Practical Philosophy, Monday

[endsthegame]

For once, Ender had sent out an invite to his students to show up to the Danger Shop, not the lawn. Entering through the doors would get them into what looked like a large airlock, with rounded walls in stark whites and greys. There was a bigger door up ahead; Ender was standing right in front of it.

"It's a little warm outside," he said, "And it's been a quiet week. So I thought I'd try something different."

He reached out and rapped his knuckles on one of the walls. "Different for you, but not different for me," he said. "My old school used this technique to prompt us to think out of the box. I'm going to give you some time to adjust before we talk this time. Call it a lesson in perspective."

Then he opened up the door and hurled himself into the room ahead, folding his legs under him. Zero gravity meant that his momentum carried him. He caught his movement on the opposing wall with extreme grace, bouncing off at a different angle, and then another one, and then another.

Eventually he hooked his feet under a set of handholds. The way he was standing, the opening from the door was right above him. He had to look up to look at his students.

"There are a lot of issues involved in what Fandom does to us," he said. "Issues of consent. Issues of privacy. Issues of bodily autonomy. It can be easy to disregard that sometimes it's useful to experience something from a different point of view - not that that makes any of those other issues irrelevant. Orient yourself. Then we can share some experiences."

American History through Film, Monday, Period 3

[screwyoumarvel]

"We're going to skip forward now to the Civil War, and a movie I actually saw when it first came out, Gone with the Wind. This is the war from the Confederate perspective, and highly romanticized, but it's considered a classic for a lot of reasons. I hope you enjoy it," Steve said, and hit 'play.'

Charming Your Way Into and Out of Things, Monday, Period 2

[cannotdenyher.livejournal.com]

The Danger Shop was a fancy-looking 1930s movie theater today. That may have had something to do with how you did not want to know about the Spirit's weekend. For all that he was doing his best to look composed, he actually looked pretty beat. And he had a healing factor.

It had not been a great weekend.

But he still tipped his hat to the student as they filed in. "Morning. Today, we'll be watching a film that a very kind person in the administration told me deals with some of the aspects of this workshop. So, sit yourselves down, kiddos, and enjoy the show."

Introduction to Meditation | Tuesday | Period 1

[justonecondition]

Like last week, the classroom was dimly-lit and cushions were scattered around the floor, with a table in the back for water and tea for after the session. Unlike last week, on each cushion, there was a fortune-cookie-fortune-sized slip of paper with one single word on it waiting for whoever sat there.

"Today we're going to be going in a very different direction from last week," Bruce said, "using a technique called story meditation. I find it a little more engaging than your basic mindfulness session, so if you had trouble staying awake last week, you might prefer this." He took a seat on a cushion, as weird as it felt to be sitting on a pillow while facing the class like he had any authority. "Story meditation involves creating a narrative in your own head around a general or specific prompt or theme. Afterwards, analyzing the story you created can shed some light on the way that you think. It can also be... soothing to create something without any obligation to record or recount it, though you're welcome to share your stories after the session if you'd like."

These stories sometimes got weird, though. Bruce wouldn't blame anyone for wanting to keep them to themselves.

"Today I prepared prompts for each of you, but this works best when you don't limit yourself - feel free to diverge from the original topic as much as possible. We'll be at this for a little longer this week than we were last week - thirty-five minutes - so if you want to run in a circle in the hallway to get your energy out first, you're welcome to. Otherwise--" he set a timer on his watch-- "let's begin."