Learning from Gandhi

Good morning,

We will read at the bell and then your will need your English Journal.

Yesterday you read the words of Mohandas K. Gandhi to understand his perspective on non-violent resistance. Today we will watch some clips from a film about his life. You will need your English Journal to write about what you see and think after each segment that I show you.

Examples of Civil Disobedience

Good morning,

We will read at the bell.

We have been reading Thoreau in detail to learn about his concept of civil disobedience. As you know this is a huge part of what makes America the country that it is today, but did you realize how often civil disobedience is still happening? 

Below are five examples of situations that may or may not be forms of civil disobedience. Alone or with a partner, please review all five articles. Then choose three that you would like to write about.


UC Fee Hikes
Cindy Sheehan
Nuns Arrested
Blue Shield
Seattle Teachers

Use this form to explain the details of the situations you read about and also to explain why you think they are or are not examples of civil disobedience.

Papers Please

Good morning,

Your nature writing papers are due today.  You have some work to do about that.
You'll need to mark the rubric for your paper.
You also need to write a reflection about your paper in your English Journal. Answer these questions:

1. What do you like best about this paper?
2. What did you learn from writing this paper?
3. What will you do differently the next time you have a paper like this to write?
4. What do you feel you need to do to improve as a writer?

When your reflection is done I have some interesting things to check out.
 Do you know about what happened yesterday at UC Berkley?
Have you heard or read about events in northern Africa? This CNN page explains it country by country.
Think about how these events connect to our readings on Civil Disobedience.

Visual Mataphors of Civil Disobedience

Today you will create / draw a visual metaphor to show how the thinking of Emerson, Thoreau, Gandhi and King are connected.  I drew an example on the board. You need to come up with your own.  I will explain more in class.

Civil Disobedience- Looking at examples.

These four articles all deal with recent examples of Civil Disobedience.  In a way they have all been successful because they brought enough attention to their cause to make the news, but some are more likely to create real change than others.

Read through the articles. Think about what you know now about Civil Disobedience. Evaluate which of these cases is the most likely to result in real changes.

Write an entry in your English Journal to explain which case of Civil Disobedience is the most likely to result in change and why you think that.

UC Fee Hikes
Cindy Sheehan
Nuns Arrested
Blue Shield

Stride Toward Freedom -King

 We have seen how Thoreau's ideas on civil disobedience influenced Gandhi. Today we will see how those ideas were used during the American civil rights movement.

"Prior to reading Gandhi, I had about concluded that the ethics of Jesus were only effective in individual relationships. The "turn the other cheek" philosophy and the "love your enemies" philosophy were only valid, I felt, when individuals were in conflict with other individuals; when racial groups and nations were in conflict a more realistic approach seemed necessary. But after reading Gandhi, I saw how utterly mistaken I was."  -MLK

We will read an excerpt from Stride Toward Freedom by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. You will work with a partner to read the text and answer the questions on this form about what you read.

Following the train of thought...

  If you've been with us you should know by now what Emerson said in "Self Reliance", and what Thoreau said in "Civil Disobedience". Today we will see their thinking magnified by Mohandas K. Gandhi.

 You know that America was once one of many British colonies. India was also a British colony. In the 1930's Gandhi used his ideas about civil disobedience, his word was satyagraha, to help free India from British rule.

Today we will read a short excerpt from his speech on Civil Disobedience if you would like to read the full text you can find it here.

There is a copy of the text in your shared folder to read with your group. Only use the link above if for some reason you can not access the text in docs.

Discussing "Civil Disobedience"

Good morning,

You've been doing an excellent job discussing Emerson (Self Reliance) with your group in an on-line chat. Today I want to let you talk to each other face to face again.  We are going to look at the writing of one of Emerson's friends, Henry David Thoreau.

Thoreau wrote an essay called "Civil Disobedience"  We are going to read parts of it. This is what Gandhi said about "Civil Disobedience".

"Thoreau was a great writer, philosopher, poet, and withal a most practical man, that is, he taught nothing he was not prepared to practise in himself. ... He went to gaol for the sake of his principles and suffering humanity. His essay has, therefore, been sanctified by suffering. Moreover, it is written for all time. Its incisive logic is unanswerable." - Mohandas Gandhi

We are going to read excerpts of "Civil Disobedience". Between each paragraph I will give you a few minutes to discuss the text with your group. Remember what you have learned about discussing literature from your on-line discussions.

Modern Examples of Civil Disobedience

These four articles all deal with recent examples of Civil Disobedience.  In a way they have all been successful because they brought enough attention to their cause to make the news, but some are more likely to create real change than others.

Read through the articles. Think about what you know now about Civil Disobedience. Evaluate which of these cases is the most likely to result in real changes.

Write an entry in your English Journal to explain which case of Civil Disobedience is the most likely to result in change and why you think that.

UC Fee Hikes
Cindy Sheehan
Nuns Arrested
Blue Shield

Note: This post seems to be one of the most popular on my classroom blog. Teachers may want to follow me on twitter @jenroberts1 or check out another blog I write about teaching. http://whatdoyouteach.blogspot.com/

Following the thought train

So yesterday Blogger was having technical issues and would not show me a login screen.  This is the post I would have put up for you yesterday if I had been able to. Through the magic of tiny URL we were still able to read and discuss the text.

Keep in mind some of the questions that came up in our conversation.

1. Does Civil Disobedience always work? 
2. Why does it work? 
3. When does it work? 
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Civil Disobedience? 
5. How does what Gandhi says in his first paragraph compare to what Obama says about Afghanistan? 

Good Morning, (Monday)
   If you've been with us you should know by now what Emerson said in Self Reliance, and what Thoreau said in Civil Disobedience. Today we will see their thinking magnified by Mohandas K. Gandhi.

 You know that America was once one of many British colonies. India was also a British colony. In the 1930's Gandhi used his ideas about civil disobedience, his word was satyagraha, to help free India from British rule.

Today we will read a short excerpt from his speech on Civil Disobedience if you would like to read the full text you can find it here.

What was Thoreau thinking?

Good morning,

Remember we may have visitors today and we may not.

1. To start please vote in the poll at the right, (the one about how much you liked the ideas in Self Reliance)
2. Then write an entry in your English journal to explain why you voted the way you did.

Emerson had a friend named Henry David Thoreau.  Thoreau was also a writer.  His ideas changed our country and our world. (I know that's a big claim, but we will see how.)

Today you will read an excerpt from his essay "Civil Disobedience" with 2-3 other people. Together you will need to figure out the answers to some tough questions about what it says.  You'll submit your responses to me in writing using THIS FORM. You'll need one person to submit the form with all your names. You can use docs or e-mail to share your answers with the person in your group responsible for the form.

These are the questions you will find on the form:

1. What does Thoreau think about majority rule?
2. What does Thoreau think about the military?
3. How does he say we should deal with unjust laws?
   
4. Why does Thoreau refuse to pay his taxes?
5. What does he think of jail?