These are some ideas I started toying around with. I know I started rambling at one point. I felt like I was desperately trying to explain something and it got much too wordy. If anybody is interested/confused about any of it please let me know.

I like the idea of a technology related theme. It is a theme with plenty of real world applications and seems like a easy topic to introduce in a classroom setting. And given today's technology obsessed youth, it should be an interesting topic for students. My one worry is that that schools and teachers everywhere are thinking along the same lines. Students might think that the topic was chosen purely because they are expected to like it. Given that this year is an election year, I like the idea of having a unit on social class, but I feel like that would be very difficult to pull off without becoming blatantly political; a social class related theme would feel too much like a political science class. I think it could be interesting and informative for students, but they would likely disagree. I think the best theme would be a combination of technology and the environment. The government is becoming more wary of climate change and more and more people seem to be taking a step towards becoming more self-conscious about the environment; "going green" is becoming more accepted (hopefully it hasn't reached overkill yet). Any theme that brings up current issues, however, runs the risk of becoming too preachy. To avoid that risk, I think it is a good idea to bring in two themes. The first half of the semester could focus on new technology and it could slowly transition into issues with climate change and the environment. Any ideas or topics discussed in the first half could then carry over by illustrating the solutions new technology has to offer.

As for class orientation, I want to focus on a cognitive approach but I would probably try to find a good blend of cognitive/expressivist. I like expressivist activities such as reader responses because they are very good ways to get the students thinking about the reading and can also help students come up with writing topics. The cognitive approach should cover most of the significant sociocultural contexts related to a reading. I could be confusing the perspectives, but it seems difficult to provide students the background information necessary to fully understand a particular literature/reading piece without providing a good snapshot of that particular time and place in history. I want to make sure that students get all the necessary information they need so that there isn't any confusion or misunderstanding of the text. I wouldn't be so concerned about students obtaining the "right" answer. I would, however, expect them to come to a conclusion with enough textual evidence to support whatever claim/conclusion they came to. I'm going over this idea in my head again, and it seems counter-intuitive to claim to take a cognitive approach without teaching students to find the "right" answer. I like the critical thinking and textual analysis students are expected to do as a part of the cognitive approach. Their acquisition of such skills supersedes them finding the "right" answer.  

This unit would likely take place in the middle or near the end of the semester. The course workload would assume that students have solid reading and writing skills. That being said, it doesn't mean that they won't learn additional material, but they would be expected to be able to read and write at the college level. I would like to plan a course that can refine and expand on those skills and strategies that students have learned. So I suppose I am looking for students who would be enrolled in freshman composition.

Reading something difficult

There is a Buddhist temple in Korea that has an incredible collection of Buddha's teachings. I had the chance to visit the temple with my family in 2000. Engraved on 80,000 woodblocks, it is considered the most complete collection of Buddhist texts, laws, and treaties. My parents bought the paperback version. I don't know why because I don't think they ever read it, but it was cool to have.

I could read the text, but I struggled to understand it. Even if I read the sentences out loud I would retain close to nothing. I understood some of the basic sentences like "do not kill" or "do not drink" but I couldn't get a sense of the overall meaning of the text. It didn't help that there was a fair amount of Chinese calligraphy in the text as well.

I'm certain that one of the reasons why I wasn't able to understand much of the text was historical aspect of the text; it was written in the mid 13th century. Additionally, it isn't a traditional historical text. The text focuses on the teachings of Buddha. I'm familiar with information dense texts, but all I can do here is pick out some generic sentences. I feel as if I am missing too much cultural and historical context to be able to read and retain the information. I would have to take the reading a couple pages at a time. That would give me the time I need to make sense of the material and ask my parents for help. I would likely need a database and a dictionary. My Korean is getting rusty and I can't read Chinese calligraphy.