For all the former 8th grade students that are still following this blog, I want to wish you a happy new school year! I miss all of you, and in some ways, I wish that I could still be at ICS. However, I thought you should know that my new job at Island ECC is going quite well! The ministry is great, and I hope to see some of you at youth group. Remember, you’re all invited to both the Friday night small groups and the Sunday morning youth services. Info found here.
A couple of reminders:
There’s a bus that takes you directly to Island Church from City One. It’s the 682.
The first Resound of the school year is on Friday, September 23rd. Location is TBD.
NOTE: When answering, please use the student’s FULL name to differentiate between students with similar names. Examples: Wesley Ma, Wesley Chung, Grace Lawson, Grace Chong NOTE 2: Please capitalize the first letter of each name. Example: Joe Dirt vs. joe dirt
Once you have completed all 3 surveys, please do NOT vote again. Each student may only vote one time. Thank you, and we’re looking forward to the results!
UPDATE: As of 10am on May 27th, the polls have been closed.
You’ve done it!
You’ve read Matthew.
You’ve reflected on his gospel.
You’re written at least 28 posts.
Well done. Well done indeed.
There’s another assignment in store for you before we depart for the summer. I want you to do a reflection post about your reflections. In other words, please blog about your blogging. Think about your experiences over this past semester, and then draw some conclusions. If you need a start, here are some questions you might want to ask yourself:
What did you like or dislike while making and maintaining a blog?
What did you learn while reading, reflecting, and writing?
Did you give this your full effort? Why or why not?
How were your comments? How were your peers’ comments?
What were some of your favorite experiences while journaling?
How did you struggle? What were some challenges you faced?
Before you start typing, please answer my survey so I can gain and use your feedback. Thanks!
One final thing. If you have some advice (about the blogs) for me or the teacher taking over 8th grade, please leave your advice in the comments below. If you think it’s too private, you can send me an email or fb message or speak with me in person. Thanks again! I love each of you!
This weekend I’m getting excited for the Amazing Race.
It’s not the traditional Amazing Race that’s televised worldwide. Although, they did actually come through Hong Kong about a year ago. Instead, this is the Union Church Hong Kong version. Each year, groups of youth group students form small teams and set out on a quest to find various locations and accomplish a wide range of tasks. It’s going to be especially awesome this year because the youth are venturing away from HK Island onto the Dark Side (aka Kowloon). I’m excited to see how the kids do and if they’ll be able to live up to the challenges.
By the way, my wife (Kristin), is amazing as well, and I hope other youth groups are inspired by this. If you’re church doesn’t have one, pester your youth leader into creating one! If they ask where you came up with this idea or why you’re asking them, you can blame it on me. 🙂
One last note, if you want more information or if you possibly want to join Union U’th this weekend, check out the facebook event post: http://on.fb.me/jHxhkA
In class we’re currently watching a sermon given by Francis Chan. He gave this at the 2009 BigStuf conference, which is an annual camp/outreach in Florida. (If you want to know more about the organization, you can visit their Who We Are page, where there’s a mission statement, list of beliefs, etc.)
Anyway, Francis Chan puts forth some big ideas to get us to think about the poor and how we can help them. Much of his sermon is based on visits he made to Uganda and the other ways he’s seen poverty firsthand. One of the points he makes is about how lavishly we’ve been blessed. To emphasize this point, he wants us to go home and actually count how many shirts we have. Take a timeout from reading and go count!
(Go to your room and count your shirts – your t-shirts, dress shirts, school shirts, winter shirts, and any other top)
Okay. Welcome back.
So how many?
25?
50?
100?
More!?
Here’s the kicker: At the time of Francis Chan’s first visit to Uganda, the ministry organization’s four-year plan was to get every kid a total of two t-shirts. TWO!! That’s how poor they are. It’s going to take four years to get every kid two t-shirts. Doesn’t this shock you? Break your heart? Spur you into some sort of action?
How many shirts do you actually need? What might you do? Let me know the answers to these questions in the comments.
HW: For those that haven’t counted already. Here’s when you need to do this by: Monday, May 16th (PE) and Tuesday, May 17th (SC and EB)
If you ever need a good website or magazine to read, I highly recommend Relevant Magazine. It’s full of meaningful stories, discussions of how to shine your light in the world around you, and generally insightful reviews of noteworty books, movies, and music. On top of that, there is a lot of media to explore: videos, internet radio, links, twitter updates, etc.
Read it though. I guarantee you’ll find something to love!
Many people know about Osama, al Qaeda, and the September 11th attacks. However, many of you might be fuzzy on some of the details. Thanks to one of my favorite friends, Wikipedia, as well as a number of other news sources, I want you to read, recall, and understand the many events from the past decade (and beyond). Please click on the following links and watch the videos or read the articles*:
A 10 minute video from CNN’s Student News. This video provides a broad overview of who Osama Bin Laden was, what he did, and the meaning of his death. At minimum, please watch the video.
The Longer, In-Depth Version
If watching the CNN video was not enough for you, I’ve provided a number of links to help you further understand what all the fuss is about. The are not mandatory to click, but I highly recommend you do.
*By the way, you are also welcome to view any other news, articles, or links related to Osama Bin Laden’s death! I’ve only provided an overview so that our class will have a common foundation.
DUE: Thursday, May 05 (PE) and Friday, May 06 (SC and EB)
I’m very excited about the variety of postings I’ve received from most of you. Now that you are all blog-savvy, you’ve been able to bring your own unique style and perspective to your blog site. I hope these sort of posts would continue to the end of the year and the end of Matthew 28.
This is why I’ve decided to simply go ahead and let you read, reflect, apply, and post as you desire! In other words, I’m continuing to allow the extensive freedom posting styles and techniques. Needless to say (but I’m going to say it anyway), there are still some guidelines. Please continue to include the following:
Prove to me that you read each chapter in Matthew’s Gospel
Prove to me that you understand the content
Prove to me that you not only reflected, but applied the lessons learned to your own life
With that stated, you may work ahead on your blog posts. Remember to do a minimum of one post per chapter. Also, you are welcome to post other things on your blog to. Some bonus examples could be (but are not limited to): cool worships songs you heard recently, funny and appropriate images or videos, something you learned from church, and other meaningful life lessons or reflections.
Please comment or see me in person for questions. Enjoy your long weekend!
Matthew 22 DUE: Tuesday, May 03 (PE) and Wednesday, May 04 (SC and EB)
Based on your feedback, we’re going to continue with the extensive freedom in your posts. In other words, read Matthew 21, and then do any kind of reflective post that proves to me you read the passage AND applied it to your life.
There’s one EXTRA thing I want you to write about though. You can even title it “Mr. Franke’s Special Request.” At the end of your post, please write about the fig tree found in verses 18-22. It’s a confusing passage, and even if you read some commentary you might be confused. Try to make some sense of it and write about what you think it means. Do the best you can!
DUE: Thursday, April 28 (PE) and Friday, April 29 (SC and EB)
Mr. Franke's Bible Classes 
Most Comments = Franke Cheesecake
May 12, 2011 by grantfranke
Many students have significantly dropped off in commenting on blogs. I want to see the conversation get started again on one anothers’ posts in the commentary sections. Therefore, I’m issuing a prize: A slice of Franke Cheesecake. From Thursday afternoon, May 12 until your class on Monday, May 16 or Tuesday, May 17 you have to comment on as many blog posts as possible.
There’s no way for me to monitor each and every comment you make.
That’s why you need to KEEP TRACK OF HOW MANY BLOG POSTS YOU COMMENT ON.
At the beginning of class we’ll go check the top three students to see if they’re telling the truth.
Get started!
Happy conversation-making!
Posted in Bonus Stuff | Tagged awesomeness, bribe, comments, discuss, franke cheesecake, photos, prize | 10 Comments »