Introduction Day - Class Recap

The start of a year long journey together! This is the road to Monument Valley, on the Arizona/Utah border, during the summer of 2014.

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 9/10/15:
Introductions/Attendance
Syllabus/Grades
Letter to Class/Mr. Fritz
The Blog
Create Ground Rules
News Briefs

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

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

Global Studies: Westview Global Studies Grading Rubrics

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


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!

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!

Create Ground Rules: Ahh, yes. The awkward process of making community rules! The rules that you came up with and agreed to as an entire class are:

• Act With Integrity
• Respect Others
• Keep an Open Mind
• Ask For Help When Needed
• Be Responsible

I will be working to make sure everyone, including myself, is following the ground rules! Thank you for participating in this exercise. I will post these in the room and on the top right of the blog.

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.

Jonathan kindly volunteered to do the first news brief. :-)

Thank you for reading! See you next class!

Welcome to the Blog!

The dawn of a new day and year over Westview!

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the Period 2 blog for my Global Studies class at Westview during the 2015-16 school year! Before I begin with posting updates via class recaps, let me give you a little introduction to this website.

First off, comments can be made on any post by anyone, and they can be anonymous (though I would really prefer that you leave your name, so that I can follow up with you in person) by selecting "Name/URL" on the right, underneath the comment box. Please try to use good spelling and grammar in your comments! I have to approve the comments before they are posted, so don't worry if you don't see your comment right away.

Secondly, because I will be putting up the class agenda and homework, as well as any interesting links (after class has met), I will attempt to give you ways to download the relevant files and documents you may have missed in class or would be interested in seeing again for your homework (or just because). For instance, here is the syllabus that I passed out in class:

Google Drive: Westview Global Studies 2015-16 Syllabus

The rubrics for how you will be assessed/graded this year can be found here:

Google Drive: Westview Global Studies 2015-16 Grading Rubrics

Finally, to contact me personally (other than leaving a comment - which I may or may not see immediately), please e-mail me at luke_fritz@beaverton.k12.or.us - this can always be found by clicking on "View My Complete Profile" on the right, where my picture is, then clicking on "Email" on the left sidebar. I will get back to you ASAP! Again, please use grammatically correct language and spelling, to the best of your ability. It really is appreciated and will go a long way for you in the future!

I know it might be a lot to take in, but hopefully we will all get used to it! I envision this blog as a place where you will be able to come to converse with your classmates and me, as well as get all the latest assignments, updates from class, and further information.

If you have any questions or comments, please never hesitate to let me know!

Welcome again - thanks for visiting. Please bookmark this site and come back soon! :-)

Semester Finals - Class Recap

Sunset over Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was a great semester, everyone! Thank you for your hard work! Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Today was our last day of class for the year. We had our final Israel-Palestine Peace Conference, reflection on the year, and then talked about life and what is coming up for a while. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Communication LT 2: I can use language and style that is appropriate to the content area.
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.
Knowledge LT 20:  I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements. Knowledge LT 22:  I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.

Soundtrack: "Thankful" by Kelly Clarkson. Selected for today because I always choose this song for the last day of class, since I am so thankful to get to teach you all. Especially this year, which was a pretty challenging one, with my dad being killed - it was so helpful to be able to come to class and work with you. Thank you! Lyrics (some of which I read aloud in class) are here.

AGENDA 6/12/15:

News Brief – Bhavya
Peace Conference/Final
Pictures/Stories
Happy Summer!

Homework: Read the blog (if you want)! Have a great summer! Let me know if I can help you at any point in the future! :-)

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News Brief: Bhavya had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: TheGuardian.com - Israel exonerates itself over Gaza beach killings of four children last year. This was perfect, as it directly related to our final project for the year. Thanks, Bhavya.

We also watched VICE News for the last time today. If you want to stay up to date with these, look at the VICE News Playlist on YouTube - they are updated every weekday!

I talked in class about the importance of following the news and trying to stay up to date with what is happening in your city, state, country, and world. Knowledge is power! Try to stay plugged in to what is going on, if you can!

Peace Conference/Final: As promised, this was the Israel and Palestine Peace Conference. First, we had speeches (students that needed to demonstrate a Communication grade) that explained various aspects of the conflict and proposed possible solutions. Then, I led a discussion based on the different issues. I tried to ask everyone for their thoughts at least once. Generally, I thought this was quite good, and students seemed to know their stuff. Thank you for your effort on this! I look forward to reading your papers, as well.

The last part to the final was a reflection short answer about how the year went in Global Studies - what you learned, what you will put into practice in your life, and what you will remember five years from now. I look forward to reading these!

There is a fair amount of work involved in grading the finals, as well as late work that I need to grade. So, I anticipate having the grades submitted on Monday, but it could possibly be earlier.

Pictures/Stories: The end of class was set aside for some time to talk about summer (and collect pictures from the back wall, if students remembered). There wasn't a whole lot of time, but I did want to show this video (which was interrupted at the end) to encourage you to get out and explore the world this summer and in your lives:

Happy Summer! Thank you all so much for being so wonderful to work with. I truly loved teaching each and every one of you, and I hope you know that I care about you and want you to be successful in the future. Take care of yourselves and I hope to see you around! Have a great summer! :-)