Dinner at Amherst College's Valentine Dining Hall Yields Dogtime - Plus Some Thoughts on the Fourth of July

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A Great Dane lies her weary, hungry head on the dining room table. #dogs #dinnertime #greatdane #dogface #dogportait #amherst

A post shared by Greig Roselli (@greigroselli) on Jul 4, 2019 at 8:17pm PDT

    For July, I will be a student at Amherst College, studying punishment with Professor Austin Sarat. I am here with fifteen or so educators. We live on campus during our time here as National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Scholars. I am living in a dorm on campus — called the Charles Drew House. The house was once the home of a guy named Seelye who was an Amherst Alum. Now it is a themed-house named in honor of the African American surgeon Charles Drew. Today is a National Holiday — the Fourth of July — so there are no classes, and the college is closed; however, the dining hall is open during the holiday, so those of us who have nowhere else to go can eat here! One of the teachers has a service dog — a Great Dane named Daisy. Tonight for dinner, before watching the Fourth of July fireworks at the University of Massachusetts campus, I chomp on edamame and chicken breast. Daisy joins us. So does Mike - a Catholic High School Theology teacher and Aklima - an English teacher in Flushing — and Matt — a Middle School teacher from Philadelphia. Anne - a social studies teacher from Florida — joins us too.
    I am excited to be in a new place. A new environment — even if it is just for a month. After dinner on campus — we pile into a public bus headed for the fireworks display. It is a slab gray bus and the bus driver, sporting a blue tee, flashes a smile, and welcomes us aboard. American fireworks are a display of patriotism - that is for sure — but it is also a day when people do not mind staking out a patch of green, laying out a blanket, and lounging in the dark with a bottle of beer and snacks. I lay on the grass, feeling tired from all of the excitement and take in the show. For such a small town - it feels like everyone is out tonight. The fireworks are colorful and loud — emanating sound and light from the center of the UMASS football field. It transpires in a flash. Lights. Shouts. Ohhhhhs. Ahhhhhs. And darn. The buses are not running to take us home to the Charles Drew dorm. We walk back, up to the hill, past picturesque houses and driveways, to the dorm. I say goodnight to Emily Dickinson. "I dwell in possibility," I say to my pillow. Goodnight.

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Travels in Summer: A Cadillac Parked in the River Terrace Neighborhood of Washington Reminded Me of My Childhood

The U.S. Capitol in Washington is so often photographed, reproduced, and televised - it doesn’t feel real. Why is that? Why does the reproducibility of an object produce its unattainable-ness? #questions #self #nation #washingtondc #uscapitoldome

                          ***

A green Cadillac is parked on a residential street
in the River Terrace neighborhood of D.C.

I collected Matchbox cars when I was a youngster, and this classic car parked on a leafy side street in Northeast Washington reminded me of one of my old diecast cars. I went to Washington to see a few pals (and made some new friends). I stayed at an Airbnb hosted by this actor-cum-airport-employee named Shaun (who was super nice). Walking from the AirBnB, I spotted this car. Now mind you - it has been super-hot these past few days - and D.C. was no different. However, I really enjoyed being outside, and I spent a lot of my time in the Capitol, exploring nature and the outdoors. Shaun's house is located in the River Terrace neighborhood of the District adjacent to the Anacostia River. One can access a bunch of trails from this spot - I walked from R.F.K. Stadium across Benning Road Bridge a few times. It is a gorgeous walk! And if you are a train, subway, or general rail enthusiast, it opens you to a magnificent view of the city's Metro trains that course along on an open, elevated trestle across the river. I was struck by how much I had been missing being outdoors ever since I moved to New York City. New York has great parks - don't get me wrong - but it never feels like the outdoors. D.C. has some spectacular trails and nature views for the adventurous. Give it a try.  #washington #oldcars #neighborhoodstreets

Flowers on Kingman Island (District of Columbia)

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Photo : A Snail Climbs Up A Wall (And a Joke about Snails)

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A snail crawls up a stone wall. Hey, 🐌, do you know where that escargot went?

A post shared by Greig Roselli (@greigroselli) on May 26, 2019 at 3:59pm PDT

After taking this photo of a snail climbing up the wall of a friend's house, I was reminded of the following joke that circulated among us high school French students back in the day:

Car Salesman: What can I do for you today?
Snail: I want to buy a car.
Car Salesman: OK. Let me show you some of our newest models.
Snail: I know what I want. I want that car over there (points to a rad sports car). But when I buy it I want you to print the letter "S" all over the car.
Car Salesman: Excellent choice, Mr. Snail; but, may I ask why do you want the letter "S" printed all over your new car?
Snail: Because when people see me they'll say, 'Look at the Escargot!".

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Philosophy in the Classroom: Sample Student Work on Plato's Allegory of the Cave (With Thirteen and Fourteen-Year-Old Kids)

Sample Work from Mr. Roselli's 8th Grade Ethics Class

Planning an Eighth Grade Ethics Curriculum at a Private School in Queens
I taught the 8th Graders every Tuesday as part of my teaching load this past school year. I teach at a private, independent school in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens. The kids are receptive to learning - albeit a rowdy bunch. The class was split into two. So basically I saw each group every other week. The class was PASS/FAIL and I put a lot of emphasis on student participation, talking, and group work. I uploaded content for them to read and view on Google Classroom so I did not have to spend a lot of time going over the material in class. Here is a short overview of one particular lesson I did (with some student work).

Reading Plato's Allegory of the Cave in a Middle School Ethics Class
We read Plato's cave in class - using a lesson I had created (and which you can access here). The kids were in eighth grade - so they would be thirteen or fourteen years old.

Kids' Understanding of Plato's Ideas

Students jot down their summary ideas to get the gist.

The one takeaway I noticed with this age group is that they totally "got" the idea of most people's inability to change a mindset and think through a different perspective. I feel like that is indicative of the age group - most kids that age have difficulty understanding and processing different points of view. They recognize others' points of view, but since they are often self-focused and not other-focused, they spend a lot of energy and anxiety over whether or not people "get" their point of view. They desperately want to be understood (which is human). In this example, from student work, I had the kids present their own visual representation of Plato's cave. These three students, Isabel, Ryan, and Hayden, were very much fixated on the idea that enlightenment is pretty much impossible. Notice how they put an exit sign in the cave with the label "unachievable".

Getting Students to Jot Down Their Ideas

The lingo teachers use is "getting the gist". You are not looking for kids to pen a dissertation. But you want students to produce something written in the course of the lesson. The comments they made were original, and I liked how they understood Plato's dual reality theory. It is not an easy concept to get, but they really appreciated it. From a writing perspective, it is vital to get students to jot down their ideas - even if it is a few sentences or even a list of words. It helps the kids solidify their thoughts. And also it helps me, the teacher, to scan for student understanding.

Using Visual Imagery to Make Connections with Students

After exploring the ideas of the lesson, students can talk about the above image. What do they notice? What do they wonder? Collect the students' responses.

Class: Eighth Grade Ethics / 90 Minute Lesson (you can break it down into two separate 45-minute lessons)
Materials: paper, pencils, pen, handouts of the Allegory of the Cave, Comprehension Questions, Discussion Questions, Entrance, and Exit Tickets

My TpT store has resources for
middle and high school English teachers

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Whose Quotation Is It?: "You Greeks Are Like Children"

Ancient Ruins

“You Greeks are like children.” An Egyptian priest has reprimanded Solon, a Sixth Century Greek diplomat, about why Egypt has been around for quite a while longer than the Greeks. The Egyptians are having none of that. Greek civilization at that time was still too young to boast of its own greatness. Grow up a bit, the Egyptian advises.

But what is the veracity of this quote and where does it really originate?

There is a general rule of thumb that if you read a quotation online purported to be penned by a famous writer, politician, or philosopher, it is best to be skeptical, especially if the quote is not cited with a reference to an actual book or solid source. Plato said it? Abraham Lincoln said it? Hillary Clinton said it? I'd be wary if the citation is not complete. It has happened to me several times that I found a quote that I liked (and even posted it here) only to later find out that its authorship is unknown.

A Quick Internet Search Has Yielded a Researcher’s Headache

A few years ago, I was an assistant to a political scientist - he needed someone to come to his house in Staten Island to work on a manuscript he was writing about emerging global markets. One job I had was to track down quotes he wanted to use in his book. “Research Solon's remarks about ‘You Greeks are like children’,” he told me. It was a seemingly easy quote to track down because I knew the story from History. Solon did indeed visit Egypt in the Sixth Century B.C.E. But who actually recorded the interchange between the priest and Solon: “You Greeks are like children …”?

Find Lesson plans to teach philosophy in the classroom
on my TpT store

A quick Internet search showed that apparently, Plato was the one who immortalized the exchange between the Egyptian priest and Solon - but as I mentioned earlier, I could not find a hard source. However, I finally found the source - after doing a series of searches in the Complete Works of Plato - I found it. The quote comes from Plato’s Timaeus. In this book, Plato has Socrates and his friends talking about a bunch of things, but one strand that runs through the dialogue is the creation of the world. Solon appears in the dialogue because of Critias - one of Plato’s cousins! He tells the story of Solon visiting Egypt. An old priest stands up and says:

“‘Ah, Solon, Solon, you Greeks are ever children. There isn’t an old man among you.’ On hearing this, Solon said, ‘What? What do you mean?’ ‘You are young,’ the old priest replied, ‘young in soul, every one of you. Your souls are devoid of beliefs about antiquity handed down by ancient tradition. Your souls lack any learning made hoary by time.’” (Timaeus 22 b-c)*

*Plato,  and John M. Cooper. Complete Works. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2009. Print.

According to the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man (from 2002) Smart High School Students from Queens Study at the 42nd Street Library

The 42nd Street Library (The Stephen A. Schwartzman Building)

If you live in New York City, everyone knows the 42nd Street Library on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The building (flanked by its two iconic lions - Patience and Fortitude) represents the city's public library system - even though the site is not a branch library (it's a humanities research library) and the city hosts three public library systems. The building is also embedded in the medium of American popular culture - everything from Ghostbusters, Sex and the City to Day After Tomorrow and Breakfast at Tiffany's have featured the library. So considering Spider-Man is New York city's own superhero - he's a teen from Queens, after all - it's fitting that the 2002 original Spider-Man movie starring Tobey Maguire would feature this iconic spot.

Uncle Ben's Famous Speech: "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"

Peter Parker needs to study, so Uncle Ben drives him from their home in Forest Hills in his massive gas-guzzling Cadillac to the front steps of the library. It's there that he gives his famous speech: "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility." Besides being a motivational speech given by a surrogate father to his maturing son, the address serves as foreshadowing to what's to come. Uncle Ben dies in a shoot-out caused by the trigger-happy actions of a thief (whom Peter Parker was unable to capture). Peter feels directly responsible for his Uncle's death - and it is his death that propels the Spider-Man story forward.


Do Kids from Queens Use the 42nd Street Library to Study?
How many kids from Queens go to the 42nd Street library to study? I am a teacher in Queens, so I really want to know. My experience is that Queens' kids stick to their neighborhoods - be it Jackson Heights or Forrest Hills. So I guess it shows that Peter Parker is an outlier - he chooses to expand his horizons. In reality, if you live in Queens, you are more than likely to use the Queens Public Library - which is actually a separate entity from the New York Public Library - but I digress.

Great Places to Study if You Want to Do a Peter Parker and Get Out of Bed
If you really want a quiet place to study but you don't have Uncle Ben's wheels to take you to Manhattan here are a few of my favorite places to explore in Queens:

• Forest Hills Branch, Elmhurst Branch, and Jackson Heights Branch of the Queens Public Library - these are just three of my favorite branches in the Queens system.
• Museum of the Moving Image - If the weather is beautiful - and you don't mind paying the entrance fee (15 for adults 11 for students and 9 for kids) - the outside patio is a comfortable place to study and read.
• If you are looking for a sweet spot in Jackson Heights try Espresso 77 - but be warned you cannot use a laptop on weekends - and on weekdays laptop people are relegated to a particular table.
• The J, Z, F, M, R, E, G, and 7 trains of the New York City Subway all go into Queens - so grab a metro card and sit, ride, and read (not recommended for very prolonged periods).

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Lesson Plans, Activities, Printables, Editables, and More that I have Created and Made Available for Teachers

Most of the following lesson plans, activities, and other teacher resources are for sale on my teacher's marketplace; however, lesson plans marked with an asterisk (*) are free to use (under a creative commons non-commercial license).

Formative Assessments

Teachers often need to make sure their students are on track. This usually involves checking for understanding during class, creating discussion questions, quizzes, tests, and so on. Here are some original formative assessments I created to help you track your students' success.

Short English Language Test for ELLs - I created this assessment to assess my English Language learners in September. You can use it as a short, formal assessment of language skills. 

Long English Language Test for ELLs - I created this longer assessment to assess my students at the end of the semester. There are three versions.

Greek and Roman Mythology

Teaching Greek and Roman myths is a favorite topic among upper elementary and middle school students. Here are some resources I created that touch on some of my favorite topics.

*10 Words and Phrases Derived from Greek Mythology - From my blog, here are ten words and phrases popularly used in the English language.  

21 Frayer Model Set for Myth-related Literary Terms and Vocabulary - Are you teaching a unit on myth or mythology? Do you want your students to learn academic vocabulary related to this topic? Research shows that teaching vocabulary in context is the best practice for long term retention. Using Frayer models are a proven method to do this effectively in the classroom when teaching literature and non-fiction texts. Get your students actively engaged with vocabulary — and have them proudly display their creations!

 The Myth of Icarus: A Cautionary Tale from Ancient Greece -  Introduce your students to a fairly popular Greek moral tale about an ambitious inventor and his erstwhile son. I have created a 3-day lesson plan filled with activities to get your students thinking critically about this important mythological text. 

Mythology Series: The Ancient Greek Myth of King Tantalus -  Engage English Language Arts Students (grades 8-9) with the ancient Greek Myth of Tantalus — the deceiver who thought he was equal to the gods! 

Mythology Series: The Ancient Greek Myth of Sisyphus - The myth of Sisyphus is the original rolling stone. Kids will love tracking down the allusions to this extraordinary Greek hero tale. Aligned with Common Core Standards, this individual lesson pack prompts students to discuss the myth, to compare it to other works of art, to work in groups, and to complete a writing activity.

Ready-to-Go-Activity: 10 Everyday Words and Phrases in Greek Mythology  -  I updated my blog post on words and phrases from Greek myth and made it into a usable resource for teachers in the classroom.

Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz

Jean is a ten-year-old American girl living in the British settlement in Hankow, China in the 1920s. In this autobiographical novel, Jean witnesses major events on the world stage through her own childlike perspective.  

Chapter One Lesson Plan Resource 

Chapter Two Lesson Plan Resource 

Chapter Three Lesson Plan Resource  

Chapter Four Lesson Plan Resource  

Chapter Five Lesson Plan Resource  

Chapter Six Lesson Plan Resource  

Chapter Seven Lesson Plan Resource 

Homesick: My Own Story Lesson Bundle  

Homesick: My Own Story Lesson Super Bundle + Google Forms

Maps and Geography Skills

My first paid teaching job was a Summer school gig in New Orleans, Louisiana. I taught Geography. Here are some lessons to get your students more geographically-aware.

*Printables: Blank World Map for Printing (with borders) - I like using this gratis, public-domain world map; it's easy to use, has borders, and makes for a good geography quiz template. 

Geography Skills Lesson: Ready-to-Use Worksheet with Blank World Map - I made this resource as a simple day one assessment of a student's knowledge of world geography. It's ready-to-go out of the box

Philosophy in the Classroom Series

One of my projects is teaching philosophy in the classroom. Every chance I get I introduce students to philosophical thinking. Here are some polished resources that are classroom-tested and guaranteed to get your class thinking.

Caught You! The Ring of Gyges from Plato's Republic* - A FREE lesson plan on justice. If you like it consider the bundle that comes with three self-grading Google Forms! 

Plato's Allegory of the Cave in Plain Language - A lesson plan on truth and reality 

Philosophy in the Classroom: Nietzsche and Bill Murray in Groundhog Day — A lesson on Nietzsche's concept of eternal recurrence.  

Philosophy in the Classroom: "The Parable of the Madman" by Friedrich Nietzsche The phrase "God is dead" has entered into the zeitgeist. But what does this phrase mean? And how and where does the nineteenth-century writer and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche use it? Answer these questions with your students with Stones of Erasmus's close reading and writing lesson plan resource. 

"Discuss any Moral Dilemma!" All-in-One Lesson - A lesson plan for any moral dilemma 

Empiricism versus Rationalism - A lesson plan on how we know that we know (and why)

Task Cards for Philosophy Education - "What is Philosophy?" Task Card Set (28 Cards + 2); Freedom Discussion Task Cards (16 Card Set + 2); "The Biq Questions" 44 Task Card Set 

Quotes in the Classroom Poster Series

On Boredom (from The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett) 

On Who To Bestow Your Talents (Advice from Jesus)  

On Judging Appearances (Opposing Viewpoints Discussion)

4-Lesson Quotes Bundle for Middle and High School Classroom Discussion  

Writing Graphic Organizer: Thinking About Any Quote or Textual Evidence

Reading Comprehension Resources

Reading is essential. Here are some resources to help inject some energy into any-level reader.

Five ELL Reading Comprehension Questions ("Bobby the Math Whiz" - Nonfiction) - Use this text as a reading comprehension worksheet for English Language Learners.

William Blake and Romanticism

William Blake's poetry is mystical and beautiful - and here some lessons I have created about him and his work.

William Blake's "London": Visualizing the Industrial Revolution Through Poetry - Blake's poem is evocative of a time period in history where children worked as chimney sweeps and child labor is London was commonplace - a travesty of the first stages of the Industrial Revolution.

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