A 2006 version of the McDonald's Dollar Menu. How many of you could live on a bottled water and a double cheeseburger, for the ENTIRE day? Especially day after day? Great article on the effects of the dollar menu in today's economy: CBS.com - Cheap Food Trumps Healthy Dining During Recession.
Hello amazing students!
A productive week back from Spring Break is in the books! Hopefully, everyone is actually reading this. It was hard to see my hopes and dreams of 100% participation in reading the blog dashed in class, but I am extremely thankful for those that do follow along diligently after every day! You guys are rock stars. :-)
On to the recap:
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? What is the impact of religion on policy in the Middle East?
Soundtrack: "It Takes Two" by Zac Efron. Chosen, like I said in class, because I went into my iTunes folder and searched for "two" - and also because I wanted to appeal to some of the fans of musicals in the class. This song is from the Hairspray soundtrack.
AGENDA 4/3/09:
News Brief
The (Two) Dollar Menu
Forced Choice
Revisions/Late Work
Homework: Finish late work. Be good to Mrs. DeFrance on Tuesday. Check blog!
Again, it is so important for everyone to be on top of getting all of their work in. Let me work with you on revising things! Help me, help you! Especially if you got a low grade or are missing either the Africa travel guide or the Nigeria essay. Those two assignments are worth a really big percentage of your grade this quarter.
As I said in class, after not missing a day of teaching for 4 months, next Tuesday I will be gone at the Oregon Professional Educator Fair, which is in downtown Portland. Of course, my first stop will be the Beaverton School District. :-) Please be great for Mrs. DeFrance, as I know you will be! We are in the process of planning that day, but we think it will be about the Russian Revolution, and how it impacted Afghanistan (and in turn, the rest of the Middle East). Get ready to be communists!
If you are reading this, you are doing one of your homework assignments already. Way to go!
News Brief: As I handed back the visual metaphors from last semester, I asked about what was going on in the world, if anyone had some good April Fool's Day stories, and other generally interesting things. We talked a little bit about the G-20 meetings in London, which are absolutely fascinating to hear about. Apparently, Michelle Obama wore J. Crew. We will probably talk about her a little more in the coming days, especially as we continue to think about how women can have an impact.
Morgan brought in an article about the Prime Minister of Israel saying that he wants peace with the Palestinians. Her article might have been: BBC.co.uk - Netanyahu 'will be peace partner'. Very interesting stuff! We talked later in class about making an effort for peace, and if that is going to be good enough. Hopefully, it is!
Zach N. is up for next Tuesday (Mrs. DeFrance said it would be great, so go ahead and bring it in). A current news article about anything outside of the United States.
The (Two) Dollar Menu: I asked the class to get out the homework on living on a dollar a day and share them. Then, I asked for volunteers to share what they wrote with the class. A lot of it relied on other people to help out. What does that say? What amount of people living on $2 a day or less have to depend on more wealthy people for assistance? Further, what can the United States do about it? All good questions that come up after this.
Also, I mentioned a currently airing Taco Bell commercial, where I simply do not understand the posture of the guy that says "but we can get nachos at the game, man!" That commercial can be watched here: Taco Bell - Nacho Drag Commercial. Watch the part between 8 and 9 seconds. What the heck kind of posture is that? It completely does not go with the last shot of the guy. The shorter, 15 second version of this commercial is even worse. Good times.
EDIT: Here's a capture from the video, illustrating what I was talking about. That is an hilarious picture, you have to admit!
Hopefully by putting some serious thought into this, you saw that it would be ridiculously difficult to live on two dollars a day, somewhere in the world.
Forced Choice: Now, THIS was a lot of fun. Thank you for being willing take a stand for what you believe in! I created these statements purposely to be divisive, so that we could see multiple perspectives on an issue. Specifically, I wanted all of the questions to somehow relate to the Middle East and what we are studying. I know this was somewhat difficult! That was the point!
I was also really excited to see all the optimism on the last statement: The conflicts in the Middle East can be solved, with enough effort. It really is a very difficult question to consider. On one hand, there has really never been a sustained period of peace. On the other, is it productive to try and solve the conflicts? I was also really glad to see a few "realists" take the side of "no." That to me shows that there was a lack of being naive, at the very least.
This took a lot of time, but I think it was really fun. I am going to try similar activities in the future. Definitely leave any thought about how that process went, or defend your opinion, below in the comments!
Revisions/Late Work: We didn't have as much time for this as I would have liked, but it was good to be able to go over some grades and give everyone some good time to do things. Also, it was Friday, and nice to be able to unwind a little. Hopefully, this was productive. I cannot emphasize this enough: come see me or e-mail me if you want to know what your grade is or what you can do to improve it. I am fairly sure that I have talked to most everyone that I need things from, but really, every single assignment is crucial. I had a student go from an overall B to a high A today, just through revising the Nigeria essay. It is worth the effort! Also, you can take a look at the extra credit opportunities below as well.
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I am excited for some basketball today during 2nd Lunch, and tonight for with the Blazers at the Team That Shall Not Be Named, at 5:00 on CSN. The Blazers also play Sunday at 4:00 at Houston on KGW. The Final Four is Saturday and the championship is on Monday, on CBS. I should be available all of the weekend for e-mails and comments. I have lots of grading and homework of my own to do, so don't be afraid to post and provide me with good distractions! Have an absolutely amazing weekend! You guys are incredible!
OH MY GOSH! (not to sound to girly) haha. That basketball game today was awesome. I will most definetly be playing ever friday now. ( and wearing shorts i might add!) You spelled GREAT wrong you wrote graet when you were talking about Mrs. Defrance you might want to check that out
ReplyDeleteJazmyne,
ReplyDeleteNot only did you completely dominate Russel on the basketball court, you also just pointed out a spelling error deep in the middle of the recap, meaning you probably read the entire thing. YOU ROCK! Have an absolutely fantastic weekend - enjoy the Pacific Northwest while you still can! :-)
AND...totally out rebounded people with some hops haha! THANKS i was reading it and was like WOW that is NOT right! I'll definetly be enjoying my two months i have left, MOST DEFINETLY!
ReplyDeleteMr. Fritz,
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say that your class is basically the only thing that I can talk about when I get home and my dad says "hey son, what did you do at school today?" yes, he still does that.... because all of my other classes are boring. For example, today I found out that almost the entire class disagrees with me on almost everything on the activity sheet that we did today (not that I liked that, but it was indeed interesting). We always talk about relevant things too, so it all ties in together and can be used in many ways now and later on in life. Thanks!
Zack,
ReplyDeleteThanks for that feedback. One of the biggest goals I have for any class I teach is to make everything relevant and interesting. Especially with topics like history and social studies, where too often, people tune out and do not see the point.
I would not characterize the forced choice thing as everyone disagreeing with you, but it did seem like you were in the minority a lot - but many people joined you in that minority at one time or another. As I wrote in the post, I have a great deal of respect for anyone that can take a stand and explain what they believe in, even though it might be unpopular. It's part of growing up, and also part of realizing that you can disagree with people and still respect them.
As always, it is excellent to hear your thoughts on everything. Enjoy the weekend, and another HUGE Blazers win! :-)
Mr. Fritz,
ReplyDeleteHow about this weather?! It actually feels more like home in cali! (Except pretty much every winter/spring day is like this there) But I actually got outside and didn't sunburn for once, which is surprising because 99/100 times I do burn! I'm just pretty excited to see the sun again for more than an hour or two!
Zack,
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing! Yesterday I played tennis outside for the first time in about 5 months. So much fun! I'm guessing you didn't burn because the angle of the sun is still really low in the sky - remember that it is barely spring! 74 degrees forecasted for tomorrow. I'm thinking about busting out a summer song for the soundtrack tomorrow.
Blazers in the playoffs! However, they really need to step up the defense against the Rockets right now. 30 point quarters are not going to get it done.
Hey Mr. Fritz,
ReplyDeleteI was just reading over the comments and thought of a great summer song...how about All Summer Long by Kid Rock? I'm not too sure about language in it or if there is any profanity or anything like that but its a great summer song. If you can't find the Kid Rock version than the much more common version is by a band called The Rock Hero's. You should check it out.
Brandon,
ReplyDeleteAhh yes. We will see! The problem is that by the next time I see you guys, we probably won't have this amazing weather! I will keep that suggestion in my back pocket for later though. Have fun with Mrs. DeFrance tomorrow and remember to get in any late work you are missing!
Oh yes...the late work...well i am working on that now. Since its all essays should i e-mail them to you or turn them into Mrs. DeFrance?
ReplyDeleteBrandon,
ReplyDeleteBring them to Mrs. DeFrance for tomorrow if you could. Surprise, surprise, after all my printing the past few months my printer is out of ink and it is going to take a few days for a new cartridge to come.
Okay Mr. Fritz. Will do. Also, sorry about the cartdridge. I just realized that leaving comments on the blog helps me practice typing for my computer business applications class.
ReplyDeleteBrandon,
ReplyDeleteVery nice! So you are doing homework for two different classes at once! See, it all is connected somehow. Let me know if you have any questions about anything you have to get done for me! :-)
Was the two dollars a day assignment and my nigeria revisions the only things i needed to do to get my grade up?
ReplyDeleteBrandon,
ReplyDeleteYes, that looks like it is it. You could also revise other things for more credit too. :-)
Mr. Fritz,
ReplyDeleteWill most definetly miss you tomorrow. GOOD LUCK with everything tomorrow. DON'T be nervous. You will do awesome. I will see you on Wendesday in the teacher cluster most likely 6th period!
-Jazmyne:)
Thanks Jazmyne!
ReplyDeleteIt's a little hard to be nervous because I am not expecting anything at all because the economy is so bad right now. What I have heard from a lot of people (including Mr. Chamberlain) is that all the real hiring will be done late this summer because nobody has any idea what their budget will be. Tomorrow will be a good way to get a foot in the door though! Thanks for thinking of me - see you Wednesday! :-)
very true, but you will most definetly be making an impression and when it comes to hiring, districts will be like well he really stood out. SO at least you will be making an imprint. It's almost like getting ahead of everyone else in this crazy economy! But most definetly just the kind of person I AM! :D see you later!
ReplyDeletewhat was the second extra credit again? The one thats other than muslimleader.
ReplyDeleteAbe,
ReplyDeleteRead this TIME magazine article and write an evaluation of the author's argument. What do you think of it? Could this plan work? There should be lots of things to talk about! TIME.com - Six Keys to Peace. The amount of extra credit I will give is entirely dependent on how well you write up your thoughts on it. It could be worth anywhere from 0 to 20+ points. Hope that helps!