Period 4: Turmoil in the Middle East, Day 10 - Class Recap

Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The founders of our country debated here to create the Constitution! Picture by Mr. Fritz, May 23, 2008.
Period 4,

That was an interesting class today, in a number of ways. I think that we had some really good thoughts about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict come out, but I also think that the overwhelming amount of people that were just plain unprepared (see rule #2 that you guys made for the class) or not willing to participate (rule #3) was really disheartening. At some point, I guess I have to be willing to say that some of you simply just do not care and there is very little I can do to stop that. For those that were prepared and participating in class, I really appreciate your efforts, despite those that were not. On to the recap!

Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What are the factors to consider in the development of a Palestinian state?

Soundtrack: "Talk" by Coldplay. Lyrics here. Picked because it is a great song for talking and debating, as we did in class today.

AGENDA 5/12/09:
News Brief
Proficiency Packet
Comprehending the Debate
Project Work

Homework: Continue to work on final project. Read blog recap!

If you have lost your assignment sheet for the Final Project (I would not be surprised, considering the amount of people that lost the PowerPoint notes), it can be downloaded in the post below. Basically, I want you to continue thinking about ways to relate to people, and connect cultures and countries!

News Brief: A few interesting items to note, after we watched the "Wildcat News" and I handed back your Middle East Map Quizzes (again, you can retake this once for more credit, if you want). First, we had a story about places around Portland that are haunted. I cannot really find a news source for that one.

Someone mentioned the story of a baggage container getting sucked into an aircraft's engines. Here's the source for that: MSNBC.com - Airliner engine sucks in luggage container. Crazy picture there too! This was a Japan Airlines 747, in Los Angeles. Airplanes definitely connect cultures and countries! I really love everything to do with aviation, so this was a cool story.

Finally, I noted a follow up to Morgan's article a week or so ago about the Iranian-American reporter that was convicted of spying and sentenced to 8 years in an Iranian prison, after a one day trial. Fortunately, the diplomatic pressure was enough to free her today. Source: Reuters.com - Freed U.S.-born reporter says to rest, be with family.

Nikola, I need you to do the news article for next class, on Thursday. Please remember and come prepared. Thank you.

Proficiency Packet: I introduced this packet as a way to look at proficiency in Social Studies. This is a lot like Math, except we are looking at things like, "Can you identify and explain the critical components of an event, issue or problem?"

We will be using the rest of the packet (and some additions) to go through and construct your explanation paper and final creative product for the unit. So, to begin explaining the who, what, when, where, and why on an event, issue, or problem, I provided the Associated Press game recap ESPN.com - Outlaw scores 21 as Blazers claim home-court advantage. We read this as a class together and then I asked you to write identify and explain the critical components of the event! A fun transition here.

After that, I asked you to use that same skill to identify and explain the main parts of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, using the PowerPoint notes and any other information you know. After some hesitation about exactly what I was asking you to do with each question, I think this went pretty well! Remember, the more that you can explain or put down, the better. If I ask who is involved, it is not enough to say Israelis and Palestinians. What are the characteristics of those two groups?

Hopefully the recap on the board helped you out as well. This is something we are going to continue to explore! We really want to know, do you have this certain skill? Thanks for participating in this!

Comprehending the Debate: At this point in class, I asked everyone to think of something to debate (since I had arranged the room with two desks facing each other). We ended up debating the death penalty, using a handy sheet in your packet. The sheet was made using the amazingly interesting and helpful ProCon.org website. The page on the death penalty can be found here, while the "1 Minute Overview" that we used in class can be found here.

To begin, I told everyone facing the windows to argue the "Pro" position, while everyone facing the hall was "Con." We debated for about three minutes. I think it was a great start. I then turned the tables and had everyone had to debate the side that they were just arguing against.

Then, we argued another issue, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict! The ProCon.org page for this debate can be found here (that would definitely be a good website to look over for your project, if you have time), and the "1 Minute Overview" that we used in class can be found here.

After this, I asked why we would do the debate in class. I really liked the responses! Empathy, perspective, comprehending what the issue is - all of it. We debated both sides of the table for three minutes each, and then came back together to write down some of the aspects of both sides. Using this list, I had you do a five minute response to the questions in your skills packet. Remember to keep this handy! It will definitely help you in writing your paper, and you do need to turn it in as well!

Then, it was the end of class! We definitely did a lot today (normally the skills would be on two different days). Thank you for working hard on this! You will be turning these packets in to me, so make sure that they are constructed well!

Project Work: Unfortunately, we ran out of time and did not have any to devote to working on your projects in class. That is okay, because I know you are making good use of your time outside of class! :-)
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That should just about do it. Have a lovely evening! I will be here at school for football meetings until about 7:00 tonight (Tuesday), but should be pretty good at getting back to any comments or e-mails in a timely fashion. Let's come to class with a renewed sense of purpose on Thursday, please! :-)