Period 1: Turmoil in the Middle East, Day 6 - Class Recap

A look at where the United States imports oil from. It is not any wonder that we are very involved in the Middle East.
Good afternoon class!

Thanks for another interesting day! I hope that really delving into learning some content on the Middle East was an enjoyable experience! I know that there are times when PowerPoints and lectures are really boring and that you do not see the point. However, I can assure you that it is all very much related to what we are doing in class and you personally. There is really SO MUCH there to think about and consider, especially when you think about our essential questions for the day.

Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What is the impact of religion on policy in the Middle East? - Question for those that are diligent in actually reading this: what is one thing that we talked about today that connects countries? Hint: Look at the picture above.

Soundtrack: "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who. Lyrics here. Song chosen because today is April Fool's Day, a holiday which I think can be fun, but I really do not like all the crazy misinformation that people blindly believe. Also, this is an excellent song - I'm glad I got to wait to scream "Yeaaaaaaaah!" at the beginning of class. Always good times. Also good times: getting up to jump at 8:34. What fun.

AGENDA 4/1/09:
News Brief
Teaching Tolerance
Middle East PowerPoint
Brandon Roy
$2 a Day/Revisions/Check-In

Homework: Finish $2 a Day assignment. Finish late work. Check blog!

The $2 a Day assignment, for those that we not in class, or need further clarification: I want you to neatly write or type a page long plan, or itinerary, for what you would do for one complete day if you had to live on $2 for the entire day. Remember that 53% of the world lives on the equivalent of two dollars a day. So, what would a day be like? Think about life in a developing country (not the United States). You have no car. You do not have a nice house. Everything you own, you got because you have lived on $2 a day for your entire life. You can construct this like a diary, use drawings to illustrate, anything you want. I just want it to be apparent that you put some serious consideration into what it might be like to live on two dollars for an entire day.

I will talk about this a little more in the "Brandon Roy" section, but again, with the late work: please, please do not lose hope or give up on getting things revised and turned in. I am absolutely here to help and work with you on everything. Come in and see me during your lunch period, after school, before school, or even easier, e-mail me at luke_fritz@beavton.k12.or.us and I will get back to you ASAP.

News Brief: As I like to do, after going over the essential questions, soundtrack, agenda, and homework, I asked the class about interesting things going on around the world. Andrew K. talked a little about North Korea, and how they are getting ready to launch a "satellite" (or missile) soon. Here's an article on that: NYTimes.com - North Korea Threatens to Down U.S. Surveillance Planes. From the article, apparently North Korea has said that it will launch the whatever-it-is sometime from this Saturday to next Wednesday. Wow, that sure is interesting to follow. Let's see what happens! Maybe I should give extra credit to the first person to tell me that the launch happened? :-)

Jazmyne talked a little about going on YouTube and searching for Obama Anti-Christ videos. To see something similarly ridiculous, watch "Loose Change" or any of the related 9/11 Conspiracy videos. Honestly, I think most of the people that start or believe in these theories do so because they cannot accept that life is full of random events. Conspiracies mean order, planning, and rationalizing. There are some things that really are just completely random and coincidental.

Anyway, the real point of this section was that Ben brought in this article: CNN.com - Desperation, smuggling the backdrop to migrant tragedy. I think it is interesting that Libya is a destination for many Africans because their economy is better than many countries around, and also is used as a "jumping off point" to Europe. Remember that "emigration" is migration away from a country and "immigration" is migration into a country. Thanks for bringing this in Ben! Morgan is up next for Friday - any current article having to do with anything outside the United States.

Teaching Tolerance: This was a cool little lesson that my friend Jessica from Lewis and Clark gave me to do. The entire thing can be recapped here: Tolerance.org - Holiday Stereotyping Activity - which I actually did not see until now, as I am writing this blog. The elements are the same though. Interesting to see how our perceptions change with the drop of a hat (wow, I am very proud of myself for that intended pun).

Middle East PowerPoint: Thank you for paying attention (for the most part) to this! I was a little wary about giving the class the entire PowerPoint in a handout (if you were not in class, please see me for a copy), but I think (and hope) that doing so helped you out, rather than distracted your attention. The PowerPoint can be viewed here:

Turmoil in the Middle East PowerPoint
The main point of this was to look at the role of religion and oil (a non-renewable resource) in the Middle East. Not so coincidentally, this was exactly what the essential questions are based on. Hopefully, you have a little better understanding of the region. Some topics that came up during this part of class, that I said I would try to find out for the blog:

Zack T. asked about the population in Israel. I think I guessed 7 million, which was pretty close. The CIA World Factbook entry says 7,233,701. 76.4% are Jewish, meaning about 5,526,547 people.

Abe brought up the idea of a four walled structure in Jerusalem, with a side for each religion. I know that there are areas with multiple religions laying claim to ownership, but I think what he was talking about was the Western Wall (take a look at some of the debates near the end of that article, you can definitely see how tense the entire situation in Jerusalem is). Ben was correct in calling it the "Wailing Wall" too. I talked in class about then-Senator Barack Obama visiting the wall and leaving a private note in the cracks, as many who come to it do. That note was taken and published, which sparked an outrage by the rabbis who oversee the wall. You can read about the note and the controversy here: AP - Israeli paper publishes Obama Western Wall prayer.

I mentioned the TIME magazine article that is on the last slide of the presenation as a possible source of extra credit. Here is the article: Time.com - Six Keys to Peace. I am not going to assign a point value to this assignment, because it is extra credit. If you do an absolutely fantastic job, I will make it worth your while. Basically, I want you to write a review of the article - what you think its strengths and weakness as an argument for Middle East peace. Notice how is is almost exactly the same format as what I asked you to write on Somalia and women in the Middle East? See, there is a point to writing those. :-)

The second option would be for you to interview a Muslim leader (not just someone who is from the Middle East or Muslim - I am talking about a spiritual leader) here in the Portland area. I actually live close to two mosques in Southwest Portland, but I am not sure where you would be able to find one close to Westview - look it up! This would be an incredibly interesting opportunity for you to learn more about the culture of Islam and get past some of the stereotypes you may have. Conduct an interview with a Muslim leader, by asking them about their perspectives on all sorts of things. Whatever your heart desires. Produce something (like a paper) that shows me what you talked about and learned and I will give you extra credit (again, based on how much I think you got out of doing it).

I am positive that I am forgetting some things that I said I would post on the blog, so if anyone remembers what those were, please let me know.

Brandon Roy: I read a selection from this article: OregonLive.com - Roy takes notes at facility's opening. The point of pointing out Mr. Roy's learning disability and path to stardom was to ask everyone in the class to not give up on themselves. The end of the quarter is coming, there is a lot of work to be done, and I know that life is stressful just being in high school. I am here to help! Please come see me, ask about what you can do to make things up, and try to have a good attitude about getting things made up! Like I said before, if you revise (for the better) work or turn in work that you are missing, you WILL get a higher grade on that assignment and in the class as a whole.

$2 a Day/Revisions/Check-In: I am glad we got the chance to go over this! I think it should be a good activity. Please see my notes in the homework section above, if you have any questions, or comment below if you are not entirely sure what to do. Again, all I am looking for is a good effort on really thinking about what it would be like to live on $2 a day.
---

No more Blazers until Friday night, but I am really glad they are continuing to get some good rest! Absolute dominance last night. Also, there is no new episode of The Office this week - but next week there will be two. Joy! I will be in class at Lewis and Clark tonight from 4:30 to about 7:00 tonight (Wednesday), so do not worry if your comment does not post right away during that time frame.

Have a great rest of the day! :-)