, but making it through the day. A little later I will post some info on what we covered/talked about during classes.

Until then...........