STAB 2019

This week we have begun learning about the religion of Hinduism .  Hindus believe in a hard-to-define concept called  Brahman .  Brahman is frequently described as the "universal soul", inside of which we all live.  It can be difficult for people not raised within the Hindu tradition to understand the idea of Brahman, because many non-Hindus are more familiar with the idea of " God " or " gods ."  ** Brahman is not the equivalent of God. OK, so what is it? Here are some helpful descriptions of Brahman that were written by a couple of my previous students: Brahman is not a person but an invisible force that is everywhere. Brahman is something everyone wants to be part of. Not a God, but a  force . Brahman is the universal soul. It is neither a person or a god. It is the unchanging reality behind the physical illusions of life. ------------------- Hindus do, however, believe that there are many (thousands!) of gods and goddesses within Brahman. Three of the ...

I think you'll agree that this ancient Egyptian re-mix of " Meant to Be " has several great lyrics. I think my personal favorite is: "Cause I’m tired of the attacks, please let us relax // Tut let us believe." And wow ...  Carter   and   Cadigan   have some   serious   rhythm!

During today's class, we talked about the way that religion can sometimes be a difficult topic because it deals with questions and ideas for which there is no scientific evidence. I asked the students whether they believe there are things in our world that are real  -- that definitely exist -- but that cannot be observed or measured by science . Alejandra, Colby and Jack M. each provided a wonderful answer to my question. Their answers were profound and meaningful. Alejandra started by saying that, even if you are not religious, you have to admit that  our personalities are real, though they cannot be seen. Colby followed by saying that our feelings are real, though we cannot measure them by science. And  Jack M. capped off this series of impressive philosophical insights by pointing out that LOVE is real, although you can neither see, hear or touch it. Some of you may study the Greek philosopher Plato when you get a bit older. Your classmates A , C   and ...

Chloe, Alejandra, Trey  and  Adam  re-wrote Camila Cabello's hit song Havana, with lyrics describing the pharaohs and gods of ancient Egypt! Their creative new rendition of this song is a musical treat.

Sofia wrote an excellent script for a newscast about life in ancient Egypt. She included specific historical details to demonstrate what she learned while researching the civilization. She also showed a lot of creativity : in this script, the news is not presented by humans, but instead by Egyptian gods and goddesses ! Later, Brynne and Courtney joined with Sofia to film the script. They really worked as a team, encouraging and helping each other to do their best.

When writing about history, one of the challenges for middle school students is finding their own, original voice. It can be tempting to simply change a few words from another person's writing, rather than taking the time to express ideas and information in a new, unique way. While working on her informative poster about China, Cabria rose to the challenge. She thought deeply about the material and then used her own words -- her own, authentic voice -- to present the information in an engaging way. Here is a sample: Being the only leader of the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huangdi was a smart one. In this dynasty they created paper, kites, seismographs, and so many more things you use today! Shi Huangdi was not as “scary” or “powerful” as you might think. He lived in fear everyday because several attacks were made on him during his lifetime. He never trusted anybody, and even after death he was still doubtful about trusting his advisors. Courtney used a software program called Tinkercad...

Sophia, Chloe P.B., Landon  and  Anna put together an extremely clever "re-make" of Yankee Doodle which incorporates great details about ancient Egypt. Their song is informative and FUN. They also collaborated really well to perform and film the song. I hope that you will enjoy it!!