Update on Return

Fire spinners outside of City Hall at my dad's public celebration of life, on Sunday.

Hey everyone,

Thanks for being so good for Julie and Ed the last few days. I am excited to be getting back to Westview after the death of my dad, especially to see all of you! Just a quick heads up, here's what is happening:

1) I will be at Wednesday's Back to School night. It starts at 7:00 PM - please encourage your parents to attend and to get there early, because parking is sometimes a challenge. We will talk about general overview of class stuff, as well as how crazy it is that the first progress report is due next week.

2) I will be back teaching (and coaching) full time on Thursday, which is a B day, as I understand it. We will definitely take it easy to start - I want to make sure I explain to everyone why I was gone, what happened, and just make some observations about life lessons that I think are pretty important. As I understand it, all Global Studies classes should be done with the Europe quiz. We will work in class on the Africa map when I get back, as well as start our look at culture.

3) I can't even begin to tell you how much my family and I have appreciated your support, whether it was through emails or messages, thoughts and prayers, or simply just being good and understanding for the substitutes. Thank you, everyone. It's going to be great to see you all later this week.

Geography, Day 5 - Class Recap

Edinburgh Castle, in Scotland, which remains part of the United Kingdom after the independence referendum. Photo taken in 2007, when I was studying abroad (based in London).

Dear class,

Even though it was more of a work day today, it was nice to see everyone and learn a bit more class content! Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 6: I can demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of locations and regions.
Knowledge LT 7: I can demonstrate the ability to use geographic tools.

Soundtrack: "Better Together" by Jack Johnson. Selected for today because of the results of the Scotland independence referendum, which sided with the United Kingdom, instead of independence. "Better Together" was the slogan of the NO campaign, which won. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/22/14:
News Brief – Santiago
 - Scotland
NA Map Quiz
Atlas Work
South America

Homework: Read the blog. South America map quiz next class (need labeled and colored South America map completed to be able to use on the quiz). Next news brief: Rachel.

News Brief: Santiago brought in the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: BBC.com - Chile police arrest three over Santiago subway bomb. We found Chile on our world maps and highlighted it, noting we have talked about a story there. I liked how Santiago found a news article involving a city that is also his name!

I also wanted to be sure to address the election in Scotland, where the people there were electing to see if they wanted to become their own country, away from the rest of the United Kingdom and Great Britain. This was such an interesting event to me, especially as a British citizen! It was sort of like if the State of Washington was holding an election to become their own country, away from the United States. I played another video message from my friend Matthew Lumby, who was in Glasgow, Scotland to watch the result!

Again, I thought this was pretty cool.

NA Map Quiz: A huge amount of students still did not have their North American maps completed, which was too bad for them. Do your homework, and listen when I say that you have a quiz next class, please! Overall, the scores on this were quite low. Those students that had completed maps and knew how to read them did a whole lot better. Please be on top of this! There will be 6 map quizzes. You can use the top 3 to demonstrate proficiency on Knowledge LT 7.

Atlas Work/South America: The rest of class after the quiz (and grading the quiz together) was dedicated to quiet work on the Five Themes of Geography packet (I will let you know when this will be due in class) and the South America map (which needs to be labeled and colored for next class in order to be able to be used on the quiz). As a reward for reading the blog, a question from the quiz is: This country in southern South America is bordered by five others.

Thanks for your work and effort in class, and for doing your homework in reading the blog! Be ready for the quiz next class and stay on top of your work! :-)

Geography, Day 4 - Class Recap

This is a globe that was in a house that George Washington stayed at for a few weeks in Barbados. Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

We are officially on the back side of the week! Hooray. Today, we learned about the Five Themes of Geography and did some more map work with the atlases in class. Here's what happened:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 6: I can demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of locations and regions. Knowledge LT 7: I can demonstrate the ability to use geographic tools. 

Soundtrack: "Maps" by Maroon 5. Get it? Because we are learning about Geography and maps? Ha, ha. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/18/14:
News Brief – Elizabeth
 - Scotland
Blog Recap
Five Themes of Geography
Atlases
Map Work

Homework: Read the blog. Bring a photo for the wall if you have not already. Study for North America map quiz next class (need completed and colored map of North America done in order to use). Next news brief: Santiago.

News Brief: Elizabeth hastily selected this news story to talk about for her news brief today: Yahoo.com - 67 South Africans dead in Lagos building collapse. Apparently the building was a huge church in Lagos and many of the victims were South African? In any case, awful news story. Thanks for coming up with something, Elizabeth!

I also wanted to be sure to address the election today in Scotland, where the people there are electing to see if they want to become their own country, away from the rest of the United Kingdom and Great Britain. This is such an interesting event to me, especially as a British citizen! It would sort of be like if the State of Washington was holding an election to become their own country, away from the United States. I took a ton of questions from the class about all of this (impossible to recap them all, but it was an excellent discussion), and I also played a video message from my friend Matthew Lumby, who was in Glasgow, Scotland today! I used the document camera in class to play it from my phone, but here's the full version, that I just put on YouTube! :-)

Matthew's message was cut a bit short at the end, so he sent me a text message to say: "Hope you have a good day and check the results at around 10 PM your time tonight."

How cool is that? Technology, globalization, elections, teaching, and friends are awesome. Combining all at once? Epic.

Blog Recap: For this section, I just wanted to show this website again and re-emphasize the importance of checking in, reading the recaps, on staying on top of what we are doing in class. For instance, a map quiz question that you will already know if you are reading this is: This country, east of Cuba, makes up the western half of the island known as Hispaniola. A lot of time and effort goes into writing the blog - please use it to help yourself be successful! :-)

Five Themes of Geography: Basically, this was a PowerPoint presentation in combination with a handout for notes on each of the themes and an activity using the atlases. The Five Themes of Geography are:

Movement
Regions
Human Environment interactions
Location
Place

Or: MR. HELP!

For those that were not in class or wanted to see the presentation again for additional review, here it is:

Google Drive - Five Themes of Geography PowerPoint

Google Drive - Five Themes of Geography Worksheet Handout

Atlases: The rest of class was dedicated to working on the handout, by finding maps in the atlas that relate to each of the themes of Geography and the subsections. For instance, the map of refugees in the world would be an excellent example of Movement --> Human Movement.

Map Work: Again, a heads up that you need your completed North America/Caribbean map, with the countries labeled and colored to use next class on the quiz. Please use a website like Google Maps, or ask questions if you need help! Here are the maps again:

Google Drive - World Maps for Class

Sound good? See you next class!

Geography, Day 3 - Class Recap

The Twelve Apostles rock formation in Australia. The world is such an interesting place! Picture taken in January 2014.

Welcome back, everyone!

Weekends really need to be longer, don't they? In any case, I was excited by the work we did today in class. Here's what happened:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 6: I can demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of locations and regions.
Knowledge LT 7: I can demonstrate the ability to use geographic tools.

Soundtrack: “Grapevine Fires” by Death Cab for Cutie. Selected for today because of the fire drill yesterday during third period, the fires out by Estacada that made the sky hazy, and how hot it is in our room without air conditioning. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/16/14:

News Brief
Map Work/Summer Overview
- US States
- World Map

Homework: Read the blog. Bring a photo for the wall if you have not already. Study for upcoming North America map quiz (need completed and colored map done in order to use). Next news brief: Elizabeth.

News Brief: Zahrian brought in the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: USAToday.com - Philippine volcano spews lava; thousands evacuated. We talked about where the Philippines are (a country made up of various islands in Asia). Yes, I had not heard of this story, but in fairness to me, volcanoes and earthquakes and such are not all that uncommon around the world. I hope everyone stays safe! Thanks, Zahrian. Next up is Elizabeth.

Map Work/Summer Overview: For this section, I went back to your list of topics about what happened around the world over the summer and asked about the locations for various stories. Then, I showed a few links that have to do with creatively thinking about geography. It's so much more than just blank maps and countries! These are real places with real people and amazing scenery! The first link was: TwistedSifter.com - 40 Maps That Will Help You Make Sense of the World. I didn't show all of the maps in class, but I did particularly enjoy a few, like the map of every country in the world that the United Kingdom has invaded at one point or another.

Next, I showed this video that is a time lapse of some shots from the International Space Station, orbiting around the Earth at night. Incredible! See if you can identify the countries and places by their lights at night.

Finally, I showed this video of many different time lapses on the ground, in various different countries. This one makes me smile, because I have been to a few of these places! :-)

I showed these in class to hopefully help inspire you to learn about where these places are and maybe one day to travel there! We are going to keep looking at geography throughout the year.

To finish class, I passed out a huge map packet (not regular sized paper) for students to fill out. Specifically, work on identifying the countries in North America on the first page and the Caribbean on the back side. You need to have the country name written in and the country colored (so not two touching countries are the same color) in order to be able to use them on the map quiz (it is virtually impossible to pass the map quiz without your completed map). Just in case you want to see the files again (printing them on smaller paper is not advised), here it is:

Google Drive: Fill in World Maps

I also passed out a blank copy of the United States. You will need to know all 50 states, as well. We live in this country - we need to know the states that are a part of it! If you want, here's a great way to practice naming the states:

Sporcle.com - United States Quiz

That was it for today! Keep working on the maps and bring them in next class! We will use them during the news brief, too. See you next class!

September 11th - Class Recap

This is part of N591UA, which operate United Flight 93 on September 11th, 2001, and was hijacked for possible use against the White House. Instead, a passenger revolt forced down the plane into a field in Pennsylvania. A part of my 9/11 story is that I once flew on that exact same plane, from Portland to Chicago in 1996. Check out my FlightMemory map of lifetime flights.

Hello wonderful students,

Today, I tried to make sure everyone learned about the basics of the major events of September 11th, 2001, which happened 13 years ago yesterday. Sometimes, I just want to focus on the moment! Here's the class recap for today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 6: I can demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of locations and regions.
Knowledge LT 7: I can demonstrate the ability to use geographic tools.

Soundtrack: “Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day. Selected because we discussed the events of September 11th, 2001 today in class. Lyrics (which some may argue directly relate to the War on Terror) here.

AGENDA 9/12/14:
News Brief
September 11th 2001
Fear
Map Work

Homework: Read the blog! Bring a photo for the wall if you have not already! Next news brief: Zahrian.

News Brief: Tess had the news brief today and selected this story (it's really just a video) to talk about (thanks for the comment!): CNN.com - Video: Lava flows from Bardarbunga volcano. We talked about how another eruption a few years ago (of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano) disrupted air traffic across Europe for a while. This one doesn't seem to have had that big of an impact, yet. Still, cool video and good to know! Thanks, Tess!

September 11th, 2001: To start this section, I asked students to do a free write for about 5 minutes on the following questions:

What do you know about September 11th, 2001? What have you heard about it? Do you remember anything? What have you learned before, in class, or from parents? How did the U.S. Government change after 9/11?

After the free write time, we shared responses as a class (I tried to give as much information as possible to correct anything that was off) and I told my story about September 11th. I was starting my Sophomore year at Wilson High School in Portland. It was definitely a day I will remember for the rest of my life. To drive home the point as to what the day was like, I showed this video in class, which was a timeline of the day:

From there, I moved on to discussing how September 11th, 2001 came about.

Fear: We talked about in class about FEAR. To start to look at how fear played a role after September 11th, I showed a couple of videos:

This is United States Secretary of State Colin Powell addressing the United Nations about the "weapons of mass destruction" that the U.S. government thought was in Iraq. It turned out that there were not any such weapons.

This video contains a montage of President George W. Bush and many of the key figures in his government repeating words in speeches that sounded pretty scary.

The last bit to class was another free write. This time, it was about fear in our lives. 

The prompt was: write about a time in which you experienced fear and how you felt. What did you want to do in that moment?

After writing and sharing in partners, I asked for volunteers to share with the class. It is nice to be able to look back on scary moments in life and laugh, or just be thankful that we escaped out of it. It was also good to hear about how fear makes us feel - anxious, wanting to do anything to escape, and not wanting to experience it again.

I wanted to make the connection between the fear much of America felt after 9/11. In fact, one of the ways that the government might have helped keep people fearful (or ready) is by making a threat level color coded system.:

In the entire history of the threat level system (which ended under President Obama), the threat level never went below Elevated - meaning we were supposed to be at "significant risk of terrorist attacks," constantly.

That was it for the day! Next class, I really want to make sure that we dive in on making our maps. They have been ready to go the last two classes, but we just haven't made it there yet! Soon!

Geography, Day 2 - 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. If you did not finish the philosophy reading and questions, it is homework. Come prepared to discuss it next class!

Learning Targets Addressed: 

Knowledge LT 6: I can demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of locations and regions.
Knowledge LT 7: I can demonstrate the ability to use geographic tools.

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 9/10/14:
PRIDE Lesson
News Brief
Class Unity Activity
Photos
Global Discussion

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: Tess.

PRIDE Lesson: The PRIDE lesson for today's class focused on Personal Responsibility. Specifically, we looked at phone use in class. I explained my policy of simply telling students when phone use (usually for music) is permitted - at all other times, it is prohibited unless I specifically authorize it. If you choose not to comply with this policy, I will ask you to put your phone away, and then (upon repeated attempts to politely request it to be away) reserve the right to take it for the rest of the class and/or day, as per school policy. I hope we don't have any major issues with this, though!

News Brief: Kendall had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: Independent.co.uk - British ex-pat dies in great white shark attack off Australia's east coast. This was a sad story to start the day. The Great White Shark is an endangered species, too. Hard to know how to possibly avoid this from happening in the future - obviously, people are still going to want to surf and go swimming! Thanks for the article, Kendall. Tess, you were selected to be next up.

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.

Photos: When we got back to the classroom, 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, but I wish more students had remembered to do their homework! Three students out of 37 is completely unacceptable. If you did not bring in a picture, please do so next class.

Global Discussion: 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. We came up with a pretty good list as a class. 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!

Geography, Day 1 - Class Recap

Quite possibly my favorite picture I've ever taken: at the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. It's also on the back wall as the representative for Europe.

Hi everyone,

Welcome to your first weekend of the school year! I am definitely looking forward to resting up a bit after a frenetic start to the year. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed: 

Knowledge LT 6: I can demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics of locations and regions.
Knowledge LT 7: I can demonstrate the ability to use geographic tools.

Soundtrack: "This is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan. Mostly because of the lyrics "it's Friday night, and I feel alright" and our football team winning last Friday.

AGENDA 9/8/14:
News Brief
The Wall
Geography
Map Quiz

Homework: Bring a photo (see details below). Read the blog and post a comment (if you have not already). Kendall has the next news brief. Have a great weekend!

News Brief: Nolan brought in the first news brief of the year and selected an article about this story: CNN.com - Palace: Catherine and William expecting 2nd child. We talked about the Royal Family in the United Kingdom and how Catherine and William's first child, George, is now third in line to become King of England (behind Prince Charles, and his son, Prince William). I also mentioned the conspiracy theory that this news is coming out at a time when Scotland (part of the United Kingdom for centuries) might vote for independence later this month. Would this news encourage Scots to stay in the union with England? Who knows! Interesting story, though! Thanks, Nolan. Kendall is next up.

The Wall: As a get to know you and get to know the room activity, I split the class up into six groups. Everyone in the group was responsible for knowing everyone else's name. I also assigned each group to look at one of the big photo posters in the back - trying to analyze where they were taken and different aspects of them. It was just an attempt to try and get everyone to work together and use some critical thinking skills. I revealed during this exercise that I took all of the photos that are currently on the back wall. I love traveling and photography! :-)

Your homework was to find a photo to contribute to the back wall. Just a regular 4 x 6 print is 29 cents at Walgreens (I know, because that's what I used to print some of the photos for the back wall). It has to be able to be stapled up (so don't use the last copy of a precious family photo). Here's what I am looking for (choose one):

1) A photo of a place you have been to before.

2) A photo of a place that you want to go to.

3) A photo of you or your family.

I am really excited to see what everyone brings in! Again, if you need help with this, please email me or comment on the blog. I am hoping for an amazing back wall, full of all sorts of pictures from our adventures, hopes, and families! :-)

Geography: Next up, I showed this clip of Miss Teen South Carolina 2007, trying to answer a question about why many Americans cannot locate the United States on a world map:

I didn't mean to further embarrass Miss Teen South Carolina. I just wanted to show why it is important that we know our geography! So, I passed out a blank piece of paper that asked everyone to try and draw a world map from memory, labeling as much as possible. Some of these were pretty good! Others, not so much. That's okay! We definitely can improve on our geography skills, and I am excited to teach you about it. 

The back side of the sheet asked you to self assess your work on a scale of 1-4, using a grading rubric that will be similar as to how I will grade the learning targets for the class. I did not see any 4 maps (highly proficient). There were lots of 1-2 scores. Maybe a few 3 scores. Lots of room for improvement, which is great!

Map Quiz: After the fun of trying to draw the world, we didn't have all that much time left in class. So, I changed up the script (we will do some of the activities on the original agenda next time) and we played the Sporcle online map game. You guys did okay for the first time! A score of 101 out of 197 in about 15:00 minutes is fantastic for a first time playing. My thanks to Nolan for helping me call on students. Again, we will get better about learning about the world! Here's the game to play if you are a huge nerd like me (yes, I have named all of them in 15 minutes before):

Sporcle.com - Geography: Name the Countries of the World Game

We ended just as the game ended. I hope you had fun today! Let's get back to work next class. Remember to bring a photo in for the wall! :-)

Introduction Day - Class Recap

The start of a year long journey together! This is the road to Monument Valley, on the Arizona/Utah border, this summer.

Hello everyone,

Thank you for doing your homework and visiting the blog! As I said in class, I think this is a really helpful resource for students, staff, and parents to be able to follow along with what is happening. After every class, I will write up a recap and post it. Most of the time, your only homework will be to read over the blog and be prepared for what is coming next in class. With that, let's get started!

Soundtrack: "Changes" by 2Pac. I always choose this song to start off a new class with, because I like the idea of our room being somewhat different from your other experiences in high school. This song also has all sorts of lyrics that relate to Global Studies, like the line "Can't a brother get a little peace? There's war on the streets and the war in the Middle East." Check out the full lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/4/14:
Introductions/Attendance
Syllabus/Grades
The Blog
Letter to Class/Mr. Fritz
Create Ground Rules
News Briefs

Homework: Share syllabus with parents. Bring binder. Check the blog and post a comment! Next news brief: Nolan.

Introductions/Attendance: At the start of class, I introduced myself and how the agenda on the whiteboard works. I am absolutely delighted to be your teacher at Westview this year!

I took attendance and tried to ask everyone how they wanted me to address them. It will take me some time, but eventually, I will know everyone's names, I promise!

Syllabus/Grades: I know that this is not the most exciting content in class. I wanted to make sure to go over some of the real key points to the syllabus (like where I am, how to contact me, how your grade is decided, and the need to bring a binder to class). Here is an electronic copy of the syllabus and rubrics:

Google Drive: Westview Global Studies Syllabus and Rubrics

If you or your parents have any questions about any of this, please let me know!

The Blog: As part of the syllabus, I introduced this website: the class blog! This is seriously so important for your success in this class. If you are staying up to date on here, reviewing what happened in class to get ready for the next meeting, and asking questions if you need help, I guarantee that you will be more successful than if you do not. Make sure to leave a comment at least once (the easiest homework assignment of all time for most students, I believe), so I know you are able to!

Letter to Class/Mr. Fritz: After the syllabus talk was done, I passed out a letter that I wrote to the class, explaining all about who I am and what sort of expectations I have. Hopefully, most of it was interesting information! I like passing these out and signing them all individually. To me, it represents that I really am interested in everyone in my class.

After reading the letter aloud, I asked everyone to write back to me in a similar sort of fashion. I gave a bunch of possible questions to answer as prompts and about 30 minutes or so to complete the assignment. I LOVE reading these and writing back to everyone! Thank you for your effort - I can't wait to learn a little bit more about who you are!

Create Ground Rules: Ahh, yes. The awkward process. You did not do too badly with this! The rules that you came up with and agreed to as an entire class are:

1. Respect Each Other
2. Be Supportive
3. Be Responsible
4. Be Positive
5. Be Open Minded

I will be working to make sure everyone, including myself, is following the ground rules! Thank you for participating in this exercise.

News Briefs: This is the current event style assignment that everyone will do at least once. Basically, all I want is for someone (I will assign it) to bring in a print out (or email me) of an current news article (within the last two weeks) that is a story about something outside the United States (since this is a Global Studies class). We will talk for about 5-10 minutes at the start of class about whatever article this is - just as a way to help make class relevant and interesting to you and what is going on every day in the world.

Thank you for reading! See you next class!