Ideal America Presentations, Day 1: December 15, 2017

Focus: What American ideals do we share?

1. Sharing the presentation order with you 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:
Good luck with your finals! See you next week! Please note that I will not be in the building on Monday or Tuesday next week, but I will be checking e-mail.

6th hour:
Thursday, Dec 22: 8:45-10:21 am, but we will probably go about 30 minutes into the last finals period.

Final Day of Book Clubs: December 14, 2017

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

MAKE SURE YOUR GOOGLE SLIDES FOR YOUR PRESENTATION 

ARE IN YOUR SHARED FOLDER.

1. Warming up with a mini grammar assessment on run-ons (take 2)

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

5. Recapping speech expectations and answering any last-minute questions

From last Friday's blog:

• What will be the first thing you say to us?
• Be vulnerable (pathos/ethos).
• Consider telling a story (ethos).
• Consider addressing/involving your audience (pathos).
• Consider shocking/intriguing us with a fact (logos).

• 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."

• What will be on the slides behind you?
• An image?
• 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.

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

What Must We Transcend Today? December 13, 2017

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

1. Warming up by exploring modern transcendentalist communities (some are actual places; some are cyber spaces)

• What are the goals of each community?

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

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

Acorn Community

The Farm in Tennessee

Twin Oaks

Utopian City

Utopian States

Julia Butterfly Hill (and her tree, Luna)

Becoming Minimalist

Others??--Look at this link for a quick overview and pictures of additional societies!

2. Developing and conferencing on your speeches:

• Look over your previous speech rubrics. What are your personal goals for this speech?

• Consider today's focus question: What do we need to rise above and beyond, and how?

• Figure out the underlying structure of your speech. Click here if you'd like a prep sheet.

3. Fine tuning important details:

• What will be the first thing you say to us?
• Be vulnerable (pathos/ethos).
• Consider telling a story (ethos).
• Consider addressing/involving your audience (pathos).
• Consider shocking/intriguing us with a fact (logos).

• 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."

• What will be on the slides behind you?
• An image?
• 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.

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 3:00 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.

Transcendentalist Book Clubs, Day #4: December 12, 2017

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

1. Warming up with a few thoughts on yesterday's discussion

• A Rogerian Argument
• Martin Luther King, Jr and Civil Disobedience
• Final thoughts on your blog: 
• How was Martin Luther King, Jr. seeking common ground?
• What should you do when your belief system collides with someone else's belief system or with your society's belief system?

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 3:00 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.

Civil Disobedience: December 11, 2017

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

1. Warming up with three good things 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 3:00 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 8, 2017

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

1. Warming up with a mini-assessment on run-ons

2. Looking through your raw materials and finding patterns (color-coding can help with this)

3. Using those patterns to organize and develop ideas; click here if you'd like a prep sheet.

4. Fine tuning important details:

• What will be the first thing you say to us?
• Be vulnerable (pathos/ethos).
• Consider telling a story (ethos).
• Consider addressing/involving your audience (pathos).
• Consider shocking/intriguing us with a fact (logos).

• 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."

• What will be on the slides behind you?
• An image?
• 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.

5. Signing up for your presentation dates

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.

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 3:00 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.

Transcendentalist Book Clubs, Day #3: December 7, 2017

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 "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 a little feedback from Tuesday's exit tickets

What you need to do:

• Make sure everybody is discussing and everybody is contributing.
• Annotate (to lead to better discussion).
• Try out more creative warm-ups.

What I need to do:

• Keep leaving you feedback on your syllabus.
• Come sit with your groups for a few minutes.
• Give you more time.
• Bring cookies. 

3. Enjoying your third book club discussions!

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 3:00 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.

Walden: December 6, 2017

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 3:00 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.

Transcendentalist Book Clubs, Day #2: December 5, 2017

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

1. Warming up with Grammar You Must Know, Lesson #3: Run-ons

2. Highlighting a book club success from last Thursday; having a look at the feedback I left you on your syllabi

3. Enjoying your second book club discussion!

4. Completing an exit ticket

5. Browsing each other's "Nature" blogs and leaving comments:

• 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.

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

Getting Into Nature: December 4, 2017

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

1. Warming up with three good things and offering you a little scientific evidence that you and the universe are composed of the same stuff

2. 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.

5. Delivering remaining one-minute speeches

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.

Delivering a Good Speech: December 1, 2017

Focus: What delivery skills do we need to practice?

1. Warming up by circling the wagon with your personal speech goals

2. Assigning roles, being an empathetic audience, and delivering your speeches

a. Assign one time keeper. 

• Hold up your hand when there are 10 seconds left. 
• The speaker must remain standing for at least 50 seconds, even if that person runs out of things to say. 
• You can let the speaker go 10 seconds over, but then you have to cut him/her off.

b. Assign someone to film each speech (optional, but encouraged). 

• The filmer must send the video to the speech giver once all the speeches have been given.

c. Please be efficient in transitioning from one speaker to the next. This entire activity shouldn't take more than 15 minutes in total.

3. Reviewing your goal: Did you meet it? If so, how did you improve? If not, what do you need to work on over the next two weeks?

4. Writing your final speeches

Option 1: A traditional speech with an intro, two or three main parts, and a conclusion. See Ted Talks for examples. Click HERE if you'd like a planning sheet.

Option 2: A poetic speech, such as a spoken-word poem or a song that you compose and perform.

• Click HERE for a sample spoken-word poem.

5. Wrapping up by highlighting a few basic rules for your final speech:

• Your speech needs to be 3-4 minutes long. You will have a 10 second grace period.

• You may have one index card (not a phone) with notes, or no notes at all.

• Presentation should include media (e.g. technology, visuals, music, art).  Use of media should be supplemental and minimal; YOU MAY NOT USE GUIDING BULLET POINTS.

• If you include a video, it must be one that YOU made (not something you found on youtube), and it may not be more than 20 seconds in duration.

• Presentations begin Friday, December 15. If you sign up for that day, you will deliver your speech regardless of how prepared you are.

HW:
1. Ongoing: Work on your final speech (2 weeks left). Click HERE if you'd like a planning sheet.
2. For Tuesday: Assigned book club reading and syllabus-creating.
3. For Monday: Bring your coats, hats, and mittens to class on Monday.