Welcome to Humanities 12: Day 1

Pod 1 (8:55-9:15): Student Contracts

• Meet outside and go over student contracts and general welcome back banter
• Chat about AHS-COVID policies 
• Come on back inside!
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Ashley's Sermon:
We're living in a different world than we were when 2020 started.  But, remember- we are a community. We’re in this together. We need to keep each other safe so that we can stay together for as long as possible. Too many schools around the country and world had outbreaks or were shut down because they were too slack on COVID safety protocols.  

Online learning is a drag. Let's avoiding going back exclusively to it.  I am not here to police you. In fact, I’m taking a risk and putting my partner and his family in danger because of my love of being with you all in person. Let’s all take that commitment to each other seriously. I value community, your education, your health that much. Speaking of values…..Check out Nelson Mandela's quote on the value of community.  As a reminder, Mandela was the South African president from 1994-1999, and an apartheid revolutionary leader, imprisoned due to his social justice activism!
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Casual Connect (5 minutes) (Periods 1 and 2)
1. Turn and talk (2 minutes) (STAY 6 FEET APART!)

• Highs and Lows of summer
• How you feel about being back in school in-person
• Something you’re excited about for senior year
• Something you’re worried about

2. Introduce your partner and share one thing they said from your chat (3 minutes)

Casual Connect (5 minutes) (Periods 3 and 4)
1. Turn and talk (2 minutes) (STAY 6 FEET APART!)

• Introduce yourselves if you somehow forgot each other's name amidst quarantine
• What is your superhero power? (Ashley's is being able to pick up accents and empathize with others)
• Rose from today thus far?
• Thorn from today thus far?
• Bud moving forward? 

2. Introduce your partner and share one thing they said from your chat (3 minutes)

Let's review the schedule and pod room assignments

STARTER 1- Instructions
Step 1: Go to Google Classroom for Humanities. If you haven’t joined yet, either open the invitation in your gmail OR use this code to join:

1. Pod 1: zpeby5e
2. Pod 2: jbgtvyl

Step 2: Find the September Starters assignment and OPEN it.
Step 3: Read the instructions for how to create a starter document, and what to do with it.
Step 4: Come back to my DP and complete today’s starter:

STARTER 1 Prompt:  What is freedom? (let’s listen to “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd)

1. How do you define freedom? What does it mean to you?
2. What is an example of the way freedom does or does not manifest in your life?
3. What is an example of the way freedom does or does not manifest in the United States? 

Transition and Explanation for “This is Water”
We're now going to watch this awesome video adaptation of a commencement speech by David Foster Wallace at Kenyon College in 2005.  In it, he shares some insights that are going to be super relevant to this class over the course of the year.  Ideas that relate to taking ownership of your learning, becoming more self-aware, and rethinking your natural "default" setting, be that beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors....

Watch “This is Water” a commencement speech by  (10 minutes)

• As you watch, follow along with the transcript and highlight lines that stand out or about which you have questions. Feel free to annotate in the margins. 

Post Video Response Questions (25 minutes)

1. SPIRIT READ: Stand up, say your name and read one line from the text that struck you! (2 minutes)
2. In Groups of 4 (safely, at a distance!) (10 minutes)
   1. Review through the transcript and identify at least 3 places where Wallace defines FREEDOM.
   2. Discuss how his definitions of freedom compare to what you wrote in the starter.
   3. Zoom out now. As a group, try to identify 3-4 of Wallace’s main ideas. Elect one notetaker to write them down in a short phrase, no more than 7 words long.
3. Whole Class: Let’s write these main ideas on the white board (5 minutes)
   1. Discuss: To what extent do you agree with these claims or pieces of advice? Do any ring true for you? Others you know? How so?
   2. (Introduce and Model Listen Patiently)
4. Individual Reflection (answer the following three questions by adding to your starter) (5 minutes)
   1. As we are going to be diving first into the college essay, where you’ll be focusing SOLELY on yourself and your own beliefs/experiences, etc… What is one big idea idea you can take from his speech to help you with your essay?
   2. After the college essay boot camp, we’ll start the Justice Project through which we’ll be studying various philosophies of justice and applying them to case studies on Environmental and Racial Justice.  As we do so, we’ll be discussing heated topics that are sometimes hard to see and hard to talk about, like the fish in water story revealed: What is one idea you hold about justice, the environment, race, class, liberty, equality, etc… that might be part of your “default setting” and that you could work on being open to critically examining? 
   3. What is 1 expectation or norm for how our class communicates and treats one another through the Justice Project discussions? These can be inspired by Wallace or from your own awareness!

Letter to your teachers assignment

• We'll be coming back to the ideas of norms and expectations when we start our Justice project after college essay bootcamp. For now, I just want you to save this reflection and to have had the chance to capture some thoughts. 
• Building off of Wallace's ideas around freedom... I'm assigning you all a letter where you have the freedom to shape how your teachers see you, and how you want to represent  yourself.  There will be more freedom this year as you're seniors (and there won't since #Covid). I'd love to see what you all choose to do with the letter prompts I've provided! Be free to take it in a direction that feels most authentic to you.

• Anyone want a hard copy? The assignment is in google classroom!
• Let's quickly review the instructions!

BREAK!  Let’s go outside and play a game (10 minutes)

1. Circle up
2. Say your name and 2 things you’re grateful for
3. Zip Zap Bop 

TRANSITION TO  THE COLLEGE ESSAY BOOT CAMP!
College Essay Boot Camp GUIDEBOOKS! I'll hand these out at this time.
Warm-up (Core Values Exercise) (10 minutes)-- toward the back of your guidebook

1. Let’s read the first page together
2. You have 2 minutes to read through the list and star or circle the values that most resonate to you. 
3. Next, move onto page 3 and pick 10-12 values and sort those values into groups:  2 minutes. Which ones would you really fight for? Which ones mean the most to you?
4. Now, circle or star the value in each grouping that best represents that grouping! 30 seconds
5. Pick ONE! 20 seconds
6. Scroll down to the last page and write about what it is about that value that makes it stand out to you- 1 minute!
7. How does it manifest itself in your life? Specifically, try to connect it to specific moments or images or objects in your life that embody or represent that value. 1 minute

I'll share my top values as they relate to my teaching (see the image at the bottom of this lesson)....What is your top one?
 
College Essay Boot Camp Overview and Rubric (10 minutes)
Preface:  Independence!
One of the themes of this year for me, for you, is increasing independence.  As such, I’m putting you in the driver’s seat for much of this process.  In college, it’s unlikely that your professors will have interim deadlines for papers and projects.  You will have to plan your time, hold yourself accountable, and seek the help you need.  So let’s practice that with this project—there’s some symbolic resonance, no?

Instructions

• Read pages 1-4 (up to Frequently Asked Questions) silently and be prepared to answer the following questions:
  • What does success look like for you in this project?  How will you measure if you’ve achieved it?  
  • What is a potential obstacle to success, and how do you intend to overcome it?  
  • What questions do you have? Look through the tips of dos and don’ts.  Which of these will be most helpful to you?  Which of these might you have difficulty with?  Why?
  • What do you think the purpose of the college essay is?

Share out and discuss!

• WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF COLLEGE ESSAY?! What do you think?
• Yep. Nailed it It is essentially to demonstrate your superhero powers-- the qualities that make you YOU and that will convince the college admissions committee that you’ll be a valuable contribution to the school community and beyond.  What will you bring to college that will enhance their community in some way?
• Review the Learning Objectives and Rubric as outlined on the overview/rubric handout!

Let’s look at the list of resources on my Documents page (2 minutes)

• College Essay Guy is amazing!  You need to email to request access to the free guide, but it is worth it! Do it! We’ll check out the various resources he has listed in that guide real quick….

#VULNERABILITY! Ashley’s Community Agreements 

GROUP SORT: Where are you?
There are 4 corners in this room- 1-4.  Go to the corner that best represents your current status in regards to college essays.  Use the following criterion:
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Which phrase best describes your current situation in regards to college essay writing?

1. I haven't started yet, and don't have a clue what the outcome might look like.
2. I have a prompt and have started writing, but I'm nowhere near done.
3. I have finished at least one essay, but it would benefit from some more refinement
4. I have mostly finished my college essays, but still have a few more and/or supplementary writing I can work on and refine.

Write Groups on the White board!

Let's Get Started!  Two Options/Pathways 
1. Never Evers: If you're just starting the college essay, or want a refresher, join me for a guided lesson on how to get started. We'll be following along with this powerpoint. 

2. Vets: If you have some experience, please follow the instructions in green below--> 

• Periods 1/2 some of you can work in Torrey's classroom
• Periods 3/4 some of you can work in the Music room!

Instructions for the Vets

1. First get with support groups and complete Steps 1 and 2 on the Support Group Scheduling Document. Once you’ve done ALL the things for Steps 1 and 2, move on:
   1. Work on the draft of your essay
   2. Look at colleges you’re applying to and see what additional essays they require (supplemental essays)
      1. Begin brainstorming for those
   3. Also, this year, there will be an optional box on your app where you can talk about any extenuating circumstances that you had during covid and how that impacted your academics…..So, was something happening in your homelife, worklife, etc…
   4. Sign up for a conference with Ashley

END OF CLASS: CACAW (11:05 for pod 1 and 2:25 for pod 2)
*Afternoon Sven is required this week!  And occasionally for senior project orientation!
*What is CACAW anyway? 
**Let's review your schedule for the next few days, eh?
*** Classroom Tech Resources

1. My DP Layout (daily + weekly lessons)
2. ZOOM Meeting Link (located on the right-hand side of my "Lessons" page of my DP.  Always the same! Use that for our online class days.
3. Google Classroom set-up
   1. Classwork/Assignments
   2. Stream function
   3. Questions?
   4. Tips for me? I’m a newbie with google classroom!

***Let's go over homework for the next week of Humanities! 

1. Letter to your teachers, due TOMORROW:  Assignment is in google classroom.  You should use SVEN time this afternoon to work on this. 
2. Return the signed syllabus page by next Thursday, 9/11 after having shown  your parents/guardians my DP and read through the entire course syllabus!
3. Work on your college essay for 20 minutes. Depending on what stage you’re at, this could involve:
   1. Brainstorm
   2. Choose a topic
   3. Write
   4. Refine​