More stress letters (including mine) and some blog posts

Three letters: The first reflects on college pressures, junior year stress, and the need to for humanities-oriented students to value their choices as much as students who pursue STEM fields; the second contemplates the pressure students feel at Uni, and the ways that social tensions can also create stress; the third explores the challenges of balancing school, college process, extracurricular, and work stress.

One letter, an open letter to Uni students from "a strapping senior lad"

One letter that reflects on the limitations of our experiments in the Utopias-Dystopias class, particularly the way Uni's grade-conscious culture has (in this writer's opinion) stifled some of the more interesting possibilities a class like ours could open up. 

Several of you also touched on stress in your blogs this quarter. If you haven't yet, check out Minji's post about how the arbitrary measures of success we're often asked to strive for contribute to her stress (and probably others among us, as well). Betsy also wrote a blog post about how the pressures of Uni students' schedules can get in the way of engaging in the writing process (and other long-term project work) and getting enough sleep. And Kristine wrote about how stress affects her performance in academics, athletics, and other areas.

As I read your stress letters, I began to think about writing a stress letter of my own to share with you. Ironically, I've been too overwhelmed and busy (stressed?) to do that with the care and attention I would want to. But, in responding to one student's letter by email, I ended up writing a sort of stress letter of my own without really intending to. So I'm sharing that with you, if you're interested.

Also, if you care to revisit it, here's a file with the ideas for reducing stress I shared a couple weeks ago, with a few short additional messages added at the end.

Stress letters, second batch

A single letter from a graduating senior with a focus on prioritizing health

A single letter from a graduating senior touching on procrastination and the toxic combination of competitiveness and perfectionism

A single letter focusing on junior year stress

A single letter with a focus on self-imposed anxiety about the college process and grades

The first few stress letters

Here are a few of the letters that you and/or your classmates wrote about their stress. I'll be posting more Monday and Tuesday.

One file with three letters (The first focuses in part on the workload at Uni, the way competition between students exacerbates stress, and the added pressure of feeling the responsibility to help classmates with work when teachers move ahead and not everyone understands the material. The second also considers the tremendous workload this student has managed at Uni and the ways it has changed them as a person, wondering whether it was really worth it. The third writer offers advice to themselves on how to manage their own high expectations, stress arising from social relationships, and procrastination.)

Another file with two letters (The first is largely focused on time management and offering self-advice for dealing with procrastination and less-than-ideal time budgeting. The second writer offers a variety of supportive and realistic suggestions for reducing their own stress.)

Another file with one letter, which focuses largely on the need to ask for help and reach out for support.

Course evaluation

Please take the course evaluation poll. Your feedback really matters to me, and it will affect the way I plan and teach this class next time. Thank you!

Some projects from your classmates to check out

Matthew, Tim, Dante, Sam, and Alex S-L's 1984: The Musical.

Bridget's book cover designs:

Jack's book cover designs.

Quick write and small group discussion for Parable though ch. 23

1. In your journal, come up with one discussion question: What question about Parable of the Sower do you most want to talk about that we haven't touched on at this point?
2. Briefly answer this question: Would Lauren, Bankole, and company take anyone on at this point? What kind of person/people do you think they wouldn't take on (if any)?

Write for six minutes, and then discuss your discussion questions and question #2 in groups of 2, 3, or 4 for about ten minutes. 

Also, if you've seen The Matrix and have an idea for a question or issue to consider while we watch, note it in our working doc. 

Quick journal writing for Parable, chapters 19–22

Look through the chapters we read for today with the following questions in mind, and then answer the questions briefly but specifically:

• What aspect of or development in this chapter did you react most strongly to, either negatively or positively (or a mix)?
• The group takes on a total of four new people. Do they all make sense as travellers to join up with? Who makes sense, who doesn't, and why?
• What do Lauren and Bankole have in common? In what ways are they quite different?

Art Project for Parable, ch. 17–18

In groups of two, three, or four, you're going to find details in these chapters of Parable of the Sower to help you bring some aspects of the book to life visually. So, first, get into groups. 

In these chapters, Lauren, Harry, and Zahra meet and eventually join up with the Douglas family––Travis, Natividad, and their baby Dominick/Domingo. Having recently revealed some basic aspects of Earthseed to Harry, Lauren has the chance to share some of its ideas with the rest of her newly expanded crew. Today, you're going to look for details of the six characters who are now traveling together that may help you represent them visually. You're also going to look for elements of Earthseed that Lauren shares in these chapters and come up with a way to visually represent this newly-forming religion. 

Work as a group to comb through chapter 17 & 18 for any visual depictions you can find of the six characters that now make up this traveling group. Keep a list of these depictions as you pore over the chapters. At the same time, take notes on ways that Lauren describes Earthseed. Try to encapsulate the most important aspects and elements of her philosophy and ideas. Feel free to page back through earlier chapters (especially the Earthseed: Books of the Living "scripture" bits) in order to find more ideas, but focus especially on chapters 17 & 18.

Next, come up with a plan for representing Earthseed visually. Imagine that Lauren is designing a banner or a set of hangings to share her religious ideas with others, or to decorate a space where her followers might some day gather. What symbols and images might she want to incorporate? What words and phrases might be the most important to include? Is there an icon (or set of icons) you can imagine becoming associated with Earthseed? When you've come up with some ideas, work together to create a banner or hanging. Different members of your group can work on separate pieces and you can staple or tape them in an artful arrangement to the larger sheet of paper. Or you can all work together on one large piece of paper. 

If you want, you can incorporate simple visual representations of the six characters that currently make up Lauren's traveling group, but this is optional. Whatever you choose to do, your final product should be visually arresting, bold, and evocative of the Earthseed ideas that come through in the book. You can use markers to make it brightly colorful, colored pencils for more subtle color, or you can stick with black and white or a single color. Be sure all of your group members' names are on the finished product. 

Once your group is done with its banner/hanging, pass it on to Mr. Mitchell or Mr. Beesley. If there's time left in the period, you can get started on Thursday's reading assignment. 

Discussion prep for Monday

First, write two discussion questions for Chapters 14–16 in your journal. Choose the one you are most interested in talking about and share it in our working doc.

Once everyone has contributed a discussion question, think about which two or three questions you're most interested in discussing. We will talk about them in a large group discussion, or in a walking discussion outside, depending on the way the class vote goes.

Journal work from Monday, continued, and movie details

In your journal, finish noting/writing the following prompts from Monday:

• Look through the book and quickly note down all the information you can about space exploration, details regarding space programs, and character perspectives on space travel/colonization. When you're done with that, write a sentence or two summing up your perspective on the pro- or anti-space-exploration question in the context of the world of this book.
• What's your initial reaction to Lauren beginning to shape a new religion? Why do you think she's doing this? Is it necessary in the word she's living in? Do you see any value in it?

Also, please share your thoughts about a movie day the week after next.

May Day thoughts

Today is May Day, a celebration of workers, labor unions, and the working classes known in some countries as International Workers' Day or Labour Day.

The image above shows a slogan that was important during the early-twentieth-century labor movement's fight for the 8-hour work day and an image of work–life balance we might take inspiration from.