May 27, 2016

IRT: ~15 minutes

Students who revised the Messages essay turned them in for a second look.

We started a discussion on philosophy with the idea of kindness. We watched the "Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley" skit from Saturday Night Live. I shared the quote, "Never underestimate the power of a kind word," then students worked in groups to list as many motivational messages they could think of, from posters to greeting cards. After they created a list, I asked students to choose which of those messages they would like to receive when they were having a bad day. Students then anonymously wrote a message or two on an index card and turned them in. These will turn up again soon!

Students took time to discuss the word "philosophy" in their groups, determining what the word meant and what people are famous for it. We learned that "philosophy" comes from the Greek words "philo" and "sophia," meaning "loving" and "wisdom or knowledge." While most philosophers we're familiar with are dead Greek guys like Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates, students also mentioned Confucius, Marx, and Nietzsche. Since wisdom and knowledge are derived from questions, students created a list of universal questions that we seek answers to. After about 4 minutes, I shared Dr. Jacob Needleman's list of 9 great philosophical questions. Many lists contained variations of most of the questions!

Needleman's Nine Questions

I also gave students a quote to ponder over the long weekend. We will start with this on Tuesday.

Students used the remaining class time to work on the reading ladder and IRT questions and assessments, two parts of the Reading Recap assignment. They'll receive the last part on Tuesday.

Coming Up:
Thursday-Tuesday, 5/26-31: Independent Reading Activities (minor grade)
Wednesday, 6/1: 1st and 2nd period Final Exams
Thursday, 6/2: 3rd and 4th period Final Exams; early release