The Walk

Who was this Siddhartha Guatama anyway?

Today we discussed his life story - focusing on his being brought up as a sheltered Prince, and the walk he took when he realized there was suffering in the world.

We looked at where Nepal is in relation to Indiana.

In most classes we also discussed some concepts of Buddhism such as The Middle Path (or Middle Way), The Four Noble Truths, and enlightenment.

In order to get the extra credit for reading and discussing today's blog, discuss the following questions with an adult. 

1.  Why was Siddhartha affected so much by what he saw on his walk?
2.  What did he see?
3.  Was the King wrong in sheltering his son?
4.  What does the term "enlightenment" mean?

Once you have discussed the questions, write a the following on a scrap of paper: "Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread."  Put your name on the paper, and have the adult you discussed it with sign it.

Buddhism

Bellwork question:  "What causes suffering in the world?  Give plenty of reasons for your conclusions.  It must be in paragraph form.  Aim for at least 8 sentences."

Buddhism addresses the issue of suffering.  It's interesting that as a religion, it doesn't address the issue of God.  In fact, there are people who profess to be both Christian and Buddhist at the same time - worshiping the Christian God, and following the teachings of both Christ and Buddha.  (I'm not making this up.  Here's one example.  Here's another one.)

Some Christians I've talked to have found this mixing of religions to be disingenuous - and they believe following the teachings of Christ should be what make you Christian, and that no other teachers are necessary.  My Buddhist-Christian friends view it as no different than learning from an atheistic math teacher, or taking Oprah's good advice.  They feel that as long as Buddhism isn't teaching about God, they are not compromising their faith.

Granted, there are academics that agree with them as well.

At any rate, we'll discuss it more tomorrow.  Today we just touched on suffering in general and then watched a video featuring "The Man in the Blue Shirt."

In order to get the extra credit for the blog, please read and discuss it with an adult.  If you're not sure what to discuss, you could ask questions about suffering.  What causes it?  What does Buddhism teach about it?  Do you agree or disagree?

Finally, write the following on a scrap piece of paper: "Siddhartha Guatama."  Put your name on the paper, and have the adult you discussed it with sign it.

Intro to Buddhism, Went Over Test, Shout Out to J.L.

We had our introduction of Buddhism today...  Granted, it was a brief introduction because I asked the students what they knew about it, and their answers were generally, "Nothing," or "IDK."  They'll know more by tomorrow.

We went over the test.  There were a couple students who argued some points back from me...  We mainly focused on the essay questions.  (I gave 4 questions, and they had to answer 2.)  One question was, "How did the demand for natural resources lead to exploration, colonization, and the eventual exploitation of human life?  Trace the path back to the source making connections as you go.

After we discussed it, I had the kids draw a quick picture depicting the question.  They did this in less than five minutes.  Really, I think it answers the question pretty well.  I didn't collect them, but a couple found there way to my desk.  Here's one:

It might not be high art, but you get the point.

We actually spent the most time discussing the first essay question - whether or not nonviolent, noncooperation would work against the Capitol.  What do you think? 

To get the extra credit today, explain the picture to the adult you discussed the blog with, and then tell them whether you think nonviolence would work, or if the Districts would have to fight a war... or neither one.  Explain your reasoning.

Finally, write the following quote on a piece of paper and turn it in to get the extra credit: "We are what we think."  Then, have the adult you discussed the blog with sign the paper.  Make sure your name is on it.

Differences/ Tests Passed Back

So, today we came up with a list of differences between The Hunger Games book and movie.  We broke it apart into two lists: things that were taken out of the movie, things that were put into the movie.  Here's some of what we came up with:  *Spoilers for those parents who haven't read the book/ seen the movie*

THINGS THEY TOOK OUT:

Madge - mayor's daughter
Haymitch falling off the stage
Peeta never got a prosthetic leg/ no tourniquet
Rue talking about the other districts
Katniss was supposed to yell out Peeta's name, but she whispered it
At the end where Katniss tells Peeta she doesn't really love him
Doesn't knock out Peeta (with the "magical potion...")
Haymitch sending them the feast of lamb stew, etc...
Avox girl being lifted into the hovercraft.  (Avoxes in general)
All the water sources drying up, and Katniss being dehydrated
Rue already had leaves on Katniss
Ear injury/ going deaf
Hand injury (her leg was injured, but she didn't burn her hand)
Coat on fire
Katniss didn't get the pin from the store
Peeta didn't mark Cato's hand with a bloody x
Katniss didn't get bread from District 11
Rue chewed up the leaves
Careers didn't find Katniss in a river, they found her in a tree
Everyone was clothed all the time
Daylight when chased by mutts
Mutts were supposed to look like dead tributes
When Cato died, he died in like... 5 seconds
Katniss cut the branch during the Anthem
Cato didn't have body armor...
Dogs were supposed to jump out and chase Cato first.
Flavius/ Octavia/ Venia mostly taken out


THINGS THEY ADDED
Seneca (weird beard/ head gamemaker) locked in room with berries.
Got pin from market
Rebellion in District 11
Took longer to walk in the woods
Gamemakers - like everything...
District 4 kid (curly hair) getting killed
Rue stealing the knife
Peeta tells Katniss to hold his hand on the chariot
Claudius and Caesar explaining things that were happening
Backpack = orange and black
Haymitch watching the father from the Capitol give his son a present
"That's mahogany!"
Haymitch talking to Seneca to change the rules (give the audience a love story)
Gale ignoring the games


I'm a little bit sad because this is probably the last day we'll talk about the book or movie in here.

At any rate, the final class of the day we came up with 5 main reasons we think the director made changes, and we tried to place each change into one of the categories.  T= Save time  A= Appropriate/ make PG-13  R= It wouldn't look real/ it would look fake  K=See into Katniss's head  F= Forshadowing what might happen in later books.

To get the extra credit, read through the list and put 5 changes into one of the categories.  Write them down on a piece of paper along with the letter of the category they belong in.

I've posted grades.  If you still have access to STI, feel free to check them out.  I passed back the tests today.  Don't forget to bring them back tomorrow.

The Buzz

I hope you're all having a fantastic spring break!  Exotic Goshen, Indiana has not disappointed.

I just wanted to let you know that the Education Blog Carnival hosted by Bellingringers accepted/ published my post: Does That Make Me Racist.

I'm pretty excited about it.  If you're interested in anything education related, you should check it out.  It's a nice mix of funny, serious, legitimate and sarcastic posts dealing with current educational issues.