W10, #10: THE BYSTANDER CHOICE

Who: All periods

Set-Up: Many would agree that Samneric is the most interesting character (or characters) on the island because they seem to resemble the typical human choice:  fit into the crowd so you don’t get hurt for trying to be a hero/leader.

Challenge:

• Take a look at Matt Langdon’s “Hero Workshop” blog where he wrote an interesting story (link to his “Please Don’t Be A Bystander” entry) about an 85 year old man in England who single-handedly stopped 2 sledgehammer-wielding thieves from breaking into a store.
• Write a reaction to the man’s own quoted explanation of why he got involved, as well as why you think he made a choice that nobody else on that sidewalk did.

Length: 7+ sentences

P.S. for Periods 1, 2, & 3 only:

Mr. Long was proud to see that that Matt wrote a greatt reaction to having a Skype video chat with you guys last week.  I think you’ll appreciate it, too.

Feel free to also leave a comment on his blog (although this is not for credit; do it if you’re simply appreciative of how impressed he was by you and your follow-up blog comments).

W9, #4: SKYPE CHAT REFLECTIONS

Who: Periods 1, 2, & 3 only

Set-Up: After completing Lord of the Flies and being introduced to the Stanford Prison Experiment in class before midterm exams, we’ve begun to consider ‘human nature’ as being a complex mixture of good/evil.  Clearly the average person will never be  as ‘good’ as Simon or as ‘evil’ as Roger, yet we tend to use such literary extremes to consider human instincts/behavior.

During our Skype video conference with Matt Langdon — the founder of The Hero Workshop — on Tuesday, we’ll be discussing 3 things:

• His knowledge of Stanford University professor emeritus Phil Zimbardo – the creator of the Stanford Prison Experiment — a gentleman that Matt Langdon is now working with on an international ‘hero’-based project.
• Considering the Simon vs. Roger question:  exploring whether this is the right way to look at human instincts in terms of decisions made in difficult times.
• How ‘average’ people can do ‘heroic’ things in little ways, day after day.

Challenge: Simply offer a thoughtful, detailed reflection on the Skype conversation.

Please note: Matt will read all of your replies.  Understandably, he’ll be very interested in your ideas and reactions.

W6, #8: MODERNIZING DALE CARNEGIE’S IDEAS

Set-Up: During our “Last Friday” advisory meetings this week, we finally had a chance to consider the summer reading: Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Challenge: I’m curious about what you see as valuable/useful about Carnegie’s ideas and examples.

• Pick at least 1 idea from the text.
• Explain how it may be relevant to your current and future life.

Length: 5+ sentences.

Note: For anyone in Mr. Long’s advisory, feel free to comment on the Skype video chat we had Friday morning with Megan Hustad, the author of How to Be Useful: A Beginner’s Guide to Not Hating Work. I’d love to hear what you thought before the weekend is over.

BTW: I’m hoping to ‘bring’ her to class in the coming weeks to talk about the writing/editing process, so your responses might give the rest of my 10th graders a hint of what she’s about and why it was worth talking with her today. Oh, and here’s the link to her blog, in case you’re curious (wink, wink; nudge, nudge).