Monday, 8/27: Seminar Coaching for HoHCP

Starter

Watch the RSA Animate called "Drive: The Surprising Truth about what Motivates Us" and do these two things:

1. Take notes on what the THREE things are that most motivate people as explained in this video.
2. Afterwards, reflect on an experience in your academic or professional lives when you were most (or least) motivated. To what extent were these three motivating forces at play in that experience?

After watching, we'll discuss the implications of this video for creating a more sustainable classroom. You're encouraged to take notes!  (Let's review "sustainability" too!)

Weekly Words of Inspiration

“In Africa there is a concept known as 'ubuntu' - the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievement of others.”
-Nelson Mandela

Agenda

ABOUT THIS WEEK OF HUM 12: This week, we are going to be studying various topics that relate to our search for creating the most sustainable classroom culture/learning environment.  ALL the sources we watch/listen to and read will be fair game for you to pull from for next week's in-class essay, which will help us prepare for our collective grade-level charter.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What does it take to create a sustainable class culture and learning environment? 

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:  Critically-examine various sources that relate to personal and societal well-being in order to determine what conditions you believe are needed to create a high-functioning, and sustainable class culture/learning environment.

Highly Cynical Coaching (group work)
In groups of 3-4.....(Choose how you want to take notes. I’d recommend each taking handwritten notes so that you are more likely to process and retain the information!)

1. Summarize the main point of this article.  What, in one sentence, is it saying?
2. Go paragraph by paragraph.  Pay special attention to paragraphs 3-7, 20, 23
   1. Summarize main idea
   2. Answer questions/clarify meaning
   3. You may want to write a quick summary on your document or a separate piece of paper
3. Have your group write two thought-provoking seminar questions on an index card and give them to me.

Seminar Prewrite (individually)
Answer at least two of the questions below, citing evidence (direct quotes) from the article in your responses.  Must be typed!

1. What is Solnit’s definition of a naïve cynic?  What are the two types (see paragraphs 8 and 11), and what characterizes their thinking?
2. To what extent are you a naïve cynic?  How much of what Solnit describes rings true to you about yourself?  Explain.
3. In paragraph 6, Solnit makes a number of points about complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity.  To what extent are you comfortable with complexity and uncertainty? Give a concrete example.
4. In paragraph 7, Solnit offers a number of criticisms of naïve cynicism.  What is the most important/cutting critique she offers in this paragraph?  Why?
5. In paragraph 20, Solnit says, “Accommodating change and uncertainty requires a looser sense of self…”  What does she mean by this?
6. To what extent is cynicism useful?  Harmful?
7. What kind of thinking habits do we need to cultivate to move beyond naïve cynicism?
8. How does this article connect to your education?  To your goals this year in Humanities?

HW: Finish seminar prewrite for tomorrow if you didn’t finish in class.