Welcome to the Blog!

The dawn of a new day and year over Westview!

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the Period 4 blog for my Global Studies class at Westview during the 2017-18 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 2017-18 Syllabus

The learning targets for the course and rubrics for how you will be assessed/graded this year can be found here:

Google Drive: Westview Global Studies 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 1: 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 9:  I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Knowledge LT 19:  I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements. Knowledge LT 21:  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. Thank you! Lyrics (some of which I read aloud in class) are here.

AGENDA 6/22/17:

News Brief – Samma
Final Presentations
Discussion
Reflection/Adventure

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! I will be at the July 20 coffee shop meeting with Mr. Puterbaugh at the Barnes and Noble Starbucks in Tanasbourne, about summer reading (or anything else you want to), if you are going to that! :-)

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News Brief: Samma had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: TheGuardian.com - Teenage boys wear skirts to school to protest against 'no shorts' policy. For the last time, we found UK in the world map and noted this story. Thanks, everyone for doing this all year and getting better at geography in the process!

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):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

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!

Final Project: 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. We did not have enough time left in class for the discussion, but I look forward to reading everyone's papers! 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.

Reflection: 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, but the deadline to submit our grades is Friday by 3:00 PM, as a heads up.

Adventure: At the end of class, I talked about having the spirit of curiosity in life and whatever you do - that could involve traveling around the world, or even just going to a local stream and exploring. I showed this video, which I've watched probably a hundred times or more to illustrate this - I hope it is as inspiring to you as it is to me, and a good reminder of so much of what we learned this year:

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! :-)

Finals Prep - Class Recap

This past weekend was Father's Day! Here I am with my dad, mom, and both sets of my grandparents, in 2007.

Dear class,

One more day left of the school year together! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Communication LT 1: 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 9:  I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Knowledge LT 19:  I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements. Knowledge LT 21:  I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.

Soundtrack: "Give Peace A Chance" by John Lennon. Selected for today for obvious reasons, as we are working on the prospects of Israeli-Palestinian peace. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 6/20/17:

News Brief – Reese
Final Questions?
Clean Up
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog! Turn in your final project for the year on Google Classroom (specific guide for what to do here). Finals for your period are Thursday at 7:45 AM. Next news brief: Sam.

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News Brief: Reese had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Finsbury Park attack: Theresa May condemns 'sickening' terror attack. We found the United Kingdom in the world map and discussed this most recent terrorist attack on Muslims, which came after Ramadan prayers at a London mosque. After that, we checked in about the weekend and what students were up to outside of class.

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):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Finally, I showed this trailer for a documentary that just came out on Netflix called Disturbing the Peace, about people on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict who are coming together for peace. I watched it last night and highly recommend it!

Final Questions/Clean Up: I told the class to start taking down pictures and posters from the bask wall in order to help clean up the classroom for the end of the year. I also gave time to continue working on Through Middle Eastern Eyes and anything else related to the final. This was an excerpt from a book, which I made a class set of. The two characters are representing the perspectives of Israel and Palestine. Here's the online version if you want to keep working on this at home:

Google Drive - Through Middle Eastern Eyes Excerpt

There is a few pages of timeline and introduction in that, and then the characters start talking on page 229. The two characters in the reading were David (representing Israel) and Daud (representing Palestine). I wanted students to partner up and go through the reading together. Here is the assignment that goes with the reading, to note each perspective and help you prepare for your final assignment:

Google Drive - David and Daud TMEE Assignment

Work Time: The rest of class was set aside for the final project, after Kira and Abhigya presented their final projects. I was checking in with every student as to which learning targets they wanted to be graded on for the final. Speaking of the final project, this form clarifies what the expectation is going to be on the day of the final, as well as what students should be writing/talking about:

Google Drive - Israel and Palestine Final Roles, Issues, Targets, and Format

I'm going to keep it simple and have students just focus on this. You should already know what learning targets you need to work on. Use the chart at the top of the second page to focus your writing/speech notes on the specific issues in the conflict. I know there were a lot of questions on this - please let me know if I can continue clearing this up.

We also played the Sporcle country name game for the last time this year, and ended with a score of 184. An admirable effort, after 4 times played this year!

See you on Thursday for our final class of the year!