Welcome to your summer! This is a picture I took last winter at Malibu Beach, California. I really hope that everyone does some traveling this summer and experiences the wide world around us!
Hello former students!
This is seriously so strange! First, this is the first time I have written a class recap blog days after the actual class. It was just insanely busy there for everyone at the end of the week. Secondly, I have no idea who is actually going to read this, considering there is no real reason to unless you are interested about what happened in class or what I am up to. Anyway, here goes! Please let me know (as always) if you have any questions or comments!
Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? How did the concept of nonviolence develop and become implemented?
Soundtrack: What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. Lyrics here. As I said in class, this is one of my favorite songs ever, and the one that I picked to best describe myself when I was a sophomore in high school. A great one to end out the year of Global Studies!
AGENDA 6/11/09: News Brief What We Want to Be Class Reflections Travel and Thrive
Homework: Have a wonderful summer! Read the new blog, if you like! Stay in touch!
After going over all of the stuff written on the board, I gave everyone my personal e-mail address (because I lost my Beaverton one at midnight last night), which is: LukeFritz@aol.com.
I am very serious when I say that I want you to stay in touch! Send me updates on what is going on! Need me to proof read a paper? Send it my way! Have a question about something going on around the world? E-mail me!
I also pointed out that I have started a new class blog for all of my Global Studies students to keep in touch with each other, which can be found here: http://westviewgsalum.blogspot.com/. I have already e-mailed everyone I could find addresses from to become authors on there - please let me know if you did not get one and want an invite! It looks like Haze posted a comment DURING CLASS, to start us off, haha. I am guessing that this new blog will only be as good as you help make it. If I see that nobody is actually reading it, I am sure that it will die off soon. I really do not want that to happen! Please favorite it and come back every so often to check in - if you have something especially cool to post, let me know, and I can give you a screenname to post on the blog with, anytime you want!
News Brief: Again, this is a little strange, because a lot of this happened a few days ago, but here goes.
Sam was going to mention for his news brief (before someone else mentioned it first) the shooting on Wednesday at the Holocaust Memorial in Washington D.C. Here is a recap of what happened: CNN.com - Guard killed during shooting at Holocaust museum. I was also blown away to hear how truly hateful this 88 year old man is. Hopefully this will show you one of the reasons why the United States supports Israel so much - for whatever reason, there is a LOT of hatred for Jewish people (which is called being an Anti-Semite) out there in the world. Here is a great article about responding to hate and intolerance in this case: WashingtonPost.com - Stepping Up to Defy Intolerance. A great quote, that reminds me of so many things we have talked about in class this year:
For many visitors, the reopening yesterday was an opportunity to make a statement of defiance against intolerance.
"We can't let hatred win," said William Dailey, a teacher at Jefferson Junior High School in Toledo who was chaperoning a school trip.
Toward the head of the line was Tammi Miller, 17, visiting Washington with her family from South Florida. Miller was in the museum Wednesday and was evacuated by way of a fire escape when the shooting began.
"It's important to come back, because if you don't, they win," she said. "It's a form of terrorism."
Really interesting and tragic at the same time. It is a sometimes brutal world out there!
This story was also mentioned in class (a topic that we had talked about a lot in the last couple of months): Yahoo! News - WHO: Swine flu pandemic has begun, 1st in 41 years. As it mentions in the article, the term pandemic basically means an epidemic all over the world - in this case, it is still something to be concerned about, though it does not seem even as close to as deadly as originally feared.
Thank you for your interest and attention in the news brief section all year! I love how the class brought such interesting things in to talk about and keep me on my toes!
What We Want to Be: As I pointed out, I got very little sleep last night because of grading your papers, so I did not get to do anything fancy with your "be the change" assignment that I had you do last class - as in a PowerPoint or something. However, I think it was almost as good just to be able to read them aloud and have you write about what your fellow classmates said. Here is a picture of what we came up with as far as noticing what everyone said:
I know this may have been a little boring, but I really thought it was cool to see what everyone said. Stay true to your hopes and dreams! You all are seriously amazing!
Class Reflections: See, it would have been nice to have had time for this earlier in the week so that I could talk to you about what your class wrote, but here goes. I selected a few comments to post that I especially liked (obviously, there were great comments about how to get better, too):
"That you are very nice and always come with a big smile on your face - I get happy too!"
"I have no advice, but as a comment, I liked the effort you put into our classes. No other teachers do that." - As an aside here, I am confident that your other teachers work just as hard if not harder than I do - you probably just noticed it more because I was new to it all.
"I will remember this class by all the inspiring stuff we learned."
"Thanks a lot Mr. Fritz, for teaching me Global Studies, not just textbook worksheets, but videos and researching that helped me a lot."
Thank you for all the valuable information and thoughts!
Travel and Thrive: The "Travel" section of this part of the lesson was geared around watching about a 10 minute clip from near the end of movie Elizabethtown (2005). The rest of the movie is pretty good too, but the particular sequence that I showed you I just LOVE! It is all about just exploring the country and talking to others and making connections (even with the character's dead father). I made this relate to class because Orlando Bloom visits the place where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot to spread some ashes. Really one of my favorite sequences (I love the music too) of traveling that I know of. My other favorite movie about traveling is Lost in Translation (2003) which is downright fantastic (however, please wait until you are 18 for that one please)! In fact, it is my eighth favorite movie of all time (ask me sometime if you want to know the top 10). :-)
The "Thrive" part of this was watching one of the most inspirational speeches that I have ever seen:
This was former North Carolina State basketball coach (and National Championship winner) Jimmy Valvano, who at the time was dying of cancer. A few months after this speech, he passed away, but wow, what a legacy to leave behind! You laugh, you think, and you cry, that is a heck of a day. Yes it is!
Anyway, after this clip, we had a short discussion about where people were traveling to this summer, if they were. Many of you were going to really amazing places! Please, please take notice of how amazing the world is around you, where ever you go! Take pictures, breathe it in! One of my favorite things to do when I am traveling is to sit down, close my eyes, and simply just listen. That would have been the activity we would have done outside, by the way - with some creative writing attached to it. Soak in life!
One final class related note: please RECYCLE your papers that you know you will not need in the future. I would feel terrible if we you spent an entire year in Global Studies and then threw your paper into the trash, to make even bigger piles of garbage around our planet.
That should just about do it, everyone! Make sure to keep checking in and getting on the alumni blog, which I have some big plans for! Seriously, I will be so disappointed if you do not! Have a fantastic few months off, and let me know what you are up to! Also, barring me being on another continent or something, I will definitely be coming back to see everyone graduate in three years (though obviously, I want to come back tons of times before that too). Just know that you have that to look forward to. I will never ever forget everyone in this class. Until the next time our paths cross, this is Luke, signing off. :-)
At my Lewis and Clark graduation on Sunday! From left to right, my dad, my brother, Mrs. DeFrance, me, my mom, my grandma, and my grandpa (my dad's parents). Fun times! It was a way too fast weekend! Time to finish out the end of the year!
Hello everyone!
Oh my goodness, we only have one more class together! This is all coming to an end really fast. I hope you enjoyed today's class - thanks for the attention, even with multiple things going on during the lesson. Please remember to finish out the year strong with the paper and any revisions that we asked you to do. Also, come see me or e-mail about any late work you may have to do! Let's go out on a high note!
Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? How did the concept of nonviolence develop and become implemented? - We looked at multiple angles of the answers to these questions today!
Soundtrack: "If You're Out There" by John Legend. Lyrics here. The verse that I especially wanted to highlight is:
If you're ready we can save the world Believe again, it starts within We don't have to wait for destiny We should be the change that we want to see
Great song! :-)
AGENDA 6/9/09: News Brief Be the Change/Revisions Letter to Self (Outside?) Class Reflections
Homework: Finish any late work – REVISE your papers, if needed! Read the blog and ask questions!
Seriously, either Mrs. DeFrance or I would be happy to have you revise the paper - please make your best effort! If you have not given me a copy of your paper (at all), you definitely need to be e-mailing it to me ASAP. I hope everyone is clear on this. Thanks!
Sam, you are up for the last news brief of the year on Thursday. Any article about anything currently going on around the world outside the United States. Thanks!
Be the Change/Revisions: After the news brief, I wanted everyone to really be thinking about how they want to have a positive effect on the world. To get you thinking about this, I showed this video (one of the most popular on YouTube):
I then asked the class to write about how you want to be the change you wish to see in the world (a Gandhi quote). How are you going to leave a lasting positive impact? I then left you to be writing as Mrs. DeFrance and I checked in with everyone about the revisions we requested for your paper. This took much longer than we were anticipating, so I am sorry if you were finished with your positive life story and had nothing to do. Sometimes class just works out like that!
Letter to Self: For this portion of class, I handed back the letters that you wrote to yourselves from the beginning of the year as well as a reflection piece to do on them. I know that most of you did not have the time to finish this in class, so please read your paper over again and write out your reflections! We are really interested in what you have to say!
Class Reflections: We did not get to these because of the timing issues with the class, but I hope to have some sort of reflection on the year from you guys during next class - our last of the year! Ahh! So crazy! ---
Have a great night! I have a million things to do: grading, blog writing, football practice, more grading, lesson planning, dinner, and possibly (hopefully) sleep at some point. Thus, please do not be offended if I can't post your comment right away. I will promise to read and respond to everything that you send me though! Please keep working hard through the end of the year! :-)
Gandhi advocated living simply (as you saw today). This is a picture I took last fall of a farm by Lake Oswego, about five miles away from my house. It reminds me of simple times.
Good afternoon Period 2!
I am so sad that today was our last Friday together! I hope that we made the best of it, though I must say, that was one of the longest periods I have ever had! We started at 7:45 and finally let out (due to the long assembly for the seniors) at 11:10. Crazy times. On to the class recap!
Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? How did the concept of nonviolence develop and become implemented?
Soundtrack: "Comin' From Where I'm From" by Anthony Hamilton. Lyrics here. Chosen for today because we are continuing to talk about empathy and nonviolence. That, and it is an excellent song.
AGENDA 6/5/09: News Brief – President Obama/Tiananmen Square Example Paper Talking Gandhi
Homework: Finish and turn in any late work! Read the blog and ask questions!
For those that did not turn in your final paper today, please e-mail me at luke_fritz@beavton.k12.or.us as soon as possible. Thanks!
News Brief: We talked about the enormous lightning storm that happened in Portland last night! It was certainly something to take notice of. I was inside watching the NBA Finals. Good times.
We talked a little bit about the Air France Flight 447 disaster and trying to find the debris (an article on that can be found here: CNN.com - Brazilian air force says debris was not from Air France crash) and Diana asked about the Bermuda Triangle - which is a close, but not exactly where the plane went down. Interesting information at the Wikipedia site! I think what I was talking about in class as far as geysers and such that might be part of the reason for the strange activity in that region are Methane Hydrates.
I mentioned that I will be "graduating" (we still have two more months of classes after this) from Lewis and Clark this Sunday, at 10:00 AM. You can see all of my teaching friends and me! Woo hoo! Here is a link to watch the ceremony live online: Lewis and Clark Commencement 2009. Apparently, the webcast launches at 9:45 AM and changes to live feed at 10 AM. Let me know in the comments if there is a consensus about a signal I can do for you guys! I suppose I could do the touching the nose thing if all else fails. If you don't know when I will be coming up, it is alphabetical by degree. I will be getting my Masters of Arts in Teaching. :-)
I also wanted to point out that the NBA Finals starts tonight, and if you want Mr. Hardin to be sane tomorrow when he is teaching you guys, you had better be rooting for the Lakers. That will air at 6:00 PM on ABC.
As Amy mentioned for her news brief article today (which you can read here: NYTimes.com - Addressing Muslims, Obama Pushes Middle East Peace) President Obama had an enormously big speech yesterday in Cairo, Egypt. He was talking to Muslims in the Middle East. Some of it was almost EXACTLY the same as what you guys did for your Israeli-Palestinian project! Specifically, I wanted to show the class what he had to say about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and nonviolence (tying the last two units together):
I also showed the end to the speech, when the President tried to say that Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all had the goal of promoting peace in the world. This was very much like Sarah's presentation for the Israeli-Palestinian unit! The video we watched can be found here.
Finally, I wanted to make sure to note that today was the 20th Anniversary of the Tienanmen Square protests being broken up. Read all about the event here. This is the video I showed in class (just the first part, until the credits roll):
After this played, I showed this video of the unknown "tank man" standing up to block the Chinese military. A very important date in history!
Thanks for indulging me in all these videos! I hope you found it interesting!
Example Paper: After this extremely long news brief section, I showcased an example of a really good research paper, done by Sarah. It was all about chocolate, and how it has an impact on the economy, health, and happiness! See, that is the power of a thesis statement - I didn't even have to look that up. Because Sarah had a really memorable thesis and paper, it is easy for me to recall what she was talking about. Hopefully, showing her paper to the class was something that everyone learned from - I was really glad to hear the clapping at the end too! It was a great paper! Thanks for the hard work on it Sarah! :-)
Talking Gandhi: Because the class was shortened, this section was not as long as I had hoped that it would be, though I am glad that we got to talk a little bit about the magazine article I had you read last class. I asked everyone to volunteer a few things that Gandhi tried to do in order to better society through nonviolence. The class mentioned his hunger strikes as well as resisting temptation. This was good! After a brief discussion, we watched a biography (if you can call a three minute video a biography) of Gandhi and his philosophy on nonviolence, which you can watch again here.
When the video was over, so was the class! We then voted on a movie to watch as the senior assembly was going on (the freshmen were not allowed to go because of a lack of seating in the gym). The rest of our time was spent watching the movie and/or doing whatever quiet activity that you wanted, until the senior assembly wrapped up about 40 minutes late, giving you roughly 15 minutes in your Period 4 class. Fun times! ---
Please remember to be e-mailing me your papers if you did not hand me a copy today or had a copy previously accepted! We will be going over your grades on these on Tuesday.
Have a great weekend! Watch me graduate if you want, and the NBA Finals, and the French Open finals! Please remember to finish out the year strong - this is your last weekend of having school after it! Make the best of it! :-)
An Air India 747-400 at Newark International Airport on Memorial Day weekend. If not for Gandhi, it is possible that Air India would not even exist today! Picture by Mr. Fritz.
Hello and welcome to another class recap!
I think that today was great - it was good to check in with everyone and see your papers. Hopefully, we gave you some good feedback about revising them. I also was excited that we finally got to talk a little bit about Gandhi and his philosophy. Look for that to continue next class!
Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? How did the concept of nonviolence develop and become implemented?
Soundtrack: "Get Up, Stand Up" by Bob Marley. Lyrics here. A fantastic song for thinking about civil rights!
AGENDA 6/3/09: News Brief Who Was Gandhi? First Draft Check-In The Old Man
Homework: Finish and turn in any late work! Read the blog and ask questions!
This includes any work on the paper that either Mrs. DeFrance or I gave you to revise!
News Brief: Sometimes we spend a lot of time on this section of class, talking about what is going on in the world. I am sorry if this gets boring for some of you, but I really like talking about everything that is happening! It is a good way to stay connected to what is happening. Today we had:
Nasser started a really interesting talk about black holes in space. I talked a little bit about the effects that black holes have, like warping time. Here is a video about how this is theorized to happen: Space.com - Black Holes: Warping Time & Space.
Also, we talked about Osama bin Laden coming out with a new audio tape that just aired this morning (or we got news about it). This is a recap of what we currently know about that all: NYTimes.com - Message on Obama Attributed to Bin Laden.
Really interesting stuff right? Juliet continued this section by bringing in her news article, which was this one: BBC.co.uk - Al-Qaeda 'kills British hostage'. Sadly, this sort of stuff happens all the time. People will kidnap others to try and spring their own friends out of prison. In fact, this is exactly like the plot of the movie Air Force One (1997).
Thanks for sharing the article Juliet! Amy, you are up for next class. A current news article about anything going on outside the United States. Thanks!
Who Was Gandhi? For this section, I had you write for a little bit (as I passed out an article) about what you would do for a "bucket list" if you knew you only had six months to live, to somehow better society. I really liked the responses that I heard, and I want to hammer home the point - why don't we live like this more often? Why aren't we more eco-friendly, for instance? I think a large part of it is that almost everyone is afraid that they will die and wants to deny that they eventually will. Part of coping with this is that we do not realize how we can truly have a long lasting positive impact on the world! Leaving a good legacy!
Gandhi was someone that definitely did leave a long lasting legacy. I had you read this article on Gandhi and look for ways that he tried to have an impact. It is a really interesting (but long, I know) article, so I hope you liked it! We will be talking more about it next class. TIME.com - Person of the Century, Runner-Up - Mohandas Gandhi.
First Draft Check-In: During the time when you were reading the article, Mrs. DeFrance and I were checking papers and asking many of you to continue revising. If we asked you to do this, please bring your revised copy to class on Friday, thanks!
The Old Man: With about 20 minutes left in class, I showed the Seinfeld episode "The Old Man" because it talks about having an impact through volunteering, and about Gandhi for a little bit. It is also really funny and I thought it was a good reward for all of your hard work so far on the paper. Keep it up! ---
Remember that there is Nike SPARQ testing after school today from 3:00 to about 4:30. Also remember that I am crazy busy these last few weeks, so I might not be able to post and respond to your comments on the blog instantly. Please be sending them though! I love hearing from everyone, and helping as much as I possibly can!
Have a great evening, thanks for being so awesome!
A "peer review" by sea lions at the Oregon Zoo, last summer. Picture by Mr. Fritz.
Dear Period 2,
I really hope that today was a productive one for you in getting great feedback about your rough drafts from your peers! If you had no rough draft to work on, I am counting on you to have a wonderful first draft to turn in to me on Wednesday. Remember to continue to be asking questions and letting me know how I can best be helping you out!
Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? What are civil rights? - Wow, we have been seriously neglecting the essential questions, but I am really hoping that we will be able to come back to them at some point!
Soundtrack: "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado. Lyrics here. I'm not sure if anyone really knows what this song is about, including Ms. Furtado, but man, is it catchy. As I said in class, it reminds me of a California road trip I took in 2007! Chosen for today because I searched my iTunes for "right" and this was the best song that came up.
AGENDA 6/1/09: News Brief Peer Review/Conferences Gallery Walk (?)
Homework: Paper Due (first draft, typed with bibliography)! Read the blog and ask questions!
To be clear about this: your historical investigation paper is due to be turned in next class.
Everyone should have a very clear idea of what we are looking for, since either Mrs. DeFrance or myself had a conference with everyone in the class. If you are uncertain about anything, please post comments on this blog entry and I will get back to you ASAP!
News Brief: Two stories that I wanted to highlight this morning as items of interest that everyone should know about were these - AVHerald.com - Crash: Air France A332 over Atlantic on June 1st 2009, aircraft lost. Check out that second picture of the extreme weather patterns in the area. As I mentioned in class, it would be hard to pick a more remote place in the ocean. I also said that I would upload a picture of the "black box" or flight data recorder that is virtually indestructible and can be used to help determine what happened in an accident. Here is one from an Evergreen International Airlines 747 that I worked on two winters ago:
Really a horrifying event. Though for any of you that are concerned about flying, know that you have a way higher chance of dying from a car accident on the way to the airport than you do the actual flight you are on. Flying is really one of the safest modes of transportation in the world. It just so happens that every so often, things go terribly wrong.
The other story I wanted to point out was this: CNN.com - GM bankruptcy: End of an era. Really an incredible day. General Motors was the biggest car company in the world for something like 90 straight years before losing its position to Toyota. Many people and dealerships will be out of jobs, though the company is expected to remain mostly intact through the bankruptcy (as it tries to get rid of the huge debt it has).
Finally, Ismael brought in this story: BBC.co.uk - US deaths in Iraq rise sharply in May. From the article, about 4,300 Americans have died in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. Really incredible. As I pointed out in class, it is not often that we think about how our country, the United States, is at war in two other countries (Iraq and Afghanistan) at this very second. Say what you will about the actual wars, but everyone should respect and honor the service that these men and women give to our country, no matter what your opinion is of how they are used. It is a job that I hope that I never have to find myself doing.
Juliet, you are up for next class. Please bring in a current news article about anything going on around the world outside the United States. Thanks!
Peer Review/Conferences: At this point in time, I handed out papers to peer review your rough drafts. We went through and read exactly what I was looking for in regards to the paper, and how everyone could be helping each other revise. I trust that this section was helpful for everyone!
In the meantime, Mrs. DeFrance and I finished up our conferences with everyone in the class. These were really nice for me to be able to do, and I know that Mrs. DeFrance feels the same way. Hopefully this cleared up any questions you may have had about your grade or your research paper.
I was a little concerned about the class not using the time in class to actually be quietly reading and peer reviewing, or working on your rough draft (if you did not do your homework). I expect that when I give you time in class to work, that you use that time. For the most part, I think you did, but I know that there is just no way that this can be happening when there are multiple people talking.
Again, I just want to help you succeed in this class and on this paper as much as I can! Please let me know how I can best be doing this! :-)
Gallery Walk (?): We were not able to get to this because I wanted to give you as much time as possible to peer review. I guarantee that we will get to it next class, barring any sort of huge change in the lesson planning. Look forward to it! ---
I will be at a ton of Westview football-related meetings and practices this week in the afternoon, but should be easily available to post comments and questions in the evenings.
Other than that, continue to be working hard on this paper! Thanks so much for the effort!
