Mr. Francis’s Debate & Writing Projects

Mr. Francis is a teacher who specializes in politics and philosophy and has degrees from the University of Oxford and the University of London in the UK. He plays soccer and trombone. More pastimes include reading, writing, and learning French, Russian, and Cantonese.
M.A in Religion in Global Politics, Univ. of London
B.A. in Philosophy, Politics & Economics; Law Moderations, Univ. of Oxford  

Project 1: Writing on Cultural Debates - Challenge or Advocate

Project Goal: Students will watch five pre-recorded fun and educational review videos by Mr. Francis who has studied and taught students in the U.K and Europe.  He will introduce his interesting review story about an artifact, a person, an event, a place, or a problem/solution in each episode. Each video episode will be exploring a part of European history, culture, and philosophy and more. The students will be receiving a writing prompt per video and asked to submit their completed writings on time.  Francis will review them and send his personalized feedback to individual students by email. 

Grade Groups: 
Grades 6 and up in fall 2021 

Project Unit: 

• There will be five episodes for you to watch and write about. 
• This project is asynchronous learning, so we don't meet in a live classroom but you should submit your writing assignments on time to receive the teacher's feedback. 
• Mr. Francis will be sending feedback in 3 days after the student submits his or her writing per episode. 
• Questabox admin will ask you about your episode schedule preference later through a confirmation/follow-up email once you sign up. 
• [Optional] You can sign up for a live chat with Mr. Francis after completing the whole package (additional fee, please contact the admin, santaclara@questabox.com) 

Component:
-- Five video episodes
-- Reading resources related to each episode 
-- Writing prompt per episode
-- Teacher's (written & audio) feedback on each of your writing 
-- 15-min live chat with a teacher (optional, additional fee, $35) 

Total 5 Episodes & Focus: 

• [Episode 1] Food in the Multicultural World – What’s the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation? 
• [Episode 2] Art in Europe – Does art need to be realistic? What constitutes ‘good art’? 
• [Episode 3] Creative Genius – How can we quantify and describe creativity? What makes people love the work of Shakespeare, The Beatles, and Banksy? 
• [Episode 4] Architecture – What are some of the purposes of architecture – to impress, to impose, to imprison? How have architects throughout history responded to these challenges? 
• [Episode 5] Inventions – What is the greatest invention in human history? Discuss various candidates (penicillin, electricity, the internet, the combustion engine, etc). 

Starting: (Asynchronous, Online); you can choose and start any day you would like to begin. 

Guideline:

-- If you purchase all 5 episodes, you can work on your pace. It's strongly recommended that you submit one completed writing assignment per week. 
-- If you purchase an individual episode, you will be asked to submit your writing assignment within one week. If not, please submit it within 2 weeks once you start the episode.
-- If you don't submit your writing assignments, you won't get the teacher's feedback (This program expires in 6 weeks once you start it unless you notify us of any planned break) and no refund or make-up for that. 

How It Works: 

1. Watch each video (episode) & read the reading materials 
2. Submit your writing assignment 
3. Get the teacher's feedback (for each writing) 
4. Watch the next video and repeat the cycle 
5. Work on their own schedule and finish the whole package within 4-5 weeks 
6. You can have a live meeting with Mr. Francis (additional fee). 

Final Productions: 

• One Review/Debate Writing from Each Episode 
• Optional:
• Short Video Introduction / Self-Introduction Writing 
• Creative Memoir Writing