On the advice of Ft. St. James teacher Ms. Inden, we watched this TED talk on the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the resilience of the "babushkas" that refused to leave. We had (what I think was) a great discussion afterwards about emotional attachment, impact of experience on the body and mind, memory of landscapes, nature vs nurture, respect for ancestors (in Aboriginal culture and elsewhere), the power of dreams, and genetics. It was interesting to throw in this CBC story about how memories of fear can be passed on from father to son (in rats, anyways).
TASK: Leave a comment on Ms. Inden's class blog <geography12.wordpress.com> -- choose one of these options:
1) respond to her prompt about what HOME means to you. You are well practiced in this having done a few "topophilia" related writing assignments.
2) respond to the Chernobyl video, your thoughts about why the babushkas were so stubborn about staying and what this says about people's connection to place
You'll notice that many of Ms. Inden's students did both -- connections to home, to place, and also their analysis of the Chernobyl story. You could also choose one of these
3) respond to a comment left by one of her students -- maybe something said struck a chord with you and you could write a bit about your thoughts
4) respond to the class discussion we had with your own thoughts -- was there something you wish you could have added to the discussion?
It was really great that one of our students has some prior knowledge about Chernobyl... Dyllan was able to share some insight into the nature of the disaster and thoughts about what the future held for the region. She also shared some great links:
Continuing with the theme of TED talks, let's take a look at a few that relate to the theme of poetry, something we'll study in the next couple of weeks. Take a look through the options at http://www.ted.com/topics/poetry -- there are three pages worth of titles. You'll notice that some include poetry, some are about poetry, and some are just "poetic" in nature. Maybe a few that don't fit at all. Look at a few (read the summary), and pick ONE to view. Next, compose a news article as if you were an audience member during the talk and were reviewing or reporting out about what you heard, learned, and thought about the talk. TASK: Save your article or review in your files and place a copy in your portfolio (do not leave it as a comment here). Should fit on one page -- keep it under 400 words. Here are some tips for writing reviews (pull some ideas out for writing a review on a TED talk):
http://www.spiritofbaraka.com/how-write-a-movie-review
http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specific-types-of-writing/book-review
http://bookercritics.wordpress.com/writing-documentary-reviews/
Also, just read through the comments on the talk you picked -- this will give you ideas about different ways to think about what was said.
FRIDAY - FLEX BLOCK - DEC 6th
For seminar on Friday, we'll be looking ahead to upcoming Geography and English learning outcomes and sharing where we're at with our responses to the Book Circles. Maybe we can try to recreate/imitate the diverse and thoughtful discussion we had today! When you are not in seminar, here's your Flex assignment... find a powerful TED talk, one that makes you think, and respond with your (deep!) thoughts in a well-written paragraph. Take your time to get to know the search tools -- get closer to a topic that really interests you before you start reading or viewing too much -- this does not have to be a talk about something related to our English and Geography topics, it is purely something that grabs your attention. TASK: Try writing down your thoughts immediately after you watch the one you pick, and then come back after a few minutes (maybe after sandwich break?) to write more and edit. Proof read your work, read it out to yourself to see if it makes sense, leave a copy in your portfolio, and paste the paragraph into a comment for this blog post. A reminder -- your comment here is both an indication of what you learned and also a way for me to check that you used your Flex time as intended. The comment can/should be left anytime on Fri., Dec 6th.
Be Great- Juilet Doherty at TED
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoGItvOQOow
When I read the assignment on the website, I knew exactly what TED I was going to do. It was posted exactly a year ago today, and every day since then, I wake up listening to this speech, and fall asleep to it too. I connected to it immediately because both the speaker and I are dancers, and it relates so much to my everyday life, as well as my dance life. We get so caught up in every day life; trying to meet peoples high expectations as well as our own. We wake up everyday with the bar set incredibly high, even if we don’t know it. There are so many things to think about, we get so mixed up at times and forget about ourselves, and how to be great. I’ve known Juliet for a long time, and have been able to see her growth via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Everyday she wakes up with a sense of starting over fresh. There are always new goals to be reached and small things that affect your life greatly. She is constantly reminding people how great they are, and how much that can positively affect your life. Whenever I’m sad, I either turn to Juliet’s TED talk, or her twitter feed for a constant reminder that I’m great, and so is everyone else. She just stresses how important it is to just enjoy life, its short. ☺
Paige C.
Magnus Larsson: Turning dunes into architecture
ReplyDeleteI've always loved architecture but I've always been discouraged that I can't make a brand me house design because all of the designs have been made. The design that Magnus Larsson shows is awesome! The idea of having dune like shelters is brilliant. My love of Star Wars also comes in because its like Tatooine's housing. The design allows for open space and comfortable living. Obviously there's risk because of sand storms but its possible to seal the holes in the house so the sand storm won't get in. Solar energy can be the source of powers in the house because the days are hot and long. Nights could prove to be difficult because it can get very cold in the desert but the energy saved from the day could heat the nights. It's interesting to see a natural landform that is consider to be in one of the deadliest places on earth as a home. Even though these designs won't come into the world for a while its great to see humans finding new ways of living.