The American Dream: Revisited, Day 1 - Class Recap

Your anonymous feedback for what you like about this class! :-) 

Hello everyone,

Welcome to a new semester! We began by getting organized and reviewing feedback from last semester, then moving on to prepare for a Socratic Seminar discussion on the American Dream! Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Critical Thinking LT 5: I can justify and support arguments or interpretation with appropriate evidence.

Soundtrack: "Brand New Day" by Sting. Selected for today because it is a brand new semester and a chance to start again! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 1/29/19:
News Brief - Emma H.
Organization
Review Class Feedback
The American Dream

Homework: Read the blog and post a comment again! Finish the reading questions if you did not in class. Next news brief: Gaby.

News Brief: Emma H. had the news brief today, but was absent from class, so I filled in and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Some states allow parents to get out of vaccinations. Then this happens. We talked about this story for a bit, before moving on.

Gaby was selected to do the next news brief.

As usual, we checked in about what students were up to outside of class (I hope finals went well!).

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Organization: Next, I offered students time to clear out their binder of work from last semester for my class, and to get organized and ready for the next semester. Let's all try to work on this for the rest of the year! :-)

Review Class Feedback: We looked at the anonymous feedback that students gave me after the semester final about how the class was going, and how I am doing as a teacher. Here it is again if you want to check it out:

Google Drive - Period 1 American Studies Class Feedback 2018-2019

Some observations:

1) It looks like students really love what we learn about in class, which is awesome to see!

2) The class knows it could get better at working well together and being on time to class and with work.

3) The class likes that I am positive, helpful, enthusiastic, and that I explain/teach concepts well.

4) However, some students feel like I could do a better job of not talking during movies and grading (if anything at all).

As I also noted in the last slide, we have lots of work to do in the second semester, which will probably be more challenging for most students than the first semester.

The American Dream: To start this semester, I wanted to remind students of last semester, when we talked about the concept of the "American Dream" and students made posters with slogans. Next week, we will have a Socratic Seminar discussion on the question: "Is the American Dream attainable by everyone?"

Here is the packet that I passed out today with readings with opinions about the status of the American Dream:

Google Drive - American Dream Socratic Seminar Materials

In class, I had students read the first article in the packet and underline words or phrases that they did not understand, to ask a partner for help. We then went through them as a class.

We will continue working on this packet and preparation next class (which is a bit shorter, due to an assembly schedule). My plan is to then have the Socratic Seminar in class next Monday. Thanks for your hard work today - here we go again!