We finished reading Act 3, scene 1 today. Will is volunteering to read the bigger parts now, and is doing a much better job of understanding what he is saying. I'm spending less time "translating" and more time discussing the themes now. Great progress.
This is the scene with the "to be or not to be" speech in it, and we pretty much spent the entire class discussing that. Will had a lot of insight and thoughts to share, and I was very impressed with his focus in the discussion. I think he got a lot out of it.
We led off with a discussion of polygons, convex and concave. We then went on to explore how drawing diagonals from one vertex would form triangles and use those triangles--each containing 180 degrees --to find the total degrees in the polygon's interior angles. We then explored the number of degrees in a polygon's exterior angles. Finally, we worked a few practice problems.
Assignment
p. 161: #11-25
Session Minutes
60
Minutes Student Attended
60
Lesson Comments
Will participated fully in our discussion throughout the session. He seems to be getting the material with very little difficulty.
During our session Will examined and explained several concepts regarding European trade with Asia, namely India, China, and Japan. We discussed how the Portugese built a trading empire in South and Southeast Asia, the Dutch and Spanish rise to power in the region, and the decline of the Mughal empire in India and how trade was affected. Also during the session, we discussed how modern day events are linked to this era in history...for example the spread of Islam to Indonesia and modern day trade among nations.
During our session Will examined several facets of the Europeans' contact with Africa, and the African societies of the 15th and 16th centuries. Among topics explored were Portuguese establishment of footholds on the African coast, how European actions affected the slave trade and the rise of African states, and how the European presence expanded in Africa.
Continue section on eighth note rhythms, 3 way coordination exercises, basic shuffle rhythms.
Lesson Outline
Review previously assigned eighth note rhythm exercises.
Continue working in section on eighth note rhythms.
Basic blues shuffle beat; triplets and broken triplets.
Play improvised music together.
Assignment
Practice assigned eighth note rhythms, shuffle beats, and linear hand/foot patterns.
Session Minutes
75
Minutes Student Attended
75
Lesson Comments
Will continues do to a great job on the drums. Today, he started playing a blues shuffle rhythm, so we took the opportunity to discuss to nature of and building blocks of the shuffle beat. He's really doing well and I'm loving working with him.
Continue section on eighth note rhythms, 3 way coordination exercises.
Lesson Outline
Review previously assigned eighth note exercises.
Continue section on eighth note rhythms.
Keeping time and improvised fill ideas.
Linear hand/foot patterns (drop triplet and "bucket o' fish" fill.
Assignment
Practice assigned eighth note rhythms and linear hand/foot patterns.
Session Minutes
75
Minutes Student Attended
75
Lesson Comments
Another very good session. Will had some very good questions and is showing great creativity with his fill ideas. He has to focus and concentrate very hard in order to play some of the eighth note rhythms we are working on, and this is normal. He has already shown improvement over the last week. I am very pleased with his progress.
Parallel and Perpendicular Lines; Interior and Exterior Angles of Triangles; Spherical Geometry: Intro.
Lesson Outline
We went over homework problems and some additional problems involving interior and exterior angles of triangles. Then we spent some time contrasting spherical geometry with Euclidean (plane) geometry, using the world, latitude and longitude as models.
Assignment
None.
Session Minutes
60
Minutes Student Attended
60
Lesson Comments
Will was quite attentive and participated fully in the session. He seemed to have an excellent grasp of the material.
Before administering the Chapter 2 quiz, I gave Will an opportunity to ask questions about any topics of which he felt unsure. After answering his questions and making sure that he understood, I administered the Chapter 2 quiz. In the remaining time, we initiated consideration of Chapter 3, focusing on indentured servitude, differentiating it from involuntary servitude, and exploring the motives underlying the growth of slavery in the English colonies. Will participated actively in discussion.
