AHS * HUMANITIES 11
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Daily Blog

Friday, April 28th

4/28/2017

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STARTER
  • How did our exhibition for Humanities go? What was one thing you liked? One thing we should change for next year?
  • Write down  appreciations for 2 different people in this class. At least one of them should be about someone you don't work with often.
  • What is one takeaway from this class this year that most stands out to you? It can be a lesson, a skill, an idea, a reading, a philosophy, etc...This helps me reflect on the memorable (and not so memorable) aspects of my curriculum. 

Agenda
Finish DP Update and Reflection 
Take the End-Of-Year Humanities Evaluation survey 
Make sure your artwork and final philosophy written pieces are shared with Ashley!
Honors: Half the SKy seminar and turn in lit analysis refinements
End with Appreciations and class takeaways outside in amphitheater!
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Week of All-School Exhibition: Daily Agenda

4/24/2017

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TAKE THIS SURVEY FOR THE PROGRAM FOR OUR EXHIBITION
Thought of the WEEK: “I have come to believe that our innate purpose is nothing more than to be the greatest version of ourselves. It is a process of refinement, improvement, and enhancement. When you are aligned with this process and living your purpose, you have the potential of creating something amazing.” 
― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

MONDAY
Starter:  Review the checklist of things to do this week and make a schedule for how you will manage your time in class and OUT of class to succeed this week!

Share out your schedule with a peer. If either of you need help with time management or realistic planning, provide that help for each other!

Go over the Exhibition Schedule

Exhibition Planning Review and Timeline:
  • Today: Sign up to bring supplies for tomorrow!
  • Tuesday: We'll clear tables away, hang sheets and lighting, 
  • Wednesday: we'll hang artwork and set up the stage, projector screen, etc...
  • Thursday: we'll make the final touches, hang up posters around school and use the space to run through rehearsal.

Philosophy Project WORK TIME
Peer Critique Your Philosophy Project One More Time: Here are the Guidelines!

TUESDAY
Starter: Plan your introduction for your reading for exhibition night: EXAMPLE: Hello, my name is_________________. This is my personal philosophy project, expressed in the form of a poem. In it, I express the belief that one's happiness is comprised of....."

Here are the exhibition schedules!  I need volunteers to run the projector in my classroom!
  • All Junior Exhibitions Schedule
  • Ashley's Classroom Schedule (order you'll go in)
Set-up classroom with sheets, and lighting

Work Time

1. Rehearse
  • Time yourself reading your intro and written piece aloud (you should not take more than 5 minutes total for your intro and reading)
  • Practice in front of a group of friends. Get feedback. How is your voice projection? Do you need to read with more enthusiasm or passion or emotion? What can be improved? ​
  • Use feedback from your rehearsal to refine your writing and your reading!

2. Continue making your way through the check-list of things to do this week!

WEDNESDAY
  • Practice your introduction and reading again! (see Tuesday!)
  • Finish setting up the room for all-school exhibition
  • Continue making your way through this week's checklist!

THURSDAY: EXHIBITION DAY!!!!
  1. Email me a jpg of your visual piece!
  2. WILL: Do we have a poster? It's ok if we don't. I won't be mad. 
  3. Re-share your written piece, final draft!
  4. Hang up your visual piece
  5. We will run through a rehearsal in the order in which you will go tonight!
  6. If time refine!
  7. Continue working your way through the check-list of things to do this week

FRIDAY
  • Debrief Exhibition
  • Reflect on the project and the year of Humanities
  • Appreciate each other
  • Honors- Half the Sky seminar
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Wednesday: Test Prep!

4/19/2017

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Starter: Reflect on yesterday's nature writing time.  What was it like to be outside? How did you feel during and after? Was it a good use of class time?

*Option to share an excerpt of your writing!
*Do we want to go back outside last 30 minutes of class today to keep writing??

Class Biz: 
Sign up for Exhibition Planning Committees:
  • Interior Designers
  • Builders (all of us!)
  • Food/Beverages Suppliers (after we get into work time decide what food we want and how we'll acquire it)
  • Promoters (posters outside classroom and inside, too?)

Agenda: TEST PREP!
  1. Read this article about the Navajo Generating Station's potential closure and summarize the various issues at play and summarize the pros/cons of closing this plant.  ​
  2.  Design team meet to create your vision for exhibition 
  • Sketch it out.
  • Make a list of supplies/materials
  • Decide how much time we need to set-up next week. .

3. Test prep
  • Here is the test prep guide again
  • Review the definitions and make sure you understand all the ethics!
  • ​Review your readings: Jot down questions you have about the readings and make note of specific passages you think speak to specific environmental ethics.
  • REMINDER:   You must bring your readings to class on Friday-- I WON’T HAVE EXTRAS ON HAND THEN!!!!  
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Tuesday: Nature writing and guest speakers!

4/18/2017

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10:12-11:10
  • Story time with Ashley OUTSIDE!!
  • Journal time! 

11:15-12:02:  Lisa Pool will be here from Conservation Colorado
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Monday, April 17th: Research Assignment Share-out and Nature Writing

4/17/2017

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 STARTER: "The Land Ethic" Review!! 
  •  How does this piece of rhetoric capture the first part of Leopold's argument in "The Land Ethic"?  
  • ​What are THREE BIG ideas that stand out from Leopold's "Land Ethic" essay?
  • Find one quote that captures ONE of those ideas.
  • What questions do you have about his essay (lines/passages you don't understand or BIG idea questions you don't quite get)?

Class Biz
  1. Guest speaker tomorrow! Lisa Pool with Conservation Colorado tomorrow (environmental political group)
  2. Exam on  Friday!  If you haven’t done these readings, you’ll need to read them this week. I’d suggest reviewing all of these before the test either way.  You won’t get extended time on the exam. We'll have study time most of class Wednesday. 
  3.  Here is the exam prep guide!
  4. Bring a journal/notebook for tomorrow's class! We're going outside for the first half of class! If you're late, you'll need to come find us by heading out the west building on the west side, and taking the trail up into Twin Buttes to the dirt road and to a clearing in the woods on the right side of the road.  
  5. Free time 5th period today? Come see Keenan Desplanques' (Class of 2016) film screening of an AMAZING film related to our Happiness and Meaning project and all things rad.  Trailer can be found here: https://vimeo.com/211323490

Agenda
Group Research Share-Out 
  • Get into  your assigned groups (see the white board)
  • First share out your starter responses and go over all four bullet points. Make sure you agree. If you don't agree as a group, ask Ashley to help mediate the dispute :)  Also, go over the questions you have and help each other answer them. If you're stuck, ask Ashley. 
  • Next, take turns sharing out your "Get Your Motor Runnin'" research!  Make sure you are either taking notes, or absorbing this information as best as you can.  
  • As a group, discuss the following questions:
                             1. Based on what you know now about these energy production mechanisms, which ones do you each
                                 think we SHOULD (moral obligation here) and CAN (practical considerations here) pursue?  

                          2. How do your own environmental ethics and/or understanding of our energy needs and/or your own
                               lifestyle choices influence your views on energy??

PRINT and POST your research notes on the classroom wall! (5 min)

Intro to Nature Writing
1. Short Reading: "My house is the Red Earth" by Joy Harjo
  • What do you notice about this piece of writing in terms of the style, voice, imagery?
  • What is the "message" of this piece of writing?

2. What is "nature writing"? brief lecture (Slides 1-9...we'll do more if we have time!)

Time to get organized for the exam!
  • If you didn't already, print your research notes and post them!
  • Review the list of readings and make sure you have all of them!
  • Spend some time reviewing the exam prep document and/or re-reading the readings
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Friday: Get Your Motor Runnin' Research + LPEA Board Member Guest Speaker

4/14/2017

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DAN HARM'S POWERPOINT LECTURE FOR YOUR REFERENCE!!!  

​Announcements:
  1. We have a NEST Meeting today from 11-12 so we have a shortened schedule today!
  2. Get Your Motor Runnin' Research assignment is due MONDAY at the beginning of class. You'll need to be prepared to share out your research. Remember, I'm looking for SPECIFIC Statistics!  You'll be grateful for the in-depth research in preparation for the exam next Friday AND in preparation for being an informed citizen in this great United States of America.

STARTER
Come up with ONE good question to ask our guest speaker!  More than one is great! 

Agenda
1. Research time 9:45-10:25
2. Guest Speaker: Dan Harms is the 
Manager of Rates, Technology and Energy Policy for La Plata Electric Association (LPEA).  He will talk about how and where we get our energy from to power our lives in La Plata County and to what extent transitioning to renewables is a possibility. As a Systems Engineer Dan Harms has completed The Robert I. Kabat Management Internship Program (MIP). Offered by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), MIP is considered one of the most exclusive educational programs in the nation for electric cooperative management.
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Thursday, 4/13: Get Your Motor Runnin' Research Time!

4/13/2017

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Starter (10 minutes)
Respond to this spoken word poem by  Prince Ea:
 Which environmental ethic is he speaking to?  To what extent do his ideas jive with you? To what extent do you disagree? Was this poem inspiring, annoying, disheartening, etc....

Agenda
1. Watch the TED Talk we started yesterday and answer these questions:
As a class, watch the above TED Talk then respond to the following questions with a partner:
- What are her main points?
- What is your reaction to her talk?

2. Discuss your reactions to the TED Talk and to Don and Nate's presentation yesterday

3. "Get Your Motor Runnin'" Research Time
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Innovation Ethic Lecture and Research Time + Guest Speaker

4/12/2017

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NOTE:  We ended up not watching the TED Talk due to internet malfunctions today!

Agenda
  1. ​Research Time for "Get Your Motor Runnin'"
  2. Guest Speaker: Don Schreiber @ 9:25
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Monday, 4/10: Intro to Energy Production

4/10/2017

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Starter
Listen to EPISODE 1 of the "Everything is Connected" Podcast
  • What does "rewilding" mean?
  • What pieces of evidence did this podcast provide to defend the claim that "everything is connected"?
  • How would this concept change the way we interact with the land?
  • How does this podcast relate to the "Land Ethic" by Leopold?

CLASS BIZ
  • Any questions on the assignment from Friday? Turn it in! Who wasn't here on Friday?  You'll need to make it up.  See my blog from Friday.
  • Homework this week is to work on the research assignment I'm launching today and continue refinements for your philosophy project
  • See my email I sent on Saturday about an extra credit opportunity at FLC on the Dakota Access Pipeline-- this environmental ethics stuff is relevant, y'all!​
  • SAT testing tomorrow-- no class!
  • Guest speakers this week! Three of 'em!

AGENDA
1. Launch of mini-research assignment, "Get Your Motor Running"
Get your motor runnin': Energy Production Impact and Solutions mini-research assignment overview 
  • Watch this short video comparing pros/cons of coal, nuclear and natural gas
  • Watch this short video on how industry can contribute to CO2 reduction
  • Ashley will explain this mini-assignment to  y'all so that you understand what you're doing and hopefully don't have any confusions.

2. 11 am: Guest speaker, Sara Vorhees with Doyle Trading Consultants, to give you an overview of various energy sources to choose from for your research topic.  Here is the pdf of her presentation from today!

3. Choose your topic and begin researching!  Write your topic on the whiteboard by the end of class
General Information from Sara Vorhees (these are her words-- read through this before choosing your topic and beginning research)
The Energy Information Administration (EIA): They report on all aspects of US Energy including future projections. From the home page you can search or link to hundreds of reports.  www.eia.gov
 
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA): Tracks all kinds of data on mining in the US (largely coal) from production figures to number of employees, accidents and deaths, along with all the regulations in place to insure the safety of US miners. Good resource for Black Lung issues if someone were interested in drawbacks of coal mining. www.MSHA.gov  (I use this website often in my position and would be happy to share more info as needed with students who need it)
 
 
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Good resource for looking at what regulations are in place to protect the US from all manner of energy extraction and creation.
www.epa.gov  The EPA’s Clean Power Plan is a hot button issue currently and would be a great thing for a student to study what went into creating it and the trouble the new administration will have in trying to just repeal it. Along with the implications that will result from scaling back regulations on power plants and their emissions.
 
In favor of Energy Industry:
 
You can direct the students to search for publicly traded companies in any energy sector (coal, natural gas, oil, solar, wind, hydro) along with publicly traded utility companies. Their websites all have a wealth of information on what they do and how they “protect” the environment.
 
Alex Epstein and the Center for Industrial Progress- www.industrialprogress.com. I met Alex a handful of years ago when he was just starting out. He is the uber cheerleader for the fossil fuel industry. He has a book “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuel” that lays out why it is a necessity in the modern world. His website is full of articles, interviews and debate tactics for winning over those who demonize fossil fuels. He loves connecting with the youth of America and would probably respond favorably to any student who contacted him detailing what their project was about seeking information.
 
Blog: The Coal Tattoo: West Virginia is considered ground zero for many coal mining issues. I have been following Ken Ward Jr and his blog on coal for many years (part of the Charleston Gazette- Mail newspaper). He is oddly neutral on most things concerning the coal industry and openly calls out his local officials when they are simply pandering to the locals. Many of the smaller mining communities in WV that have lost mining and have little other source of industry have fallen victim to rampant drug abuse. There is a lot of information available on this topic and would make a very interesting subject for someone to cover on what happens when mining leaves an area that is totally dependent on it.
 
Against Energy:
 
Sierra Club, EarthGuardians, Earth First are just a few of the major groups that spend every minute of every day litigating anything and everything having to do with the energy sector and the environment. Oddly they even oppose moves to solar and wind energy!!! For those who feel strongly that we should move back to the pre-industrial revolution, these are your peeps. They rarely have great solutions, but will fight to the death against a new power plant being built.
 
The fight over the Dakota Pipeline and the XL Pipeline. A student could certainly dig into what the fight is really about and why the native people are so desperate to keep it off their land.
 
I have been following a brewing debate for years over coal companies in WY and MT wanting to build export terminals in Oregon and Washington State to move coal to Asia. Washington and Oregon both lean green on this debate and have tossed up roadblocks at every turn despite the fact it would bring commerce and many jobs to the towns. No one wants the dirty trains rumbling through town, or the messy stockpiles of coal sitting at the port waiting to be loaded (even though one said they would make it totally indoor). This would be a good both sides of the story project for someone to vet out.   
 
There is also much debate in the US over building LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals in the Gulf and some southern ports to sell off some of our extra natural gas to the export markets. We produce (or did a few years ago) way more natural gas thanks to fracing than we use. I have information on how much we have in storage as well as how the surplus is hurting the overall natural gas industry currently.
 

​
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Environmental Justice and Sustainability

4/7/2017

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Starter
Think back to all the ethics we've covered so far:
How would you characterize your own environmental ethic and how did you come to hold these beliefs? In other words, what childhood experiences,  works of literature or other influences inspired these beliefs? Think about whether or not your ethic comes from self-interest or from a true interest in non-human elements.  Or does it come from an interest in sustainability (using enough of the land for what we need while preserving as much as possible for future generations) or justice (ensuring that all people have access to clean environments)? 
  • Preservationism
  • Conservationism
  • Anthropocentricism
  • Environmental Justice
  • Sustainability
  • NIMBY-ism
  • Nature has intrinsic value
  • Nature has instrumental value
  • The Land Ethic (land is part of our community, everything is connected....)

HONORS: Please share your lit analysis essay with me!
​

Agenda
1. Share your starter in groups of 3-4
2.
Self-guided activity on Environmental Justice and Sustainability (due by the end of class today or Monday if you don't finish it in class)-- Make a copy of the linked document and share it with Ashley.

**For those interested, further reading on Environmental Justice legislation:
  • U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Order on Environmental Justice and a list of other types of environmental justice legislation
  • Executive Order 12898 signed by Bill Clinton in 1994 to address issues of environmental injustice
  • University of Colorado- Boulder's Native Communities and Environmental Justice Program
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    Ashley Carruth

    Humanities 11 Teacher at Animas High School

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