[Minute of Mindfulness: I'm going to think on this Zen proverb: "You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes a day. Unless you're too busy; then you should sit for an hour."]
JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Taking Care of Business" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive; "Business by Eminem]
What thoughts came up for you during our minute of mindfulness? Did you let them go, or did you choose to focus on one? What "business" do you have to take care of today that may deter you from the things you really want to do-- not just relaxing, but thinking about and doing the things that will help you create the life you really want? To put this another way, what will you do to avoid becoming the sort of outwardly successful and inwardly miserable characters that we are reading about?
AGENDA:
1. [MOM]
2. Journal
3. That thing that we all love to do, oh so #$%!@%&!! much
4. Gatsby Chapter 3
5. Q & A and plan for finishing the chapter
POST:
1. Gatsby reading notes on Chapter 3 (title: NOW IT'S A PARTY/ GATSBY CHAPTER 3)
2. (by Monday) Something that occurs to you during the six minutes (minimum) you give yourself to think about your Big Question this weekend (MY MOM ON MY BIG QUESTION) [Note: "MOM" stands for "Minutes of Mindfulness" so you should probably explain that in your post.]
Friday, February 7, 2020
Thursday, February 6, 2020
february 6
[Minute of Mindfulness: Is there something in your life that is incomplete? How does this make you feel?]
JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Symphony No. 8 in B Minor" by Franz Schubert, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic]
The day before yesterday, some classes nearly finished reading Chapter One of The Great Gatsby together before the bell rang. Yesterday, we nearly got to the part in Chapter Two when Tom (well, you'll see today). Almost every day, I leave campus thinking of things that we didn't have quite enough time to read, discuss, consider, or do. We place a huge value on finishing things; today I am wondering about the value of incompleteness (if you really want to geek out on this, you can read about how mathematics and logic -- and therefore a great deal of our thinking about everything-- is incomplete... articles on Stanford's philosophy site and Wikipedia). What is the value of an unfinished symphony that leaves the next steps or the ending up to us?
AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Gatsby pp. _____ (finish Chapter 2 and get into Chapter 3)
POST:
1. Post your Gatsby reading notes (title: GATSBY pp. ___)
2. Set a goal based on today's conversations and describe it in a post entitled, MY UN/FINISHED SYMPHONY
JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Symphony No. 8 in B Minor" by Franz Schubert, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic]
The day before yesterday, some classes nearly finished reading Chapter One of The Great Gatsby together before the bell rang. Yesterday, we nearly got to the part in Chapter Two when Tom (well, you'll see today). Almost every day, I leave campus thinking of things that we didn't have quite enough time to read, discuss, consider, or do. We place a huge value on finishing things; today I am wondering about the value of incompleteness (if you really want to geek out on this, you can read about how mathematics and logic -- and therefore a great deal of our thinking about everything-- is incomplete... articles on Stanford's philosophy site and Wikipedia). What is the value of an unfinished symphony that leaves the next steps or the ending up to us?
AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Gatsby pp. _____ (finish Chapter 2 and get into Chapter 3)
POST:
1. Post your Gatsby reading notes (title: GATSBY pp. ___)
2. Set a goal based on today's conversations and describe it in a post entitled, MY UN/FINISHED SYMPHONY
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
check out the new guy!
I'm always impressed when a student joins a new class, looks around, and realizes that there is a secret network within that class whose members decided to create it in the first place.
That has to be weird.
Can you imagine joining this happy freak show over halfway through the year and trying to figure things out as you go?
We have a few new students, and they are making their way into the Open-Source Learning network. Welcome to Valentina, Nelson, Pimo, and Angel (if I'm forgetting someone please comment to this post). It reminds me of that great quote from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book: "The strength of the wolf is the pack, and the strength of the pack is the wolf."
Please take a few moments today to check out your fellow wolves' blogs and encourage each other. You can see Angel's blog by clicking HERE:
That has to be weird.
Can you imagine joining this happy freak show over halfway through the year and trying to figure things out as you go?
We have a few new students, and they are making their way into the Open-Source Learning network. Welcome to Valentina, Nelson, Pimo, and Angel (if I'm forgetting someone please comment to this post). It reminds me of that great quote from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book: "The strength of the wolf is the pack, and the strength of the pack is the wolf."
Please take a few moments today to check out your fellow wolves' blogs and encourage each other. You can see Angel's blog by clicking HERE:
february 5
[Minute of Mindfulness/suggestion: What do you imagine will give you the freedom to really go for what you want in life?]
JOURNAL TOPIC: (today's tunes: "Green Light" by John Legend w Andre 3000; "Green Light" by Lorde)
Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby ends with Nick (our narrator) seeing Gatsby reach out toward a green light (the end of a dock?) across the water. Take a guess: given what you know about green, and lights, what do you imagine this symbol can possibly mean? Use the epigraph and anything else we've read/discussed so far to support your idea.
-AND-
Let's talk Gatsby! What do you want to talk about today? What did you read over the last two days that's worth writing about and/or asking questions about?
AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Gatsby plot, characters, and discussion topics
3. Fitzgerald's style/techniques
4. Checking in: are we on the same page? Continue reading
5. Your Big Question
6. Our reading schedule
POST:
1. Today's Gatsby reading notes (title: Gatsby pp. _-_)
2. Make a list of three things you will do next regarding your Big Question (title: BQGSD; define this in your post :)
JOURNAL TOPIC: (today's tunes: "Green Light" by John Legend w Andre 3000; "Green Light" by Lorde)
Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby ends with Nick (our narrator) seeing Gatsby reach out toward a green light (the end of a dock?) across the water. Take a guess: given what you know about green, and lights, what do you imagine this symbol can possibly mean? Use the epigraph and anything else we've read/discussed so far to support your idea.
-AND-
Let's talk Gatsby! What do you want to talk about today? What did you read over the last two days that's worth writing about and/or asking questions about?
AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Gatsby plot, characters, and discussion topics
3. Fitzgerald's style/techniques
4. Checking in: are we on the same page? Continue reading
5. Your Big Question
6. Our reading schedule
POST:
1. Today's Gatsby reading notes (title: Gatsby pp. _-_)
2. Make a list of three things you will do next regarding your Big Question (title: BQGSD; define this in your post :)
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
gatsby audio
Some of you have asked me about an audio recording of the book. (Full disclosure: I haven't listened to this. If it's good, please comment and let me know. If it sucks, please comment and let me know.)
february 4
JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "War" by Edwin Starr; "Give Peace A Chance" by The Plastic Ono Band]
[Minute of Mindfulness: Focus on a conflict-- within yourself, between yourself and someone else, or between other people-- and ask what it would take to resolve it. *Or, as always, you can think about nothing.]
Ever since we read yesterday (and talked about the Rotary scholarship essay) I've been thinking about conflict. Whatever else we learned from the exposition, the author definitely gave us the idea that some things don't seem to go together. Like whoever Gatsby really is and the "great" version the epigraph recommends to anyone wanting the attention of a lover. And what about the narrator? He seems like he goes against his family's tradition to move to New York, where he doesn't fit in with the millionaires-- and he even got the idea when he came back from... World War I. What do you think of these conflicts? Do you think they will matter in the book? Do you think they matter in life? Please explain your answer.
-OR-
Choose a character or a moment in the book and describe it like you’re telling a friend about something that happened at lunch. This will tell me what gets your attention, what affects your mood as a reader, and what you remember. (Obviously, it will also tell me what you’ve read and understand.) When it comes to the characters and their words and actions, be as judgmental as you want.
AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Keep reading (as a class, in groups, or by yourself) and taking notes
3. You should be posting to your blog EVERY DAY now as part of your routine. You can do this during the last part of the period if that makes it easier. Please post your notes (title: GATSBY pages xx-xx). (Don’t type “xx” — use the pages you/we read that day.) You can also post about any Big Question work you’re doing and anything else you want to share with your readers.
[Minute of Mindfulness: Focus on a conflict-- within yourself, between yourself and someone else, or between other people-- and ask what it would take to resolve it. *Or, as always, you can think about nothing.]
Ever since we read yesterday (and talked about the Rotary scholarship essay) I've been thinking about conflict. Whatever else we learned from the exposition, the author definitely gave us the idea that some things don't seem to go together. Like whoever Gatsby really is and the "great" version the epigraph recommends to anyone wanting the attention of a lover. And what about the narrator? He seems like he goes against his family's tradition to move to New York, where he doesn't fit in with the millionaires-- and he even got the idea when he came back from... World War I. What do you think of these conflicts? Do you think they will matter in the book? Do you think they matter in life? Please explain your answer.
-OR-
Choose a character or a moment in the book and describe it like you’re telling a friend about something that happened at lunch. This will tell me what gets your attention, what affects your mood as a reader, and what you remember. (Obviously, it will also tell me what you’ve read and understand.) When it comes to the characters and their words and actions, be as judgmental as you want.
AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Keep reading (as a class, in groups, or by yourself) and taking notes
3. You should be posting to your blog EVERY DAY now as part of your routine. You can do this during the last part of the period if that makes it easier. Please post your notes (title: GATSBY pages xx-xx). (Don’t type “xx” — use the pages you/we read that day.) You can also post about any Big Question work you’re doing and anything else you want to share with your readers.
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LAST POST OF THE SCHOOL YEAR/ june 3 w online meeting #50
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