How perfect is this - with the Blazers "TOGETHER" poster in the background too? Our end of year class picture with everyone (minus John)! Thank you so much again for being such wonderful people and students! What an awesome year together we had! :-) I am going to put in lots of pictures throughout this recap - as I said in class, if you are uncomfortable about/do not want to give me permission to post a picture that you are in, please let me know and I will take it down immediately. Thanks!
Dear former students,
I must confess, I am not even sure how to begin writing this - it is all so strange! Even though I have been so exhausted this week, I feel like I should be lesson planning for next week right now! Also, iTunes, in the infinite wisdom of the full library shuffle, has decided to play "I'll Never Let You Go" by Third Eye Blind. Very appropriate, I must say! Anyway, let's get on with the task at hand: the last class recap of your Global Studies career here at Westview!
Essential Question: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded?
Soundtrack: "Thankful" by Kelly Clarkson. Lyrics (which I projected and read aloud to the class, fixing all the spelling and grammar errors, of course) can be found here. Kierra asked if she could listen to it again - anyone can simply by watching this YouTube video! Obviously, I chose this song because I am genuinely really thankful for "the blessings and lessons that I've learned with you, by my side."
AGENDA 6/12/09: News Brief Year Reflections/Letter to Class Be Social/Travel School's Out for Summer
After going over all of the stuff written on the board, I gave everyone my personal e-mail address (because I lose my Beaverton one at midnight tonight), which is: LukeFritz@aol.com.
I am very serious when I say that I want you to stay in touch! Send me updates on what is going on! Need me to proof read a paper? Send it my way! Have a question about something going on around the world? E-mail me!
Aaron, nicely modeling my e-mail address. :-)
I also pointed out that I have started a new class blog for all of my Global Studies students to keep in touch with each other, which can be found here: http://westviewgsalum.blogspot.com/. I am guessing that this new blog will only be as good as you help make it. If I see that nobody is actually reading it, I am sure that it will die off soon. I really do not want that to happen! Please favorite it and come back every so often to check in - if you have something especially cool to post, let me know, and I can give you a screenname to post on the blog with, anytime you want!
News Brief: Archana (above) wanted to make sure to go first with her news article today, which was about the shooting on Wednesday at the Holocaust Memorial in Washington D.C. Here is a recap of what happened: CNN.com - Guard killed during shooting at Holocaust museum. I was also blown away to hear in class how truly hateful this 88 year old man is. Hopefully this will show you one of the reasons why the United States supports Israel so much - for whatever reason, there is a LOT of hatred for Jewish people (which is called being an Anti-Semite) out there in the world. Here is a great article about responding to hate and intolerance in this case: WashingtonPost.com - Stepping Up to Defy Intolerance. A great quote, that reminds me of so many things we have talked about in class this year:
For many visitors, the reopening yesterday was an opportunity to make a statement of defiance against intolerance.
"We can't let hatred win," said William Dailey, a teacher at Jefferson Junior High School in Toledo who was chaperoning a school trip.
Toward the head of the line was Tammi Miller, 17, visiting Washington with her family from South Florida. Miller was in the museum Wednesday and was evacuated by way of a fire escape when the shooting began.
"It's important to come back, because if you don't, they win," she said. "It's a form of terrorism."
Really interesting and tragic at the same time. It is a sometimes brutal world out there! What we need is...
...Peace! Next, Randi (above), had me literally jumping up and down, because she had heard about the election in Iran that happened today! To be honest, this might have been my favorite part of the entire class today! EXACTLY what I want people to know about and be interested in! Ahh! This was such a great teaching moment for me, you have no idea. Anyway, this is a really big deal - Iran held a "democratic" election for their President today, which finished up as we were in class. Here is an article about this and the "results" (which are not surprising in the least): HuffingtonPost.com - Iran Election Results: Ahmadinejad, Rival Both Claim Election Win. As I mentioned in class, Iran's current President, Ahmadinejad - the one that hates America and has denied that the Holocaust happened, was going up against at least two challengers - with the main one being Mir Hossein Mousavi, a more friendly (hopefully) person towards America, a pro-women's rights, youth movement candidate. Anyway, that is really a fascinating story going on the world right now, which we should all know at least a little bit about, having studied the Middle East!
Finally, I pointed out that today was the start of digital-only broadcasts on TV: KGW.com - DTV transition times set for Portland. I have a TV in my room that is so old that it won't even work with a converter box. Bad times!
Before moving on, I showed my friend Ryan Bowen's blog again for being over in Rwanda, which has been updated with awesome pictures of kids playing soccer! This makes me smile so much - I mean, what could be a more perfect thing to show the last day? The first unit I made for you all was about the Rwanda genocide. All throughout the year, we learned about conflict and responding to it, as well as what interconnects everyone. Check, check, check.
McKenzie, Morgan, and Scout. I am putting this picture here because Morgan (and possibly the other two, hehe) is amazing at soccer, from what I hear! This is such a great picture of you ladies!
Year Reflections/Letter to Class: At this point in class, I showed everyone at least one positive thing that you all had to say about our class for your anonymous reflections we did last time. In particular, I think that my absolute favorites were:
"The fact that we were Mr. Fritz's first class and it will never change." - To be honest, I am surprised that I didn't tear up at that one in class.
"All the good vibes in here. We are all like family! ... Never change Fritz! Your enthusiasm is 'inspiring' and you love teaching and that makes me love learning!" - As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm." At least, that's what I keep telling myself when I know I get way too loud and excited about things. :-)
"I liked the environment that this class established. Every teacher talks about a safe community in the classroom where people are unafraid to share their ideas, but this was my only class this year that actually accomplished that." - Obviously, every teacher strives to do this for the reasons that we saw in this class - it just makes it such a great place to be if people really know and respect each other.
"I will always remember how much you cared about the students." - Ahem. Thank you. I am glad that I made some sort of positive impact!
That was a really fun section for me - I know we have done those sorts reflections a lot this year, but they are so valuable to me! Thank you everyone for your comments!
Next, I passed out a letter that I was up until 1:00 AM last night typing. It all of a sudden hit me that I really needed to let each and every one of you know how much I truly do appreciate and value you - which was so much fun to write about! I am going to have to do it for my other classes on their blogs too. Anyway, hopefully, everyone felt like we made some sort of connection this year, because I wrote at least a little bit to every single one of you, and read them aloud to the class! Please keep those, because it has my e-mail and new blog address on them! :-)
Be Social/Travel: This was so much fun too! This whole lesson was plain fun! Anyway, because I knew that people probably wanted to eat food/socialize, I let the class loose to do so for about 15 minutes or so, with the direction to talk to people that you normally do not talk to (I'm not sure how well you guys did that, but I still think it was good). During this time, I handed out my camera for people to take any pictures they wanted, some of which are in the rest of this blog. Mrs. DeFrance and I also went around to everyone and assigned you someone to secretly write a little compliment/note to, so that we could pass them back at the end of class. Totally Mrs. DeFrance's idea by the way - she has so many amazingly good ones like that! Here are some pictures from the socializing time - I know I had fun signing letters and eating food! :-)
Ben and his posse of Zack T., Carson, and C.J. Yes, I saw the video from Mr. Hardin's class - SO GOOD! I was dying! You guys are pretty much exactly like I was in high school (as you saw today). Good times!
Russel and Jazmyne! You guys are both amazing, do you know that? Well, really, every one of my students is amazing, but still, the point stands.
Jillian and Brooke. Both of you ladies look like you want to get this whole school thing over with for the year!
Robert and Jordon, looking amused about something!
Alondra and Tanya, taking in the festivities in style!
Kierra and Lauren. Let me put it this way: it does not surprise me one bit that you gals are friends. Zero percent.
Obviously I have many more pictures, but those are the best of different people. If anyone has any others, please post them here, or on the alum blog, by all means!
The "Travel" section of this part of the lesson was geared around watching about a 10 minute clip from near the end of the movie Elizabethtown (2005). The rest of the movie is pretty good too, but the particular sequence that I showed you I just LOVE! It is all about just exploring the country and talking to others and making connections (even with the character's dead father). I made this relate to class because Orlando Bloom visits the place where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot to spread some ashes. Really one of my favorite sequences (I love the music too) of traveling that I know of. My other favorite movie about traveling is Lost in Translation (2003) which is downright fantastic (however, please wait until you are 18 for that one please)! In fact, it is my eighth favorite movie of all time (ask me sometime if you want to know the top 10). :-)
Anyway, after this clip, we had a short discussion about where people were traveling to this summer, if they were. Many of you were going to really amazing places! Zach N. wanted to make sure to have people that are going to Hawaii, in particular, post on the blog about when and where they will be, in the hopes of meeting up. Jazmyne said she might get to see Carson in Arizona this summer, CJ was going to Las Vegas today, and Robert is headed back to South Dakota. Please, please take notice of how amazing the world is around you, where ever you go! Take pictures, breathe it in! One of my favorite things to do when I am traveling is to sit down, close my eyes, and simply just listen. That would have been the activity we would have done outside, by the way - with some creative writing attached to it. Soak in life!
School's Out For Summer: This is when I showed the now infamous "Wanna Be a G Camp" video that my friends and I made in high school, for something fun for everyone to watch. Like I said, make memories and have something that records them for you too! I hope you enjoyed this, even though it was basically just 4 minutes of us dunking on a lowered hoop with a small ball and thinking we were cool.
After that, we took a few class pictures with the help of Ms. Minor. I am so excited about these! My favorite is the first one, which is above. I will probably have it framed and sitting on my desk, where ever I might end up.
Now, for this next section, which I am sure will go down in Mr. Fritz's class legend - shaving in the middle of class! Here's the deal, because I know that this was super weird at the time for everyone. I want to take our class pictures together with my beard, because that simply would not be cool to spend the entire year with the beard, but not have it in the pictures. However, I also promised my Period 4 class that I would shave at the end of the year because they did not believe I would look younger. Thus, I was stuck in a bind, and I figured having some fun with it in class would be the best thing to do. Hehe. That is going to crack me up for years, I am sure.
Anyway, that was fun, and now my face feels unbelievably soft. Yes, I know I look like I am in high school now. In fact, funny story about that - I was at the Subway by Albertson's between football practices today, and while I was ordering, a guy in line asked me if I went to Westview (as in, if I was a student!) When I told him I was a teacher he turned beet red. See, now you know why I kept the beard all year!
Very shortly after this, the fire alarm went off (for the first of, no exaggeration, 6 times today). Ridiculous. I hope that whoever did it is happy that they ruined my nicely planned exit music for you: "School's Out" by Alice Cooper. Most of you were nice enough to stop by after the alarm to pick up your anonymous compliment - if you did not, I still have them, and would love to tell you what it says!
One final class related note: please RECYCLE your papers that you know you will not need in the future. I would feel terrible if we you spent an entire year in Global Studies and then threw your paper into the trash, to make even bigger piles of garbage around our planet.
Nicole, Zack T., Mustafe, Mr. Fritz, Jazmyne, Abe, and Ryan Bowen.
That should just about do it, everyone! Make sure to keep checking in and getting on the alumni blog, which I have some big plans for! Seriously, I will be so disappointed if you do not! Have a fantastic few months off, and let me know what you are up to! Also, barring me being on another continent or something, I will definitely be coming back to see everyone graduate in three years (though obviously, I want to come back tons of times before that too). Just know that you have that to look forward to. I will never ever forget everyone in this class. Until the next time our paths cross, this is Luke, signing off. :-)
Fireworks over the 2008 Holiday Bowl, on December 30th. The Oregon Ducks ended up beating the Oklahoma State Cowboys - a great night! Picture by Mr. Fritz - chosen for today because it is almost time to celebrate the end of the year!
Dear class,
Only one more day to go of your Global Studies careers! This is all coming to an end really fast. I hope you enjoyed today's class - thanks for the attention, even with multiple things going on during the lesson. Please remember to finish out the year strong with the paper and any revisions that we asked you to do. Also, come see me or e-mail about any late work you may have to do! Let's go out on a high note!
Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? How did the concept of nonviolence develop and become implemented?
Soundtrack: "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. Lyrics here. As I said in class, this is one of my favorite songs ever, and the one that I picked to best describe myself when I was a sophomore in high school.
AGENDA 6/10/09: News Brief What We Hope to Be Letter to Self Class Reflections
Homework: Finish any late work/revisions on the paper! Read the blog and ask questions!
Really, that is about all there is to it! Many of you have missing assignments that would absolutely boost your grade to get in (or revise). Most of you are probably going to want to revise your final paper as well. I am here to help - let me know if you have any questions or concerns!
News Brief: I specifically wanted to make this short because we had so much other stuff to get to, but we did have a few items of interest that I wrote down to post about:
Someone (I think it was Brandon) mentioned that the search for people from the Air France crash is continuing, and BBC.co.uk - Nuclear sub joins Air France hunt. It will be interesting to see if it will be able to actually find the "black boxes" from the flight - probably the only chance of actually knowing with certainty what happened on Flight 447.
Archana volunteered to bring in the last news brief of the year on Friday, though anyone can feel free to do so as well. The more stuff to talk about, the better!
Finally, I ended the news brief section by talking a little bit about my friend Ryan Bowen, who came to visit the class earlier this year. He is currently in Rwanda, trying to bring people together through sports! He took some really interesting and horrific pictures of the results of the genocide on his blog for the trip (which I showed in class). That can be found here: PlayForHope.org - Ryan's Blog - recently updated with new pictures since this morning, so check it out!
What We Hope to Be: As I pointed out, I got very little sleep last night because of grading your papers, so I did not get to do anything fancy with your "be the change" assignment that I had you do last class - as in a PowerPoint or something. However, I think it was almost as good just to be able to read them aloud and have you write about what your fellow classmates said. Here is a picture of what we came up with as far as noticing what everyone said:
I know this may have been a little boring, but I really thought it was cool to see what everyone said. Stay true to your hopes and dreams!
Letter to Self: For this portion of class, I handed back the letters that you wrote to yourselves from the beginning of the year as well as a reflection piece to do on them. Mrs. DeFrance and I have read a few of these reflections so far, and they were really interesting! Thanks for doing such great, thoughtful work here! I hope you enjoyed the process!
During this time, Mrs. DeFrance and I checked in with everyone that wrote us a paper, to suggest revisions and go over everything. I will repeat - if you did not check in with either of us today, that means that something seriously wrong is happening - I need your paper e-mailed to me ASAP - luke_fritz@beavton.k12.or.us - thanks!
Class Reflections: For the last ten minutes of class, I asked you to reflect on the year of Global Studies. I am looking forward to reading all of these and showing everyone what they thought of class this year! Thank you for all of the honest feedback! ---
Whew! I had no idea how insanely busy teachers are at the end of the year. Throw in coaching football, and I have just an incredible amount of stuff to do. Please pardon me if I do not post comments or e-mail back immediately, but I will get to it! Finish out strong! Remember to bring a great attitude (and food, if you want) for Friday's class! Have a wonderful evening and keep in touch!
At my Lewis and Clark graduation yesterday! From left to right, my dad, my brother, Mrs. DeFrance, me, my mom, my grandma, and my grandpa (my dad's parents). Fun times! It was a way too fast weekend! Time to finish out the end of the year!
Good morning class!
It's just another Manic Monday! My last ever with you guys! Sad times. I hope that today was productive and interesting! I always like talking about what is going on in the world and how we can hope to have a positive impact on everything. Because really, what bigger calling in life is there?
Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? How did the concept of nonviolence develop and become implemented? - We looked at multiple angles of the answers to these questions today!
Soundtrack: "If You're Out There" by John Legend. Lyrics here. The verse that I especially wanted to highlight is:
If you're ready we can save the world Believe again, it starts within We don't have to wait for destiny We should be the change that we want to see
Great song! I am going to try to bring in the very best for you this week! :-)
AGENDA 6/8/09: News Brief Example Paper Talking About Gandhi Be the Change
Homework: Finish and turn in any late work/revisions. Read the blog and ask questions!
As I said at the start of class, please come see me to check in and make sure there is nothing you can do to get your grade higher! There is really no downside to doing this, so why not? I will be available during both lunches for the rest of the week (except for second lunch on Friday), as well as after school and before school. Make sure you finish the year strong!
Also, if you have not given either Mrs. DeFrance or me your paper, please do so ASAP, either in person or by e-mail: luke_fritz@beavton.k12.or.us - thanks!
News Brief: Lots to talk about, as usual! Here's what I wrote down to link to, after we talked a little about how your last weekend as a Freshman was:
Brandon talked a little about the two American journalists in North Korea, who have been tried and convicted of "crimes" that will put them in a labor camp for 12 years. Crazy stuff. You can read all about that here: WashingtonPost.com - North Korea Convicts 2 U.S. Journalists.
Abe noticed the really interesting story of a couple that is accused of working for 30 years to pass U.S. secrets to Cuba. James Bond stuff, for real! Here is that story: NYTimes.com - U.S. Charges Couple With Spying for Cuba.
Furthermore, as I mentioned for in the last blog NYTimes.com - Addressing Muslims, Obama Pushes Middle East Peace - President Obama had an enormously big speech in Cairo, Egypt last week. He was talking to Muslims in the Middle East. Some of it was almost EXACTLY the same as what you guys did for your Israeli-Palestinian project! Specifically, I wanted to show the class what he had to say about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and nonviolence (tying the last two units together):
I also showed the end to the speech, when the President tried to say that Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all had the goal of promoting peace in the world. This was very much like C.J., Carson, and Zack T.'s presentation for the Israeli-Palestinian unit! The video we watched can be found here.
I was reminded to have Ben do his news brief article for the day, which can be found here: Yahoo! News - Shootout kills 16 gunmen, 2 soldiers in Acapulco. The article talks a little bit about authorities thinking that the violence is possibly related to drug wars. I talked in class about how people don't really realize that the drugs people buy in the United States directly fund criminals in all sorts of countries. Yet another reason why illegal drugs are just plain stupid to use.
Thanks for the news brief Ben! Would anyone like to volunteer for next class? :-)
Example Paper: After this extremely long news brief section, I showcased an example of a really good research paper, done by a student in one of my other classes. It was all about chocolate, and how it has an impact on the economy, health, and happiness! See, that is the power of a thesis statement - I didn't even have to look that up. Because the student had a really memorable thesis and paper, it is easy for me to recall what she was talking about. Hopefully, showing her paper to the class was something that everyone learned from!
Talking About Gandhi: I asked everyone to volunteer a few things that Gandhi tried to do in order to better society through nonviolence. The class mentioned his hunger strikes as well as resisting temptation and living simply. This was good! After a brief discussion, we watched a biography (if you can call a three minute video a biography) of Gandhi and his philosophy on nonviolence, which you can watch again here.
Be the Change: At the end of class, I wanted everyone to really be thinking about how they want to have a positive effect on the world. To get you thinking about this, I showed this video (one of the most popular on YouTube):
I then asked the class to write about how you want to be the change you wish to see in the world (a Gandhi quote). How are you going to leave a lasting positive impact? We shared a few of these aloud, then everyone turned them in. We will be doing something with these next class, I suspect. Thanks for the participation here! ---
I will be at Westview until at least 7:00 tonight, as I have to coach at football practice from 5-7. However, I will be available to post comments and respond to e-mails both before and after practice. Please keep in touch! Have a great day!
Because today is 6/4, I figured I could use a picture of me as senior in high school, posing with my #64 football jersey. I wasn't joking when I said that I could never root for Lincoln. :-)
Dear students,
Thank you for another fun and interesting class, as always! It was great to get to check in with everyone about your papers and talk about the issues of the day. It was also a class full of thinking about the future, and what we should aspire to do with our lives! I cannot believe we only have three more classes together! Let's get on with the recap!
Essential Questions: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various people responded? How did the concept of nonviolence develop and become implemented?
Soundtrack: "China Grove" by The Doobie Brothers. Lyrics here. This song has really nothing to do with China (see here), but I needed something to relate to what we were doing today (and talking about the Tienanmen Square anniversary), so here it is. A good song, too!
AGENDA 6/4/09: News Brief Who Was Gandhi? First Draft Check-In The Old Man
Homework: Finish and turn in any late work/revisions. Read the blog and ask questions!
There are many of you with assignments that need to be made up or revised. Almost everyone has the final paper to revise as well. Thank you for all the participation here on the blog, too! 80 comments is really amazing! Way to go!
News Brief: The class really did not have that much to talk about in regards to the news (or at least, I did not write anything down to come back to), but that was okay, because I definitely had a few items to go over.
I mentioned that the Nike SPARQ testing yesterday was a fun event and it was good to see C.J., Carson, and Zack T. there. After that, I had to drive over to Lewis and Clark to pick up my graduation stuff! The commencement ceremony I am in is this Sunday, at 10:00 AM. You can see all of my teaching friends and me! Woo hoo! Here is a link to watch the ceremony live online: Lewis and Clark Commencement 2009. Apparently, the webcast launches at 9:45 AM and changes to live feed at 10 AM. Let me know in the comments if there is a consensus about a signal I can do for you guys! I suppose I could do the touching the nose thing if all else fails. If you don't know when I will be coming up, it is alphabetical by degree. I will be getting my Masters of Arts in Teaching. :-)
I also wanted to point out that the NBA Finals starts tonight, and if you want Mr. Hardin to be sane tomorrow when he is teaching you guys, you had better be rooting for the Lakers. That will air at 6:00 PM on ABC.
In other news, President Obama had an enormously big speech today in Cairo, Egypt. He was talking to Muslims in the Middle East. Some of it was almost EXACTLY the same as what you guys did for your Israeli-Palestinian project! Here's how he addressed the conflict:
For decades then, there has been a stalemate: two peoples with legitimate aspirations, each with a painful history that makes compromise elusive. It's easy to point fingers -- for Palestinians to point to the displacement brought about by Israel's founding, and for Israelis to point to the constant hostility and attacks throughout its history from within its borders as well as beyond. But if we see this conflict only from one side or the other, then we will be blind to the truth: The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security. (Applause.)
That is in Israel's interest, Palestine's interest, America's interest, and the world's interest. And that is why I intend to personally pursue this outcome with all the patience and dedication that the task requires. (Applause.) The obligations -- the obligations that the parties have agreed to under the road map are clear. For peace to come, it is time for them -- and all of us -- to live up to our responsibilities.
Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and it does not succeed. For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation. But it was not violence that won full and equal rights. It was a peaceful and determined insistence upon the ideals at the center of America's founding. This same story can be told by people from South Africa to South Asia; from Eastern Europe to Indonesia. It's a story with a simple truth: that violence is a dead end. It is a sign neither of courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus. That's not how moral authority is claimed; that's how it is surrendered.
AHH! Is this not EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT IN CLASS? Seriously, stuff like this makes me smile. What we do in class really has a real world impact for the rest of your life, I promise.
Read how President Obama ended the speech:
It's easier to start wars than to end them. It's easier to blame others than to look inward. It's easier to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path. There's one rule that lies at the heart of every religion -- that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. (Applause.) This truth transcends nations and peoples -- a belief that isn't new; that isn't black or white or brown; that isn't Christian or Muslim or Jew. It's a belief that pulsed in the cradle of civilization, and that still beats in the hearts of billions around the world. It's a faith in other people, and it's what brought me here today.
We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning, keeping in mind what has been written.
The Holy Koran tells us: "O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another."
The Talmud tells us: "The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace."
The Holy Bible tells us: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." (Applause.)
The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is God's vision. Now that must be our work here on Earth.
Thank you. And may God's peace be upon you. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.)
I also pointed out that New Hampshire became state number 6 to legalize gay marriage (with a lot of protections for religious people who do not want to have anything to do with it). An article on that can be found here: NYTimes.com - New Hampshire Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage. As I pointed out in class, it is pretty unbelievable how fast this whole thing is moving. In the past 3 months, four states have legalized gay marriage. Here is a great map of which states have legalized it and which states (like Oregon, have passed laws to ban gay marriage in the state Constitution - though Oregon offers rights to gay couples through something called "civil unions"): NPR.org - State By State: The Legal Battle Over Gay Marriage. As you can see, most of the country has banned gay marriage. A very interesting topic!
Finally, I wanted to make sure to note that today was the 20th Anniversary of the Tienanmen Square protests being broken up. Read all about the event here. This is the video I showed in class (just the first part, until the credits roll):
After this played, I showed this video of the unknown "tank man" standing up to block the Chinese military. A very important date in history!
Is there anyone that would like to bring in a news brief for next class? Pretty please? Volunteer in the comments! :-)
Who Was Gandhi? For this section, I had you write for a little bit (as I passed out an article) about what you would do for a "bucket list" if you knew you only had six months to live, to somehow better society. I really liked the responses that I heard, and I want to hammer home the point - why don't we live like this more often? Why aren't we doing more to help third world countries, for instance? I think a large part of it is that almost everyone is afraid that they will die and wants to deny that they eventually will. Part of coping with this is that we do not realize how we can truly have a long lasting positive impact on the world! Leaving a good legacy!
Gandhi was someone that definitely did leave a long lasting legacy. I had you read this article on Gandhi and look for ways that he tried to have an impact. It is a really interesting (but long, I know) article, so I hope you liked it! We will be talking more about it next class. TIME.com - Person of the Century, Runner-Up - Mohandas Gandhi.
First Draft Check-In: During the time when you were reading the article, Mrs. DeFrance and I were checking papers and asking many of you to continue revising. If we asked you to do this, please bring your revised copy to class on Monday to turn in, thanks!
The Old Man: With about 20 minutes left in class, I showed the Seinfeld episode "The Old Man" because it talks about having an impact through volunteering, and about Gandhi for a little bit. It is also really funny and I thought it was a good reward for all of your hard work so far on the paper. Keep it up! ---
Tomorrow is a crazy long senior assembly schedule day, so it is possible that Mr. Hardin and I might open up the doors between the classes during second period to watch a movie or something. Heads up about that! Please continue to be working hard on your papers and asking if there is anything I can do to help!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.
The tail of UPS 757-200F N413UP, with a Southwest 737 taking off into the sunset. Picture taken by Mr. Fritz on Friday night. I am going to miss working out at the airport!
Hello and welcome to an abbreviated class recap!
Thank you for the hard work (at least, I think it was hard work) today during class. Peer reviewing is sometimes time consuming, but really worth it in the long run. In fact, it is an excellent habit to get in to for the future. Another pair of eyes always helps improve your paper. I am excited to see what you can come up with to turn in next class!
Essential Question: How does conflict arise and in what ways have various peoples responded?
Soundtrack: "Every Last One" by Common Market. Lyrics here. As I said in class, I think my favorite line is:
We 'bout to change the mentality Of old world savagery into a new reality One where teachers and lawyers will trade salaries
That sure would be nice! Thank you Zack T. for the excellent suggestion!
Homework: Paper Due (first draft, typed with bibliography)! Read the blog and ask questions!
To be very clear: your best effort at a final draft of your historical investigation paper is due next class.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this all. I am here to help! Use the feedback you got from the peer review today to revise your rough draft into a final copy for Mrs. DeFrance and I to look at!
News Brief: Two stories that I wanted to highlight this morning as items of interest that everyone should know about were these - AVHerald.com - Crash: Air France A332 over Atlantic on June 1st 2009, aircraft lost. Check out those last few pictures of the extreme weather patterns in the area. As I mentioned in class, it would be hard to pick a more remote place in the ocean. We talked about the "black box" or flight data recorder that is virtually indestructible and can be used to help determine what happened in an accident. Here is one from an Evergreen International Airlines 747 that I worked on two winters ago:
Really a horrifying event. Though for any of you that are concerned about flying, know that you have a way higher chance of dying from a car accident on the way to the airport than you do the actual flight you are on. Flying is really one of the safest modes of transportation in the world. It just so happens that every so often, things go terribly wrong.
The other story I wanted to point out was this: CNN.com - GM bankruptcy: End of an era. Really an incredible day. General Motors was the biggest car company in the world for something like 90 straight years before losing its position to Toyota. Many people and dealerships will be out of jobs, though the company is expected to remain mostly intact through the bankruptcy (as it tries to get rid of the huge debt it has).
EDIT: From here on down, I added at 11:40 PM on Tuesday night. Hopefully people actually read this, and my sacrifice of sleep will be worth it!
Brandon mentioned that Dr. George Tiller, who was killed as he was passing out church bulletins this last Sunday by an extremely Pro-Life person (Dr. Tiller is famous for providing abortions to women in Kansas), was once attacked by a women from Oregon. I had not heard that until he mentioned it! Here is an article talking all about the connection: OregonLive.com - Slain abortion doctor shot by Oregon woman in 1993. The topic of abortion is really one of the most heated debates in the entire United States. Think about it. On one side, people firmly believe that the other side is murdering innocent babies. On the other side, people firmly believe that nobody should have the right to tell someone what to do with their own body. Those are two really difficult positions to sway people from!
Someone mentioned the story of Derrick Rose, the Rookie of the Year in the NBA, possibly cheating on his SATs to get into Memphis. Here is the most current article on ESPN.com about the whole thing: ESPN.com - Memphis Tigers find no proof Derrick Rose cheated on SAT. As I pointed out in class, who is to say that Derrick Rose is a "dumb" person, even if he did cheat on the test (which is a really dumb thing to do, but also something I understand people feel pressure to do). Different people are "smart" at different things. For instance, I am smart at knowing random news stories. I am really dumb about knowing how to change the oil in my car. Does either one of those prove anything? Yes, I could learn exactly how to change the oil in my car, but what if that is simply not something that I find relevant or interesting? This is exactly why I try to make Global Studies relate as much as possible to the real world. Sorry for the tangent.
Jazmyne told the class about the United Nations sending an investigative team into the Gaza Strip to determine if human rights violations are occurring or occurred during the recent fighting with Israel. Here is that story: BBC.co.uk - Goldstone's UN inquiry team arrives in Gaza. I also mentioned that the big controversy between the normally really close United States and Israel relations is about Israel continuing to build settlements in the West Bank. President Obama's administration sees that as being unnecessarily aggressive and will wind up making the Palestinians even angrier. Here is an article about that: Guardian.co.uk - Obama: halt to new Israeli settlements is in America's security interests.
The knowledge that you hopefully gained from our Middle East unit will be incredibly valuable to you in the years to come, as this all continues to develop!
Thanks for bringing in that article Jazmyne! Jordon volunteered to bring a news article in for Thursday. Thanks!
Peer Review/Conferences: At this point in time, I handed out papers to peer review your rough drafts. We went through and read exactly what I was looking for in regards to the paper, and how everyone could be helping each other revise. I trust that this section was helpful for everyone!
In the meantime, I finished up our conferences with everyone in the class. These were really nice for me to be able to do, and I know that Mrs. DeFrance feels the same way. Hopefully this cleared up any questions you may have had about your grade or your research paper.
I was a little concerned about the class not using the time in class to actually be quietly reading and peer reviewing, or working on your rough draft (if you did not do your homework). I expect that when I give you time in class to work, that you use that time. For the most part, I think you did and I was really glad for that. Thanks!
Again, I just want to help you succeed in this class and on this paper as much as I can! Please let me know how I can best be doing this! :-)
Going Outside? As I noted after the fire drill (which I never hear about, because I never get the e-mails in time in the morning because I am always in class setting everything up), we did get to go outside for a little bit. Seriously though, I am hoping for some better weather and a cooperating schedule, and we will go outside to enjoy the world a little bit! Keep hoping! ---
That should just about do it! Off to sleep for 6 hours, then back to the grind! I did get a lot accomplished today, even with three football meetings/practices and not getting home until 7:30. Let's keep working hard together! Almost to the finish line!
A reminder to all Westview athletes: Nike is putting on a SPARQ testing event tomorrow (or I guess today, as I am writing this) from 3:00 to about 4:30 outside on the football field. This is a great opportunity to see where you stand and get some good exercise in! Come outside and have some fun!
Have a great night - keep working on those papers please! I am excited to read them! :-)
