Good morning class!
That was an entirely too short day. Further shortened by the assembly schedule (which I forgot about until just before class) and our talking about the news of the day for about 25 minutes. Thus, no outside exploring for us. However, we WILL do that at some point in time - probably a sunny Friday. :-)
Essential Questions: In what ways are cultures and countries interconnected? How can the Middle East be stabilized?
Soundtrack: "Beautiful Day" by U2. Lyrics here. As I told you in class, I made up my mind yesterday that this would be the soundtrack, with either a Blazers win or Blazers loss. I think it worked well, even though we had the latter. I really can't be sad when listening to that song. Some of the lyrics that relate to the interconnectedness around the world:
See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out
It was a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
Beautiful day
Also, a bit of trivia: This is the first time that I have repeated an artist for the soundtrack this year. I also played U2's "Pride (In the Name of Love)" before MLK day.
AGENDA 5/1/09:
The Blazers
News Brief
Student Presentations
Exploring the World
Homework: Live, love, listen, laugh – have a great weekend. Read blog recap!
The Blazers: At the start of class, I went over the essential questions, soundtrack, agenda, and homework as usual. Then, I knew that we needed to at least mention the end of the Blazers season, since many of you have been very interested in following along, as I have. Here's what I pointed out:
In the last four seasons, the Blazers record has gone from 21 wins and 61 losses (the worst record in the league), to 32-50, 41-41, and now, 54-28. My point there was that you cannot deny the progress, and how working hard has paid off. They are the youngest team in the league, and have had struggles, but they are believing in themselves and creating something truly great. The way I related this to our class was talking about your own possible struggles with school. As teachers, we realize that high school sometimes stinks. We are here to help you, as "coaches" - there is an incredible team of people at Westview to help you succeed. Furthermore, be there for your "teammates" - all of your peers and especially the people in this class. TOGETHER, we will do amazing things! :-)
News Brief: There was a LOT to say here. Primarily, we talked about the H1N1 virus, commonly known as the swine flu, which it seems like everyone is entirely too paranoid about. My alma mater, Western Oregon University, closed campus through next Monday because of a probable case. We also had another probable case in Multnomah County, as Zach N. helpfully pointed out last night in the comments.
Look, across the entire world as of today, 331 people have been infected and 10 have died, according to the World Health Organization, which has the concrete statistics. Source: WHO.int - Influenza H1N1, update 7. That includes one death and 109 cases in the United States.
Guess how many people there are in the United States? Roughly 306,330,650. Source: Census.gov - U.S. and World Population Clocks. Thus, so far, .0000003% of people (or 3 quadrillionths of 1 percent) in the U.S. have the virus, according to my calculations. Guess how many people in the United States are living with a previous diagnosis of cancer? Try 11,100,000, or 3.6% of the entire U.S. population. Source: CDC.gov - Cancer Prevention and Control.
To be sure, this is not to say that the swine flu is not a big deal and should not be carefully monitored and contained. I think most of the actions taken so far are entirely appropriate. However, the level of hysteria by the media and many others (such as Vice President Biden - see here: CNN.com - Commentary: It's time to end flu hysteria) is not. Calm down. Wash your hands. Pay close attention to most of the other things in life that are dangerous enough as is, like driving. Call it good.
I asked about your thoughts on Obama's press conference on Wednesday. It seemed like maybe a third of the class saw part of it, which is a little depressing, but I am glad that we had at least that much participation. I watched the whole thing through the video in the post below, and thought it was interesting how he responded to a question about the Taliban in Pakistan potentially taking over the nuclear weapons of that country, and what the U.S. response to that would be. If that sounds interesting, watch the video. :-)
Finally, I mentioned that there is likely going to be a new Supreme Court justice appointed by President Obama this summer, as Justice David Souter is retiring. CNN.com - Souter known as low-key, fierce defender of rights. You may not think so, but this is a really big deal. There are only 9 Supreme Court justices, and once they are appointed, they have life terms, or until they retire. It will be interesting to see who Obama chooses! The good odds are on a woman, since there is only one on the court right now (Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is battling cancer).
After all of this, Nicole brought in a really interesting story (I wish we had the time to really go into it) about a young lady in Australia named Belitta. The article is here: UN.org - Belitta's Story. Many Australian aborigines (think like Native Americans) have undergone many hardships. In fact, the Australian government made a formal apology last year. Source: BBC.co.uk - Australia apology to Aborigines. Very interesting stuff. John, you are up for next Tuesday. Any article about something currently happening outside the United States.
I am sure that I am missing other news items that people brought up, but I think that was a fairly good rundown of what happened.
Student Presentations: Thanks for the participation in these today! I really liked most of what we did. Obviously, there were good things and bad things from almost every one, but together, I was pretty pleased. Again, I am really going to be looking in your papers to see how you explain what you did. Next class, I think we may have a few more people left to go, so we will wrap up and move on. Also, heads up that my supervisor, Mrs. Woicke, will be coming in next Tuesday as well. :-)
Exploring the World: This is going to be fun, at some point in time. I'm not going to spoil what I have planned, but it should be good.
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I also wanted to point out my friend Ryan (who you met) has a post up at BikingForObama.com about "Play for Hope" - the organization that wants to use sports to help heal the friction between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda. Exactly what we are talking about in class, right? Anyway, Ryan writes that he will get to go to Kigali, Rwanda this summer with the group and take pictures for them! I will definitely have to find some way to keep you all in the loop on how that goes.
This weekend, I will be totally consumed by grading your papers and projects, getting a haircut, and buying two new tires for my car. That, and watching the NBA playoffs - this Boston/Chicago series is INSANE! Three overtimes last night!
Speaking of hoops, I had fun playing with everyone at lunch! A little too chaotic for me though, and very little defense. Next week, I'm going to make a sign up sheet for the teams, before lunch. Five on five only, games to 11 points, winners take next challengers.
That should just about do it! Have a fantastic weekend!
Hey how come no one commented yet? And its 7:45. Shame on you. By the way that was an awsome game today.
ReplyDeleteEh the game was alright!
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/med_swine_flu HOW IRONIC IS THAT RIGHT THERE
Jazmyne,
ReplyDeleteInteresting story! It does seem that the flu isn't spreading as fast as many had thought it would. In large part, that is probably due to the immediate reactions and quarantines that have been put into place. As I said in class - let the professionals handle it, and let's go about our business.
I thought the basketball game was pretty bad. Way too many people standing around, lots of cherry picking, tons of horrible shots, not a lot of passing. Next week, I'll put a sign up sheet in my room, so that we have everything squared away and figured out long before lunch.
Have a great weekend! :-)
AWESOME! yeah it was a pain in the rear!...Story: yeah i agree but still i think it is ironic
ReplyDeleteJazmyne,
ReplyDeleteYep yep. I thought these two parts were really interesting (and good sources for what I told you in class):
"Researchers will get a better idea of how dangerous this virus is over the next week to 10 days, said Peter Palese, a leading flu researcher with Mount Sinai Medical School in New York.
So far in the United States, he said, the virus appears to look and behave like the garden-variety flus that strike every winter. "There is no real reason to believe this is a more serious strain," he said.
Palese said many adults probably have immune systems primed to handle the virus because it is so similar to another common flu strain.
As for why the illness has predominantly affected children and teenagers in New York, Palese said older people probably have more antibodies from exposure to similar types of flu that help them fight off infection."
AND
"The president also said the U.S. government is working to produce a vaccine down the road, developing clear guidelines for school closings and trying to ensure businesses cooperate with workers who run out of sick leave.
He pointed out that regular seasonal flus kill about 36,000 people in the United States in an average year and send 200,000 to the hospital."
Interesting!
YES, i know it is funny. But totally what we have been talking about. If you stop and think about it, and stop freaking out about, we can relize what is really reality of that flu.
ReplyDeleteHey Mr. Fritz
ReplyDeleteNext time can it be just our class playing halfcourt ball instead of 20 on 60? I'd like that much better.
Abe,
ReplyDeleteWell, I want it to be 5 on 5, and playing halfcourt is a little difficult with that many, plus I like to run. However, we will definitely limit it to 5 on 5, and have the sign up sheet be in my class first, so anyone that wants to play can have first choice.
But lets try to hide it from the other people(like the sompmores) and people we dont know. If thats alright though
ReplyDeleteAbe,
ReplyDeleteSo far as I know, there are no sophomores in my classes. :-)
Don't worry about it, I'm sure it will all work out.
otay
ReplyDelete