Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The founders of our country debated here to create the Constitution! Picture by Mr. Fritz, May 23, 2008.
Dear Period 2,
A very lively day today, I thought. Lots of conversation and debate, as I expected. Hopefully everyone is getting a really clear picture of the skills we are developing through studying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There is definitely a lot to it! Let's get the recap started!
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What are the factors to consider in the development of a Palestinian state?
Soundtrack: "Talk" by Coldplay. Lyrics here. Picked because it is a great song for talking and debating, as we did in class today.
AGENDA 4/30/09: News Brief Comprehending the Debate Project Work
Homework: Continue to work on final project (bring in materials next class). Watch the Blazers game! Read recap on blog!
Everyone should have signed up on the "letter of intent" sheet. Basically, I wanted to see what you were thinking. Next class (on Monday), bring anything that you need to help create the final project. If you are doing a skit, bring ideas for dialogue. If you are doing a collage, bring pictures, etc. Be working on this outside of class! How are you going to incorporate all of these different aspects of the conflict that we have been talking about?
The Blazers play tonight in Houston at 6:30, on KGW (ch. 8) and TNT. Win or lose, we will be coming home. The only difference is if we lose, we are coming home and not playing again until next season. Hopefully that does not happen!
News Brief: Ariel brought in this news article to talk about: CNN.com - North Korea demands apology, threatens nuke test. Ahh, North Korea. I asked the class if North Korea scares you, and a few of you said yes. I pointed out that the people of North Korea recently (in 2000) have had such food shortages that some of the people have turned to eating tree bark. That article can be found here: BBC.co.uk - UN warns of North Korea food crisis.
I think it was Iris that asked about the United Nations, and how the Security Council works. We talked about this a little bit when you were doing the Rwanda speeches, but here is a good overview of how it works: Wikipedia - U.N. Security Council.
Finally, I mentioned the gigantic floating plastic garbage island in the Pacific Ocean. Here's what I was talking about: Wikipedia - Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Please check out the links to sources in that article (and in any other Wikipedia entry). An area twice the size of Texas, of our junk! More than ever, it is important to recycle!
Thanks for bringing in that article Ariel! Diana, you are up for next class, on Monday. One article, about anything currently going on outside the United States.
Comprehending the Debate: At this point in class, I asked everyone to think of something to debate (since I had arranged the room with two desks facing each other). We decided on debating dogs vs. cats first, as a warm up, as we brainstormed all of the reasons for each side. I had you debate one side, then go to the other. After that, we debated the death penalty, using a handy sheet in your packet. The sheet was made using the amazingly interesting and helpful ProCon.org website. The page on the death penalty can be found here, while the "1 Minute Overview" that we used in class can be found here.
To begin, I told everyone facing the windows to argue the "Pro" position, while everyone facing the hall was "Con." We debated for about three minutes. I think it was a great start. I then turned the tables and had everyone had to debate the side that they were just arguing against.
Then, we argued another issue, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict! The ProCon.org page for this debate can be found here (that would definitely be a good website to look over for your project, if you have time), and the "1 Minute Overview" that we used in class can be found here.
After this, I asked why we would do the debate in class. I really liked the responses! Empathy, perspective, comprehending what the issue is - all of it. We debated both sides of the table for three minutes each, and then came back together to write down some of the aspects of both sides. Using this list, I had you do a five minute response to the questions in your skills packet. Remember to keep this handy! It will definitely help you in writing your paper, and you do need to turn it in as well!
Project Work: So again, how the heck are you going to get these two groups of people that have historically completely disagreed with each other, to sit down and realize that they do, in fact, have things in common and should work towards peace? I am hearing some really excellent ideas out there. Basically, I want you to utilize your talents! Are you a good artist? How about an athlete? We have talked a lot about the different things that connect countries and cultures. What do you think connects you to well to other people? I really want you to get in to this assignment!
We set the due date of next Wednesday, 5/6 for the project. We will be doing presentations in front of the class. As you know, my main worry with this is that the presentations are boring. However, with this assignment in particular, there should be no way that you do not feel at least somewhat passionate about what you are doing. Hopefully that will translate.
Please be excited about this, and bring material to work on to class on Thursday! We will devote almost the entire time to working on this!
After moving the desks and setting the due date, I showed you the JDCL (the first letters of my group of friends) "Wanna be a G" video. No, I am not going to put it online for you to see. Can I interest you in my highlight video from football in high school? ;-) ---
Thanks for the fun day! Please keep working on your projects and papers over the weekend and come ready to finish them up on Monday! Have a great afternoon! Go Blazers! Also, regardless of the outcome, The Office will make you laugh and smile, on NBC at 9:00 PM. See you next week! :-)
The immediate aftermath of Game 2 of the Blazers-Rockets playoff series, in Portland. Picture taken by Mr. Fritz.
Hello Period 2!
Interesting day today! It actually took us much longer to work through the things I had planned, now that I think about it, but it ended up okay in the end. Thank you for the participation with everything! Hopefully I was able to make class interesting and relevant to you, as always. Let's get on with the recap!
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What are the factors to consider in the development of a Palestinian state? - We definitely tried to work hard on both of these questions today!
Soundtrack: "Look into My Eyes" by Outlandish. The lyrics, which we read together in class because I thought they were just excellent for expressing the Palestinian perspective, can be found here. Thank you Nasser for suggesting the song! I played it about 15 times in a row last night after I downloaded it from iTunes. A great song!
AGENDA 4/28/09: News Brief Proficiency Packet Child Marriage in Yemen Project Work
Homework: Continue to work on the final project. Watch the Blazers game! Read recap on blog!
I liked most of the ideas that I heard today in class, but some of them I were not able to approve due to it not being able to address the matter at hand. Remember, this is not about solving the conflict, or giving a huge history of it. It is about bringing people together somehow. What are you going to do to get both sides talking instead of fighting? That is the ultimate goal here.
The Blazers play tonight at 7:00 on KGW (channel 8) and on NBATV. No, you don't actually have to watch it for homework. Especially not if they give up and lose by 50+, like New Orleans just did at home against Denver.
News Brief: As I passed back the Middle East map quizzes, most of which were excellent (but if they weren't, you get one opportunity to retake it - just let me know), we had a conversation about what is going on in the world. Apparently, Ariel's softball team cannot be stopped. Iris helpfully brought up the topic of the swine flu, using this article: Associated Press - World health officials race to stem deadly flu. Really interesting!
As we talked about in class, I have no doubts that this is an immediate and pressing concern. However, how come we all too frequently lose sight of much bigger problems that would absolutely benefit from a lot more publicity? For instance, how about the estimated FOUR THOUSAND plus people that have died so far just in 2009, in the United States, as a result of drunk drivers? Source:AlcoholAlert.com - Drunk Driving Statistics. That is an INSANE statistic!
Some of you may have Mr. Hardy for Biology, and as I was getting super worked up about this in the teacher cluster, he completely agreed and said if people would only start paying attention to the fact that the number one cancer by far and away in both men and women is lung cancer, mostly as a result of tobacco use. And that heart disease is the number one killer of adults in the United States. What is really more dangerous? Swine flu that may or may not take over the world, or you smoking cigarettes?
Thanks for bringing in the article! Ariel, you are up for next class. One current news article about anything outside the United States.
Proficiency Packet: I introduced this packet as a way to look at proficiency in Social Studies. This is a lot like Math, except we are looking at things like, "Can you identify and explain the critical components of an event, issue or problem?"
We will be using the rest of the packet (and some additions) to go through and construct your explanation paper and final creative product for the unit. So, to begin explaining the who, what, when, where, and why on an event, issue, or problem, I provided the Associated Press game recap ESPN.com - Outlaw scores 21 as Blazers claim home-court advantage. We read this as a class together and then I asked you to write identify and explain the critical components of the event! A fun transition here.
After that, I asked you to use that same skill to identify and explain the main parts of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, using the PowerPoint notes and any other information you know. After some hesitation about exactly what I was asking you to do with each question, I think this went pretty well! Remember, the more that you can explain or put down, the better. If I ask who is involved, it is not enough to say Israelis and Palestinians. What are the characteristics of those two groups?
Hopefully the recap on the board helped you out as well. This is something we are going to continue to explore! We really want to know, do you have this certain skill? Thanks for participating in this!
Child Marriage in Yemen: Next, I passed out an article that I found in the Sunday Oregonian section that I saw the death penalty debate about: Islamists Fight Yemen Law Banning Child Marriage. The link doesn't have the cool "who, what, why" box that was in the article I handed out, but you can see what the point of us reading this was. Having the ability to assess current issues, events, or problems is a really critical skill! I was also careful to mention again that while this may be a problem in some Middle Eastern countries, by no means are women this oppressed across the region.
Project Work: For the rest of class (about 10 minutes), you were supposed to be working on either your paper or your creative product. Please see me for anything you may need, whether it be advice or getting materials. Be sure to e-mail me or comment if you need help too! :-) ---
The Blazers play tonight vs. Houston at 7:00 PM, on KGW and NBATV. Win or we are out of the playoffs. Big game! It is also my mom's birthday tonight, so we are going to be celebrating while watching it.
Thanks again for the hard work in class! Let's keep it up! Have a great afternoon!
Lots of interesting information and content to go over today. Generally, I liked how class went! We still have to work on listening to each other when someone is talking, as well as some focus issues. However, I especially loved all the ideas you were coming up with at the end of class! Let's keep it going!
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What are the factors to consider in the development of a Palestinian state? - The second question is a new one, built off of our final project (which just so happens to be based off the first essential question).
Soundtrack: "Paris, Tokyo" by Lupe Fiasco. Lyrics here. This is a fantastic song for thinking about traveling around the world, and seeing all sorts of different cultures and countries.
AGENDA 4/24/09: News Brief Middle East Map Quiz The Israeli-Palestinian Problem Final Project
Homework: Come to class with an idea ready to work on for final project. Read blog recap!
I would like you to bring in one concrete idea for what you are going to do for your final project. This will be recapped in great detail below in the Final Project section.
News Brief: Iris is going to bring something in next Tuesday, but we were able to (after a ridiculously long wait) identify some events that are going on in the world.
I also mentioned this really big debate about torture that is going on right now. Specifically, I talked a little bit about waterboarding, the tactic that many people say is torture.
But no matter how hard one tries, one cannot credibly argue that, while waterboarding was a crime when committed by the Japanese in World War II, it is not a crime when committed by the United States in the 21st Century.
Bush administration veterans, led by Cheney, are poised to renew a high-volume debate over the efficacy of the interrogation methods and, more broadly, the approach to terrorism that Obama's predecessor took after Sept. 11, 2001. Cheney called this week for the release of more memos that he said would demonstrate how effective the tactics were. And in an interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity, he made it clear that he is ready to wage a battle over who is right.
"The threat is there. It's very real, and it's continuing," Cheney said. "And what the Obama people are doing, in effect, is saying, 'Well, we don't need those tough policies that we had.'"
Very, very interesting stuff. After talking for a bit, we went straight into...
Middle East Map Quiz: Thank you for being quiet and focused on this. I took a gander (great word) at these, and most of them look okay, at the least! Remember that it is so important to know where these places are, especially when the United States is fighting wars in two countries in the Middle East! I will have these graded and back to you on Tuesday.
The Israeli-Palestinian Problem: This section of class was devoted to learning a little more about the conflicts in Israel. I handed out the notes from the PowerPoint (please come see me if you were not in class for this) and went through this presentation, asking you to take notes about things that were interesting (or in some cases, what I had just told you to write down):
I am not sure if I like how my handing out the PowerPoint notes relates to a seeming lack of attention to the presentation. Today we were much better than the last time, but still, I would really appreciate your attention and focus when I give you a break and do not make you take enormous amounts of written notes for each slide to stay focused. I realize that some of you doodle to stay focused, but please know that I might be calling on you to see if you understand what I am saying if I don't see that I have your attention.
Something that came up during the PowerPoint was my love for the Olympics, and how the recent Opening Ceremony in Beijing was one of the most incredible performances I have ever seen. Here is a video of it, or at least, the first few minutes.
Final Project: Transitioning from the presentation and using all of the information we have learned about different cultures across the Middle East, I handed out the final project for this unit, which can be downloaded here:
We read this together as a class, and as promised we will go through many different aspects of what I am asking you to do over the next few class days. Again, your homework is to think of an idea that you can bring in to start working on (and get my approval) for next class. I want you to have fun with this! Do something that you really enjoy doing and will look forward to sharing with the class!
As I said in class, the main point of this assignment is not to try and determine a Middle East peace plan between Israel and Palestine. There are some classes that do that exercise, and while I think it can be incredibly valuable, I want our class to create something that can help get us to that point. I heard many good thoughts in class today, and I also listed out a few options in the assignment. Please come see me or ask away in the comments or e-mail me if you have any questions about this project!
I was glad to see that we ended up with a good 15 minutes or so to think of ideas for the project. Most of this was good work, but please remember to be considerate of our neighbors next door when you are discussing your amazing ideas. :-) ---
Consider Krishna and Haze members of the Redeem Team at 2nd lunch basketball. I worked up quite a sweat! It is difficult to go from no practice all week to playing in a full court game. My shot started falling better near the end. Haze had a few threes and Krishna was great at cutting to the hoop. Thanks for playing fellas!
The Blazers play tonight at 6:30, on KGW (Channel 8), and ESPN. The series is tied 1-1, so it is a very big game! I am not too confident about our team tonight, but I am hoping that they will come out and prove the doubters wrong! They play again on Sunday at 6:00 PM, on KGW and TNT. Also, I should be working hard all weekend on Lewis and Clark stuff, so please fire away in the comments or on e-mail, and I will probably get back to you quite quickly! Enjoy your weekend! Thanks for being great students! :-)
The ball of string from our class unity activity today! This was a lot of fun, thank you for participating!
Dear class,
A lot of fun today, with some good content and substance mixed in. Hopefully we are feeling much more together than last class, when we had a lot of intense debate on some very powerful issues. Thank you for the participation - though my goodness, it is difficult to get some of you to listen up and pay attention to others. Always things to work on and improve!
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What is the impact of religion on policy in the Middle East?
Soundtrack: "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin. Lyrics here. As Krishna helpfully pointed out, Kashmir is a region in between Pakistan and India. Learn more about it here. As I said in class, this is another one of those regions in the Middle East where there is a LOT of conflict about who should control it. "Kashmir" is also used in some of the Portland Trail Blazers introduction videos at the Rose Garden, and P. Diddy made a remix of it for the movie Godzilla. Now THAT is a versatile song selection!
AGENDA 4/21/09: News Brief Forced Choice Debrief Class Unity Activity Mapping the Middle East
Homework: Study for Middle Easy map quiz (Friday). Watch the Blazers game! Read blog recap!
There will be a Middle East map quiz on Friday, so please be studying for that. The countries you are required to know are: Iran, Iraq, Israel, Sudan, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Any other countries that you can identify could also help your grade. Remember that the map I will use is a little bit different from the map I handed you to study off of! See the "Mapping the Middle East" section below for more information.
News Brief: Aaron brought in this article to share with the class: U.S. generals gauge where fight in Afghanistan is headed. I talked a little bit in class about Newsweek calling Afghanistan "Obama's Vietnam?" in a cover story earlier this year. That article can be found here. This is a region of the world with a LOT of conflict, like I said! The United States is pouring more troops into the situation, as President Obama says that he wants to turn the focus from Iraq to Afghanistan. Will it work? Only time will tell.
Also, I showed the class the cover story from the Sunday Oregonian, which happened to be talking about something we had just talked about in class: the cost of the death penalty vs. life in prison. That article can be found here: OregonLive.com - Can Oregon afford the death penalty? It certainly is an interesting thing to think about!
Iris, you are up for a news article on Friday! One current article about anything around the world happening outside the United States.
Forced Choice Debrief: I am glad we had a little more time to go over this. I asked about what the really big debates last class were about. Not surprisingly many of you said the debate about religion was especially contentious. It happens all over the world, and especially in the Middle East! Religion is really one of the sparks that lights people's fires.
Nasser wanted to hear about people's reactions to the prompt: Islam is a peaceful religion. I thought this was especially well done in class - there were some very good viewpoints on each side. Again, sometimes it is all a matter of interpretation! What do YOU believe?
I mentioned that I would post on the blog about the video we watched a little bit of in Mrs. DeFrance's class, "Obsession," and how it was mailed out to "swing state" voters last fall. Here is a great article about it: CNN.com - Muslim DVD rattles voters in key battleground states. A quote I thought was especially interesting:
But Larry Sabato, a political observer and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said it's naïve to think such a video won't influence undecided voters.
"It's pretty obvious that the group sponsoring it wants people to think more about terrorism, about national security, about Middle East politics and maybe less about the economy," said Sabato. "Well, that obviously favors one side -- the Republicans."
Because a number of Americans still believe, incorrectly, that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama is a Muslim, political observers said they believe the DVD plays directly into that misperception.
A lot of interesting parts to that quote. Why would making Barack Obama seem like a Muslim be a good strategy? Why are Republicans seen as better at national security than Democrats?
Anyway, thanks for the participation here! Always good to see other thoughts!
Class Unity Activity: This was really interesting, fun, and hopefully a good way to remind each other that we are all in this class together, despite any differences of opinion. We threw a ball of string around, while holding on to a bit of it. Each person had to explain a little bit about what they knew about their heritage. We all had really interesting and different backgrounds! I have to give credit for the idea and the yarn to my friend Alexis, who is currently in the same program as I am at Lewis and Clark. Good times. Thanks for your participation, and remember that we are all interconnected! When someone stumbles, it is up to the rest of us to help them back up! A HUGE thank you to Iris and the other ladies that helped me roll the ball of yarn up again - no joke, that took me 3 hours to do by myself last time. :-)
Mapping the Middle East: Again, so everyone is clear on exactly why I am having you do this, we read this article in class from the projector: CNN.com - Study: Geography Greek to young Americans. Simply incredible statistics, especially because the United States is currently in the midst of two wars in the Middle East. In 2006, only 12 percent of 18-24 year olds could place Afghanistan on a map, and only 37% could place Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Simply unacceptable. Let's improve those numbers a bit, shall we?
I then gave you the rest of class (about 15 minutes) to complete the blank maps that I handed out, as well as study up for the quiz next class. Hopefully I was able to touch base with everyone that has missing work, as well. If you are concerned about your grade and what you have missing, please see either me or Mrs. DeFrance at lunch or after school, and we would be more than happy to let you know what to get in. Thanks for working on this! ---
I will be at the Blazers game tonight (YES!) so I will not be able to post or respond to comments from around 5:00 to 10:30 PM tonight. Remember that tomorrow it is a testing day, along with the career fair, so I will not see you again until Friday. Thus, watch The Office if you get the chance on Thursday night at 9:00 PM on NBC. Always good times. Enjoy the sunny weather! :-)
After a Blazers game against New Orleans earlier this year. From left to right: my brother Maxwell, my great friend Clarke, and Mr. Fritz, in my Brandon Roy jersey. Go Blazers! :-)
Good afternoon amazing students!
What an interesting day that was, right? The assembly sort of threw us off at the beginning, but I REALLY liked the forced choice activity. Whenever I can get people fired up about considering different viewpoints and relating it all to what we are learning, I love it. That's what we in the teaching business like to call critical thinking. Thank you for the participation in the day! Please excuse the later posting than usual. I'm afraid it is going to have to become all too common if I want to do a good job on these! On to the class recap:
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What is the impact of religion on policy in the Middle East?
Soundtrack: "We Like to Party" by Vengaboys. Lyrics here. Basically, I picked this song because it is a catchy tune and it is Friday. Also, you hear it all the time at basketball games (including when I went to the Blazers game on Wednesday).
AGENDA 4/17/09: News Brief Women Speaking Up Forced Choice Class Unity Activity
Homework: Do something that you have been putting off (like late work, chores, apologizing to someone, etc). Watch the Blazers game! Read blog recap!
I am not sure the homework needs any sort of explaining, other than to say that I am not going to check to make sure you did it (as should be obvious). Nonetheless, please attempt to, unless you could not care less about the Blazers.
News Brief: After settling down from the assembly, I went over the essential questions, soundtrack, agenda, and homework. I always like to ask "So, is there anything interesting going on in the world?" Some good responses there! Pay attention to what is going on around you, everyone!
Brian brought in a news article from Afghanistan, about the reaction to the new law restricting women's rights there. Here's the latest: CNN.com - Afghanistan to change controversial 'rape' law. Because this was exactly what I was going to talk about in the next part of class, it was a great lead in! Thanks Brian! Aaron, you are up for next Tuesday. Any article about anything currently going on outside of the United States.
Women Speaking Up: One of the comments I made on a lot of the women in the Middle East paper that you turned in (or should have) was "what if women are killed for speaking up?" All too often, I think we put the blame on women for not doing anything, or needing to do this or that. Well, how? I handed out an article that a student in my Period 1 class brought in yesterday that was absolutely amazing for talking about all of these same issues. The article can be found here: NYTimes.com - Afghan Women Protest Law on Home Life. Check out the following quote from near the beginning:
"We want our rights!" one of the women shouted, turning to face them. “We want equality!”
The women ran to the bus and dived inside as it rumbled away, with the men smashing the taillights and banging on the sides.
"Whores!"
But the march continued anyway. About 300 Afghan women, facing an angry throng three times larger than their own, walked the streets of the capital on Wednesday to demand that Parliament repeal a new law that introduces a range of Taliban-like restrictions on women, and permits, among other things, marital rape.
It was an extraordinary scene. Women are mostly illiterate in this impoverished country, and they do not, generally speaking, enjoy anything near the freedom accorded to men. But there they were, most of them young, many in jeans, defying a threatening crowd and calling out slogans heavy with meaning.
As I pointed out in class, how much in that article was stuff that we had JUST talked about? Speaking out. Unity and building a coalition. Education. Persistence. Religion. All of these and more came into play in that situation. Pretty amazing, right?
After reading the article to the class and getting some great thoughts on it and the relation to women making a difference from a few students (thank you for speaking up, by the way), we moved on to...
Forced Choice: Now, THIS was a lot of fun. Thank you for being willing take a stand for what you believe in! I created these statements purposely to be divisive, so that we could see multiple perspectives on an issue. Specifically, I wanted all of the questions to somehow relate to the Middle East and what we are studying. I know this was somewhat difficult! That was the point! I really liked all the thoughts and raised hands and dialogue, even though I heard from a few students in Mr. Hardin's class that they could hear me yelling for quiet through the wall!
One of the facts that I brought up in class was that the death penalty costs much more than life in prison, due to all the costs of lawyers and prosecution and such. Because I like to try to back up claims like that as much as possible so that you do not think I just made it up, an interesting little article was recently done on this by National Public Radio (which is AMAZING by the way - I would highly recommend listening to "The World" on OPB's station, 91.5 FM, from 3:00-4:00 some day after you get out of school): Opponents Focus On Cost In Death Penalty Debate. So, is it worth it? The choice was up to you!
I was also really excited to see all different thoughts. There were many reasons for each side, even though some people wanted to creep toward the middle. I thought that some of the most interesting debates were over the question of using religion to fight, and for the "eye for an eye" philosophy of killing someone for killing someone else. I was glad to see some questions that had only a few people on one side stand up (literally) for what they believed in. That to me shows that there was a lack of being naive, at the very least.
This took a lot of time (in fact, the entire rest of the class), but I think it was really fun and incredibly interesting. I am going to try similar activities in the future. Definitely leave any thought about how that process went, or defend your opinion, below in the comments! Think about all the conflict we had just in that class - translate that to the Middle East, and you begin to see why it is such a region of turmoil.
Class Unity Activity: We did not have the time to get to this, which is actually pretty funny, because I always seem to be running out of time for this particular activity. Hopefully we will devote a good portion of time next class to it. I wanted to do it right after the forced choice, so that we could try to repair any rifts in the room, but it will have to wait. Plus, I am sure that you guys are fine. ---
Before I sign off, I have to thank Stephen for being the lone representative from Period 2 to come play hoops in the gym during second lunch. He's a baller. Next week, I am going to have to come prepared or something, because not only did I get swatted once, but I think he drained about 5 threes to my 2. Bad times.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Enjoy the great weather (Monday is forecasted to be 80 degrees)! Remember to watch the Blazers playoff game tomorrow night, at 7:30 on KGW (Ch. 8) and ESPN. I will be online during the game, so if you have any observations or thoughts, post them here, and let's get a little running dialogue going!
A 2006 version of the McDonald's Dollar Menu. How many of you could live on a bottled water and a double cheeseburger, for the ENTIRE day? Especially day after day? Great article on the effects of the dollar menu in today's economy: CBS.com - Cheap Food Trumps Healthy Dining During Recession.
Good afternoon class!
Thanks for another interesting day! I hope that really delving into learning some content on the Middle East was an enjoyable experience! I know that there are times when PowerPoints and lectures are really boring and that you do not see the point. However, I can assure you that it is all very much related to what we are doing in class and you personally. There is really SO MUCH there to think about and consider, especially when you think about our essential questions for the day.
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What is the impact of religion on policy in the Middle East? - Question for those that are diligent in actually reading this: what is one thing that we talked about today that connects countries?
Soundtrack: "It Takes Two" by Zac Efron. Chosen, like I said in class, because I went into my iTunes folder and searched for "two" - and also because I wanted to appeal to some of the fans of musicals in the class. This song is from the Hairspray soundtrack.
AGENDA 4/15/09: News Brief The (Two) Dollar Menu Middle East PowerPoint Women in Afghanistan Brandon Roy/The Blazers
Homework: Review PowerPoint notes. Finish late work. Check blog!
First, look over the PowerPoint below and your notes, because it is very much related
I will talk about this a little more in the "Brandon Roy" section, but again, with the late work: please, please do not lose hope or give up on getting things revised and turned in. I am absolutely here to help and work with you on everything. Come in and see me during your lunch period, after school, before school, or even easier, e-mail me at luke_fritz@beavton.k12.or.us and I will get back to you ASAP.
News Brief: Aldo brought in an article about the Somali pirates: AP - Somali pirates hijack 4 ships, take 60 hostages. Yes! Again, this is why we talk about this stuff in class - it has a direct impact on the world around us! Thanks for bringing it in Aldo. Brian is up next for Friday - any current article having to do with anything outside the United States.
The (Two) Dollar Menu: I asked the class to get out the homework on living on a dollar a day and share them with a partner. Then, I asked for volunteers to share what they wrote with the class. We made a list of things that we would be difficult to do. Hygiene was huge, along with finding ways to get the essentials of life: food, water, and shelter. Many people had examples of homeless people getting help from others around them. What does that say? What amount of people living on $2 a day or less have to depend on more wealthy people for assistance? Further, what can the United States do about it? All good questions that come up after this.
Hopefully by putting some serious thought into this, you saw that it would be ridiculously difficult to live on two dollars a day, somewhere in the world.
Middle East PowerPoint: Thank you for paying attention (for the most part) to this! I was a little wary about giving the class the entire PowerPoint in a handout (if you were not in class, please see me for a copy), but I think (and hope) that doing so helped you out, rather than distracted your attention. The PowerPoint can be viewed here:
The main point of this was to look at the role of religion and oil (a non-renewable resource) in the Middle East. Not so coincidentally, this was exactly what the essential questions are based on. Hopefully, you have a little better understanding of the region. Some topics that came up during this part of class, that I said I would try to find out for the blog:
Women in Afghanistan: This is a country that is extremely difficult to control. Russia invaded Afghanistan and got bogged down in a never ending war, when the United States supplied the fighters in Afghanistan. Today, the United States is involved in a long war there, with no real prospects of "victory" any time soon. However, we do support the new government we have installed, with President Hamid Karzai at the helm. Which makes the following video (if you can't watch the video, read this article: CNN.com - Afghanistan 'rape' law puts women's rights front and center) all the more incredible, especially when we assess the state of women's rights in the Middle East:
As I made sure to note in class, it is not as if all countries in the Middle East (or all Islamic countries) have such restrictive measures on women. Turkey would be a good example of a country that has a relatively great record on women's rights: Wikipedia - Gender Equality in Turkey.
We noted that this new law is for Shia women, but there is a new one for Sunni women in the works. Someone in the class asks what the difference between Sunni and Shia was. I was right on my educated guess that Shia believe that the direct descendants of the prophet Muhammad should be the leaders of Islam, while the Sunni believe that new leaders should be elected amongst the people best suited for the job. A good recap on that can be found here: About.com - What's the Difference Between Shia and Sunni Muslims?
Nasser asked how many gallons are in a barrel of oil, and I said I would look it up. The answer (for those that have read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, not surprising) is 42 gallons in a barrel of oil.
Brandon Roy: I read a selection from this article: OregonLive.com - Roy takes notes at facility's opening. The point of pointing out Mr. Roy's learning disability and path to stardom was to ask everyone in the class to not give up on themselves. The start of a new quarter is here, and there is a lot of work to be done until the end of the year, and I know that life is stressful just being in high school. I am here to help, along with everyone else at Westview! I am a big believer in a two way street of hard work in school. Teachers work incredibly hard (this blog should be a good piece of evidence) to help you succeed in school and in life. Work hard for us too, please! I asked everyone to write down an academic goal and how you will accomplish it, after playing this video:
Thanks for the participation in that! I am excited to read your goals and help you accomplish them! ---
The Blazers play their final game of the regular season tonight against Denver at 7:30 on ESPN, and I will be there! Woo hoo! I will also be in class at Lewis and Clark tonight from 4:30 to about 7:00 tonight (Wednesday), so do not worry if your comment does not post right away tonight. Sorry that I am so busy! The life of the teacher! What did I get myself in to? ;-)
The reverse side of a dollar bill, with "In God We Trust" on it. Take two of these, and you have the daily income (or less) of 53% of the world!
Good morning class,
I really liked how today went! I definitely think that it was the best class that we have had together so far, in terms of overall participation and focus on what was going on. I am guessing that the new seating chart had something to do with it, but really, you guys were all around excellent today. Let's continue the dialogue we had today, and get on with the class recap!
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What is the impact of religion on policy in the Middle East? - Religion is such a HUGE part of why the Middle East is a region of turmoil. We will be looking at the impact of it for the next few days.
Soundtrack: "B.O.B. (Bombs over Baghdad)" by Outkast. Chosen mainly because of the song title - Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, which, as we hopefully all know, is in the Middle East. Look up the lyrics if you want - we talked a little bit in class about the derogatory nature of the term "ragtop" to describe an Arab person.
AGENDA 4/13/09: Rearranging the Deck Chairs News Brief Ryan Moats Otherizing Obama $2 a Day
Homework: Finish $2 a Day assignment. Read blog recap!
The $2 a Day assignment, for those that we not in class, or need further clarification: I want you to neatly write or type a page long plan, or itinerary, for what you would do for one complete day if you had to live on $2 (or the equivalent) for the entire day. Remember that 53% of the world lives on the equivalent of two dollars a day. So, what would a day be like? Think about life in a developing country (not the United States). You have no car. You do not have a nice house. Everything you own, you got because you have lived on $2 a day for your entire life, working incredibly hard just for that money. You can construct this like a diary, use drawings to illustrate, anything you want. I just want it to be apparent that you put some serious consideration into what it might be like to live on two dollars for an entire day.Please e-mail me or comment below if you have any concerns at all about what to do.
Finally, check the blog, which, if you are reading this right now, you have done. Woo hoo!
Rearranging the Deck Chairs:At the very beginning of class, before doing anything, I gave you three minutes to arrange yourselves alphabetically. This was sort of a class icebreaker activity, but it also served to create a new seating chart. I am not entirely certain that this new one will work, because we seem to have some similar problems as before, but we will try it out for a bit. Thanks for the participation in this! By my cell phone timer, you used 2 minutes and 58 seconds. Well done! Again, the only way that this will not be "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic" is if everyone participates and guides the big ship that is our class
News Brief: After a good conversation about what is going on in the world (I loved Stephen's Nike World Hoops Summit recap, as well as our talking about the resolution to the hostage crisis with the Somali pirates and the American captain), Dylan shared an article about a recent shooting at a Binghamton, New York employment center. This probably was not the exact article Dylan found, but it is a really good one to think about some of the kinds of struggles immigrants go through when they get to the United States: NYTimes.com - Binghamton Killer Kept His Fury Private. This was an interesting news story, but next time, let's try to be focused on things that are going on around the world, outside the United States. Aldo, you are up for next class. A current event article about anything going on outside the United States.
Ryan Moats: This started off with a cool little mini-lesson that my friend Jessica from Lewis and Clark gave me to do. The entire thing can be recapped here: Tolerance.org - Holiday Stereotyping Activity. VERY interesting to see how our perceptions change with the drop of a hat (wow, I am very proud of myself for that intended pun). We had a great class discussion about why we saw the two figures differently and what society tells us - even though the beard was the same but the hat was different. I especially liked what we had to say about the media as having an influence on the ways that we view people. That was a great transition to watching the following video:
I asked the class to write about how stereotypes start and then we had a little discussion about it. We related the video to stereotypes about Arab people and what impact that has on our society here in America. Lots of really good input here, thanks!
I asked about why stereotypes begin at a young age and had some interesting perspective from the class. We then watched the following recap of the Ryan Moats incident:
Here's an excellent recap of what happened in the aftermath of the situation: ESPN.com - Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats accepts officer's apology. I asked the class to write how how stereotypes MAY have had an impact on this situation. I didn't say it in class, but what if Ryan Moats happened to be Tony Romo, the star QB from the Dallas Cowboys? Would the situation have happened any differently? This happened about a month ago. Recently, the officer in question resigned from the police force.
Sante, Moats' mother-in-law died from breast cancer, to give you the definitive answer.
Also, I said that I would post something about the term "Driving While Black" - there you go. Is it possible that we saw elements of that in the Ryan Moats incident?
Otherizing Obama: This section of class was built on reading this opinion piece by Nicolas Kristof: NYTimes.com - The Push to 'Otherize' Obama. We talked about how making someone "foreign" or "non-American" or "Muslim" was a strategy to make people seem not like "real" Americans. I showed the McCain campaign commercial that Kristof wrote a little about, which you can find here.
Great discussion on this too! Why is it that many people don't just believe President Obama when he says he is a Christian? Why is it even an issue in the first place? Why do some people really believe that Obama is the Antichrist? All of these questions and more were just excellent, and I am glad that we had the time to go through them. If you have the time, do a little research online on this - you would not believe how many people seriously think that Obama is the Antichrist, or can somehow prove that he is Muslim. I equated this to the people that seriously think that President Bush was behind the 9/11 attacks (again, do some research and you will be amazed). Some people have a lot of trouble with random events, so they have to find some way to make sense of them. Conspiracy theories are one of those ways.
I said I would look up statistics about how Americans identify religiously, so here they are: ReligiousTolerance.org - Religious Identification in the U.S. That is an extremely interesting website! Basically, about 77% of Americans can be classified as Christian and about 81% of American adults identify with a specific religion, though it seems like the trend is one of declining identification in all areas. Still, by almost all accounts, we are a very religious nation. How does that impact the way that we see other nations and peoples?
$2 a Day: A side effect of the quality discussion was that we did not have a ton of time to set up this, but I am confident that you got the general idea of what I was asking. I want your thoughts on what it would be like to live on $2 a Day or less. Remember, no stealing or somehow getting more money than two dollars! Bring these in for our next class on Wednesday - we will be discussing your thoughts! It should be a fun class, as always! ---
The Blazers play tonight vs. Oklahoma City at 7:00 PM on CSN. A huge game for playoff seeding. We also REALLY have to be fans of the Sacramento Kings tonight (the worst team in the league), playing Denver in Denver. If the Kings win and we win, we will play Denver for the Pacific Division title on Wednesday (and I will be there)! Also, check out 24 tonight, if you have the time, from 9:00-10:00 on FOX. They have a really interesting subplot about stopping genocide in Africa going on.
That should just about do it! Thanks again for the wonderful day! Let's continue to get better together! :-)
Wonder Woman, as envisioned by Iris and her group today. Check out all the symbolism! I especially like the question mark on the face, because she could be any woman. Very nice!
Dear class,
I was super excited for this class today! I think it went off fairly well, but we really have to solve the attention/talking issues. Honestly, it was a little ridiculous. Especially when the content in the class is so interesting and there are a lot of students that are really quite into it. Let's work on that. Other than that, I really enjoyed working with you guys today! Always fun to listen to your ideas and see what you can bring to the table. Hopefully you are beginning to get a good feel for how I am as a teacher as well.
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What impact can women in the Middle East have on policy? - Today we really looked at finding out the answers to both of these questions!
Soundtrack: "A Whole New World" by Brad Kane. Music Video from "Aladdin" can be viewed here. Lyrics can be found here. Song chosen because we were talking about the entire world today, and what brings us together. I have a lot problems with the way that Disney portrays some of their characters, but I have to admit, that is one catchy song, especially first thing in the morning. Sorry for my terrible singing voice at the start of class, I couldn't help it. You guys were all excellent at it though. :-)
AGENDA 4/8/09: News Brief Michelle Obama Wonder Women Globalization Commonality
Homework: Mandatory activity that you love. Read blog recap!
I am serious about your homework. All too often, we do not really engage in activities that we love to do, or if we do, we forget why we enjoy it in the first place. This assignment is based on you getting out there in the world and enjoying it. Please remember to keep your activity safe and legal! Post a comment explaining what you did and why you love it, if at all possible.
If you are reading this, thanks for doing the second part of your homework! :-)
News Brief: Krishna brought in an article about a hijacked ship off the coast of Somalia, with 20 U.S. crew members on board. Apparently, during our class, the crew took control back over: CNN.com - U.S. crew retakes hijacked ship; Pentagon says. See, this is another reason why talking about Somalia is something that is relevant! Now you can go home and talk about everything you know about that region! Dylan, you are up for next class, on Monday. One current article or news topic, about anything going on in the world outside the United States.
Michelle Obama: I am glad I got this video to work today! It actually was a nice setup for the "wonder women" activity, so maybe it was all for the best. The video we watched in class can be viewed here. I wanted to really show the value of education and why we are studying Global Studies (and in particular, women in the Middle East).
Wonder Women: This turned out to be a lot of fun, especially with the really talented artists that we have in our class! I asked the class to collaborate with a group to create a visual representation of a wonder woman, using all of the characteristics that you thought that women needed to have in order to impact policy decisions in the Middle East (or in general). It sure sounds like a lot as I type it, but the class definitely got it, because what you made was great! I posted Iris's at the top of this post, but every other group had really interesting ways to represent your ideas! A really fun exercise to do and to see the results of what everyone thought was important in a woman's ability to have an impact on policy. I love all the creative talent in the room! Thanks for the participation! :-)
Globalization: I then handed out a worksheet, guessing about a "miniature earth" and how lots of different factors were related. This concept was if the entire world was reduced to 100 people, representing the rest of the world. So, if there are 13 North Americans in the 100 people, that means that in reality, 13% of the world is North American. Got it? Here's the video we watched:
I really liked the response to this too! I'm glad that everyone thought this was interesting. Please watch it again if you have the time - we will be doing an activity with your results from that worksheet next week! The song in the video is "Mad World" by Michael Andrews (made for the Donnie Darko soundtrack, it is a cover of a song). Lyrics here.
After watching the video, which can be found at miniature-earth.com (with a different soundtrack), I asked about some of the guesses that you had that were completely off. Interesting stuff!
Commonality: So we had a little bit of depressing, real world stuff to think about. In order to send you out on the long weekend on a high note, I asked about what all humans have in common. I had some pretty sugary responses (hehe), but I really liked "laughter" and "dancing" the most. We ended class by watching this video (props to my Lewis and Clark classmate Megan for showing it to me), which, as I stated in class, is positively real, shot on location:
I would highly recommend going to the actual YouTube site and clicking "HD" on the side of the video - it makes it all the more better. The guy in the video is Matt Harding, who runs a website called "Where the Hell is Matt?" - I think my favorite part is the blog, where he currently has a really funny video up, explaining how he purposely tried to get people to believe that the video was a hoax (but he made the reasons completely ridiculous), and they ended up believing him. Quality comedy, seriously. Check that out here: Matt Reveals the Hoax is a Hoax at MacWorld. Some good background about who he is there too - sponsored by Stride gum, apparently! That is an incredible life!
This is one of those videos that I watch and just feel inexplicably happy about. Yes, the world has a lot of problems. However, dance is one of those things that goes across all cultures. Please, go out and enjoy the world this weekend, and come back refreshed and ready to go. :-) ---
The Blazers play at 4:00 today against San Antonio (on ESPN) . Tragically, I will be in class at Lewis and Clark from 4:30 to 7:30, so I will miss the entire game. That also means I will be unable to post comments or respond to e-mails during that time, so heads up about that. The Office has TWO new episodes tomorrow (Thursday), starting at 8:00 (with the new show Parks and Recreation in between). Check those out, if you want a good laugh! Other than that, have a wonderful weekend! You guys are a great class to be around!
The New Irene, a South Korean ship docked in Portland during Spring Break. I took this picture with a tripod on the Steel Bridge, using an 8 second exposure, F5.6 aperture value, and 100 ISO.
Hello amazing students!
Today was one of those days where I went into class and thought it was going to go one way, and then it kind of went a completely different direction. I totally was expecting to have a good little discussion on some things, then move on to having the class actually do some cool things with our perceptions of women. We can totally save that for next class though. I really love having good class discussions! The problem is that it is very easy to tune out, or get derailed through side conversations. I'm sure we will get better, and I will try to not have classes where we are completely focused on discussion for almost the entire time. That is a rarity, but I am glad that we got to know each other a little better through it!
Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? What impact can women in the Middle East have on policy?
Soundtrack: "Soak up the Sun" by Sheryl Crow. Lyrics here. A very good song for the first amazingly bright and beautiful day of the year! I can't tell you how excited I was to get in the car to drive to Westview in the morning and actually have the sun up! Please enjoy the great weather - I'm sure it will be gone before we know it!
AGENDA 4/6/09: News Brief Thoughts on Homework Michelle Obama Women’s Perspective Class Unity Activity
Homework: Enjoy the weather! Read blog!
Seriously, get out there and have some fun, exploring the world around you!
News Brief: Ricardo brought in an article on North Korea launching a missile, and getting almost everyone else in the world upset. Here's a link to it: CNN.com - 'Satisfaction' from Kim over N. Korea launch. Very relevant and interesting! We talked in class about how North Korea said it was launching a satellite, but the U.S. thinks it may be a missile that could potentially hit Hawaii.
Breanna talked a little about the earthquake in Italy, CNN.com - Dozens dead in Italian earthquake. Also, as I was looking up these articles, I saw this one about pirates in Somalia: CNN.com - Pirates seize British cargo ship in Gulf of Aden. See, now isn't that all really interesting? Paying attention to the news is really a great way to stay involved in class, as well as see why everything that we are talking about is relevant. Krishna, you are up for next class on Wednesday. Any article about anything going on the world outside the United States.
Thoughts on Homework: I did this with my other class after I saw a presentation at Lewis and Clark about the lack of value of assigning homework. Mostly, I wanted you to be able to vent about homework, as well as explain my thoughts about it and how it will work in this class. Remember, the key is effort and getting it in on time.
There were a lot of interesting and good thoughts about how much time homework takes up and why it may or may not be important. Everyone really should be getting lots of good sleep, as well! That is definitely important. Hopefully, all of the homework that I assign you in this class is relevant, interesting, and not overwhelmingly daunting. Please remember to ask questions if you are at all confused with what I am asking you to do!
Michelle Obama: Today was one of those days where technology (as much as I love it) conspired against me, and I was not able to show the video clip I wanted to. That's okay, I will bring it in for a future class!
Women's Perspective: This was somewhat of a difficult transition, since the video clip I was going to use to set it up and have you reflect upon your homework did not work. However, I still think we had some very good thoughts on what is going on around the world in regard to the struggles of women.
A few things that I noted that I wanted to link to. We talked about the differences in pay across the board between what women make and what men make, even here in America, and even though it is illegal. A good article breaking down the reasons behind how this happens can be found here: About.com - GAO Report: Why Women Still Make Less Than Men. The article cites the U.S. Government as saying that women make about 80 cents for every 1 dollar a man makes. Remember, if you ever feel like you are being discriminated against (for your gender, race, religion, etc), report it as soon as you can. The legislation that President Obama signed on this front was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
Furthermore, I cited an article that I remembered reading about how much a stay at home mom would earn if someone really thought about all the things that they do. To my great delight, I was able to find that article here: CNN.com - "Being a mom could be a 6-figure job". The best part:
"Salary.com determined that a stay-at-home mother might be paid as much as $134,121 for her contributions as a housekeeper, cook, day care center teacher, janitor and CEO, among other functions."
The most recent estimate of a stay at home mom's worth can be found here.
Anyway, this was a good discussion. I wish we could have made it a little more intertwined with women in the Middle East, but as long as you are thinking about these really critical issues, I am excited.
Class Unity Activity: Ahh yes, the part where we all sit around the campfire. Hopefully we will get the chance to do a lot of these sorts of activities to get us to really know each other! Just know that we have a lot in common with each other and people around the world! That theme will continue next class! :-) ---
The NCAA Men's National Championship is tonight at 6:21, on CBS. The Women's Championship (I love how we actually talked about this in class) is at 5:30 on ESPN, tomorrow. Also, I will be watching 24 tonight and the Blazers (playoff bound!) play at Memphis tomorrow at 5:00 PM.
Remember that I will not be here tomorrow, due to the Oregon Educator Job Fair, downtown at the Convention Center. The first district that I hope to interview with is Beaverton! :-) Please remember to be getting all of your work in before Friday, when the quarter ends! Have a wonderful day - go outside and enjoy the weather!
Suzanne Mubarek, the first lady of Egypt, who we read about in class today. Doesn't she look like Emily Gilmore, from The Gilmore Girls?
Good afternoon (by the time I finish writing this), class!
Thank you for another interesting class! I think we are gradually getting in to really getting to know each other well. The turn-in rate on the letters to me was absolutely outstanding, thank you! I am really quite excited to read them and get back to you, which I will do on Monday. Generally, I think there is still a little too much talking (from all sides - I do not want to be talking that much either), but I am sure we will all get better with time. Again, if you have anything to ask me or comment about, please do! :-)
Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? What impact can women in the Middle East have on policy? - We especially looked at answering the second question in class today!
Soundtrack: "Rock the Casbah" by The Clash. Lyrics here. Wikipedia has a really interesting background on the song: Wikipedia.com - "Rock the Casbah". I didn't mention this in class, but one possibility of the song's meaning is about the banning of rock music in Iran. Also, a song featured in many commercials, and Will Smith used it as the beat for his song "Will 2k" on his album Willenium. You can watch the video for that song here.
AGENDA 4/2/09: Blog Talk News Brief Article Reading Battle of the Sexes Debrief Discussion
Homework: Finish three paragraphs on women in Middle East. Interview an adult woman about any struggles she sees that women around the world have. Check blog!
The three paragraph assignment will be explained in more depth in the "Debrief Discussion" below, but essentially, I want you to think of three ways that women can have some sort of say in policy decisions in the Middle East. Write a paragraph about each way, explaining what it is, why you think it will work, and how it can be done. This should not be a very difficult assignment, but I am going to be looking to make sure you put some effort and thought into it, as always.
Secondly, another easy assignment: interview an adult woman about any struggles that she thinks women face throughout the world. What are they? Why? All I am looking for here are some notes on a conversation. Talk to your mom, Mrs. DeFrance, another teacher, anyone who is grown up and has some perspective about these issues.
Finally, if you are reading this sentence, you have the "check blog" homework in the bag. Way to go! :-)
Blog Talk: Thank you for the feedback on this! I really liked all the participation in the comments! Remember to use comments to ask questions or talk about anything else that is on your mind (within reason, of course). The blog is really an extension of class, and hopefully you can see how important it is to be following along with what is going on.
News Brief: Haze brought in an "out of this world" interesting article: CNN.com - Jupiter's stormy Great Red Spot is shrinking. Actually a really fascinating read! Apparently, the storm is as big as three Earths. Crazy! Thanks for bringing this in Haze! Ricardo, you are next up for Monday. Any article (preferably about this planet, please), that has to do with something outside of the United States that is currently going on. Let me know if you want to run it by me before class!
Article Reading: I read this article to the class: The Observer - The Arab world's first ladies are forging rights for women. Some good thoughts and comments came up during the reading. One was about genital mutilation, and whether or not that was okay to enforce our culture on other cultures. I am not going to link to any articles or pages on the subject, but I think you can pretty much guess what the debate is about from what we talked about in class. Do we have a right to go into another place and say "hey, stop doing that (even though it is a part of their culture) because it is barbaric" - or should we just ignore these things, which are somewhat similar to the human sacrifices of not that long ago? It is a difficult question to answer!
Battle of the Sexes: I took the gentlemen, while Mrs. DeFrance took the ladies, and we talked about two things primarily - 1) What was something interesting you saw in the article? 2) What needs to happen for women to be able to have an impact on policy decisions in the Middle East?
I know that it was not as clear as that, but that is sometimes how discussions go. Ladies, I am very sorry that you could not hear each other a lot, and I know that was mostly my fault! If we do something like that again, I think we will just go to another area of the school. Leading a discussion is always a tough thing for me, because I really get excited and interested in what people have to say - so much so that I have to be able to calm down and let the class talk to each other, not to me. A work in progress!
Overall, I was pleased with how this went. There were some issues with lack of focus on the male side, but we did come up with some really good ways for women to have an impact.
Debrief Discussion: Breanna and I helpfully made a list for the class of what we talked about in our respective groups. It certainly seemed like we came up with similar ideas! Here they are:
What is important to remember is that we cannot just say "women need to speak out" - because the reality is, if they did that, they would be killed in some countries. Also, we need to realize that it is not merely up to women to fight for their rights - men need to be on the forefront of helping. For instance, what good would it be if white people just sat back, did nothing, and collectively said "it's up to black people to claim their rights." We would still have segregation, at the very least.
So, use the list above (or anything that you think of on your own) to write neatly (or type) three paragraphs on how women can have an impact on policy decisions in the Middle East.
Again, if you have any questions about what I am asking you to do, please either comment or e-mail me and I would be more than happy to help you out. Keep the conversation going! ---
I will see you next Monday. In the meantime, there is no new Office tonight (but there are two new episodes next week). There are Blazer games on Friday (at The Team That Moved From Seattle - 5:00 PM, Comcast Sports Net) and on Sunday (at Houston, 4:00 PM, KGW - Ch. 8). The NCAA Final Four starts Saturday on CBS. There's your sports public service announcements. :-)
I am so excited to read your letters and get to know every one of you better! Have an absolutely wonderful weekend!
