Learning is Change

Cores 1-4:

1. Check out our collective blogging identity.
   
2. Submit your Sem2_Week3 weekly authentic and Del.icio.us post. If you don’t know what to write about, consider building upon the question from the guest blogs.
3. Comment on del.icio.us posts.
4. Nominate for Authenticity Awards.
5. Work on Personal Curriculum.

Cores 1-4:

1. Look at the Authenticity Awards for Semester 2: Week 1.
2. Check out a few of the Guest Bloggers.

Core 1:

1. Explore some resources for learning about words you want to learn about:
   • Wordie
   • Double-Tonged Dictionary
   • Urban Dictionary
   • Reverse Dictionary
2. Add five words that you want to put into your vocabulary and write down all of the pertinent information (an exact copy of the elements in your vocabulary book) on a piece of paper and staple it into your vocab book.

Core 2:

1. Discuss-on: How do you know when you have successfully constructed a new word? Which of your 5 words should be in the dictionary?
2. How can we get our words to be used in the greater lexicon?
3. Use Pseudodictionary and submit your best words. (As always, do not use your real name.)

Core 3:

1. Explore some resources for learning about words you want to learn about:
   • Wordie
   • Double-Tonged Dictionary
   • Urban Dictionary
   • Reverse Dictionary
2. Add five words that you want to put into your vocabulary and write down all of the pertinent information (an exact copy of the elements in your vocabulary book) on a piece of paper and staple it into your vocab book.

Core 4:

1. Discuss-on: What does your own Personal Dystopia look like?
2. How does your personal dystopia compare to that of Harrison Bergeron?

Cores 1-4:

1. Decide new Guest Blogging Question:
   • Is technology a good or bad influence on our lives?
   • How much should parents “protect” their children?
   • How have you (and your personality) changed over time?
2. Don’t forget to post to Del.icio.us.

Cores 1+3:

1. Write-On: How do you actually add words to your own personal vocabulary?
2. Explore some resources for learning about words you want to learn about:
   • Wordie
   • Double-Tonged Dictionary
   • Urban Dictionary
   • Reverse Dictionary
3. Add five words that you want to put into your vocabulary and write down all of the pertinent information (an exact copy of the elements in your vocabulary book) on a piece of paper and staple it into your vocab book.

Core 2:

1. Discuss-On: Does using a word in a humorous way demonstrate better knowledge of that word?
2. Create humorous captions using a Nerd Herd Big Word Book word.
3. Discuss the creation of new words and their definitions from available roots.
4. Create a new word and its definition.

Core 4:

1. Write-On: How can one person’s utopia be another person’s dystopia?
2. What are the different types of dystopias we encounter, or could encounter if we try to reach utopia?
3. What would be your own personal dystopia given modern circumstances.

Cores 1-4:

1. Reminder to Del.icio.us post.

Cores 1:

1. Dive back into vocab with vocabulary improv:
   • Write down the most interesting character you can think of on a small sheet of paper.
   • Write down the most interesting setting you can think of on a small sheet of paper.
   • Put them in the baskets and then we will draw them out and try to work our vocabulary words into each improvised situation.

Core 2:

1. Write-On: Explain why this is false.
   • All rocket scientists are human.
   • I am a human.
   • Therefore, I am a rocket scientist.
2. Dive back into the Nerd Herd Word Book:
   • Take a look at the most useful Idea from the idea page.
   • Tackle the translation together.

Core 3:

1. Dive back into the Vocab book with wrong way sentences, daffynitions, and contextual conundrums.

Core 4:

1. Explore the concept of Utopia through definition, brainstorms, and writing:
   1. Brainstorm ideas about utopias and write down ALL responses:
      • What words come to mind when you think about utopia?
      • What changes may have taken place as humans redefine the term utopia?
      • What things or places might be considered utopian?
   2. Categorize the ideas that were written down.
      • How could you categorize these ideas into groups?
      • What could you call each group? Why?
      • What are some commonalities of utopias?
   3. Brainstorm a list of things that man throughout the ages would consider utopian?
      • What can you say about these things?
      • What do you call each of these groups? Why?
      • Are the following characteristics of utopias: paradise, heaven, new worlds, perfection of some sort? Why or why not?
   4. Make generalizations about utopias and human’s changing ideas regarding them.
      • What can you say about utopias that is usally true? How are our examples alike?
   • Humans have been searching for or trying to create a utopian world in some way since time began.
   • Humans corrupt their utopia after finding it or creating it.
   • Each human strives to create his/her own personal and societal utopia.
   • Dreams memories, nature, emotions, and time help shape our ideas regarding utopia.
   • Individuality can be lost in our quest for utopia.

1. Reveal the Future of Reading.
2. Read/Comment, Work on 2nd Weekly Authentic for second semester, Work on Personal Curriculum, Nominate for Authenticity Award, or Post to Del.Icio.Us.

Cores 1-4:

1. It is harder for some of us to think outside of what we know, to dream up something completely radical and filled with hope. I would like to thank you for destroying the boundaries of the classroom, if only for one day. Yesterday, I saw so many great ideas shared and built upon. You have made me think harder and longer because of your terrific insights, and obviously that is a good thing. The thing I was most struck by is how little you trusted yourself to learn if you have more freedom to pursue what you wanted to. If the personal curriculum is any indication, I think that you all would do just fine. If you would like to see my favorite excerpts from our discussion (and eventually some of my thoughts about these ideas) you can check out my google notebook.
2. As for our Weekly Authentics this week, I promised you that I would devise a way for you to tell me which post should be counted as your most authentic (and hopefully best) post of the week. Well, that is just the beginning. For a long time I have also been searching for a way to reflect on our Weekly Authentic posts without having to write another post to do it. Some of you have told me that you would like to be able to search through the weekly authentic posts by genre, topic, or date. Enter Del.icio.us. This web site allows us to save all of our “Official Weekly Authentic” posts, describe them using more than a mere title, reflect upon them in a real way, and categorize them so that we can search through them however we want. I will show you how to do this, and then I will give you some other options for using this service. If you need some more help, you can always go to the how-to.
3. Please post your Weekly Authentic for this week, and then work on nominating some of the others that have been posted.

Cores 1-4:

1. Before we start our next major thematic unit based upon curriculum and knowledge that I think is important, I would like us to spend one more day thinking big about what and how we should be learning.
2. I told you yesterday about a English Professor who was using a virtual world as a place to meet for her classes. Well, last night I did a little more research about what kids were doing with second life, and I found a site called Holy Meatballs. This site is actually all about connecting kids around the world to talk about big issues, ideas, and trends in technology, society, and culture. This site inspired me to start a discussion with all of you about what learning can be if we only decide to make it happen.
3. So, I would like all of us to take today and think as big as we can about how learning in your generation can be more powerful than any other. I would like you to start thinking about what a perfect learning environment will look like.