Kimberly M

Here is the text of Kimberly's speech

Torri W

Jonathan C

Lauren B

Karyn H

Sage S

Kendall C

Anna W

Emily B

Whitney K

Lauren C

Sean H

Logan M

Stephen W

Nick S

Jack B

Matthew C

Elise L

Nick M

Justin G

Mitch G

Avery M

James C

Greg M

Abby C

Ian S

John P

Mariah L

Megan M

Emily W

Justin G

Vivian D

Brooke R

Anna S

Caleb S

Mackenzie R

Jenna S

Chris R

Brendon M

Grace M

Kelly M

Dominic M

Maria K

Hannah M

Andrea L

Olivia K

Maggie H

Noah G

Victoria H

Clairissa H

Paul G

Natalie C

Savannah C

Janie E

Maddie F

Chad C

Jared C

Luke B

Aaron B

Courtney B

Rachel B

Whitney A

Steven A

We're almost there Wednesday!

Today was the fishbowl on meaning. I thought it went very well except towards the end when we got a little distracted. One week until the final! According to Smith's ideal TED talk schedule you should practice the first two minutes of your talk and work on the slides so you can bring them in and test them. Our final is on Wednesday and Friday so be ready to go. I hope all of your talks are going good!

Today we also made a list of the order of presenters:

1. Karyne H

2. Kimberly

3. Sage S

4. Lauren B

5. Kendall C

6. Anna W

7. Emily B

8. Whitney K

9. Emily W

10. Lauren C

11. Stephen W

12. Jack B

13. Vivian D

14. Elise L

15. Justin G

16. Mitch G

17. James C

18. Abby C

19. Mariah L

20. Megan M

21. John P

22. Ian S

23. Greg M

24. Logan M

25. Johnny C

26. Torri W

27. Avery M

28. Nick M

29. Sean H

30. Mathew C

31. Nick S

About the first 15-18 presenters will go next Wednesday so be ready if that's you!

Good luck!

Here is a link to this week on Smith's page.
Here is a link to the TED talk rubric.

Last Thursday of English!

Today was a work day. According o Smith's ideal TED schedule you should practice the first 3 minutes of your talk and finish the slides so you can test them tomorrow. Smith talked about the importance of the first three minutes of your talk. She said to make sure that your audience is still engaged and they aren't bored. A good way to do this is through the use of an engagement piece like asking the audience for a show of hands or anything else you can think of. Remember to think about your presentation from the point of view of the audience.

Here is the list of what order presenters will go in:

1.       Karyne H

2.       Kimberly

3.       Sage S

4.       Lauren B

5.       Kendall C

6.       Anna W

7.       Emily B

8.       Whitney K

9.       Emily W

10.   Lauren C

11.   Stephen W

12.   Jack B

13.   Vivian D

14.   Elise L

15.   Justin G

16.   Mitch G

17.   James C

18.   Abby C

19.   Mariah L

20.   Megan M

21.   John P

22.   Ian S

23.   Greg M

24.   Logan M

25.   Johnny C

26.   Torri W

27.   Avery M

28.   Nick M

29.   Sean H

30.   Mathew C

31.   Nick S

About the first 15-18 presenters will go on Wednesday, so be ready!

Here is a link to this week on Smith's page!

Here is a link to the TED talk rubric!

Superstitious Last Day of (Official) School 4/13

Hey guys! Sorry I didn't get the blog up yesterday, blogger was down for me. Today in English were we haunted by ghosts and ghouls for the Friday the 13th celebration? Well, we are haunted by the finals next week. As long as you are prepared and practiced, you're going to do an awesome job on the finals. Class was spent as a work time as well as a time to make sure slides worked.

HOMEWORK:
Rest and relax for all your finals.
Practice the first four minutes of your speech on Saturday
Practice your entire speech twice on Sunday


That's it! Everybody have an awesome last week of school and good luck!

-Aaron B

Last Official School Day

Hello class! Amazingly, we have already reached the end of our freshman year of high school. We clearly accomplished a lot over this year. A few examples:

• We read 8 books this year: Lord of the Flies, Macbeth, a banned book of our choice, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, Little Brother, Romeo and Juliet, and A Whole New Mind
• We created podcasts of ourselves speaking on a topic of our choice, as part of the worldwide This I Believe project
• We composed multi-page essays posted on our individual websites and enhanced with links, videos, pictures, and other online tools
• We learned how to live blog with people outside of the class and apply the ideas presented in our novels to the world
• We talked one-on-one with author Daniel Pink about his book, A Whole New Mind

Today in class, we had our final work day to finish up our TEDx Talks. If you were not able to test your powerpoint on the classroom computer at some point this class, you will want to come into the classroom after finals sometime before Wednesday. Ms. Smith said the room should be open and empty after noon (once all three finals are over), but will probably be in use during all test periods. For the weekend, Ms. Smith recommended we practice, practice, practice. According to her schedule, tonight we should practice and memorize the first four minutes of our presentation. Tomorrow, we should go through the entire five-minute speech. On Sunday, Ms. Smith suggested that we rehearse our entire speech twice, complete with our powerpoint in the background and a small audience (ie. Mom and Dad). Remember, we begin our presentations during the last final on Wednesday and finish them first thing on Friday. Presenters 15-18, approximately, will go on Wednesday, and the rest on Friday. If you do not remember when you present, view the typed list posted below on Thursday's scribe data. Ms. Smith also strongly suggested that we visualize our presentations a few times the night before we give our speech to the class. She said to sit in a quiet room, close our eyes, and envision our speech going perfectly. Other than preparing for the final, though, we have no homework. Good luck with your preparations; I cannot wait to hear from all of you!


Link to Ms. Smith's webpage (here you can find the presentation rubric, tips on presenting, a powerpoint that displays the week's agenda, and links to many of the assignments we have completed throughout the year, if you are feeling nostalgic): http://arapahoe.littletonpublicschools.net/Default.aspx?tabid=1924

If you would like to see some examples of the TEDx Talks done by Christian Long's class, click here: http://www.youtube.com/user/TEDxClassroomProject#p/u

What's Up, It's Wednesday!

What’s Up, It’s Wednesday!

Today, class started off pretty quickly—everyone had their copies of A Whole New Mind on hand and laptops at the ready. After setting up the webcam and LiveBlog, we were off. The theme for today’s fishbowl was the chapter “Meaning”, which mainly brought up the points of religion.

Some main points of discussion:

·         Should religion be brought into the workplace? If so, how should it be integrated?

·         Would exposure to different cultures help? Should it begin at a young age?

·         Why is religion a taboo subject?

·         Why are certain subjects unmentionable in school? Should teachers and students be more open?

·         Where do we draw the line on discussing religion?

·         How does school deter from finding meaning?

Finally, the homework today is:              

·         Finish up your TEDTalk slides and have them on hand so that you can make sure they are legible in class tomorrow.

·         Practice the first two minutes of your TEDTalk!

And, to end with a quote on meaning: “The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.” – Carl Jung

7 Days to Go!

Today we worked on our Ted Talks and Smith suggested to practice the first minute tonight and second minute tomorrow and third on Thursday and so on. We also signed up for when we are presenting for finals week. Tomorrow we have a fishbowl for Meaning and everyone should be reading "Type I and Type X".

Homework:
1. Practice first minute of Ted Talk tonight
2. Finish Ted Talk slides and speech
3. Read Meaning and "Type I and Type X" for fishbowl tomorrow
4. Have your slide show ready by Thursday so you can test out your slides to make sure they work for the Ted Talk

Get ready for finals!!!!!!!

Ruby Tuesday!

Today in class, after starting off with our usual ‘Hello Smith!’, we basically outlined the entire week leading up to finals. Smith gave us some helpful information such as the timeline for our TEDTalk planning; she suggested we practice the first minute tonight, then add on the second minute on Wednesday, and so on. By following this course, the entire talk would be completed by Saturday, and Sunday would provide some time for final tweaks and touch-ups. Also, this would allow one to practice their first minute 7 times! Students should also aspire to have their slides done by Thursday in order to view them from the back of the room in order to avoid mishaps or to change them if they turn out the be illegible. Of course, with everyone atwitter over our Skype with Dan Pink, it took a while for the class to calm down at the start of class, but then we were able to get all of our thoughts our during the debrief. Some positive thoughts were:

·         Pink listened to our questions and treated us as equals, displaying real interest

·         Pink always had cognitive and clear answers

·         Pink didn’t only draw from his own opinions but also addressed other concepts

·         We asked plenty of insightful and thought-provoking questions

·         Pink was a very casual, normal person

Others had constructive criticism, such as:

·         I wish this was in Fishbowl format so I could talk!

Once we had run out of comments, Smith graciously granted us a free work day before our Fishbowl tomorrow. Our activity choices were to read “Type I and Type X”, a selection from Drive by Daniel Pink, to begin compiling our Powerpoint slides for our Ignite or Pecha Kucha presentations, or to begin converting our talk outline into true speech form.

Homework Tonight:

·         Practice the 1^st minute of your TEDTalk

·         Read “Meaning” in A Whole New Mind to prepare for the Fishbowl tomorrow

o   Presenters are: Caleb S, Maddie F, Luke B, Noah G, and Savannah C

o   Discussers are: Chad C, Chris R, Janie E, Brendan M, and Brooke R

·         Read “Type I and Type X”, annotate if needed

o   (Copies can be found in C-11)

·         Make progress on your presentation slides—never hurts to be ahead of schedule!

Also, today is a Writing Lab Day in the Study Center.

To end my scribe on a positive note, here is a fun fact: Today is National Shrimp Day! Celebrate accordingly. (:

                            The Honors English Classes Skyping with Daniel Pink!

Monday, May 9th

Dan Pink!
Today was the big day where we skyped with Daniel Pink, the author of A Whole New Mind. Kids got the privelage to ask him questions one by one. It was very interesting to hear about his personal viewpoints on things occuring in our every day lives. After all the fishbows we have had, it was intriguing to bring up some of those topics with him face-to-face. It was a highly anticipated discussion with very successful results.

Homework:
-Read Meaning and the drive article Type I and Type X by Wednesday
- Be working on your TED talk presentation (Be practicing your speech, finalizing your outline and meting with Smith as needed).

Skype With MR. PINK!

Today, during periods two and three, we were offered an amazing opportunity. We were able to Skype with Daniel Pink himself. One by one students were allowed to sit at the table in the front of the forum and ask him any question. It was an incredible experience, and during it students were allowed to discuss their thoughts with each other and the guests on the live blog. During class we reviewed the Skype, what we enjoyed, what we disliked, and ways to improve it if it becomes a part of the curriculum for next year. Most students were in agreement that the questions asked were challenging, and most would have preferred to listening to the answers Mr. Pink had, rather than trying to focus on the blog. We were then given the rest of the hour to use as we wished. Some of the suggested things to work on was reading meaning (fish bowl is on Wednesday), reading the 'Type I or Type X' excerpt from drive (also needs to be read by fishbowl on Wednesday), or our TED talk.

Homework:

• A detailed outline of your TED talk should be done by tomorrow.
• Read 'Type I or Type X' and Meaning by Wednesday for fishbowl.
• Begin working on your slides! You will need to test them before the end of this week!
• Write/Practice your TED talk, remember, note cards are not allowed, so in the words of Dan Pink "Practice, practice, practice!!" (another tip from Mr. Pink on your TED talk, put yourself in the audiences shoes, what to they want to hear/know?)

Links:

TED talk rubric

This week's Power Point

Video of Skype With Dan Pink

AWNM Meaning Period 5

Friday, May 6th

Happy Friday!

Today in period two we watched a video called "Celebreating What's Right With the World". It was an uplifting video about celebrating the beauty in the world. After, we just had some time to work. Smith finished up the personal meetings about out TED talk topics. It was a relaxing day with some good time to catch up.

HOMEWORK:
*Create a detailed outline if your TED talk speech
*Continue reading AWNM (The fishbowl on meaning is next wednesday)


***Remember that on Monday is Dan Pink day, so go straight to the forum. Make sure you bring your book, wear AHS apparel and if you have your own technology you can live blog on bring it with you. (Laptop, Itouch, etc.)

AWNM Meaning Period 2

Dan Pink Live Blog

Thursday, May 5th

Cinco de Mayo at its' finest!

Today we had a fishbowl over the A Whole New Mind chapters Empathy and Play. An intriguing discussion continued throughout the blog and the inner circle.

HOMEWORK:
*Bring schedules tomorrow for Smith to sign!!!
*Blog 8 is due tomorrow, it is on a TED talk that you choose on your own. Remember to be insightful, creative and make connections! Simply doing the post and answering the requirements will you get a C. Finish out Strong!
*Continue Reading A Whole New Mind.
*Continue to work on TED talk presentation. Remember- Make it an idea worth spreading!

***If you feel you need more face time with Smith about your TED talk presentation feel free to arrange a meeting with her.

Fishbowl Thursday!

Today in English, we jumped straight in to our fishbowl on Play and Empathy. I was in the inner circle, where the discussion started slowly. We talked about when play and empathy are actually appropriate. A good point that was made is if you are a safety inspector, you probably wouldn’t want much play involved in the job, while if you’re with your friends running a small business, then there is room for play. The same goes with empathy, you don’t want too much of it in a workplace. We then focused on empathy. There were some could points about world leaders and what would happen if they empathized with everyone else, and how it would lead to peace or war. That’s the gist of what happened in the inner circle. I wasn’t really paying attention to the outer circle, but you can replay what happened here. 

  As for homework:

                -TED Talk Blog 8 is due tomorrow (Last one! :)

                -Bring your schedules tomorrow, as Smith will be signing them

                -Work on your TED Talks! Smith’s plan is for you to work on a strong outline over the weekend that you can practice with. Here is the rubric if you need it. 

                -Also, if you want to get ahead, read the Meaning chapter of A Whole New Mind 

                -And remember that Monday we will be talking to Dan Pink in the forum during 2^nd and 3^rd hour, so make sure you tell your teachers you will be gone.