Mrs. Grant AP Literature June 28, 2013 Dear Mrs.

Brown, I am writing this letter to seek administrative approval to implement and use a classroom blog in my AP Literature & Composition courses for the 2013-2014 school year. I feel that part of my responsibilities as an AP teacher is to prepare students for the environment that they will encounter in college. Universities and colleges are increasingly using technology to support classroom learning through a blackboard or other types of forums, where students are required to post their own unique information, respond to other students, and find and engage with course content. I feel that these exercises are valuable to the literature classroom as the discussion can continue outside of the classroom allowing for a richer and deeper discussion about the literature. This year, I will be teaching two sections of AP Literature. While I will be present for the discussions in both classes, experience has taught me that students not present can benefit from each others discussion points and questions. I have set up a blog using the free blogging tool at wordpress.com so that you may see what it will look like to students and parents. Please see the attached proposal for specific information on the blog itself. This blog is active and public, which means students can move about the internet as they interact on the blog. I feel that this is an important inclusion for AP students. Since students may earn college credit for the course, they need to act like college students during the course. Their blog posts should link to definitions and resources they find online. Also, students should be encouraged to seek out definitions and resources for a deeper understanding of course concepts and texts. Colleges and universities expect this behavior as part of the normal class structure. These are skills that I plan to model and teach this year. This classroom blog will be used as a Socratic discussion board. Part of the homework assignments for class will be to pose thoughtful and original questions and answer questions as well as identify meaningful quotes and passages from the book that support our theoretical reading. The blog will be monitored by me for appropriate behavior, any infractions will be dealt with immediately. I will add the blog to my syllabus so that parents are aware of its use. I will also note for parents that the blog is open to the public so they may visit it at any time to review the discussion taking place. Parents signing my syllabus acknowledgement will also be granting permission for their student to use the blog; this statement will be clearly noted on the acknowledgement form. Please see my attached proposal for more information. Please contact me at your earliest convenience to discuss this request and/or indicate your approval. Thank you,

Proposal to Incorporate a Classroom Blog Darla Grant Darla Grant AP Literature & Composition

June 28, 2013 Ashley Brown Head of Schools Re: Proposal to Incorporate a Classroom Blog

Background After teaching AP Literature last year, I observed that many students wrote wonderfully rich and thoughtful discussion questions as part of their homework assignments. Sometimes, these questions were revealed during our class discussion, but often there wasnt time to consider all of the great questions. As a result, I was the only audience for these analytical questions about our reading. I began to think of ways that I could not only showcase the great work of some of the students but also help other students to see the depth of thought that can move the literary discussion toward rich and deep analysis. After seeing how some of our sister schools use blogs to record the movements of students on internships, I decided that a blog would be a good format for students turn in, display, and comment upon thoughtful Socratic questions that they write for class. Goals I have several goals for the blog. As I will be teaching two separate AP Literature courses this year, I would like to maintain a single discussion. Students from both classes will be able to engage with and comment upon each others thoughts and analyses of the literature we read and discuss in class. The blog will allow for the classroom space to be virtual so that everyone can participate in the discussion. Similarly, students who shy away from the mandatory participation in class may find that they have something unique to add in the blog where they have more time to formulate thoughts and responses to each other and the literature. I would also like to use the blog as a place to post resources and information that dont get covered during class. We have limited time to expose students to the depth of literature that has been written in English. Also, with the writing demands that I make of students, our classroom time is decreased to allow for weekly timed writes. The blog will allow me to write and engage with my students online so that I can model the levels of analysis and research that they should expect in college. Finally, I would like the blog to be an open collaboration environment. While students will have assignments to post blog entries, I also want to encourage them to just blog about the books. This is an exercise more in line with the traditional use of blogs. I am interested to see what

Proposal to Incorporate a Classroom Blog students think about the books, how they react to the discussions, and where their analysis takes them. They will be encouraged to use the blog for these reasons. The Blog I plan to use a free blogging tool online through wordpress.com. I have selected wordpress.com because it is a tool with which I am familiar, its easily accessible for the students, it has interesting themes and appearance settings, and it allows for the types of comments I need to facilitate on a classroom blog. In addition, the software is free so that the school will not incur any expenses for the project. I have set up a blog using the free blogging tool at wordpress.com so that you may see what it will look like to students and parents. You can view the proposed blog here: http://grantenglish.wordpress.com/ This is a public blogging environment, which I feel is appropriate for AP-level work. College students are expected to know how to use online tools in their coursework. As AP is a college credit-earning course, students should mirror college behavior, where students are required to interact in online envrionments. A blog is an authentic tool that will require students to interact at the levels expected in college. AP students should begin using online tools that they will encounter in college. In class, we will discuss appropriate uses of these tools, and their use can be the practice they need to prepare for college. Students will be expected to conduct online research to support their ideas and analysis. Thus, they have an online tool where analysis and research can be presented to the class. Students will have similar homework assignments as they did last year. They will be required to write 10 weekly unique, Socratic discussion questions about the reading as well as identify 10 meaningful quotes and explain why they are meaningful. In addition to these assignments, students will be assigned weeks where they post a question on the blog for their peers, answer others questions, or post their meaningful quotes. Students will add their own new posts for quotes and questions. They will utilize the blog comment feature to reply to questions, ask deeper questions, and engage one another in questions. Additionally, I will be present on the blog as a contributor, responder, and questioner. I will use the blog as a place to add more resources for students. For instance, there are movies, articles, essays, and artwork surrounding Invisible Man that we will not have time to read in class. However, I would like to make those resources available to students who would like further study. I also plan to answer student questions, add information to keep the discussion going, and use my participation as a monitoring tool for the blog. Set Up I would like students to use their real names in order to make the experience as authentic as possible. This year, AP students will span two classes and grades 10-12. I do want them to acknowledge and get to know each other by using their real identities. As these students are under the age of 18, I will only require that they use their first name and last initial. This will allow me and other classmates to identify them without adding their full names online.

Proposal to Incorporate a Classroom Blog Students will be required to read and sign an acknowledgement of the Netiquette rules that appear on the blog. We will discuss proper online behavior in class as well as the consequences for misbehavior, which can include zero grades and administrative disciplinary action. I will post the first Socratic discussion once class begins. We will view the blog in class, where I will explain the basics of navigation for those who arent familiar with blogs. I will also use this class period as an opportunity to discuss and model the respectful interaction we can expect on the blog. Parents will be informed of the blog on the syllabus. Along with the usual I have read and understand the course syllabus text that appears on the parent acknowledgement page, I plan to add the following: In signing this acknowledgement, I also give my permission for my student to participate in the classroom blog http://grantenglish.wordpress.com/. I understand that I am allowed and encouraged to visit the blog and read the posts in order to stay informed about my childs online class involvement. I will direct any questions regarding this blog to Mrs. Grant. I will ask parents to refrain from contributing to the blog as it is a classroom tool; however, I want them to feel secure in giving their permission. So, they are encouraged to visit. Conclusion I feel that a blog offers the most real life experience that students can expect in college. In itself, the blog doesnt do much. Its what we do with it that makes it special. My goal is to use the blog as an extended classroom to allow students to deepen their relationship with literature. I plan to be an active participant in this process. Thank you, Darla Grant