Showing posts with label demographics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label demographics. Show all posts

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Demographics, Day 4 - Class Recap


I was at the state tennis tournament over last weekend for Westview! This photo is of my favorite tennis player, Roger Federer, playing in Eugene, Oregon.

Dear class,

I really appreciate your hard work today in class, as we had a work day to wrap up the demographics unit and check in about grades in order to improve them, if possible. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 9: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own" by U2. Selected for today because we had a work day for me to help students in understanding how to improve their grade in class. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/24/18:
News Brief – Bailey
Demographic Work
Work Time
Grade Check

Homework: Read the blog! Finish your demographic unit work (see below for links) and turn in to the box in front of class. Next news brief: Naomi.
---
News Brief: Bailey had the news brief today and selected an article about a Canadian earthquake to talk about. We found the country in the world map packet and talked about this story for a bit, before moving on.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


The next news brief was assigned to Naomi.

Demographics Work: The rest of class was spent as work time (hopefully you were able to turn in the whole packet today) for the demographics packet:

Google Drive: Demographics Development Indicators

Students needed to find the statistics for countries on the CIA World Factbook (some of the statistics might be found from other sources, too).

The next assignment was related to the Children of Syria documentary in class.

Here is the assignment that I passed out with the movie:


Here is a link to watch the documentary, if you missed class, or wanted to watch it again at home with your family. An hour really well spent:

Next, we did the End of Poverty reading and assignment last class:


Here is the reading that goes along with the assignment:


Finally, we watched World in the Balance and did an assignment related to that. Here is the assignment:


And here is the video we watched in class:


All four of the assignments, in order, were what was due today in class. I appreciate your work on this! Please turn in this packet (stapled, please) to the turn in box in front of class.

Work Time/Grade Check: Thank you for working hard! We will continue with Israel and Palestine (our final unit of the year) next class. See you then!
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Friday, May 18, 2018

Demographics, Day 3 - Class Recap

Please note: I was out today at the state tennis tournament supporting our boys team (I am one of the coaches here). This is a post with what I asked the guest teacher to cover in my absence. See you next week!


The pathway along a Shinto shrine in Toyko, Japan. Today, we learned about the demographic pressures on Japan's population - especially when it comes to a very elderly population. Photo taken in 2014.

Hi everyone,

Today, we watched a documentary about population and demographics. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 9: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" by Tomoyasu Hotei. Selected for today because we learned more about Japan's battle against demographic trends in their population and because you are battling towards the end of the year!

AGENDA 5/18/18:
News Brief – McKenzie
World in the Balance
Review
Demographics Work

Homework: Read the blog! Next class will be an in class work day to finish all demographic unit work and turn it in at the end of class, so be prepared to do that! Next news brief: decided in class.
---
News Brief: McKenzie had the news brief today and selected an article about Canada, I'm sure. We found Canada in the world map packet and talked about this ongoing story for a bit.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


The next news brief was assigned to someone in class.

World in the Balance: This was a NOVA documentary that we watched together in class. I was asking students to write about the three countries in the film: India, Japan, and Kenya, and what their population/demographics is like. Here is the assignment that goes with this:


And here is the video we watched in class:


Thank you for your focus and interest in this! As I said before watching it, I think the issues are really interesting and worth our time to learn about. Before moving on, I showed this interesting website that has lots of different population data: Worldometers.info - World Population.

Review/Demographics Work: We did not have much time at the end of class today, but I did want to link to the assignments in the demographics unit, which are as follows:

Google Drive: Demographics Development Indicators

Students needed to find the statistics for countries on the CIA World Factbook (some of the statistics might be found from other sources, too).

The next assignment was related to the Children of Syria documentary in class.

Here is the assignment that I passed out with the movie:


Here is a link to watch the documentary, if you missed class, or wanted to watch it again at home with your family. An hour really well spent:

Next, we did the End of Poverty reading and assignment last class:


Here is the reading that goes along with the assignment:


Please have all of your demographics work ready to turn in at the end of next class, as I will give work time and also check in about everyone's grades! Thank you!
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Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Demographics, Day 2 - Class Recap


My brother visited Portland recently! Here I am with my sister and brother with my mom in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, over Winter Break 2014.

Dear class,

There was a fair amount of reviewing data and reading today - thanks for following along. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 9: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "The End" by The Doors. Selected for today because of "The End of Poverty" reading, and because we are approaching the end of the school year, as well as today being the official end of the Country Profile Project.

AGENDA 5/16/18:
News Brief – Justin
The End of Poverty
Group Work
Finish Demographic Packets

Homework: Read the blog! All Country Profile Project work/revisions due TODAY - Final Deadline! Continue to work on any missing/incomplete assignments to improve your grade! Next news brief: McKenzie.
---
News Brief: Justin had the news brief today and talked about this story for the news brief: BBC.com - Beirut Pride cancelled after organiser detained. We found found Lebanon in the world map and talked for a bit in class about this story.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

The next news brief was assigned to McKenzie.

The End of Poverty: This was based on learning more about what life is like in different countries. I asked the class to split up based on how fast students thought they were at reading, and assigned this paper and reading to a group of four:


Here is the reading that goes along with the assignment:


Group Work: We spent a good time in class going through this in groups, and then going over it afterwards. Hold on to these completed assignments, please!

Finish Demographics Work: We did not have the time in class to do much of this, but your demographics work will be due later in the unit, so please finish all of the assignments related to it!

Thanks for your focus and work today in class!
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Monday, May 14, 2018

Demographics, Day 1 - Class Recap


Photo taken in 2007 at the Denver Aquarium.

Dear class,

We continued looking at demographics today, through the recent documentary "Children of Syria" which does a great job giving a case study of the Syrian refugee crisis. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 9: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Ordinary People" by John Legend. Selected for today because demographics is the study of populations of people.

AGENDA 5/14/18:
News Brief – Peter
Children of Syria
Review
Trends

Homework: Read the blog! Continue working on your Country Profile Project revisions! Next news brief: Justin.
---
News Brief: Peter had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about with the class: BBC.com - Gaza clashes: 52 Palestinians killed on deadliest day since 2014. We found Israel (and Palestine) in the world map and talked for a while in class about this story, along with some of the impacts of the United States moving our embassy to Jerusalem. Thank you for this discussion!

Here's the link to see the latest one minute update from BBC World News, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


The next news brief was assigned to Justin.

We also watched Wildcat News today. Here it is if you missed class or wanted to see it again:



Children of Syria: This was a fantastic documentary that recently came out on PBS Frontline. Part of the learning target for the unit is tying demographics in with current events, so this was perfect. Here is the assignment that I passed out with the movie:


Here is a link to watch the documentary, if you missed class, or wanted to watch it again at home with your family. An hour really well spent:


Review: After the documentary, a few random students were asked to answer questions from the documentary review. Thank you for your input and thoughts here! I hope everyone was really engaged with answering the questions and watching the film.

Here's an article that I showed about this:


We will continue working on this in class. Thanks, everyone!
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Thursday, March 22, 2018

Country Profile Project, Day 2 - Class Recap

Another picture from my Spring Break trip to Washington, D.C. in 2010: this is the National Archives building, where the original copies of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are held.

Hi everyone,

Our last official class before Spring Break (though we are combining classes tomorrow so I will see you again)! Lots to do, for sure. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Research LT 1: I can effectively conduct and apply research.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.
Knowledge LT 10: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.

Soundtrack: "Marry The Night" by Lady Gaga. Selected for today because it was super dark out the past few weeks in the morning, for Daylight Savings Time. Now getting a little better! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 3/22/18:
News Brief - Shawn (from Period 3)
Demographics
Citing Sources
Current Events

Homework: Read the blog! Finish your demographic indicators packet (just the definitions and data for your chosen country). Work on your Current Event for the Country Profile Project over Spring Break by finding two articles and writing up notes and analysis - check the calendar to see when it is due! Next news brief: Haddie.
---
News Brief: Shawn (from Period 3) had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: NYTimes.com - Boko Haram Returns Dozens of Schoolgirls Kidnapped in Nigeria. We found Nigeria on our world maps and discussed this story together, as well as some details about Nigeria.

We checked in about what people were up to outside of class, before moving on.

I will do the next news brief, as it is after Spring Break.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


Demographics: Because a key point of the Country Profile Project is to understand the human geography and economics of your selected country, it is important to understand demographics, which is data that relates to population and groups of people. Here is the presentation that we went through in class:


With this information, I then passed out copies of this packet (most students accessed it using Google Classroom):


Today in class, students used the CIA World Factbook website for their chosen country and started filling out the definitions in the first column on the left, and the statistics for their chosen country on the far right column.

This information will help in understanding what the human geography and economics are like in your country. Treat this as homework to finish (just the definitions and statistics for your country - we will do the rest later in the semester) outside of class.

Citing Sources: Please cite your sources in a separate Works Cited page at the end of your Current Event. Use MLA format - an easy way to get this citation for use in your paper is to use EasyBib.com.

Current Events: The rest of class was spent trying to identify a good Current Event for your Country Profile Project, and finding two sources that address the topic. As a reminder, students are using this note taking sheet to do this, which notes how geography and economics are addressed:


The assignment sheet and example for how to fill out the notes can be found here:


Over the break, students need to be writing up their Current Event. Here is the Willamette Promise rubric for how this will be graded as a part of the college credit component:



Finally, if you are looking for an example Current Event, Mr. McCreery helpfully wrote one up, here:


Let me know if you have questions or need help with this over the break - I will respond to emails when I can! :-)

Have a great Spring Break, everyone!
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Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Demographics, Day 5 - Class Recap


I was at the state tennis tournament over the weekend for Westview! This photo is of my favorite tennis player, Roger Federer, playing in Eugene, Oregon.

Dear class,

I really appreciate your hard work today in class, as we had a work day to wrap up the demographics unit and check in about grades in order to improve them, if possible. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 9: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own" by U2. Selected for today because we had a work day for me to help students in understanding how to improve their grade in class. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/23/17:
News Brief – John
Demographic Work
Grade Check
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog! Finish your demographic unit work (see below for links). Next news brief: Matthew.
---
News Brief: John had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Manchester bomber named by police. We found the United Kingdom in the world map packet and talked about this horrific story, which is obviously still developing as of the writing of this post. We talked about the response of the United States government, as well.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


The next news brief was assigned to Matthew.

Demographics Work: The rest of class was spent as work time (hopefully you were able to turn in the whole packet today) for the demographics packet:

Google Drive: Demographics Development Indicators

Students needed to find the statistics for countries on the CIA World Factbook (some of the statistics might be found from other sources, too).

The next assignment was related to the Children of Syria documentary in class.

Here is the assignment that I passed out with the movie:


Here is a link to watch the documentary, if you missed class, or wanted to watch it again at home with your family. An hour really well spent:

Next, we did the End of Poverty reading and assignment last class:


Here is the reading that goes along with the assignment:


Finally, we watched World in the Balance and did an assignment related to that. Here is the assignment:


And here is the video we watched in class:


All four of the assignments, in order, were what was due today in class. I appreciate your work on this!

Grade Check/Work Time: As students were working, I called everyone in class up to talk with me, one by one, so I could go over every grade, along with what was missing (if anything) and needing to be turned in or revised ASAP. You should have a plan of action for what you need to do, if you need to do work for me! If you have everything in, rest up and get ready for the final unit of the year, which we will start next class!
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Friday, May 19, 2017

Demographics, Day 4 - Class Recap

NOTE: I was out of the building today, helping coach at the tennis state championships and supporting our Westview teams there. I hope it all went well with class! Here's a recap of what I expected to have happen.


The pathway along a Shinto shrine in Toyko, Japan. Today, we learned about the demographic pressures on Japan's population - especially when it comes to a very elderly population. Photo taken in 2014.

Hi everyone,

I apologize about missing class today, but I had a good time at the tennis state championships to support our Westview teams! Today, we watched a documentary about population and demographics. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 9: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" by Tomoyasu Hotei. Selected for today because we learned more about Japan's battle against demographic trends in their population, and because it is Election Day, and because you are battling towards the end of the year!

AGENDA 5/18/17:
News Brief – Lewis
World in the Balance
Review
Demographics Work

Homework: Read the blog! Next class will be an in class work day to finish all demographic unit work and turn it in at the end of class, so be prepared to do that! Next news brief: John.
---
News Brief: Lewis had the news brief today and selected an article to talk about, as students found the location in the world map packet.

John has the next news brief, for Tuesday.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


World in the Balance: This was a NOVA documentary that we watched together in class. I was asking students to write about the three countries in the film: India, Japan, and Kenya, and what their population/demographics is like. Here is the assignment that goes with this:


And here is the video we watched in class:


Thank you for your focus and interest in this! As I said before watching it, I think the issues are really interesting and worth our time to learn about. Before moving on, I showed this interesting website that has lots of different population data: Worldometers.info - World Population.

Review/Demographics Work: We did not have much time at the end of class today, but I did want to link to the assignments in the demographics unit, which are as follows:

Google Drive: Demographics Development Indicators

Students needed to find the statistics for countries on the CIA World Factbook (some of the statistics might be found from other sources, too).

The next assignment was related to the Children of Syria documentary in class.

Here is the assignment that I passed out with the movie:


Here is a link to watch the documentary, if you missed class, or wanted to watch it again at home with your family. An hour really well spent:

Next, we did the End of Poverty reading and assignment last class:


Here is the reading that goes along with the assignment:


Please have all of your demographics work ready to turn in at the end of next class, as I will give work time and also check in about everyone's grades! Thank you!
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Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Demographics, Day 3 - Class Recap


My brother visited Portland recently! Here I am with my sister and brother with my mom in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, over Winter Break 2014.

Dear class,

There was a fair amount of reviewing data and reading today - thanks for following along. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 9: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "The End" by The Doors. Selected for today because of "The End of Poverty" reading, and because we are approaching the end of the school year.

AGENDA 5/17/17:
News Brief – Arjun
The End of Poverty
Group Work
Finish Demographic Packets

Homework: Read the blog! Continue to work on any missing/incomplete assignments to improve your grade! Be good for the sub on Friday! Next news brief: Lewis (then John on Tuesday).
---
News Brief: Arjun had the news brief today and talked about this story for the news brief: CNN.com - Researchers find possible North Korea link to massive cyberattack. We found North Korea in the world map packet and talked about this story, including what happened with this particular cyber attack and how it was related to Microsoft and our own government. After the news brief, we checked in about the weekend.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

The next news brief was assigned to Lewis, then John on Tuesday.

The End of Poverty: This was based on learning more about what life is like in different countries. I asked the class to split up based on how fast students thought they were at reading, and assigned this paper and reading to a group of four:


Here is the reading that goes along with the assignment:


Group Work: We spent a good time in class going through this in groups, and then going over it afterwards. Hold on to these completed assignments, please!

Finish Demographics Work: We did not have the time in class to do much of this, but your demographics work will be due later in the unit, so please finish all of the assignments related to it!

Thanks for your focus and work today in class!
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Monday, May 15, 2017

Demographics, Day 2 - Class Recap


Photo taken in 2007 at the Denver Aquarium.

Dear class,

We continued looking at demographics today, through the very recent documentary "Children of Syria" which does a great job giving a case study of the Syrian refugee crisis. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 9: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. Selected for today because being happy could actually be considered a demographic indicator. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/15/17:
News Brief – Abhigya
Children of Syria
Review
Trends

Homework: Read the blog! Continue working on your demographics packet! Next news brief: Arjun.
---
News Brief: Abhigya had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about with the class: CNN.com - Putin warns against 'intimidating' North Korea after latest missile launch. We found Russia in the world map packet and noted we did a story on it. We talked for a while in class about this latest update in terms of North Korea's missile technology and what it might mean for us. We also checked in about this past weekend.

Here's the link to see the latest one minute update from BBC World News, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


The next news brief was assigned to Arjun.

Children of Syria: This was a fantastic documentary that recently came out (last year - it was nominated for an Academy Award) on PBS Frontline. Part of the learning target for the unit is tying demographics in with current events, so this was perfect. Here is the assignment that I passed out with the movie:


Here is a link to watch the documentary, if you missed class, or wanted to watch it again at home with your family. An hour really well spent:


Review: After the documentary, a few random students were asked to answer questions from the documentary review. Thank you for your input and thoughts here! I hope everyone was really engaged with answering the questions and watching the film.

Trends: At the end of class, it should have been work time to continue to fill out the demographics packet of information. We will continue this next class (it will likely be due later in the week). Thanks, everyone!
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Thursday, May 11, 2017

Demographics, Day 1 - Class Recap


A Vietnamese man and his son, in the streets of Hanoi, 2011.

Hi everyone,

A lot of work today, with the start of our new unit on demographics! We also reviewed the religion test and then started up work on the demographic indicators packet. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 10: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Ordinary People" by John Legend. Selected for today because demographics is the statistical study of people. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/11/17:
News Brief – Sophia
Demographics
Indicators
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog! Finish one column (all four pages) of data for the country on the demographics profile (your personal copy is linked to on Google Classroom). If you have not turned in your Historical Investigation, please do so immediately. Next news brief: Abhigya.
---
News Brief: Sophia had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Yemen war: Surge in cholera outbreak kills 34 - WHO. We found Yemen in the world map packet and noted that we did a news brief story about it. I talked for a while in class about the ongoing war there, and how Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and UAE all have interests. As usual, I asked the class if they were up to anything fun or interesting outside of class - especially with it being Mother's Day weekend.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


The next news brief was assigned to Abhigya.

I also talked about the short answer question on the back of the religion test. If you did poorly on this test, you will have the opportunity to retake it with the final project.

Demographics: Our next unit is on demographics. We started this section of class by watching this video about population, health, and income over time, which I think is an amazing way to visualize all that data:


Demographics really help in determining what a country is like, when it comes to the people inside of it. We will be doing a lot of work with data and statistics in this unit!

Indicators: To further explain the concept of demographics, I went through this PowerPoint and asked students to take quick notes about what demographics are:


Hopefully, you are beginning to get an understanding about how demographics work and why they are useful in determining what is going on with people in a country.

After the presentation, I passed out this assignment, which we did today in class using the links on Google Classroom:

Google Drive: Demographics Development Indicators

To get the information needed to complete this (I asked students to just split the columns up for people to work on, like one person taking the United States), students needed to find the statistics for countries on the CIA World Factbook (some of the statistics might be found from other sources, too). Students should complete the last column with a country of their choice (possibly the country from the historical investigation?).

Work Time: The rest of the class was spent working on finding different development statistics on the US, Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip in class using Chromebooks. Again, please have one full column (all four pages) completed for next week, when I will provide some time to finish before we discuss the data and what it means.

Thanks for your continued hard work! Keep working on getting your grades up, if at all possible! :-)
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Friday, May 20, 2016

Demographics, Day 5 - Class Recap


I will be gone at the state tennis tournament today (Friday) for Westview! This photo is of my favorite tennis player, Roger Federer, playing in Eugene, Oregon.

Dear class,

I really appreciate your hard work today in class, in advance, as we had a work day to wrap up the demographics unit and check in about grades in order to improve them by next Thursday, if possible. Here's what we did today in class (with the sub and Eli leading the way):

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 9: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own" by U2. Selected for today because we had a work day for me to help students in understanding how to improve their grade in class. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/20/16:
News Brief – Trevor
Election Review
Demographics Work
Grade Check

Homework: Read the blog! Finish your demographic unit work (see below for links). The last day I will accept any late/missing/revised work for the semester is next Thursday. Next news brief: _____.
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News Brief: Trevor had the news brief today and (possibly) selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - EgyptAir Flight 804: Wreckage found, airline official says. We found Egypt in the world map packet and talked about this story, as it was breaking news as of this morning. It does sound like some of the wreckage has been found now.

Here's the link to see the latest one minute BBC World News update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


The next news brief was assigned to _____.

Demographics Work: The rest of class was spent as work time (hopefully you were able to turn in the whole packet today) for the demographics packet:

Google Drive: Demographics Development Indicators

Students needed to find the statistics for countries on the CIA World Factbook (some of the statistics might be found from other sources, too).

The next assignment was related to the Children of Syria documentary in class.

Here is the assignment that I passed out with the movie:


Here is a link to watch the documentary, if you missed class, or wanted to watch it again at home with your family. An hour really well spent:

Next, we did the End of Poverty reading and assignment last class:


Here is the reading that goes along with the assignment:


Finally, we watched World in the Balance and did an assignment related to that. Here is the assignment:


And here is the video we watched in class:


All four of the assignments, in order, were what was due today in class. I appreciate your work on this!

Grade Check: As students were working, I was hoping the sub and Eli would talk with everyone in class one by one, so they could go over every grade, along with what was missing (if anything) and needing to be turned in or revised by next week. You should have a plan of action for this weekend, if you need to do work for me! If you have everything in, rest up and get ready for the final unit of the year, which we will start next week! Have a great weekend, everyone!
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Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Demographics, Day 4 - Class Recap


The pathway along a Shinto shrine in Toyko, Japan. Today, we learned about the demographic pressures on Japan's population - especially when it comes to a very elderly population. Photo taken in 2014.

Hi everyone,

It is always nice to see you all in the morning! Today, we watched a documentary about population and demographics. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 9: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" by Tomoyasu Hotei. Selected for today because we learned more about Japan's battle against demographic trends in their population, and because it was Election Day yesterday, and because you are battling towards the end of the year!

AGENDA 5/18/16:
Election Night News Brief – Isaac
World in the Balance
Review
Demographics Work

Homework: Read the blog! Finish your demographic unit work (see below for links). The last day I will accept any late/missing/revised work for the semester is next Thursday. Next news brief: Trevor.
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Election Night News Brief: Isaac had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Sri Lanka mudslide leaves scores missing. We found Sri Lanka in the world map packet and talked about this story, as well as saw an update about it on BBC World News.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


The next news brief was assigned to Trevor.

We also talked about the election results from the entire state of Oregon, which can be found here :


Here is the link for Multnomah County election results. My mom, Amanda Fritz, has won re-election to her job as Portland City Commissioner. Yay!


In the primary for local positions (like my mom's), a candidate needs over 50% of the vote in order to be declared the overall winner (no further election needed). If no candidate gets to 50%, then the top two candidates face off in the general election in November.

World in the Balance: This was a NOVA documentary that we watched together in class. I was asking students to write about the three countries in the film: India, Japan, and Kenya, and what their population/demographics is like. Here is the assignment that goes with this:


And here is the video we watched in class:


Thank you for your focus and interest in this! As I said before watching it, I think the issues are really interesting and worth our time to learn about.

Review/Demographics Work: We did not have much time at the end of class today, but I did want to link to the assignments in the demographics unit, which are as follows:

Google Drive: Demographics Development Indicators

Students needed to find the statistics for countries on the CIA World Factbook (some of the statistics might be found from other sources, too).

The next assignment was related to the Children of Syria documentary in class.

Here is the assignment that I passed out with the movie:


Here is a link to watch the documentary, if you missed class, or wanted to watch it again at home with your family. An hour really well spent:

Next, we did the End of Poverty reading and assignment last class:


Here is the reading that goes along with the assignment:


Please have all of your demographics work ready to turn in at the end of next class, as I will give work time and also check in about everyone's grades! Thank you!
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Monday, May 16, 2016

Demographics, Day 3 - Class Recap


My brother visited Portland this past weekend! Here I am with my sister and brother with my mom in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, over Winter Break 2014.

Dear class,

There was a fair amount of reviewing data and reading today - thanks for following along. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 9: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "The End" by The Doors. Selected for today because of "The End of Poverty" reading, and because we are approaching the end of the school year.

AGENDA 5/16/16:
News Brief – Christian H.
The End of Poverty
Group Work
Finish Demographic Packets

Homework: Read the blog! All late/missing/incomplete/revised work is due next Thursday, May 26. This is the last time I will accept any work from the semester before the final. Next news brief: Isaac.
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News Brief: Christian H. had the news brief today and talked about this story for the news brief: CNN.com - Kenya's $13 billion railway project is taking shape. We found Kenya in the world map packet and talked about this story, including the importance of development in Africa, and why it might be that China is helping to finance the project. After the news brief, we checked in about the weekend.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

The next news brief was assigned to Isaac.

The End of Poverty: This was based on learning more about what life is like in different countries. I asked the class to split up based on how fast students thought they were at reading, and assigned this paper and reading to a group of four:


Here is the reading that goes along with the assignment:


Group Work: We spent a good time in class going through this in groups, and then going over it afterwards. Hold on to these completed assignments, please!

Finish Demographics Work: We did not have the time in class to do much of this, but your demographics work will be due later this week, so please finish all of the assignments related to it!

Thanks for your focus and work today in class!
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Thursday, May 12, 2016

Demographics, Day 2 - Class Recap


Photo taken in 2007 at the Denver Aquarium.

Dear class,

We continued looking at demographics today, through the very recent documentary "Children of Syria" which does a great job giving a case study of the Syrian refugee crisis. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 9: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. Selected for today because being happy could actually be considered a demographic indicator. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/12/16:
News Brief – Zack
Children of Syria
Review
Trends

Homework: Read the blog! Finish your demographics packet! Next news brief: .
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News Brief: Zack had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Fort McMurray fire: 2,400 structures gone, 10% of city destroyed. We talked about this ongoing news story and found Canada in the world map. I also asked about what students were up to outside of the classroom, as always! :-)

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


Children of Syria: This was a fantastic documentary that recently came out (like, within a month) on PBS Frontline. Part of the learning target for the unit is tying demographics in with current events, so this was perfect. Here is the assignment that I passed out with the movie:


Here is a link to watch the documentary, if you missed class, or wanted to watch it again at home with your family. An hour really well spent:


Review: After the documentary, I selected a few random students to answer questions from the documentary review. Thank you for your input and thoughts here! I was glad to see that almost everyone was really engaged with answering the questions and watching the film.

Trends: Next class, if you have any time remaining after the reading and group work, please use the time to work with your partners on writing down the demographic trend information for the USA, Israel, West Bank, and Gaza Strip in the packet we worked on last class. Thanks, everyone! I will miss you all - have a great rest of the week!
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Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Demographics, Day 1 - Class Recap


A Vietnamese man and his son, in the streets of Hanoi, 2011.

Hi everyone,

A lot of work today, with the start of our new unit on demographics! We also reviewed the religion test and then went to the Computer Lab. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 10: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Ordinary People" by John Legend. Selected for today because demographics is the statistical study of people. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/10/16:
News Brief – David
Demographics
Indicators
Computer Lab N210

Homework: Read the blog! Finish your one column (all four pages) of data for the country on the demographics profile. If you have not turned in your Historical Investigation, please do so immediately. Next news brief: Zack.
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News Brief: David had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: Telegraph.co.uk - Snowboarders build a snowpark in an abandoned ski resort in Slovenia. We found Slovenia in the world map packed and noted that we did a news brief story about it. As usual, I asked the class if they were up to anything fun or interesting outside of class - especially with it being Mother's Day weekend.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


The next news brief was assigned to Zack.

I also talked about the short answer question on the back of the religion test, and how I used that as another opportunity to show proficiency on Critical Thinking LT 2 (another historical investigation target). If you did poorly on this test, you will have the opportunity to retake it with the final project.

Demographics: Our next unit is on demographics. We started this section of class by watching this video about population, health, and income over time, which I think is an amazing way to visualize all that data:


Demographics really help in determining what a country is like, when it comes to the people inside of it. We will be doing a lot of work with data and statistics in this unit!

Indicators: To further explain the concept of demographics, I went through this PowerPoint and asked students to take quick notes about what demographics are:


Hopefully, you are beginning to get an understanding about how demographics work and why they are useful in determining what is going on with people in a country.

After the presentation, I passed out this assignment, which we did today in the Computer Lab:

Google Drive: Demographics Development Indicators

To get the information needed to complete this (I asked students to just split the columns up for people to work on, like one person taking the United States), students needed to find the statistics for countries on the CIA World Factbook (some of the statistics might be found from other sources, too). Students did not need to do the last column (another country of choice).

Computer Lab N210: The rest of the class was spent working on finding different development statistics on the US, Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip in the Computer Lab. Again, please have one full column (all four pages) completed for next class, when I will provide some time to finish (not in the computer lab) before we discuss the data and what it means.

Thanks for your continued hard work! Keep working on getting your grades up, if at all possible! :-)
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Friday, May 15, 2015

Demographics, Day 4 - Class Recap


We learned about the country of Bhutan (and Gross National Happiness) today in class. Bhutan has an endangered population of tigers. Photo taken in 2007 at the Denver Aquarium.

Dear class,

Today marked the end of the short and sweet demographic unit. I introduced a last assignment, then there was work time in class to finish everything and turn it in, as I checked in with students that still have Historical Investigation work to get to me. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 10: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. Selected for today because we were talking in class about Gross National Happiness. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/15/15:
News Brief – Ben
Bhutan
Gross National Happiness
Demographics Work

Homework: Read the blog! Demographic unit work (see below) due today in class. If you have not turned in your Historical Investigation, please do so immediately. The last day to turn anything related to the Historical Investigation in is due by 2:40 PM today, printed and handed in to me in person. Next news brief: Austin.
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News Brief: Ben had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Chinese baby rescued after being buried alive. What an incredibly depressing story. As I was reading this over before posting, it appears that the baby boy was abandoned due to being born with a cleft lip. So awful.

We also watched VICE News for the day and checked in about what is going on this weekend, before moving on.

The next news brief was assigned to Austin.

Bhutan: To start this section of learning about a country we have not talked much about, I showed where Bhutan is on the map, and then this video about the country creating a "Gross National Happiness" demographic indicator:


I explained that Gross National Happiness was a way at looking at different demographic factors so that the happiness of the people in the country is emphasized, over how much money people have.

Gross National Happiness: The last assignment of the demographics unit was based on the GNH indicator we learned about in the video. Here is the assignment, which is a reading and questions related to it:


This was the final assignment out of four used in the collection of evidence for your Knowledge Target 10 score for demographics.

Demographics Work: The rest of class was devoted to quiet work (as I checked in with students about grades and the Historical Investigation) on the demographics unit, which was due at the end of class. Here are the assignments in the unit, if you are needing to finish them:

Assignment #1:

Students needed to find the statistics for countries on the CIA World Factbook (some of the statistics might be found from other sources, too).

Assignment #2:


Here is the reading that goes along with the assignment:


Assignment #3:

This was a NOVA documentary (link here) that we watched together in class (up until close to the end). I was asking students to write about the three countries in the film: India, Japan, and Kenya, and what their population/demographics is like. Here is the assignment that goes with this:



Assignment #4:

As linked to above, this was about Gross National Happiness and Gross Domestic Product:


All of these were due in class today. If you did not finish, please turn them in to me (stapled together). If you have any questions about any of this and what to do, please let me know and I will try to help! Have a great weekend! We are almost to the finish line! :-)
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