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!
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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!
Hey Mr. Fritz! What happens if we can't find a book as a source? Is it mandatory that we have a book as a source?
ReplyDeleteRicardo,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to see you on here! Awesome. No, you do not need to use a book as a source, if you cannot find one. We still want four sources total though.
Thanks!
mr fritz
ReplyDeleteeverytime i go to the blog i always have questions and others also but we never ask personal questions
how are you?
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteInteresting observation! I think that a lot of the time we have personal talk on the blog, but it is mostly restricted to talking about games or the weekend or news and such. That, and I am really a pretty open and easygoing person to begin with, so I think (and hope) that people are comfortable expressing their thoughts and questions about class or life in general on here.
As for your question: I am doing well, and excited to see what everyone brings in to peer review for my Period 1 class tomorrow! I have been running on close to empty as far as sleep and energy goes the last week or so, but I am finding my reserves. Still lots to do before the end of the year! In fact, I should really get back to grading now...
:-)
i thought we only need 3 sources... do we need four?
ReplyDeleteMary,
ReplyDeleteFour sources is what we are aiming for, yes. It also makes your paper easier to write.
okay thanks :) it made it way easier!
ReplyDeleteWhat are we turning in tomorrow?
ReplyDeleteNasser,
ReplyDeleteYou are lucky that I am still up, writing the Period 1 blog! If you look at the homework section on this recap, you can see:
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.
Sound good?
Yeah, I just wanted to make sure that was the only things due. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteOh, we can use people as a resource right? Because I interviewed my dad who lived threw it.
ReplyDeleteNasser,
ReplyDeleteIt would be "through" it in that case, and yes, you can use interviews as long as you take detailed notes about what was actually said and attach them to your paper so I know where you got your information.