Period 1: Nigeria - Building a Power, Day 8 - Class Recap

I am proud to report that at 1:08 PM this afternoon, I was finally able to untangle every last knot from the ball of yarn. Let it never be said that I don't have patience. :-)
Welcome to another class recap!

I was so excited about how the timing went today in class! We actually got to everything I had planned, and even had a good amount left to try and peer review the pen pal letters. Thanks for a really fun, good, class everyone.

Essential Questions: How do different structures of power impact the people over whom they govern? Why do some countries thrive while others fail? - I especially wanted to think about these in terms of the U.S. today as well.

Soundtrack: "Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!" by Dean Martin. Lyrics AND video AND song here: YouTube: Dean Martin - "Let it Snow!" Wow, let me tell you - when I started playing this song before class, looked outside, and it was snowing... one of the real highlights of my short time as a teacher. It's the small things in life. I really love snow, and to be teaching while it is snowing out was a joy. A fantastic way to start the day, because I didn't even have trouble getting out of my neighborhood!

AGENDA 2/26/09:
News Brief
Debrief Last Class
America and Globalization
Class Unity Activity
Pen Pal Letters

Homework: Final copy of Nigerian pen pal letter. Check blog! Have a fantastic weekend!

Basically, what I am going to be looking over these letters for is spelling/grammar, some relation to what we have been talking about in class (culture, geography, conflict, structures of power, etc), and overall effort. Most of what I saw today in class looked excellent, but hopefully having a little time to have another pair of eyes look at your letter helped. Please re-write the letter (remember, do not type this!) and bring to turn in on Monday.

News Brief: After going over the essential questions, agenda, and soundtrack, Gerold told us about yesterday's crash of an Turkish Airlines (TK) Boeing 737-800, outside Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) Airport. At least 4 Americans died in the crash, but most of the passengers survived. Here's a recap: Reuters: "Dutch say Turks, Americans among Schiphol crash dead"

Very timely article, thank you Gerold! Jillian, you are up for next Monday. A current article about anything going on outside the United States.

Somehow, our discussion turned into talking about Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. prison camp on Cuba. I talked a little about why the international community tends to think that the prison is a really bad thing, and a little about waterboarding, which most people would probably conclude is torture. President Obama announced that he plans to close Guantanamo within the next year, though there is a debate about what to do with the prisoners.

Abe mentioned one released prisoner in particular. A little research shows that he was probably talking about Binyam Mohamed, who is mentioned in this article: BBC News.com: "Call to relax Guantanamo regime" Very interesting. Again, you can begin to see why many people in the international community believe that Guantanamo is an outrage (though remember that there is always another side to the debate). Many of the prisoners held there may have committed terrible crimes, but they have not been charged with anything. President Bush kept them as "enemy combatants," which is a term that he used to say that no crime needed to be charged in order for them to be kept.

Debrief Last Class: I pulled out the playing cards to ask the class what you thought of the Africa Fair. Someone mentioned again that it went a little too fast. Yep. Message received there. I have to get better at the timing. But overall, I thought it was a useful exercise and fun to see all the great work that you did.

Russel ended up winning the "Local Super Hero" T-Shirt, because he had the best comment (as judged by me) on his sheet. It was interesting to hear some of the other comments - especially because I asked you to read the best one! Maybe we should work on giving thoughtful responses?

America and Globalization: First off, we talked a little about what "globalization" means. I described it as the increasing interdependence of people across the world. The Wikipedia entry says pretty much the same thing. So, I asked the class to bring up some interesting highlights of the President's speech on Tuesday. I was pretty disappointed with the lack of participation on that one. As I said in class, perhaps I need to make stuff like that, and checking the blog, mandatory. I mean, it was on like 15 different stations, and available to view online whenever! Anyway, I read some of the quotes that I thought were interesting, including one about never quitting when it comes to education and the importance of the world. Here's the first one that I read (the transcript of the entire speech can be found here):

We are a nation that has seen promise amid peril, and claimed opportunity from ordeal. Now we must be that nation again. That is why, even as it cuts back on the programs we don't need, the budget I submit will invest in the three areas that are absolutely critical to our economic future: energy, health care, and education.
It begins with energy.

We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century. And yet, it is China that has launched the largest effort in history to make their economy energy efficient. We invented solar technology, but we've fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing it. New plug-in hybrids roll off our assembly lines, but they will run on batteries made in Korea.
Well I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders - and I know you don't either. It is time for America to lead again.

Really pretty interesting stuff. How do you think the rest of the world responds to something like that - especially if you are in one of those countries that is mentioned above as beating us?

Class Unity Activity: Finally! This was really interesting and fun. I have to give credit for the idea and the yarn to my friend Alexis, who is currently in the same program as I am at Lewis and Clark. Good times. Thanks for your participation, and remember that we are all interconnected! When someone stumbles, it is up to the rest of us to help them back up! :-)

Totally worth the 3 hours of untying knots in the yarn too...

Pen Pals: I had Mrs. DeFrance come in to explain a little more about the program and why it is important. Hopefully she cleared up any lingering questions for you. After that informative session, I had you get a partner to review and peer edit your letters, so that when you hand them in on Monday, they will be perfect! Remember, what I am really looking for is that you have good spelling and grammar (we don't want to trip up our Nigerian friends with our bad English!), some sort of tie in to what we have been talking about in class, and a good effort. Other than that, please have fun with this assignment!

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No new Office episode tonight, but it should be back on next week. Blazers (who have been playing mostly terribly for about a month now) play Friday at 5 against Minnesota (CSN), as well as back here in Portland against San Antonio on Sunday at 5 (KGW - Ch. 8). Please enjoy your weekend, and as always, let me know if you have any questions or thoughts about class (or really, anything). I will be unable to post and respond to comments from about 3:15 to 7:45, because I will be in class, but I definitely love seeing what everyone has to say, so fire away!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone! :-)