Period 1: Nigeria - Building a Power, Day 7 - Class Recap

Outside the school of our Nigerian pen pals - ECWA Staff School, Jos, Nigeria.
Good afternoon class,

First off, if you were not present in class (or came and didn't turn it in), I need your travel guide e-mailed to me ASAP, so you do not lose more credit than you have to.

Okay, with that out of the way, let's talk a little bit about class. I LOVED what everyone brought to the table during the Africa Fair (which I realized was rushed, but still ended up taking most of the class). I have to think of better ways for everyone to get involved in the different countries, but I think the main thing we got out of this was that when you repeat something about your country 15 times in a row, you are probably going to remember it for a while. Please hang on to those peer comment sheets - we will use them next class!

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

Soundtrack: "Come Rain or Come Shine" by Billie Holiday. Selected because it is rainy outside and there was a fairly big assignment due. Zack asked what year the song was from. I'm still not sure, but a little research says that the original song was published in 1946. Billie was one of many to sing it after that. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/20/09:
News Brief
Africa Fair
Class Unity Activity
Pen Pals

Homework: Pen pal letter to Nigerian student (if you were absent, write a draft of a letter that you think a student in Nigeria would be interested in). Watch President's speech tonight (6 PM, all local TV stations) and write out notes on what is said about countries outside the U.S.

Let me explain the homework a little better, because it was extremely difficult to get everyone to focus at the end of class there. What I want you to do is to write (not type!) out a letter in response to your Nigerian pen pal. What do they want to know about? What do you want to know about? Try to focus on some key things we have talked in class about, like culture, geography, government, and structures of power. By that, I mean a question like: what role does a teacher have in a Nigerian classroom? That would be a good "structure of power" question. Again, I want you to have fun with this, because it loses the fun if I ask you to say all sorts of bland things like "tell me about the role of geography in shaping your experience," because that's simply not something you would normally say. I just want some acknowledgement of what we have been talking about in class.

And if that still isn't clear, please comment, e-mail, or ask Mrs. DeFrance at school tomorrow (I will not be there). I want you to come in with a draft letter, which we will be using in class.

News Brief: We began class by talking a little about the weekend and what was going on around the world. I told you about my eye getting scratched, meeting Senator Merkley, the Blazer game, and the Oscars. Yesterday, I went to see Slumdog Millionaire, which won, like, every Oscar it was nominated for, including Best Picture. Great movie. Interesting reaction from India about it though! I found this article online that I thought some of you might enjoy: FT.com - 'Slumdog' success divides India. The section I thought was most interesting (emphasis mine):

India is not Somalia. We are one of the foremost nuclear powers in the world, our satellites are roaming the universe. Our police commissioners' offices don't look like shacks and there are no blind children begging in the streets of ­Mumbai.

Randi talked a little bit about an article she found on the Charles de Gualle (CDG) Airport in Paris cutting back on routes. I can't find the article after a basic search, but I think it was probably talking a lot about the effect the economy has had on international traveling. Thanks Randi! Up for next class is Gerold.

Africa Fair: Like I said above, this was great. A little bit hard for me to structure, because even though it ended up taking most of class, I know many of you were probably frustrated with the lack of time at each desk. I think from now on I will try to really work on getting small group work back in play. It's nice that you had such a lot of exposure to so many cool countries, but in the end, I'm wondering how much you actually learned from a 1 minute talk. Maybe a smaller group, less countries, but longer session would work better in the future?

Anyway, a small note about the turn in rate: Thank You. I realize this may have been partially inflated because five people were out sick (by the way, incredible timing on this - a day that a nice big project is due I get the worst attendance of the year so far - hmm), but the vast majority of those that were in class came ready to present and turn in something. Just by the general impressions and looking around, there were some absolutely excellent guides. So thank you. If you are not happy with how your guide turned out, remember that you can always revise for more credit.

Thank you for your participation in that activity. It was a lot of fun! As the class stated afterwards, my due date for getting these all graded and back to you is next Wednesday, March 4. Thanks for that! Boy, if I don't get them back to you by then, I'm an enormous hypocrite.

Class Unity Activity: Is anyone aware of the long running "my apologies to Matt Damon, we ran out of time" bit on the Jimmy Kimmel show? This activity is like Matt Damon. I am pretty sure that we will get to it next class though, so be excited for that.

Pen Pals: Again, look above to the homework section for a recap of what I am asking you to do for this. There were a ton of questions in class about the letters being addressed to someone else, who wanted a picture, e-mail address, phone number, etc... I know it's difficult to get past, but really, those are not important questions. What's important is that you read the letter and get an understanding about where the student is coming from. You don't have to give out any personal information yourself. Just follow what I wrote above and come in with a written draft.

I showed a few things in class. First is the Google Maps satellite imagery of Jos, Nigeria, where our pen pals are from. I did a search for the specific school and found that the "B" option on the side of this link is probably right around where the school is - Google Maps: Jos, Nigeria.

We also talked a little bit about education in Nigeria (32% of males attend school, 27% females), even though it is theoretically open and optional for everyone and government funded. For more information about Jos, check out this handy Wikipedia article - Wikipedia - Jos. As I always stress, it is difficult to entirely trust Wikipedia, but one particular statement is cited so I think it is okay to say that Jos is the 10th biggest city (most populated) in Nigeria. What is the tenth biggest city in the U.S.? San Jose, California. Portland is 30th. Yay for knowledge.

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Barring any further thoughts or questions, I think that should just about do it. Remember to watch President Obama's speech (and the Republican response by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal) tonight and note what they have to say about the global community! Have a fantastic evening, see you on Thursday!

LATE ADD: You can read President Obama's entire speech here. If you just read that last sentence, you are required to bring at least one thing in to share with the class that you found was interesting about how he is relating to the global community.