Guiding+Activity-Suzanne+Baraff

The purpose of this guiding activity is to provide the opportunity for students to "puzzle" over or deeply think about the qualities our society ascribes to those we consider to be our heroes. Many of our popular sports heroes have disappointed us with their inappropriate and sometimes illegal behavior. This should lead to some interesting discussions. How does this change our thinking? What would it take to change your opinion about your hero?

1. Students will participate in small group discussions to create a list of five qualities the group agrees are consistent with "hero" status. During this discussion, students will have to defend their opinions and either convince their peers to accept the qualities or rethink/reconsider their opinion to align with their peers so the group will be in agreement with all the qualities they submit. This challenge will require students to test out their opinion, defend it, or drop it off the list.

2. Each student will interview two adults to gain their perspective on the qualities of a hero. The group will write 5 interview questions aiming to learn the qualities that others in the community view as essential in those they consider their heroes. One question must be, "Name one or more person/people you consider to be a hero and a brief explanation why". Each group will submit their questions so all the questions can be evaluated by the class. The class will vote on the five most important questions which will then become the interview questions used by all the students. The interviewees can be any member of their family, friends, or community but must be someone whose opinion they respect. Interviewing two adults gives the students a comparison of how adults may view heroes differently and give them insight into how age may effect how we view heroes. The interviews will be recorded so they can be shared with the class.

3. Each small group will combine their interviews and post them in the form of a podcast on the class wiki. The podcasts will be shared with the class. The answers to the interview questions will be collected and the data analyzed by the class to determine if there is any consistency or consensus that can be taken from the interviews. What have you learned from this activity? Do you have a clearer picture of the qualities you feel are essential in a hero? Do you have any of these qualities? If not, how can you develop them?

Grading of this guiding activity will be based upon a rubric as follows: