Month: June 2019

Weekly Reports – Humanities, Week Two

Posted on June 23, 2019 by - Academics, Humanities, Weekly Reports

Here are some reports from the teachers of each of our Humanities classes for last weeks in the Program. We have organized them by class:

Freshmen Humanities (Ms. Kristen Harrell, Instructor)

We began the week by talking about the importance and the evolution of the polis. How did this change Greek society? How did the polis rise up in importance? The students also analyzed some archaeological evidence. We also had a test over the first week’s material of which I was very pleased with their results. Next, we delved into the ancient Greeks viewed religion and how it differs from modern concepts of religion. These discussions led us into the polytheism of the Greeks; what we know today as Greek mythology. Of course, most of the student adored this part of the lesson.

For the second half of the week, we talked about the colonization of the Greeks in the Mediterranean and its difference from European mercantilism. The students loved our discussion over the polis of Sparta and how the Spartans fear and paranoia led to their military state. I’m afraid that I might have burst the bubbles for many students who no longer want to run off and become Spartans.

 

Sophomore Humanities (Kevin Delaney, Instructor) 

We started the week with a quiz on the different types of government and the state of Nature. Students were suppose to have read Book I of Utopia, we conducted a discussion on that and various societal issues presented such as poverty, thievery, and begging. Further discussion was held on the nature of virtue, religion, morals, and human happiness. Discussion was also held on the value of money and currency and why it exists and how a Utopia could exist without currency. Students also related the law of Nature and aspects of virtue to the Utopians view and treatment of gold, silver, and other precious minerals. The Utopia Project was introduced and students were asked to create 3 groups, each being responsible for a different project.

 

Senior Humanities (Ms. Jackson, Instructor)

So this week we got into the meat of our anchor text,1984. The students handled mature topics with grace and rigorous thought. We also discussed the value of tradition in society and what happens to reality when the truth is overwritten with lies. This week your student also got to use their creative side and create a thematic poster. Their poster had to reflect 1-2 themes they thought were present in the novel. Ask them what they put on theirs!!

 

 

Weekly Reports – Afternoon Classes, Week One

Posted on June 17, 2019 by - Academics, Afternoon Classes, Music, Performances, Weekly Reports

Here are some reports from the teachers of each of our afternoon classes for the last week in the Program. We have organized them by class:

 

Computer Tech (Barry Humphus, Instructor)

Student are very excited to get started doing 3D printing. We have some preliminary ground rules to set up, but as soon as that is complete, we should be good to go.

 

Debate  (Robert Markstrom, Instructor)

This week was spent establishing the context for debate. Area’s of emphasis include: Aristotle’s 3 modes of persuasion, 3 types of resolutions, 4 different debate formats, Affirmative goals in a debate, and exploring topic areas for future debates.

 

Musical & Musial Leads (Ms. Elayne Gabbert, Instructor)

The show has been cast and we have begun learning the music. There are 22 songs in the show and we have made it through all of them in the prologue to ACT I and scene 5 of ACT II.

Since we cast the show on Monday, we are working on learning all the music and fitting it with the dialogue. We also started sectional and individual instruction on solos and small ensembles.

 

Large Ensemble & Musically Gifted (Mr. Rod Lauderdale, Instructor and Director)

Ensemble: We have begun rehearsing and discovering our sound with the different players and instruments available to us this summer. It should be an exciting time for us all this summer

Musically Gifted: We have begun our studies of Music Theory as well as Music History. Also the students are already beginning the necessary work of practicing their musical skills throughout the summer.

 

Conflict and Diplomacy (Ms. Jessica Markstrom, Instructor)

This week we covered basic paradigms of international relations including realism, liberalism, and constructivism. I placed a special focus on realist theories like balance of power and hegemonic stability as explanations of when to expect intrastate conflict or peace in a system. I used candy to explain basic issues of conflict, resource scarcity, and maximum utility. We also addressed how the international system and conflict has changed since WWII. The students read the first chapter of Thomas Schelling’s “Arms and Influence,” which examines what coercive diplomacy is, its role in conflict in the past, and how it operates in a post-nuclear age. They also read a piece by Jack Levy from “Leashing the Dogs of War” that provided systemic and regional explanations for interstate and intrastate conflict as well as reinforcing realist theories of conflict. The last reading came from Daniel Drezner and it applied paradigms of international relations to a hypothetical zombie scourge. The students enjoyed debating which approach they would employ to combat a zombie plague. We ended the week with the students receiving their assigned countries for the State Development project and they began discussing alliances and trade deals.

 

Critical Thinking (Ms. Jessica Markstrom, Instructor) 

This week the students took a personality test that determined their animal personality (you can access this test at animalinyou.com). This test is fun for the students and allows me to sort them into groups based on their traits (shy, leader, etc.). We played numerous games in the course. Zero sum tactical games (Twixt, Score 4, Hippos and Crocs), a tactical game involving vectors (Pirateer), a new variant on chess (Tile Chess), spatial games (Blokus and Tsuro), resource games (Pandemic Contagion), and odds games (Get Bit).

Weekly Reports – Sciences, Week One

Posted on June 17, 2019 by - Academics, Psychology, Science, Weekly Reports

Here are some reports from the teachers of each of our Science classes for last week in the Program. We have organized them by class:

 

Freshman Science & Sophomore Science (Ms. Keesha Jennings, Instructor)

Freshmen: In freshmen Science we will have different design challenges to learn more about the Scientific Method. This week we will learn about cylindrical strength by using paper to support weight from different items, forces, such as aerodynamics, to create paper rockets, and how external structures of animals can give us insight on how to build tools to retrieve items from hard-to-reach places.

Sophomore: Chemistry is the study of matter and energy. It is everywhere around us – in the products we clean our homes with, plastic water bottles, and even bags from the grocery store. Each week will the students will conduct experiments to improve their understanding of atoms and the way molecules react with one another as well as improve their skills and knowledge of laboratory equipment. This week we reviewed laboratory safety, discussed how nucleation sites assist the physical separation of solid, liquid, and gas, and learned how temperature can affect solubility and saturation.

 

Senior Science (Dr. Linda Brannon, Instructor)

During the session, seniors complete courses in science, composition, and humanities and choose one of these areas in which they complete a project. Thus, Science III is oriented around moving students from students to researchers. During the first week of the session, we focused initially on the choice of the senior project. Students who choose a science project must go through all of the steps in the scientific method, which begins with choosing a topic. Several students had ideas about a science project on the first day, all of which were (or could become) feasible. Students who choose a project in humanities of composition participate in a class study in which they collect data and work as a group on a presentation, so all students have a science experience but not the same science experience.

 

Grad Psychology (Dr. Linda Brannon, Instructor)

This session’s topic in psychology is “Perceptual, Cognitive, and Social Influences on Behavioral Outcomes,” with the subtitle “The Psychology of Bad Decisions and Stupid Behavior.” People often associate psychology with abnormal behavior that is irrational, but people with no mental disorders also exhibit poor judgment and bad decisions. My plan is to examine these various psychological processes that lead people to weird beliefs and unwise behavior. To prompt student involvement, each student will receive several topics related to perception, cognition, memory, or social influences to define and be prepared to discuss. Each topic of influence begins with at least one Crash Course video on the topic to which I will add PowerPoints and summary outlines.

Weekly Reports – Composition, Week One

Posted on June 17, 2019 by - Academics, Composition, Creative Writing, Weekly Reports

Here are some reports from the teachers of each of our Composition classes for the last week in the Program. We have organized them by class:

Freshman Composition (Ms. Cecil Tate, Instructor)

We had a successful week in Composition 1. The students wrote a letter introducing themselves to me after they read my letter to them. Of course, not many people write friendly letters now, myself included, but the letters give me a chance to evaluate organization, mechanics, and sentence structure without making the assignment seem like a test. I also get to know them a little bit better. The assignment that caused some consternation was drawing a self-portrait! Some of the results are hilarious! Next, they used the poem ” If I Ruled the World” as a example for their own poem, but they used their own thoughts and ideas. These poems revealed that these students are very compassionate and kind. They read “Harrison Bergeron” aloud taking turns if they wished to read and discussed the story in class. We’ll use this story and the poem to create a utopian or dystopian short story next week.

 

Composition III (Ms. Sarah Harshbarger, Instructor)

This week, we began our unit on short fiction. The students read short stories and flash fiction by Tobias Wolff, Flannery O’Connor, George Saunders, and ZZ Packer. They did writing exercises individually and as a group to build skills that will help them write their own flash fiction stories, which will be due in the second week. We discussed genre conventions and point of view, as well as strategies for reading short fiction effectively.

 

English 001 (Ms. Sarah Harshbarger, Instructor)

This week, we started our unit on fiction and flash fiction. We read stories by Tobias Wolff, John Cheever, George Saunders, ZZ Packer, Hugh Behm-Steinberg, and more. The students were assigned a flash fiction piece of 500-1000 words due at the end of the second week. We did individual and group exercises to build skills that will be useful in writing the story. We discussed how to build tension through character development, how writers use elements of surrealism to explore theme, and how to read short stories effectively.

 

 

Weekly Reports – Humanities, Week One

Posted on June 17, 2019 by - Academics, Humanities, Weekly Reports

Here are some reports from the teachers of each of our Humanities classes for last weeks in the Program. We have organized them by class:

Freshmen Humanities (Ms. Kristen Harrell, Instructor)

On Monday, we began classes by discussing the Latin phrase on their t-shirts and what that meant in the context of this class and the program. This led into what the Latin and Greek languages were/are and why they were important to Western Civilization. They were given a Greek alphabet sheet as well as a list of ancient Greek names and their meanings. Their homework for the next few days was to choose a name from that list to be their own for the class. This usually leads to a discussion on etymology and the understanding of English words with Greek roots. Also this week, we delved into the pre-Greek culture; the Minoans and the Mycenaeans. We discussed their beliefs their structures and inferred a great deal about their lives by looking at the ruins and artifacts from the palace complex of Knossos and Mycenae. They understood that with a lack of written history, understanding archaeology and art history can help fill in the gaps. The Greek ‘middle ages’ discussion was dominated by the Iliad and the Odyssey and how that sets a standard for any epic tale or journey story for the western world even into modern society. I quizzed them over this material with an Open Notes Quiz and was able to gauge their progress in composition with a free response worksheet. We finished the week by watching excerpts from the miniseries, “The Odyssey”, and discussing everything from its accuracy, the set design, to the ‘Hollywood’ changes.