8/31/12

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class we began class by discussing the terms that we were asked to look up for yesterday’s blog. Also as we discussed the terms Mr. Schick would provide us with more background on the term or event. For example when we got to the death of Socrates, Mr. Schick told us the full story of how he died. In Athens, Socrates was very respected and liked. Though as there were more scientific breakthroughs made, Socrates was charged with blasphemy to the Greek gods and corrupting the children of Athens. During his trial, he defended himself by saying that Athens was a big lazy horse and he was the horsefly. Socrates ended his defense with the fact that he thought that not only did he think that he shouldn’t be killed, but he should actually get free meals for the rest of his life because in his eyes Socrates thought that he did Athens a service. In the end Socrates, was sentenced to death by drinking hemlock which is a very deadly poison and causes a quick and very painful death. At the end of class today we were informed by Mr. Schick that we would be assigned our first assessment which would be “take home” and consist of three essays.    

Letter to Garcia

Compared to yesterday’s class today was much more eventful and we also learned a lot more as well. For starters, Mr. Schick bribed us to ask/answer questions with donuts. He also read a story written by Elbert Hubbard called A Message to Garcia. The story was about a guy named Rowan who delivered a letter to Garcia for President McKinley with no questions asked regarding is location or anything. The whole purpose of the story was to be a pep talk to America addressing the people who are minimalists and try to do the least work possible. Elbert stressed this with acronyms with a person sitting in their office and ask a clerk to look something up in an encyclopedia. With this acronym, the clerk would ask you a whole bunch of questions about why it’s important or why he should do it and once you answer his questions he’ll just ask another clerk to do it whereas the person who his like rowan would just do it.      

8/29/12

Today in class, the class sat there and socialized, while Mr. Schick helped students get caught up with setting up their blog. We were also told that once we were successful with giving our URL to Mr. Schick, that it is unnecessary to e-mail him the URL again. We were also assigned to look up terms listed on Mr. Schick’s website.

Arête- fulfillment in  potential or function, the art of living up to one’s full potential

Polis- it literally means city or civilization

Socrates- a Greek philosopher, who was renown for his contribution to Western ethics

The death of Socrates- Socrates was sentenced to die by drinking Hemlock after being accused of corrupting the  youth of Athens with views different to that of the city-state of Athens.

The Socratic Method: A form of inquiry and debate between individuals with different viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking.

The date 508 BC- Cleisthenes grants full rights to all Athenian free men

Agora- a central place within Greek city-states

If you were called an idiot by the ancient  Greeks, they are calling you a non-politician.

Day 1

Today for August twenty-seventh’s class, we started class with “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad.” After prayer, we were assigned new seats for class. Then Mr. Schick informed us about the blogs and his expectations and guidelines concerning the completion of the blogs. In addition to this, we also reviewed the 2012 class syllabus which contained information detailing the class and the grading scale and information on where to find Mr. Schick if we needed assistance from him or if we need to speak with him about making up work in the event that we are sick or cannot otherwise make class due to conflicts with sports or other appointments. Once we completed this task, the class had down time while Mr. Schick gave a helping hand to students struggling with tablet issues. After the end of class, I spoke with Mr. Schick for help with getting to the correct website to ensure that he is able to grade the assignment and to prevent me from getting penalized with unnecessary point deductions.

Alex Kaufman

                The freshman orientation day was my first experience with being a high school student and during the day, I had multiple thoughts and feelings that went through my head. One of these feelings was the excitement of beginning high school as well as a new chapter in my life. However, just like starting at any new school, I also felt some nervousness, due to wondering what my teachers will be like, who will I have classes with, and what my honors classes will be like. Another reason for my nervousness is that high school has the greatest impact on one’s life because there are so many choices that are made during high school, such as where will I go for college and what classes I will take. I have also wondered how much homework will be given, so I can balance extracurricular activities such as volleyball, scouts, and taekwondo. I think that one of the best things about orientation is that it answers many questions that students like me would have. Though amongst my other thoughts and feelings about orientation day I am confident that I will be able to conquer anything that comes my way because I am a good student and trust that God will guide me through all tasks and choices whether they be easy or difficult.