Learning targets:
· We can identify different aspects of democracy
· We can describe how and why we're going to have a collaborative classroom
Welcome back seniors! I’m quite honored to be your senior humanities teacher and have been looking forward to this first day for months now. What’s on tap for this our first day, is sample of what our semester is going to be: some personal stuff, some group work, some reflection. You’re seniors. You know the drill. So we’re going to jump right in.
1. Games – You all know each other, but I’m going to need some help with names the first day or two. I have an ice-breaker to help me out and get us loose.
2. This is what democracy looks like - We throw the word “democracy” around and assume that the U.S.A. is the ultimate example of democratic government. But democracy has its roots in Ancient Greece and our country doesn’t have a monopoly on the concept. Some would argue that the U.S. is not a democracy at all. We’ll spend about a half hour in small groups discussing and debating and dissecting this concept. Here’s the plan: four groups, each gets a packet of materials, and decides on a one sentence definition of “democracy.”
Break
3. Who’s Marcus? – This is likely the longest lecture I’ll give all year. I want you to get to know more about my background and my approach to education and learning. It will help you understand the “why” behind a lot of our activities
4. Norms for our class – You’ll make many of the decisions about how we run this class. The first of these is defining norms for the class. This list will change as we move forward, but I want to get some things down on this first day as a baseline about how you want us to work together.
5. Project Introduction – Our first project is A More Perfect Union. It will cover most of the first semester and is likely different than many, or perhaps all, of the projects you’ve done at Animas. It’s open-ended and participatory. I want you to dream big. I’ll give you a short intro and then give you some time to look at the project overview and ask questions.
6. Freewrite – I want you to write for ten minutes about your political philosophy. Bring some of what you studied junior year back into your consciousness. Do you believe in making decisions based on the greatest good for the greatest number? Or are you more libertarian in your outlook? Was Thoreau a visionary or a crackpot? Here are some questions to get you thinking.
· Is the role of the government to solve social problems or to stand back and facilitate solutions coming from business?
· Was World War II a “just war” or are all wars wrong?
· Do plants and animals have right on their own or are they only valuable as resources for human use?
· Should taxes be high or low?
· Should there be limits on how much individuals can spend on political campaigns? Does money equal speech?
Just write. Just get words down on paper. You’ll be revising and refining your political philosophy all semester. I want to see some initial thoughts and have you give yourself a baseline.
7. Exit Ticket – Give me your own one sentence definition of “democracy” in this Google Doc.
Homework
Read the syllabus, note questions, and have parents sign the final page. You’ll turn in this page for points.
Writing assignment: At least a half a page on what success looks like for you this year in your writing. What do you want to get better at? What is your focus? At the end of the year, what will make you happy as a writer?
· We can identify different aspects of democracy
· We can describe how and why we're going to have a collaborative classroom
Welcome back seniors! I’m quite honored to be your senior humanities teacher and have been looking forward to this first day for months now. What’s on tap for this our first day, is sample of what our semester is going to be: some personal stuff, some group work, some reflection. You’re seniors. You know the drill. So we’re going to jump right in.
1. Games – You all know each other, but I’m going to need some help with names the first day or two. I have an ice-breaker to help me out and get us loose.
2. This is what democracy looks like - We throw the word “democracy” around and assume that the U.S.A. is the ultimate example of democratic government. But democracy has its roots in Ancient Greece and our country doesn’t have a monopoly on the concept. Some would argue that the U.S. is not a democracy at all. We’ll spend about a half hour in small groups discussing and debating and dissecting this concept. Here’s the plan: four groups, each gets a packet of materials, and decides on a one sentence definition of “democracy.”
Break
3. Who’s Marcus? – This is likely the longest lecture I’ll give all year. I want you to get to know more about my background and my approach to education and learning. It will help you understand the “why” behind a lot of our activities
4. Norms for our class – You’ll make many of the decisions about how we run this class. The first of these is defining norms for the class. This list will change as we move forward, but I want to get some things down on this first day as a baseline about how you want us to work together.
5. Project Introduction – Our first project is A More Perfect Union. It will cover most of the first semester and is likely different than many, or perhaps all, of the projects you’ve done at Animas. It’s open-ended and participatory. I want you to dream big. I’ll give you a short intro and then give you some time to look at the project overview and ask questions.
6. Freewrite – I want you to write for ten minutes about your political philosophy. Bring some of what you studied junior year back into your consciousness. Do you believe in making decisions based on the greatest good for the greatest number? Or are you more libertarian in your outlook? Was Thoreau a visionary or a crackpot? Here are some questions to get you thinking.
· Is the role of the government to solve social problems or to stand back and facilitate solutions coming from business?
· Was World War II a “just war” or are all wars wrong?
· Do plants and animals have right on their own or are they only valuable as resources for human use?
· Should taxes be high or low?
· Should there be limits on how much individuals can spend on political campaigns? Does money equal speech?
Just write. Just get words down on paper. You’ll be revising and refining your political philosophy all semester. I want to see some initial thoughts and have you give yourself a baseline.
7. Exit Ticket – Give me your own one sentence definition of “democracy” in this Google Doc.
Homework
Read the syllabus, note questions, and have parents sign the final page. You’ll turn in this page for points.
Writing assignment: At least a half a page on what success looks like for you this year in your writing. What do you want to get better at? What is your focus? At the end of the year, what will make you happy as a writer?