A 2006 version of the McDonald's Dollar Menu. How many of you could live on a bottled water and a double cheeseburger, for the ENTIRE day? Especially day after day? Great article on the effects of the dollar menu in today's economy: CBS.com - Cheap Food Trumps Healthy Dining During Recession.
Good afternoon class!
Thanks for another interesting day! I hope that really delving into learning some content on the Middle East was an enjoyable experience! I know that there are times when PowerPoints and lectures are really boring and that you do not see the point. However, I can assure you that it is all very much related to what we are doing in class and you personally. There is really SO MUCH there to think about and consider, especially when you think about our essential questions for the day.
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What is the impact of religion on policy in the Middle East? - Question for those that are diligent in actually reading this: what is one thing that we talked about today that connects countries?
Soundtrack: "It Takes Two" by Zac Efron. Chosen, like I said in class, because I went into my iTunes folder and searched for "two" - and also because I wanted to appeal to some of the fans of musicals in the class. This song is from the Hairspray soundtrack.
AGENDA 4/30/09: News Brief The (Two) Dollar Menu Middle East PowerPoint Women in Afghanistan Brandon Roy
First, look over the PowerPoint below and your notes, because it is very much related to what we will be doing in the next few days!
I will talk about this a little more in the "Brandon Roy" section, but again, with the late work: please, please do not lose hope or give up on getting things revised and turned in. I am absolutely here to help and work with you on everything. Come in and see me during your lunch period, after school, before school, or even easier, e-mail me at luke_fritz@beavton.k12.or.us and I will get back to you ASAP.
News Brief: Austin brought in an article about relations between the United States and the United Arab Emirates: CNN.com - Torture tape delays U.S.-UAE nuclear deal, say U.S. officials. This led into a really interesting discussion about torture in the United States, and the press conference President Obama held last night, on the 100th day of being in office.
But no matter how hard one tries, one cannot credibly argue that, while waterboarding was a crime when committed by the Japanese in World War II, it is not a crime when committed by the United States in the 21st Century.
Bush administration veterans, led by Cheney, are poised to renew a high-volume debate over the efficacy of the interrogation methods and, more broadly, the approach to terrorism that Obama's predecessor took after Sept. 11, 2001. Cheney called this week for the release of more memos that he said would demonstrate how effective the tactics were. And in an interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity, he made it clear that he is ready to wage a battle over who is right.
"The threat is there. It's very real, and it's continuing," Cheney said. "And what the Obama people are doing, in effect, is saying, 'Well, we don't need those tough policies that we had.'"
Very, very interesting stuff. Austin, thanks for bringing in that article! Morgan, you are up for next class. Any article about something currently going on outside the United States.
The (Two) Dollar Menu: I asked the class to get out the homework on living on a dollar a day and share them with a partner. Then, I asked for volunteers to share what they wrote with the class. We made a list of things that we would be difficult to do. Hygiene was huge, along with finding ways to get the essentials of life: food, water, and shelter. Many people had examples of homeless people getting help from others around them. What does that say? What amount of people living on $2 a day or less have to depend on more wealthy people for assistance? Further, what can the United States do about it? All good questions that come up after this.
As part of the discussion, I wrote down two things that I wanted to link to: The shocking video of a 91 year old man being beaten up and nobody around helping him as he was on the ground, which can be found here. This is a really interesting sociological dynamic - break free of it! Help people!
Hopefully by putting some serious thought into this, you saw that it would be ridiculously difficult to live on two dollars a day, somewhere in the world.
Middle East PowerPoint: Thank you for paying attention (for the most part) to this! I was a little wary about giving the class the entire PowerPoint in a handout (if you were not in class, please see me for a copy), but I think (and hope) that doing so helped you out, rather than distracted your attention. The PowerPoint can be viewed here:
The main point of this was to look at the role of religion and oil (a non-renewable resource) in the Middle East. Not so coincidentally, this was exactly what the essential questions are based on. Hopefully, you have a little better understanding of the region. Some topics that came up during this part of class, that I said I would try to find out for the blog:
Women in Afghanistan: This is a country that is extremely difficult to control. Russia invaded Afghanistan and got bogged down in a never ending war, when the United States supplied the fighters in Afghanistan. Today, the United States is involved in a long war there, with no real prospects of "victory" any time soon. However, we do support the new government we have installed, with President Hamid Karzai at the helm. Which makes the following video (if you can't watch the video, read this article: CNN.com - Afghanistan 'rape' law puts women's rights front and center) all the more incredible, especially when we assess the state of women's rights in the Middle East:
As I made sure to note in class, it is not as if all countries in the Middle East (or all Islamic countries) have such restrictive measures on women. Turkey would be a good example of a country that has a relatively great record on women's rights: Wikipedia - Gender Equality in Turkey.
One of the comments I made on a lot of the women in the Middle East paper that you turned in (or should have) was "what if women are killed for speaking up?" All too often, I think we put the blame on women for not doing anything, or needing to do this or that. Well, how? I handed out an article that a student in my Period 1 class brought in that was absolutely amazing for talking about all of these same issues. The article can be found here: NYTimes.com - Afghan Women Protest Law on Home Life. Check out the following quote from near the beginning:
"We want our rights!" one of the women shouted, turning to face them. “We want equality!”
The women ran to the bus and dived inside as it rumbled away, with the men smashing the taillights and banging on the sides.
"Whores!"
But the march continued anyway. About 300 Afghan women, facing an angry throng three times larger than their own, walked the streets of the capital on Wednesday to demand that Parliament repeal a new law that introduces a range of Taliban-like restrictions on women, and permits, among other things, marital rape.
It was an extraordinary scene. Women are mostly illiterate in this impoverished country, and they do not, generally speaking, enjoy anything near the freedom accorded to men. But there they were, most of them young, many in jeans, defying a threatening crowd and calling out slogans heavy with meaning.
As I pointed out in class, how much in that article was stuff that we had JUST talked about? Speaking out. Unity and building a coalition. Education. Persistence. Religion. All of these and more came into play in that situation. Pretty amazing, right?
After reading the article to the class and getting some great thoughts on it and the relation to women making a difference from a few students (thank you for speaking up, by the way), we moved on to...
Brandon Roy: I read a selection from this article: OregonLive.com - Roy takes notes at facility's opening. The point of pointing out Mr. Roy's learning disability and path to stardom was to ask everyone in the class to not give up on themselves. The start of a new quarter is here, and there is a lot of work to be done until the end of the year, and I know that life is stressful just being in high school. I am here to help, along with everyone else at Westview! I am a big believer in a two way street of hard work in school. Teachers work incredibly hard (this blog should be a good piece of evidence) to help you succeed in school and in life. Work hard for us too, please! ---
Thanks for the fun class! I really liked our discussion and all the interest (at least, I think there was interest) in what we are doing. Let me know what you thought, or anything else you want to talk about, in the comments!
I really liked how today went! I definitely think that it was the best class that we have had together so far, in terms of overall participation and focus on what was going on. I am guessing that the new seating chart had something to do with it, but really, you guys were all around excellent today. Let's continue the dialogue we had today, and get on with the class recap!
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What is the impact of religion on policy in the Middle East? - Religion is such a HUGE part of why the Middle East is a region of turmoil. We will be looking at the impact of it for the next few days.
Soundtrack: "B.O.B. (Bombs over Baghdad)" by Outkast. Chosen mainly because of the song title - Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, which, as we hopefully all know, is in the Middle East. Look up the lyrics if you want - we talked a little bit in class about the derogatory nature of the term "ragtop" to describe an Arab person.
AGENDA 4/28/09: News Brief Ryan Moats Otherizing Obama $2 a Day
Homework: Finish $2 a Day assignment. Read blog recap!
The $2 a Day assignment, for those that we not in class, or need further clarification: I want you to neatly write or type a page long plan, diary entry, or itinerary, for what you would do for one complete day if you had to live on $2 (or the equivalent) for the entire day. Remember that 53% of the world lives on the equivalent of two dollars a day. So, what would a day be like? Think about life in a developing country (not the United States). You have no car. You do not have a nice house. Everything you own, you got because you have lived on $2 a day for your entire life, working incredibly hard just for that money. You can construct this like a diary, use drawings to illustrate, anything you want. I just want it to be apparent that you put some serious consideration into what it might be like to live on two dollars for an entire day.Please e-mail me or comment below if you have any concerns at all about what to do.
Finally, check the blog, which, if you are reading this right now, you have done. Woo hoo!
News Brief: At the very beginning of class, before doing anything, I gave you three minutes to during the Wildcat News arrange yourselves alphabetically. This was sort of a class icebreaker activity, but it also served to create a new seating chart. I am not entirely certain that this new one will work, because we seem to have some similar problems as before, but we will try it out for a bit. Thanks for the participation in this! I will be sure to shuffle things around in the coming days too.
After a good conversation about what is going on in the world, Maren told us about the swine flu outbreak currently happening. Go to almost any news website and you will find information about it. Here's one: CNN.com - 73 cases of swine flu confirmed, hundreds more feared.
As we talked about in class, I have no doubts that this is an immediate and pressing concern. However, how come we all too frequently lose sight of much bigger problems that would absolutely benefit from a lot more publicity? For instance, how about the estimated FOUR THOUSAND plus people that have died so far just in 2009, in the United States, as a result of drunk drivers? Source: AlcoholAlert.com - Drunk Driving Statistics. That is an INSANE statistic!
Some of you may have Mr. Hardy for Biology, and as I was getting super worked up about this in the teacher cluster, he completely agreed and said if people would only start paying attention to the fact that the number one cancer by far and away in both men and women is lung cancer, mostly as a result of tobacco use. And that heart disease is the number one killer of adults in the United States. What is really more dangerous? Swine flu that may or may not take over the world, or you smoking cigarettes?
Thanks for bringing this up Maren! Austin, you are up for next class on Thursday. One article about anything going on in the world outside the United States.
Ryan Moats: This started off with a cool little mini-lesson that my friend Jessica from Lewis and Clark gave me to do. The entire thing can be recapped here: Tolerance.org - Holiday Stereotyping Activity. VERY interesting to see how our perceptions change with the drop of a hat (wow, I am very proud of myself for that intended pun). We had a great class discussion about why we saw the two figures differently and what society tells us - even though the beard was the same but the hat was different. I especially liked what we had to say about the media as having an influence on the ways that we view people. That was a great transition to watching the following video:
I asked the class to write about how stereotypes start and then we had a little discussion about it. We related the video to stereotypes about Arab people and what impact that has on our society here in America. Lots of really good input here, thanks!
I asked about why stereotypes begin at a young age and had some interesting perspective from the class. We then watched the following recap of the Ryan Moats incident:
Here's an excellent recap of what happened in the aftermath of the situation: ESPN.com - Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats accepts officer's apology. I asked the class to write how how stereotypes MAY have had an impact on this situation. I didn't say it in class, but what if Ryan Moats happened to be Tony Romo, the star QB from the Dallas Cowboys? Would the situation have happened any differently? This happened about a month ago. Recently, the officer in question resigned from the police force.
Also, I said that I would post something about the term "Driving While Black" - there you go. Is it possible that we saw elements of that in the Ryan Moats incident?
Otherizing Obama: This section of class was built on reading this opinion piece by Nicolas Kristof: NYTimes.com - The Push to 'Otherize' Obama. We talked about how making someone "foreign" or "non-American" or "Muslim" was a strategy to make people seem not like "real" Americans. I showed the McCain campaign commercial that Kristof wrote a little about, which you can find here.
Great discussion on this too! Why is it that many people don't just believe President Obama when he says he is a Christian? Why is it even an issue in the first place? Why do some people really believe that Obama is the Antichrist? All of these questions and more were just excellent, and I am glad that we had the time to go through them. If you have the time, do a little research online on this - you would not believe how many people seriously think that Obama is the Antichrist, or can somehow prove that he is Muslim. I equated this to the people that seriously think that President Bush was behind the 9/11 attacks (again, do some research and you will be amazed). Some people have a lot of trouble with random events, so they have to find some way to make sense of them. Conspiracy theories are one of those ways.
We had a fascinating discussion about your thoughts in regards to whether or not we could ever have a woman, gay, or Mexican-American President. I really liked all of the input here! I am a big believer in having people express their opinions, as much as they might be different from somebody else's. Look, there is no chance that everyone will ever agree with everyone else. What we can do is air our thoughts and listen to each other. I loved that about today's class. Thanks for really paying attention to what everyone had to say, as much as I could tell.
Here's the wikipedia recap of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual rights in Iran: Wikipedia - LGBT rights in Iran. Because Wikipedia is great for general information, but not unless it is sourced, here is another article about what is going on in that country. CBC.ca - Iran's gay plan. Essentially, Iran is paying for gay people to have sex change operations, if they don't outright kill them.
$2 a Day: A side effect of the quality discussion was that we did not have a ton of time to set up this, but I am confident that you got the general idea of what I was asking. I want your thoughts on what it would be like to live on $2 a Day or less. Remember, no stealing or somehow getting more money than two dollars! Bring these in for our next class on Thursday - we will be discussing your thoughts! It should be a fun class, as always! ---
The Blazers play tonight vs. Houston at 7:00 PM, on KGW and NBATV. Win or we are out of the playoffs. Big game! It is also my mom's birthday tonight, so we are going to be celebrating while watching it.
That should just about do it! Thanks again for the wonderful day! Let's continue to get better together! :-)
Wonder Woman, as envisioned by Maren and her group today. Check out all the symbolism! And the sweet "Mamaka" name by Abraham!
Hello and welcome to another class recap!
Generally, I really liked today's class! As I said during it, I really love this lesson and showing the videos. The earthquake/fire drill somewhat messed up the timing on all of it, but overall, it was good. However, I am still having a lot of issues with the focus here. Having your cell phone out while your group is working or while I am talking is disrespectful to everyone else around, whether you think it is or not. Also, please listen up and "respect others" as your own rules state! On to the recap!
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What impact can women in the Middle East have on policy? - Today we really looked at finding out the answers to both of these questions!
Soundtrack: "A Whole New World" by Brad Kane. Music Video from "Aladdin" can be viewed here. Lyrics can be found here. Song chosen because we were talking about the entire world today, and what brings us together. I have a lot problems with the way that Disney portrays some of their characters, but I have to admit, that is one catchy song, especially first thing in the morning. Sorry for my terrible singing voice at the start of class, I couldn't help it. :-)
AGENDA 4/24/09: News Brief Wonder Women Globalization Commonality
Homework: Mandatory activity that you love. Read blog recap!
I am serious about your homework. All too often, we do not really engage in activities that we love to do, or if we do, we forget why we enjoy it in the first place. This assignment is based on you getting out there in the world and enjoying it. Please remember to keep your activity safe and legal! Post a comment explaining what you did and why you love it, if at all possible.
If you are reading this, thanks for doing the second part of your homework! :-)
The naval show comes at a time of growing confidence on the part of the Chinese military. Senior Chinese officials have said China would like to acquire an aircraft carrier to better defend its territory. The Chinese government has sent warships to pirate-infested waters off the coast of Somalia to help defend freighters against attacks.
China and Somalia! It is all interconnected, right? Thanks for this great topic Chris! Maren, you are up for next class, on Tuesday. One current article or news topic, about anything going on in the world outside the United States.
Wonder Women: This was fun, especially with the really talented artists that we have in our class! I asked the class to collaborate with a group to create a visual representation of a wonder woman, using all of the characteristics that you thought that women needed to have in order to impact policy decisions in the Middle East (or in general). It sure sounds like a lot as I type it, and maybe the class struggled a bit with this because of that (and the ridiculous amount of cell phone usage, which as I stated in class, needs to stop ASAP). I posted Maren's at the top of this post, but every other group had really interesting ways to represent your ideas! A really fun exercise to do and to see the results of what everyone thought was important in a woman's ability to have an impact on policy. I love all the creative talent in the room! Thanks for the participation! :-)
Globalization: I then handed out a worksheet, guessing about a "miniature earth" and how lots of different factors were related. This concept was if the entire world was reduced to 100 people, representing the rest of the world. So, if there are 13 North Americans in the 100 people, that means that in reality, 13% of the world is North American. Got it? Here's the video we watched:
I really liked the response to this too! I'm hope that everyone thought this was interesting. Please watch it again if you have the time - we will be doing an activity with your results from that worksheet next week! The song in the video is "Mad World" by Michael Andrews (made for the Donnie Darko soundtrack, it is a cover of a song). Lyrics here.
After watching the video, which can be found at miniature-earth.com (with a different soundtrack), I asked about some of the guesses that you had that were completely off. Interesting stuff!
Commonality: So we had a little bit of depressing, real world stuff to think about. In order to send you out on the weekend on a high note, I asked about what all humans have in common. I had some pretty sugary responses (hehe), but I really liked "laughter" and "dancing" the most. We ended class by watching this video (props to my Lewis and Clark classmate Megan for showing it to me), which, as I stated in class, is positively real, shot on location:
I would highly recommend going to the actual YouTube site and clicking "HD" on the side of the video - it makes it all the more better. The guy in the video is Matt Harding, who runs a website called "Where the Hell is Matt?" - I think my favorite part is the blog, where he currently has a really funny video up, explaining how he purposely tried to get people to believe that the video was a hoax (but he made the reasons completely ridiculous), and they ended up believing him. Quality comedy, seriously. Check that out here: Matt Reveals the Hoax is a Hoax at MacWorld. Some good background about who he is there too - sponsored by Stride gum, apparently! That is an incredible life!
This is one of those videos that I watch and just feel inexplicably happy about. Yes, the world has a lot of problems. However, dance is one of those things that goes across all cultures. Please, go out and enjoy the world this weekend, and come back refreshed and ready to go. :-) ---
The Blazers play in Houston for Game 3, tonight at 6:30 PM, on KGW (Ch. 8) and ESPN. They also play again on Sunday, at 6:00 PM on KGW and TNT. I am super excited! Other than that, I will be really immersed in getting things done for Lewis and Clark, so most of the time I will be at the computer, if you have any comments or questions. Thanks for the fun class today!
A photo of a MAX train going by me on the Steel Bridge, right by the Rose Garden. I took this over Spring Break with my Canon Rebel XTi. 25 second exposure.
Hello and welcome to another class recap!
I liked what we did today, everyone! I wish that we had a little more participation when thinking about these really difficult problems and questions, but from those that I did hear involved and active, I think we had an excellent discussion about a lot of different things. At the risk of being too long, let's get on with the recap!
Essential Questions: In what ways are various cultures and countries interconnected? What impact can women in the Middle East have on policy?
Soundtrack: "Soak up the Sun" by Sheryl Crow. Lyrics here. A very good song for an amazingly bright and beautiful day! I can't tell you how excited I was to get in the car to drive to Westview in the morning and have the sun up! Please enjoy the great weather - I'm sure it will be gone before we know it!
AGENDA 4/21/09: News Brief Thoughts on Homework Michelle Obama Women's Perspective Class Unity Activity
Homework: Finish late work. Watch Blazers game! Read blog!
Not too much to worry about, unless you have things missing for either Mrs. DeFrance or me!
News Brief: After watching the Westview news and having an incredibly long conversation about the testing day tomorrow, we talked a little bit about the world. Apparently I did not ask Chris to bring in an article last class (even though I did on the blog), so we had no student news brief today. However, Armando was really good at bringing up great topics for us to talk about. President Obama shaking hands with Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela. That meeting, as well as the resulting reactions are nicely summed up here: CNN.com - Shake hands with Chavez but hold smiles, analyst says. All sorts of interesting things happen when you start paying attention to the rest of the world!
Bobby asked about the trade embargo with Cuba, which President Obama recently began to take small steps to undo. Cuban-Americans can now travel to the island as many times as they want: AFP.com - Cuban-Americans eye freer travel in tough times. As long as you are interested in what is going on around the world, I am happy.
Thoughts on Homework: I did this with my other class after I saw a presentation at Lewis and Clark about the lack of value of assigning homework. Mostly, I wanted you to be able to vent about homework, as well as explain my thoughts about it and how it will work in this class. Remember, the key is effort and getting it in on time.
There were a lot of interesting and good thoughts about how much time homework takes up and why it may or may not be important. Everyone really should be getting lots of good sleep, as well! That is definitely important. Hopefully, all of the homework that I assign you in this class is relevant, interesting, and not overwhelmingly daunting. Please remember to ask questions if you are at all confused with what I am asking you to do!
I did this with my other class after I saw a presentation at Lewis and Clark about the lack of value of assigning homework. Mostly, I wanted you to be able to vent about homework, as well as explain my thoughts about it and how it will work in this class. Remember, the key is effort and getting it in on time.
There were a lot of interesting and good thoughts about how much time homework takes up and why it may or may not be important. Everyone really should be getting lots of good sleep, as well! That is definitely important. Hopefully, all of the homework that I assign you in this class is relevant, interesting, and not overwhelmingly daunting. Please remember to ask questions if you are at all confused with what I am asking you to do!
Michelle Obama: The video we watched in class can be viewed here:
I asked you to recap what Mrs. Obama had to say about women having an impact. We looked at that as a way to lead in to...
Women's Perspective: I think we had some very good thoughts on what is going on around the world in regard to the struggles of women! I asked you to get out your own thoughts one what should be done, as well as your interview notes.
A few things that I noted that I wanted to link to. We talked about the differences in pay across the board between what women make and what men make, even here in America, and even though it is illegal. A good article breaking down the reasons behind how this happens can be found here: About.com - GAO Report: Why Women Still Make Less Than Men. The article cites the U.S. Government as saying that women make about 80 cents for every 1 dollar a man makes. Remember, if you ever feel like you are being discriminated against (for your gender, race, religion, etc), report it as soon as you can. The legislation that President Obama signed on this front was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
Furthermore, I cited an article that I remembered reading about how much a stay at home mom would earn if someone really thought about all the things that they do. To my great delight, I was able to find that article here: CNN.com - "Being a mom could be a 6-figure job". The best part:
"Salary.com determined that a stay-at-home mother might be paid as much as $134,121 for her contributions as a housekeeper, cook, day care center teacher, janitor and CEO, among other functions."
The most recent estimate of a stay at home mom's worth can be found here.
Anyway, this was a good discussion. I wish we could have made it a little more intertwined with women in the Middle East, but as long as you are thinking about these really critical issues, I am excited. Remember, participation here is what I am super excited about and looking for!
Class Unity Activity: Ahh yes, the part where we all sit around the campfire. Hopefully we will get the chance to do a lot of these sorts of activities to get us to really know each other! Just know that we have a lot in common with each other and people around the world! That theme will continue next class - it is one of my favorite lessons! :-) ---
I will be at the Blazers game tonight (YES!) so I will not be able to post or respond to comments from around 5:00 to 10:30 PM tonight. Remember that tomorrow it is a testing day, along with the career fair, so I will not see you again until Friday. Thus, watch The Office if you get the chance on Thursday night at 9:00 PM on NBC. Always good times. Enjoy the sunny weather! :-)
Suzanne Mubarek, the first lady of Egypt, who we read about in class today. Doesn't she look like Emily Gilmore, from The Gilmore Girls?
Good afternoon (by the time I finish writing this), class!
Thank you for another interesting class! I think we are gradually getting in to really getting to know each other well. The turn-in rate on the letters to me could have been a little better, but I am very excited to read what I did get! A shortened period knocked off some good time you would have had to write about women in the Middle East, but I trust that you will be be good at getting it done. Again, if you have anything to ask me or comment about, please do! :-)
Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? What impact can women in the Middle East have on policy? - We especially looked at answering the second question in class today!
Soundtrack: "Rock the Casbah" by The Clash. Lyrics here. Wikipedia has a really interesting background on the song: Wikipedia.com - "Rock the Casbah". I didn't mention this in class, but one possibility of the song's meaning is about the banning of rock music in Iran. Also, a song featured in many commercials, and Will Smith used it as the beat for his song "Will 2k" on his album Willenium. You can watch the video for that song here.
AGENDA 4/2/09: Blog Talk News Brief Article Reading What Can Women Do? Debrief Discussion
Homework: Finish three paragraphs on women in Middle East. Interview an adult woman about any struggles she sees that women around the world have. Check blog!
The three paragraph assignment will be explained in more depth in the "Debrief Discussion" below, but essentially, I want you to think of three ways that women can have some sort of say in policy decisions in the Middle East. Write a paragraph about each way, explaining what it is, why you think it will work, and how it can be done (this is especially important). This should not be a very difficult assignment, but I am going to be looking to make sure you put some effort and thought into it, as always.
Secondly, another easy assignment: interview an adult woman about any struggles that she thinks women face throughout the world. What are they? Why? All I am looking for here are some notes on a conversation. Talk to your mom, Mrs. DeFrance, another teacher, anyone who is grown up and has some perspective about these issues.
Finally, if you are reading this sentence, you have the "check blog" homework in the bag. Way to go! :-)
Blog Talk: Thank you for the feedback on this! I really liked all the participation in the comments! Remember to use comments to ask questions or talk about anything else that is on your mind (within reason, of course). The blog is really an extension of class, and hopefully you can see how important it is to be following along with what is going on.
News Brief: Cameron brought in an interesting article that happened to totally relate to what we were talking about in class: CNN.com - Afghanistan to change controversial 'rape' law. We will talk a little more about the uproar over this law and its effect on women's rights in the Middle East in the coming days. Again, everything that we talk about in class should be relevant to the outside world! Thanks for bringing this in Cameron! Chris, you are next up for Monday. Any article that has to do with something outside of the United States that is currently going on. Let me know if you want to run it by me before class!
Article Reading: I read this article to the class: The Observer - The Arab world's first ladies are forging rights for women. Some good thoughts and comments came up during the reading. One was about genital mutilation, and whether or not that was okay to enforce our culture on other cultures. I am not going to link to any articles or pages on the subject, but I think you can pretty much guess what the debate is about from what we talked about in class. Do we have a right to go into another place and say "hey, stop doing that (even though it is a part of their culture) because it is barbaric" - or should we just ignore these things, which are somewhat similar to the human sacrifices of not that long ago? It is a difficult question to answer!
What Can Women Do? After reading the article, we circled up and everyone said one thing that they thought was interesting about the article. Then, we started in on a discussion based on the essential question of "what impact can women in the Middle East have on policy?" How? Amanda helpfully recorded our responses, which can be viewed here:
Overall, I was pleased with how this went. There were some issues with lack of participation from everyone, but we did come up with some really good ways for women to have an impact. I also liked how we considered how both women AND men could help advance women's rights.
Debrief Discussion: Using Amanda's helpfully created list, I asked everyone to think about three things that they thought would help women have a say, while we passed around a bag of greasy chips. This was a direct lead in to your homework.
What is important to remember is that we cannot just say "women need to speak out" - because the reality is, if they did that, they would be killed in some countries. Also, we need to realize that it is not merely up to women to fight for their rights - men need to be on the forefront of helping. For instance, what good would it be if white people just sat back, did nothing, and collectively said "it's up to black people to claim their rights." We would still have segregation, at the very least.
So, use the list above (or anything that you think of on your own) to write neatly (or type) three paragraphs on how women can have an impact on policy decisions in the Middle East. Also, interview an adult woman about struggles they see that women have throughout the world.
Again, if you have any questions about what I am asking you to do, please either comment or e-mail me and I would be more than happy to help you out. Keep the conversation going! ---
I will see you next Tuesday. Remember to watch the Blazers game on Saturday at 7:30, on either KGW or ESPN. So exciting! :-)
I am so excited to read your letters and get to know every one of you better! Have an absolutely wonderful weekend!
Your excellent class rules! Thanks for the participation and agreement on these! :-)
Good morning class,
I am so excited to be writing my first class recap for you! This website will hopefully become one of your all-time favorites, but I will be more than happy if you just read it once after each class (the times when I am able to post may vary pretty widely - the next couple of weeks should be during school, but after that, it may be much later in the evening). Remember to read the "Welcome to the Blog!" post below, to get some of the basics out of the way. There usually is a lot to digest, and since we have limited time during class, I try to explain a lot more about why we are doing what we are doing, what I thought about it, and what actually happened. So, let's begin!
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What impact can women in the Middle East have on policy? - Remember, the essential questions are the big ideas that we are trying to get at with our work in class. They do not have any definite, yes or no, answers. Hopefully, they should promote thinking about what we are studying.
Soundtrack: "Changes" by 2Pac. Lyrics can be found here. I chose this song for today because I have now changed into your teacher for the rest of the year. Also, I think the song is incredibly powerful and there is a lyric in there that says: "And still I see no changes can't a brother get a little peace/It's war on the streets and the war in the Middle East." By the way, if you ever have suggestions for what the soundtrack should be, let me know! :-)
AGENDA 4/15/09: Letter to Class Create Rules What is the Middle East? Domestic Violence Queen Noor
Homework: Letter to Mr. Fritz, due next class. Post comment on blog!
I am not going to put my personal letter to the class up online, for obvious reasons, but here is your assignment, due Thursday:
Who are you outside of the classroom? What are your goals in life? Tell me something quirky or interesting about you. What do you want me to know about you? What kinds of music do you listen to? What movies do you like? Is there anything going on around the world that you know a lot about – do you have an area of expertise? Topics you want to learn more about? Make a list! What do you like about high school and this class so far? What do you not like? What do you think your strengths and weaknesses as a student are? Finally, do you have any concerns, questions, or comments for me about this class?
Typed, 12 point Times New Roman font, at least one page - attempt to answer all questions!
Again, I really want to get to know everyone better! If you write a lot, it will help me, help you. The other homework is to post a comment on the blog, which I showed you how to do in class. Just go down to the bottom of this post and click the "comment" link (there will be a number with how many comments there currently are).
Letter to Class: I greeted everyone to class, went over the essential questions, soundtrack, agenda, and homework. Then, I read my letter to the class, which you should each have an individually signed copy of. Let me know if you have any more questions or comments about how the class is going to work, or about me as your teacher! Remember that you need to get all the work you previously did for Mrs. DeFrance turned in to her, especially before the quarter ends next Friday. For everything that I assign, starting with the letter to me, I will keep track of and grade.
Create Rules: As I said above, I think we came up with some good rules. They can be found in the picture (from my cell phone) at the top of this post, as well as always be visible on the top right of the blog. Hopefully we can look at these rules at any point in time and make sure we are following them.
What is the Middle East? The class was split into three groups and I asked each group to come up with a list of things they associated with the Middle East. Then, I asked a member from each group to come up to the board and write they thought was the most relevant or important things. From memory, the word that came up the most was Oil, and there were also mentions of Osama bin Laden, Call of Duty, Jarhead, bombs, deserts, and llamas. So, this is what the class thinks of the Middle East going in to the new unit. Always interesting to see!
Domestic Violence: I began this section by asking the class about the leaders that we have learned about this year in class - all men. We then had an interesting discussion about why women are not generally well represented in governments across the world. Maddie said that she felt that women just hadn't had the right time yet. Why is that?
I then brought it back to asking the class what we thought about women in the Middle East. I then played the following video clip and asked the class to look for visual representations of domestic violence in the Middle East (not viewable at Westview, because the district blocks YouTube):
I did not have those statistics on hand in class, but here they are, and they are horrifying: Find Counseling.com - Domestic Violence Statistics. An estimated 25% of women in America will experience physical abuse in their lifetime, and around the world, the number is more like one in three. Furthermore, only about 50% of domestic violence is reported. THIS IS INSANE! Guys, I could not imagine a less talked about issue of vital importance for overall health.
After watching the video twice, there were some good responses about the imagery used in the video. Bobby talked about the idea of power being key. Brenan mentioned that he hated the knife on the table sound. There was a lot of really heartfelt and personal responses, and let me once again say that our classroom is a safe place. What is said in class (along those lines) does not leave the room, as I am sure all of you know. Domestic violence really is such an incredibly overlooked issue, around the world. I was glad to hear that your health class has talked a little bit about it, but the most important thing I can say is: get help if it is an issue that you are personally effected by. The Westview counselors are absolutely fantastic and a great place to start, trust me. Thank you for everyone's participation and interest in this part of class. It is nice when I can really tell that everyone is thinking about something. Sometimes, the silence is worth more than spoken responses.
I mentioned the Chris Brown/Rihanna incident as a forum for talking about why domestic violence happens. It was recapped well in class, however, I have a few links for you to check out as well. Here is a really good article talking about the basics (supposedly) of what happened, as well as the question on everyone's mind: why in the world would you get back together with someone that did this? CNN.com - "Commentary: Brown-Rihanna case's dangerous message"
Two, Katie Couric and Oprah have really stepped up to the plate for using this incident to get the word out there that domestic violence needs to be talked about and stopped. In particular: HuffingtonPost.com - "Katie Couric on Rihanna & Chris Brown: Talk to Your Children". Insane statistics about teen sexual and physical abuse in that article as well: 20% of teens will experience some kind of assault at the hands of their partner.
Also, CNN had a fascinating article (which if you only click on one link today, this should be it) up about how to avoid abusive people. CNN.com - "How to avoid dating an abusive creep". I have extremely high confidence in everyone in our class, but this is something to constantly be on the lookout for.
Queen Noor: Following the discussion on domestic violence in the Middle East and what we thought of women there, I tried to turn the tables a bit and brought in an interview of an absolutely incredible person, Queen Noor of Jordan. One of the most amazing people and stories I have heard of. A real life fairy tale! It's like the Princess Diaries, only better (by the way, totally watched both those movies like 5 times with my sister). Here is her official biography from the Jordan government's website. Just fascinating. I mentioned her book, Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life in class. I know that my mom really liked it!
Anyway, I introduced her as a way to think outside what you would normally think a Middle Eastern Queen is. I showed the following video in class and asked everyone to write down what she is proposing that women do in the Middle East. This originally aired in 2007, on the almost always interesting "Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer.
We had a little time at the end of class to discuss what she talked about. Please keep your notes, because we will use them next class!
We will continue with thinking about how women have have a say in policy on Friday. Another thing that Queen Noor mentioned very briefly (before being cut off) was Rwanda, which has the most women in its government out of any country in the world, I am fairly sure. Link: AFP.com - "In a world first, women in the majority in Rwanda legislature". This was just last year. Wow, we still have a long way to go.
Hopefully, this will be an interesting way to approach this unit: through the eyes of women in the Middle East.
I know that there were some things that I said I would look up or find out for you, but they have slipped my mind, so please let me know what they were! ---
The Blazers play at 7:30 tonight against Denver on ESPN. Huge game - I will be there! I will be in class at Lewis and Clark on Wednesday from 4:30 to about 7:00 or so, and at the game after that, so do not worry if your comment does not post immediately or I do not get back to you right away (I usually will). Watch The Office on NBC at 9:00 on Thursday if you want a good laugh! Please leave a comment below so I know that you visited, favorite this site, and come back for more discussion! Thank you for an excellent first day of class!
Welcome to the blog for your Global Studies class at Westview! Before I begin with posting updates, class recaps, and all that, let me give you a little introduction to this website.
First off, comments can be made on any post by anyone by clicking the comments link at the bottom of every post, next to my name. They can be anonymous (though I would really prefer that you leave your name). Select "Name/URL" on the right, underneath the comment box - so that I can follow up with you in person. Please try to use good spelling and grammar in your comments! I see 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 PowerPoint that I made for my lecture on Forms of Government:
To view the documents, click on the link and then select "Save" to view it. Make sure you save it to a place on your computer that you will be able to find! You might also be able to select "View" after clicking on the link, but I have found that this is much slower.
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@beavton.k12.or.us - this can always be found by underneath the "About Me" section on the top right of the blog. 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 favorite this site, leave a comment to let me know you came, and come back soon! :-)
