There was high drama and lots of excitement at yesterday’s Mock Trial. Mr. Drobny took some great pictures, so check them out at the sidebar.

If you’re having trouble reading Animal Farm, Ms. E and I now have two ways to support you.

1. Download the audio book on your iPod. See Ms. E before school, at lunch, or after school for details.

2. Use Edmodo! Go to edmodo.com. Register as a student. Fill in your information. Be sure to type in tru473 as the group code.

One of the best new clubs on campus is We Reflect The Future. The club has produced two radio shows already this year. If you missed one — or if you want to listen to them again — scroll down to the right where you see an iPod.  There you’ll find the radio shows as podcasts!

Extra Credit Opportunity for WS Students: Listen to one of the podcasts and write a comment to this post about what you think.

Stay tuned for more podcasts at iseroma outloud!

Who is your favorite Mirabal sister in the book, In the Time of the Butterflies?

Vote for your favorite sister and then see who’s winning the poll! Note: You can vote only once per computer.

After two years, iseroma.com gets a new look today. I hope that you like the redesign: brighter, cleaner, happier.

Besides looking good, the new design is geared to encourage more students and families to interact with the site. I’m hoping that students, especially my advisees, will post original content and that everyone will feel free to interact with each other and write comments.

Go ahead! Find a post and then write a comment!

The redesign is only one of the ways I’m hoping to improve iseroma.com. There will also be more improvements over Winter Break. If you have ideas about how to improve iseroma.com, please leave a comment!

To succeed in school, what you do outside of class is probably as important as what you do inside of class.

That’s why iseroma.com now has iseroma live!

iseroma live is a place where you can chat with me and your friends about homework, projects, and anything else Isero-related.

You can chat anytime. Just click on the “Live” page above. Tune in on Tuesdays from 8 to 9 p.m. if you also want to use iseroma live as your way to do your office hours!

The United Nations Summit is coming soon! Remember, the group with the most knowledge of your issue will be the most prepared with the best resolution.

Keep reading and researching about your topic! Here’s a video about Darfur.

Next class, you’ll have an in-class essay. The prompt is: “Why did Russia become a communist nation, and was that a good choice?”

Prepare for your essay by completing the prep sheet you got in class. Then, practice writing the whole essay at home so you feel comfortable.

Some of you need more evidence. Here are the “Daily Life Under Stalin” readings for you.

Hey everyone. This week’s extra credit is to link as many classes as you can to your primary ID at www.mygradebook.com. It’s 10 points for every class you link. To earn your points, come to office hours on Thursday at lunch and show me your linked account. Good luck!

Here is a sample video from the Africa Debate in Berkeley. It’s Chavonni’s detailed argument. You can find more videos at schooltube.com here. Enjoy!