Shop Class; Tuesday, First Period [12/07].

[special_rabbit]

"Morning, everyone," Amaya greeted the students with a nod as usual, santa hat firmly in place, because she knew already from repeated attempts that the blasted thing wasn't going anywhere.

"Not so much hard work with our hands today, though, but rather with our heads. We're coming up on the end of the semester, so next week will be your final project, and today, as well as last week's class, are build-ups to that. It's the concept of simple machines like those we covered last week that are what's going to help you out next week. I'm looking to have you all put together a contraption of simple machines. The rules are pretty simple: I want you to take some time and think about a simple task. Could be switching on a light. Tying your boots. Toasting your bread. Something really mundane and basic...and then I want you to try to think up a machine with at least five moving parts to perform that task.

"There's actually a term for this sort of thing on this world," which still amused Amaya to absolutely no end. "They call it a Rube Goldberg machine, a device intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an overly complicated and complex manner. Named after a cartoonist who was known to feature these kinds of machines in his work.

"Now, I've gone ahead and tried to recreate some such devices for examples" because of course she would, "figuring they might inspire you guys. Take some time to look them over, see what they do, and maybe bounce some ideas around for simple tasks that could use a complex solution. It's mostly brainstorming today, maybe get a little work in if you have an idea and want to see how it works. You'll have the class period today and the start of class next week to work on your machines, or, if you need a little extra time, just let me know and we can have you come in extra if you need. So! With that said, let's have a look at what these here machines can do to start getting the machines inside your skulls," she tapped a finger against the side of her head, "working! Then you've got full run of the shop once you feel you're ready to get cranking them out.

"And, hopefully," she added, giving the tail of her santa hat a slightly irritated flick over her shoulder, "these won't get in the way too much."

Fear in Literature, Tuesday 4th period

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon looked downright peaky today (and annoyed at his santa hat), but he scrubbed his hands over his face and determined to soldier on. The board read: The Web: The fear of being controlled, trapped, or manipulated. Also arachnophobia.

"Spiders," he said with a shudder. "They're the most obvious manifestation here. But beyond that, the Web is manipulation. Someone or something is controlling you that you might not even know about, but your actions aren't your own. Hopefully today's reading got that across. Do you think it did? Do you think the protagonist is being controlled, or is it purely his imagination? Some combination of the two? Is free will even possible, even if it's your own nature controlling your decisions?"

Jon made it through the class, but he totally forgot to put anything on the board for next week.

Ethics, December 7, 2021

[sith_happened]

Fantastic. It was Everyone Wears a Stupid Hat Day, Anakin's absolute favorite! You could tell by the giant scowl on his face. "Well, today is a good day to talk about how we deal with events beyond our control," Anakin said, tossing the pompom part of his Santa hat away from his eyes.

Again.

"While we might plan to live a boring, morally upright life, the truth is that--and especially on this island--many things are well beyond our ability to anticipate and change. My question to you today is, how do you adapt to something like that? Or do you just...not, and wait for things to change back to better suit you?"

Fixin Stuff- Tuesday- 3rd period

[gotyoucookie]

After way too damn long here, Nick had finally found something he couldn't ignore, dismiss, or explain away.

Because the god damn Santa hat wouldn't come off his damn head.

Predictably, he was pissed about it.

"You're getting a movie today," he crabbed, pressing play. "It's got Tom Hanks. Everybody loves Tom Hanks!"

It did not sound like Nick loved Tom Hanks right now.