Lakshmi Tatma

We've been writing quite a bit in here lately.  We don't spend a lot of time on it - maybe 15-20 minutes once a week.

Yesterday, students read an article on a girl born with 4 arms and 4 legs.  After they read it, they had to put it away and write a summary of the article without looking back at it.

Today, students graded the summaries.

Here's the article.

It's been a while since that story first appeared, so I wondered if there was an update.  Turns out there is.  Here it is, in case you're interested.

The story ties in with a lot of our social studies content.  For instance you've got the religious aspect - a girl being born with extra limbs in a country with a religion that often depicts deities as having extra limbs.

You've got family and cultural values.

Standard of living comes up often - the family lived on $1 a day.

The fact that we can hear about this story here in the United States is a testament to globalization.

We also worked on maps of India.  There may have been 5 students out of 150 who did not compete this.  If you are one of the 5, make sure it's turned in tomorrow.

If you want extra credit for reading and discussing the blog today, write 3 beliefs of Hinduism on a piece of paper from memory, then have the adult you read and discussed the blog with sign the paper.

Make sure your name, date, and hour are on it.

Then, turn it in tomorrow.

In case you're wondering, I hung up all the civil disobedience pictures.  Doesn't the hallway look much nicer?

Caste System

Well, things got pretty heated today - let me tell you.

We've been studying Hinduism and are currently focused on the Caste System.  Yesterday we read an article and watched a video on Dalits - the group formerly referred to as Untouchables.  (There is a lot of readily available information on this group of people.)

The main point of both the video and the article is that the caste system, although illegal, still influences India today. And, the Dalits are heavily discriminated against.

I draw parallels to discrimination in our own country - that even though we have anti-discrimination laws, many groups still face discrimination here.

Today though, we looked at the Indian Social Structure Pyramid (also called the Caste System Pyramid) and I asked the question, "Is there a caste system at CJHS?  If so, what does it look like?"

(Here's the Indian Social Structure Pyramid, by the way:)

I received many answers, but the two that came back most often dealt with authority and popularity. 

In the authority version, the principal or superintendent is on the top, and the students are on the bottom.

In the popularity version, you've got the popular kids at the top, and the unpopular kids at the bottom with various "castes" making up the pyramid, determined by the author/artist.  (Are "Preppy Kids" at the top?  Athletic?  Artistic?  Intelligent?)   ...This is where the class got heated.  Some students contended this was a Hollywood contrivance - that we're all more complicated than this.  True enough, there are kids who are involved in athletics, music, the arts, etc...  So, where would they go?  Others said that yes, it's overdone by Hollywood, but cliques still exist in Jr. High.

I don't have time to mention all the ideas that came up: castes by grade level, or one that had the students at the top, because everything is about them.  Concord is a student-centered school.  We're here to meet the needs of the students.  (While that may be true, I don't think it address the social structure of our school.)

What do you think?  If you've read and discussed this with an adult, write down a paragraph based on your discussion.  Write down thoughts pertaining to India's former (remember it was outlawed in 1947) caste system and the social make-up of CJHS.

Then, once you've written the paragraph, have the adult you read and discussed with sign the paper - proving that you've read and discussed it.

Hinduism: Some Concepts

It was another great day here in Social Studies Land.  We're continuing our discussions of Hinduism.  Some concepts we discussed:

• Samsara (Reincarnation)
• Moksha (the escape)
• Caste System
• Karma
• Dharma
• Judgment and grace
• How should we categorize Hinduism?  Monotheistic?  Polytheistic?  Pantheistic?

Classes today were great, as long as students didn't get too side-tracked on the dress code issues.  (This is me getting side-tracked for a moment: remember this, students that are reading this - we're all on the same side.  Sometimes that's difficult to see, but we are.  Don't let your frustration or anger cloud that.)

If you want the extra credit, read and discuss the blog with an adult.  I would discuss the bullet points.  Adults, ask the students what they remember.  If they don't remember anything about them, click on them.  I've linked them to older posts which go into more detail.

When you're done, students, write two sentences about the discussion in today's class.  If you have any questions, write them down.  Then, have the adult you read the blog with sign the paper.

Why Does Everything Take Longer Than I Think It Should?

Perhaps you can guess from today's heading how I think class went today...  I think I gave the students too long to finish their maps.  So we didn't get to the discussion...  which means we'll push that back to tomorrow or Friday.  Tomorrow doesn't work so well because we'll be grading the maps... which leaves Friday.  Of course that means we won't be reading The Hunger Games this week.  I HATE going that long without reading.  It really breaks up the flow of the book.  Though, I guess I have to wait a week between episodes of The Office and I can still follow what's going on...

We did talk a little about the caste system pyramid:

Some classes even got a pretty good discussion going.  We compared the social structure in the U.S. to the caste system.  We also looked at similarities between racism and the treatment of the untouchables.

However, it was still a very surface-y discussion.

I was impressed by a couple classes bringing up The Hunger Games.  We were going to get to that once I started going over the notes in earnest.  Some students brought up how the top tier of society is The Capitol, and the higher the district number, the lower standard of living, and the lower you were in the social structure pyramid.  Very perceptive.  One student even mentioned that the Avoxes were like the untouchables.

I love connections.

To my class: make sure you have your map tomorrow.  We're grading it.

If you want the extra credit, make sure you discuss the blog with an adult at your house.  Then, on a scrap of paper, write down three points that came up in the discussion.  Have the adult sign the paper.