Timshel

Timshel means "thou mayest". Thou mayest, meaning that people have to choice between good and evil. This choice defines the meaning of being a human. It means that in no matter what situation, even at the worst of times a human has the great choice to save themselves. This connects to Cain and Abel in the sense that Cain, even though was damned with the mark, God still decided to save him. Even though cursed, theres always a forgiving place.

Free Thinkers.

Other books that we've read this year have included many free thinkers. Thinkers who broaden their horizons and challenge what they've been taught and what their society's views. Non-conformists like Huck, and John Proctor. Huck, who struggles with valuing the friendship of a "nigger" and going against the law by keeping him around, not turning him in and helping him escape to freedom. Huck feels confused and lost because what he's been taught tells him what he's doing wrong, but however in the story he goes against that and stays loyal to Jim. He is a free thinker, by following his own hunches and ignoring society. Same with John Proctor. Proctor lives in a Puritan society, structured solely by the bible and filled with corrupt followers. He thinks of his community as fake church-goers, people with false identities. People who pretend to be what they are not. John doesn't believe in this, and refuses to conform with something he doesn't agree with. Although his actions make his society question him, his actions definitely don't question his free thinking. By not conforming to the Puritan way of life, John lead his own way by his own thinking.

Teaching Experience

From teaching the class, I learned that somethings don't work in attempting to engage the class in the lesson. Its hard to motivate all of the class into participation. Participation was our main goal as teachers. We tried creating activities we thought the students would find interesting. One thing I noticed, for our specific presentation, that not all of the students were participating in the activities. It was because we played a game that only required 12 people out of our 28. Next time, I would try to include all of the class because it would make me feel better as a teacher knowing that everyone was included! Other than that, it was a great experience. The class was enjoyable and very interactive because for the few weeks we did this project, many groups chose to do hands-on activities and fun games.... plus yummy treats(: !!!

Jim Turner.

-Robber.

-Informer on Walter Scott.

-Robbers conspiring to kill him.

Year Long Project.

We would bring in a worker at the Military Rehabilitation center, family members of veterans, veterans themselves.. or just anyone who has devoted their lives to military efforts/programs that help soldiers from war.

On the field trip we would bring the class to the Oakland Regional Office (Veterans Benefits Administration) or the Palo Alto VA Health Care System.

Huckleberry Finn "N" Word.

I agree with the author's point of view because I feel like society likes to push controversial topics under the carpet, especially racism. Taking nigger out of Huckleberry Finn is exactly that. It shows how uncomfortable we are with racism still. It shows that we don't want confront the issue because it deals with our past, which of course.. we aren't proud of. The only way we could get comfortable with the issue, and not have it be such a "hush hush" topic, we need to recognize it and embrace it. Huckleberry Finn does this exactly with the way it is originally written, with the word Nigger.