Remote Learning Day 15: Zoom Discussion

We'll discuss the issues and materials we've looked at over the last week in a zoom meeting today (Thursday) at 3:15. Check your emails for the link. Hope to see you all there.

Remote Learning Day 14: Binge Drinking

Greetings Issues Scholars!
In the materials you watched/read on Tuesday, one of the pressures mentioned about starting college was the pressure of drinking/partying. Today we will explore that in more detail. Because of the nature of the topic, we'll do our responses in writing today, shared only with me rather than on flipgrid for everyone to see. 
1) First, watch Drinking Culture: American Kids and the Danger of Being Cool. Have a notebook out as you watch to jot down any notes or ideas that you're thinking about.  When finished, in a Google Doc, please answer the following: 

• What was the most surprising, interesting or provocative piece of information?  Why do you consider it to be surprising, interesting or provocative?  
• What assertions or solutions was the film proposing? What did you agree with? What did you disagree with? 

2) Choose one of these to explore and then respond in your doc 

• College Drinking-Changing the Culture
• Less Than You Think campaign
• Aware Awake Alive

Response: What is the site trying to do? What do you think of their plans or campaigns? Does it effectively address the issue of binge drinking on college campuses?

3) Read this

• medical amnesty

Response: Did you know about medical amnesty laws? What is your opinion about them? Do you think they are effective? Why or why not? 

4) Read these:

• Amethyst Initiative (Drinking Age)
• In defense of 21

Response: Should the drinking age be lowered? Why or why not?

Please submit your response to Schoology when finished. Be prepared to discuss this weeks materials during our Zoom call on Thursday.

Remote Learning Day 13: Let's Go to College!

Greetings Issues Scholars!
Hope everyone had a great weekend.
As I stated in my email, today we're going to begin our "college" unit. Looking ahead for the week-plan on Zoom on Thursday at 3:15. Check your emails on Wednesday night for the link.
Here are your tasks for today (Tuesday).
1) Watch My College Transition (you can stop at the credits).
2) Read "The Real Campus Scourge"/ PDF Version
3) Choose a quotation from the NYTimes article and paste it into a Google Doc. 
4) Then, let that quotation be the start to your Flipgrid post in response to the video and the article. What are your thoughts about the perspective raised in the video and in the article? Do they ring true? Why or why not? Why did you select the quote you did? Do you agree or disagree with it?
5) When you confirm the submission of your video, share a link to your google doc in the box underneath the title box so that people who view your post can see your quote. 

6) When finished with your response, read Emery's update to her video, "Advice From a Formerly Lonely College Student"/ PDF Version 
7) Post replies to two students for this Flipgrid topic (try to reply to people who you did not reply to last week). Consider how Emery's update may or may not frame your response or your reaction. Did it change your original thought or opinion? Does it make you consider the post you are responding to any differently?

Remote Learning Day 12: Conclusions?

Greetings Scholars,
Today I'd like to hear any conclusions that you have about stress, anxiety, mental health or mental illness that you've made as a result of the things you've read or watched this week.

• Start by reviewing the chart that we created yesterday. Notice what everyone posted, especially the questions to the authors.
•  Next, skim over the other materials from the last two weeks. 
• Then, please go to flipgrid, read the prompts and post a video response. When finished, look at other posts and leave at least two replies to two of your classmates.

Have a great weekend.
*BONUS Opportunity: Savanna sent me this fascinating video that I didn't think we had time for in class but if you would like to watch and do a blog post on it, it will count for extra credit in your "blog" category for your grade.
A Different Kind of Force-Policing Mental Illness

Remote Learning Day 11: Let's get serious-mental illness

Greetings scholars,
To this point in the unit we've been focusing mostly on stress, anxiety and mental health. Yet, for some, their mental health is very much tied into a mental illness. Please read this short article describing the connection/difference:  What's the difference between mental health and mental illness? 
For today, we're going to focus our attention on mental illness. While more parts of our society are becoming comfortable discussing people's mental health, mental illness is something that in some ways still is not openly considered. The organization, This is My Brave attempts to change that.  Here are your instructions for today:

• Watch the introduction to This is My Brave: Jennifer Marshall: My Brave Parade
• Pick a story to watch: This is My Brave-Stories
• Fill out a row in this chart: This is My Brave-Stories Summation

Remote Learning Day 10: Mental Health Ted Talks

Greetings!
I hope everyone had a great weekend. For your next class period (Tuesday, 4/21), I'd like to start with a short Zoom meeting to check in with everyone (check your emails for link) and then your assignment for the day is here: Mental Health Ted Talks

Remote Learning Day 9: Let's Practice Mindfulness

Greetings Issues Scholars!
Please come to our Zoom call today (Thursday) at 3:15, where our guest speaker will be teaching us some mindfulness techniques to potentially help us through these or other stressful and anxious times. Check your emails for the link.

Remote Learning Day 8: Mindfulness

Greetings Issues Scholars,
We'll start today with a zoom call at 3:15 to discuss the article that you read, Why Are More American Teenagers Than Ever Suffering From Severe Anxiety? Please check your emails for the link.
Then, in order to prepare for our guest speaker tomorrow, we'll watch two videos:
1) What is Mindfulness
2) All It Takes is Ten Mindful Minutes
When finished, please fill out this short "exit slip"-Intro to Mindfulness Exit Slip

Remote Learning Day 7: Stress, Mental Health and Anxiety

Greetings Issues Scholars,
Last week, many of you posted videos to flipgrid that eloquently described the state of your mental health during this pandemic. However, some day, this crisis will be over, yet for many, struggles with mental health, stress and anxiety will continue. Thus, I'd like to start considering those issues outside of the Covid-19 crisis. Here are our tasks for today:

1) I'd like to have a short Zoom call at 3:15 today so that I can introduce and preview the rest of the unit, we'll do a little brainstorming and I'll make a few comments. (15 minutes). This will include creating a shared document that lists our own personal "Stress Reduction Tips"

2) The larger part of your work today will be to read the following article:
Why Are More American Teenagers Than Ever Suffering From Severe Anxiety
(PDF Version)
As you read, you should make note of parts of the article that you agreed with/disagreed with/found interesting as well as some of the stress reduction strategies mentioned.

Remote Learning Day 6: Mental Health in the age of Covid-19

Greetings Issues Scholars,
Today we'll start our new unit by assessing the impact of Covid-19 on our Mental Health. Here are your tasks:
1) Read Mental Health in the Age of Coronavirus
2) While the NY Times is no longer accepting submissions for the answer to David Brooks' questions, we can try to get our own read on our own psychological state right now. So, if you would be willing to describe how the coronavirus is affecting your mental health, please record a response in flipgrid (click the link) to any or all of the following questions:  Is the combination of isolation and existential stress making you feel more depressed and anxious? Or is the family togetherness and the pause from normal life giving you a greater sense of belonging and equilibrium? How would you describe your psychological state? What are you doing to cope?
NOTE-Your flipgrid response WILL count as this week's blog post.

Remote Learning Day 5

Zoom meeting today at 3:15. Please check your emails for meeting i.d. and password. 
We'll be discussing the topics from the last two assignments.

Remote Learning Day 4: Other political issues and Covid-19

For MONDAY, APRIL 6.
Last week you looked at the issue of abortion and how it is impacted by the current pandemic. For today, you'll look at three other issues: Guns, Marijuana, Religion. For each, you'll work to keep a list of arguments for both sides of the debate.  Here is the form you'll use that includes the links to articles that discuss each question: What is Essential During a Pandemic?
If you would like, you may work on this and discuss with a partner (Remotely Please!). Each person though should be well-versed in the arguments.  Everyone should submit the document to Schoology when you're finished.
We'll discuss all four issues in our weekly zoom tomorrow, Tuesday, at 3:15. Please check your email later today for the zoom invite and password.
**Also, please see this document for an important update: Civic Engagement During Shelter in Place

Remote Learning Day 3: Covid-19 and Political Issues

Greetings Issues Scholars,
Today we'll start to consider how the nation's response to the Covid-19 pandemic is influencing or impacting other political issues.

Prior to entering into our "Act of God" days, we were studying the issue of abortion. You learned about Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood and had some discussions about the ways in which abortion was legal but also ways in which it became restricted. After doing some work around the regulation of parental consent, on our last day of "in person" class, you watched part of the film, Unborn in the USA that described methods that were being used to attack the Roe decision.

As you probably realized, the fight was long from over and our current pandemic crisis has in some ways, reignited it. For today, please read the following articles and then, in a blog post, please write a response to them. Your post should argue whether abortions should be included as an "elective" procedure under current guidelines banning elective surgeries or not.
Your response should be detailed and use specifics from the articles to support your point. This will count as your weekly blog post.   Here are the articles to consider:

• https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/25/politics/coronavirus-abortion-texas-ohio/index.html
• https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/30/politics/texas-order-abortion-block-coronavirus/index.html

Remote Learning Day 2

Wow. I was absolutely blown away by your responses on flipgrid. They were thoughtful, honest, heartbreaking, funny and powerful. This is such an amazing oral history of this event, one that hopefully you will show to your grandkids some day.
For today, let's plan on a zoom meeting at 3:15 (the overwhelming consensus from the survey of best time to meet). Here is the link and meeting id:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/367787397
Meeting ID: 367 787 397

Try to have your computers with you and not just your phones bc there may be some things to read (you remember how to do that, right 😜??).

During our meeting we'll set some standards and guidelines for "zooming" and then open it up for some discussion. I'll ask people to find images or stories to stimulate the conversation. We'll keep a running list of those on a shared google doc.