Seminar: HoHCP + Intro to Tech Study

Due today

• Please email me your seminar pre-writes
• Please turn in Bears Ears permission forms and $

STARTER

STEP 1: Watch this TED Talk entitled "When performing gets in the way of improving"  and jot down notes about the speaker's key points about the LEARNING v. PERFORMANCE zones as well as his suggestions for how to maximize performance and improvement.

STEP 2: After watching, write about what the implications of this TED Talk are for....
1. You (how could you apply his ideas to your own life?)
2. Our class culture (how could you apply his ideas to the way our class functions in order to enable more sustainable class practices. Think about the simple definition of sustainability.....)

REVIEW:  Sustainabililty is the practice of indefinitely maintaining processes of productivity —natural or human made-- without degrading the quality of the resources used.

AGENDA

SEMINAR on "Habits of Highly Cynical People"
But first, a note about Ashley's grading philosophy on seminars....(I don't grade them)
Seminar Style:

1. 2 circles with extra chairs in the middle
2. We’ll switch every 10-15 minutes
3. Feel free to jump into chairs in the middle at any point- for 30 seconds or the whole seminar, it doesn’t matter
4. Note-taking is highly encouraged! You'll be able to use these notes for next week's in class essay.
5. Credit/no credit (learning zone!).  Must speak at least once, and be listening attentively to get credit.

 
Seminar Questions
Opening Questions

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?

 
Core Questions

1. In paragraph 6, Solnit talks about now naïve cynicism “…flattens out the past and the future, and because it reduces the motivation to participate in public life, public discourse, and even intelligent conversation that distinguishes shades of gray, ambiguities and ambivalences, uncertainties, unknowns, and opportunities.”  What does she mean here? How does the attitude of naïve cynicism do this?
2. Is there a difference between cynicism and skepticism?  What is it?
3. 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?
4. In paragraph 7, she says, “The openness of hope of dangerous.”  What does this mean? Do you agree?
5. What point is she trying to make with the OWS example on page 3?  How convincing is this example?
6. What point is she trying to make with the climate change example on pages 3-5?  How convincing is this example?
7. In paragraph 20, Solnit says, “Accommodating change and uncertainty requires a looser sense of self…”  What does she mean by this?
8. To what extent is cynicism useful?  Harmful? What is a healthy level of cynicism?
9. What motivates/causes this attitude of naïve cynicism?
10. What kind of thinking habits do we need to cultivate to move beyond naïve cynicism?
11. How does this article help us in our search for creating a more sustainable classroom culture/learning environment?

 
Personal Questions

1. 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.
2. To what extent are you a naïve cynic?  How much of what Solnit describes rings true to you about yourself?  Explain.
3. What in our lives or society pushes us to adopt this attitude?  What are some specific experiences you’ve had that have done this?
4. How does this article connect to your education?  To your goals this year in Humanities?
5. If we acknowledge naïve cynicism, can we remove it from our classroom?  Do we want to? How?

Intro to  Technology in the classroom mini-study

• Open the above linked document and SAVE a copy!
• Highlight the instructions
• Make a note of the deadline wherever you keep track of your assignments.
• Skim through the readings-- highlight the required ones in RED and look at the descriptions of the optional ones.  
• Note:  Audio ones have transcripts you can read if you'd prefer to read along.....
• What questions or clarifications do you have about the assignment?

End of class: We'll listen to Episode 1 from the Attention, Please TED Radio hour Podcast: "How is our attention packaged and sold as a commodity?"

• This is part of our "In Search of a Sustainable Classroom" mini-study
• Take notes on this podcast to help you answer our essential question for this unit: What makes for the most sustainable classroom culture and environment?  Some questions to consider include......

1. ​In what ways does this podcast argue our attention is a commodity?
2. What are the consequences of that?
3. What are the implications for your own personal, intellectual well-being?
4. What are the implications for our societal well-being?
5. What are the implications for our CLASS well-being or for any classroom's well-being?