Period 2: Historical Investigation, Day 5 - Class Recap

Today, we started talking about 9/11 and the impact it has had on the world. I told you that I was on the exact same plane that crashed in Pennsylvania (United Flight 93), earlier in my life. Here's a picture of one of the remaining scraps from the plane, at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Dear class,

Only five class periods left as your substitute teacher! I'm getting sad already. Thanks for a really interesting class today. I appreciated the huge amounts of energy, even if it does get a little tiresome to keep waiting for quiet to move on. I would much rather have that problem over a completely non-responsive group. On to the recap!

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: “Mean” by Taylor Swift. Selected for today because you might think I am mean for assigning you the historical investigation and because we were learning about some pretty mean people. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/8/13:
News Brief
9/11
The “F” Word
Parts C + D/Study for Map Quiz

Homework: Work on Part C and D, ready to type next class! Study for Middle East map quiz (I'll warn you when this is coming). Next news brief: Connor J. and Ethan.
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News Brief: The two news articles brought in today (by Molly J. and Ben H.) were: CNN.com - Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first female PM, dead at 87 and CNN.com - U.S. diplomat died 'doing what she loved' in Afghanistan. I talked a little bit about "The Iron Lady" - Margaret Thatcher - and her importance to the United Kingdom. The second article was a very nice transition into talking about the importance of September 11th, considering the United States is still fighting a war in Afghanistan, over a decade after it started.

9/11: To begin this section, I asked the class to write a response to these questions: What do you know about September 11th, 2001? What have you heard about it? Do you remember anything? What have you learned before, in class, or from parents?

While the class was writing, I played this video without warning (before this, I said that anyone who felt the need to step out and compose themselves could do so without asking):

The point for playing this in the middle of writing was to kind of send a shock to the system. This is what I felt like on September 11, 2001, when I was almost exactly the age many of you are now (15 years and a little less than two months old). I told my story of September 11th and how I learned that I flew on one of the hijacked planes a few years earlier. Here's my Flight Memory map that I showed in class.

I asked the class for some reactions and memories (there were some very powerful ones), then played another video, which goes over the basic timeline of that day: YouTube.com - 9/11 Video Timeline: How the Day Unfolded.

The "F" Word: As I said at the start of class, this probably wasn't the one you were thinking of. ;-) No, this was FEAR. For sure, when September 11th happened, I was definitely in a state of fear about what was going on in the world. Next, I had the class write out a time that you experienced fear in your life, responding to these questions: What is a time in your life that you felt fear? How did it make you feel? What would you be willing to do to get away from that fear?

After responding, the class shared within small groups, then we talked about a few overall. I shared that I have a fear of letting down my parents, who have been simply incredible to me for my entire life. We will look at the role that fear plays in starting conflicts, especially with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Parts C + D/Study For Map Quiz: For the last part of class, I explained what Part C (your analysis essay for the historical investigation, which needs to be at least a page) and Part D (the conclusion) should look like. I showed the class the Historical Investigation Assignment again, which details how to write this. I am confident that everyone knows how to write an essay at this point, since you have done it multiple times for both Mrs. Carpenter and I.

As for the map quiz: if you want to get ahead of the game, here's a site you could be studying from - Rethinking Schools - Middle East Map Quiz.

At the end of class, I had students turn in Parts A, B, and E for the Historical Investigation. If you did not have this in by the end of the school day, I will attempt to try and call home to let your parents know that you are behind on the biggest assignment of the year. If you did not get this in today, please see the blog post below for instructions on what to do. Thank you!