Early days

9/15: BOTH CLASSES HOMEWORK: Due Monday: Here's the link to the podcast about Benjamin Banneker - focus on the idea of work and pay close attention to Banneker's work, work ethic, etc. Take notes - 10 important ideas, given our reason for listening.

DUE TUESDAY: See "OV reflection assessment 1" attached below.

C Block classwork: See "OV poem packet Day 2..." attached below for classwork AND homework (you can also find that in "OV reflection assessment 1" attached below).

9/14: B Block: See "OV poem packet Day 2..." attached below for classwork AND homework (you can also find that in "OV reflection assessment 1" attached below).

9/13: HOMEWORK: Each student has a poem s/he is working on for the benefit of the group. Read, mark it up, look up words you do not know, use imagery to help you make meaning of the poem (just as we have been doing in class). THEN - use the Berger essay ("One in a Poem" attached below) to dig deeper into the poem (use Berger to look closely at the word level, the line level, larger, etc.) Be diligent to have great things to share with your group.

Playing with the poems today. We worked in pairs to revisit last night's poems. Read John Berger's essay "Once in a Poem" (attached) and marked it up. Reapplied Berger's ideas to Whitman and Hughes in search of deeper understanding. Students formed groups and chose poems to examine as homework.

9/12: B Block homework for tomorrow (Wed) - see ("OV Whitman and Hughes poetry work" + "OV Poem Packet" attached below). C Block - mark up Hughes - think about what we said about Whitman. Compare/contrast.

IN CLASS: Discussion about interdependence and independence at the root of America's founding. We looked at and talked about excerpts form Winthrop's speech, our guiding quote from the Declaration of Independence and the closing of the Declaration (see OV Founding Documents attacher below).

Here's the link to the podcast about Benjamin Banneker (homework for Friday for C Block + Monday for B Block - focus on the idea of work and pay close attention to Banneker's work, work ethic, etc. Take notes - 10 important ideas, given our reason for listening).

9/11: We talked about September 11 and particularly about the way it has been memorialized in art (photographs, poetry and memorials). See the Sept 11 photographs, memorials and poems attached.

9/8: HOMEWORK: Read Peggy Noonan’s “The Sounds That Still Echo from 9/11” (attached below). After you’ve read the essay, please respond on the notecard. The front of the notecard should be a reaction to the essay itself. What struck you? What lines or images do you find most powerful and why? How does Noonan shape the 9/11 experience (what values does she portray, how does she commemorate the day and how do you feel about it?) On the back of the notecard: please write about the essay in terms of both Philip Levine’s quote and Grace Paley’s. How does this essay reflect/ connect to what each of them was saying about America and her values? Does the essay help to deepen/broaden your understanding of the quotes and how? Fill both sides of the card.

IN CLASS: we worked to make meaning of the cornerstone quotes (see attached below).

9/7: B BLOCK: Homework - explore one of the threads we came up with in class from Monk's essay (the list that included roots of anger and empathy in Am history, property as a defining American quality in the Constitution and beyond, protest as part of our DNA, etc.) and apply that thread to arguments made by Kandace Sumner and Malcolm London in their TEDTalks.

se the idea that came from discussion today, then connect that idea to a total of three examples from the two pieces (at least one from each) and explain how each examples connects to Monk's idea (no more than a page).

B AND C IN CLASS: In small groups in class today, we examined Monk's essay to bettie understand why her arguments about the Constitution matter to our understanding of who we are as Americans and to our understanding of our history and/or of the central governing document of our country. We also looked at her introduction and her assertion that the very language of the Preamble of the Constitution makes clear that it is a living document, one designed to wrestle with the complex nature of what it means to be human.

9/6:HOMEWORK: see the bottom of "High School Training Ground" for assignment (attached).

Questions about equality came up on your notecards. Several people asked whether our equality issues are solved and a few asserted that they are (that it should not be bracketed on our list of American values). To explore the today, we are going to look at two TED talks from people in the trenches. The first is "How America's public schools keep kids in poverty" and the second is Malcolm London's performance poem "High School Training Ground."

9/5: B Block: HOMEWORK: Read the excerpt from Linda R. Monk's essay about Citizens as agents of change. On a piece of notebook paper, make a list of 5 ideas that were new to you/interesting/important to discuss. Then, reflect about what you read in light of our conversations about who we are as a people, how we create change, how we make decisions and confront problems, what this means for the issues we are facing now, etc. (reflect for at least half a notebook page).

CLASS: Questions about equality came up on your notecards. Several people asked whether our equality issues are solved and a few asserted that they are (that it should not be bracketed on our list of American values). To explore the today, we are going to look at two TED talks from people in the trenches. The first is "How America's public schools keep kids in poverty" and the second is Malcolm London's performance poem "High School Training Ground."

9/1: C Block: HOMEWORK: Read the excerpt from Linda R. Monk's essay about Citizens as agents of change. On a piece of notebook paper, make a list of 5 ideas that were new to you/interesting/important to discuss. Then, reflect about what you read in light of our conversations about who we are as a people, how we create change, how we make decisions and confront problems, what this means for the issues we are facing now, etc. (reflect for at least half a notebook page).

We discussed yesterday's work and the problem of (and possible solutions for) the monuments.

B Block: See yesterday's C Block for today's work.

8/31: C Block: Next, I want to return to the announced topic of the Unite the Right rally – removal of Confederate statues. Before we start, in your journals, write about how you feel about removal of these statues and why. Your feelings can be mixed, you can write about questions you have, etc. (I won’t be reading this but you will need it later). Think, too, about the reason for monuments – they should reflect who we are and what we value.

I want to push you to think about this topic from two different perspectives. To this end, I have posted on the “Early Days” page two opposing view of the controversy – one is a brief interview with Andrew Young (he was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement with Dr. King and later mayor of Atlanta). The other is a podcast that seeks to illustrate the problem of living with the statues. As you listen, please take notes (if you need to stop and take a break, please do).

B Block: Pair up and introduce each other to your American heroes. Then join another pair and do the same. Together, come up with the American values that you think your heroes possess. ON BIG PAPER write at least three of those values down/ Choose one hero to share with the class. Write that hero’s name (in marker and big enough to see) and a quick intro (like Feminist Warrior) and your name on the white construction slips. HOMEWORK: Please spend some time writing about your own view about some of the issues swirling in our country right now

8/30: HOMEWORK: Think about today’s discussion (and yesterday’s) and about how you view America, our values, and especially who YOU look to as a model of those values. Please share with me two American heroes YOU have (one on each side of the card). These can be people who we traditionally think of as heroes (presidents, leaders of movements, etc) or they can be “regular” people who model for you what it means to be American. Introduce me to your hero, how/when you “met” him/her, how s/he inspires, what values s/he possesses (show me this by using examples from his/her life). Fill each side of the card.

In class: We are going to spend some time today looking at Sean Rayford’s photographs from the incidents in Charlottesville earlier this month. We are looking at these photographs so we can have a discussion about the events in Charlottesville and beyond and think about what these photographs (and the event itself) say about American values and ideals, about whether we agree or not about those values and about Mattis’ notion about inspiration and intimidation as America’s two powers. Scroll down the photos just to get a sense of what is there. I’d like you to focus on two of the photos. For each photograph, start by describing what you see in the photograph: describe setting, describe characters, describe props, describe “plot” including interactions/relationships (between people, between people and props, people and setting, etc.), and conflict. Then, read back over what you have written, look again at the photograph and word associate (brainstorm a list of words that connect to what you see in the photo). Look at the words, the description of the photograph and what you wrote yesterday and write a little about how/what these all tell you about America, American values, etc. right now.

8/29: Please copy these quotes in your journals and respond to at least one of them (write for five minutes). "I don't think anyone doubts the American people's values" - Rex Tillerson, Sec. of State.

The United States has two powers -"the power of inspiration ...[and] the power of intimidation" - James Mattis, Defense Secretary