Bocce Ball Special Olympics Sign Up

Special Olympics Bocce ball Volunteers - April 23, 2017

Here is the form to volunteer for the Special Olympics Bocce Ball Area 13 tournament. You do not need to know how to play bocce ball to volunteer. Students will be setting up the courts, keeping score, and handing out awards to the athletes. The Volunteering will be from 8-3:30. Volunteers will receive a t-shirt and a small lunch. Please fill out this form and hit submit if you are interested. Here is the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScKExDehsp8d9wFinnLGi-dAG1xjoZfz5dbnoYH3_BvLv2cDg/viewform?usp=send_form

Don't Spit on my Saliva

WHY DID NOT ONE WANT TO DRINK THE SALIVA?  I waxed intellectually about the benefits saliva offers but still no one would take the free saliva!  Why?

Sal's Post:
There is no difference between spit or saliva except for how we think about each. This is called the social construction of reality. Our reality is how we experience the world. The social construction is that our society or the people around us influences how we experience the world. Hence our experiences(reality) are created (constructed) by others (society). Spitting in different cultures or different situations (baseball) can be experienced differently, i.e. more or less acceptably. For example, most of us have been to baseball games and watched players spit all throughout the game. We didn't get repulsed by that. During one World Series, Reggie Jackson averaged 19 spits per at-bat! Another example is when parents or siblings use their saliva to wipe off a baby's face. We don't find that repulsive, but if a teacher drops saliva onto a desk it becomes gross. This can be true for nearly all of our experiences; feelings of happiness, sorrow, stress, worry. Nearly all of these are created within us by the society we are in. 
Here is an example that you might not realize. The Japanese would be grossed out by the typical American bathroom. In Japan, toilets are located in a different room than the shower and bath. And the Japanese shower is always separate from the bath. They see the shower for cleaning and the bath for soaking after you have cleaned. What are some moments in your own life where you experience these feelings, but when you stop and think about it, you realize that the feelings have been created for you by society?
Another way social construction can be illustrated is in our symbols and how they shape our reaction. For example, there is a feeling that you should not walk on the Patriot.There is no real reason why, but it is a social construct. Another example is the faculty restrooms. Some of the restrooms are for individual use, that is one person at a time. These rest rooms are exactly the same: one toilet and one sink. However, the rooms are labelled with "Men's" and "Women's" signs. That makes men feel weird if we use the "women's" room, even though the men's room is exactly the same. (and vice versa). The sign is a social construct that elicits that feeling.

Freaks and Geeks- "You gotta find your big gigantic drum set!"

"Find your big gigantic drum kit!"

Today we watched the pilot episode of Judd Apatow's tv series "Freaks and Geeks".  It looks at the high school academic and social lives of various groups that attend McKinley High School. The freaks, burnouts, geeks, jocks, MATHletes, and a many others.  Your task is to sociologically breakdown the episode by looking for examples of the three sociological theories introduced the other day.  What structures do you see?  The smoking patio, lunchroom, gym class, the lockerroom etc.   All these structures have unwritten rules that society has created.  Who are players in these structures?  What happens when someone doesn't fulfill their role?   What symbols were prevalent during the episode? Lindsey's Army Jacket,  Sam's Jacket, the dodgeball, the drumkit.  How does that symbol mean something different to different people?  And lastly, who holds power in the episode? What conflict arises because of conflict?  Is there a change in society due to that conflict?  This gives us a small example of how sociologists explain how society operates.  

Sociological Theories

Today I introduced three main leading theories in Sociology.  Sociologists use these theories to determine why people and groups act a certain way and what brings about change in society.

Functionalism, Conflict and Symbolic Interaction are names of the theories.

Functionalism is attributed to Emile Durkheim.  He studied and looked at how structures of society work and why sometimes they don't work.  I gave you the example of a baseball game.  What is needed for a professional baseball game to "work"?  You all said, players, umpires, coaches, grounds crew, fans, concession workers, scoreboard operator, owners, etc.   What happens if one of them do not perform their "function"?  The system breaks down and doesn't work.  An umpire can't just refuse to call ball and strikes.  Fans can't just wander on the field.  That causes "dysfunction".  Society tends to want to keep life functional so we try to fill our expected roles.

Conflict Theory is accredited to Karl Marx.  Marx saw the world as a struggle of those who have power and those who do not (the haves and the have nots).  Depending on your status you are either trying to do things to hold on to power or trying to gain power.  The conflict that arises between the two groups is what brings about change to society.  Such as the power struggle between factory owners and factory workers.  Marx called for the workers of the world to "unite" and overthrow the power holding elites.

The last theory I introduced was Symbolic Interaction.  It argues that symbols dictate our view of the world and how we interact with them.  Symbols will mean certain things to certain people but may mean something else to another.  Take a look at the following cartoon: 

In this cartoon, the island and the boat represents two different things depending on the perspective.  The guy on the boat can't wait to get on land and off the boat.  So he sees land as a safe place.  Vice Versa for the guy on the island. 

A tree may mean shade to one person but to a construction worker it may be seen as a useful tool to build a house. 

Imagine a seeing a priest in a full priest's robe.  What assumptions do you have about them?  What if you saw him in a bar with a beer and a shot?  It breaks the expectation and would seem weird.  The symbol of the cross and the robe creates an expectation for you.  Dysfunction occurs when the symbol is in a unique situation.   

There are three rules to Symbolic Interaction:

1. We act toward things on the basis of their meanings

2. Meanings aren’t inherent. We create them.

3. Meanings can be changed or modified

Take a look at the following cartoon.  Which of the theories are prevalent in Calvin's world?

"What will you have for lunch today?".  After looking over the responses we decided to break down how sociological imagination dictates even our lunch decisions.  Why Chipotle?  Why a turkey sandwich with cheese?  Why not lunch at Wildfire?  Why not live octopus or scorpions?  It all revolves around sociological imagination.  Economy. Race. Place. Age. All come into affect our lunch choices.  It's not all a matter of "I like the way it tastes."

The next aspect of class we watched the video "The Danger of Silence" by Clint Smith.  In the video he discusses the idea of silence and how silence can affect others.  The video helps introduce a new concept in our sociology class called, "Sociological Mindfulness".  It deals with the idea of how we are not only influenced by outside forces (sociological imagination) but we influence others.

How has your silence of voice affected someone?  How has someone else's silence affected you?

The following comes from "Sociology Sal's" blog....

Schwalbe's "sociological mindfulness" can be a difficult idea to grasp and Schwalbe admits that.  Mindfulness is a  concept that describes an awareness in world at this moment here and now.  It implies being tuned in to the present moment.  Sociological mindfulness therefore, is being tuned into to both the way in which the present moment is influenced by society and also being tuned into how we are a player in shaping the present moment.  The simple way I look at sociological mindfulness is that it is the mirror image of sociological imagination.  In other words, once we realize that people are influenced by their social setting, we can then realize that influence is happening right now and we are a part of it.  Each of us is both influenced by other people and influencing other people.

So, I think there are 2 critical aspects to sociological mindfulness.

First, in being tuned in to the present moment we can see and appreciate how each individual (including ourselves) is affected by when and where we live and all of the social experiences that entails.  That is, we can think with a sociological imagination about others.  And because we realize that others are impacted by these experiences we can appreciate each person's uniqueness.  This makes us more forgiving of others and of ourselves. 

The second part of sociological mindfulness is being tuned into the idea that each of us is a participant in a society.  We all affect the social world, even in little ways.  Each little act we do matters and has an affect on other people.  This aspect has a much longer explanation:

Sociological mindfulness is an awareness that we are being influenced by the world and so we can question that influence and hopefully guide it.  And it is an awareness that we are influencing others and hopefully it makes us question that influence so we can have the impact that we want on our world.  Sociological mindfulness is an awareness that society is dynamic and fluid and we are a part of that. In short, sociological mindfulness is the awareness that how we interact in the world matters!

Another way of thinking about it is in Schwalbe's reading, 

Think of the people you love and the kind of life you wish for them...I hope you will consider the possibility that mindfulness may be useful as a way to create better lives for more people.

What kind of life would you wish for those whom you love? How can you affect the world to be more like this way of life? Can you see how humans impact society? How can you make an impact that supports the world you want to live in? I think by answering these questions, students can begin to think with sociological mindfulness.

If you are still having a hard time grasping sociological mindfulness think about the past and all the ways individuals with sociological mindfulness have impacted our world: think about  Rosa Parks, Gandhi, Elenore Roosevelt, Desmond Tutu, Caesar Chavez,Einstein, Mother Theresa, Rabbi Heschel, and think about the movements like the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, the women's rights movement, the civil rights movement, the elimination of polio etc... Here is a link to 9 people who changed the world.  And here is 10 acts of courage that changed the world.  All of these people and movements are a product of those who had sociological mindfulness.  Think about Rosa Parks and realize that her actions changed the people on that bus and that changed the people of the city which changed our nation and that has influenced the world's view of human rights and the dignity of all human beings.  Our actions in day to day life, like where we sit on the bus and how we treat others can make a difference.   That awareness is sociological mindfulness.  In my personal life, it might be my parents sending me to college even though they themselves never went there and they didn't have the money.  My grandfather might have had sociological mindfulness when he came alone to America in 1916 at age 15.  He wanted a better life for his future and his family's future.  Both, my parents and my grandparents had an awareness that their choices mattered and that their choices affected the future.  So they made the best decision they could for my future based on that awareness.

The Starfish Parable is another way to think about being sociologically mindful 

One day, an old man was walking along a beach that was littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore by the high tide. As he walked he came upon a young boy who was eagerly throwing the starfish back into the ocean, one by one.
Puzzled, the man looked at the boy and asked what he was doing. Without looking up from his task, the boy simply replied, "I'm saving these starfish, Sir".
The old man chuckled aloud, "Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?"
The boy picked up a starfish, gently tossed it into the water and turning to the man, said, "It made a difference to that one!"

 We cannot change the world, but by being aware of how our actions affect those around us, we can make a difference for those who we do come into contact with us.

This reminds me of chaos theory which is a modern theory of science and math that events sometimes seem random but really they are part of a complex system.  Sometimes the butterfly effect is used an example - that the world is so connected and reliant on all processes that the wind from a butterfly flapping its wings in Mexico might contribute to a typhoon across the pacific in Japan.  This thinking applied to society might be considered sociological mindfulness.

I like the video from Louis CK about soc imagination. Here is an article that explains if we can be more mindful of the technology, we can be more appreciative of it and thus live a more fulfilled and happier life.

Creating your Blog...

Today you will be creating your own blog page to use as an ongoing e-journal throughout the duration of this course.  You will be expected to use the next couple of days to develop your blog using creative yet appropriate images, design, fonts, colors, etc. to make it your own.  You need to follow the steps as well as the restrictions that are listed below.

NOTE:  Do not use last names on the blog and do not use specific identifiers such as your address or the name of our school.  Instead, you can consider using your first and middle names or other nicknames and for the school, simply say a suburban high school or something like that.

STEP 1: Please go to https://www.blogger.com/start and follow the steps to create your blog.  Begin by clicking on “Create a blog.”  If it asks to text you a verification code, you can do that without fear of google spamming you.  Don’t feel pressured for a good title – this is changeable.  As you fill out the info,  PLEASE BE SURE THAT YOU WRITE DOWN THE FOLLOWING INFO:

PASSWORD: ______________________________

BLOG ADDRESS/URL:  http://www.                                                     .blogspot.com/

Do not use the name “Stevenson” or your last name

STEP 2: Once you have created a blog and are logged into your blog page (which should be at the blog address in Step 1) you can add gadgets or different apps to your page.  The first gadget that you must create is a link list that will have a link to my blog.  Here’s how to do that:

• Click Design(At the top) or "layout"(on the side)  
• Then--(on the side bar) click "add gadget"; scroll down and click add link list
• The first title is simply the title you want for this list of links.  You can call it “link list” for simple or even leave it blank.
• In the “new site url” box, write: http://sociologysessions.blogspot.com
• In the “new site name” box, write: Fran's Page

After you have the link to my page, you can add any other links you use often by clicking “add a link.”  Then you can add friends blogs, the school blog, facebook, instagram, email account, whatever might be useful.

STEP 4:  Personalize your blog by adding pictures/change fonts/layouts/templates or other gadgets to make this blog personal and conducive to you!  There’s lots of gadgets – feel free to explore them. 

STEP 5: First post:

To post on your blog, make sure you are logged in and then simply click “new post”.

• Here is your first prompt:  Who are you?  Write a blog entry that defines who you are.  Explain to the class what makes up the person you are.  What are the biggest influences in your life?  What are your goals/purposes in life?  

Precautions:

• Please remember that this blog should be treated as seriously as you would treat a test or an essay or a project for class.

• You should also refrain from using your full last name anywhere on the blog.

• You will be responsible for monitoring what people have posted on your blog. 

This is not your facebook account, you need to be aware that this site is public, therefore DO NOT use your Full Name on the page, DO NOT use information that a “creeper” could use to identify you.   DO keep your posts, pictures, and songs appropriate.

Using your blog throughout the semester:

One post is due by the beginning of the last class period of the week.   Usually, this will be Friday.  So if you are in period 2, then the post is due by the start of period 2 on friday.

Here is how you will be graded on your posts:

Sociology  (Artisan – students can craft authentic posts that richly explain the class content in a unique way): Students will be able to explain the concept of sociological imagination through different supporting content.  Students will demonstrate that individuals are shaped by their social life.  (Excellent includes application to student’s life and demonstration of sociological mindfulness.

4 Student is able to fully explain the sociological content and apply it to a unique example.

3  Student fully explains the sociological content using relevant terminology from the class.

2 Student somewhat explains the content from class but does not do it in detail and/or uses little or no sociology concepts or terms

1 Student completed the assignment but did not explain any sociology at all.

Standard:  Literacy (Scholar – Students can read and understand a wide variety of sources and make meaning from them):  Objective: Student demonstrates an understanding of the sources used in class (books, movies, websites, etc…) and connecting them to sociological concepts/themes.

Target (the scale):

4 Student refers properly to multiple sources from class and/or explains the connection of an outside source found by the student.

3 Student refers properly to a source from class and explains its connection to sociology in the student’s own words.

2 Student refers to a source from class but it lacks depth, clarity or correctness.

1  Student completed the assignment but was not correct in interpreting the sources from class.

                                    Success criteria:

                                    Reference to evidence from the source(refers properly)

                                    Students’ own words (explains)

                                    Author’s message/thesis (

Academic Expectations (Citizen- Student recognizes the importance of being a part of the community of class; being present and on-time, listening, sharing, respecting, trusting other student, participating in class and writing properly.)

4 Student contributes to the class through commenting, listening and reading.  Student uses proper grammar, spelling, punctuation and clear and academic writing.  Student meets deadlines and is on time.  Student’s work is neat and professional.

3 Student is able to meet almost all of the expectations above.

2 Student meets some of the expectations.

1 Student turns in the assignment or shows up, but does not meet any of the expectations above

Leaving Class

Today in class, I gave you all the assignment to write down all the "unique" or "interesting" things you saw around the classroom, about me, or your fellow students.  After compiling the list, I instructed the class to discuss what they found to be unique and why they felt it was interesting. I then left the room for five minutes expecting the class to discuss as a whole what and why they felt it was unique/interesting but knowing the class would probably just talk with their friends.  The purpose of the activity was to show you that we, as a society,  have a set idea of how certain groups should act and behave.  Our expectations are that teachers are supposed to lead discussions, not students, so when I was expecting you to do work without me leading you it brought you a level of discomfort.  That is what we will be doing in this class as sociologists. We will be analyzing people and people in groups and look for patterns of behavior and analyze how those patterns affect people.

The second part of class we actually discussed the things that you felt were unique in the classroom.  Someone mentioned the Beastie Boys posters.  I asked the class why they thought I had the posters hanging up.  A few people said, "Because you like them".  I challenged the class to answer "Why do I like them?"  Yes, I like them but "Why?".  After a few guesses someone stated, "because they were prevalent when you in High School".  Yes! What else do we have in common?  "You are all males" Yes!    If I was born in 1925, I probably would not be a Beastie Boy fan.  If I was a born in and lived in Sudan, I probably would not be a Beastie Boy fan.  I'm not a 12 year old girl so I'm not a Spice Girls fan.  There are plenty of outside influences that we tend not to reflect upon that help create who we are.  Understanding, analyzing and reflecting on these influence is also what sociologists do.  It is also what we will do in this class.  We will reflect on this influence and try to explain and understand their power in our lives.  The outside influences of gender, race, who we associate with, social class, time and many other factors create what sociologists call the SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION.  This term is a main driving force of this course.