Believe - Eric LaGrand

Agenda: Week of October 4 - 8, 2010

Quote of the Day: "A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." - David Brinkley

Monday - 
1. Goal of the Week.
2. We are going to listen to an inspirational story from NPR: Then we'll discuss it.  Could you have done that?
3.  12 minute video: The Seed School from 60 Minutes.
4.  We will discuss the video and do philosophical chairs on the question:  "Are boarding schools the answer to solve the problems of inner city schools?"

Tuesday - 
Tutoring

Wednesday & Thursday - 
Tutoring for the first 1/2
Grade check and binder check after tutoring (Today is report card day for the 1st six weeks)

Friday - 
Mr. Duez is trying to get the computer lab for Seniors to work on the Texas Common App.  And for the Juniors to work on ePrep.

Inspirational Story - Garrett Karp

"Man if he can do that... then what can I do."

Inspirational Story - Jonathan Brown - AVID

This is a superb story.  Jonathan Brown and  his success through AVID.  He is inspirational and shows that if he can do it, anyone can.

Motivational Monday - OK Go Inspirational Machine

This is something...

Motivational Monday - Dance Ted Talk

Agenda: Friday, Dec. 11, 2009

Quote of the Day: "When you quit something it starts a habit. Don't ever quit." - Anon.

We will present College Video projects in the junior class and then have time to study for finals with classmates.

The sophomores will present their people/questions that they are targeting for the Road Trip Nation interviews that they will do this spring.

We also watched this video. A reminder that we should not quit until this semester is over!

Man Can Fly

Motivational Monday Video.

Whether or not you think this is crazy, these are people who enjoy life.  They don't take no for an answer.  And if someone said to them, "Hey!  Go jump off a cliff!"  They would say, "Ok."

Agenda: Monday, November 30, 2009

Quote of the Day: "There is no medicine to cure hatred." ~ African Proverb

Agenda:
1.  Goal of the Week
2.  We'll watch the inspirational Story of a  homeless teen in LA.  (Embedded video on this blog on previous post)
3.  Juniors will do Socratic Seminar on two selections.  They will read each selection and summarize them and then come up with two collective points about it to share with the class.

A.  Newsweek Article:  Making the Right College Work for You:  "Passions, Friends, and Great Profs:  After you arrive on campus, the real decisions begin." http://www.newsweek.com/id/210895

excerpt from article:  For four years of high school, dreams of college life kept me persevering through what seemed like unbearable times of teenage torment. So when I got to college, I felt a lot of pressure to make sure it was the best four years of my life. Although I made an excellent choice in Washington University in St. Louis, it was really the decisions I made once I arrived that made my college experience what I hoped it would be.

B.  "Student Success Stories" from this website:  http://www.mycollegesuccessstory.com/success-stories/
The students will meet in their tutor groups and read the stories aloud and then discuss them.  They will circle things they don't understand and underline main points.  Then they will find at least "2 Things" from the success story to share with the class.

Sophomores will do a Socratic Discussion surrounding the inspirational story of Terry Fox.  We will discuss how he overcame his disadvantages and  how his message is one that we can learn from. 
Terry Fox Foundation

Inspirational Story

NFL's $45 million man helps Skid Row teen's college dream link

Inspiration - Elena's "Notes Left Behind"

Girl's Notes "Left Behind" Help Parents Grieve

Girl's 'Notes Left Behind' Help Grieving Parents Help Others

POSTED: 3:24 pm EDT October 26, 2009
UPDATED: 12:38 pm EDT October 27, 2009
CINCINNATI -- Brooke and Keith Desserich say they never intended to write a book about their daughter.
It started as a parent's personal journal to their younger daughter Gracie, so she would be able to remember her 6-year-old sister, Elena, who was diagnosed with pediatric brain cancer.

Elena Desserich

"They told us at the very beginning that she had 135 days to live," Keith Desserich said.Though her parents didn't want her to know the severity of her cancer, they feel that she must have known what was happening. The tumor slowly took away her ability to talk.But Elena was still able to write."That was her way to letting us know everything would be OK," Brooke Desserich said.After Elena passed away, her parents discovered that their daughter had left a message behind for them -- a lot of messages, actually."We started to pull out notes and they would be in between CDs or between books on our bookshelf," Keith Desserich said.Then the couple started finding them everywhere."We started to collect them and they would all say 'I love you Mom, Dad and Grace.' We kept finding them, and still to this day, we keep finding them," Keith Desserich said. "Literally, there are hundreds of notes that we found."Elena’s parents each hold onto a sealed note they've never opened."We always want to know that there’s one more note that we haven't read yet," Keith Desserich said.The Desserich family initially didn’t want the story published, but in the end, they decided they would if all the money went to their cancer foundation, The Cure Starts Now, dedicated to finding "home run" cures for all cancers.The book, Notes Left Behind, goes on sale Tuesday. The family will appear at the Joseph-Beth Bookstore on Tuesday and at Barnes and Noble in Kenwood on Wednesday, at 7 p.m. both days.

You can watch the video on the website link above.  

Inspiration: Heather and Troy

Watching the Steelers-Titans opening NFL game of the year and saw this on twitter at the 1/2. Very inspirational. A reminder to all of us to enjoy each day we are given and to try to make our lives here together the best we can.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

212 Degrees

Watched this for warm up today:


What did you think? Leave a comment if you have something interesting to share.

Teammates "Carry On."

Today we watched this video from ESPN's Outside the Lines. Two friends. Two teammates.

It's a story about over coming obstacles, I guess. But, really... in the end it's about friendship. Do yourself a favor and watch it all the way to the end.



"I will show you my strength."

And you think your Pre-AP or AP class is tough? It's not about "I can't." Everyone can do it, if we work at it and work together.

Teammates Carry On

It's a story about over coming obstacles, I guess. But, really... in the end it's about friendship. Do yourself a favor and watch it all the way to the end.



"I will show you my strength."

Michelle Obama - Inspiration about Education

Free Hugs

We watched this video today during the end of AVID class. Interesting phenomenom. One man - giving free hugs. Millions of people see the video.



You can see the video here:
Free Hug Campaign

Read the story in The Sydney Morning Herald:
Sydney Morning Herald Story - Free-hug man speaks out

Here is their official website:
Free Hugs Campaign dot org

Isn't it amazing that a video like this can result in world wide fame and change people's lives so much?

What did you think about the video? Leave a comment.

Inspirational Totes

Today we saw a video, read an article and did a socratic seminar on this topic.

From childhood wish to lasting legacy, Smith's charity specializes in smiles
Great article about a freshmen basketball player at Clemson who has touched MANY lives through his own charity.

Buoyed by the idea of helping kids the same age as Tanner, the family decided to gather things to brighten hospital rooms, and toys that would fill an otherwise lonely day. The Smiths put everything in tote bags so kids could carry their wares from treatment to treatment.

The first bags were as mom-and-pop as could be, printed by an uncle with a silk-screening business and filled by neighbors who, at the Smiths' request, came armed with loot to the family's annual Halloween party. In 2002, 12-year-old Tanner made his first delivery to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

"At first I wasn't sure it would matter," Tanner said. "I mean, what can colored pencils and modeling clay do? But we can't cure cancer right now. There isn't a medicine or a shot or a test that helps you cure it or prevent it. At least we can help somebody get through it.

"I remember when I was in high school, this girl got cancer. Her brother was in my class, and the year before he was helping me fill bags. Then all of a sudden we're delivering a bag to her. You just don't know."

You can see video of Tanner and his parents here on Hulu.com: This is an episode on HGTV that designed a room for Tanner

Failure

Just remember... before you can succeed... sometimes you have failure. Just don't give up.

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes

We took a look at it today to begin our semester. And boy were we inspired!

Transcript:

Shame on you. This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you’re going to let it be the worst. And I guarantee a week won’t go by in your life you won’t regret walking out, letting them get the best of you. Well, I’m not going home. We’ve come too far! And I’m going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. A day may come when the courage of men fails… but it is not THIS day. The line must be drawn HERE. This far, no further! I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. You’re going to work harder than you ever worked before. But that’s fine, we’ll just get tougher with it! If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination, failure is not an option. That’s how winning is done! Believe me when I say we can break this army here, and win just one for the Gipper. But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time: you’ve got to get mad. I mean plum mad dog mean. If you would be free men, then you must fight to fulfill that promise! Let us cut out their living guts one inch at a time, and they will know what we can do! Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions! You’re like a big bear, man! This is YOUR time! Seize the day, never surrender, victory or death… that’s the Chicago Way! Who’s with me? Clap! Clap! Don’t let Tink die! Clap! Alright! Let’s fly! And gentlemen in England now abed shall know my name is the Lord when I tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our Independence Day!

This was indeed a lovely think to behold!

So what is your favorite inspirational speech? (leave a comment - hint, hint...)