Class report of December 3, 2013!
I was chosen to be one of the three 'student leaders of the day' and two of the tasks that needed to be rationed out was to write the daily report of today's session on your blog and to volunteer the 'Question of the Day' that correlates to our lesson.
[If you want to skip this great wall of text and jump to the answering the question of the day, then go for it. Sorry for writing so much but the board did say "detailed"... ]
The class day started out with Saurabh holding the door open so everyone to enter. That was really kind of him. After we were all seated down, Miss Kritzeck, our teacher, had a discussion with our class about the act of opening doors open for others. Do you think we should do so? Is it right? If someone doesn't acknowledge your gesture do you feel unappreciated and/or angry? After a few responses from students, it turned out that most did not notice that the door was held open for them.
[Which, in my humble opinion, I think is fine. People are occupied and might not notice everything with so much going on. I do "acts of kindness" (--as Miss K. puts it--) for other people. Not for me. ]
Then she directs the question as to why she's making the student leader holds the door open for everyone. Is it to build a sense of community? The conversations deviate into students making attempts at naming everyone in the classroom. Privithi just nearly made it; she was so close! Yet lack of luck made it so that she messed up at around the last people left.
Miss Kritzeck talked about third period being very displeased with this new rule and all the students were "up in arms" protesting passionately about why they shouldn't have to do this. Raeek too opposed this decision and constructed arguments as to why third period may be upset toward this new development. Most were sound however at his last point he said something that none of us could comprehend very well. Sounds of "huh?" were erupting across the room. Miss Kritzeck followed up by saying that Raeek's "point" was not even a point. She then apologized to the people sitting at his table (that would be Valerie, Shreya, and Saurabh) for having to deal with him. [T-that was a bit cruel...]
Miss K further asked our opinions as to what opening doors for our class might have to do with Animal Farm. There were plenty of well thought out and unique interpretations of it. I was impressed by one saying that opening doors for others might be a symbol of power. Once they're in a classroom whose door was opened up by you, they're under your control and they know it. It was sort of like "Hey! You're under my influence now. Just letting y'all know."
Afterwards we stamped our last night's homework and wrote the definitions of the vocabulary words given from the study guides chapter 1-4. Our homework today is to make sure you fully understand chapter 1-4 of Animal Farm and to finish the study guides if you're still not done. Bring your ID cards tomorrow so we can finally check out the books. Also, remember to add Miss Kritzeck's blog on to your Reading List to keep in touch with her.
Now here goes the Question of the Day. When someone does something generous to a stranger without any prompting, do you think that the stranger is obligated to at least acknowledge the gesture? Why or why not?
Be honest, here! I'm curious as to what you think.
In my opinion, when someone does something generous to a stranger without any prompting, the stranger should at least acknowledge the gesture out of the kindest of their heart. The stranger IS NOT required to acknowledge the gesture, but giving a small thanks to the person who completed the gesture would be respectful and a morally right thing to do. All people have a bit of kindness in their hearts, all in different forms, and people can embrace their sincere thanks to someone by sharing their kindness in the form of acknowledgements. When a person does a good deed or a nice gesture, they do it simply willingly out of their heart, and not to receive thanks or an acknowledgement; however, the person who is receiving the favor should talk the time to thank that person for making their life a little bit easier or brightening up of their day. Honestly, a small "thanks!" shouldn't hurt and really doesn't take too much time or effort to say. After all, the person did help you in some which way. What I am saying is that a person should not be obligated to acknowledge someone for doing a sweet gesture for them, but rather reward their good deed by thanking them. At the least, it will truly lift a person's spirits and make them feel like a good person on the inside.
ReplyDeleteacknowledgement of a kind gesture is and should be a common courtesy. however, the person doing the act of kindness should not expect anything in return for his/her gesture. too many people need an incentive to act generously and selflessly, and i think that the fewer the people who have this kind of mentality, the better a place this world will be to live in.
ReplyDeleteIf a person is doing something generous, generally he/she is doing it as a courtesy. I do not believe that one is obliged to acknowledge the person, because the person doing the act won't feel the need to be thanked, if they are truly selfless. But, acknowledging the act of kindness won't hurt either person, so you might as well...
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ReplyDeleteWhen a person shows acts of generosity to someone, especially a stranger, they should not assume that they would return the gesture. Everyone is different. No mind is the same nor would their actions be the same. You simply cannot assume that if you're nice to someone, they'll be nice back. These are not exactly my beliefs, but I'm taking others into consideration. In my point of view, I would be thankful if someone were to, for example, open a door for me or help me pick up something I've dropped. Being the person I am, I would definitely help someone in need like if they spilled their drink. The list can go on. Although, you can not expect others to give you anything in return. I don't. I simply brush it off because it pretty much happens every day at school when I hold the door for someone. Do I get a thank you? Rarely. I guess you can also add that to the list of: that's just how life is.
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