Ideal America Speeches, Day 2: December 18 or 21, 2018

Focus: What American ideals do we share?

1. Remembering the presentation order with you and establishing a timer

2. Reminding you to be a good audience

• Listen. I mean, actually listen.

• Respect the speaker's vulnerability, especially when you don't agree with their points.

• Nod. Smile. Be kind to each other. 

• Use the note catcher to find take-aways.

3. Starting our presentations!

HW:
1. Sleep lots.
2. Eat yummy food.
3. Hang out with good people.

Ideal America Speeches, Day 1: December 17, 2018

Focus: What American ideals do we share?

2nd Hour Only

1. Warming up with a quick 3 good things and establishing a timer

2. Offering you a few thoughts on being a good audience

• Listen. I mean, actually listen (without judgment).

• Respect the speaker's vulnerability, especially when you don't agree with their points.

• Nod. Smile. Be kind to each other. 

• Use the "Note Catcher" to help you find your big and small take-aways.

3. Starting our presentations!

4. Concluding with my final grade math

89.50% = A -
89.49 = B +

79.50% = B -
79/49 = C +


HW:
I will see you tomorrow at 11:30!



6th Hour Only

Focus: What speaking habits can we practice to fine-tune our presentations?

1. Warming up with three good things and the clapping game

2. Practicing your speech in a mirror to focus on eye contact; practicing your speech with a partner to work on timing

3. Enjoying the power of remotely clicking on your slides!

4. Concluding with my final grade math

89.50% = A -
89.49 = B +

79.50% = B -
79/49 = C +

HW:
I will see you Friday at 10:00 am!

Showing Command in Our Speeches: December 14, 2018

Focus: How do we make our speeches compelling?

1. Warming up with how to begin

• Recapping the first 30 seconds of Wednesday's Ted Talk

• Finding TWO of your favorite Ted Talks and watching the first 30 seconds of each.

• How do your two speakers open their speeches?

• Can you steal any techniques from them?

• What will be the first thing you say to us?

• Be vulnerable.
• Consider telling a story.
• Consider addressing/involving your audience.
• Consider shocking/intriguing us with a fact.

2. Sharing thoughts on using that giant, glowing screen behind you

• Watching the rest of last Wednesday's Ted Talk without sound

• What's on the slides?
• What's the purpose of slides in a presentation?

• What will be on YOUR slides?
• Images?
• A single word or short phrase?
• A quotation?
• A graph or chart?
• A video you made that's no longer than 20 second in duration?
• Remember to avoid guiding bullet points or any writing that goes beyond a phrase or single quotation.

3. Teaching you how to prep an index card and how to hold it

4. Considering how to conclude your speech

• What will be the last thing you say to us?
• Make us believe in your ideal.
• Consider calling us to action.
• Your speech took us on a little journey. The ending should be even better than the beginning.
• "And that's my speech about ____."  "And that's pretty much it."

5. Click here if you'd like a prep sheet / structured outline for your speech

HW:
1. Prepare to give your speech on the day you have signed up for. Click HERE to view the sign-up sheet. Please note that changing your presentation date or not being ready to go on the day you signed up for your presentation will result in an automatic 50% deduction.

2. Make sure your Google slides for your presentation are in your SHARED FOLDER.

3. Time your speech to make sure it's no shorter than 4 minutes and no longer than 6 minutes.

• 2nd hour exam time: Tuesday, December 18 at 11:30 am.
• 6th hour exam time: Friday, December 21 at 10:00 am.

Final Day of Book Clubs: December 13, 2018

Focus: What are your transcendentalist book club take-aways?

1. Warming up with Post Secret

2. Contributing a real, live book review to a reading community

• Scholastic
• Amazon 
• Barns & Noble 
• Goodreads 
• Allreaders.com (beware internet trolls)
• LibraryThing
• Figment

3. Enjoying your final day of book clubs

• Structure and Shift: Reread the last couple of pages, Then reread the first couple of pages. What has shifted, and why?

• Theme and Tone: What does your author want us to understand better or differently?

4. Composing an exit ticket on the dynamics of your book club


HW:
Prep that speech! MAKE SURE YOUR GOOGLE SLIDES ARE IN YOUR SHARED AMERICAN LIT FOLDER.

What Must We Transcend Today? December 12, 2018

Focus: What must we, as Americans, transcend today?

1. Warming up with "Less Stuff, More Happiness"

• What do you, personally, connect to in this Ted Talk?
• What connections can you find between this speaker's message and any of the Transcendentalist essays?
• What are your takeaways from this Ted Talk?

2. Exploring modern transcendentalist communities (some are actual places; some are cyber spaces)

• What are the goals of each community or each speaker?

• Which transcendentalist concepts (self-reliance, strong connection to nature, living deliberately, redefining "essential," and civil disobedience) are celebrated in these communities and by these speakers? What's being transcended, and how?

• Do any of these communities / speakers appeal to any part of you? Why or why not?

Websites:
Acorn Community

The Farm in Tennessee

Twin Oaks

Utopian City

Utopian States

Julia Butterfly Hill (and her tree, Luna)
Trash Is for Tossers

Ted Talks:
Tiny Houses

Becoming Minimalist

Modern Science and How Everything Is Connected
Suelo's Ted Talk
Zero Waste

HW:

1. Assigned book club reading and syllabus-creating for Thursday. This will be your final book club discussion.

2. Work on your final speech by writing/outlining, preparing your media, and practicing every night. Be ready to deliver it on the day you signed up; THERE IS A 50% DEDUCTION IN YOUR GRADE FOR NOT GOING ON THE DAY YOU SIGNED UP FOR.

3. Click HERE if you'd like to preview the rubric for your transcendentalist blog posts. Your blog, as well ALL MAKE-UP WORK / REVISIONS FROM THE LAST 6 WEEKS must be completed by 4:00 pm on Friday, December 14. Please note: This will be one of the few assignments that you will not be able to revise or take extra time on because we are at the end of the semester.

Transcendentalist Book Clubs, Day 4: December 11, 2018

Focus: What larger patterns and themes are emerging in our transcendentalist texts?

1. Warming up with 20 minutes to read / make sure all blogs are published

2. Enjoying the penultimate day of our transcendentalist book clubs

Challenge 1: Putting the puzzle pieces together

• What patterns (motifs) have emerged at this point?
• What are some of the prominent symbols, and are their meanings shifting?
• What larger themes are starting to take form?

Challenge 2: Making the transcendentalist connection

We've dabbled in the following transcendentalist concepts:

• Self-reliance
• Nature (and its connection to human nature)
• Living deliberately and redefining "essential"
• Civil disobedience

Which ones are surfacing in your books? How so?

3. Wrapping up with an informal exit (no clicking necessary--simply discuss with your groups): What do you hope to accomplish in your final book club meeting on Thursday? What questions need to get answered? What topics need to be discussed?

HW:
1. Assigned book club reading and syllabus-creating for Thursday. This will be your final book club discussion.

2. Work on your final speech by writing/outlining, preparing your media, and practicing every night. Be ready to deliver it on the day you signed up; THERE IS A 50% DEDUCTION IN YOUR GRADE FOR NOT GOING ON THE DAY YOU SIGNED UP FOR.

3. Click HERE if you'd like to preview the rubric for your transcendentalist blog posts. Your blog, as well ALL MAKE-UP WORK / REVISIONS FROM THE LAST 6 WEEKS must be completed by 4:00 pm on Friday, December 14. Please note: This will be one of the few assignments that you will not be able to revise or take extra time on because we are at the end of the semester.

Civil Disobedience: December 10, 2018

Focus: What is civil disobedience, and when is it justified?

1. Warming up with three good things, signing up for your presentation, and returning your Gothic literary essays

2. Sharing with you a trick I played on my unsuspecting Honors American Lit class back in the day and playing a round of "Yes, No, Maybe"

Follow-up questions:

Think about these “new requirements.”  What common denominator(s) do these requirements share? 

What relationship do they create between the government (in this case, the administration) and the individual (the student)?

Where did you draw the line for yourself, and why?

3. Engaging in high-velocity, highly opinionated writing using some of Thoreau's and Martin Luther King's statements from their time in jail

4. Finding your own understanding of "civil disobedience" on your blog

• Develop your own definition based on what we've read and reflected on today.

• Find an example of civil disobedience (any time from the last century is fine) and connect it to Thoreau or MLK.

HW:
1. Assigned book club reading and syllabus-creating for Tuesday. Keep in mind the feedback you received on your first and second syllabi.

2. Work on your final speech by writing/outlining, preparing your media, and practicing every night. Be ready to deliver it on the day you signed up; THERE IS A 50% DEDUCTION IN YOUR GRADE FOR NOT GOING ON THE DAY YOU SIGNED UP FOR.

3. Click HERE if you'd like to preview the rubric for your transcendentalist blog posts. Your blog, as well ALL MAKE-UP WORK / REVISIONS FROM THE LAST 6 WEEKS must be completed by 4:00 pm on Thursday, December 14. Please note: This will be one of the few assignments that you will not be able to revise or take extra time on because we are at the end of the semester.

Preparing a Strong Speech: December 7, 2018

Focus: How do I organize and prepare a strong speech?

1. Warming up with a Ted Talk on the power of vulnerability

2. Honing your speech topic; click HERE for the slides.

(If you still have no idea what your topic will be, you need to spend more time outside of class thinking about it. Feel free to browse the topic sign-up linked HERE to see what other students have done in the past.)

3. Looking through your raw materials and finding patterns (color-coding can help with this); using those patterns to organize and develop ideas

• Click here if you'd like a prep sheet.

4. Giving you a heads-up on signing up for your presentation dates:

• After school today, I will Remind text you a Google doc on which you can establish your own presentation order. You may enter your name, but you may not move anyone else's name or add slots to the sign-up sheet. It's a first-come, first-served situation.

• Seven people will need to present on Monday, December 17.

• Everyone else will present on Tuesday, December 18.

• There are no make-up times for this exam; you must be ready to present on the day you sign up for. If you fail to show up on the day you signed up for, or you show up and tell me you are not ready to present, you can receive no more than half credit (50%) on your presentation. This is why we are starting to prepare now.

HW:
1. For TUESDAY: Assigned book club reading and syllabus-creating. Keep in mind the feedback you received on your first and second syllabi.

2. Work on your final speech.

3. Click HERE if you'd like to preview the rubric for your transcendentalist blog posts. Your blog, as well ALL MAKE-UP WORK / REVISIONS FROM THE LAST 6 WEEKS must be completed by 4:00 pm on Friday, December 14. Please note: This will be one of the few assignments that you will not be able to revise or take extra time on because we are at the end of the semester.

Transcendentalist Book Clubs, Day 3: December 6, 2018

Focus: How can we be more "deliberate" in our Transcendentalist discussions?

1. Warming up by browsing each other's "Nature" and "Walden" blogs and leaving comments:

Click HERE for your blogging buddy groups.

• Make sure your  "Self-Reliance," "Nature," and "Walden" blogs are complete and posted.

• Leave comments on the your blogging buddies' posts. Here are some ideas:

• At least one, deep, philosophical question inspired by the blog/"Nature"
• Ex: Why do the blue skies of winter make us feel distant from nature, while the blue skies of summer make us feel wrapped up in nature?
• At least one intellectual reaction and/or emotional reaction
• Ex: I think people connect most to the human-like aspects of nature, such as the arm-like branches of trees, or the toughness of a single, tiny ladybug.
• Ex: I loved this line from Emerson's "Nature," too. I definitely felt more connected to nature as a child.
• At least one comment on transcendentalism: To transcend is to rise above and beyond, to exceed limitations. What is being transcended here?
• Ex: Your photo and the Emerson line you chose remind me of the importance of looking up, both literally and metaphorically. In the daily grind, it's easy to forget how vast the Colorado winter sky is. For some reason, it makes me think about tomorrow instead of today. It makes me think about possibility instead of reality.

• Bonus: Make one connection between the blog and what you're reading for your book club.

2. Sharing an awesome syllabus from last Tuesday

3. Enjoying your third book club discussions!

4. Wrapping up with a quick exit ticket

HW:
1. For TUESDAY: Assigned book club reading and syllabus-creating. Keep in mind the feedback you received on your first and second syllabi.

2. Work on your final speech by gathering evidence (personal stories, others' stories, historical events, parts of literature that we've read, interviews, images). Bring all collected evidence to class this Friday for your last in-class day of speech preparation.

3. Click HERE if you'd like to preview the rubric for your transcendentalist blog posts. Your blog, as well ALL MAKE-UP WORK / REVISIONS FROM THE LAST 6 WEEKS must be completed by 4:00 pm on Friday, December 14. Please note: This will be one of the few assignments that you will not be able to revise or take extra time on because we are at the end of the semester.

Walden: December 5, 2018

Focus: What's essential to living a fulfilling life? What does it mean to live deliberately?

PLC / Tribe: Shortened Class

1. Warming up by taking inventory of your material possessions

Start a new post on your transcendentalist blog in which you try the following:

• Make a list of the material possessions you use on a daily basis. 

• Which ones are essential to you? Put these in bold or a different font color.

• How did you define "essential" as you were doing this exercise?

2. Meeting the Man Who Quit Money

• What is essential to Suelo?

• What is deliberate about his lifestyle?

3. Reading the excerpt from Walden

• How does Henry David Thoreau define "essential"? In other words, what do humans need to live a fulfilling life?

• What must humans transcend in order to live a fulfilling life, and how do we do this?

                                                                           Walden Pond
HW:
1. Assigned book club reading and syllabus-creating for tomorrow. Keep in mind the feedback you received on your first and second syllabi.

2. Work on your final speech by gathering evidence (personal stories, others' stories, historical events, parts of literature that we've read, interviews, images). Bring all collected evidence to class this Friday for your last in-class day of speech preparation.

3. Click HERE if you'd like to preview the rubric for your transcendentalist blog posts. Your blog, as well ALL MAKE-UP WORK / REVISIONS FROM THE LAST 6 WEEKS must be completed by 4:00 pm on Friday, December 14. Please note: This will be one of the few assignments that you will not be able to revise or take extra time on because we are at the end of the semester.

Transcendentalist Book Clubs, Day 2: December 4, 2018

Focus: What role does nature play in what you're reading and what you're doing?

1. Warming up with 15-20 minutes of reading time

2. Enjoying your second book club discussion!

3. Completing an exit ticket

HW:
1. Assigned book club reading and syllabus-creating for Thursday.

2. Work on your final speech by gathering evidence (personal stories, others' stories, historical events, parts of literature that we've read, interviews, images). Bring all collected evidence to class this Friday for your last in-class day of speech preparation.

Finalize your topic for your FINAL SPEECH by entering it here.

Getting into Nature: December 3, 2018

Focus: What is the relationship between nature and the human spirit?

1. Warming up with three good things and finishing up our one-minute speeches

2. Offering you a little scientific evidence that you and the universe are composed of the same stuff and getting into nature (literally): Going outside and looking for evidence of the human spirit in nature

• Take photos of all aspects of nature that, to you, represent some aspect of human nature/the human spirit (kindness, melancholy, independence, acceptance, competition, etc.).

• You will have 7 minutes (we'll set our timers together).

• You must stay on campus, preferably within earshot.

3. Reading Emerson's "Nature" together and finding lines that support/add complexity the photos you took

4. Creating your next transcendentalist entry on the blog

• Upload your photos from today (or other relevant nature photos you happen to have). 
• Explain what aspect of the human spirit you see in each natural image. 
• Bring in a line or two from Emerson's "Nature" that supports/adds complexity to each image and reflection.

HW:
1. Assigned book club reading and syllabus-creating for tomorrow.

2. Work on your final speech by gathering evidence (personal stories, others' stories, historical events, parts of literature that we've read, interviews, images). Bring all collected evidence to class this Friday for your last in-class day of speech preparation.

Finalize your topic for your FINAL SPEECH by entering it here.