April 24

To cap the week off we had our first pressure comp of the year. Make-ups will be Wednesday during lunck in room 218 (Mr. Henshaw's room).

Enjoy the weekend!

April 23

We completed our second discussion, this one focusing on the international drug trade. There were some interesting statistics but I fear that the majority of the class thought that a class discussion was an excuse to sit back and do nothing... hopefully the idea of supporting opinion was drilled enough so that it will influence the "Local Issues" paper we will delve into next week.

Tomorrow- a timed writing!

April 22

The majority of today's class was spent reflecting upon the class discussion on tax tea parties. The questions focused on two aspects: the actual information on the issue and the discussion format. Tomorrow we will be delving into the issues involved with international drug trade. Hopefully everyone will have their notes and questions prepared.

Tomorrow I will be collecting notes!

April 21

Tax tea party discussion

For the most part today's discussion went well. There were some interesting comments and discussion threads brought up. Tomorrow we will recap some of the major ideas and debrief.

April 20

Welcome back!

An interesting Monday, the idea that we are back in school has not quite sunk in yet for many of us...

Today we were introduced to the weeks events.
Tuesday and Thursday will be almost entirely devoted to a class discussion. Half of the class will be responsible for providing information concerning "tax tea parties" (Tuesday), while the other half will be looking into the issues surrounding "International Drug Trade" (Thursday).

Each student is responsible for coming to class tomorrow with a page of notes regarding their issue, in addition to 5 discussion questions for the other topic. For those that missed Monday, they will be in the second group and have notes on the issues surrounding international drug trade.

April 10

We finished SICKO today and took the rest of the class to discuss the various issues that came up. Overall, it was a good conversation and it will be interesting to revisit some of the ideas when we come back after break.

No homework. Enjoy the break!

April 9

Today we resumed the movie with another set of questions:
1. What are the issues of the movie?
2. Look for 3 techniques Michael Moore uses to influence the viewer.
3. Evaluate those techniques for effectiveness and explain your reasoning.

HOMEWORK: Come to class with 3 facts on the American health system and remember to include where you got you information.

April 8

After the break, we will be looking at our next writing project: the issue paper. To get us thinking of an "issue" that is affecting people, we started watching Michael Moore's Sicko.

The two questions for the first section of the movie were:
1. What did you find surprising?
2. What additional questions do you have concerning health care?

Tomorrow we will continue with the movie and start focusing on framing issues and perspective.

April 7

Building from our ideas on the Personal Insight paper, today we looked at the way our interests define who we are. This topic was broached by looking at the relationship, or lack of one, between interest and purpose. This class discussion eventually led to a quote by George Bernard Shaw:
"This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as I life it is my privilege - my "privilege" to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I love. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I've got a hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handling it on to future generations."

Journal Write #11: respond to this quote as it relates to your life and interests.

April 6

Weekend update... What happens during birthdays should sometimes remain out of the classroom setting...

Today's focus was spent talking about the Generation Y values that we came up with last Friday. The conversation had a few bright spots, but overall it was a sluggish Monday.

The classroom then moved on to talk about the personal interest essay that we began in the first week of the semester. We tried to put a few ideas down based on our investigations of the past few weeks of influences and underlying meaning but we ran short on time and did not get very far. Tomorrow we will try to resurrect our efforts.

April 3

The beginning of class was spent talking about the ideas presented yesterday concerning Generation Y. This was followed by a brief discussion of Nature vs. Nurture which was a possible connection to the idea of personal (and collective) traits and values that can define people.

The rest of the class was spent in a group activity that addressed the question: What are the top 5 values or traits of Generation Y'ers? Provide an explanation of why you chose them.

The results of the group work will be addressed in more detail on Monday.

Enjoy the weekend!

April 2

Skipping ahead...

At the end of yesterday's class we started talking about the names given to the various generations. Today we picked up where we left off and focused on "Generation Y" (which includes everyone in the classroom). This conversation led to journal write #10: What characteristics make up Generation Y'ers?

After the journal write an article was read to the class by Mr. Chan that described G Y'ers. Tomorrow we will finish our thoughts on Generations and the influences of our time.

The last act of the day was to vote on a movie that will be viewed next week dealing with a contemporary issue.

HOMEWORK: think about what defines your generation