Sunrise, Sunset: My last post for the 2011- 2012 School Year

Attention:  If you like, click here for a video of the 8.3 town hall visit with Governor Quinn! 

Also, click here for Governor Quinn's Twitter feed about his visit to Julian.

For the seventh grade bag of websites, click here!

I have decided that this is going to be my last blog entry for the year.  We teach all the way through, ensuring that each day is of instructional merit.  Yet, I will have this as my last blog entry and hope that your students, our emerging scholars, will let you know of all the intellectually enriching elements in which we will engage in that last week.

I want to thank all of the students for a journey that has featured different benchmarks for success.  Some have been able to embrace the first steps taken towards scholarship.  Others have begun to understand the arduous demands that are needed to even remotely compete on such a level.  I can honestly say that each and every one of the students I have worked with this year has changed in some way, pivoting towards this ideal, one that guides our vessels amidst turbulent seas.  For this, I can only bow my head and offer gratitude.

Seventh graders will engage in exploratory activities regarding the curriculum and the year this year.  This will take the form of answering reflective questions Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  On Thursday and Friday, we will examine different video clips and examine the presence of American History in these clips.  For the eighth graders, we will examine short stories by Gordimer, Kurieshi, LeGuin, and Tolstoy this week.  We will examine how the concept of "strange passengers" is both within us and outside of us.  Our world consists of "strange passengers," individuals who we don't choose to sit next nor who choose to sit next to us.  We simply board our vessels of voyage and sit next to them.  It is up to us whether or not we can make peace with the "strangeness" they possess and we possess in ourselves.
8.3 students can find their finalized Social Studies grades updated as of Monday, while 7.3 students will have their grades finalized before the end of Memorial Day weekend.

For the seventh graders, I wish a great summer filled with intellectual growth and curiosity as the next and final chapter in their Julian careers remains to be the page on which they will write.  For the eighth graders, I wish nothing but my best as they enter the great horizon of high school.  I wish them nothing but the best as they strive to embrace the idea that the fight goes on, the cause endures, and the dream shall never die.  It has been an honor to be a momentary stop along your causeway of consciousness and being in the world.  I have been privileged to work with you and to both teach you and learn from you.   I can only hope that you embrace the hope and faith for good that lies within you.  As Sri Raghavendra says, "Faith can revive the dead while doubt can cause great harm."  To the eighth graders, I hope you possess faith in yourself and do not doubt what great intellectual strides you can take.  Thank you all for being you.  I will think of all of you, seventh and eighth, frequently this summer as I travel around India.

All best.

Mr. Kannan

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/araswami/2205951792/sizes/l/in/set-72157603706676173/ with rights stipulated here

The week of the 14th with the end in sight

For 8th graders who wish to choose which film on which to write their Holocaust assessment, please know that it is past 8:00 AM.  At this time, the googledoc is closed and you are going to have to choose on what I select.  I wish you nothing but my deepest best... you might need it!

 8th Graders who need to access the Bag of Websites to conclude the Holocaust Unit, please click here!

It's real simple for both groups.  7th graders have their Final Assessments due Friday, while the 8th graders will finish with their Holocaust Assessment on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on how things progress with the viewing of film clips.  Much at stake with much to finish this week.
Best wishes to all.
Mr. Kannan

Syllabus for 7.3 Social Studies

Week of 5.14 – 5.18

Mr. Kannan- Email: akannan@op97.org

Blog Address: http://op97-kannan783.blogspot.com/

Monday:    Final Assessments are due on Friday.  Turn in your textbook before Friday.

HW:  Final Assessments are due on Friday.  If you are not going to be present, please make sure your Final Assessment is submitted before you depart.

Syllabus for 8.3 Social Studies

Week of 5.14- 5.18

Mr. Kannan- Email: akannan@op97.org

Blog Address: http://op97-kannan783.blogspot.com/

Monday:  Continue Holocaust Film Assessment, with  explore through film. clips.	HW:    Make sure you are complete with the Holocaust film analysis on your prewrites.
Tuesday:  In class Holocaust Assessment.  Due at end of period.    This is dependent on how far we progress from Monday.  If it turns out we need more time, we roll the Assessment into Wednesday.	HW:   What do you take away from the Holocaust Unit?  How can you change lives based on what you have gained from it?  Extra credit if you compose a small and worthwhile paragraph on this topic.  Speak in specific and clear terms.
Wednesday:   Discuss Gordimer’s “Once Upon a Time.”	HW:  How is Oak Park like the community that Gordimer describes?  How is Oak Park different than the community that Gordimer describes?  Where are our walls?
Thursday:  Read “My Son, the Fanatic” by Kurieshi.	HW:   Assess where we are in the threat of terrorism in the modern setting.  Be ready to explain if we are pursuing the terrorists or if we , ourselves, have become the terrorists in pursuing them?
Friday:   Finish enrichment sheet on either stories covered this week.  Surprise pairing ups.  You can elect not to work with that person, but it is strongly suggested that you do.	HW:     Make sure enrichment sheets are done either by the end of class or submitted at the start of Monday’s class.

This week is a tough one!

 8th Graders who need to access the Bag of Websites to conclude the Holocaust Unit, please click here!

To put it in the most simple of terms, this is a tough week in Social Studies.  Good luck to you all!
8th graders- Homework from Karen Gershon's poems are due Monday with the Holocaust unit ending this week.  I wonder what the assessment will be?  Could we have something where the assessment is only one question... in 27 parts?  (We miss you, Rodney Dangerfield!)
7th graders- Monday is declaration day for your Final Assessments.  Then, it's working on your Final Assessments and being able to submit them on Friday, 5.18.
Best wishes to all of you.  I think you will need it.
Mr. Kannan

Syllabus for 7.3 Social Studies

Week of 5.7 – 5.11

Mr. Kannan- Email: akannan@op97.org

Blog Address: http://op97-kannan783.blogspot.com/

Monday:  Start working on Final Assessment.	HW:  Final Assessments due on 5.18.  This is the last chance to proactively raise your grade.
Tuesday:    In class working on Final Assessment.	HW:  Keep up with scaffolded breakdown of what needs to be done.
Wednesday:   Continue making progress on Final Assessment.	HW:  At this point, you should have made some level of progress in completing your Final Assessment.  Have you thought about submitting a rough draft?
Thursday:   Progress through Final Assessment construction.  Conferences.	HW:   Assess where you are with your Final Assessment.  In the final analysis, the work is yours, but it might be good to get opinions from parent/ guardians.
Friday:    Final Assessments are due in one week.  Conferences.	HW:  One week from now, your Final Assessments are due.  Will your Final Assessment reflect your best work and your best chance of getting the grade that is most representative of your work and your problem solving abilities?

Syllabus for 8.3 Social Studies

Week of 5.7- 5.11

Mr. Kannan- Email: akannan@op97.org

Blog Address: http://op97-kannan783.blogspot.com/

Monday:  Discuss Day V:  Holocaust Lecture Notes and poems on “Lessons.”	HW:    Reflect on what the ultimate lesson is on the Holocaust.  Man, this sounds like a heck of an ending question for the class… Just a thought.
Tuesday:  Sylvia Plath and “Daddy.”  (It is official:  You all have been indoctrinated into the realm of depressing poems if you are reading Plath.  Congrats and welcome!)	HW:   Read “Riddle” and “Portrait of a House Detective” and answer questions on these questions. After these questions, explain how the Plath poem represents the idea that “Even amidst fierce flames the golden lotus can be planted.”  Explain this in a solid and thorough paragraph with reference to the poem and Plath’s confessions through it.  These will be collected tomorrow.
Wednesday:   Close with “God,” “Experiments with God” and “Ani Maamin.”	HW:  Answer questions on poems.  These will be collected tomorrow.
Thursday/ Friday:  Film Clips of the Holocaust unit.	HW:   Finish writing assignment based off of film clips.

"Don't Give Up:" Sage Advice from Peter Gabriel and about 7.8/3 Social Studies

7th Grade Students:  Click here for the instructions on how to sign up and participate in edmodo.

As long as we seem to be on the confessional edge, I cannot conceal my deep love for the music of Peter Gabriel.  I have a difficult time finding an artist who has been able to capture more of the arc of human development like Gabriel.  I think that there is something in his music that can connect to the unbridled optimism of consciousness in one moment with the pangs of desperation, the very worst of what it means to be human in the next moment.  I discovered him as a sophomore in high school and I can safely say that my discovery of his music was probably the best thing out of high school...  That and too many lunch periods spent at Second Hand Tunes browsing over scratched Peter Gabriel LP's and cassettes.  (I am fairly sure I just lost most of my students with that sentence.)
One of Gabriel's best songs is his most simply titled, "Don't Give Up."  As we enter the last month of the school year, better words could not sum up my message to the students.
Don't give up.  There's a place where you belong.

7.3 Students- All edmodo posts need to be done by Sunday.  Expect homework all this week.  Monday will be Station Rotation questions.  Tuesday and Wednesday should be spent preparing for the Civil War Quiz on Thursday.  Wednesday will also be the day when students will receive the Final Assessment.  The quiz will take place on Thursday with questions on the Final Assessment taken on Friday.

8.3 Students- Holocaust Art paragraphs and thematic analysis enrichment sheets are due Monday.  Expect the poetry of the Holocaust to be present all week with the discussion of the week ending with Karen Gershon.

Syllabus for 7.3 Social Studies

Week of 4.30 – 5.4

Mr. Kannan- Email: akannan@op97.org

Blog Address: http://op97-kannan783.blogspot.com/

Monday:  15-1  Station Rotation.	HW:  Finish for homework tonight any and all questions from Station Rotation.
Tuesday:       Read 15-2 and 15-3 in class and finish work assigned from it.	HW:  Finish 15-2 and 15-3 questions as assigned in class.
Wednesday:  Finish chapter 15.  Review and assemble small index cards.  Quiz Thursday.	HW:  Study for quiz, review Final Assessment.  Declare Final Assessment choices by Monday,  5.9.
Thursday:   Take quiz.  Look over and examine Final Assessment.	HW:   Start assessing which final assessment choice you are going to take.
Friday:    Discuss final assessment.  Take any and all questions.	HW:  Final Assessment Choices are declared on Monday.  You might even want to start working on your Final Assessment.

Syllabus for 8.3 Social Studies

Week of 4.30- 5.4

Mr. Kannan- Email: akannan@op97.org

Blog Address: http://op97-kannan783.blogspot.com/

Monday:  Introduce “Holocaust Poetry” and the lines.	HW:    Annotate “How Can I See You, Love” for themes in Holocaust literature.
Tuesday:   Read “He Was Lucky” and “Massacre of the Boys.”	HW:  Finish questions on “He Was Lucky” and “Massacre of the Boys” or annotate “Dusk” and “I Am a Jew” for themes in Holocaust literature.  This assignment must be done in complete sentences and with thorough detail.  It will be collected tomorrow.
Wednesday:  The Silent Majority.  Introduce Simone Weil’s vision of Survivor’s Guilt and read “I Did Not Manage to Save,” “Archive Film Material,” “I, the Survivor.” And “La Pathetique.”	HW:  Pick one poem to answer questions.  These questions should be done in thorough detail with line support and complete sentences.  It will be collected tomorrow.
Thursday:    Introduce Karen Gershon.  Analyze her biography and what some of the implications are from it.	HW:   Annotate Gershon Biography for evidence that supports the following statement:  “Karen Gershon represents the unending pain of the Holocaust.”
Friday:  Read Gershon’s “I Was Not There” and “Race.”  Discuss the poems in light of Gershon’s life and annotate for themes in Holocaust Literature.	HW:    Answer questions on Karen Gershon’s poetry in complete sentences and thorough detail.  This assignment will be collected on Monday.

The 7.8/3 "Desperados:" It may be rainin', but there's a... well, let's hope!

7th Grade Students:  Click here for the instructions on how to sign up and participate in edmodo.

The song "Desperado" is a personal favorite.  It speak to the idea of running wild, seeking independence and autonomy, but then recognizing that there is something larger than the individual and embracing that entity that had been deferred.  For many of our students, scholarship had been something where there was some level of reticence in accepting.  Some had been able to accept it sooner than others.  Yet, I think that some of our own "desperados" are coming home, returning back to that element from which they recognize that is might be good to return to "before it's too late."
To all of you desperados, I can only wish to you the very best in helping you "come to your senses and come down from your fences."
7.3 Students- It's the Civil War.  We start Chapter 14, and within it, the two best sections of the book about the outbreak of the Civil War.  Work towards your edmodo postings due by Sunday.
8.3 Students- Monday is collection day for your Milgram experiment questions.  (Makes you look at getting a question wrong in a different light, eh?)  Then, you will be exploring themes in Holocaust literature with an activity on Wednesday and Thursday that examines the thematic implication of Holocaust art.  (It sounds strange, but the Holocaust gave rise to some of the most poignant of art.)

Syllabus for 7.3 Social Studies

Week of 4.23 - 4.27

Mr. Kannan- Email: akannan@op97.org

Blog Address: http://op97-kannan783.blogspot.com/

Monday:  Finish  14-1, 14-2 and 14-3 reading in class.	HW:  Read 14- 1 and complete the Check Your Progress questions at the end of the section.
Tuesday:      Discuss Chapter 14, sections 2 and 3 and complete the Check Your Progress Questions.	HW:  Complete the Check Your Progress Questions on sections 2 and 3.
Wednesday:  Log into edmodo and start posting comments.	HW:  Edmodo posts need to be done by Sunday.  Finish reading 14-4 and complete the Check Your Progress Questions for 14-4.
Thursday:      Edmodo postings time.	HW:   Edmodo posts need to be done by Sunday.
Friday:    No School- Institute Day.	HW:  Edmodo posts need to be done by Sunday.

Syllabus for 8.3 Social Studies

Week of 4.23- 4.27

Mr. Kannan- Email: akannan@op97.org

Blog Address: http://op97-kannan783.blogspot.com/

Monday:  Discuss the themes in Holocaust Literature and identify examples of themes.  Annotate the opening three poems for themes in Holocaust literature.	HW:    Annotate three opening poems.
Tuesday:   Discuss ethics in the Holocaust from both victims and aggressors.	HW:  From your reading in Night, identify five specific examples in the text and how they connect to themes in Holocaust literature.
Wednesday:   Introduce Prewrite to watching art.  Examine Holocaust Art and analyze themes/ ethical treatment in art samples.	HW:  By end of Thursday’s class, make sure you have identified specific ethical treatments and/ or themes from Holocaust literature.
Thursday:     Continue analysis of Holocaust Art..	HW:   One completed paragraph of an art sample analysis is due on Monday.  Extra credit if you wished to continue to compose themes/ ethical treatment in Holocaust Literature on more than one.  Read one of the poems of Alienation/ Isolation.  Try to see if you can “get it.”
Friday:  No School- Institute Day.	HW:    One completed paragraph of an art sample analysis is due on Monday.  Extra credit if you wished to continue to compose themes/ ethical treatment in Holocaust Literature on more than one.  Read one of the poems of Alienation/ Isolation.  Try to see if you can “get it.”

Westward Expansion and Delving into the Holocaust: Just another week in 7.8./3 Social Studies

The hamster rolls on, the dog remains loyal, and 7.8/3 student delves deeper into the myriad of complexity that surrounded both the Holocaust and Westward Expansion.  With that, game on!

7.3 Students
*Monday- All Chapter 12 work is submitted.  All technology tasks are due on Sunday, 3.15, at 3:00 PM.
*  Tuesday- Thursday- In class and at home work on Outcome Sentences on Chapter 13.  Draft the starters and keep that list going.  The more collaboration there is on this front, the better off the student will be.
*  Friday- Assessment on Chapter 13- Westward Expansion.

8.3 Students
*  Students will have nightly work in the study of The Holocaust.
*  Friday- Students will have a paragraph due Monday on the nature of evil as outlined in Milgram's experiment, The Perils of Obedience.

Students should be mindful of their academic standing.  Time is rapidly dwindling.  For 7th graders, their Final Assessment will be officially assigned on May 2.  For 8th graders, a deep breath is needed before the plunge of High School Awaits.
All best.
Mr. Kannan

Syllabus for 7.3 Social Studies

Week of 4.16 - 4.20

Mr. Kannan- Email: akannan@op97.org

Blog Address: http://op97-kannan783.blogspot.com/

Monday:  Finish Outcome Sentences for Chapter 13,  Section 2.	HW:  Keep pace with reading and requirements in Chapter 13.  See packet.
Tuesday:      Finish Outcome Sentences for Chapter 13,  Section 3.	HW:  Keep pace with reading and requirements in Chapter 13.  See packet.
Wednesday:  Finish Outcome Sentences for Chapter 13,  Section 4.	HW:  Keep pace with reading and requirements in Chapter 13.  See packet.
Thursday:      Choose Your Partners for the Assessment on Outcome Sentences.  Must be someone with whom you have not worked with before.	HW:   Make sure you are ready for your Outcome Sentence Assessment.
Friday:    If we have class, finish your Outcome Sentence Assessment.  If not, we roll with it on Monday.	HW:  If  we have class, finish reading Chapter 14, section 1.  If not, prepare for your Outcome Sentence Assessment on Monday.

Syllabus for 8.3 Social Studies

Week of 4.16- 4.20

Mr. Kannan- Email: akannan@op97.org

Blog Address: http://op97-kannan783.blogspot.com/

Monday:  Half and half:  Some will be annotating “Notes on Holocaust” while others will be finishing Map Skills and Vocabulary Matchups.	HW:    Network with “the other half” and obtain answers to what you need.
Tuesday:     Read “Background Information on the Holocaust” and “The Verdict.”	HW:  Assess Mrs. Helena.  What do you think of her?  Is she a “sinner?”  Is she heroic?  How do we judge that which we have no ability to judge?  (Now, there’s a toughie.)
Wednesday:  Discuss Mrs. Helena.  Annotate Diary Entries from Lodz for rights violations in the Holocaust.	HW:  Finish annotations.
Thursday:    Examine the contrast and geography between the Nazi Ghetto, Concentration Camp, and Death Camp.  Geography as a progression. Discuss Arendt’s idea of the Banality of Evil.	HW:   Reflect on the idea that the true horror of the Nazis how it made death and annihilation a gradual and incremental process.  Where do we see the banality of evil in our world today?
Friday:  Discuss Milgram Experiment.  What does it show about “the perils of obedience?”	HW:  Write your thoughts on the Milgram Experiment.  Will be collected tomorrow.  As part of your writing, assess the following statement:  “Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority" (Milgram, 1974).  In class writing questions on Milgram Experiment will be collected Monday.

The Lessons of the Hamster and 7.8./3 Social Studies Students!

The hamster on the side bar has been getting a great deal of publicity.  The strangest thing happened while I was individually conferencing with students.
They were transfixed by him.
Students from all different narratives found common ground.  They all enjoyed the little guy.  Some liked how he follows the curser, others liked how he ran on his "treadmill," while a couple remarked that they wouldn't take their seats until they saw him get water.  The one lesson evident here is that the hamster is relentless in what he does.  He eats with vigor, drinks with zeal, and cares enough to run on the treadmill with passion.   There is a lesson here for our students, indeed.  Greatness becomes evident when passion is part of the calculus.  We live in a cynical world, a world without values at times, and one in which there is manipulation in abundance.  Yet, the transcendent element to all of this is that of passion, zeal, and love for one's work.  In the end, we are what we love and the hamster knows this.
It is up to all of us to learn this from the hamster.  Final point:  To the student, one of my most endearing, who claims to "think" that the hamster is "too fat," I can only offer that the hamster knows where to drop off electronic assignments.... Ouch! :)
7.3 Students:
*  Please make sure you are making progress in both the packet and in your individual task (technology or notetaking guides.)  Notetaking guides and packets are due on Monday, 4.16.  Technology tasks are due on Sunday, 4.15.

For students who would like to read primary sources of some of the renegades of change in Chapter 12, click here for a bag of websites that will help you.  This will especially useful for the Powerpoint people who need to find individuals or thinkers to link up to their art samples.

8.3 Students:
* World War II Papers are due on Friday, along with notetaking guides and station rotation work.  Please keep pace with the elements of thought homework assigned this week.

For the introductory bag of websites on Night by Elie Wiesel, please click here!

Syllabus for 7.3 Social Studies

Week of 4.9 - 4.13

Mr. Kannan- Email: akannan@op97.org

Blog Address: http://op97-kannan783.blogspot.com/

Monday:  In class work on Chapter 12.	HW:  Keep pace with reading and requirements in Chapter 12.  See packet.
Tuesday:      In class work on Chapter 12.  Student conferences.	HW:  Keep pace with reading and requirements in Chapter 12.  See packet.
Wednesday:  In class work on Chapter 12.  Student conferences.	HW:  Keep pace with reading and requirements in Chapter 12.  See packet.
Thursday:     In class work on Chapter 12.  Student conferences.	HW:   Keep pace with reading and requirements in Chapter 12.  See packet.
Friday:    Start Chapter 13.  Introduce Outcome Sentence Assessment.	HW:  Keep pace with reading and requirements in Chapter 13.  See packet.

Syllabus for 8.3 Social Studies

Week of 4.9- 4.13

Mr. Kannan- Email: akannan@op97.org

Blog Address: http://op97-kannan783.blogspot.com/

Monday: Introduce the in- class essay… that you will be doing out of class.  What beautiful irony!	HW:    Complete one in- class essay out of class.  Due at the start of class Friday.  Print it out.  Do not email it.  Do not share it.  Print it out and have it ready to be turned in at the start of Friday’s class.
Tuesday:   The Holocaust:  From the Text.  Examine the issues present as the textbook depicts it.	HW:  In class essay due Friday.
Wednesday:  Introduce the Holocaust with film clip, and discuss emotional appropriateness in terms of responding to literature, the use of poetry as a means to assess art and history, and outline the basic elements of the unit.	HW:  In class essay due Friday.  Reflect on the meaning of the following quote:  “The Holocaust was a moment in time when the lights of the world were both extinguished and lit.”  In class essay due Friday.
Thursday:   Outline and discuss themes for the Holocaust Unit.	HW:  Identify the themes in opening poems.  In class essay due Friday.
Friday:  Collect Papers.  Finish Background for Holocaust Unit.	HW:  Finish assigned background pages from Holocaust Packet.