1. Welcome to Humanities with Gavin Today is Monday, January 6, 2014.  Please sit in alphabetical order by the name you want to be called in class. A starts at the left of the U and Zs end up at Gavin’s table  Fill out a name card This will be the seating chart here in the Pagoda for a couple weeks at least to help me with names.  Put your backpacks on the floor.  Turn your cell phones off and put them away.

2. Announcements Schedule Procedures If….  You have LOST or MISPLACED your schedule, go see Ms. Kim.  You had a schedule change and have not yet received your schedule, see Brandy on the boardwalk by P5.  You have a SCHEDULE ERROR, see Ms. Kim in P5 DURING THE PERIOD OF THE ERROR.  You desire a schedule change, see your MENTOR on FRIDAY. Attend your classes as scheduled this week.  Avoid main picnic shelter grounds as the Department of Ecology is soil testing.

3. Daily Learning Goals  I will understand how to be the most effective learner in this community.  I will better know my classmates and teacher. Progression of Learning  We will learn Gavin’s student procedures and expectations.  We will share fun stories about ourselves.

4. The Pagoda

5.  We are so lucky to have this historic venue as a classroom. We will be meeting here and in portable three alternating weekly. Check the whiteboard in the office window, if you forget.  Please arrive to class on time and enter and exit through the downstairs door. First period of the day will set up the tables in a circle formation with chairs around the outside. The last class of the day will break them down.  Restrooms are located downstairs. Ladies is between the stairs. Men’s is all the way to the right. You need not ask to use the restroom. Just get my attention or the bridge’s and point downstairs.

6. The Tables and Chairs  Tables and chairs are awesome tools to help us learn.  We also have to share them with guests who rent this space for special events, so..  Please do not draw on the tables unless you feel like cleaning all of them.  The chairs are very fragile so, please do not put your feet on them.

7. Class Units We will be:  examining the Makah Whaling Controversy,  reading Sherman Alexis’ novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and  comparing and contrasting the Seattle Strike of 1919 and the WTO protests of 1999.

8. Learning Materials Needed To be prepared to learn every day you will need:  A journal and loose paper folder or  A 3-ring binder with pockets or a folder  A writing tool (only blue or black pens)  A personal reading book to read Also, I need to establish contact with your parents. Please take this syllabus signature sheet home, read through the syllabus with your parents, sign this sheet and bring it back to class with you tomorrow along with the above materials

9. Our Presence While Learning  To learn we have to be attentive to each other and we have to exchange valuable information and insight.  Be present while in class. Leave the drama outside.  Cell phones can be a distraction and should only be accessed in between classes. Please turn your phone off and put it away. If you choose to use your phone, I will take it from you and exchange it at the end of class for a sheet of paper with your name and date.

10. Speaking and Listening “We have two ears and one mouth. We should listen twice as much as we speak.” -Epictetus  Listen and acknowledge a person’s contribution and what you heard them say. “Before you speak ask yourself: Is it kind, is it necessary, it is true, does it improve upon the silence?” ― Shirdi Sai Baba  Don’t look for validation when you speak. Share when you can, but have a little party with yourself and don’t be defeated just because you can’t share.  Speak to each other, not to me. POPCORN!!!!

11. Introducing…….. We are lucky to have such amazing young people here. I would like us to get to know each other better. Please pair up and interview a classmate whom you do not yet know and prepare to introduce them to the class. We will have two days to learn about each other. Practice:  Taking your time  Articulating a couple important things vs. many  What are your dreams and goals?  What do you need from your classmates?  Listen with intention  What is one question everyone should answer?

12. Ten Things About Gavin 1. Have super flexible shoulders 2. Had a pony named Wendy 3. Rode in a rodeo in the third grade 4. Am a coin collector 5. Won the 50-yard sack race in middle school 6. Was the Pink Panther at the county fair 7. Was kicked out of Lenin’s tomb 8. Got lost by myself skiing in Russia 9. First gay man on television in Traverse City, MI 10. Dealt blackjack, poker and roulette in a casino

13. Fist to Five  I understand how to be an effective learner in this community.  I know my classmates and teacher better. Bring your supplies and the signature sheet tomorrow