Period 1: Somalia - A Failed State? Day 2 - Class Recap

Our class discussion thoughts, courtesy of Zack T.
Click for full size and use for your homework!
Good afternoon,

This is the first time I have written a class recap while actually still being at Westview! Fun little fact. I am sitting at Mrs. DeFrance's desk in the Lower North teacher's cluster - nobody came and visited me during lunch (check that, Abe just came in - nice!), so I'm sure that everyone is eagerly awaiting the recap and there are no questions about things. :-)

Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? Is Somalia repairable?

Remember, essential questions are framed so that they do not have a clear answer. This was key for our discussion in class - lots of different opinions on what should happen and what the answer to the problem is. They also lead themselves to way better learning, because you are actually creating something as a response, instead of just memorizing facts and reciting them back. At least, that's my hope!

Soundtrack: "Somali Udiida Ceb (Somalia Don't Shame Yourself)" by Maryam Mursal. Picked because Maryam Mursal is from Somalia and the song is about Somalia. She is a very interesting person - check out this article on her: NYTimes: A Voice that Pleads for Home.

AGENDA 1/30/09:
News Brief
Somalia Recap
Expand Article Thoughts
Seminar on Somalia
What Time is it?

Homework: Is Somalia repairable? Develop/expand on a five point plan. Check blog. PACK THE PIT! (7 PM, vs. Sunset – Freshman and JV at 5:45).

I will go over this again, but just to make sure it is near the start and clear: I want you to develop a five point plan on repairing Somalia (if it can be - what would need to happen?). Use the article summary and your own thoughts about what is important to know about Somalia to build this. So again, five paragraphs, one for each point in your plan. I also want your article thoughts attached - if I did not check yours off today, please do it by Tuesday and attach it. That was more than a little ridiculous today - to see how many people just plain did not do the first assignment of the semester. Do not allow yourself to let down the class - remember, the class agreed that getting in homework on time was an issue that needed to be resolved. Let's make sure it doesn't happen again.

News Brief: Abe brought in an article on a Nigerian girl being shot to death, which can be found here: BBC.news - Girl Shot Dead in Nigerian Delta. Really just insane. I asked everyone to think about the people around the world that were born the same year, day, and probably hour as you, and are fighting in wars. A good dose of perspective is definitely needed for all of us.

We also talked a little about the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Definitely an interesting news item to consider.

I then asked if people were fired up this morning to come to class and learn about how bad the world is. Obviously, this was a sarcastic question. I do not want anyone in the class to think that we only are talking about the bad things in the world - how nobody ever does anything, how the United Nations and United States are screwing up everything, etc - because that is not the case. I want the class focused on identifying problems and proposing solutions. This shows way more intelligence than if I were to just be concerned with when Somalia was colonized, for instance.

Somalia Recap: I asked the class for some general information about what we learned about Somalia. It was interesting to hear that the first few things were pretty much exactly the same as what you already knew before talking about it. I then showed a clip from a documentary, which can be viewed below:



I discussed aspects of Somalia that have extremely high instability, according to ForeignPolicy.com - which I linked to in the last recap, but if you didn't get the chance to check out, can be found here: Failed States Index, 2008.

Obviously something has gone very wrong in Somalia. The question I have is: what could possibly help?

Expand Article Thoughts: I know this was probably confusing, until I wrote it on the board (thanks Morgan), but I wanted you to look again at your article or article summary, and see if it proposed any solutions. The question I wrote on the board that you should have written out on the back of your article recap was: "what do you think needs to happen in Somalia?" This, obviously, was supposed to set you up for the class discussion. Again, if you did not do the article summary, please get it into me ASAP. You will lose points for it being late (more for each day you do not turn it in), but it is way better than not doing it at all.

Seminar on Somalia: Wow. Wow. Wow. To those that contributed, you absolutely blew me away, once the discussion finally got going good. I think that could have lasted another 30 minutes easy. I do want diverse opinions in there though, so be careful to let those who may otherwise be quiet talk.

A few things here. The list that Zack T. made on the board (fantastic job, by the way) can be viewed at the top of this post. Remember in the future for these discussions (I cannot imagine not doing them again, because again, wow): no raised hands. Address each other, not me. Reference the text/reading/article you have been assigned to read. Go with the flow - but be careful to respect one another and listen to everyone.

About the actual discussion: I started off with the very general question of - Is Somalia repairable? There were a ton of directions to go with this. What does "repairable" actually mean in this situation? What does it mean to you? What does your article say?

I started off with this article and said that I was not really sure it Somalia can be repaired any time soon. We had a ton of thoughts come up, and I again especially want to thank those that really got into the discussion. There were a ton of different explanations and possible solutions brought up. I thought it was really interesting how half of the class seemed to be sort of advocating that another country invade and take Somalia over because it would be better for it - because really, isn't that the logic that almost every country in the modern world has used to justify an invasion? I am not saying it is wrong, just that it is a very interesting argument - "you would be better off if someone invaded and told you what to do."

So again, for your homework, I want a five point plan that you think might repair Somalia. One paragraph explanation for each point. I do not see any way that this could be accomplished effectively in less than a page.

What Time is it? The answer to this question was going to be "Game time!" But we never got to it because the discussion went so well after we got into it. I'm sure this will pop up another day, so I will save my description for it until that time.

If anyone has any questions about the homework (or anything else we did in class), please either comment below (again, just type your name in on the the "Name/URL" option and you are good to go) or e-mail me. Or see me at the game tonight - 7 PM against Sunset! Go Wildcats! Go Blazers (on Ch. 8) on Saturday! Watch the Super Bowl and The Office after it on Sunday! Have an amazing weekend!

Period 1: Somalia - A Failed State? Day 1 - Class Recap

The Flag of Somalia
Dear class,

I am attempting to get this recap up quickly today, so those of you that have access to the internet during Study Hall can check out the links. I have class myself from 3:30 to 7:30 tonight, so I will be unable to respond to questions or post comments until I get back. On to the recap!

Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? Is Somalia repairable?

Soundtrack: "Brand New Day" by Sting. Picked because of the beginning of the new semester. Lyrics can be found here.

AGENDA 1/28/09
Hand Back Work
News Brief
Debrief Last Semester
Class Unity
Introducing Somalia
PowerPoint Lecture

Homework: Somalia article write up and summary. Check blog!

Hand Back Work: Again, I would be happy to speak with you about your grade and why you earned what you did. Please come see me with your quiz/any other work you want to go over. The visual metaphors will go up in the classroom once Mrs. DeFrance's classes are done with theirs (I don't want to give their class any hints either!).

News Brief: Russel very nicely recapped this article - CNN.com: Hungry caterpillars force Liberian emergency. Very interesting! Chalk that one up for "things Mr. Fritz had no idea about." Abe, you are our next presenter for Friday. Again, I just want a printed out article and for you to give a short summary in class about it. Don't use your Somalia article, that's cheating! :-)

We also talked a little bit about the economy and why it is so bad. The main point there was that we have very little money (or credit) floating around, so nobody is lending money to each other.

I noted that the world's first openly gay head of state (in modern times) might take office in Iceland soon, due to the economy of that country being in shambles. That article can be found here: Huffington Post: Icelandic Minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir, Would Be World's First Gay PM.

I'm not sure when I showed the class this, but this is the website that has the photo of the inauguration where you can zoom in to find Ryan (I'll bet you have trouble!) - Amazing Inauguration Photo.

You can also watch the full documentary that 20/20 did on Ryan online here: ABC.news: The (Long) Road to the Inauguration. So cool! :-)

Debrief Last Semester: The PowerPoint presentation on your answers can be downloaded below.

Period 1: First Semester Class Debrief PowerPoint
Again, the main things that I got out of this are that 1) The class really likes the people in it and atmosphere. 2) The class knows that it needs to work on being quieter and turning homework in on time. 3) Mr. Fritz is good at being enthusiastic. 4) Mr. Fritz needs to work on explaining things better.

Thanks again for being willing to provide that feedback! It definitely helps!

Class Unity: I thought this was a fun little exercise, the "stepping in." Just goes to show how connected we are. Thank you for participating!

Introducing Somalia: I asked the class what you knew about Somalia. We got "Horn of Africa," "Pirates," and "Black Hawk Down." This was for me to see what you did and did not know going into the PowerPoint.

PowerPoint Lecture: I know, I know, there was definitely a lot there. The crazy thing is that I made sure to give at least 30 minutes of class time to it - at least 3 minutes per slide, and we were still struggling to get through each one because there was so much to write and ask questions about. That is not all bad, but I know that a lot of you missed out on one aspect or another. Here is the PowerPoint for those who want to review it again (I would suggest clicking "Save" to your computer, instead of "Open" - it is way faster this way):

"Somalia - A Failed State?" PowerPoint
During the PowerPoint, I mentioned that ForeignPolicy.com ranked Somalia as the most unstable country in the world during 2008. Here is a link to that article: Foreign Policy: The Failed States Index 2008

Your homework is to find a current (as possible) article about Somalia online and type a 2-3 paragraph summary of what it is saying. After that, you need to type out your own thoughts about what everyone should know about Somalia, in another paragraph. This should be 1 page, TYPED, double spaced, Times New Roman font.

Here are some links that might help with this - START HERE!:

Google News Search: "Somalia"

New York Times Article Database for Somalia

A couple of current articles if you are completely out of ideas for where to turn:

BBC.com: Somalia Prepares for new leader

CNN.com: U.N. considered suspending food aid to Somalia

Please comment or e-mail me if you have any questions or concerns about this assignment or anything else.

Have a fantastic rest of the day and Go Blazers (7 PM, CSN)!

Period 1: First Semester FINALS - Class Recap

"Where is the Love?" Music Video
Dear students,

Thank you for yet another good class yesterday. I always enjoy hearing what everyone has to say about the world! With that, let's get right on to the recap:

Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? Is genocide inevitable?

Soundtrack: "Where is the Love?" by The Black Eyed Peas. Again, this song was suggested to me by Aaron - it helped that I already have the song and love it. Some very interesting lyrics in this song. Definitely worth thinking about.

AGENDA 1/23/09
Debrief Week
Rwanda Quiz
Visual Metaphor Presentations
Assessing the class
Healing Rwanda
Next Semester

Homework: Check blog!

If you are reading this, thank you for doing your homework! :-)

Debrief Week: We started class by going over everything on the board as usual, and pointing out that Lauren's poem on genocide is now hanging up on the side. The visual metaphor posters should be on the back wall soon as well.

We also talked a little bit about Martin Luther King Jr. day and the inauguration on Tuesday, with the question being: do we have equality in America now? After a somewhat slow start, the class really had a lot to say, especially when we started questioning if we could ever have a Asian, woman, or gay President. Certainly a lot to consider. I was very glad to have the discussion! These sorts of questions will always be relevant.

Rwanda Quiz: Thank you for your diligence during this. Judging by our going over the answers after it, the class seemed to do pretty well. I will be grading them today and tomorrow and get them back next week.

Visual Metaphor Presentations: I really enjoyed these! It was incredibly interesting to see the kinds of connections you were able to come up with. I know that this assignment was a little difficult to get a hold of at first, but when you did, I think that you really got a lot out of it. I mean, some of you had connections for every single pillar of colonialism! That was pretty amazing. I will have these graded by the next time we meet as well.

Assessing the Class: I am very much looking forward to reading these too! This is the type of feedback I really need as a teacher. Also, when we go over it all as a class, we can really see what everyone thinks is working and what isn't. I'm planning to turn this into a PowerPoint so that we can all check out everything.

Healing Rwanda: To show you how much I over-planned, I allotted a full 30 minutes for this and we did not get to it at all. That's okay - we had very valuable other things to do, but I am sad that we will not get to go over it as a class because we are moving on. However, you can check out the entire article I was going to go over (I cut it up into snippets) here: Orion Magazine - Healing Rwanda

I highly recommend you skim the article, if just for personal curiosity. It is a very powerful look at the rebuilding process.

Next Semester: I believe I talked a little bit about this, but come next Wednesday, we are moving on to talking about Somalia for a little bit. After that will be a unit on Nigeria that Mrs. DeFrance and I are currently trying to figure out the logistics of (there is a lot to think about!). Further on down the line, we will be moving on to the Middle East.

I also am introducing a new participation based assignment: the Daily News Brief. I gave an example of Afghan girls getting acid thrown in their face just for wanting an education. That article (which I was going to project but ran out of time) can be found here: CNN.com - Afghan girls maimed by acid vow to go to school. I used this to show what lengths some people have to go to just to get to have the education that we so freely enjoy.

Remember, Russel, you are the first to go with an article next Wednesday. It can be anything that is currently going on outside the United States. A good place to start finding something are the links on the right side of this page - BBC.com and CNN.com are usually good bets.

Finally, I have added a link at the bottom of the blog for a random picture from Airliners.net, which should show you some exotic planes from all around the world. Since I'm a huge fan of airplanes, I couldn't resist.

Have a wonderful long weekend (remember, no school on Monday) and enjoy the Blazer game tonight against Washington (7PM, CSN). Here's a picture I took of Jerryd Bayless signing autographs after a game earlier this month to get you excited:



See you next Wednesday!

Finals Week - January 20-23

EDIT: 3:35 PM - It looks like ABC is tape delaying Ryan's documentary tonight, so watch for it from 10:00 to 11:00, if you are still up! I hope your first day of finals went great! :-)

From the Westview website:

Daily Schedule:
7:45am-9:35am First exam
9:35am-9:55am Break
9:55am-11:45am Second exam
11:55am Buses Depart

Jan 19 - NO SCHOOL
Jan 20 - Finals 8 & 6
Jan 21 - Finals 7 & 5
Jan 22 - Finals 2 & 4
Jan 23 - Finals 1 & 3

By the looks of this schedule, it appears that our finals period (Period 1) will start at 7:45 on Friday. I will update if this is not so.

Today is inauguration day, and I encourage everyone to find some way to see history take place. Unfortunately for you, it looks like everyone will be in the middle of your 8th period class when the new President in sworn in (at 9 AM PST - the coverage starts on pretty much every channel you can think of at 7 AM PST), but I am sure there will be repeats of the ceremony and the speech throughout the day. A very big historical moment, regardless of who you may have supported in the election.

For those still interested in my friend Ryan, I think that ABC will be airing a small documentary on him sometime between 10 and 11:35 PM tomorrow night (PST). Here is the quote from the ABC Website:

10 p.m. ET: Gibson, Sawyer and Stephanopoulos anchor the ABC News Special "A Moment in History: The Inauguration of Barack Obama." This news program will take the audience live to inaugural balls and track the president and first lady as they continue their celebration throughout Washington. Also, a team of ABC News correspondents will report on the special significance the day holds for millions of African-Americans; the amazing lengths many Americans are going to just to be in Washington for the inauguration; and world reaction to Obama's promised effort to unite the nation.

The Oregonian wrote an article about Ryan and the inauguration yesterday - there is a great picture of him finally getting a ticket from Rep. Blumenauer on Sunday, which can be found here.

Finally, for those that are still a little confused about what I want from you for Friday, let me try to put it as simply as possible (but please, PLEASE contact me if you are at all confused or need help):

1) Your poster, with the object you are using as a metaphor for genocide in Rwanda/colonialism in the middle, which should be drawn and colored if at all possible. Remember, get creative with this!
2) Connections drawn on the poster (for instance, in my sleeping bag metaphor, I would draw a line from the zipper and write "The zipper represents family and friends, who link you into religion.") for at least five different connections.
3) A typed 2 to 3 paragraph list of why you chose your metaphor and what each connection represents.
4) To study for a short quiz on Rwanda and the Rwandan genocide.

Once again, the visual metaphor assignment is available to download here:

Visual Metaphor Assignment
Have a wonderful day and good luck on finals until I see you! Please comment or e-mail me if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day - No School

Once again, I urge everyone to reflect upon this day: Do some community work or simply help out in whatever ways you can. Watch any number of the documentaries that will be airing on MLK (1 PM on the History Channel or anytime from 6 AM to 1 PM on CNN are just a couple). Think about the progress we have made, and where we should progress to as a society in the future. Even watch the Blazer game (7 PM CSN), as they usually do some interesting things with the day. The Blazers website has a cool little video with Coach Nate McMillan and Brandon Roy on the main page that is worthy of being checked out too. Most of all, just pay attention to and learn about what is going on around you. That is really what I want more than anything else for you.

Dr. King was much more than just a single speech, or with a single cause. Agree or disagree with his positions, he certainly sought to change lives for the better. If you feel so inclined, please post any thoughts you may have of the day or the man in the comments below - I would love to hear them!

Enjoy the day off, and continue to send me questions or concerns about the visual metaphor project (or anything else) to either my e-mail address or by posting in the comments. Keep studying hard for finals - it will pay off!

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream." - Martin Luther King Jr.

Period 1: Finals Prep, Day 2 - Class Recap

A visual metaphor for the United Nations not doing enough to stop Iran and North Korea from getting nuclear weapons - Charlie Brown dropping a baseball.
Good afternoon class,

What a fun day that was! I was particularly excited for today because of the cool activities I had planned. You know me, when I can find some way to get something interesting and relevant to the class, I am going to try to. By the way, if anyone ever has any suggestions for videos, songs, websites, etc, that relate to what we are studying - please let me know! I already have one soundtrack request (which I think we will be listening to on finals day, unless another song completely blows me away with relevance before next Friday).

Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? Is genocide inevitable?

Soundtrack: "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2.



This is the video we watched in class - please remember to be contemplating why it is that we get Monday off from school. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of my personal heroes, so I am definitely thankful for not only him but all the people he inspired and continues to inspire.

AGENDA 1/16/09
Can We Do Something About This?
Scream Bloody Murder - Darfur
Colonialism Revisited
Visual Metaphor Work

Homework: Visual metaphor, study for Rwanda quiz, check blog.

Remember, you will be presenting your visual metaphor next Friday during finals period, and I need the completed poster with a list of connections on it (be CREATIVE with this - they will be going up around the room!) as well as a TYPED, two to three paragraph explanation of what those connections mean and why you chose your metaphor. Also, remember to review your Rwanda notes. Not too bad, right?

Can We Do Something About This? I really wanted to tell the class about some of the MANY ways that you can have some active participation in doing something about the conflicts we are studying. I gave the example of my friend Ryan Bowen, who is biking across the country from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. to the inauguration, sending anything (above the bare essentials) he is given to Play For Hope, an organization that wants to foster sports and team building in Rwanda. Some links of interest from this segment of class are:

BikingForObama.com - Ryan's website/blog for the trip, complete with interesting updates of where he is, pictures, news items, and other cool things.
PlayForHope.org - A recently created organization that is attempting to bring sport and team building into the lives of Rwandans.
LaTimes.com - The Los Angeles Times story done about Ryan as he was going through New Mexico last month.



This is a video blog of his first week (so you actually get to see what it is like).

Finally, here's a link to FOX News interviewing him live (just like we did in class!) a few days ago: FOX News - Homestretch.

Keep watching out for him! By the way, Ryan had never ridden more than 20 miles in one ride before starting out on this journey - it's not like he's a trained cyclist or anything. This is just one way that someone is doing something to create a positive change in the world. Ultimately, this is one of my biggest goals for the class - I want you to be active participants in society. That is basically what Social Studies is: knowing about what is going on around in the world and participating. It was fun to get to call Ryan in class and have everyone be interested, thanks! :-)

Scream Bloody Murder: After talking to Ryan, we transitioned to watching another segment from the CNN documentary (which, by the way, if you'd like to be able to watch and write up a page long extra credit assignment, can be found on YouTube in a series of 14 videos, starting here) "Scream Bloody Murder" - this time about the Darfur region in Sudan, where violence continues today. The inspiring thing is that people have really started to step up and rally to put political pressure on leaders to act and do something - another thing that you can do to help. Join FaceBook groups. Inform others. Write letters. Demand action.

Colonialism Revisited: I tried to get the class going on answering a few questions about what exactly colonialism is, in order to start thinking about the visual metaphor in a different way. Remember, for the visual metaphor, I am going to look for at least one connection to colonization (if you choose to make yours about the genocide in Rwanda). We had some good answers on how different countries have changed Rwanda, and I also noticed a huge increase in fantastic ideas for metaphors in the next part of class, so I think I got the point across. If you are still confused, please comment or contact me.

Visual Metaphor Work: Again, I think we got on track here. I used an example (admittedly, very poorly drawn) of a sleeping bag as a metaphor for religion. Remember, a metaphor is NOT a symbol - it is a completely unrelated object that you can find some connections to something else in. Most of you were definitely on the right track.

Again, for Friday, I would like a nice colorful poster with your metaphor and at least 5 labeled connections (they ARE there, just keep thinking about it!). I also need a typed copy of your reasons behind your connections and picking the metaphor. Sound good?

Have a wonderful long weekend! Please, please, PLEASE cheer for my Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday (noon, FOX), unless you want a depressed Mr. Fritz for the next week. :-) Also, follow along with the Blazers at Charlotte (Saturday, 4PM CSN). On Tuesday, watch as much of the inauguration as you can/want - as well as the 20/20 documentary on Ryan on ABC (I will post when I get info about the time). What a history making week we have ahead of us!

Good luck with everything! E-mail me at luke_fritz@beavton.k12.or.us if you have any questions or concerns, or comment below. See you in a week!

ADDITION: For those wondering, I just talked to Ryan again, and he says he will be getting a ticket to the inauguration after all! Congressman Earl Blumenauer (from right here in Oregon - he represents East Portland) is going to hook him up and ride with him into DC! :-)

Period 1: Finals Prep, Day 1 - Class Recap

A visual metaphor for climate change - the earth as a fried egg.
Good afternoon students,

I know there is a lot to talk about with our class today, so I am posting this early in the hopes that you can get cleared up as soon as possible. Remember, on Wednesdays I am in class from 3:30-7:30, so I will not have the chance to approve comments or respond to e-mails until after I get back tonight.

First off, I must say that I was pretty pleased overall with how things went today. We certainly had a lot to cover, and at times it felt like I was literally being pulled in 10 different directions during the brainstorming session, but overall, I appreciated the effort and willingness to buy in to what we are doing.

Essential Questions for the day: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? Is genocide inevitable?

Soundtrack: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (IZ). I chose this song because we needed a little dose of some hope and good in the world, after talking about genocide and killings for so long.

AGENDA 1/14/09
Debrief Hotel Rwanda
Grades/Late Work
Review
Introduce Visual Metaphor
De-stress
In-Class Work

Homework: Continue to work on visual metaphor and turn in any unfinished work by Friday. Check blog/comment/e-mail with questions!

Remember, the very last day that I will accept any work is this Friday, at the end of my class. Everyone should know exactly what I need from you (if anything), because I have gone over it will each of you multiple times. If you would like any clarifications or have questions, please e-mail me (luke_fritz@beavton.k12.or.us) as soon as possible. For those that need to do a speech for me, I need to see you before class on Friday - or you can come find me tomorrow in the Lower North teacher's cluster before B day.

Debrief Hotel Rwanda: I asked a few questions here... did the movie stay with you the rest of the day after we watched it, or did you sort of just move on? I think many of you said that you just moved on - why? Jordon explained that he felt like he could not really do anything about it. My point here is that you absolutely can do something about it, and you already did a little by doing the speech! If everyone had the attitude that they could not do anything, absolutely nothing in the world would change. Again, this is something we are all guilty of at some level, but we need to be aware that we DO have the ability to effect positive change. I will bring in an example of this for Friday's class.

I also asked if anyone got chills at any point during the movie - I explained that I get those shivers when I am listening or watching something truly great or powerful. Zach N. brought up the example of Jimmy Valvano's speech at the 1993 ESPYs as something that really affects him in this way. I have to agree totally. Here is that speech, for those who have not seen it. It will be a highlight of your day, I promise:



Grades/Late Work: I think we went over this fairly extensively in class, and goodness knows you should have an extremely clear view of how you were graded and why. If you'd like me to e-mail you your slip, please let me know. Again, all late work or revisions must be in on Friday. You will lose points for having it late, but it is still much better than nothing.

Review: These questions were just to gauge your general knowledge of what happened in Rwanda. I will not recap them online because you needed to be in class to take advantage of this preview for the final. Basically, I just want to make sure that you have the facts straight about what we have been talking about. Keep that sheet and refer to it.

I also told you (and the other classes Mrs. DeFrance has too) that I would post the PowerPoint again of the basics of the Rwandan genocide (this was from the very first class that I had you guys):

Genocide in Rwanda: The Basics - PowerPoint
Please do not sweat the final test/quiz on this, unless you were lost today. The questions I give you will be very similar to those. Instead, please focus on the...

Introduce Visual Metaphor: Okay, this was where the class got interesting. As Mrs. Woicke confirmed to me after class, it seemed like about two thirds of the class basically understood the assignment, while the other third was almost completely lost. We are obviously going to go through this assignment again during Friday's class, but until then, you should be working on figuring out your metaphor.

Remember, a metaphor is comparing two seemingly unrelated objects. So, you cannot use a machete, or the radio, or anything like that, because it is directly related to Rwanda. The example I used in class was a quote from the movie Dodgeball, where Ben Stiller's character has a painting of himself grabbing a bull by the horns - a metaphor for how he does business. There are all sorts of metaphors all over the place - in almost every good movie ever made, you can find good metaphors.

I will give you a point of further clarification after thinking it over: if you want, you can have your metaphor relate directly to the Rwandan genocide, not colonialism - but I am going to require at LEAST one connection to colonialism. If you do not know what colonialism is, please look over your notes - it should be pretty clear how foreign countries have affected Rwanda in the past (that led to the genocide in 1994). We will probably be going over this in class on Friday as well, because it seemed like there was a lot of confusion on what exactly I was looking for.

Again, please run your ideas by me first before going on to do the assignment (which I will attach below). I need to hear what you are planning to go for.

If I approve your idea, you can get to work using that blank sheet of big paper I handed to you. You need to draw your metaphor and label each connection that you can find. Things which you have that would probably help: the definition of genocide, the seven pillars of colonialism, the eight stages of genocide, the Rwandan timeline of colonialism (I wrote it on the board during the seven pillars day), and the notes from the PowerPoint presentation.

De-Stress: This seems like as good a time as any to remind you to relax about all of this. Trust me, you will be fine. The in-class activity we did should have helped a bit. I am always a fan of getting you guys out of your seats and moving around as well.

In-Class Work: This was hectic and sometimes way too loud (I'm going to have to go apologize to Mr. Hardin tomorrow), but overall, I thought most of you were really excited about trying to figure something out. My goal for you is to have something for me to check out by Friday. It's okay if you need to keep working on it, but from what I heard, many of you are definitely on the right track. Just keep looking for those connections!

Remember, please let me know if you are having any difficulties or questions! We are definitely going to go over this more on Friday, but the more that you do, the less you have to worry about it next week during finals.

Here is the link to download the assignment sheet in case you lost it:

Visual Metaphor Assignment
Hopefully I will be hearing from many of you soon. :-) Have a fantastic night, and don't forget to watch the Blazers try to make it four straight wins, tonight at Philadelphia (don't worry, the only Philly team I'm a fan of is the Eagles) at 4 PM on CSN (Ch. 37) - only if you have the time though! See you on Friday!

Period 1: Genocide in Rwanda, Day 7 - Class Recap

The real Paul Rusesabagina and Don Cheadle on the set of Hotel Rwanda.

Students,

Do you guys know what a treat it is for me to get to come and teach you every other day? You may be a little talkative and somewhat restless, but my goodness, when you can focus and listen to each other, the types of responses that I get to questions and the content of the class are absolutely outstanding. Thank you for that. It was obvious today that everyone was fully invested in the movie - I'm excited to read and respond to your thoughts!

Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? Is genocide inevitable?

Soundtrack: "So What" by Miles Davis (from the album "Kind of Blue"). No lyrics, but what a mighty fine tune. Probably my favorite jazz song.

AGENDA 1/12/09
Weekend Recap
Hand Back Work
Last time on...
Hotel Rwanda, Pt. 2
Reflection

HW: Finish and turn in any missing work to either Mrs. DeFrance or me, check blog.

You are successfully completing one of your homework assignments right now if you are reading this, so congratulations! Please get everything else in that we haven't seen on Wednesday. We will be starting a little final project next class, which I don't think you will have much difficulty with, but you will need all your focus on for the next week. So don't delay, act now, supplies are running out...

Weekend Recap: I am always excited to hear interesting things that are going on in your lives and around the world. If you can believe it, I think that this was our very first Monday class together (we have never met for three days in a week until this week as well) so I think this was the first time that I got to hear right after the weekend about how things were. Points of interest: the Blazer game, the Eagles (you have no idea how excited I am about them right now), and the 24 season premiere, which featured a reference to the Rwandan Genocide and a similar situation going on as well. Remember, I'm not asking you to, but if you happen to catch the show tonight or the rest of the season, be watching for ways that the African genocide storyline plays out. Is the new President doing what should be done? The second two hours are on FOX tonight from 8-10.

Hand Back Work: I actually handed back most of your work as class started, so this was basically a time for you to just look over everything. Everyone who participated in the group speech should know the group portion of your grade. I am hoping to type out all of the individual grades for Wednesday (though I might have to sacrifice writing the responses to your Hotel Rwanda thoughts until later in the week to do so). Again, if you have any questions or concerns about this, I would be happy to talk to you, either before or after our class, or during any time that you see me at school (I am usually only supposed to be at Westview for the mornings until later in the year). You can also always e-mail me at any time and I am usually very good at getting back to you quickly. Overall, the grades were very high, and again, everyone should be very proud of themselves for that day.

Last Time On...: I was very happy to hear the responses to my questions about what was going on in the movie from last class, as well as some general questions about the Rwandan genocide. I will be asking a few more like those in the coming days, and we might have a short little test/quiz on finals day over the basics as well. I also addressed some of the main points that were brought up in the responses, like: why did the United Nations only evacuate white people?

Hotel Rwanda, Pt. 2: Like I said above, I loved how it seemed like everyone was involved with watching this. Very moving and powerful stuff in the movie that should not be ignored. Hopefully you felt a little better about watching it, even though it is, on the whole, pretty depressing. We are going to talk about this in class next time, but I think one of the key scenes in the movie was shown last Thursday, when the cameraman tells Paul that people in America will see the violence in Rwanda and say "oh, that's horrible, and go right on eating dinner." This has got to stop. We cannot just ignore stuff like this and pretend to be compassionate human beings. I'm as guilty as anyone of this as well, but it has to stop and it starts with us - people who actually care.

Reflection: In the short time after the movie, I asked you to write down your thoughts and feelings about what you had just seen. Specifically, I wanted to know what it was like to watch a portrayal of something we have been learning about for the last few weeks. What was that like? I'm very interested to see what you guys wrote.

Overall, another excellent class. For Wednesday, please bring your colonialism to genocide flow chart, as we will be using it in class for your final project.

Have a fantastic evening, and go Blazers at Chicago (5:30 PM, KGW - Ch. 8)! Remember to look for similarities to the Rwandan genocide if you choose to watch 24 (8-10, FOX - Ch. 12)!

Period 1: Genocide in Rwanda, Day 6 - Class Recap

Hotel Rwanda Movie Poster

I don't really have too much to introduce today, though I will say that writing my lesson plan was actually surprisingly difficult - there were just so many loose ends I wanted to try and get to! Everything outside the watching of the actual movie was about review. Expect a little more of that next week. I really put the pedal to the metal before break, so I think it is important that we go back and realize just what we were talking about.

Soundtrack: "Comin' From Where I'm From" by Anthony Hamilton. Again, I chose these because it deals with empathy. It's a song explaining about coming from a difficult place in life. One of my favorites.

AGENDA 1/8/09
Debrief Speech/Grades/Life
Empathy
Rules for Movie/Assignment
Hotel Rwanda – Pt. 1
--> Check in with Mr. Fritz (bring colonialism to genocide chart and speech notes).

HW: For those who did not get the colonialism to genocide flow chart done, that is homework due Monday. Since I talked to every single one of you about this, I am expecting no problems. For everyone else, keep checking the blog and have a wonderful weekend!

Debrief Speech/Grades/Life: First off, I wanted to reiterate how good the speeches were and how you've earned the time off. We talked a little bit about how giving the speech felt, what the hardest (or easiest) parts were, if it was intimidating, and finally, if you could imagine doing it in a real life situation - speaking out about something that is horribly wrong in the world. That would probably be my ultimate goal for assigning the whole thing.

I also went over how I will break down the 50 points for the project, which is as follows:
Individual Speech 10
Group Speech 20
Individual Part of Group Speech 10
Group Participation 10

I will grade each aspect with regards to what the assignment asked you to do (with things like due dates and typed copies kept in mind). If you wrote out your speech because you couldn't print it at school, I would appreciate it if you would e-mail me a typed copy as soon as possible so I can include it in the grading I will do this weekend.

Empathy: Before watching the movie, I asked about what "empathy" meant to you. It is at the core of what this unit is about - developing a sense of what it would be like to be in someone else's shoes. Not pity (which is feeling sorry for someone), but empathy. I really believe that empathy promotes action, so I was glad to hear some good definitions - and also that you actually cared about doing the speech. It makes me proud!

Rules for Watching Movie: I just wanted to make sure that everyone knew the ground rules going into the movie. It's really important to me that we don't disrespect the subject matter, especially after all of this build up. I think that everybody got this. Sometimes I think I'm a little too blunt with stuff like rules, but I think it's better safe than sorry.

Hotel Rwanda, Pt. 1: Interesting comments at the end of class! I promise that the movie gets a little easier to watch - it's very inspirational. However, we do have to realize that this stuff goes on around the world - it's the only way we can stop it. Thanks for paying close attention. I'm excited to read your responses and get back to you!

Talk to Mr. Fritz: I know that this was probably somewhat distracting, but I really wanted to touch base with all of you. Hopefully you now all know exactly where you are in my class (though remember, if you are missing things from Mrs. DeFrance, you need to get those into - and talk to - her ASAP). You should know a lot more when I get those speech grades back to you. Please e-mail me if you need another update on what I need from you.

Homework: Remember to do the colonialism to genocide flow chart! We will be using this for a project next week, so it is critical you get it done.

Finally, here's an interesting link coming off that last edit from the previous post: Security Council calls for cease-fire in Gaza - CNN.com. I know that most (or all) of you do not know much about the situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip, and I hope that this is a topic we will cover in the future because it is a region that will remain important forever. An interesting little quote from the article that caught my eye: "Fourteen of the council's 15 members voted in favor of the resolution, with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice abstaining from the vote on behalf of the United States."

This was apparently because the U.S. wanted to see the results of the peace effort that is being facilitated by Egypt (more detailed link). Still, what kind of message does this send?

I think that's about it. Go Blazers on Saturday (7 PM, Comcast Sports Net) and Eagles on Sunday (10 AM, FOX)! Have a great weekend!

----

First message:

Hello students,

I wanted to drop a little note to say that I will be posting the class recap a little later this evening than I normally do, because I have class at Lewis and Clark from 3:30 to 7:30. Could you imagine if you had a four hour long class? And had to miss the BCS National Championship game in the meantime? The sacrifices of being a teacher! :-)

Remember to be working on those cause and effect charts if I didn't check it off today.

Have a great evening!

Period 1: Genocide in Rwanda, Day 5 - Class Recap

EDIT (Tuesday, 5:11 PM): In a stroke of perfect timing, guess what the headline on CNN.com is right now, as I type this? "Live Developing Story: U.N. Security Council meets to discuss Gaza." You can't make this stuff up. Folks, this is another reason why what we did today in class is important, and will continue to be important to the world for as long as the U.N. is around.


A picture of the actual room the United Nations Security Council meets in, in New York City.
Good evening students,

Well, well, well. I'm not even sure that I know what to say right now! I asked for much, and across the board, you delivered. The speeches today were absolutely fantastic, and just what I was hoping for. I was extremely glad to see a whole host of things, but for one, what I was most proud of was that it seemed like you guys really did care about what you were learning about. I saw people that I almost never hear from give impassioned deliveries and pleas. I saw groups that had obviously been working together to figure everything out. All in all, you made me extremely proud today, and you should feel proud of yourselves as well. Mr. Chamberlain and Mrs. DeFrance were absolutely blown away when I talked to them later too. Way to make everyone look good. Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! :-)

Soundtrack for the day: "Welcome Back" by Ma$e. Lyrics found here. The reason for picking this song for today should be fairly obvious. Although I know you all are smarter than this: don't click on any of the ads on any of the sites I link to (it's surprisingly difficult to find lyrics websites that don't have tons of junk around the sides). You are not getting a Nintendo Wii for free. Sorry.

AGENDA 1/6/09:
Welcome Back!
Final Preparation (until 8:15)
SPEECHES
Group Assessments
Debrief
Cause and Effect Chart (if time)

HW: Colonialism to genocide flow chart (due Thursday)

Welcome Back!: I really could not believe the lack of excitement over your winter break, but I suppose that a lot of that was thinking more about the speech. I was going to point out that I had kept the blog updated (and even wrote the address on the board), and that it was amazing that just last month some of the main perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide finally got convicted, but basically I forgot. I hope you felt sufficiently welcomed back. If not, come talk to me whenever you'd like - I would love to hear all about your break and catch you up on everything! :-)

Final Preparation: You guys really milked this one for all it was worth before actually going on to the speeches, but I suppose it was worth it. I was glad to see that almost everyone was participating in the groups, and that those last minute details were being figured out.

SPEECHES: I know I commented a little bit above, but I'll continue on here. I definitely appreciated those who remembered to dress up (all of you that did looked fantastic)! Also, this is somewhat my bad for not writing down the directions, but I noticed some of you gazing off while other groups were going and not writing down your impressions and thoughts. I will collect that paper next class (we ran out of time today, so you got lucky if you only did it partially).

General impressions of the speeches: GREAT eye contact for most of you. As Lauren pointed out at the beginning (and this continued through all of you): the enunciation and projection was fantastic. Just great. Mr. Chamberlain and Mrs. DeFrance gave me a copy of their notes as well, and much of what they wrote were things like "very prepared and organized," "good information," "clear," and "passion."

Now, that's not to say that there was absolutely nothing that went badly or was incorrect. There were those times as well and you should fully expect to hear about those as well when I get back to you. However, my overall impressions of each group were great.

So here's what I'm going to do over the next few days: I'm going to look over your evaluations. I'm going to read what Mr. Chamberlain, Mrs. DeFrance, and myself wrote during the speeches. I am going to look at your individual speeches and the group speeches you handed me today and make comments. I will then type up an individual grade for each of you, and a group grade for everyone in your group. Those will be combined into your overall grade for the project. A lot, I know. It seems daunting right now as I type this! My goal is to get all of this back to you by Monday.

If you do not have your individual speech in: you will get an incomplete until you do, and we need to talk about making things up. If you did turn it in but did not come to class/participate today for whatever reason: I will give you the chance to give a 3 minute speech to me outside of class to make up some of the credit you missed. However, you need to know in the future that I am not kidding around when I say I need homework in on time. If there are any other situations, I will take them on a case by case basis. As always, please e-mail me if you have any questions or concerns about this.

Group Assessments: We didn't really have too much time to be really detailed on these, but thank you very much for completing them and getting them in to me. They will be very helpful to me as I assess that individual grade.

Debrief: We definitely did not have enough time to do this (though the discussing in between speeches was good and did help). I have some general questions for the class that I want to ask on Thursday for this, so we will do that before starting the movie.

Cause and Effect Chart (if time): Again, no time, sorry. However, you have know that this would be turned in for a long time now. If you have any questions about it, let me know. Be creative with it though! You can draw pictures and label, or whatever else you think might help make the point that colonialism leads to genocide. We will be working with this chart in the future.

Homework: The cause and effect chart. Seriously, get it done and turned in on time please. This assignment should take you no more than 30 minutes. No excuses please.

Class, pat yourselves on the back. You did amazingly well and I am proud of all of you. See you on Thursday for our next class, when we will watch Hotel Rwanda (but don't think I won't have you do something during it - you should know me better than that)! Have a wonderful night.

Period 1: Dress For Success!

The flag of the United Nations.
Dear students,

Apparently it was an extra long break for all of us, because this morning I immediately botched two of your names in the hall before second period and I've felt like an absolute idiot ever since! My sincerest apologies. That is honestly my biggest frustration and worry so far - knowing all 90+ names in the Global Studies classes Mrs. DeFrance and I teach at Westview. Everything else (like actually teaching) I'm totally good with. For whatever reason, names sometimes trip me up. Please give me some leeway! :-)

Hopefully you know by now (and if you don't, you must have been completely zoning out for the last few times that we had class together before the break and not paying attention to this blog at all since then): we will be proceeding with some pretty significant speeches on the Rwandan genocide tomorrow.

Here's the plan: I will give you the first 30 minutes of class (until 8:15) to go over your group speeches, rehearse, try to account for anyone or anything that is missing, and ask any questions. Both Mrs. DeFrance and I will be going around the room to help out as needed, and I will also try to remind those who are missing work to get it in.

Remember, I need a TYPED group copy of your planned speech - so type out your part and send it (or bring it) to a group member that has agreed to compile all of the different parts into one stapled copy. Although I can't promise a computer will be open, I will be in the classroom early tomorrow (probably at 7:00) if you or your group want to meet before class.

At 8:15, Mr. Chamberlain will arrive and the speeches will begin! I will ask for volunteers first, then start drawing names. There will be a podium set up, and Mrs. DeFrance, Mr. Chamberlain, and myself will be sitting at the main table. During the group speeches, I am going to ask that you take notes on interesting or persuasive things that are said.

After the speeches, I will hand out the individual evaluation forms. This is where you get to comment on your group members (and your) participation in this way too prolonged process. These comments will be taken into account when I assign your final grade for the unit.

Finally, if we have time, we will debrief the speeches (we may do a little in between each speech) and work on the flow chart. Then it's goodbye until next class and a watching of Hotel Rwanda!

So, for tomorrow, be sure to:

1) Have your part of the speech practiced and ready to go (meaning that it is typed and in a copy with the other members of your group). You need to speak for one minute - and try to get it so you aren't just simply reading from the paper! Put some oomph into it!

2) DRESS UP! For guys, a collared shirt would be great if possible. I'll bring a few ties with me if needed. For girls, I'm not entirely sure that I'm qualified to judge what is dressed up or not (though I suppose a collared shirt works too), but I guess I would like to see some attempt at making sure that you look and feel professional. Remember, this whole thing isn't for my benefit - by raising the stakes and making it feel like you are actually doing something about the genocide, I'm hoping that it will give everyone a sense of what it might really be like to speak out. You are speaking in front of three adults that have a lot of say in the world that you might not have right now! Make it count!

3) Bring your colonialism to genocide flow chart (the back side should have the seven pillars of colonialism written down and part of Rwanda's history with colonialism). We will work on this if we have time at the end of class - it will be homework for Thursday.

Final Speech Handout
Above is the final speech handout, which you were given in class the last time we met. Just remember that above all, I will be grading on you and your group's ability to make a coherent (meaning easy to follow), persuasive, and knowledgeable argument about what to do in Rwanda. When you step up to the podium tomorrow, it is April 24th, 1994 and you are speaking in front of possibly the only group in the entire world that can stop the ongoing genocide! Remember that!

Contact your group members! You can use this site, or call, or e-mail, or whatever, as long as - "there will be no one to stop us this time." Yes, I definitely did just use a Darth Vader quote.

See you tomorrow! I'm very excited and you should be too!