Geography, Day 2 - Class Recap

The ball of yarn that we used in class today for the Class Unity Activity! Thanks for participating in this!

Dear class,

I enjoyed getting to know you all a bit better today! We had a productive time with the yarn activity and learning more about what is going on in the world at the end of the class. If you did not finish the philosophy reading and questions, it is homework. Come prepared to discuss it next class!

Learning Targets Addressed: 

Knowledge LT 6: I can demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of locations and regions.
Knowledge LT 7: I can demonstrate the ability to use geographic tools.

Soundtrack: "Comin' From Where I'm From" by Anthony Hamilton. Because today, we talked about where we are from and how we got to be at Westview, via our family background. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/10/14:
PRIDE Lesson
News Brief
Class Unity Activity
Photos
Global Discussion

Homework: Read the blog and post a comment (if you have not already). Bring a photo if you have not already! The next news brief is assigned to: Jovani.

PRIDE Lesson: The PRIDE lesson for today's class focused on the overall acronym and what it means. I asked everyone to get in a line from:

PRIDE is a set of character values that if I make my own will help me be more successful in my career, my relationships, and my life.

to

PRIDE is a thought control gimmick conceived of by school officials to make me do stuff I don’t want to do.

This was a good way to start the class, I think! Thanks for your honest thoughts and participation.

News Brief: Andrew had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: CNN.com - Scotland's vote on independence: What you need to know. We had talked a little bit about this last class, but it was nice to go into more depth. Basically, Scotland is deciding later this month whether or not to be its own country. Since it is currently part of the United Kingdom, it would basically be like going from Oregon's relationship to Washington, to Washington's relationship to Canada (with a new border, new money, new passports, etc). It's a very interesting debate - especially for me as a British citizen! Thanks, Andrew! Jovani, you are next up.

Class Unity Activity: I always love this, for many reasons. One, because I love hearing about how everyone came to be in our classroom. Two, because of how the yarn connects us all. Three, because it helps the class (and me) learn names and a little about each other! Thank you for participating in this. It can get lengthy, I know, but I value it so much more than just lecturing for that time.

Photos: When we got back to the classroom, we heard from students who remembered to do their homework and bring in a photo from a place they have been, a place they want to go, or a picture of their family. I really enjoyed this, but I wish more students had remembered to do their homework! If you did not bring in a picture, please do so next class.

Global Discussion: At the end of the class, I asked students to get back into the groups from analyzing the pictures from last class and then asked what happened in the world over the summer. We came up with a pretty good list as a class. Next time, we will analyze this a bit more and talk about it!

We finished with that. Please be ready to discuss next class! Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks!

Geography, Day 1 - Class Recap

Quite possibly my favorite picture I've ever taken: at the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. It's also on the back wall as the representative for Europe.

Hi everyone,

Welcome to your first weekend of the school year! I am definitely looking forward to resting up a bit after a frenetic start to the year. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed: 

Knowledge LT 6: I can demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of locations and regions.
Knowledge LT 7: I can demonstrate the ability to use geographic tools.

Soundtrack: "This is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan. Mostly because of the lyrics "it's Friday night, and I feel alright" and our football team winning last Friday.

AGENDA 9/8/14:
News Brief
The Wall
Geography
Map Quiz

Homework: Bring a photo (see details below). Read the blog and post a comment (if you have not already). Andrew has the next news brief. Have a great weekend!

News Brief: Skylar brought in the first news brief of the year and selected this article to talk about: Gov.uk - About the NATO Summit Wales 2014. We talked about what NATO is (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization). We also briefly talked about the war in Afghanistan and the current conflict in Ukraine. All in all, it was a great start to the news brief section! Thanks, Skylar! Andrew, you are up next.

The Wall: As a get to know you and get to know the room activity, I split the class up into six groups. Everyone in the group was responsible for knowing everyone else's name. I also assigned each group to look at one of the big photo posters in the back - trying to analyze where they were taken and different aspects of them. It was just an attempt to try and get everyone to work together and use some critical thinking skills. I revealed during this exercise that I took all of the photos that are currently on the back wall. I love traveling and photography! :-)

Your homework was to find a photo to contribute to the back wall. Just a regular 4 x 6 print is 29 cents at Walgreens (I know, because that's what I used to print some of the photos for the back wall). It has to be able to be stapled up (so don't use the last copy of a precious family photo). Here's what I am looking for (choose one):

1) A photo of a place you have been to before.

2) A photo of a place that you want to go to.

3) A photo of you or your family.

I am really excited to see what everyone brings in! Again, if you need help with this, please email me or comment on the blog. I am hoping for an amazing back wall, full of all sorts of pictures from our adventures, hopes, and families! :-)

Geography: Next up, I showed this clip of Miss Teen South Carolina 2007, trying to answer a question about why many Americans cannot locate the United States on a world map:

I didn't mean to further embarrass Miss Teen South Carolina. I just wanted to show why it is important that we know our geography! So, I passed out a blank piece of paper that asked everyone to try and draw a world map from memory, labeling as much as possible. Some of these were pretty good! Others, not so much. That's okay! We definitely can improve on our geography skills, and I am excited to teach you about it. 

The back side of the sheet asked you to self assess your work on a scale of 1-4, using a grading rubric that will be similar as to how I will grade the learning targets for the class. I did not see any 4 maps (highly proficient). There were lots of 1-2 scores. Maybe a few 3 scores. Lots of room for improvement, which is great!

Map Quiz: After the fun of trying to draw the world, we didn't have all that much time left in class. So, I changed up the script (we will do some of the activities on the original agenda next time) and we played the Sporcle online map game. You guys were amazing for the first time! A score of 113 out of 197 in 15:00 minutes is fantastic for a first time playing. My thanks to Jillian for helping me call on students. Again, we will get better about learning about the world! Here's the game to play if you are a huge nerd like me (yes, I have named all of them in 15 minutes before):

Sporcle.com - Geography: Name the Countries of the World Game

We ended just as the game ended. I hope you had fun today! Let's get back to work next class. Remember to bring a photo in for the wall! :-)

Introduction Day - Class Recap

The start of a year long journey together! This is the road to Monument Valley, on the Arizona/Utah border, this summer.

Hello everyone,

Thank you for doing your homework and visiting the blog! As I said in class, I think this is a really helpful resource for students, staff, and parents to be able to follow along with what is happening. After every class, I will write up a recap and post it. Most of the time, your only homework will be to read over the blog and be prepared for what is coming next in class. With that, let's get started!

Soundtrack: "Changes" by 2Pac. I always choose this song to start off a new class with, because I like the idea of our room being somewhat different from your other experiences in high school. This song also has all sorts of lyrics that relate to Global Studies, like the line "Can't a brother get a little peace? There's war on the streets and the war in the Middle East." Check out the full lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/4/14:
Introductions/Attendance
Syllabus/Grades
The Blog
Letter to Class/Mr. Fritz
Create Ground Rules
News Briefs

Homework: Share syllabus with parents. Bring binder. Check the blog and post a comment! Next news brief: Skylar.

Introductions/Attendance: At the start of class, I introduced myself and how the agenda on the whiteboard works. I am absolutely delighted to be your teacher at Westview this year!

I took attendance and tried to ask everyone how they wanted me to address them. It will take me some time, but eventually, I will know everyone's names, I promise!

Syllabus/Grades: I know that this is not the most exciting content in class. I wanted to make sure to go over some of the real key points to the syllabus (like where I am, how to contact me, how your grade is decided, and the need to bring a binder to class). Here is an electronic copy of the syllabus and rubrics:

Google Drive: Westview Global Studies Syllabus and Rubrics

If you or your parents have any questions about any of this, please let me know!

The Blog: As part of the syllabus, I introduced this website: the class blog! This is seriously so important for your success in this class. If you are staying up to date on here, reviewing what happened in class to get ready for the next meeting, and asking questions if you need help, I guarantee that you will be more successful than if you do not. Make sure to leave a comment at least once (the easiest homework assignment of all time for most students, I believe), so I know you are able to!

Letter to Class/Mr. Fritz: After the syllabus talk was done, I passed out a letter that I wrote to the class, explaining all about who I am and what sort of expectations I have. Hopefully, most of it was interesting information! I like passing these out and signing them all individually. To me, it represents that I really am interested in everyone in my class.

After reading the letter aloud, I asked everyone to write back to me in a similar sort of fashion. I gave a bunch of possible questions to answer as prompts and about 30 minutes or so to complete the assignment. I LOVE reading these and writing back to everyone! Thank you for your effort - I can't wait to learn a little bit more about who you are!

Create Ground Rules: Ahh, yes. The awkward process. You did not do too badly with this! The rules that you came up with and agreed to as an entire class are:

1. Do Your Best
2. Respect
3. Keep An Open Mind
4. Come Prepared
5. Try to Have Fun

I will be working to make sure everyone, including myself, is following the ground rules! Thank you for participating in this exercise.

News Briefs: This is the current event style assignment that everyone will do at least once. Basically, all I want is for someone (I will assign it) to bring in a print out (or email me) of an current news article (within the last two weeks) that is a story about something outside the United States (since this is a Global Studies class). We will talk for about 5-10 minutes at the start of class about whatever article this is - just as a way to help make class relevant and interesting to you and what is going on every day in the world.

Thank you for reading! See you next class!