THAT Georgia Tech Speech... Genius Hour, Day 2

So its Genius Hour Day #2. How do I top the EPIC CLASS last week?

How about with an EPIC video?

Then one of my favorite people on the planet (and fellow debate coach) posted a link of a video of her boyfriend (if you can't watch the video you can view it here).

This young man is kind of a celebrity now. He went to the high school I work at, and really, since I have worked there, has always been referenced with a subtle tone of awe and wonder by those that knew him. It's no wonder, given this speech:

My students have seen this speech multiple times, either on Social Media, or on our school announcements. Our whole campus is abuzz about it.

I showed it at the beginning of Genius Hour today.
(Kids were still clapping after the speech. It is THAT epic.)

There are two things that I really want students to be thinking about during Genius Hour today, as we start to brainstorm topics. First, this video was posted on Sunday. As of when I am writing this, this particular version of the speech has reached 1,945,214 views. There are other versions posted have a total of 264,115 combined views. In 5 days. The speaker has been featured in print in Rolling Stone, Inside Ed, Daily Mail, CNN, Fox, CBS, MSNBC, Yahoo news, College Humor, SB Nation, Buzzfeed, Gawker, Mashable, Huffington Post, Daily Digest, Daily Caller, Boston Globe, Ahwatukee Foothills, Local Atlanta papers, and now, this blog. It's also been turned into a number of super hilarious Internet memes (Including one for Subway!) floating around Facebook. So, the first lesson of the day was don't ever doubt that your message, if you are passionate enough, can be heard. Never doubt that you will change the world.

The second message was in reference to the content of his speech. The theme for today was "You can do that!" in his honor. I asked the students to think about something that they are passionate about, and how we could connect Latin, or Roman history to it. Or, if they chose, they could start with a problem, and use what they will learn about Rome to help solve that problem. I was there to guide and suggest, and I want to share some of the project ideas that I remember from today. Because they are epic in their own right.

1. Discussion of Oral Tradition in the Ancient World - what makes stories worth remembering?
Product is a digital storytelling platform to bring the lost art into the 21st Century.

2. Blog where a student will grow his own food (passion about plants) and "eat like a Roman plebian" for a month and reflect, then "eat like a Roman patrician" and reflect.

3. A number of students are choreographing dances inspired by historical events in ancient Rome, and we are having a dance show.

4. Another pair of students are tackling the problem of starvation and nutrition by adapting Roman recipes and attempting to feed a family of 4 (with adequate nutrition and no processed ingredients) for $50 a week.

5. Another pair of students are looking at Roman clothing and modernizing it, creating their own fashion line inspired by clothing worn by Roman women and men.

6. A student is very interested in yoga and veganism - she is studying yoga and creating her own yoga poses inspired by events in Roman history, and hosting a "wellness day" for the community, including a cooking demonstration where she will adapt a Roman recipe to be vegan and teach a class on how to make it.

7. Another student is creating abstract paintings of different Latin phrases, and making a gallery exhibit.

8. Create an Instagram account from the point of view of various important Romans from history.

I'm still in awe of my students' work today.

Thank you, Nick, for telling us we "can do that!" Indeed, we "[are] doing that."