Geography, Day 1 - Class Recap

The ball of yarn that we used in class today for the Class Unity Activity! Thanks for participating in this!

Dear class,

I enjoyed getting to know you all a bit better today! We had a productive time with the yarn activity and learning more about what is going on in the world at the end of the class. I also loved seeing your photos and having them put up on the walls!

Learning Targets Addressed: 

Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Soundtrack: "Comin' From Where I'm From" by Anthony Hamilton. Because today, we talked about where we are from and how we got to be at Westview, via our family background. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/12/17:
News Brief - Gabe
Photos/Finish Fear
Class Unity Activity
The Summer

Homework: Read the blog and post a comment (if you have not already). Bring a photo if you have not already! The next news brief is assigned to: Jalen.

News Brief: Today's news brief was brought in by Gabe, who selected an article about this story: CNN.com - Iraq sentences ISIS foreign fighter to death. We talked about what is going on with ISIS in Iraq and Syria recently, and looked at the geography of the region a bit. I also asked about the weekend and if anyone did anything particularly fun or interesting. I like checking in and giving the opportunity to see what students are up to!

Jalen was selected to do the next news brief.

As part of the 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

Photos/Finish Fear: After the news, we heard from students who remembered to do their homework and bring in a photo from a place they have been, a place they want to go, or a picture of their family. I really enjoyed this, and it was so cool to see everyone's photos and hear stories! If you did not bring in a picture, please do so next class.

We then shared a bit about the "fear" stories I had the class write last time, because I talked about how the U.S. felt a lot of fear after September 11th. It was interesting (and sometimes pretty funny) to hear the stories that were shared out!

Class Unity Activity: I always love this, for many reasons. One, because I love hearing about how everyone came to be in our classroom. Two, because of how the yarn connects us all. Three, because it helps the class (and me) learn names and a little about each other! Thank you for participating in this. It can get lengthy, I know, but I value it so much more than just lecturing for that time. It was nice to enjoy the sun outside for a bit, too!

The Summer: At the end of the class, I asked students to get back into the groups from analyzing the pictures from last class and then asked what happened in the world over the summer. Next time, we will analyze this a bit more and talk about it!

We finished with that. Please be ready to discuss next class. Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks!