Me, my brother Maxwell, and my mom at the Ducks season opener this year.Dear students,
I hope you are enjoying your time off! I certainly am trying to. This is really the first time I've had any sort of real down time since my last spring break! So I have tried to completely take my mind off everything in order to recharge for the next year. In accordance with that, I'm heading off tomorrow (Sunday) to go down to California (Los Angeles/San Diego) with my brother to watch the Ducks play in the Holiday Bowl vs. Oklahoma State on Tuesday night (5PM, ESPN). I will be back in town on the 31st, at which time I will be able to respond much more quickly to any e-mails or comments. I will have my laptop in California, but getting back to you with my usual quickness is unlikely.
However, it's time to start gearing back up for the new year soon! Given how much time you have had, there should be absolutely no excuse for these speeches not to be absolutely amazing. Call your group members. Work on your parts together. We will be doing the speeches on Tuesday, Jan. 6th - the first day you are back in my class. We'll get it out of the way, then watch Hotel Rwanda to wrap up the unit, before moving on to our next topic. Please e-mail me or post comments if you have any questions. I know that many of you are not looking forward to doing these, but especially with the amount of extra time you've been granted, make sure to abide by your class rules by a) Having a good attitude about doing the speeches and b) Taking personal responsibility to get your part done as well as communicating with your group members.
Have a wonderful last few days of 2008! :-)
FINAL UPDATE FRIDAY 5:15 AM: The Beaverton School District has just posted the following -
"Schools CLOSED to Students and Staff, Friday (12/19/2008). All Activities and Events Cancelled. Administration Facilities Open to Essential Staff."
In addition, part of the e-mail from the administration states:
"The decision to close is based on student and staff safety. While we are not expecting moisture today, the low temperatures have made the side roads extremely hazardous. Our ability to transport students safely would be compromised.
A review of instructional time will be conducted in January to determine if days will need to be made up in order to meet State instructional time requirements."
Go back to bed. :-) Have a fantastic and restful long break - those speeches had better be amazing by the time we get back! Please e-mail me or comment if you need any help at all, or just want to check in during your time off. Come back refreshed and ready to go for 2009!
UPDATE FRIDAY 12:20 AM: Wonderful students, it was great to be able to get home just now and see all your comments about the speech, the game, and school. I'm sorry I couldn't post them as they were coming - I can assure you the Blazer game was absolutely incredible, and now my voice is hoarse. As far as tomorrow goes, here's part of the e-mail the teachers got:
"No decision will be made regarding the status of school operations until Friday morning. Our greatest concern at this time is not the weather but the possibility of black ice on side roads and at higher elevations. A team will be driving the roads at 3:30 a.m., and a decision will be posted before 5:30 a.m."
I'm glad that the district is doing this, though it definitely is a pain to wake up so early to find out about school. Here's what I'm going to tell you guys (after looking at the comments as well as taking into account my situation here at my house, which is definitely still snowed in): If there is class today, BRING YOUR SPEECHES. No matter what, we will work with them. Now, I find it pretty doubtful that I will be able to make it in, and I also find it somewhat unlikely that the district will decide to have school, considering all the information about what is likely to happen tonight. It was already 32 degrees in downtown Portland when I left the game this evening and it is going to get colder.
Whether or not I am able to make it in, Mrs. DeFrance will work with you guys on your speeches. I don't think it's fair to ask you to do them the day before break, and I also don't think it is fair to watch half of Hotel Rwanda, coming back to it much later. We will do both the week we get back from break. Continue working on them with your group over the break! They had better be close to perfect! Ask me for any help you may need!
I will be up early to check online about school and will post an update as soon as I know at the top of the page. Thanks for paying so much attention to this all! Go Blazers! Brandon Roy for MVP! :-)
UPDATE THURSDAY 4:00 PM: It looks to be a similar sort of situation to last night. Here's part of the e-mail I just received:
"The Beaverton School District is closely monitoring changing conditions, and consulting with our local and national weather services to make a call for Friday. No decision has been made at this time. We will decide by 10:00 p.m. tonight (Thursday) or may wait until 5:00 a.m. tomorrow (Friday) morning."
So, keep paying attention! Have those speeches ready just in case! :-) In the meantime, read this article on some of the main perpatrators of the Rwandan Genocide finally being found guilty in the International Criminal Court TODAY - over 14 YEARS since the acts we are studying in class! Slow justice indeed.
CNN.com: Trio found guilty of Rwandan genocideUPDATE at 9:30 PM: As Archana just pointed out in the comments (before I even knew, by the way, which is pretty amazing), the Beaverton School District has decided to cancel school tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 18th. Please make sure to watch for tomorrow night's decision as well, but until then, enjoy another day off! Please stay safe and warm out there! Watch the Blazer game tomorrow night if you want - I'm hoping to make it out to be there! :-)
UPDATE WEDNESDAY 5:15 PM: For those wondering about when/if the district will decide about school on Thursday, this is part of the e-mail from the district administration I just received:
"The Beaverton School District is closely monitoring the national weather forecast and consulting with our local weather service to make a call for Thursday. No decision has been made at this time. We will decide by 10:00 p.m. tonight or may wait until 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. We need more information on the cold weather pattern that may be developing."
There you have it. I'll post again when I hear about any decision that is made. See, I told you the blog would be useful... :-)
The view outside my window at home in Portland,
during last year's Christmas Day snow.Dear students,
With the Beaverton School District deciding to cancel school Wednesday, barring some sort of miraculous turn of events in the weather, I think it is now doubtful that you will be coming to class again in 2008. Please be sure that you keep checking the school closure updates each night, but for now, it certainly looks like having school will be unlikely. Friday is the last possible day that you could have my class.
What this means for our class: I will have to keep talking to Mrs. DeFrance, the administrators at Westview, and my professors at Lewis and Clark to determine what we are going to do, but for now, here's what we have come up with:
IF there is class on Friday: Be prepared to roll with the group speeches. Dress up (but be warm, first and foremost!) I doubt that Mr. Chamberlain will be able to come in, but we might be able to find another person to help out. We will try to do as much as possible.
IF there is NO class on Friday: Have a wonderful long break! We will be doing the speeches the first day you get back from break, so practice in front of the mirror, in front of your parents - make your part PERFECT! Continue to work on them. I think we are just going to continue with the plan that I had originally made - because I think watching Hotel Rwanda is a very important way to end the unit.
Keep checking this blog! I will almost certainly keep writing and giving little extra credit assignments (like the one I posted already) throughout the break. If you see something that might be related to the class, please let me know!
If you do not have your individual speech in: I need it in, ASAP. Please e-mail me immediately if you have not turned it in. You will not be a part of the group's speech, but I do need some sort of proof that EVERYONE has actually learned something about the genocide, and you will get credit for doing the individual portion of the speech.
Finally, please let me know if you have any questions or comments about what is going on. I hope that every one of you is staying safe and warm! Have another great day off! Keep checking back during the next few days! :-)
UPDATE II (4:15 PM Monday): NO SCHOOL tomorrow (Tuesday, Dec. 16th). There is also a huge storm likely on Wednesday. Please check back here tomorrow evening for instructions on the speech/other things going on in class, when I have a better idea of whether or not we will have class. Enjoy another day off responsibly! :-)UPDATE (4:15 PM): Beaverton School District schools and facilities are CLOSED tomorrow, Monday, Dec. 15th. Enjoy the day off - stay safe and warm - make good decisions! See you Wednesday! Follow option D below!Greetings students!If you have been living in a cave for the last day, let me be the first to let you know: it's snowing. Like, a lot. As in, I have 2.5 inches on my back deck already.
So, what does this mean? For one, I think for the first time in my entire life, I am conflicted about a snow day. See, I am a HUGE fan of snow. I always waited up late at night, calculating the chances of snow and getting a day off school. So it is really weird that I am actually really sad about the possibility of school being cancelled, because I am also so incredibly excited to see what you guys have come up with for your group speeches.
Because I know everyone is wondering what the possible situations are, let me break them down for you:
A) The snow is sufficiently gone so that school operates on a full schedule tomorrow, and I am able to make it out. Remember, I live in the Portland hills - on Mt. Sylvania, near Lake Oswego. We are at about 800 feet in elevation. Meaning that I am getting completely slammed here and something dramatic is going to have to happen in order for me to be able to make it out and to class tomorrow. In this scenario, that dramatic melting happens tonight.
In this case: Class will be held as we planned. I will need all the group speeches typed up and handed in after we do all of the speeches in class. Dress up (though make your priority dressing warmly - it is going to be cold all week!) and be prepared to address the United Nations.
B) The school operates on a normal schedule, but I am unable to make it out. This is probably the second most likely situation. Like I said, it is pretty bad here, and since I live in the hills, it is very hard to get out with any snow on the ground. I will probably try, but it will be difficult.
If this happens, Mrs. DeFrance (if she can make it out) will probably just work on your speeches with you, or do some sort of other cool activity. Plan to give your speeches on Wednesday (I do not know if Mr. Chamberlain will be able to come on Wednesday, but Mrs. DeFrance and I are really excited to see them, so we are definitely doing them!) and dress up again on that day.
C) The Beaverton School District decides to have a two-hour late opening. This may be somewhat more likely than A.
In this case: I believe that you will not have my class, because it will be wiped out by the late opening - you would go to your third period class when school opens. If there is a two hour late opening, it is pretty unlikely that I will be able to come into school, so just e-mail me if you need any help with anything.
D) The district decides to close for Monday. I happen to think that this is probably the most likely outcome as it stands right now - though be sure to check out the school closure list in the morning here:
Oregon School Closure InformationIf this is the case, continue working on your group speeches (but do NOT gamble on having extra time - the speeches should be done by tomorrow). Basically, just pretend that Monday is now moved to Wednesday (which means we will have less time to watch Hotel Rwanda before break, which I am not excited about, but I think I'll live with). Check this blog for updates. If you want me to review your speech, either e-mail me or come see me on Tuesday if we have school (I think Tuesday is a B day no matter what) and I am able to make it out.
There are some students that did not turn their individual speech to me by Friday. Unfortunately, this means that you will not be able to participate in the group speeches - I will ask you to do an individual assignment for in-class participation, but you will lose out on the 50 points that come along with the speech. You knew the rules quite clearly. Unless there is some sort of extraordinary circumstance which prevented you from turning it in, you are going to have a VERY difficult time making it up. Your actions have consequences. You are in high school - it's time to grow up and do your work on time, especially when I went out of my way to try and help you out.
For everyone else: thank you for working so hard! You guys definitely deserve any sort of fun that this little blizzard brings.
Most importantly: continue to work hard, have fun, be safe and responsible out there! Let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or comments! Have a great day! :-)
