Period 1: Nigeria - Building a Power, Day 5 - Class Recap

The current advertisement for Portland International Airport's non-stop, direct flights to NRT, AMS, and FRA. More information can be found here: Be a Local Super Hero.
Hello and welcome to another class recap!

I was very excited about class today - I think we are getting our mojo back after such a nice long weekend. Thank you for all your good hard work during the time I gave you. We SHOULD have more time next class, if we can use that computer lab that actually works again. If not, book hunting it is.

Since there really isn't too much else to say up front here, on to the recap it is!

Essential Questions: How do different structures of power impact the people over whom they govern? Why do some countries thrive while others fail?

Soundtrack: "Fly" by TQ. As I stated in class, TQ is one of my all-time favorite music artists, if not the favorite. Here are the lyrics to Fly. If interested, I would also say that "Until" (which has to be in the discussion as my favorite song ever), "Gone But Not Forgotten," "Internationally Yours," "Hard Life," and "Paradise" by TQ are probably all in my top 50 favorite songs of all time list. And that isn't even including his one big hit, "Westside" - which is an okay song, but not even close to these. His lyrics for some of his songs are a little suspect (and explicit), but every once in the while, he comes up with absolutely amazing stuff. And almost nobody has heard of him, go figure. "Fly" was chosen today because of our continued effort to "fly" to Africa and create a travel guide, as well as the lyric about "five students for every teacher, now we gonna get some education that's real." Yes.

AGENDA 2/18/09
Hand Back Work
News Brief
Questions
Computer Lab/In-Class Work

Homework: Continue to work on travel guide. Check blog.

Hand Back Work: I handed back everything I have from the class so far. I think that there are 7 students that still have not turned in the Five Points on Somalia homework, meaning we are only at a 78% turn in rate, STILL. Frustrating, to say the least. Anyway, here's how I graded those: if you followed directions and found five points that you thought could be used to repair Somalia, and typed a little bit about why you chose each one, that was a 10/10. If you were missing any of that (either no 5 points, or not typed, or I needed more from you), you did not receive full credit (though you absolutely have the opportunity to revise and resubmit). If if was late, you were docked accordingly. Please e-mail me if you have any questions or concerns about this.

We also talked a little bit about your weekends - I remember Russel's new baby brother, Lauren's sushi outing, and Scout cooking up some delicious Mac and Cheese - and the importance of spell checking and proof reading before turning things in. The example I gave was of the school newspaper article on Abe, which spelled his last name wrong in three different ways (which is pretty incredible). We also talked about the article on Ben, as well as the absolutely insane article on sexuality at school, that has Mrs. DeFrance and I totally paranoid now. I won't recount my other thoughts, but I'm glad the class wanted to hear what I had to say about it all.

Finally, I talked about spelling "definitely" right, as well as introducing the "Be A Local Super Hero" T-Shirt as being the prize for the best travel guide, as decided by the class. By the way, I LOVED the lack of enthusiasm for this idea. No seriously, it is making me crack up as I type this right now! Because really, what a silly ad campaign - why on Earth would people be excited about it? Anyway, t-shirt is the prize - it's a white elephant bribe! I know you are all pumped to go out and win it. ;-)

News Brief: Nolan very nicely summed up this article: BBC News.com: "Athens hit by wave of firebombs". I talked a little about how injustice can spark riots and used the example of Rodney King in class, which sparked the LA Riots in 1992. Here is the infamous video of the incident that got broadcast around the world (Warning: Violent and Disturbing): Rodney King beating.

Thanks for that really interesting article Nolan! C.J., you are up for Friday. A current article about anything outside the United States.

Questions: I really like this whole "mandatory" questions time, as uncomfortable as it may seem if there are no questions. The way that I see it, there always should be questions. If I have a little time set aside to welcome questions, people are more willing to actually ask, to fill time. Hopefully, anyway. Let me know if this is a bad idea.

Computer Lab Time/In-Class Work: Wow, so the computer lab situation, not so good. I'm glad that Mrs. DeFrance bailed me out on that one. It's probable that the people in class working from the books got a whole lot more out of this time. Generally, however, we did very well once everyone got all settled down. Thanks again for this. Some good links for you again:

The CIA World FactBook - Go here and choose your country for a fantastic start for those basic facts. Remember to cite all the information that you use!

Kayak.com - Again, this is a FANTASTIC website for finding fares and routes to those African countries. My advice: find the biggest city in your country, and then start typing it in as a destination. Does Kayak come up with something for you? Search that. If it doesn't, or you search and can't find anything, just try the nearest country to you, and offer a car to pick up travelers at the airport in the guide you are creating. Sound good?

Please feel free to post any other links that you find!

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Okay, as usual, I will not be able to answer or post comments (or e-mails) from 3:30 to 7:30 tonight, because I will be in a ridiculously long class at Lewis and Clark. I always look forward to coming back home and seeing if anyone is posting though, so go ahead if you so desire! Also, it's about dang time the Blazers are playing again. Tonight vs. Memphis at 7:00 on Comcast Sports Net. Or, you could Pack the Pit (I think I missed that today) if you want. Lots of options - just keep working on that travel guide please!

Have a wonderful evening!

Late Addition: First trade for the Blazers! Ike Diogu to the Kings for Michael Ruffin from the Bulls. Blockbuster! ;-)
Source: Blazers Edge.