January 19-22

UPCOMING DATES

• Monday 1/25 -- Need a copy of choice Biography by Monday 1/25 -- if you need me to procure a book for you because of financial need, please speak to me by Wednesday 1/20
  NOTE: we have audiobooks for all four selections.  Students will need to bring a flash/thumb drive to school and we will load the MP3s.
  CAUTION: As always, audiobooks can be really helpful to listen and read at the same time.  However, they are less helpful if you just listen while engaging in other activities (texting, videogames, even working out).  When you read for school, it is different than reading for pleasure, you need to practice giving it your full attention.  It is a skill that is always in need of development.
• Monday 1/25: Typed Rough Draft of This I Believe Essay (2 pages, Times New Roman, 12-point, double-spaced)
• Thursday 1/28: Transcendentalism Unit Test
• Friday 1/29: This I Believe Essay Due (2 pages, typed, MLA format, informal/personal in tone but polished and professional)

RECENT DOCUMENTS

• PDF of The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail
• Video of our Reader's Theater Production (Thank you Savvy, Eric and Brianna!!)
• Biography Book Choices and Reading Schedule

• This I Believe essays -- model essays
• Brief instructions for writing assignment (more to come next week)
• Matt Harding’s This I Believe essay: Text Audio   Video of Matt Dancing
• Be Cool to the Pizza Delivery Dude
• The Power of Story
• This I Believe Essay Drafting Materials
• Basic Requirements, Guidelines, Organizational Strategy
• OPTIONAL RESOURCES
• Inspirational Quotes (from writers and thinkers)
• Inspirational Quotes (from coaches and athletes)
• Inspirational Quotes from people of all ages (6-92) and lessons learned from Charlie Brown
• More Model Essays, and you can also go to This I Believe.org and search for more CAUTION: if you are stuck it may prove more daunting to get started if you keep looking at these model essays.  Stick to being true to yourself, to saying what is important to you, and focusing and developing one key belief

• Group Assignment -- To Conform or Not to Conform -- Consider the advantages and disadvantages of conformity in four texts (read and review two videos, two articles)

• Asch experiment on conformity (line length)
• Asch experiment on conformity (elevator, as restaged by Candid Camera (for laughs))
• Education as a Path to Conformity--Letter from Asia--NYTimes
• The Case for Fitting In_NYTimes

• Transcendentalism, Yoda, and You? (Handout/Note-taking)
• Transcendentalsim Powerpoint - Overview of the philosophy -- transcendence and the oversoul rooted in Buddhism
• Mini-syllabus

COURSE CALENDAR -- full view with working links on GOOGLE DOCS  (click here)

(document starts with current week, then future weeks, past weeks start on page 9 at the very end)