Day 21

Hope you were able to begin and understand the movie. Even in the beginning, it is evident that there is a friction between the ideals of an individualist (Robin Williams character) and the "societal" beliefs of the establishment.

Please respond to the following quote:

Archibald Macleish:

The dissenter (look up this word if you do not know what it means) is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.

Day 20

I hope you enjoyed todays discussion on aphorisms, the poem and living life to the fullest, and the idea of point of view. It amazes me how much we get done daily and yet there is so much more I would love to cover as well.

One of the things we discussed was the idea that just because you follow transcendentalism, or individualism, does not mean that you are a selfish person nor does it mean that you are not out to be a part of society. It just means that you do things on the terms that are acceptable to you. Based on this idea, respond to the following:

What does stand and be counted mean to you? You may use a personal experience to explain.

Day 19

First off, thanks for another great week. Who knew that teaching 10th grade would be this enjoyable. I hope you have a good weekend. Remember to re-read Emerson and pick out his aphorisms for Monday. Please note that I will be out next Tuesday and Wednesday and will, again, be expecting perfect behavior from you guys. You show maturity when I am here and expect it when there is a sub even more.

Please respond to the following:

What is truth? What is the truth about life?

Think before you respond as this is not such an easy concept. Good luck.

Day 18

Today's discussion was very good I thought. I really want you to think of where we would be as individuals if the transcendelist movement had not come into existance. We might just follow the path set for us because we would know no difference. How sad that would be.

Please discuss with us what you think it means to be an individualist. What are the pros? The cons? In what ways are you an individualist?

Day 17

Let us not worry about the grammar piece today. Again, it is not graded just a way to figure out what to do with grammar. Obviously, a little review may be in order. I hope you are keeping up with your reading and post its. If you have not started using the post its, you need to do so. Get to the store! If for some reason that is a problem, please come and see me and I will help you out.

Give me your impression of Alex/Chris. Talk about his relationships thus far and how these relationships guide him. Maybe touch on the theme of independence and whether he may or may not be taking it to an extreme.

Day 16

Besides taking an innordinate amount of time for vocabulary, we talked about the idea of transcendentilism. This movement dealt with people wanting us to think more intuitively and romanticly. Also this movement deals with us as individuals and asks for us to think as individuals.

With that said, do you see your self as and individual or more part of the group? Explain why for either and also mention why both can be important to a society.

Day 15

I hope everyone had a good weekend and a good Monday. Remember that you have that article assignment due tomorrow. Read the assignment sheet carefully so you can get all your points. Today we began reading "Into the Wild" which tells the story of a young man who leaves everything he has behind in search of his ideal world. His story ends tragically in his own death. Again, this is a true story.

Tell me, how would you describe your ideal world? This could include things as the people in your life, government, etc. Think about why you think Chris McClandess would want to walk away from his situation and discuss if you would ever walk away from what you have or what makes someone make a drastic decision such as this.

Day 14

I had a really good week and hope you did as well. I enjoyed discussing our ideas of the American Dream and seeing how it has changed over time. Next week, we will begin reading "Into the Wild" and discussing other aspects of short stories. I think you will really enjoy "Into the Wild" but remember they did not do the book justice with the movie so you will not be able to get by with just watching it On Demand.

I want you to read the following quote and then tell me how you think this quote applies to you:

"The question is not whether we will die but how we will live."
Joyce Borysenko

This quote will be even more clear once you begin reading the novel.

Day 13

Another good discussion today. A special thanks to both students who led the class discussion. I really enjoyed thinking about the idea of speaking foreign language in America and our reaction. I want you to think about the last question again and respond to it as not enough people really did:

Do you agree with Marquez that our patriotism ought not be gauges by whether or not we speak English in public? Or do you think that people living in this country ought to affirm their patriotism speaking only English in public? Explain.

Day 12

Today we discussed the readings about What is an American? and then the Ben Franklin piece. What I find interesting is this idea of what types of life our ancestors led to get the country to the place it is today. Yet, it makes me think about what we have to dream about as Americans. Therefore, my question to you is what do you think the American Dream of your generation is going to be? How will your generation move our country forward like the generations before you? Do not just re-tell yesterdays dream because we have the cars, the homes, the technological advances that our grandparents worked to give us. Think long and hard about your response.

Day 11

It is funny that I really do miss being in the classroom on days when I am out. I really enjoyed and was honored to be at Challenge Day today. It always amazes me the great students we have at Lakeland High School. Yet, we have a ways to go to make our school comfortable for everyone. What do you value about our school? What are things that you think Lakeland does well? What are areas where it could improve? Lastly, what could you do to promote positive values within the school?

Day 10

Hope you had a great weekend and did not get that wet. Do not forget that your vocab needs to be done so you can go over it with the sub. Do not misbehave with a sub or you will not be happy with my mood on Wednesday.

Today we discussed the concept of the American Dream. Discuss, again, what this concept means and how you think it may have impacted your family and your life even if you did not know you were living the American Dream. Also, tell me how you think you can support this idea as you get older.

Day 9

I am very pleased with how this week has gone. We have had an excellent discussion on values and talking about American values through the Declaration of Independence and the John Adams video. Next week we shall begin talking about the American Dream and how it has been impacted by American values. I hope you have a great weekend and behave.

As for what I want you to write about: What do you think are your greatest strengths and weakness as a person? How can you take a weakness and make it into a strength?

Day 8

We have been having great discussions about values. Today is 9/11 and I wonder if 7 years after the attack on the World Trade Center if we, as Americans, even care. Tell me what you value about living in America and what you think we should do to make sure that we do honor 9/11 and the people who lost their lives that day.

Day 7

Today we discussed the idea of individual versus societal values. When do we pick family or society values over our own? Why might this happen and how do you rationalize in your mind that it is ok to sometimes go against personal values?

Day 6

Today we discussed American and individual values and how and why ours are similar. When people come from the same community they tend to have similar values. How did you learn your values? Do you think values change over time? Why or why not?

Day 5

I hope today was good for you. I know that Mondays can be rough but truthfully, Tuesdays are worse (ask me why tomorrow if you want to get me a bit more off topic). As we begin looking more seriously at values, I hope that you will begin to investigate your own sense of values as an individual, as an American, or in any other sense where values play a part in your world.

For today's response, talk to me about how you value the relationships in your life. You can talk about friends, family or other relationships you may have. Think before typing and by the end see if you can touch on why these relationships have value.

Day 4- TGIF

We have spent the last two days thinking about personal and societal values. I wonder if people in this room have similar or different values? This idea of values will be a continuous discussion over the next several weeks as we begin reading in our text and our first novel.

For today's response, I want you to tell me how you feel after the first week of school. What are your hopes/goals for the school year and how do you plan on making these hopes/goals a reality? Your goals do not need to be all academic by the way. This is another way to get to know you the person.

Have a great weekend but behave!

Day 3

I hope you enjoyed class today. Grammar is not the most exciting but I promise as we get into literature and more discussion it will become apparent how interesting this will be.

Today, I want you to think about the values your parent(s) have tried to instill in you. Then, comment on the value of being a parent. Why do people become parents and why do they value you as their child? As discussed last year in To Kill A Mockingbird, put yourself in their shoes for a moment and think of the triumphs and the frustrations of parenting and yet why becoming a parent is such a key value in our society.

Day 2

Today we listened to a cheesy song entitled "Holy Ground." As I stated in class, I do not look at the word holy as a religious term here but more as sacred. I am hoping that my classroom will be sacred to each of you; a place where you can feel comfortable in learning about English and about life. A place you can come to in good times and if you need help.

Today, I would like you to respond to the lyrics of the song. What was the author trying to say or how did you interpret this idea of of holy or sacred? Do you have places in your life that are holy and sacred? Where are they and why do they make you feel this way?

Truly the First Day of Class

Again, welcome to my class. I hope the day was not too boring and that you have come to realize that while we will work hard we will have some fun along the way. I am looking forward to getting to know each of you better as the year progresses as I want to learn about you the person not just you the student.

Today, I would like you to respond to the following:

What is the value of education in your life and in your families life? Remember that your response needs to be at least 7 sentences and must be your true feelings. Just because I am a teacher does not mean I want you to lie and tell me education is important if it is not. Just be truthful but back it up with information about you and the topic.