A Black Smear Flows By

Anyone still checking this thing?

2011-01-09T06:09:00.000-08:00

making fall feel like Fall

2010-08-27T00:29:00.000-07:00

well, kids. we're back. sort of. i don't work as a teacher anymore. i am happy.

i'm going to read The Stranger and post thoughts on this page. if you'd like to chat it with me, do it.

reading and thinking about camus and m help fall feel like Fall.

2010-06-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

11

2010-05-25T09:17:00.001-07:00

Team Hygiene

2009-11-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

Don't they look happy? Dang.

As you know, we've been talking about hygiene in each of our English classes. Is it awkward? Yes. Is it strange? Yep. But hygiene is important.

If there's an area of focus that you'd like me to cover, send me an email.

Otherwise, shower (with soaps), brush your teeth, use deodorant and we'll be in business. I want you to succeed-- hygiene is part of that.

No Phone / No Computer this Weekend (10.17-18)

2009-10-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hey, kids.

This weekend I will be without phone or computer so I will not be able to tweet assignments or respond to emails. Sorry for the inconvenience.

It's a crazy thing. I am completely dependent on my Blackberry. It tells me what I'm doing and when. It tells me what's going on this weekend and usually that's what I use to respond to your emails.

Lametown.

See you next week.

Wiget

What do you want to learn? (Also, Shout out to Theo)

2009-10-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

What do you want to learn? No, I won't teach you how to shoot guns like in this picture. But seriously, talk to me. Email me appropriate and hopefully English-related topics/subjects you'd like for us to discuss in English class. It's silly for me to scratch where you don't itch. I plan on devoting a segment of each of our meetings to lessons you'd like to learn.

Give me some ideas, I'll post them on the blog in the form of a poll, and each week you and your parents can vote on which one you'd like us to cover in class.

ps-- this pictures is especially for Theo. He said he liked the pictures that I pick. Thanks, T.

Proper Nouns

2009-09-20T20:32:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to even lie. On a sweet sweet Sunday night I'm getting a little cranky. Proper names are capitalized, kid-os. Please do it. Gregor Samsa or Holden Caulfield or you yourself are all proper nouns and must be capitalized. I beg. I do.

Welcome Back

2009-08-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

Welcome back. Hope your summer was restful, exciting, and summery in every way.

We will hit the ground running this year. Please check this blog for links to handouts, the class calendar, and all things Englishy.

After a senior during the 4th quarter of last year asked me what the url for this blog was, I'd like to encourage you to bookmark this page just in case.

When you're absent for any reason I expect you to check the calendar and return to class prepared. You can always email me with any questions you may have.

Here's to a great year.

Twitter

2009-05-20T01:09:00.000-07:00

I know the year is coming quickly to an end, but I have just set up twitter for my English 10 classes and for English 12. Put simply, you can receive text message reminders for homework, tests, quizzes, etc.

You have to have a twitter account and then be following one of my two twitter accounts-- wigetenglish12 or wigetenglish10. From there you'll be able to ask questions and chat with your classmates and me via text message.

Haiku

2009-04-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

All of you did a fine job on the haiku and other poems during this past unit. Here are some exceptional poems produced by you and your classmates. Please take a moment and enjoy.

Should I be mad at

Crickets singing midnight blues?

No, I am thankful.

Jason Hdez

Waiting for the bus

I pull my coat tighter

black rainslick

pavement glistening highbeams

tires yelling roadkill

Billy Graham

White-capped roaring waves

Aqua turbulent carpet

Surfer on a board

Abby Martin

A web of gauze

Rests between roses

Trapping morning dew.

Lindsay Tracy

Glimmering ocean,

Light ping pongs between the waves,

Then hits my eyes

Brian Plympton

Haiku in the Modern World

2009-03-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

I hope that some of you enjoy writing and reading some haiku poetry. Jack Kerouac and friends used to hike around reciting and creating impromptu haiku for the fun of it. I think that in our break-neck-fast-moving world haiku are even more "relevant."

FYI-- There's a haiku section on Craigslist. Check it out, post yours, enjoy.

wiget

SSR

2009-02-23T11:06:00.000-08:00

Students and Parents—

Beginning this week we’ll be starting an SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) program in all English 10 classes. At its most basic level, SSR is 15 minutes of silent reading. The students will each choose their own book. Other than obtaining, keeping track off, and reading their books, the students will not have to complete any other assignment for this portion of our class. The goal is that they read more. We will do this for the rest of the year.

Here are a couple of the goals:

A greater enjoyment of reading, which will hopefully lead to more outside reading
Improved reading comprehension
Confidence as readers and thinkers
Improved ability to focus

Will all of these happen for everyone? Nope. But reading never hurt anyone. Right?

Parents, I will do my best to help your student select books that suit his/her interests and needs. We have some books here at the school, but are trying to grow our library. Please help your student obtain books. This may be a trip to the library or the bookstore, if necessary. If you feel inspired to donate reading materials to this program please shoot me an email. That’d be great.

Students may choose any school-appropriate book. Initially, students may also read magazines, graphic novels and comic books. I will also provide each student with a Cypress Charter Staff Picks List that will have our staff’s favorite reads.

Please sign a sheet of paper saying that you read this post. Your student will return these to me and receive homework credit. Email me if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Mr. Wiget

Lit Circles and Reading

2009-02-18T22:49:00.000-08:00

As you get going on your lit circles, I'd like to encourage you to actually read your books. It won't hurt you-- it'll help you. It may take you some time to get into your book. Often the first 50 pages are tough because it takes time to get used to the authors' language, etc.

Look at this young lad. He looks well don't you think? He sort of looks like Bagnall.

First Dates and Poetry and your Presentations

2009-02-04T10:28:00.000-08:00

We've talked about how our initial response to poetry can be much like a first date. Silence. Drymouth. Sweaty palms and a whole lot of looking at the menu. Look at this poor guy. He's scared, but ready for something to materialize.

As we tore up our lists of poetry hang-ups, I hope you were able to let some things go. You really do have all the necessary tools and know-how to read and understand poetry.

I'm really looking forward to your presentations on poets that you like. Hopefully this process will help us become more comfortable when relating to poetry. Poetry just wants to be your friend-- he/she won't bite.

Essay Writing

2008-11-11T21:40:00.000-08:00

sometimes our essays don't come off as cleanly as we might want. sometimes we start and stop and run on and on. each paragraph should serve a specific purpose and should somehow tie into the thesis. for reals.

check this video. it illustrates what happens when we're not really sure what we're saying.

Poetry Club

2008-09-28T23:58:00.000-07:00

Wallace Stevens wrote a great poem entitled "The Man with the Blue Guitar." It is about--among many other things-- the role that art (especially poetry) has in our lives. In our classes we don't always have as much time as I'd like to discuss poetry.

So... I'm going to try to start a poetry club. It'll be called Blue Guitar after Stevens' poem. The format will be simple. We'll read and discuss published poems that you bring in. We'll meet on Wednesdays at lunch in room 1 or on the grass. If the demand is there we can also workshop your poems.

Guitar Class

2008-09-14T23:02:00.000-07:00

Hello there you pluckers and strummers. Here's a link to the Greenday song we're going to be working on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJck-Xwla2k.

If you forget how the song goes, check out the video. He's picking the song,

but you can strum. Hope that helps.

Test Scores and Good Ol' Fashion Integrity

2008-09-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to the Sentinel article about test scores and our county.

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_10387893

One thought on testing is that you should do your best because that's the right thing to do. I know that's an old ideology and pretty cliche, but...

Please let me know your thoughts on the article.

Welcome Back to School

2008-08-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hello. I hope you all had a great summer and are ready to jump back into schooling. This blog page will hopefully help you succeed this year. I will post homework on the calendar that is located at the top right hand corner of the page. Also, most of the handouts for my classes can be found here as well.

You will also sign up for and set up a blog. The blogs will be used for peer-editing and critique and probably a good deal of ranting about this or that.

General Comments and Questions

2008-04-12T23:32:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to open up a little line of communication. If you have questions or general ponderings related to our classes lay it down.

li-young lee

2008-03-18T23:23:00.001-07:00

Li-Young Lee's poetry changed my life. He is one of the most intelligent people I have ever come into contact with. His poems are sensitive but not too sentimental. He came to SJSU when I was there. He talked about everything under the sun and more. He said that when he writes poems it's like hearing a woman speak from a couple rooms over-- muffled, but you can hear the cadence.

Check this video if you have 45 spare minutes.