August 31

Hi! Thanks to Luis for letting me know yesterday's agenda didn't post-- choose your own journal topic and work on your project list. I'll post more this afternoon. -DP

august 29

I can't WAIT to get back!!! Hope you're all doing well and where you want/need to be in the course. If you need anything please email. See you soon! :) 
 _______________________________________

This should be interesting.

JOURNAL TOPIC: (today's tunes: "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley)
This is a quick write: Describe what you're learning in this course while I'm not there.  If you need inspiration, listen to the song (it's an easy-to-find classic!) and/or consider the picture (which I took in London).

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2.Work your list (see yesterday's agenda)
3. Read  We are born learners
4. Preview of coming attractions: essay topics, portfolios, & hack to school night

august 28

 

The first couple weeks of this course were a mad dash.  Since I'm off campus this week it's a good time to slow down a little and cross some things off our lists.  Please take a moment to reflect on those things you started but haven't finished, and those things you haven't started yet, and make a list of what you need to accomplish this week in order to get caught up.  Feel free to comment to this post with your list.  Your exit ticket today, which I am asking you to post to your blog (*if you can't please write on paper and hand to Mrs. Anderson), is your list with a status report on each item.  In other words, once you figured out what you needed to do, how did you use the 50 minutes to do it?

JOURNAL TOPIC:
What do you need to do in order to catch up and/or get ahead?  What will you do first and why?  What's better to do in class with your colleagues, and what do you feel better about doing at home?

AGENDA:
Here are the possibilities we talked about; if you can think of something else please add it in the comments):

• Add design elements to your blog
• Catch up on assignments/posts (Welcome post, "Richard Cory" recital, "Right to Your Opinion" response, etc. etc.)
• Complete/add to your journal topics
• Post to your course blog about the "Right to Your Opinion"
•  "Fox in Sox" video challenge
• Define & study vocab
• Read "Young Goodman Brown" & "Conscience of a Hacker" and respond on your blog
• Select and start reading your Literature Analysis book
• Begin answering Literature Analysis Questions #1

 

HAVE A GREAT DAY! 😃😃😃

literature analysis #1

Here are the initial questions for your literature analysis.  We will refine this list and add to it after reading the first round of each others' analyses.

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel.  Avoid cliches.  
3. Based on the author's tone, describe how you imagine the author's morning routine.  Does s/he get up early or sleep late?  Coffee, tea, or no caffeine?  Yoga/meditation/exercise?  Groggily stumble to the toilet and wish s/he wasn't so hungover?  Breakfast?  If so, what kind of food?  No, I am not kidding.  There is no shortcut for this, only your own imaginative thinking based on how you read his/her work and interpret his/her tone.  Include no fewer than three (3) excerpts from the text that illustrate your points.
4. Describe five (5) literary techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the theme and/or your sense of the tone.  These techniques may include characterization, figurative language, or anything else you've ever studied.  If you can't come up with five, do your best to remember and then look up "literary techniques" online and see if something rings a bell.  Include three (3) excerpts for each technique that will help your reader understand the technique and how it helped you gain insight.

august 25

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Don't You Remember" by Adele; "Memory" by Barbra Streisand]
When we read we make connections between the text and what we already know.  Sometimes we find ourselves surprised when a book calls to mind an old memory we haven't thought about in a long time.  What are your earliest memories?  What makes some things impossible to remember and other things impossible to forget?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Old Business: catching up, blogs etc.
3. New Business: Literature Analysis & the art of the essay
4. New Business: "Young Goodman Brown"


HW:
1. Read "Conscience of a Hacker" and respond with first impressions on your blog
2. Finish reading "Young Goodman Brown" and respond with first impressions in a post to your blog (title: YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN)
3. Spend time with vocab (nightly/ quiz Friday)

"how do I post videos to my blog?"

There are a variety of ways to embed videos on your blog, and-- since I am an expert in none of them-- here are two strategies I hope will help:

1. Find a blogger in the Member Blogs who has figured it out and ask him/her how;
or
2. If you are one of those people who has succeeded, please share your method in a comment below.

school bulletin for aug 24

Per your request (Thanks, Rafael!)

Bulletin for Thursday, August 24, 2017

GENERAL



§ Attention 11th and 12th grade students. Please pay $10.00 for your tablet insurance TODAY at the Business Office. Do not forget to turn in your completed tablet insurance form with your payment.

§ The Happy Store is now open during break, lunch, and after 6th period in room 334.

§ Saints, Share Decision Making committee is looking for a couple students to get involved, make a difference, and bring positive changes to our school. If you are interested, please email Mr. Salazar or stop by room 609 (ASB room). Nominations will be open until next Tuesday at 8:00 A.M.

§ There will be tech help for all students in the MMLC (library) each Tuesday and Thursday, at lunch and during 7th period. If you have tablet issues or tech questions, please don’t hesitate to go see Mr. Markstone.

CLUBS

§ Future business leader of America will be having our FIRST meeting TODAY during lunch in room 230. Come join us to learn how to be a leader, travel and learn of different career and community service opportunities


SPORTS

§ Attention, all boys interested in trying out for the freshmen, JV or Varsity boys’ basketball team, tryouts will be on November 4th. You MUST have your athletic physical completed before November 4th and have a 2.0 GPA or higher by the October 27th progress grade report to be eligible to try-out. Any questions, stop by room 638 at lunch time and see Coach Yamate.

§ Hey Saints! Come out and support the girls’ volleyball as they go against Coast Union TODAY in the Wilson Gym. Freshman game begins at 4:00 PM, JV at 5:00 PM, and Varsity begins at 6:00 PM. Admission is free to students with a school ID. We hope to see you there!





Santa Maria High School - Go, Saints!

august 24

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "You Talk Too Much" by Run-D.M.C.; "Communication Breakdown" by Led Zeppelin]

So many phrases say the same thing: Talk is cheap. A picture's worth a thousand words. It's not what you said, it's how you said it. Since words are so easy to create we tend to mistrust them. We use our intuition to "read between the lines" and determine what someone really means.  Describe how we listen, read, and learn without depending on words.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. "Earth on Turtle's Back" discussions (take notes for your blog post)

HW:
1. Post your notes from today (title: SOCRATIC SEMINAR #1/ EARTH ON TURTLE'S BACK)
2. Post your first impression/offering as a comment to "What's Your Big Question?"
3. Put next week's vocab quiz in your calendar & start studying

what's your big question?

Our minds are naturally inclined toward associative and interdisciplinary thinking.  We connect the dots in all sorts of ways, often when we don't fully comprehend the experience (and sometimes when there aren't even any dots).  

We have questions about the nature of the world: our experience of it, our place in it, our relationship to it, what lies beyond it, and everything else.  When we're young we ask questions all the time.  We are insatiably curious.  It's like somehow we intuitively understand that the more we learn the better we get at everything--including learning.  We don't worry about curricular units or standards.  We have no test anxiety.  We test ourselves all the time.  We love risk and we don't care if we fail.  It's always somebody else who's saying, "Hey, come down from there, you're going to get hurt!"* [*Often, they're right.  In any case they're probably more experienced in estimating the odds of that was fun didn't hurt vs. itchy leg cast for a month outcomes.  But sometimes you just KNOW you can do it and it's frustrating to be told you can't.  Pushing the edge is what learning is all about.** {**As a teacher/responsible adult I must explicitly remind you to do this (i.e., learn/push the edge/create new neural pathways in your brain that actually change your mind) in ways that will not break laws or harm any sentient beings-- most especially you-- or offend, irritate, annoy, upset, or anger your parents.***} <***If you think this is a lot of footnotes, or whatever we're calling the blogger's equivalent, you should read David Foster Wallace (especially Infinite Jest).  In fact, this is the perfect time for you to consider his commencement speech (which doesn't contain footnotes, but does contain the sort of wisdom that more people should hear while there's still time to do something about it.).  At any rate, if you're still following this sentence you'll do fine in this course.>}]  Not only do we love climbing learning limbs when we're young, we know it's what we're best at.  Most of us learn whole languages best between the ages of 5-12.  Our amazing brains manage the torrential inflow by creating schema. 

We have every incentive to accelerate and amplify our learning as we age.  Our future is increasingly complex and uncertain.  Our culture and economy favor those in the know.  Learning is increasingly your responsibility as individuals.  You're becoming more independent; in about a year you'll be heading off to college, where your professors may not know you exist and definitely won't care how you organize your binder.  As if all that isn't motivation enough for you to get your learning on, it turns out that not learning may actually be bad for you.  We form new neurons and connections in our brains when we learn.  Scientists are investigating whether the lack of new neuron formation is a cause for depression or an interfering factor in recovery.

When it comes to thinking for yourself in the traditional high school setting, though, there are constraints.  Inquiry that doesn't "fit" in the classroom is too often seen as insubordinate.   By definition, individualism and divergent thinking don't regress to the mean or conform to a one-size-fits-all syllabus.  We will have to find ways to gracefully lose arguments and compromise.  In addition, a culture of fear of punishment or embarrassment can lead the smartest and most successful learners to surrender and play the game.  When this happens, motivated learning in the presence of no opportunity dies the same death as a fire in the presence of no oxygen.  The authors of "The Creativity Crisis" say we ask about 100 questions a day as preschoolers-- and we quit asking altogether by middle school. 

In his book Orbiting the Giant Hairball, Gordon MacKenzie describes visiting schools to show students how artists sculpt steel into animals:

“I always began with the same introduction: ‘Hi My name is Gordon MacKenzie and, among other things, I am an artist... How many of you are artists?’

The pattern of responses never failed.

First grade: En mass the children leapt from their chairs, arms waving wildly, eager hands trying to reach the ceiling.  Every child was an artist.

Second grade: About half the kids raised their hands, shoulder high, no higher.  The raised hands were still.

Third grade: At best, 10 kids out of 30 would raise a hand.  Tentatively.  Self-consciously. 

And so on up through the grades.  The higher the grade, the fewer children raised their hands.  By the time I reached sixth grade, no more than one or two did so and then only ever-so-slightly—guardedly—their eyes dancing from side to side uneasily, betraying a fear of being identified by the group as a ‘closet artist.’”  

Richard Saul Wurman (the man who created the TED conference) said, "In school we’re rewarded for having the answer, not for asking a good question.”  School and the way it works was designed back when things were very different and oriented around mass production; that's not the way the world works any more.  You can't just prepare for a job that may not be around by the time you graduate.  And in the age of the search engine, there is no real point in learning facts for their own sake, especially since so many of them eventually turn out not to be facts after all.  You have to develop the critical thinking, problem-solving, oppurtunity-seeking, and collaborative skills that will enable you to CREATE a role for yourself in the new economy.  (And don't worry, if you're not an entrepreneur by nature, these abilities will help you do whatever else you want to do more effectively.)

So, our first mission is to reclaim the power of the question.  Everything you ask has an interdisciplinary answer.  Show me a cup of tea and I'll show you botany, ceramics, and the history of colonialism (for starters).  Wondering why your girlfriend doesn't love you any more?  Psychology, poetry, probability... you get the idea.  And no matter what the question or the answers, you're going to have to sort the signal from the noise and determine how best to share the sense you make.

What's your Big Question?  

What have you always wanted to know?  What are you thinking about now that you've been asked?  What answers would make a difference in your life, or in the community, or in the world?  What do you wish you could invent?  What problem do you want to solve?  This is not a trick and there are no limits.  Please comment to this post with your question and post it to your course blog (title: MY BIG QUESTION).  You can always change your question or ask another.  If you need some inspiration, check out previous Eng 3 Big Questions here.

august 23

JOURNAL TOPIC: Choose your own.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. "Right to Your Opinion"
3. "Earth on Turtle's Back"
4. Post, post, post

august 22

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Wankatakiya" and "It Is a Good Day" by Spirit Nation]

Since the words of these songs are unfamiliar, just listen to them as part of the music for now.  This is a good time to think about tone and mood.  Tone is the author's attitude toward the characters, the subject, and/or the audience.  Mood is the emotional state of the reader.  How would you describe the tone and mood of these songs?  (For later) How would you describe the tone and mood of Earth on Turtle's Back?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Weaving the loose threads together

why teachers hate food/drink in class

Last week I walked in to find this:

No one likes someone else's trash.

I don't mind if you eat or drink or go to the restroom -- it's your body and I want you to take care of it.

"Take care."  That's an important phrase.

Please take care of our space.  And take care of your health.  Please eat food that nourishes you and doesn't poison you (I'm talking hot cheetos and anything else with chemical ingredients you can't pronounce and don't understand.)

Mahalo.

vocabulary: fall list #1

theme
tone
mood
diction
syntax

stupid
adumbrate
apotheosis
ascetic
bauble
beguile
burgeon
complement
contumacious
curmudgeon
didactic

august 21

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "The Logical Song" by Supertramp; "Argument" by Monty Python; "Think" by James Brown]

Why do people argue?  What factors should determine who wins an argument?  Describe a time when you won or lost an argument.  Did the experience change your mind?  If it did, why?  If it didn't, what would have?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Housekeeping: Member Blogs
3. Old Business:

• "The Right to Your Opinion"
• "Richard Cory" (theme and tone)

4. New Business:

• Literature analysis
• Vocabulary
• Mini-Socratic seminar: "The Right to Your Opinion" & "Earth on Turtle's Back" (featuring an introduction to rhetoric & early American literature)

HW:
1. Recover: bring your blog up to date.
2. Reflect: post your notes from this week's class to your blog.
3. Prepare: for Friday's vocabulary test (>15 minutes each day).
4. "Earth on Turtle's Back"

• In a post to your blog entitled ANCIENT STORIES, answer the following questions:
  

• How is the language in this text similar to and/or different from the language you use in everyday conversation?
• Because it began as an oral story, "Earth on Turtle's Back" can be found in multiple text versions.  How important is it for a story to be repeated word for word?  Is meaning embellished, distorted, lost, or enhanced in the retelling?
• [BONUS] Find your own early (pre-writing/1492) American myth and compare it to "Earth on Turtle's Back"-- come to class Thursday prepared to discuss.

august 18

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Freedom of Choice" by Devo; "Freewill" by Rush]

We use phrases like "pay attention" and "make a decision" all the time-- what do they mean to you? How would you teach a child to do either?  How might you improve your own abilities in these areas?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. "Richard Cory" (recitals/ theme and tone)
3. "The Right to Your Opinion"
4. Self-determination

HW:
1. Read "The Earth on Turtle's Back" and post a 1-3 sentence response on your blog

august 17

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Santa Maria High School has it all: art studios, a gym, a pool, a theater, a library, technology and free wi-fi, and lots and lots of space.  What would you do here all day if there were no teachers or classes?  What would you experience, learn, or accomplish?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Prepare for tomorrow (Friday) by: memorizing "Richard Cory" and/or posting your recital video to your blog; posting your responses to "Richard Cory" and "Right to Your Opinion" to your blog; posting your Welcome message (and anything else you want) to your blog; and sending me your URL if you haven't already.

august 16

JOURNAL TOPIC:

Imagine: On the way home from school today you walk past a dog-- who suddenly clears his throat and starts talking to you.  In clear English!  You have a nice conversation with him and go home.  On one hand, this is an amazing experience that makes for a great story, and you can't wait to tell your family and friends.  However, you realize that they will all think you're crazy.  But it really happened!  Will you share this with anyone?  Why or why not?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Independent work:

• blog (send Dr. Preston URL if you haven't yet, and post welcome message)
• "Richard Cory" (post your response & memorize/post video) 
• "The Right to Your Opinion" (read & post your response)

yay period 6

I'm so proud of period 6 because of this.

great job isaiah!!

Nice to see this post... take a look/listen.

august 15

JOURNAL TOPIC: (today's tunes: "Learning to Fly" performed by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and "Learning to Fly" performed by Pink Floyd)

What have you learned in this class so far?

(NOTE: this can be an idea from our reading, something about language, something about technology, something about learning, or even something about yourself...)


AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. "Richard Cory" -- recitals and analysis
3. Blog updates
4. Do you have the Right to Your Opinion? -- discussion

HW:
1. Catch up on anything you're missing
2. Help a friend do the same

I'm stoked

I don't like missing class, but I love seeing your blogs and knowing you're taking advantage of the opportunity to get stuff done -- keep up the great work!

august 14

Today I won't be in class.  You have a golden opportunity to work independently and make sure you're caught up and ready to go tomorrow.  Please email if you need help, looking forward to hearing how it goes! -DP

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Most of us don't like being told what to do, but we do like to know what is expected of us.  What do you like about working on your own, and what challenges does this present?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Independent work (you can also collaborate if it helps): memorize/video "Richard Cory," email your blog URL if you haven't already, post a welcome note on your blog, read "The Right to Your Opinion" and post a response on your blog, design your blog with tools and images.

HW:
1. Catch up on anything you're missing
2. Help a friend do the same

august 11

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: Fela Kuti's "Teacher Don't Teach Me No Nonsense"]

What is your favorite music? How would you describe it to a deaf person?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. "Richard Cory" LIVE: shift, voice, theme, genre
3. Treasure hunt

HW:
1. For Monday: "The Right to Your Opinion" and "Richard Cory" (cont'd.)
2. Blog posts: Welcome message and responses to readings
(UPDATE: your response to reading is up to you.  I just want to know you read each text enough to form a first impression, ask a question, express an opinion, and post to your blog.  I will use what I see to launch our conversations on Monday.)

how to create a blog post

1. Go to the Blogger Dashboard
2. Click on "Create New Post" (orange box with the pencil icon)
3. Give your post a title
4. Write your post & include any pictures, videos or links you want us to see
5. Proofread!
6. Publish your post and make sure you like the way it looks
7. Sit back, relax, and enjoy that sweet, sweet feeling of success

august 10

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Describe your most memorable moment from this class yesterday.

(Mine was when Isaiah called carrying 30 lb. textbooks a form of abuse.)

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Blogging
3. "Richard Cory" & memorization

HW:
1. Email Dr. Preston with: a) confirmation of your name in the Member Blogs roster; your class period; and 3) your blog's URL.  If you run into any challenges please let me know.
2. Get a spiral notebook or a composition book and bring it to class tomorrow.
3. Get your "Richard Cory" on

ted talk on open source learning

Because-- and ONLY because-- some of you asked:

don't take my word for it

will this blog see tomorrow?

It's an open question.  Think about our first in-class discussion, ask yourself what you really want out of this semester, and then comment to this post with your decision and at least one reason for it.  (NOTE: As Benjamin Franklin famously observed, "We all hang together or we all hang separately." We won't move forward unless all of us participate.) 

I've created an approach to learning in which students use 2.0 tools to create their online identities, express themselves, and show the public what they can do. 

I call the model Open Source Learning and I define it with a mouthful: "A guided learning process that combines timeless best practices with today's tools in a way that empowers learners to create interdisciplinary paths of inquiry, communities of interest and critique, and a portfolio of knowledge capital that is directly transferable to the marketplace."

Students use Open Source Learning to create a wild variety of personal goals, Big Questions, Collaborative Working Groups, and online portfolios of work that they can use for personal curiosity, self-improvement, or as a competitive advantage in applying for jobs, scholarships, and admission to colleges and universities.  You can see a sample course blog here, some member blogs here, and sample masterpieces here and here. 

Several members of the first Open Source Learning cohort made this video about the experience:



In an era when it seems like all you hear about school is how much it sucks, it's nice to see student achievement make positive waves.  Check out this Open Source Learning interview with students and Howard Rheingold, the man who literally wrote the book on The Virtual Community 20 years ago. 

The defining characteristic of Open Source Learning is that there is no chief; all of us are members of a network that is constantly evolving.  Another key element is transparency.  What we learn and how well we learn it, how we respond to setbacks, and even some of our favorite inspirations and habits of mind are right out there in public for everyone to see.  Readers will rightly perceive what we curate as the best we have to offer.

And all this is Open.  In thermodynamics, an open system exchanges substance, not just light and heat.  To us, the important idea is that the network can change in composition and purpose.  Every time you meet someone new and exchange ideas, you're not only enriching each other, you're changing your minds and contributing opportunities for others to do the same.  In other words, you're learning and teaching* (*one of the most effective ways to learn).

We're not limited to one source for curriculum or instruction.  We have a full slate of online conferences scheduled this year including authors, authorities on the Internet and social media, entrepreneurs, and others.  A few years ago a mother/daughter team presented a lesson on class distinctions in Dickens & Dr. Seuss online.  Ricky Luna invited a champion drummer to talk with students online about music and its connections to literature and life.  If we read something that makes an impression we can reach out to the author.    As you get the hang of this you'll come up with your own ideas.  Testing them will give you a better sense of how to use the experience to your greatest advantage.

No one knows how learning actually works--what IS that little voice that tells you what you should've said 15 minutes after you should've said it?  How does a subneuronal lightning storm somehow account for our experience of being conscious?  We are not sure how to account for the individual experience and demonstration of learning.  We are also not sure what exactly the individual should be learning about at a time when factoids are a search click away and the economy, the environment, and the future are all increasingly complex and uncertain.

Maybe this is why learning still seems magical.  Maybe it shouldn't be.  Maybe if we learned more about how we think we'd be better off.  After all, how we think is a powerful influence on how we act.  If you think of your blog work as a list of traditional school assignments/chores, you will treat it that way and it will show.   Your friends will miss your posts and worry that you've moved to The House Beyond the Internet-- or that you're still at your place but trapped under something heavy.  At any rate you'll be missing the whole point.  This work should help you connect the dots between the interests that drive you, an academic course that derives its title from words hardly anyone uses in casual conversation, and practical tasks like applying for scholarships and college admissions.  The general idea is for you to: do your best at something personally meaningful; learn about how you and others learn while you're in the act; and fine-tune your life accordingly.  In addition to mastering the core curriculum, improving your own mind is the highest form of success in this course of study.

As you well know (Put that phone away or I'll confiscate it!), many people are worried about the use of technology in education.  They are rightly concerned about safety, propriety, and focus: will learners benefit or will they put themselves at risk?  The only way to conclusively prove that the benefits far outweigh the risks is to establish your identities and show yourselves great, both online and in meatspace.  As we move forward you will learn how the Internet works, how you can be an effective online citizen, and how you can use 2.0 and 3.0 tools to achieve your personal and professional goals.  You'll also learn a lot about writing and the habits of mind that make readers and writers successful communicators. 

Because Open Source Learning is a team sport, this is all your call.  You have to decide if you want to pursue this new direction, or if you want to invent another possibility with or without digital and social media, or if you prefer the familiarity of the traditional approach.  There is admittedly something comforting about the smell of an old book, even if it's a thirty-pound textbook that spent the summer in a pile of lost-and-found P.E. clothes.  My perspective may be obvious but I'm just one voice.  Please add yours with a comment below. 

august 9

JOURNAL TOPIC: (today's tunes: "Move on Up" by Curtis Mayfield)

Hunter S. Thompson observed, "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."  How do you respond to challenges that arise from circumstances you didn't predict?

AGENDA:
1.  To be an Open Source Learning network or not to be an Open Source Learning network?
2. Journal
3. "Richard Cory"

HW:
1. Memorize "Richard Cory"-- due in class Friday, August 11
2. Why "Richard Cory" now, when most American Lit courses start in chronological order with creation myths and Colonial Literature?  Because one time I taught this course, one of the funniest, most beloved people ever killed himself the day before school started.  And I'm not sure our culture is improving-- between 2007 and 2015, teen suicide rates doubled for girls and went up 30% for boys.  Please click the link & read the article by the beginning of class tomorrow (Thursday, August 10) and come prepared to discuss how literature reflects the versions of ourselves that only we know.

richard cory

Here is the text of the poem.  Please begin memorizing it (it's short, but Friday isn't that far away. If you memorize it today, you win; if you struggle tonight there is time for you to get help in class tomorrow).

For more on the author/background click here.

Richard Cory
by
Edwin Arlington Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich – yes, richer than a king –
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

the right tool for the job

In the words of Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish philosopher whose work influenced prominent writers and thinkers from Charles Dickens to Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Man is a tool-using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.

It's easy to mistake the use of the Internet in learning as a simple way to make the same ol' same ol' seem a little more entertaining. What we're doing goes way beyond that. You now have the ability to use multiple media in ways that most effectively communicate your ideas and your sense of self.  As you select from a rapidly expanding online toolbox, keep in mind that every tool we use has a form, a function, a capacity to be interpreted (and sometimes hacked) by users, and even a "DNA" instilled by its creators that influences the way it's perceived and adopted.

Technology doesn't necessarily mean electronics. If you ask any serious writer, s/he will tell you that the action on a keyboard, the balance of a pen, or the texture of paper can make just as much difference as processing speed. And there are those times when nothing does the job like a simple, classic, well-made tool.  Here is a picture of me holding a 2 million year-old Acheulean Paleolithic bifacial hand axe-- the longest used tool in human history.  It fit my hand perfectly, right down to the indentations for thumb and fingers, like it was custom-made for me-- an especially rare experience for a lefty.

Apart from the perfect feel/form/function, there is something about an enduring classic that doesn't hold true for the phone you buy today that will be non-state-of-the-art in a few months.  This is about more than craft, art, or even quality: this sort of attention to detail is the product of loving care.  It's the difference between home-cooked and store-bought.  For real practitioners of anything worthwhile, tools aren't just about techne, they are extensions of our humanity.  Ask anyone who plays their music on a turntable, develops their own photographs, or sends handwritten letters.

And if all that didn't convince you to re-examine the tools you use and why, maybe a 39-second commercial is the right tool for the persuasive job:

 

create your blog

Right now you're probably using the Internet to connect on platforms like FaceBook, Instagram or Snapchat. If you've used the Internet for school, you're probably operating in a "walled garden" like OneDrive on the school-issued tablets.  The problem with social media is that most of you haven't yet learned digital branding or security.  The problem with walled gardens is that you don't own your work, and no one outside the garden-- like employers, college admissions officers, and scholarship judges-- can see your work.

If you're not telling your own story online, you can bet that someone else is.  It's time to learn how to present yourself in the way you want to be seen, so that your work creates value and opportunities for you.  In the old days, you'd write an essay that one person would see, mark up, and return to you privately.  Now you can write online and get feedback that will actually help you, while your progress and your ideas impress everyone who sees it.

In this course you will create an online presence.  

See the Member Blogs page tab just below the title image?  That is where we will maintain a directory of everyone's blog.  If you're already familiar with social media and blogging, and you feeling comfortable diving in, go ahead and use Blogger, WordPress, Postach.io, Tumblr, or whatever platform you think will most effectively help you tell your learning story.  If you're new to this, or you need help, or if any of this makes you nervous, let's talk.  We can do this in class during the first week of school, or if you don't want to live in suspense you can email me anytime at dpreston.learning@gmail.com.

hello & welcome

welcome!

Hi,
I'm looking forward to working with Santa Maria High School students this week.  Since we don't have the opportunity for an orientation or a summer prep plan, I'm starting the course blog now.  SMHS students (and anyone else who wants to learn along with us) can visit anytime for all the information you need for the course.  As we get rolling, we will also use this space for collaborating, sharing information and online tools, finding scholarships, posting multimedia projects, and anything else we dream up and/or find useful.

Please bookmark this URL and follow the blog so that you will receive updates automatically instead of having to check back all the time.  If you don't know your way around blogs or the Internet, have no fear-- we will be dedicating class time to this. You also probably have friends/relatives who can help.*  (*Working with each other to do a task and achieve shared goals is the definition of collaboration.  Please Note:  Collaboration is not cheating.  We learn better when we learn together, and we will be doing most of our learning together this year.  [I hate writing this next part because it feels so high school teacher-y, but I want to avoid any misunderstanding-- so...] Please Also Note: Some tasks will require you to demonstrate your individual mastery of close reading, literary criticism, and written organization/ expression.  Don't even think about cheating when you know it's cheating.

I hope every single person who participates in this course connects with a personally meaningful interest, discovers people & resources who can help pursue that interest, and takes charge of his/her own learning journey.  For now, please feel free to post any questions or comments here or email me at dpreston.learning@gmail.com.  Sapere aude.  I look forward to meeting you!

Best,
Dr. Preston