.JPG)
A young Egyptian guy, who wanted me to take his picture in front of the pyramids in Cairo. Photo taken in 2014.
Hi everyone,
Two more weeks of work until a nice break! Lots to do - today, we looked more into Imperialism and Privilege, as I asked students to think about how they may have impacted Rwanda. Here's what happened in class today:
Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 20: I can identify the critical components of imperialism.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Critical Thinking LT 1: I can explain multiple perspectives and viewpoints.
Soundtrack: "Africa for Norway" by SAIH - The Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund. I was projecting this video as students walked in - it is a humorous look at stereotyping, and how Norwegians should not stereotype Africans, because what if the opposite happened. I read the reasoning behind the video in class.
AGENDA 12/5/16:
Wildcat News Brief - Raymond (Mr. Fritz)
Imperialism
Privilege
Speech Work Time
Homework: Read the blog. Rwanda speech due - bring it on your Chromebook. The Rwanda resources will help. Next news brief: Tyler.
News Brief: Raymond had the news brief today, but was absent from class, so I filled in and selected an article about this story: Reuters.com - China says Iran nuclear deal participants should stick to pact, despite internal changes. I talked about what the Iran deal was all about and the possible impacts of President-elect Trump saying it was terrible and should be renegotiated. We found the China on the world map packet and noted we did a news brief there.
Tyler was selected to do the next news brief.
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
Imperialism: Next, I went over the concepts of imperialism and colonialism, in the form of a PowerPoint. Students took notes (if you took Cornell Notes, all the better) on the presentation.
Finally, we also watched Wildcat News today, as well. Here it is if you missed class or wanted to see it again:
One of the learning targets associated with this unit is Knowledge LT 20: I can identify the critical components of imperialism. This presentation was to help students understand how to do that, especially in regards to how Belgium had an impact in Rwanda, long after the independence in 1962.
Privilege: Another component of how we look at people in the world is the concept of privilege. Specifically, white privilege - a system of advantages some people get over others, that are often not even recognized. Here is the reading we went through, by Peggy McIntosh:
Basically, I am asking everyone to think about how our privilege here in America (of being a world superpower) relates to our study of Rwanda. Specifically, I think that race has a lot to do with it. We did a quiet activity with this document, which I think was pretty powerful (the Westview teachers recently did this, too). Thank you for your participation here.
As part of this section, I also provided some counter stories to the negativity surrounding Africa. In particular, I highlighted these:
As part of this section, I also provided some counter stories to the negativity surrounding Africa. In particular, I highlighted these:
This was about how the highest levels of educational achievement in the United States are from African immigrants.
Since some people believe that Africa is very far behind in technology (and to be certain, some places are), I pointed out this story, which is about how Kenya has a system that is the best in the world for sending payments on the go.
I also showed RisingAfrica.org, which has lots of stories about the positive sides of Africa.
Finally, as a challenge assignment for the TAG students in the class, I read the first part of this long article on Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda. If you want to learn more about why the balance in assessing Kagame is so tricky, and enjoy a reading challenge, here's the entire article:
The first part has to do with how clean and safe Kigali is now, which is related to the counter stories I was trying to present.
Speech Work Time: The rest of the class (about 30 minutes) was devoted to working on your speech. Here are the directions, from last class:
The final assignment for the unit and before break is a speech before a mock United Nations, in class. You will be pretending that it is April 24, 1994 - the actual date that arguments were ongoing at the United Nations Security Council about how to respond to the conflict in Rwanda.
There are a few steps in the process to prepare for the speech, which will be given next week. The first is to write a persuasive essay (in the form of a speech you could give). This is due in class (typed, on your Chromebook) next class. Here's the assignment:
As a reminder, this will eventually be a formal speech before break that you give as a part of a group, in front of the class, with myself and another teacher and/or administrator (like Dr. Franco) listening. You are going to need to persuade us to act and do something!
1) The United Nations definition of genocide, as agreed to by the world in 1949. This is helpful, because if you can persuade the United Nations that genocide is occurring in Rwanda, they HAVE to act (because that's what they agreed to).
2) The Eight Stages of Genocide. I read over the stages, but not all of the content describing them. There is a lot of information that might help you craft your speech! You can certainly talk about every stage of genocide, occurring in Rwanda, up to April 24, 1994. Here are some hints on how to do this.
3) A reading that goes over more of the history in Rwanda, what happened during the genocide, and the end. Remember, you can't talk about anything after April 24, 1994, but you can make predictions as to what will happen if the United Nations refuses to act! The reading is pages 5-10 here:
Another resource that might help could be your Cornell Notes from last class, which was on this presentation:
Please be sure to ask me if you have any questions or need help in any way! I'm really excited to see what you can come up with! :-)
I have a question about the Rwanda Genocide speech/Paper. Is the due date for the paper like final draft we turn it in on that day or are we editing it with out peers then turning it in on a later date.
ReplyDeleteHi Chris,
DeleteThanks for the question! The first due date (next class) is for a copy to peer review and get feedback from me, before revising it as part of the writing process. You will then have more time to revise before the ultimate final copy is due.
ok thank you
Delete