Dear Pumpkins:
Due to the fact that today (Friday) will be a "day of rest" per se, I want to get some vital info dessimnated to you all now in case I don't have time in class. We may be hearing some OPs from the dirty slackers, and I don't want them to OFFICIALLY AND COMPLETELY RUN OUT OF TIME FOR OCCASIONAL PAPERS. Jerks. Moving on...
I have been feverishly thinking about the coming months and all of the things I want to teach you, in addition to all of the OTHER things I have to teach you in order to prep for the Exam. For me, this is a daunting task because it directly depends on multitasking and time-management skills, neither of which are my forte. Therefore, in addition to the ongoing questions I post for you on Sunday nights, I am also going to use this blog as a mode of communication for things we don't always have time for in class. A lot of the AP practice stuff is going to be your responsibility to do at home, while class time will be devoted to answering questions about practice stuff, learning tricks to memorize concepts and most of all, critically thinking about "things." These "things" will come in many forms: social issues, personal stuff, building confidence and most of all...learning about yourselves.
So, as you all know, in the coming month(s), you will be doing speeches and public debating. Speeches will come first, as doing them will directly impact the development of your style of debating. So, what I would like you to do over the course of the next few days is to THINK. I want you to spend some quality time ruminating on what is important to you. In class, we briefly discussed this, and many of you said things that were important, but as Matt Capone said, probably aren't the real causes you want to champion. That is what I want you to think about very carefully. What cause DO you want to champion? What MATTERS to you? Think hard about this, because you will be making a (hopefully) impassioned speech about what you decide. Think and think and think. Discuss with friends, teachers and parents about it. Arm yourself with knowledge about whatever it is. And get ready to have some fun.....
Til we meet again....love yas.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Bunje Loves You
'Ello poppets. I hope this short pause in school action was restful for you, and that your weekend respite has prepared you for the rigors of what lay ahead..i.e the dreaded midterms.
After careful consideration and internal debate about what is best for you, I have made an executive decision to forego this week's blog assignment in lieu of all the mid terms that need your attention. Therefore, you are free from deep, intellectual thoughts, questions with no answers and subjective definitions of words, concepts and ideas that have definitions already. You may use this space as you wish, or you may log off happily with no threat of reprimand. If you find yourself at your wits' end due to the massive amounts of studying needed for various AP and CP midterms, please feel free to post and get your feelings out so that they do not sabotage your success on these loathesome tests. I will miss you this week, and look forward to seeing you when this madness is over. Good Luck!
BTW--although I shouldn't because it will ruin my rep as a heartless hardass, anyone who did not have time to read their OP can do so on Friday, or if there is time, on the day of your respective Lang midterm. Don't wait til the last minute again or I'll kill you. Jerks.
After careful consideration and internal debate about what is best for you, I have made an executive decision to forego this week's blog assignment in lieu of all the mid terms that need your attention. Therefore, you are free from deep, intellectual thoughts, questions with no answers and subjective definitions of words, concepts and ideas that have definitions already. You may use this space as you wish, or you may log off happily with no threat of reprimand. If you find yourself at your wits' end due to the massive amounts of studying needed for various AP and CP midterms, please feel free to post and get your feelings out so that they do not sabotage your success on these loathesome tests. I will miss you this week, and look forward to seeing you when this madness is over. Good Luck!
BTW--although I shouldn't because it will ruin my rep as a heartless hardass, anyone who did not have time to read their OP can do so on Friday, or if there is time, on the day of your respective Lang midterm. Don't wait til the last minute again or I'll kill you. Jerks.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Barbara Walters? Katie Couric? Bahh!!
Well, here we are. Once again, poised on the precipice of history. Tomorrow, Barack Obama will be sworn in as our 44th President of the United States. Love him, hate him or ambivalent about him, his candicacy and now his presidency has proven that our nation has undergone some pretty significant changes over the past 50 years.
Tomorrow, we will be attempting to watch some of the coverage of the inauguration as it unfolds, and if you have been keeping up with it, you probably have seen that it is a pretty happening time down there in DC. Springsteen, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, John Legend,Bono, Bon Jovi, Alicia Keyes, MJ Blige--not to mention Jamie Fox, Leo DiCaprio and Satan...err, I mean Oprah, all putting in some face time to support Barack.
Alas, here we are..in sunny Mays Landing rather than snowy DC, BUT, that does not mean that we can't be a part of these events, or at least, imagine that we are. So, this week, let's take a break from looking into our internal mirrors and think about the future..our futures.
The next four years will be a big deal for you. When the next election rolls around, you will be juniors in college, getting ready to graduate, possibly making some valuable contacts for future employment, maybe getting ready to take the GREs. Whatever you will be doing, the one thing that is for certain is that your college careers will be drawing to a close. So, whether or not you supported Obama this election won't matter--what does matter is that his 4 years in Office will determine what the landscape of your future opportunities are going to look like.
So...this week, what I would like to ask you is this...
If YOU had some face time with Obama, what advice would you like to give him about the next four years? What would you ask him for in terms of your future? And last, what advice would you give his 2 daughters as they grow up in the White House?
(400 words/65pts)
Tomorrow, we will be attempting to watch some of the coverage of the inauguration as it unfolds, and if you have been keeping up with it, you probably have seen that it is a pretty happening time down there in DC. Springsteen, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, John Legend,Bono, Bon Jovi, Alicia Keyes, MJ Blige--not to mention Jamie Fox, Leo DiCaprio and Satan...err, I mean Oprah, all putting in some face time to support Barack.
Alas, here we are..in sunny Mays Landing rather than snowy DC, BUT, that does not mean that we can't be a part of these events, or at least, imagine that we are. So, this week, let's take a break from looking into our internal mirrors and think about the future..our futures.
The next four years will be a big deal for you. When the next election rolls around, you will be juniors in college, getting ready to graduate, possibly making some valuable contacts for future employment, maybe getting ready to take the GREs. Whatever you will be doing, the one thing that is for certain is that your college careers will be drawing to a close. So, whether or not you supported Obama this election won't matter--what does matter is that his 4 years in Office will determine what the landscape of your future opportunities are going to look like.
So...this week, what I would like to ask you is this...
If YOU had some face time with Obama, what advice would you like to give him about the next four years? What would you ask him for in terms of your future? And last, what advice would you give his 2 daughters as they grow up in the White House?
(400 words/65pts)
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Welcome to Hogwarts
Did you hold the door open for anyone today? Did you let anyone step in front of you on your way into school, the cafeteria, a classroom? Lend anyone a pencil, pick up a fallen book or paper? For most of you, the answer is probably yes, you did in fact do one or more of those things. All of you are well-mannered, considerate and generally just a nice bunch of kids. So, for today, or the next 4 days as it were, let's take that one step further. This will require a bit of imagination, introspection and innovation, so again, don't sit down to this blog on Wednesday night at 11pm and think you can do a respectable job on it.
Ok, so imagine, one morning, after a kindly old wizard--who bears a striking resemblance to Albus Dumbledore--visits you, you awaken with the power to give one person anything in the entire universe. What would it be and why?
Now, that question, while startling limited in word content, is not as simple or straighforward as it seems.
I am not actually asking you to go ask someone what wish they would like to have granted (which seems like the obvious assumption given that I started off talking about wizards and magic),I am asking you what YOU want to give someone if you had the power to give them anything, and I am asking you to explain that choice. Additionally, because there is always an "additionally," I would also like to know what advice you would give this person after you have bestowed this "gift" upon him or her.
(500 words/75pts)
Ok, so imagine, one morning, after a kindly old wizard--who bears a striking resemblance to Albus Dumbledore--visits you, you awaken with the power to give one person anything in the entire universe. What would it be and why?
Now, that question, while startling limited in word content, is not as simple or straighforward as it seems.
I am not actually asking you to go ask someone what wish they would like to have granted (which seems like the obvious assumption given that I started off talking about wizards and magic),I am asking you what YOU want to give someone if you had the power to give them anything, and I am asking you to explain that choice. Additionally, because there is always an "additionally," I would also like to know what advice you would give this person after you have bestowed this "gift" upon him or her.
(500 words/75pts)
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Webster's Says....
Warning: You cannot respond to this blog in less than 15 minutes. Manage your time wisely, poppets.
Now that we are back with a brand new year to work with, it's time to sit back and do some introspective reflection.
Every day, you wake up, go through your morning rituals, come to school, do your thing(s), go home, go through your evening rituals and then go to bed. There are obviously some variations to this routine from time to time, and I am not trying to downplay your life in any way by making it sound mundane; that is not the idea here. What I am saying is, through all these daily activities, rituals and routines people interact with you. They talk to you, refer to you, question you, yell at you, soothe you, talk about you, defer to you or, in some cases, though hopefully not many, ignore you completely. The point is, they KNOW who you are, at least enough to do one or more of the previous things. But, when you stop to think about it, do they really know? And, more importantly, do YOU?
Beyond names, job titles or academic accomplishments, beyond labels given by yourself or by others, beyond traits and hobbies and virtues... who are you? Who are you inside? If you had to write your name, and then your definition, what would it say?(substantive response/70pts)
Now that we are back with a brand new year to work with, it's time to sit back and do some introspective reflection.
Every day, you wake up, go through your morning rituals, come to school, do your thing(s), go home, go through your evening rituals and then go to bed. There are obviously some variations to this routine from time to time, and I am not trying to downplay your life in any way by making it sound mundane; that is not the idea here. What I am saying is, through all these daily activities, rituals and routines people interact with you. They talk to you, refer to you, question you, yell at you, soothe you, talk about you, defer to you or, in some cases, though hopefully not many, ignore you completely. The point is, they KNOW who you are, at least enough to do one or more of the previous things. But, when you stop to think about it, do they really know? And, more importantly, do YOU?
Beyond names, job titles or academic accomplishments, beyond labels given by yourself or by others, beyond traits and hobbies and virtues... who are you? Who are you inside? If you had to write your name, and then your definition, what would it say?(substantive response/70pts)
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