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Subway Hero
On this day we talked about the subway hero, a man who risked his life to save another man who'd fallen into the path of a subway. We were asked to write about whether or not we thought he was a hero or if his actions were heroic, forcing us to think about what it meant to be a hero. -
Why Courage Matters by John McCain
We listened to the first chapter of Why Courage Matters by John McCain. We focused particularly on the story of Roy Benevides, a soldier who fought hand-to-hand with an enemy soldier, walked through a grenade, and was shot and stabbed in order to save several other injured soldiers. Once again, we thought about what it meant to be a hero: was Roy a hero? Did his actions help define our understanding of heroicism? -
Kristi Quillen interview
We listened to tthe interview of Kristi Quillen, a teacher who left everything to join the peace corps and help in South America, In her new life, she didn't have the things many of us take for granted: restaurants, television, cell phones, etc., but she still dropped her entire life and career to go to a place she had never been to speak a language she had never spoken. We discussed whether her actions were heroic? Can giid works be considered "heroic"? -
Library
We spent time in the library either finding information about our hero or choosing a hero. I chose my hero: Ben Carson. -
Library
We found information about our hero or chose one if we hadn't done so earlier. I found an autobiography on my hero: Gifted Hands by Ben Carson. -
Heroes in Literature
We discussed the different heroes in books that we've read in the past few years. Were all of the protagonists considered heroes; why or why not? This gave great examples of heroes that we could pick, and gave us an idea of what constitutes a hero. -
Change the World ppt
We began watching the "Change the World" powerpoint.
We discussed different prominent figures in history and divided them into categories.
This really enforced the idea that a hero doesn't need to fight in a war or save a random person, they can be a hero because of their extraordinary kindness or thinking capacity, like Bill Gates, or Joseph and Jeffery from Haiti. -
Change the World ppt
We continued with the "Change the World" powerpoint. We looked at the song "All you have to do is..." by Hugh Laurie, the music video for "The Year of the Rat", "Waiting on the World to Change" by John Mayer, and the Half-Acre ad from Liberty Mutual. They all discussed what it could take for the world to change; some saying that change was hard to come by, and some saying that all you need to change the world are small acts of kindness. It takes a hero to incite change, small or big. -
Change the World ppt
We talked about the youth of today changing the world. We discussed "We are the Youth of Today" by Amy MacDonald, and "We are the people we've been waiting for." Both instilled the idea that the youth of today has tremendous power to change the world. -
First blog post
On this day, we wrote the first blog post on posterous.com about our hero, why we chose them, and if they are considered a true hero based on the qualities discussed in class. I chose my hero, Ben Carson because he overcame the adversity in his life and was fearless to life's challenges. -
DEAR
We read about our hero, looking for interesting quotes to share with the class. -
Second Blog Post due
We wrote about different heroes in Literature. Why are they considered heroes? What qualities make them heroic? -
DEAR
We read about our heroes to share quotes about them. -
First Chapter Friday
We shared our quotes about our heroes. I shared quotes about the initial struggles of Ben Carson's life and his attitude of perseverance. -
First Chapter Friday