Wednesday, September 30, 2020

september 30

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tune: "Hurricane" by Bob Dylan]

This morning I was reading about Ruben "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer who was imprisoned for 20 years after being falsely accused and convicted of a crime he didn't commit. Somehow, Hurricane managed to live in prison without losing his mind. In fact, he became stronger for the experience. Describe a time when you felt deprived or wronged. How did your mind respond?

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:

1. Journal
2. See 9/29

 

PLEASE:
Listen to "Young Goodman Brown" (I figured out how to record and post our readings!) and put a post on your blog that explains the difference you feel when you read a story versus when you listen to it. (title: READING V. LISTENING)

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

reminder about grades in AERIES

 

Hi. I'm putting grades in AERIES per our previous conversations. I know I've explained this several times already, but I also know that sometimes people forget, or get distracted, or just can't help worshipping the Gods of Grades online, so...

To be absolutely clear:

  • The grades in AERIES will show up every 2 weeks as a "0" or a "10"
  • To earn a 10, all you have to do is:
    • Publish 3 posts on your course blog
    • Publish 1 set of 3 journal entries on your course blog (reminder: you write your daily journal entries in your spiral/composition notebook, you will need to follow the guide here to scan and post them on your blog)
    • Attend or watch our weekly Zoom call
    • Claim "did" it for your work on your period's sheet
  • If you earn a "10" for each two week period this semester, you are guaranteed a grade of C- or above on your semester report card
  • If you do not complete work in time to qualify for a "10," don't give up. Late work matters - you are still building your understanding and practicing your skill. the AERIES grade does not accurately reflect your learning (see below), so it will not be the dominant factor in your final grade. Having said that, I encourage every student to GTD (Get Things Done) on time because I believe in keeping our commitments and being organized. Besides, when the work builds up, it becomes impossible to complete with quality.
  • PLEASE REMEMBER: I will be entering the progress report card and final semester grades by hand, the way I always do. This course is mine, not AERIES, so keep in mind that "0" and "10" say nothing about how well you are understanding concepts, building skills, or doing anything, really, except showing up, claiming credit, and posting the bare minimum on your blog. The feedback that you and I share about what we read and write is the important element in documenting your improvement and your proficiency -- and that will be the basis for your final grade in the course. As always, if you or your parents/guardians/siblings/pets have any questions, please email me or schedule a meeting.

september 29

JOURNAL TOPIC: [should I? nah. inappropriate. oh, c'mon, it's just initials. they're not gonna read or look it up anyway. alright, fine. but it's just letters in the alphabet. not a song. not an artist. and definitely not anything worth getting in trouble over.]


What do you know about tonight's debate or the presidential election?  What is your opinion about it?

-OR-

AGENDA:

1. Journal
2. Grading policy moving forward
3. YGB/ catching up with each other

Monday, September 28, 2020

you are NOT going to want to miss this

Wow. As of now (4:23 P.M. on Monday), not a single person has left a comment on the "Easier Way to Get an A" post. That's data! Since we wound up 30 short of 30 comments - which, I confess, surprises me - I'm not going to post my idea for the new policy on the course blog. Instead, I will introduce it in our Zoom meetings on Thursday and Friday. Plan on joining us. You'll be glad you did.

the artist behind la catrina

Dia de Muertos isn't as far away as you think. In fact, the Aztecs celebrated it over the whole month of August. Every day is a good day to explore a question that gets my attention, like the first line of this article: "Ever wonder who was responsible for “La Catrina” and the skeleton figures which are a part of traditional Mexican culture, and are growing more popular worldwide?

Read the rest HERE.




welcome to week 7!

Hi,
You may have noticed that there isn't much on the agenda today. You also may have noticed that there was a post with the title "An Easier Way to Get an A." These two items are connected. Please remember that Monday zooms are by request -- if you want to see me, let me know and I'll be there. Otherwise, please write in your journal, comment to the post on grading, and choose something from last week to finish and enter on your period's sheet. See you soon!
Dr. Preston

september 28

JOURNAL TOPIC:

Describe one thing you did this weekend that made your day better.

-OR-

Choose your own topic.


AGENDA:

1. Journal
2. Choose a blog post you didn't get to last week. Finish it and publish on your course blog.

 

Sunday, September 27, 2020

what if there was an easier way to get an A?

It's 4:37 A.M. Sunday morning and I feel like a total hypocrite. I've been up since 1:26 A.M. even though I'm constantly telling everyone -- my own kids, my students, my wife -- how important sleep is. My own trainer got it through my skull that sleep is like charging my phone. Without enough sleep, we can't do anything to our full potential. Our bodies don't compromise any more than our phones do when the screen goes black and it turns into a brick.

So what's keeping me up?

You. I can't stop thinking about how to make this semester better for you. So many of you have shared feelings about your workload, your study environment, the challenges of balancing other obligations when you're not on campus.

All of this seems big and outside our control, but that just motivates me. I want to make this better. I am absolutely awful at giving up -- if you've ever had a friend that doesn't want you to tell them the answer to the riddle because they have to figure it out for themselves, you know the type.

The payoff? I think I've *finally* figured out a way to guarantee your success in this course, and maybe even all your courses. If we get this right, you will never have to worry about your grade in this course again -- it will be as hard to get a D or F as it will be to get an A. I will put the answer right here on the blog in 24 hours -- IF I see at least 30 comments to this post by 5:00 P.M. today (Sunday). Your comment can include what you think about grading, what you think should be done differently this semester in this course or in general, or what you think about the world today, or shoes, or ice cream. I actually don't care what you write, I just care that you write. Say something about what you're thinking or feeling that makes us think or feel something. This will be valuable, so it's worth course credit, so it will offset any work that you're missing so far... see where I'm going with this?

Of course, if you do have something to say about grading, please feel free to make suggestions or ask questions in your comments. I'd like this to start a conversation, because we are all going to need to agree and make commitments.  Instead of looking up at a mountain of weekly school assignments, rolling our eyes, and wishing things were different, I want us to get in the habit of making promises we can keep. Keep. Rhymes with sleep. Going to get me some before I lapse full-on into poetry. Looking forward to your thoughts.

Saturday, September 26, 2020

i did it! now you can listen to me read young goodman brown

For the past few days, I've been trying to embed an audio player on the Young Goodman Brown page so that you could hear me read the story, and so that I could develop a few "mini-classes" and interrupt myself to talk about it, just as I would in the classroom. 

I tried tutorial after tutorial. My favorite was a YouTube video in which the host spoke Pakistani -- I couldn't understand a word he said, but I followed the screen shots and clicked away...

Nothing worked.

Thanks to Jasmine Vargas, I discovered that the audio player made it to the page, but nothing happened when viewers clicked the 'Play' arrow.

Until now. Go to the Young Goodman Brown page and click it to listen for yourself. Later today or tomorrow, I will post a video that covers the rest of the elements of the story, and we will spend next week on the ideas before we move on.

Friday, September 25, 2020

september 25/ slowing down

 JOURNAL TOPIC:

Comedian Steven Wright once said, "I bought a microwave fireplace. Now I can sit in front of the fire for the evening -- in six minutes." In 21st century American culture, we are used to doing everything in a hurry. But some experiences are WAY better when we take our time. (Think about it: if you're hurrying to get to the end of a kiss, you're kissing the wrong person.) These experiences improve our lives by allowing us to focus and really connect with what we're doing. What are some things in your life that are worth taking your time on? 

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:

1. Journal
2. Discussion of the symbolism and characters in "Young Goodman Brown"
3. That's it. In light of what I learned this week, we're slowing down too.

PLEASE: 1. Post your notes on the characters of "Young Goodman Brown" (title: YGB/CHARACTERS). If it helps you to frame your blog post as the answer to a question, try this: How do the characters of "Young Goodman Brown" help communicate the author's ideas about good and evil?

Thursday, September 24, 2020

direct communication

I teach because I want to help students develop their abilities to think, read, write, and communicate.

In this day and age, we do much of this on the internet. But school didn't operate that way until March, and many people are still experiencing growing pains as they try to adapt. As many of you already know, many Santa Maria students are expressing their feelings through petitions to lower the workload and change the district's grading policy

I don't know that either/or choices are the best solutions, and I can't pretend to have a perfect answer for every student, teacher, or parent in our district. But I do know this: We are more successful when we talk to each other instead of about each other. So -- no matter what the outcome of the petitions, no matter what the policy of the district -- let's keep the lines of communication open. I care about you and your learning experience in this course. I look forward to hearing from you. As always, you can email, schedule a personal Zoom meeting, or simply comment to this post.

opportunity

This just in:

september 23/24

JOURNAL TOPIC:

If you've never heard this before, take a moment to consider before you answer. It's a brain twister.

If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

-OR- 

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
*My reason for today's journal topic, and a question about the student experience

1. Journal
2. Discussion of the symbolism and characters in "Young Goodman Brown"
 

PLEASE: 

1. Post your notes on the characters of "Young Goodman Brown" (title: YGB/CHARACTERS). If it helps you to frame your blog post as the answer to a question, try this:

How do the characters of "Young Goodman Brown" help communicate the author's ideas about good and evil?

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

september 22

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Some students have decided to stab themselves with sharp objects in sensitive areas (tongues, faces, belly buttons). Why? What does this symbolize to you?  What do you think they intended it to symbolize?


AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. What happened in the woods?  And... will you be taking a test on "Young Goodman Brown" or can you share your thinking in more productive ways?

POST:
Why do you think Hawthorne wrote "Young Goodman Brown"?  Why do you think Stephen King was so affected by the story?  What does it say about what we can really know about other people and the power of our imaginations?  (title: YOUNG OLD GOOD BAD)

Monday, September 21, 2020

a word about your routines

The coronavirus. Politics. Racism. The economy. Life is tough out there, and it may get worse before it gets better.

I get it.

You have pressure at home and stress in your head. You're missing out on things. You're learning in ways you didn't anticipate. Your teachers are piling on work.

I get it. 

So why make any of this harder than it has to be?

Some of you are trying to pack a week of school into a two-hour Zoom meeting. That's not going to work.

A few hours ago I posted three messages: 1) Welcome to Week 6, 2) a note about today's Zoom meetings, and 3) today's journal topic and agenda. It's now just about noon. I haven't received a single email requesting a Zoom meeting, and the three posts - combined - have been viewed just 8 times.

That would be fine if everyone were performing at gold medal levels, but this weekend I posted a record numbers of crappy grades on the first progress report of the school year. Yuck. It's becoming clear that this is a simple matter of routine.

In a normal school year, you are on campus for nearly 40 hours each week. If you can't be kind to yourself, at least be fair to yourself -- stop trying to cram 40 hours into five.  This course gets easier the less time you spend worrying about it, as long as you remember to invest 30-50 minutes each day reading and writing. About the same amount of time we'd spend in class together if school were open.

Please email or schedule a meeting if you have any questions. Now, do yourself a favor and get to work.

 

september 21

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Imagine a classroom on campus. Choose a piece of furniture.  Imagine that you are it! How would you see the classroom and school differently (especially this year)? Being there all day/night and on weekends, you must see some interesting things that the rest of us miss. Please share these observations with your reader.

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:

1. Journal
2. Catch up on any remaining missing work
3. Read this week's welcome message and plan accordingly

monday zoom by request

Hi All,

Because I spent all weekend on Progress Reports and helping students catch up, I need some chunks of time today to build our tools for this week. I'm still here for you, I just don't want to tie up my camera waiting for people who may not show up on a Zoom-optional day. 

So: if you want to get together on Zoom, whether it's during your class period or not, email to let me know and I'll be happy to meet you! 

Mahalo,
Dr. Preston

Welcome to Week 6!

 

Hi All,

I hope you had a good weekend. I spent mine buried under student blogs, progress report data, and California Department of Education policy.

I learned a lot! 

As a result, here are some ways we will improve. 

First, don't panic when you see the Google Sheet for your period. I have literally wiped the slate clean. It's a new progress reporting period, and the first assignment you see is the first assignment for this week. I will be doing this every week. If you complete the work after the week in which it is assigned, it is late. That doesn't mean it's worthless - I'll still want you to do it - but this will help guide your planning and scheduling. Too many people let themselves get too far behind during the first month. Some of you still need to send me your blog URLs.

Second, I will begin using AERIES Gradebook this week by entering all of your grades for the week on Fridays at 3:30 (which means that's when you'll need to have it done and posted on your blog). I'm doing this because of California Department of Education policy and the way our school district needs to account for the work that we are doing.  As far as your work and mine regarding how you get feedback on what you learn, everything will stay the same. In fact, next week (Week 7) we will have an essay assignment in which I will give you a choice about how you want to receive feedback on your writing.

Third, I have posted this week's Work Product at the beginning of the week, so that you know what's in store. That way, as you check the blog each day, you can make sure that you're getting the work done by the end of the week, even if your class doesn't meet until Thursday or Friday. 

Now that we've gotten the housekeeping out of the way, let's dig in to the fun stuff and read/think/write! Please remember to check the blog each day, write in your journals, post to your blog, and -- as always -- email or schedule a meeting with me if you have any questions or need any help.

See you on Zoom,
Dr. Preston

Friday, September 18, 2020

your progress report

 Hi. It's 3:24 P.M. I should have an email from each of you with the answers to the questions I asked about your progress. I don't. If you haven't sent that email, please do it now. Mahalo.

september 18

JOURNAL TOPIC:
What did you do yesterday to help yourself in this class? Did it help you? What did you learn?
 

-OR-
 

Choose your own topic.

 

AGENDA:

1. Journal
2. Finish up your work for the week, and catch up on anything else you're missing from previous weeks.

(Here's a conversation I just imagined while typing #2.)

ME: Please wrap up your work for the week and email me about your progress by 3:00 P.M. today.  

IMAGINARY STUDENT: What's our work for the week?

ME: (sighing, but patient, but oh c'mon already) Our work for every week is on the Work Product page - you may want to bookmark that - but for the sake of convenience I'm copying and pasting it here for you:

  • Attend or watch Zoom meeting
  • Journal entries (daily)
  • Read "Young Goodman Brown" & answer the questions in a post on your blog (title: THE SCARIEST STORY) 
  • Start a list (in your notebook or on your computer/tablet/phone) of the words in "Young Goodman Brown" that are unfamiliar to you or are used in an unfamiliar way. Keep the list where you can refer to it when we revisit the story next week.
  • Email your progress report insights no later than 3:00 P.M. on Friday, September 18
  • Start a list (in your notebook or on your computer/tablet/phone) of the words in Les Mis that are unfamiliar to you or are used in an unfamiliar way. Keep the list where you can refer to it when we read next week.
  • Read "how to publish your handwritten work online" and post your three favorite journal entries (making sure, of course, that they are internet-friendly and make you look good!) on your blog (title: PAGES FROM MY JOURNAL #1). Due by Tuesday, 9/22 at 9:00 A.M. Pacific.

 

Thursday, September 17, 2020

how to embed a video on your blog

Hi there! If you haven't yet mastered the art of embedding a video on your blog -- like your Hack to School Night interview -- please watch the following video to help you get the job done.

 

 

calling period 6 A-L

It's 12:23P on Thursday... where is everyone? I've never seen ZERO people make on time, so I'm wondering if there's a tech glitch. Please join us via: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYrd-uopzoiHdyNIgnAezbJOdTiow5zkh6g

september 17

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Think of something you love to do that requires skill and practice. How would you teach someone else to do it? What information and materials would the person need? What strategies would you use? Be specific.

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Welcome to Week 5: Evaluating your progress
3. "
Young Goodman Brown"

PLEASE:
1. Catch up on any outstanding work from the week
2. Read "how to publish your handwritten work online" and post your three favorite journal entries (making sure, of course, that they are internet-friendly and make you look good!) on your blog (title: PAGES FROM MY JOURNAL #1). Due by Tuesday, 9/22 at 9:00 A.M. Pacific. Mahalo.

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

september 16

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tune: "Somebody to Love" by Jefferson Airplane]

Can a person love someone or something too much?

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. (see yesterday's agenda)

PLEASE:
Read "Young Goodman Brown" all the way through. You don't need to understand it all (yet) - for starters, make a list of the words that are unfamiliar to you (you can do this on paper or on your device or blog - make sure to keep it somewhere convenient so we can discuss it tomorrow and Friday)

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

about the google sheets: PLEASE READ

Today I learned something about Google Sheets -- I can't expand them as far as I want! I will be updating them later tonight or early tomorrow morning. For now, the Sheets only accommodate Weeks 1-4. I am working on a solution so you can claim your credit for journals, comments and posts in Week 5 and beyond. 

I will publish an update ASAP. Thank you for your patience while I work this out.

september 15

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tune: "Changes" by David Bowie]

Change can be exciting.  Change can be hard.  In Buddhism, changes are described as "little deaths" -- i.e., when things change, the way they used to be is gone.  Describe a change in your life.  It can be major or no big deal.  It can be positive or negative.  The important thing is to describe how things became different, and how you experienced the process. 

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:

1. Journal
2. Catching up/ blogs
3. Progress reports
4. We read!


PLEASE:
1. Do your job/s and claim your credit with "did it"s on your period's Sheet
2. Clean up your blog, you're about to have company
3. Email me your progress report note
4. Start reading Young Goodman Brown and answering the questions on your blog (title: THE SCARIEST STORY). This is due by Monday, September 21 -- considering that we don't meet until Thursday/Friday, I suggest you start now and bring your questions to our Zoom meeting so you can finish up and not worry about it over the weekend.

Monday, September 14, 2020

about the right to cross the street

The ideas we discuss in this course remain with me. Last week we wrote about the "right" to our opinion. We talked about how one person's right is another person's obligation. I gave the example of a pedestrian who has the right to cross the street safely in a crosswalk, and how this right obliges drivers to stop, even if they don't want to.

Check out what happens when social contracts break down:

 

evaluating your progress

Remember on the first day we met, how I said that the time would go by faster than we think? Well, today I got this email:

Each year, just before progress reports I ask students to answer a few questions about your performance so that we can evaluate your progress together. This year, your insights are more important than ever, because instead of seeing you for 4-5 hours in person each week, I see you 0-2 hours on Zoom (and "see" often means jsut reading your name).

SO... This is a good time to reflect.  Since I don't see you very much, and you spend 24/7 with yourself (including that oh-so-valuable time with your subconscious while you sleep), please answer the following questions as we begin to assess your performance.  Please write your answers in complete sentences-- you do not need to copy the questions-- and email it to me at either dpreston.learning@gmail.com or dpreston@smjuhsd.org by 3:00 P.M. (Pacific) this Friday, September 18.  Mahalo.

  1. What do you do best in this course?  Where are you strongest, most confident?  What can you say you have actually accomplished or learned so far this semester?
  2. Where do you need improvement?  Support?  What can you or the teacher do to help you?
  3. On a scale from 1-10, how much effort are you putting into this course?  (*You can separate this out into categories; for example, if you put in a huge effort on your blog, but not so much on the reading or the journals or commenting on the course blog, please explain)
  4. What letter grade do you believe you have earned at this point in the course?

september 14

 

JOURNAL TOPIC:
In many cultures there are rituals that signify when a child becomes an adult. How can you tell in our culture? By age? Getting a driver's license? Voting? Be sure to explain your answer.

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Catch up on any outstanding work - and reach out / jump on a Zoom call today if you need help

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Welcome to Week 5

Hi All,
I hope you had a terrific weekend! I spent much of my weekend reading your writing (thanks to everyone who contributed -- if I haven't gotten to your essay yet, rest assured, I'm working on it...) and improving the course blog experience.

Here are some highlights. Please bookmark these pages and make them part of your routine:

  • All of our recorded Zoom sessions are now on the Zoom Meetings page. If you miss our weekly Zoom meeting, or if you want to review something we cover during a Zoom meeting, please scroll to the Zoom of the week (recordings are at the bottom of the page, below the invitations).
  • If you are making up work and you're not sure about something, you can see a list of everything we've done on the Work Product page.

I also spent quality time tracking down and emailing every student who does not have a blog URL listed on the Member Blogs page. We've been at this for a month now; it's time for you to catch up. Email or schedule a meeting with me if you need help. If you sent me your URL already, or if you think you got that email by mistake, please forgive me (and the internet, and the pandemic) -- then reply and send me the information again.

This week, we will be building on our introduction to Les Misérables, writing about the Preface, and digging into the first chapter. I will also ask you to post selected journal entries, so be sure you know how to scan and publish your paperwork online.

Monday's Zoom meetings are optional -- I'll be online to help anyone who needs it. Please remember to check the daily agenda and write in your journal.  

Onward,

Dr. Preston

Saturday, September 12, 2020

now you have a list of everything you need to do

 Hi All,

Check out the new Work Product page -- a week by week list of everything you need to successfully complete our course. If you are behind, please take steps this weekend to catch up. If you have questions or need help, please email or schedule a meeting with me.

Onward,

Dr. Preston

Friday, September 11, 2020

september 11

 JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Dream On" by Aerosmith; "Right Now" by Van Halen]

Time to get stoked.  Imagine that you have the magic wand. You get to do or be anything you want to do, and all you have to do is make up your mind that nothing will stop you. So, the question is: What will you do? What will you be?

["WAIT!"  they're saying.  "We've heard all this crap from motivational speakers!  We've seen the posters in the halls!  It's bu$%&$t!"]

Try this: What are you willing to sacrifice to get what you want?  What do you want that badly?  Does anything matter that much to you?  What might matter that much?

Here's another way to think of it.  If you do everything you can, success isn't guaranteed.  But if you don't do everything you can, failure is.   

-OR-

Choose your own topic.


AGENDA: (September 10/11)

1. Journal
2. Review the agenda for 9/8 & 9
3. Watch "Meanings Signs & Symbols" video (?)
4. Read and discuss "Earth on Turtle's Back"

PLEASE:

1. Be sure that you're caught up on previous work
2. Email Dr. Preston if you need help
3. Post your first impression to "Earth On Turtle's Back" -- specifically, explain what you think is the deeper meaning/intention/moral of the story (title: THE MEANING OF A NATIVE AMERICAN STORY)

Thursday, September 10, 2020

september 10

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" by Bob Dylan]

Describe a moment when something unexpected happened and you learned from it.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Review the agenda for 9/8 & 9
3. Watch "Meanings Signs & Symbols" video (?)
4. Read and discuss "Earth on Turtle's Back"

PLEASE:

1. Be sure that you're caught up on previous work
2. Email Dr. Preston if you need help
3. Post your first impression to "Earth On Turtle's Back" -- specifically, explain what you think is the deeper meaning/intention/moral of the story (title: THE MEANING OF A NATIVE AMERICAN STORY)

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

september 9

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Which would you prefer: a minor role in a great [movie/university/team/organization] or a major role in a mediocre one? Why? Explain.

AGENDA: (for September 8/9)
1. Journal
2. I wrote an essay this weekend. Did you?  Please comment on mine and make sure to finish and publish yours.
3. Making sure you're caught up heading into Week 4
4. Video: Meanings Signs & Symbolism Part I
5. Introduction to "The Earth on Turtle's Back"

PLEASE:
1. Make sure you're caught up on any outstanding work
2. Comment on my essay
3. Watch the video on symbolism and answer the questions in a post on your blog (title: IT'S SYMBOLIC)
4. Read "The Earth on Turtle's Back"  

Monday, September 7, 2020

september 8

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Your friends invite you to a fancy restaurant in San Francisco-- all expenses paid! The waiter brings you a soda, calls you "sir" or "miss" and hands you a menu. With horror you realize that every dish consists of insects in different sauces! What will you do?

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. I wrote an essay this weekend. Did you?  Please comment on mine and make sure to finish and publish yours.
3. Making sure you're caught up heading into Week 4
4. Video: Meanings Signs & Symbolism Part I
5. Introduction to "The Earth on Turtle's Back"

PLEASE:
1. Make sure you're caught up on any outstanding work
2. Comment on my essay
3. Watch the video on symbolism and answer the questions in a post on your blog (title: IT'S SYMBOLIC)
4. Read "The Earth on Turtle's Back" 

WELCOME TO WEEK 4

Hi All,
Hope you enjoyed the long weekend. This is the end of our first month together, so by now you should have:
  • A blog where you're posting your work
  • A notebook where you're writing your daily journal entries
  • A routine in which you check the course blog, read, write, and claim your credit on your period's Google Sheet
You should also have several posts on your blog, including your essay on "The Right to Your Opinion" and your Hack to School Night video. (NOTE: If you haven't finished these yet, do them now -- better late than never!)

This week we will be getting into symbolism and we will start reading literature. Don't fall behind. If you have questions or need help, please email me or schedule a one-on-one Zoom meeting. I'm here to help.

Best,
Dr. Preston

your essay and your HACK TO SCHOOL video

Hi All,
I hope you're enjoying your three-day weekend! I also hope you're making progress on your essays and your Hack to School video.

Please publish your essay on your blog with the title: ESSAY 1: ARGUMENT

Please publish your video on your blog with the title: HACK TO SCHOOL VIDEO

Please make sure both are visible on your blog by 5:00 P.M. (in about 3.5 hours). 

There are lots of ways to review the material and these assignments on the course blogs: text, videos, and even recordings of last week's Zoom meetings. If you still need help or have any questions, please comment to this post, send me an email, or let's jump on Zoom together. No need to fall behind or get frustrated.  You got this.  I look forward to seeing what you create!

Best,
Dr. Preston

another way to post your essay

Here's a pro tip for you to use in all of your courses this year.

If you prefer writing on paper, instead of typing, you can still create a professional-looking, easy-to-read image online.

Instead of posting a picture of the page that looks like this:



You can post a scan of the page that looks like this:



Here's how:

1. Click HERE to download Scannable (which is now part of Evernote, which we'll talk about 

happy labor day

Hi Everyone,

On one hand, today is Labor Day and technically this is a three-day weekend.

On the other hand, everything is weird and you have an essay and a video due today.

So, if you want to jump on Zoom today - during your class period or whenever - email to let me know. I'll create a meeting for anyone who wants to meet online.

Here for you. Every day.
Dr. Preston

Saturday, September 5, 2020

when your teacher writes an essay

This past week I assigned an essay. I also told everyone in our Zoom meetings that I would do the work along with you.  Below is my attempt (essay).  I'd be grateful if you'd take a few moments to read it and comment to this post with any reactions. What do you think was effective about it?  What do you think was confusing or could/should be improved? (My wife thought I should end it a few paragraphs earlier, with the line that says, "A united place." Was my main idea clear? Did I answer the prompt? Feel free to give it a grade, if you want to! Thanks in advance for your feedback. I look forward to reading your essays and returning the favor. 😀




THE PROMPT:

How can arguing and giving up any "right" to our own opinion save our lives, improve our country, and secure the future for the next generation?

__________________

THE PRE-WRITE:
 
Points I don’t want to forget:
·      Argument is a search for truth
·      Arguing can bring people together
·      Asserting rights to opinions hijacks the conversation and forces people to agree/ bad
·      Listening and collaborating leads to all sorts of good outcomes

Structure:
·      Attention-getter
·      Main point/ thesis statement
·      Lead into 3 big ideas for body paragraphs
·      Remember transitions and flow
·      Summarize and conclude with a #winner thought or question

_________________

THE DRAFT

When I was in junior high and high school, it seemed to me that people did really stupid things. Even worse, they acted like the stupid things they did were actually perfectly normal. They defended their actions and apparently believed that they were right. I thought they were nuts. That’s one reason I loved watching Monty Python’s Flying Circus. The show took real life situations and exaggerated them into absurd comic sketches. When I thought about the big things I couldn’t change, like politics, or the economy, or even school, it helped me to watch the show and have a good laugh.
One of my favorite sketches in the show was called “The Argument Clinic.” A man walks into a business office and pays to argue with a professional. But when they begin, the conversation disintegrates. They just say “Yes it is/ Not it’s not” at each other. The customer gets frustrated and says, “An argument is an intellectual process, not just contradiction.”
The professional arguer replies: “No it isn’t.”
I don’t know how we got to this point in American culture where people think argument is some sort of game or conflict, but looking at it that way isn’t helping us. In fact, if we’re afraid of losing, or if we’re afraid that someone will get mad at us or even hurt us if we argue with them, we lose the value of sharing ideas in the first place.
According to Jamie Whyte, author of Crimes of Logic, argument is a search for truth. I’ve thought about this for a while now, and the definition fits; if two people argue with each other, it stands to reason that they care about the same things. They care about the topic they are discussing. They care about being heard and understood. They also care about being right. Since it is impossible to be right without being on the right side of the truth, it’s reasonable to assume they’re both searching for the truth.
But sometimes the way we talk to each other when we argue doesn’t support our search for truth. When people get angry or frustrated or just plain tired, they sometimes raise their voices, or say things like, “Fine. You’re entitled to your opinion.”
Why do people say that a person is entitled to an opinion? Opinions are important, and we feel like they’re personal, so we want to be allowed to have them. That’s all good and fine, but saying we are entitled is something altogether different.
An entitlement (also known as a right) is something that other people have to honor. If I am entitled to cross the street in a crosswalk, you are obligated to stop your car and not run me over. Think about that for a moment. I have a right to my safety, and you are required to honor my right, even if you disagree with it.
So, what if I’m wrong? What if I tell you that the sky is green, and I’m entitled to my opinion? We live in a crazy world where all sorts of people babble all sorts of bullsh** and expect us to go along with it.  But that actually sabotages the search for truth.
I have come to believe that arguing – i.e., searching for the truth – and completely abandoning the “right” to my opinion gives me the opportunity to discover the information that helps me the most. When I engage with other people, and really listen to them, I learn where my evidence is strong and also where new information can lead me to a better way of thinking. This makes my own life better, it enables me to create and sustain relationships with others even when we disagree, and it gives me hope for the future.
When I was dating the woman who would eventually become my wife, we went shopping for groceries and she asked me to pick up some cheddar cheese. I chose a brick of Tillamook, and she laughed at me. “No, seriously,” she said, “can you get some natural stuff?” I was totally confused. “What do you mean?” I asked. She said, “Get some cheese without artificial coloring. What kind of cow gives orange milk?” 
It turns out there’s some history to the color of cheese, but since the 17th century the answer is: None. The orange in cheddar cheese is artificial coloring. And the weird thing is, my whole life I never even thought to question why the cheese was orange. Moments like this make me realize that argument – searching for the truth with other people in ways that might just change my mind – make my life better.
Besides giving me a better way to think about cheese, that moment in the market also gave my wife and me a memory we’ll never forget. Standing there in the cheese aisle, shocked by the realization that I never even noticed how weird it was that milk is white but cheese was orange, I laughed my ass off. Years later, it still cracks me up when I think about it. I suppose I could have been embarrassed because I clearly didn't know what I was doing, but the important thing was someone I care about challenged my thinking and gave me a better way to see the world.
When we argue with people we have an opportunity to create and strengthen relationships. Listening to someone is an act of generosity, and we feel good about people when they are generous to us. Arguing in this way, even when – especially when – we disagree can help us get along with all sorts of people. And getting along with all sorts of people has never been more important.
Every day we hear about what divides us: politics, religion, economics, health, and people who want a government who helps the country versus people who are full of crap. But what we don’t hear so much about is how people of different backgrounds get together and work things out and create schools, neighborhoods, communities, and organizations that lift people up. Creating a sense of belonging starts with argument as a search for truth – and when people get together and decide that getting along is more important than agreeing, we all become stronger. (Maybe because we're not eating weird stuff in our cheese.)
 There are more than three hundred million people in the United States of America. I’d like to think that all of us can start figuring things out, one argument at a time.
Hall of Fame hockey star Wayne Gretzky put it this way: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” If you don’t play, you can’t win, and if you don’t talk to people about where you disagree, you can’t connect and figure things out.
When we reach out to each other and communicate, we create opportunities for understanding. Understanding leads to bonds that create relationships – this is the secret sauce for community and shared purpose. The motto of the United States is E Pluribus Unum, which means, “Out of many, one.” When we argue, when we search for the truth together. We share a purpose and we become a people. We make our country a better place. A united place.
When Americans unite, great things become possible. I visited Boston a few years ago, and I saw the results: the first public school, the first public park, the first public library, the first public … everything. Together we can do things that no individual can. We can build highways. We can create a nation that supports the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.
Most importantly, we can make tomorrow better than today. When millions of us agree to prioritize the future, we can tackle issues like climate change, social justice, and economic inequality. We can decide whether safety should merit gun control policy. We can decide whether the term “pro-life” should apply exclusively to abortion, or also to the death penalty, and what happens in between birth and execution.
The key to all of this is argument: the search for truth. It’s high time we talk to each other, instead of about each other. I see you. I care about you. I want to listen to you. I want you to teach me. And then, when you feel we have a connection with each other based on mutual respect, I want to make the world a better place. Together.

Friday, September 4, 2020

essay prompt for the weekend

Here is the question you'll be writing on. Email with any questions. Due on your blog by Monday at 5:00 P.M.



How can arguing and giving up any "right" to our own opinion save our lives, improve our country, and secure the future for the next generation?

zoom: week 3 discussion about essay and hack to school night

If you are not able to join this morning's zoom meeting, have no fear (AND DON'T GIVE UP!) -- you can watch a previous zoom from this week right here. As always, if you have any questions or need help, you can email me or schedule a 1-to-1 meeting with me on the "Schedule A Meeting With Dr. Preston" tab.  I look forward to reading your essays and seeing your Hack to School Night interviews!

PERIOD 6 ZOOM INFO

Zoom glitched today, here is the updated information for our meeting. Please join now :)

Hi there,

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Sep 4, 2020 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEufuChpjspE9QqqzZ_rX1j_-1nLb78Zq8Y

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

september 4

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Smile Away" by Paul McCartney; "The Shadow of Your Smile" by Marvin Gaye]

Where do smiles come from? What makes you smile? A recent study suggests that just the simple, physical act of moving your face into a smile can make you feel better -- try it. (Did it work? :)

-OR-

Choose your own topic.


AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Finish your essay (it's due by 5:00P Monday!)
3. Ask someone to interview you for Hack to School Night (the video post still isn't up - I apologize - but it will be by tonight)

TODAY'S ZOOM MEETINGS:
10:10A Period 6 (last name M-Z)
12:20P Period 7 (last name M-Z)


Thursday, September 3, 2020

how to post your hack to school night video

[GAH! My computer just glitched and dumped the post -- watch this space, I'll republish this afternoon. ]

september 3

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Lo Que Dice" by Ozomatli; "Words (Between the Lines of Age)" by Neil Young]

Adults say it to toddlers all the time: "Use your words."  What do you mean, my words?  We know that fiction authors use dialogue for the purpose of indirect characterization-- as you write the story of your life each day, how do the words you choose create an impression of who you are?

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Hack to School Night (due Tuesday)
3. Essay (due Friday-- UPDATE: Due to the thumbs-up riot in period 6's zoom today, the essay is now due on your blog by Monday 5:00)

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

september 2

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Describe a time when someone said something so unexpectedly funny that it caused you or someone nearby to spit out a mouthful of food or drink (bonus points if anything came out a nose). If you haven't seen this happen, describe something you think is funny enough to make it happen.

-OR-

Choose your own topic.




REMINDERS:
1. Your "Hack to School" answers should be posted by the end of today (Wednesday, 9/2)
2. Ideas and tips for capturing your interview on video and posting on your blog will be posted here by Thursday (9/3) 10:00 AM
3. Instructions for posting your essay will also be posted here by Thursday (9/3) 10:00 A.M.
4. Your essay is due on your blog by 5:00 P.M. on Friday (9/4)

AGENDA: (for September 1 & 2)
1. Journal
2. Review and discuss post: do. or do not. there is no essay
3. Review and discuss Basic Essay Structure
3. Discuss Hack to School Night questions


DO:
1. Comment to the post: do. or do not. there is no essay
2. Create an outline for your essay and begin a first draft in response to this prompt:


How can arguing and giving up any "right" to our own opinion save our lives, improve our country, and secure the future for the next generation?
3. Post your answers to Hack to School Night questions on your blog (title: I HAVE THE ANSWERS/ first sentence: "I know exactly what to tell my support team about my learning.")

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

september 1

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: radio silence]

What song do you sing when there's nothing on the radio? What thoughts do you think when it's quiet and you have the chance to think about whatever you want?

-OR-

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA: (for September 1 & 2)
1. Journal
2. Review and discuss post: do. or do not. there is no essay
3. Review and discuss Basic Essay Structure
3. Discuss Hack to School Night questions


DO:
1. Comment to the post: do. or do not. there is no essay
2. Create an outline for your essay and begin a first draft in response to this prompt:

How can arguing and giving up any "right" to our own opinion save our lives, improve our country, and secure the future for the next generation?

3. Post your answers to Hack to School Night questions on your blog (title: I HAVE THE ANSWERS/ first sentence: "I know exactly what to tell my support team about my learning.")

do. or do not. there is no essay

Last year I asked 150 high school juniors in four separate classes to think of a word they associate with writing essays.  After giving them a couple minutes to think, I stood at the board and wrote down the words they called out.  Here are the lists:






As you can see, the students' feelings about writing essays were overwhelmingly negative.  I was struck by the patterns. "Stress" is on every list.  "Anger," "crying," and "dropout" showed up multiple times.  I tried to imagine what writing must be like for the student who contributed "shaking."  Shaking?  When I showed one of the lists to another teacher, he said, "What's wrong with those students?"

It was a loaded question.  Apart from the usual arguments about how adults stereotype those lazy, complaining teenagers, or how teachers often rush to defend a system that rewarded them with degrees and jobs but doesn't work the same for today's students, the question is really a symptom of our culture.  There is definitely something wrong here-- but why assume it's the students?  Especially when four different classes of 36+ students answered in the exact same ways?

In our culture, whoever names a problem risks being identified as the problem.  Too often we blame the victim.  An employee who points out a legitimate issue at work may be targeted for having a "bad attitude."

Even victims of rape and violence are forced to endure ridiculous questions and sometimes even direct accusations, as if they had anything at all to do with the horrible thing that was done to them.  No wonder people are so often reluctant to come forward.

This is why my first response to the students was gratitude.  I thanked them.  I wanted to acknowledge the trust and courage it took for them to speak up.  No one likes to admit that something is this awful, especially when they've been told repeatedly to get over themselves because it shouldn't be a big deal and everyone else can do it and they should too.

My second response was to ask the students if, when they thought of the word "essay," they were describing an experience that involved:
  • hard-to-understand instructions 
  • to write a long thing
  • about a harder-to-understand text or idea
  • in a too-short time frame
  • to be returned with scrawled comments 
  • like 'need clearer thesis' and 'fix your conclusion' 
  • and a letter grade
  • which made them feel badly
  • so they crumpled up the paper 
  • and eventually lost it 
  • wherever things go 
  • after they escape 
  • the bottom of the backpack.
The students became animated at this point in the conversation.  In every class.  They nodded and said, "Mmhmm. Yeah. That's exactly it."

The expressions on their faces in those moments were so open.  Their eyes were wide.  There was energy in the room.  Suddenly you couldn't help but realize that is so much more to these young people than they usually show in class.  You could tell they were surprised to hear their lived experience described so plainly and accurately by a teacher.  One student even said, "Thank you for offering us some understanding."

As I watched them begin to take notes, I started thinking about the Hawthorne Effect. The Hawthorne Works was a big factory in Illinois where thousands of workers made telephone equipment and consumer products.   In the 1920s, the company commissioned a study to learn about productivity.

During the study at The Hawthorne Works, every single change, like making the lights brighter or making the lights dimmer, seemed to increase employee productivity.  What kind of sense does that make?  If you make the lights brighter, and productivity goes up, how can dimming the lights also make productivity go up?

The real insight wasn't that productivity increased because of the actual changes that management made; it was that when management was sympathetic, willing to listen, and keep their promises, the employees put in more effort.  

This is an excellent place to start in the classroom.

(Plus, I get to make improvements as I go.)

Getting any kind of honest feedback depends on trust, and trust is earned.  At this point in our culture, trust also has to be modeled, because many young people simply haven't seen a working example in practice.  I demonstrated trust on the first day of school.  I told students that they should decide how the course would run, and then I walked out of the classroom and closed the door behind me so they could talk freely. 

Ever since that day students have seen me repeatedly honor my word.  They have watched me make mistakes -- and openly admit to each one.  Students now know that I make good on my offers to help them, which I mention approximately every 3 minutes 41 seconds in class.

These are some of the reasons why students trusted me when I asked an open-ended question about a touchy subject.  After I recorded the first few contributions without judgement, they began contributing more openly and enthusiastically.

This is no small thing.  Especially for teachers, because the students we ask to trust us are often experiencing multiple levels of trauma of their own.

According to studies published by the American Psychological Association, anxiety in our culture has increased so much in recent decades that "typical schoolchildren during the 1980's reported more anxiety than child psychiatric patients did during the 1950's."  One of the studies' authors said the trend is likely to continue, and she linked anxiety to depression: "The results of the study suggest that cases of depression will continue to increase in the coming decades, as anxiety tends to predispose people to depression."

Fast forward to 2019.  Students' lives, experiences, and feelings are complicated and intense.  Our bizarro culture has created an environment that includes mass shootings and active shooter drills at school.  Students navigate a challenging maze of opportunity (which they have to find) and danger (which sometimes finds them).  This is a game even winners don't like playing.  And the prize?  Graduation, followed by toxic student loans.

Still the students show up.  There they were, courageously expressing their feelings about writing essays.

So I told them about Montaigne.

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne lived in France from 1533 to 1592.  He worked as a government official and he was also a winegrower.  Most importantly for us, Montaigne invented a brand new style of writing.

Instead of writing about his personal achievements or historical events, Montaigne wanted to express exactly what he thought and felt.  Readers over the years have commented that reading Montaigne's writing is like seeing their own thoughts and feelings in a mirror-- they feel amazed that someone else seems to share inner experiences that they thought were unique to them and unknown to anyone else.  In this way, Montaigne created a connection between writer and reader that never existed before.   

Montaigne wanted to create value based on a shared understanding, a bond between the writer's inner world and the reader's inner world.  This isn't easy.  Montaigne himself called it a "thorny undertaking, and more so than it seems, to follow a movement so wandering as that of our mind."

This makes it even more important to try.  Once I made a sign and hung it front and center in a classroom: There is glory in the attempt.  I liked the idea because it emphasized the process over the result.  I put it right next to Teddy Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" quote, which is still one of my all-time favorites.  These ideas motivate me, partly because some of the figures I respect most emphasize the importance of trying.  I've learned a great deal about courage and motivation from people in many walks of life, and I often run across an idea or a quote that seems to confirm the rest of what I've come to know; just last week I learned that Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Glory lies in the attempt to reach one's goal and not in reaching it."

Long before Gandhi or Roosevelt or me, when Shakespeare was only 8 years old and hadn't yet imagined Hamlet or "To be or not to be,"  Montaigne understood that you can't win if you don't play.  No one will understand your mind or your heart if you don't consider and express them carefully in words that you write to the best of your ability.  Trying is the important thing.  Without it, nothing would get written in the first place.  Montaigne really wanted to try and make sense out of his thinking in a way that readers could understand.  That's why he called his book by the French word that means attempt or try.  

The French word for attempt is...  Essay.  (Also spelled "essaye" or "essai" in Middle French.)

"Think about this," I said to the students.  "Whenever you're trying to get your parents or your boyfriend or your manager to understand you-- every one of those moments is an Essay.  So really, when we write an essay, all we're trying to do is make sure the reader understands us."

Which is really a gift.  We're so well-trained to write for a grade, or to get people off our backs, or to be louder or clearer or [whatever] because we're used to feeling frustrated when people don't understand us, that it's easy to forget that people WANT to know what we're thinking.

Writing an essay the way Montaigne intended it, as an attempt to create understanding between writer and reader, is a win-win.  The reader feels good when an idea or a feeling contributes to her experience, and the writer feels good when she knows something she wrote got through and made a positive difference.

Students began to respond as I described these ideas.  One of them said out loud, "OK.  I'll try."  (I loved that.  Without knowing it in the moment, what he said was, "OK. I'll essay.")

However satisfying that moment was, it wasn't enough.  I flashed on what Yoda said in The Empire Strikes Back



Montaigne didn't try to write.  He wrote.  All in, he wrote 107 essays, on subjects ranging from death to women to politics to whatever else ran through his mind.  Although psychologists and authors wouldn't know what to call it for another 300 years, Montaigne developed a style that has become known as "stream of consciousness."

The task before us is clear.  Our job is to connect.  Our job is to understand others and in turn, to make ourselves understood.

In order to be our best, we must heal and transcend whatever trauma we used to associate with the idea of writing an essay-- because now we understand that's not at all what Montaigne had in mind.

One of Montaigne's essays was entitled, "Of the Education of Children" and he ended it by writing:


To return to my subject, there is nothing like alluring the appetite and affections; otherwise you make nothing but so many asses laden with books; by dint of the lash, you give them their pocketful of learning to keep; whereas, to do well you should not only lodge it with them, but make them espouse it. 

Montaigne believed that we learn best when we love what we do.  When we can choose how to direct our curiosity, our passion, and our effort.

We may not be perfect.  We may not even succeed in making ourselves understood.  But in honor of our deep needs for connection and mutual understanding, and in the tradition of Montaigne and the millions of writers (from famous pros to Instagram weirdos) who have attempted to share their thoughts and feelings with us, we must practice in order to become better.  We must write.

It's time to heal and forgive the past.  We have reclaimed the essay and our power to define what it isn't, and what it is.  The essay is not a five-paragraph insult to our intelligence or a cynical exercise in getting a grade.  The essay is our attempt to participate in the grand human conversation, one paragraph at a time.  It will be messy, and it will be beautiful, and ultimately it will be ours.   

There is glory in the essay.  I look forward to reading yours.  In the meantime, thank you, dear reader, for spending some time thinking about this one.

for the win(ter break)

" Why should I do this? He's not even gonna be our teacher next year! " Yeah. And I'm not getting paid to post this on Chr...