May 31

ELA B30: May 31 Hamlet reading begins…

1. We started off today’s class with a question, posed to one student. Andrew K, you have a dilema! Your best friend, Kale, has just come to you, at the party you’re enjoying, to tell you that your girlfriend, the one you’ve loved and been with for two years, Chelbie, was over in the corner with another guy! Chris Noll, of all people! You don’t believe it but Kale is adament that he saw the two of them making out!
You are in shock, but you talk to Chelbie about it and ask her, “What’s up with this!?!?” Poor Chelbie is at a loss because she swears she hasn’t talked to Chris, hasn’t seen him, and certainly wasn’t fooling around with him. “Why would Kale make up his garbage,” she cries. She reminds Andrew of how much she loves him, to which he absolutely believes. He never really could believe she’d make out with Chris, but why would Kale approach him and tell him that?
What does Andrew do? Does he take any action, or does he mull over the situation, put off making any changes to either relationship, because he doesn’t trust himself to make the right decision? Maybe, he thinks, if he does nothing, nothing with have to change, things can stay as they are. Then it’s like nothing really happened.
Except Kale has been a little “touchy” wondering why Andrew hasn’t dumped this girl yet. “Dude, you know what she did to you! Why is she still around?!”
But Andrew has no real response, other than he’s not sure.
Chelbie, too, is getting more annoyed. “This guy is trying to cause problems! Why would you still be his friend? He told you lies about me! If you love me, you’d trust me and lose him!”
Things are getting tense for poor Andrew. He does not know what to do. Act, and he could make the wrong decision, put everything off, and maybe nothing has to change. Except it is already. Things cannot go back to the trusting world he used to know. Nope, now he’s suspicious of everything, mistrusting of everyone, and acting jumpy with every moment. Poor Andrew is only putting off the inevitable.

**********************

Students laughed at this little story but they carefully mulled over the potential agony of the moment. What would you do, in Andrew’s place? Both people you trust dearly, yet one of them must be mistaken or toying with you.
Hamlet was in a similar situation, except it wasn’t a friend that told him something and a girlfriend that denied it. It was his dead father’s Ghost that told Hamlet that he was murdered, a murder most foul, and that it was Hamlet’s own uncle, brother to his dead father, who did the deed!!

Hamlet isn’t sure whether to trust this ghost though. Everyone knows ghosts tell you slight truths to lead you to your death, they play with your fate, and they cannot be trusted. But what if this is true? Hamlet spends the whole play putting off his decision until he is absolutely forced to act, and through his delay he causes the deaths of almost all the rest of the characters of the play.

It is a crazy story! Intruiging and absolutely one of the most detailed and vivid stories to read. How do you make your decisions, and how much do you doubt yourself when you do? You have to decide which post-secondary school to go to. Hamlet had to decide whether to Kill his Uncle, and fear that it would lead him to eternal hell!! Don’t YOU have it easy. lol
2. Students were handed out play books, they read through a typed sheet of information to know before beginning the play, and then we read along as the Audio CD wonderfully acted out the play for us in our mind’s imagination.

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May 31

Hist 30: May 31 Question period in the House of Commons…

1. Yesterday, with just a handful of students in class, we had some great discussions. One of these was a talk about the House of Commons and the difference between a minority and majority government. I had the kids turn their desks to face the middle of the room, we moved Meagan Dyck to the back to play the Speaker of the House Of Commons, and I did a little role play to show just how interesting it gets during the sessions. Today, students joined me in the projector room and we watched clips of footage from Question Period. It gets crazy! It gets loud, and rowdy, and there is a lot of posturing or making themselves look good for the camera. The question was, “How, do you imagine, does the actual work of running the country and making progress in decisions actually happen, despite all this noise?!”
The kids loved the videos!
2. We moved back into the classroom shortly and continued with our notes.

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May 30

Hist 30: May 30 Great discussion… and notes…

  1. Many students were not in attendance today, and a few others were still touring. However, we continued on with class. With there being a smaller, more intimate, group to share with, we had some great discussions about different concepts we have covered in class.  We discussed more the difference between a minority and majority government, we discussed more about NORAD and how there are several countries with radars established to guard against (Communist owned) missiles, and we did a little role playing about what a day in the life of an MP in the House of Commons is really like. It was a great discussion today in class. Unfortunate so many missed it.
May 30

ELA B10: May 30 End of Act II, different faces of Lady M…

  1. Students finished reading the final scene in Act II. They responded to the questions together and that finishes the complicating part of the Five-part plot line.
  2. Students were reminded their First Person Naration (from the perspective of Macbeth or Lady M) is due today. ]
  3. Also, yesterday, students used their class time to draw Bloody Hands, from the point of view of the owner of the hands (palms up preferably). They have to attach a quote that highlights the conflict in either character’s mind after they have performed the murder.
  4. Students went to the projector room to look at a few videos.   Continue reading
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May 29

Hist 30: May 29 Continuation of discussion through notes…

  1. We began yesterday reading through the typed notes for Unit four. As I read through the points, students have to fill in the missing words on their handout. They also are asked to write things in the margins when we cover a topic that could use more description or explanation. (I have been really pleased with how their listening skills have developed and some are getting better at recognizing that the few minutes it takes to write the extra information pays off in the end with higher marks and better understanding. Good job!)
  2. We had a good discussion, despite a few students interupting (CHRIS AND CALVIN), about the Security Council of the United Nations. Having watched the movie The Interpreter in English earlier this year, students should have a clear understanding of the function and set up the the U.N. The Security Council is a group of five countries that are stronger, more prominent powers that were allied together during the Second World War. These five countries EACH have veto power to overrule anything the other nations pass.
  3. We discussed, briefly, how Truman was able to get the “okay” from the U.N. and not be vetoed by countries in the Security Council, namely the Soviet Union and China, in order to begin their entry into the Korea War. Obviously, since the Soviets were fighting for the spread of Communism in Korea, and the Americans were fighting to stop that, all the Soviets had to do was use their veto power and the authorization to go to war would have been withheld. At the time, though, China was disallowed from being involved with the U.N. and Security Council and the Soviets were boycotting their involvement as well until China was allowed back in. This was Truman’s chance to bypass both the Soviets and China and get the approval for war, because those countries weren’t present to say ‘nay’. Interesting, hmm? Timing is as important in history as it is in life.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/ntASasnaww4" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Here is a report on sanctions the Security Council more recently imposed against Iran for continuing to enrich their Uranium industry, a possible nuclear danger to the world.

May 29

MdSt 20: May 29 Dixie Chick documentary ends…

intro-to-unit.doc

  1. Number one: How fitting it seemed that there were only girls in class today. Several students were away for their golf lessons while others went to help Mr. Berner haul stuff for I.A. class.
  2. The documentary finished up today and had a very emotional ending. I think everyone enjoyed watching it.
  3. Tomorrow, we will have the Online – Research portion of your exam. Since our school is having an Open House tomorrow and we expect several guests, parents and students, from Willow Bunch, students can do the online portion and let a friend or two sit beside them as they do their search to find information on one of five given topics.
  4. The written portion of the exam will be on Thursday and include any of the information we have covered in the unit, from handouts to the documentaries we have watched. Click on the above attachment for a reminder of the concepts we have covered in this unit. 
  5. *Also, see yesterday’s blog entry for some clips of the Dixie Chick documentary. If you were not able to catch the ending, there are some clips of it posted there.