For class: Budget Workshop
Here is the worksheet to develop your budget. Once you see how much money you have left after salaries, write out how you might spend this money (tech, extra-curriculars, enrichment, etc)
Spreadsheet – You need to either save a new copy, or download this to excel to work on it.
For Class: Designing Your Dream School
Here are the instructions for your final project.
For class: Mission and Vision
3 things to consider:
what is your overall goal?
what is your population?
what is your philosophy about the best way to teach kids?
Take a look at the following mission/visions as a guide:
Friday Exam Prompt:
Please write a commentary on the following passage (you may print this if you’d like)
PASSAGE:
‘Foreigners are not very popular here,’ Mr Butler told me at breakfast. ‘So I don’t think you ought to go out alone.’
My heart sank. I hated to be dependent on other people. They would never want to do what I wanted to do. I began to feel imprisoned. I took up the moth-eaten balls and the old tennis racket which were lying in the hall, and went into the garden.
I hit the balls fiercely against the stable doors until I was too hot and unhappy to go on. I sat brooding on the steps. I might have been in Sydenham for all I could see – a European villa and a line of poplars; yet outside lay a Chinese city which I was longing to explore.
After lunch I decided that I could stand it no longer. Mr Butler and Mr Roote were still deep in their morning’s discussion, so I let myself quickly out of the back gate and walked along the sandy lane which led into the country. Mr Butler could not mind my walking in the country, I thought.
Everything was still and silent, in an early-afternoon torpor. The only sound came from the stunted bushes which squeaked and grated linguistically as the wind passed through them. Pillars and scarves of dust and sand rose up from the ground, eddying and swirling themselves into flat sheets which hovered in the air. Harsh spears of grass stuck up through the sand. The soles of my shoes began to burn and I looked round vainly for some shady place. I enjoyed the dreamlike stillness and wanted to stay out for as long as possible. I thought that if I walked on I might find a place. The road led towards the hills.
Across the sandy plain the city walls stood up like cliffs. Turrets and bastions were ruined cottages, crumbling into the sea.
I walked on, fixing my eyes on a black speck some way in front of me. I wondered if it could be a cat crouching in the middle of the road; or perhaps it was a dark boulder.
As I drew nearer, a haze of flies suddenly lifted, and I saw that the object was not black but pink. The loathsome flies hovered angrily above it, buzzing like dynamos. I bent my head down to see what it was. I stared at it stupidly until my numbed senses suddenly awoke again. Then I jumped back, my throat quite dry and my stomach churning.
The thing was a human head. The nose and eyes had been eaten away and the black hair was caked and grey with dust. Odd white teeth stood up like ninepins in its dark, gaping mouth. Its cheeks and shrivelled lips were plastered black with dried blood, and I saw long coarse hairs growing out of its ears.
Because it was so terrible, my eyes had to return to it whenever I looked away. I stared into its raw eye-sockets until waves of sickness spread over me. Then I ran. The whole plain and the bare hills had suddenly become tinged with horror.
I found myself between high banks. I would soon be coming to a village. There were signs of cultivation. When the first cur barked, I turned and ran back the way I had come.
I did not know what to do. I would have to pass the head again.
I tried to avoid it by making for the city walls across the pathless sand. My feet sank in, and my shoes became full and heavy. My only idea was to get back to the house.
Tall rank grass grew in the shadow of the wall. It was dry and sharp as knives. I pushed through it, looking up at the towering cliff for a gate or steps to climb. Nothing else seemed to be alive except the insects. I could only hear their buzzing and the slap of them when they hit the wall.
There was no gate. I began to feel desperate. I ran towards a bastion, wondering if I could climb up to it in any way. I knew that I could not.
Denton Welch, Maiden Voyage (1943)
The Costs of Getting a Good Education
Since the beginning of my formal education I have spent countless hours nitpicking projects, working on essays, doing research, painting, volunteering, cheerleading, and studying just so that I can move up in school, and build credits to be recognized by good colleges in hopes that one will accept me.
I have always tried to be a good and honest student, and I find that the years that I was most hardworking was in middle school. In middle school I strived to impress my teachers and get good grades so that I could remain in honors classes; but what I didn’t realize was that all this work would really matter when it came to college. Yes, some of the credits from eighth grade contributed to my high school credits, and yes, those hours of studying should have been preparation and training for my future in high school, and while I did benefit in that way, by the time I got to high school I was slowly becoming what I had always dreaded
How Do POV and Author Affect the Reader?
Some might read a novel or a poem and simply take the work for exactly what it is: a piece of writing. However, in IB English we learn how to analyze and compare these literary works based on different techniques; so, I know that there is a lot more to a story than one gets from just a quick read. Point of view (structure) and the life and personal background (historical context) of the author play very large roles in literature and such is the case for Things Fall Apart (TFA), by Chinua Achebe, and Heart of Darkness (HOD), by Joseph Conrad.
Both novels are about imperialism in Africa in the late 1890′s and share many similar themes. But even so, these novels are wildly different and these differences are mainly due to the fact that TFA was written by a Nigerian man in the 20th century during the civil rights movement and HOD was written by a white man right after the 1890′s and the Age of Imperialism. The fact that the authors of these two works grew up in such radically different social environments plays a major role in each of their novels. Achebe writes from the side of the people who are being oppressed and subjected to imperialism while Conrad has his main character take the role of ruthless imperialist. Both authors write similar stories; but because of their distinct personal lives and dissimilar experiences, the points of view that they chose to write their novels from are complete opposites and therefore we as readers are left with completely independent novels that are both on the same subject.
When comparing /contrasting these novels, one has to decide whether one wants to focus on how the novels are on the same subject and therefore are similar or rather how the novels are totally different from one another because of the authors choice of POV and his personal life.
Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language”
Please read the following George Orwell piece, entitled: “Politics and the English Language”
http://mla.stanford.edu/Politics_&_English_language.pdf
To Be Human…
What does it mean to be human? Human beings are free; we are dignified; we have the ability to love. This being said, would we still be human if all of these things were taken from us? I don’t think so. Without human nature, we are left with nothing. We would be forced to exist in a world that we would not understand and we would be all alone and this is no way to live.
If man loses his human nature, he not only would forget that he is “human”, but he would cease to be one. Once those qualities are gone, all hope is lost for a “normal” life.
It is my opinion however that human nature can not be taken, but only altered. Humans may forget their true natures as a result of brainwashing, prison, depression and a host of other things. But, because the person once had these qualities, I believe that they are always there and can be revived with familiar images, sounds, smells, and sights.
*** this was posted in Jon M’s category for some reason… The original says I wrote it but I thought I should probably move it to my own category***
Destiny/Free Will
There are several things in this World that baffles my mind. One of which is the idea of Free Will and Destiny. I’m always curious about these things. In the book, Things fall apart, thes themes are visited in great depth. The main character okonkwo spent his whole life subduing himself and keeping self discipline in order to change his family name. In order to change the reputation and erase the shame his father has brought. In the end of the book, everything Falls Apart for him. All it took was a little indiscipline and a momentary lapse and everything fell to pieces.
What I really want to speak about is how okonkwo’s efforts were found futile because no matter how much he tries to separate himself from the stigma of his father, things still fell apart. He ended up bringing more shame because he commited suicide. Now thinking about free will, Okonkwo thought that he could escape destiny and break the cycle. Instead, he went further into the cycle. He created a greater shame for the family name. Thus, it made me question free will because no matter how great an effort okonkwo made he still ended bringing shame to the family name.
Now extending this to religion, I am a devout Pentecostal Christian, and in the bible it says that God knows our actions even before we do it. God knows our beginning and end, He knows everything about us. Yet, how can we say we have free will if He already knows our actions. Also, the beauty of Christianity is the fact that it offers repentance and atonement for sins. Thus lifting the burden of guilt. So, if God knows we are already going to sin, then what I the point of repentance. God knows what our actions are, so why can’t he understand? I know this might seen confusing but the truth is, these are questions only God can answer. And hopefully when I’m in heaven I’ll be able to get the answers
Friday Post!
When talking about freedom and opportunity there is one example that never fails to come to mind, Ayn Rand. I’d like to pull a quote from one of the books that I am reading that does not give away any plot details but excellently describes the idea in the prompt.
““I mean the person who has the filthy insolence to claim that he loves equally the man who made that statue of you and the manwho makes a Mickey Mouse balloon to sell on street corners. I mean the person who loves the men who prefer the Mickey Mouse to you statue–and there are many of that kind. I mean the person who loves Joan of Arc and the salesgirls in dress shops on Broadway–with equal fervor. I mean the person who loves your beauty and the women he sees in a subway–the kind that can’t cross their knees and show flesh hanging publicly over their garters–with the same sense of exaltation. I mean the person who loves the clean, steady, unfrightened eyes of man looking through a telescope and the white stare of an imbecile–equally. I mean quite a large, generous, magnanimous company. Is it you who hate mankind, Mrs. Keating?”
-Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead
This is an interesting quote because it addresses two major points: differences and preferences, for it is our beliefs that make human. This quote exemplifies the idea that people are all different and human preference is natural. If everyone is considered equal, then no one is truly an individual.
To Be Human…
What does it mean to be human? Human beings are free; we are dignified; we have the ability to love. This being said, would we still be human if all of these things were taken from us? I don’t think so. Without human nature, we are left with nothing. We would be forced to exist in a world that we would not understand and we would be all alone and this is no way to live.
If man loses his human nature, he not only would forget that he is “human”, but he would cease to be one. Once those qualities are gone, all hope is lost for a “normal” life.
It is my opinion however that human nature can not be taken, but only altered. Humans may forget their true natures as a result of brainwashing, prison, depression and a host of other things. But, because the person once had these qualities, I believe that they are always there and can be revived with familiar images, sounds, smells, and sights.
The Malleability of Human Nature
Because some of you don’t like spoilers, I’ll just talk about the first three records of WE. In the beginning, there’s a certain degree of vagueness, in that it is not entirely clear if D-503 truly believes in the beauty of logic and mathematics, as well as the fluidity of non-free movement. D-503 is not a free human being as we’ve come to understand it– he does not have freedom of movement, religion, occupation, and sexuality. He lives in the little bubble of the Green Wall, where the government pretty much controls every aspect of his love.
And he loves every little moment of that non-free life.
I’ve always viewed our protagonist as hopelessly passionate– he has such an ardor for life. I believe that passion is an unmistakable force, something that no government can completely remove. No one can take away a man’s right to love.
But that’s not Zamyatin’s point.
His point is that an outside force can manipulate that love, that inherent passion. Someone else can brainwash you, coerce you into doing certain things…. and after you’ve been coerced into acting a certain way, you either develop stockholm syndrome or have someone else force you into loving it.
Now, I know that these comments are little bit too general to apply to all of the human race– in Zamyatin’s world, passion makes human nature malleable. But let’s enter the world of Alexander Soltzhenistyn: the protagonist displays no real passion for coercion, no signs of stockholm syndrome.
The way I see it, human nature is unbending. It’s not malleable in the least. But unfortunately, not everyone realizes this nature, leaving someone else to capitalize on his ignorance.
- Frances
Human nature
I do believe that it is possible for humans to forget that they are humans. With the proper conditions, which include but aren’t limited to oppressive governments and the removal of simple human rights, man can easily be forced into a position where they forget who they are. As an example, I would like to cite “Anthem”, a novella written by Ayn Rand. In the book, the reader follows a character, named Equality 7-2521, who lives in a society where people have almost no rights. As made evident by his name, the people are so repressed that they are given numbers rather than names. The society also chooses what profession everyone has, who they mate with, what they learn, and where they live. All of the simple human rights that we have now are completely gone in this time period, however the people are so accustomed to this change, their human nature has been changed so much, that they can no longer be considered humans.
Friday Post!!!
Can human nature be changed in such a way that man will forget his longing for freedom, dignity, integrity, love…can man forget that he is “human”?
Speaking from a purely psychological standpoint, yes. Referring to Stocholm syndrome which, according to the FBI’s Hostage Barricade Database System, occurs in about 27% of hostage victims. In these cases, the hostages begin to feel a strong need for their captor, and gradually lose their desire, or longing, for freedom. This loss of desire generally means reduced dignity and reduced integrity. This reduced state can sometimes be so strong that the victims will try to prevent themselves from being saved (or as they see it, taken from the person they care about), or will try to protect their captor from being punished for his actions. So again, speaking purely from psychology, in cases of Stockholm syndrome, the victim can generally forget the feeling of being “human;” that is to say the feeling of longing for freedom, of having dignity and of having integrity.
The only thing not addressed is the feeling of love. It can be argued that in a case like this, the people are actually feeling love toward their captor. However, this is still losing the feeling of being “human” because, while they still feel love, their mind tricked them into loving that person. So while a person may still feel love, being “human” must also require feeling love freely, toward whoever the individual wants, and not to who they are told to feel love towards.
Response to Friday Prompt
Can human nature be changed in such a way that man will forget his longing for freedom, dignity, integrity, love…can man forget that he is “human”?
What must first be known about this situation must be how the person was raised. Were they raised under the presumed knowledge that they had the ability to possess those traits or did they grow up in a utopia where they were not given the oppourtunity to experience things they were not exposed to? In 6th grade I read a book titled The Giver that was set in a Utopian society. The people were unable to ‘forget’ that they had human traits such as freedom because they had never known of such.
As for if humans can forget they have the ability of freedom and love, I don’t think it is possible. To not access those abilities, maybe however to totally forget that they can seems unlikely. In what type of situation would there be a cause to forgetting that one has freedom. If caused by fear such as in Nazi Germany, freedom may willingly not be accessed because those who were afraid may have believed that their freedom was revoked in exchange for silence and the promised safety of their lives if they obeyed. But in the end I believe that subconciously one always knows that they have freedom, it just may not be acknowledged formally. But a person forgetting that they have human traits in my view is impossible.
Friday Prompt
Contribute either a comment (below) or a full-fledged post for the following question(writing something is required, no matter how many posts/comments you have).
Can human nature be changed in such a way that man will forget his longing for freedom, dignity, integrity, love…can man forget that he is “human”?
Chinua Achebe’s Essay: “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’”
Veryyyyy clever Rod. Giving us TFA to read then HOD when the author of TFA wrote an essay critiquing HOD, ha ha ha. Yeah, well we mentioned in class how Achebe wrote this article about HOD and how he thinks that it’s absurd how this is called an amazing piece of art, and thinks of it as: “a novel which celebrates… dehumanization, which depersonalizes a portion of the human race.”
From our perspective I must say that it’s really quite interesting for us to read a great story written about an African village and.. well, how things fall apart, then to read an interesting dark story on humans and human nature. Then to come across an essay in which the novel on humans is being called racist is extremely mind-opening, because of the different way i look at HOD now. Hmmmm
