may 29

JOURNAL TOPIC:  Please take notes that help you connect the dots and prepare for your final.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Masterpiece presentations


3
Justin
Christina
Emilio


(Brigette if time)

7
*Follow up on Jared's work
*Quiz

1: Who is the main character? 

2: What is the event that scars the main character? Why does it affect him 

so deeply, meaning, why does he almost shut everyone out?

3: What happened to the main characters mother when he and his brother 

were young? 

4: Who is Catherine and how is she effected by the same event, and why?

5: Who is Amon, and whose orders is he following? 

6: Who and what is Ragnarok? Why does he serve the main character?

7: What age was the main character taken captive, and what was the group 

that did it?

8: Who is Hina? What does she do in the coils, and what is her special 

ability?

9: Who shows up after Archer is revealed to be alive? Do you personally 

trust him?

10: Who is Lord Dreadwyrm? What is his real name? What really happened to 

the main character's mother, and what is the out come of the epic battle? 

may 28

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Take notes on the masterpiece presentations that will help you connect the dots and write on the final. 

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Masterpiece presentations

3
Isaiah

7

may 27

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Take notes on the masterpiece presentations that will help you connect the dots and write on the final.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Masterpieces:

Period 3
Jonatan
Ronaldo
Brigette

Period 7
Rachel
Christine

may 26

For presentations: please use the classroom computer and projector, and please take notes according to the questions we've discussed. Presenters, please email Dr. Preston your presentation file or a link to your Prezi, etc.

May 26
 
3
Morgan

7
Cody

may 21

JOURNAL TOPIC:

(period 3) Take notes on Caitlin's presentation and add your own thoughts.

(period 7) What are you doing in/about this course this week?

AGENDA:
(period 3) Caitlin's Masterpiece

(period 7) Check-in/ MGOTM

masterpiece academy final question

may 20

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Read Caitlin's post and write a response.

AGENDA:

3
Ethan 's presentation

7
MGOTM

may 19

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Invent a magic spell.  Explain what it does, why you wrote it, and how it makes the world a better place.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. MGOTM/Masterpiece Academy

We are giving up

Towards the end of the school year each student starts to either give up because they know they are going to pass or go into a panic because they are going to fail a class. We all have this fear that if we fail then we are just going to fail at everything.Well that's not the case. While I was reading over the past few days I realized something. Each student has a different mindset and within those mindsets we have a fate. Fate isn't something that you just know, it is something that you feel. Our fate for the rest of this school year doesn't lie in our teachers hands, it lies in ours. We are the only holder of our fate and for that very reason we must take a step back from the chaos we call High School and take a breath. You must first see want you want and realize what you need before you can step forward in life. From only then will you know the feeling of success. You will know what is it like to achieve something that you have always wanted to. You must not fight against what is going on and rather embrace the problems. We only have a few weeks left in school. Lets get our butts into gear and show that we have learned something. It may have seemed like we all gave up but when in all reality we sat, we learned, and we will teach.

may 18

JOURNAL TOPIC:

Wave your mental magic wand and imagine the next three weeks as valuable, unforgettable learning.  What do you expect from the Masterpiece Academy and how can you contribute to making it the experience you envision?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. I reinjured my shoulder and I'm aiming to be back in class tomorrow (Tuesday).  Please use the short period to consider the journal topic and-- most importantly-- sign up for a presentation slot if you haven't already.  Thanks.

HW:

Applied Self-determination Theory, as expressed through your masterpiece work and/or literary exploration.

may 15

*COMPUTER LAB*
1. Blogs
2. Masterpieces

may 14

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Please watch the following and write a response.  Thanks to Allyson (RHS '14) for sharing this!




AGENDA:
1. Journal/discussion
2. MGOTM & complete individual interviews

HW:
Please read the post on Masterpiece Academy Presentations and get yours ready.  The Academy begins next Monday, May 18.

mike wallace interviews aldous huxley

Here is the interview with Mike Wallace (of eventual "60 Minutes" fame) and Aldous Huxley.

masterpiece presentations

Now it's time for the inmates will take over the asylum as students show how they've become the masters.  Each of you will teach the rest of us:

• How you decided what you're passionate about;
• The value your topic/field/skill has for us;
• How you learned more about the topic/field/skill by:
• Finding resources
• Becoming fluent in the language of the practitioner
• Seeking out a mentor 
• Collaborating and getting feedback from peers/blog followers
• How this has enriched your life and your experience in this course.

Per our conversations in class, your presentation should include:

• Visuals and/or hands-on experiences that bring the audience into your world
• Enough craft so as to convince us you didn't just throw something together for a grade
• Handouts or main points you think we should remember.

Please note that there will be a final essay exam based on the curriculum you create, so be sure-- as both presenter and audience member-- that you are getting the maximum understanding and value from everyone's presentations. 

masterpiece academy lineup

Thanks to everyone who requested dates via comments.  Below is the first draft schedule (with presenters' time estimates in parentheses).  If you haven't yet requested a date, please do so by Friday (May 15).  Apart from Matthew's period 4 presentation tomorrow (May 13) I have this scheduled as a working week, but don't let that stop you-- if you're ready please let me know.  I look forward to taking your micro-courses!


May 18
3

7

May 19
3

7

May 20
3
Ethan

7

May 21
3
Caitlin

7


May 26
3
Morgan

7


May 27
3
Jonatan
Ronaldo
Brigette

7
Rachel


May 28
3
Isaiah

7



May 29

3
Justin
Christina
Emilio

7

June 1
3
Ashley
Morgan

7
Mollee

June 2
3
Leandro
Maddi
Grant


7

June 3
3
Esme
Carlos
Sabrina, Rayann, & Hunter

7

June 4
3
Robert
Edwin
Kyra

7
Erica

June 5
3
Megan
Mahmoud

7

may 13

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Today professional cyclists are riding from Pismo to Avila-- by way of Guad and Santa Maria.  What's the boldest physical task you've ever undertaken?  How did it make you feel?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Brave New World: wrap-up discussion

HW:
1. Watch this interview with Aldous Huxley & explain how it helped you understand the book
2. Sign up for Masterpiece Academy

may 12

JOURNAL:
(Please do the journal after your essay.)

How did you do on the essay?  Describe your strong points and your weak points.

AGENDA:
1. In-class essay
2. Journal (for HW if no time in class)

may 11

JOURNAL TOPIC:
How does the book end?  Why do you think it ends this way?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Please turn in your essay to the substitute
3. Find 5 things in Brave New World worth asking or even disagreeing about
4. Ask someone near you a question or start a friendly argument
5. EXIT TICKET: for every conversation, please list the participants and the questions/ideas you want to follow up on Tuesday in the Socratic Seminar.  We're going to start with the ending, and the rest of the topics will be up to you.

may 8

I'm back!  Today we're in the computer lab.  Please turn in your journals before we go.

This weekend you'll be writing an essay (on paper, in blue or black ink) on Brave New World.  It's due Monday.  No late work will be accepted.

Please choose from the following topics (borrowed with gratitude from http://www.arrowheadschools.org/faculty/freeburg/BNW_essay_topics.pdf):

Exile

Palestinian American literary theorist and cultural critic Edward Said has written that “Exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience. It is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home: its essential sadness can never be surmounted.” Yet Said has also said that exile can become “a potent, even enriching” experience.
Using Brave New World, consider how a character experiences such a rift and becomes cut off from “home,” whether that home is the character’s birthplace, family, homeland, or other special place. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the character’s experience with exile is both alienating and enriching, and how this experience illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot. 

Freedom 

How do each of the following characters—The Savage, Bernard Marx, and Helmholtz Watson— understand freedom?
Write an essay in which you analyze how The Savage, Bernard Marx, and Helmholtz Watson understand freedom. Explain how this experience illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot. 

Soma 

Write an essay in which you analyze the purpose that soma serves presenting the theme of the novel. Avoid mere plot summary.
Shakespeare and the Bible
The Savage often quotes Shakespeare within the novel. Write an essay in which you analyze how Huxley uses other literature to enhance the conflict in Brave New World. 

Consumption 

Write an essay examining the ways in which the ideas of the happiness in Brave New World are associated with consumption and how this society is attempting to create a consumer utopia. What does Huxley say about the interface between happiness and consumption? 

Happiness 

“Happiness is a hard master—particularly other people’s happiness. A much harder master, if one isn’t conditioned to accept it unquestioningly, than truth.”
Write an essay discussing the meaning of this quote in relation to the novel as well as to the theme offered by Huxley.

Society 

In the first line of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the reader learns the tri-partite pillars upon which World State is allegedly built: “Community, Identity, Stability.” The processes by which these three qualities are achieved and maintained, however, seem completely paradoxical. Using examples from the text, examine each pillar and how Huxley develops his message or warning about how society should be structured. 

Conformity 

One of the problematic elements of World State is that each person plays a role in propping up the state’s maladaptive values through their complicity with its rules and systems, and the more people conform, the fewer are likely to rebel. Analyzing specific characters in Brave New World, to illustrate precisely how complicity functions in a domino effect. Although almost all of the major characters have some physical or personality trait that makes them unconventional, most of them do not emphasize or exercise their difference in a way that challenges the reigning order.
Write an essay analyzing how the citizens of World State serve to perpetuate the very conditions that cause them distress.

great class today!

Thanks to Caitlin for lighting a fire, and to those of you who gave us a preview on your Masterpieces!

may 5

JOURNAL TOPIC:
What is the history of Cinco de Mayo?  Why do Americans celebrate it?  Does the history and the culture matter, or is it just another excuse for companies to sell stuff and people to party?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Brave New World Chapter 12
3. Caitlin sez Masterpiece & we agree

HW:
1. Read Chapter 13
2. Masterpiece Masterpiece Masterpiece

may 4

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Look back through your journal.  What was your favorite topic?  Why?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Brave New World
3. Masterpiece work

HW:
Post to your course blog.

may 1

PERIOD 3
Socratic Seminar: Brave New World

PERIOD 7
Please continue your reading & working on the Chapter discussion questions.  We'll have our Socratic Seminar next week.