Update March 31

Bellwrite #28: What does it mean to be civilized? What does it mean to be uncivilized?

Students turned in their short stories.

Periods 3-4
We talked about the concept of White Man's Burden and students analyzed the poem by the same name by Rudyard Kipling. They will finish answering questions on the poem tomorrow in class.

We rehearsed briefly for the devotional.

I gave feedback on the Angel Letters. We will write our third one tomorrow in class.

Periods 6-7
Students took a survey for the school in the computer lab.

Then we began discussing the concept of White Man's Burden.

Homework:
Rehearse for the devotional

Update March 28

Please record in your commonplace book your most important learning from this week.

We read together Letter 9 from Screwtape Letters. We will compose our third "Angel Letter" on Monday in class.

We continued our study of Imperialism by considering some case studies from African history:
1) The Belgian Congo (greedy intentions with brutality for resource extraction)
2) Zanzibar (good intentions to end slavery with unintended negative economic and political consequences)
3) Nigeria (How Mary Slessor, a missionary, worked to end evil cultural practices among the Ibo people--see separate post)

Homework:

• Rehearse your devotional part with feedback from someone.
• Complete short stories are due on Monday.

Article on Mary Slessor: Christian and Humanitarian Missionary of Imperialism

In 1848, Mary Slessor, a bonny redhead, was born near Aberdeen Scotland, the second of seven children; unlike three of her siblings, she survived childhood. Her father was a shoemaker, but his alcoholism forced her to work in the local textile mill from a young age. She began her working life as a "half timer," laboring half the day at the mill and attending school the remainder, her tuition financed by her employer. By fourteen she was a full timer, toiling twelve hours a day amid the local jute mill's racket and dangers.

But Mary had an ambitious desire to serve God, and her cursory education put her in good stead. After teaching school for a time, she took the call as a missionary for the Presbyterian Church, trained a short time in Edinburgh, and then sailed for what today is southwestern Nigeria, arriving in 1876 at the age of twenty eight. As innocent as were here motives, she was part of the "scramble for Africa." As much as any group, missionaries were the cultural messengers of imperialism, and their message was often the most disturbing and destructive to local cultures. Those who converted, whatever their motives, shed their old ways to some degree and set themselves apart and at odds from the rest of their culture. It was just as Jesus Christ had predicted when he told his disciples, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household" (Matthew 10:34-36).

British presence in what is now Nigeria began innocently enough, as an attempt to abolish the slave trade in the early 19th century. British naval patrols stopped slave ships and took the captives to ports, such as Freetown, Sierra Leone, which functioned very much like refugee camps, and were often administered by British Christian missionaries. By mid-century, British interest in Nigeria as a supplier of palm oil increased, and in 1861, they made the port of Lagos a crown colony. Out of increasing economic interest and the need to keep other colonial powers out, Britain slowly increased its presence and influence in the region, but it was not until 1906 that the entire region came under British political control. Mary Slessor arrived during this period of building British presence, and her mission spanned Nigeria's colonial consolidation.

What Mary Slessor found in Africa both captivated and shocked her. The country was beautiful, the tropical forests were majestic, and she loved the warmth of the Ibo people and their culture. However, some of the Ibo's traditional practices were disturbing. Despite the fact that the slave trade to the Americas from the region had been abolished in 1811, and the Atlantic slave trade had been shut down entirely by the early 1860s, many Africans, including the Ibo, continued to practice it locally. Moreover, all women were often treated as if they were property, and a man married as many as he could afford to support. Head hunting was an important form of ceremonial warfare, and human sacrifice accompanied the death of important individuals in the community. Most shocking to Mary was the practice of twin infanticide. The Ibo considered the birth of twins a terrible omen, and they abandoned twin children in the forests to die of exposure. Mary, with Christianity and Liberalism as her weapons, fought the rest of her life to root out slavery, the abuse of women, and human sacrifice, and she expanded her missionary activities to as many of the Ibo tribes as she could reach. She became a mother to many twins and other unwanted children who had been abandoned. She also served in an administrative position within the British government, playing a role in imposing civilizing Western laws.

In 1915, she succumbed, as had countless other Europeans in Africa, to malaria, sacrificing her life in the service of her African wards. Her contribution was recognized with a state funeral, and even Elizabeth II paid respects at Mary's Nigerian grave, which is marked by an imposing cross of Scottish granite.

Update March 27

Bellwrite #27: Do you ever feel like you are in a "slump"? What do you think causes "slumps"? What do you do when you are in one?

We read together Screwtape Letters 7 & 8. We discussed Screwtape's Law of Undulation and related it to our lives.

We also spent time rehearsing for our class devotional.

Homework:

• Short stories due Monday.
• Rehearse for the class devotional.

Update March 26

Bellwrite #26: How might the story of Babar the Little Elephant relate to imperialism? How does Babar's life change when he encounters European culture? How does the way the other animals perceive him change? Is the story promoting or mocking imperialism?

After discussing the story of Babar, I introduced imperialism and we studied the history of imperialism in India leading up to Gandhi's move for home rule (independence).

Homework:

• Rehearsal for class devotional (complete rehearsal chart)\
• Short story (full story due Monday)
• Finish reading from the packet on British Raj in India through page 252.

Update March 25

Yesterday's bellwrite: How does Screwtape attack the patient's prayers in Letter 4? Evaluate your own prayers.

The first draft of the Family Past research paper is due today.  We have been working on our Family Future short stories. Today we moved the due date from this Friday to Monday.

Today in Core class we finished reading Letter 6 in the Screwtape Letters and wrote a second "Angel Letter." These should have been completed in class.

We also read through the script for our class devotional which will be held on April 4 at 8:10 AM. Each student was assigned a part to memorize.

Finally, we read the children's book "The Story of Babar the Little Elephant." This story can be read as commentary on European imperialism. We will discuss this tomorrow in class.

Homework:

• Continue working on your short story.
• Memorize your part for the class devotional.

Ministering Angels Letters

You are to write letters from an experienced ministering angel to a less experienced angel of “The Patient.” Pretend that these angels are writing the letters about you, their patient. Feel free to make reference to actual people and events from your own life over the next few weeks. The ministering angels are fully aware of Screwtape’s intentions and plans. Write letters advising the inexperienced ministering angel about how to help the patient remain faithful and continue to grow spiritually in the face of and through the temptations of Wormwood. How can the patient defend against these attacks? Recognize that your purpose is not only to help the patient avoid giving in to temptation, but also and more importantly to help the patient progress spiritually so he may qualify for exaltation.

Have fun with this. A few ideas—

·         Name your ministering angels.

·         Make puns about Heaven.

·         Consider what motivates the ministering angels.

·         What setbacks are they experiencing?

·         How do they respond to these setbacks?

·         What defensive and offensive weapons/armor are at their disposal?

·         Which scripture verses or stories should the ministering angel help the patient remember?

·         Which General Conference talks should the ministering angel help the patient remember?

·         How do the angels use other people in the patient’s life to further their cause?

·         What positive character traits are the ministering angels trying to help the patient acquire?

·         How does their reverence for agency affect what they will and will not do to help the patient?

 For every three letters in The Screwtape Letters, you are to write one corresponding letter from an experienced ministering angel to a less experienced ministering angel of “The Patient.” The letter should address at least one of the topics Screwtape discusses in the three corresponding letters. Since there are 31 letters in the book, and you are writing one for every three, you will be writing a total of ten letters.

Screwtape Letters	Angel Letters
1-3	1
4-6	2
7-9	3
10-12	4
13-15	5
16-18	6
19-21	7
22-24	8
25-27	9
28-31	10

Update March 19

Bellwrite: What does it mean to be judgmental? Why does Christ teach us not to judge? Have you ever felt judgmental?

Students received a handout with guidelines on how to use and cite quotations in their research papers. We spent some time working on the Family Past assignment.

We then read Letter 2 from Screwtape Letters.

Homework:

• Minimum of three scenes for short story due this Friday.
• First draft of Family Past is due Tuesday.

Update March 18

Writing Portfolio
Students worked on expanding their short stories by adding additional scenes.

Core
Bellwrite: Does what you learn in school affect your life? Why or why not?

We began reading Screwtape Letters. Students read a brief biography of C.S. Lewis and background on the writing of the book. We read and discussed the first letter.

Students will be writing Angel Letters as they read Screwtape (see separate post).

We practiced writing an angel letter together.

Homework:

• A minimum of three scenes from the short stories are due this Friday. (That will probably be 8-10 pages.) The entire short story is due a week from Friday.

Update March 17

Commonplace Books: Please record your most valuable learning from Experiential Learning.

 

We finished watching the movie of Gandhi. We then discussed and answered these questions. (Due by tomorrow)

 

1) Explain Gandhi's methods of "fighting" the British Empire. Why were they effective?
2) What were the long-term effects of British imperialism on India? How did Gandhi try to overcome the negative ones?

 

Homework:

• Finish writing your responses to these questions.
• Work on your next scene for your Family Future short story.

Update March 5

Bellwrite: Select ONE of the following prompts:
1) If Gandhi were your personal companion today, what advice would he give you?
2) What is truth? What does it mean to be true? How can you be true right now?

We continued watching the movie Gandhi.

Homework:
Family Past prewriting due Thursday (includes notes on sources, MLA Works Cited, and outline for essay).

Update March 4

Writing Portfolio: We worked on adding another scene to the short stories. The scene should either precede or come after one of the two alternate scenes you already wrote. Remember, a story is characters trying to make decisions about how to get out of a problem.

We discussed the importance of not letting action drive a story, but instead letting character and problems (conflict) be central. One way to do this is to limit a scene to one location and short period of time.  This will help you avoid the temptation to say "and then, and then, and then."

After a brief introduction to New Imperialism, we began watching the video of Gandhi. Students are taking notes.

Homework: Family Past (all prewriting due Thursday)

Update March 3

Bellwrite: Write a job description for a student who is learning for their long-term self-interest. What is included in their job duties? What is NOT included in their job duties?

We discussed insights from our experiment in Free Market education last week.  We noted the following parallels:
1) government (teacher)
2) individual businessmen (students)
3) economy (learning)

We discussed some of the ways the government might regulate the economy, both directly or indirectly, including the following:

1. tariffs
2. business bailouts
3. criminalizing fraud
4. subsidies
5. welfare
6. protecting the environment
7. providing education

We also discussed how Smith's economic theories could apply to leadership in various contexts--within the home, in business, in church organizations (Scouts and Young Womens).

Students completed two readings:

1) The Rise of Mormonism and the Birth of Modern Society (an interesting perspective from one LDS scholar on the possible relationship between the Restoration of the gospel and industrial/economic growth). Students discussed this one with a partner.
2) Critics and Advocates of the Industrial Revolution. Students answered all the questions for this reading.

Homework:
1) Family Past (due date moved to Thursday instead of Wednesday)
2) Finish "Critics and Advocates" questions

Homework:
Family Past

CARS--Evaluating Internet Sources

Credibility
Accuracy
Reasonableness
Support
 

Indicators of Lack of Credibility

• Anonymity 
• Lack of Quality Control 
• Negative Metainformation. If all the reviews are critical, be careful.
• Bad grammar or misspelled words. Most educated people use grammar fairly well and check their work for spelling errors. An occasional split infinitive or comma in the wrong place is not unusual, but more than two or three spelling or grammar errors is cause for caution, at least. Whether the errors come from carelessness or ignorance, neither puts the information or the writer in a favorable light.
• Emotional earnestness accompanied by exaggeration or absolutes. Even in very controversial areas (gun control, global warming, abortion, capital punishment) and promotional contexts (product claims and evaluations) we expect reasons, data, and emotional restraint. Articles where the writer's feelings have clearly taken over from thinking make us wonder if we are reading ideology instead of information and arguments that might persuade us. Breathless, sweeping generalizations should set off your baloney detector. For example, "Did you know that none of the vitamins and supplements sold in stores work correctly with your body chemistry? Only SuperDuperVite has been formulated to blah blah blah."
• Claims of unique, secret information (which is now on the Web site) or claims of such dramatic implications that you should expect widespread discussion. For example, "The CIA was responsible for the assassination of President Kennedy." Conspiracy theories in general, because they run counter to official reports and often counter to reason, should be met with great caution.

Evidence of Quality Control

• Information presented on organizational web sites 
• On-line journals that use refereeing (peer review) by editors or others 
• Postings of information taken from books or journals that have a quality control process

 

Indicators of a Lack of Accuracy

• No date on the document 
• Vague or sweeping generalizations 
• Old date on information known to change rapidly
• Very one sided view that does not acknowledge opposing views or respond to them 

Indicators of a Lack of Reasonableness

• Intemperate tone or language ("stupid jerks," "shrill cries of my extremist opponents") 
• Overclaims ("Thousands of children are murdered every day in the United States.") 
• Sweeping statements of excessive significance ("This is the most important idea ever conceived!") 
• Conflict of Interest ("Welcome to the Old Stogie Tobacco Company Home Page. To read our report, 'Cigarettes Make You Live Longer,' click here." or "The products our competitors make are dangerous and bad for your health.")

Indicators of a Lack of Support

• Numbers or statistics presented without an identified source for them 
• Absence of source documentation when the discussion clearly needs such documentation 
• You cannot find any other sources that present the same information or acknowledge that the same information exists (lack of corroboration)

Note: Appearances can be deceiving. Don't assume that a great-looking Web site is automatically credible. Very professional and sophisticated Web page templates are available for a few dollars, so that anyone and his pet skunk can put up a site that looks expensive and authoritative. Good looks are not evidence of credibility.