Thursday, April 28, 2016

Religion, Day 6 - Class Recap


The streets of Kathmandu at night are really something. The prayer flags lining the streets in Thamel are a nice touch. Photo taken in March, 2015.

Hi everyone,

Today was a super peppy and energetic day in class! Probably due to the upcoming long weekend for students, but also because of the interesting nature of what we were discussing. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Mustt Mustt" by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Selected because this is a representation of Sufism (some consider this to be a branch of Islam), Explanation of the song can be found here.

AGENDA 4/28/16:
News Brief – Meghana
ISIS and Sunni/Shia
More Religions/Atheism
Vocabulary Guide

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution (found on this post), World War I work (found in this post) and finishing Historical Investigation if you have not - revisions needed, as well.  Next news brief: Jennie.
---
News Brief: Meghana had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Rio 2016 Olympics: What Brazil is worrying about with 100 days to go. We found Brazil on our world maps and talked about this story. I shared that similar sorts of stories were surrounding the lead up to the London Olympics when I went in 2012, and that it ended up being absolutely fantastic, so I am not worried right now. This then prompted the longest question and answer session during the news brief section all year, including what people are up to over this weekend. Go Blazers!

The next news brief was assigned to Jennie.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


ISIS and Sunni/Shia: To start this section, I asked the class to brainstorm what we knew about ISIS, especially as we have been talking about the group in our news briefs for the entire year so far. I wanted to hear what we remembered and also maybe some assumptions. Next, I asked students to get out paper for notes on the rest of the class and I played this video from VOX, which does a great job of quickly explaining the rise of ISIS and what is going on in the Middle East:


I also talked a bit about the demographics in the Middle East. Specifically, I wanted to look in depth at the central role that the two main sects of Islam have in conflict, by watching this video:


One of my main points with this is that we cannot stereotype "all Muslims" in many of the conflicts that the world is in, just as we cannot stereotype "all Christians" or any other religion. If you are really interested in learning a lot more about ISIS, I encourage you to read through this lengthy article: TheAtlantic.com - What ISIS Really Wants.

More Religions/Atheism: Next, we did a sort of blitz through a few other religions that students wrote to me they identified with (I think these are important to cover), along with Atheism (belief that there is no God or gods at all).

Here are the resources we looked at as a class, as students took brief notes (there will be a few questions about these on the test):

Shintoism (based in Japan, focused on ancestral spirits).

Jainism (based in India, focused on nonviolence and sanctity of life).

Taoism (mostly found in China, based on concept of yin and yang).

Sikhism (based in India, focused on one God, rejection of caste system).

Finally, we ended by watching part of this video about Atheism, which is the belief that there is no God or gods, and that faith, being unscientific and not testable, is impossible to prove:


I thought the above videos and articles did a pretty good job explaining the points of view of some important philosophies in a short amount of time. Thanks for hanging in there with me as we looked at all of these!

Vocabulary Guide: At the end of class, I passed out a vocabulary sheet to study for the quiz. Please note that there will also be a question or two based on some of the religions we talked about today in class, too! This guide is intended for you to help review your Religion PowerPoint notes. Here it is:


Be aware that Google Drive makes the sheet two pages, whereas the copy I passed out in class is just one page. Study the vocabulary and your notes from the beliefs we went over today! Next class, we will play PowerPoint Jeopardy to review, then take the religion test later in the week.
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Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Religion, Day 5 - Class Recap


Arabic calligraphy that surrounds the entrance to the Taj Mahal, in India. We learned about Islam today in class - this is a famous example of Islamic architecture in the world! Photo taken over Spring Break, 2015. 

Hi everyone,

I hope you are feeling excited for the prospect of a three day weekend coming up! I certainly believe you have earned it! It is a very stressful time of the year for everyone, and I am grateful for some time to grade and then relax a bit, as well. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum. Selected for today because of our ongoing religion unit. The lyrics also mention Jesus, who we talked about today and last class in regards to Christianity.

AGENDA 4/26/16:
News Brief – Catherine
A Christian Nation?
The Pluralism Project
Islam

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution (found on this post), World War I work (found in this post) and finishing Historical Investigation if you have not - revisions needed, as well. Next news brief: Meghana.
---
News Brief: Catherine had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Iraq: Sadr supporters in mass protest for political reform. We found Iraq on the world map and talked about this story. As part of it, I discussed what Sunni and Shia sects of Islam were, and how that plays a role in this story and the leadership of Iraq. There were also lots of other news stories to talk about in class, too.

The next news brief was assigned to Meghana.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


A Christian Nation?: This was not meant as a debate question in class, but rather a look at how religion impacts and shapes our own society (relating, as always, to the learning target for the unit).

To start, we watched a short clip of President Obama saying that the United States is no longer a Christian nation, which upset a lot of people at the time.

Next, I showed this story from nearby in Washington:


This was meant as a call back to earlier in the year, when we had a Forced Choice debate on whether or not the phrase In God We Trust should be removed from our currency. It was also meant to show how fired up both sides were, and how religion impacts our society.

Then, we watched the first few minutes of this debate on the TV show Hardball in 2009, between an Atheist and a Christian, talking about the origins of the United States government and the role religion should play in our lives:


Finally, I showed some more Pro/Con quotes. Again, this was not a debate we had in class - I just wanted everyone to see that it IS a debate, and be able to identify some different perspectives about how religion impacts and shapes our own society (in keeping with the learning target of the unit).

The Pluralism Project: Next, I passed out this in-class assignment, which is a reading and some questions on the back:


The point here was to see that there are a variety of different religions (and people who don't believe in religion) in the United States, which the article makes the case is a reason our society has been shaped (get it - the learning target again!). Students were expected to read the article and answer the three questions on the back. I called on students randomly to talk about the answers. As part of this interesting discussion, I pointed out that "Jedism" had a fair amount of adherents in the UK: BBC.com - Have Jedi created a new 'religion'?

Islam: Next, we continued with the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:


Today, we finished the last religion in the PowerPoint - Islam. I appreciated your focus on it! I enjoyed, as always, explaining and trying to answer questions from the class. It was also great to have students be able to share and explain more about their own faiths!
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Friday, April 22, 2016

Religion, Day 4 - Class Recap


We took notes about Christianity today in class. This is a photo from the top of a mountain overlook Cabo San Lucas, at the tip of Baja California in Mexico. Taken over Winter Break, 2014.

Dear class,

It was nice to be able to continue looking at how religion impacts society, and with taking notes on a new religion. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: Due to Prince passing away yesterday, Mr. Puterbaugh and I opened up the walls and played a few songs at the start of class: "Starfish and Coffee" and "I Would Die 4 U" being Mr. Puterbaugh's selections.

AGENDA 4/22/16:
News Brief – Ben P.
Israel and Religion
Christianity
Grade Check

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution (found on this post), World War I work (found in this post) and finishing Historical Investigation if you have not - revisions needed, as well. Next news brief: Catherine.
---
News Brief: Ben P. had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Death toll from huge explosion at Mexican chemical plant rises to 24. We found our southern neighbor on in the world map packet and talked about this story, along with the importance of having safety standards, as well as the government enforcing those standards.

The next news brief was assigned to Catherine.

As usual, we has a spirited conversation about the weekend and what people were up to. I always enjoy hearing about life outside the classroom!

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


Israel and Religion: To focus on how the Jewish religion impacts and shapes society, it is easy to point to the only country in the world where Judaism is the main religion: Israel. To start this section, I played this video, which is about the Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel, and stopping everything for a minute to reflect:


The next document I showed the class was this recent survey of Americans about their attitudes towards Israel: Gallup.com - Seven in 10 Americans Continue to View Israel Favorably. I showed this to demonstrate that there is still huge support for Israel here in the United States, and I talked about the reasons why this might be - again, how religion impacts society.

Finally, I showed this video from the New York Times: NYTimes.com - Israelis Split Over Service. This was to show the conflict within Israel between Ultra-Orthodox Jews and the military, who mandates that people of the country serve when they turn 18.

After the video, I asked the question of whether or not students thought the Jewish people in the video should be forced to serve in the military, and we had an interesting discussion about it. Thank you for your participation here!

Christianity: Next, we continued with the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:


Today, we finished the fourth religion in the PowerPoint - Christianity. I appreciated your focus on it! I enjoyed, as always, explaining and trying to answer questions from the class. :-)

Grade Check: So, because it was Friday and I was feeling nice, instead of having the rest of class be devoted to grade checks, we played the country naming game on Sporcle! You were able to beat your previous score - way to go! It was a really fun end to the day - thanks everyone! All of that said, it is still very important to stay on top of  your grades, especially now that the historical investigation grades have been handed back! Have a great weekend, everyone!
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Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Religion, Day 3 - Class Recap


Today, I wanted students to envision themselves at a beach. This is one of my favorite beaches in the world: Maho Beach, St. Martin, in the Caribbean. Home to one of the greatest places to photograph planes on Earth! Photo taken in 2009. 

Hi everyone,

It was a fun class today - I am glad that we were able to go outside for a bit, to enjoy the weather! Thanks for participating in our class activities today! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Beach Chair" by Jay Z and Chris Martin. Selected for today because of the breathing exercises we did, envisioning ourselves at the beach! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/20/16:
News Brief - Blake
Failing Religion
Breathing
Judaism

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it finish Historical Investigation if you have not. Next news brief: Ben P.
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News Brief: Blake had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: TheGuardian.com - Anders Breivik’s human rights violated in prison, Norway court rules. We found Norway in our world maps and talked about this story, and what happened with the prison inmate, along with how Europe's punishment of crimes is often much different than here in the United States (the lack of using the death penalty being an obvious example).

The next news brief was assigned to Ben P.

Since Tuesday was the testing day, I asked about how that went and we talked a little bit about our experiences.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


Failing Religion: This section was looking at an article on American's knowledge of religion. I read the article aloud to the class (I know this probably wasn't the most interesting use of your time - sorry!) and then students answered the questions at the end:


As part of this section, I showed this clip of a bar owner in Myanmar being accused of insulting Buddhism by having an online advertisement with headphones on a Buddha, connected to a dance party with alcoholic drinks:


This is another relationship of religion to society, which is our learning target for this unit. I showed this article about the man being sentenced to two years in prison, as well: NYTimes.com - Myanmar Sentences 3 to Prison for Depicting Buddha Wearing Headphones.

Breathing: I was really excited to try this today - especially as it meant a trip outside! :-) Thank you for being willing to participate in a walk outside to do some breathing and meditation type exercises! It may have been a bit chilly with the wind, and damp with the wet grass, but the sun was so nice! The whole point of this was to just relax. Hopefully, it did the trick!

Judaism: At the end of class, we came back to the room and continued with the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:


Today, we finished the third religion in the PowerPoint - Judaism. This was somewhat lengthy, so I appreciate your focus to it! :-)

Please make sure you are working hard to review your notes, and improve your grade if at all possible! Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help! Thank you!
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Friday, April 15, 2016

Religion, Day 2 - Class Recap


At the end of class today, we took notes on the aspects of Buddhism. This is a statue of Buddha at the Monkey Temple in Kathmandu. Photo taken on Spring Break 2015.

Dear class,

I am enjoying our new religion unit, especially because this I get to use a lot of the photos I have taken and experiences I have had around the world! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.
Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.

Soundtrack: "What Goes Around... / ...Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake. Selected for today because we continued looking into Hinduism, in which the concept of karma is very important. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/15/16:
News Brief - Josh
Mad About Cows
Modi and Hindu Nationalism
Religions PowerPoint

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it. Finish and turn in the Historical Investigation if you have not. Next news brief: Blake.
---
News Brief: Josh had the news brief today (as a late sub for Eric C, who was absent) and selected an article about this story to talk about: WashingtonPost.com - Newly discovered mass graves could be filled with an ancient Greek tyrant’s followers. We found Greece in our world maps and talked about a little of the ancient history there. Always interesting to see how the past influences the present and future!

We also (eventually) watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


The next news brief was assigned to Blake.

Mad About Cows: This was an interesting sort of Language Arts style activity to analyze a newspaper article. Before looking at the article, I showed the class a list of words from it - it's okay to not know and try your best to guess! Here's the list:

Erstwhile:
Chauvinist:
Pantheon:
Bucolic:
Conundrums:
Burgeoning:
Syncopated:
Nominally:
Draught:
Bemoaned:
Lineages:
Indigenous:
Curdle:
Inanities:
Sententious:
Masqueraded:

The directions were to get into groups of FOUR (there may be 1-2 groups of three). Select someone to be the designated writer of vocabulary guesses. Select someone to be the designated speaker. All group members collaborate on trying to guess what the vocabulary words mean through the context of the article.

This was the article we were looking at, which relates to the unit learning target of how religion helps shape society: NYTimes.com - Cow Mad in India. Like I said, it was a somewhat challenging article as far as vocabulary goes. I do like the point about beef exports, though!

The groups had about 20 minutes in class to read the article and try to come up with their best guesses for definitions of words. This was a literacy strategy to help in the future! Then, we went through and made guesses in each group with the class, before I revealed the actual definition online using Dictionary.com. I enjoyed seeing many students get excited if they had a close definition! Thanks for participating in this new way to read an article together. :-)

Modi and Hindu Nationalism: After reading the article, I played this video (warning: some graphic descriptions of violence) about the history of India's new Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Again, we were looking at how society is impacted by religion, and it is clear that Modi's Hindu nationalist party (the Bharatiya Janata Party) is shaping society through religion in one way or another.

The last example I gave of this was this recent New York Times editorial about Modi and how India is promoting mass conversions of Christians and Muslims to Hinduism: NYTimes.com - Modi's Dangerous Silence.

With over a billion people, India is the world's largest democracy. Having just visited during last Spring Break, I was especially interested in focusing on it!

Religions PowerPoint: At the end of class, we continued the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:


Today, we finished the second religion in the PowerPoint - Buddhism. Next class, we will look at how Buddhism shapes society and then move on to taking notes on Judaism. See the pattern here? :-)

Please make sure you are working hard to review your notes, and improve your grade if at all possible! I have updated your grades online to reflect whether or not you have turned in your Historical Investigation, as well. Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help! Thank you!
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Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Religion, Day 1 - Class Recap


We started going over some of the world's major religions today in class. The first one in the PowerPoint was Hinduism. This is a Hindu temple in New Delhi, India! Photo taken over Spring Break, 2015.

Hi everyone,

Today, we started out religion unit. I really enjoy talking about religion and learning more about different religions, which always happens when I teach it! Hopefully this is an interesting unit for students, too. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.
Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.

Soundtrack: "God Moving Over The Face of The Waters" by Moby. Selected for today because we started talking about religion today in class. This was an instrumental song with no lyrics. Listen to it again if you want here.

AGENDA 4/13/16:
News Brief - Grant
Respect
What is Religion?
Religions PowerPoint

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it. Please turn in the Historical Investigation if you have not. Next news brief: Eric C.
---
News Brief: Grant had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Tigers in the wild increase for first time in 100 years. We found Nepal (Grant just chose one of the countries mentioned) in our world maps and talked about the issue of animal conservation and habitat in the region. Thanks, Grant!

The next news brief was assigned to Eric C.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


Respect: To start the religion unit, I went back to our class Ground Rules that we made at the start of the year and noted that respecting each other was a big part. When we are talking about religion, it is important to know that we are not going to be debating religion as a topic or in specific religions and which is the best, or correct one, or anything like that. The goal with this unit is to simply learn as best as we can about religions around the world, so we can understand how they impact society, and students can make up their own mind about them.

What is Religion?: We started the religion unit by completing a pre-assessment in class, which students turned in after completing. Remember that there are no right or wrong answers when it comes to what you personally believe. Our study of religion is based on simply understanding what people think about spirituality around the world, which has a huge impact on life. Here's the pre-assessment:


It seemed like most students were interested in talking about religion, which was good to see! If you would rather remain private about your own religion, I totally understand that, too. It is a very personal decision! Here's the video we watched for the end of the pre-assessment, which does a great job of going over five of the major world religions:


The point here was to learn some new information about major religions! I think it is a really good overview video.

Religions PowerPoint: Next, we started (it will take us a long time to finish) the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. These are particularly famous in Ms. DeFrance Gilman's classes. I spiced them up a bit with photos from my travels as a part of the slides! Here is the PowerPoint:


We made it through Hinduism (the first religion covered) today, and will keep going with learning about it next class. If you want to get ahead of the game at home, go ahead and check out the rest of the slides!

There is definitely a lot to learn about! We are going to keep moving forward with new material. If you are needing to improve your grade, please work hard on that, too! I am here to help! :-)
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Monday, April 11, 2016

StEPP Class Recap


This weekend, I went to the Aviation Geek Fest in Seattle. I loved all of the flags hanging in the Future of Flight Museum, because it reminded me of Global Studies!

Hi everyone,

For most of you, I assume that today was a huge relief in that you turned in your Historical Investigation! We spent much of the class with a counselor, going over post high school options in attending a community college or four year college. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Behavior LT 1: I can manage my responsibilities as a student.
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Step in the Name of Love" by R. Kelly. Selected for today because we were doing the "StEPP" activity with a counselor in our class, which is a graduation requirement. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/11/16:
News Brief - Josh
Turn in Historical Investigation
StEPP with Counselor
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog! If you have not turned in your historical investigation, you need to do so ASAP so the F grade for the assignment will be taken away. Next news brief: Grant.
---
News Brief: Josh had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Yemen ceasefire goes into effect. We found Yemen in our world maps and talked about some of the politics and geographical interests there, especially with Saudi Arabia and Iran fighting a "proxy" war in the country. Hopefully the ceasefire holds! Thanks, Josh!

The next news brief was assigned to Grant.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


Turn in Historical Investigation: The big day finally arrived and it was time to turn in your historical investigation research projects! I was in contact with a ton of students and parents about it, so I hope that there was a lot of productivity happening. I am excited to read the research projects! If you did not turn it in today, it will be an N grade in the gradebook (basically, an F) until you do. Once 100% of students have turned the assignment in, I said that I would show the class a music video that I made in high school with some friends. :-)

StEPP with Counselor: Today, we had Kathleen from the counseling department come in and lead an activity with the class about college options. This involved doing a "philosophical chairs" (or Forced Choice) style debate. I thought that the class did a great job, and I was proud of you for remembering the debate format and working with the counselor to work towards your career education credit for the year!

Work Time: At the end of class, after completing the exit ticket for the counselor, we had a few minutes of work/free time. I am excited to start looking at religion next class with everyone! See you then!
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Thursday, April 7, 2016

Historical Investigation, Day 8 - Class Recap


A tree with prayer flags on the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu. It was quite an experience to climb up to this point! There are multiple students studying an aspect of a Chinese revolution for their historical investigation. Photo taken in 2014.

Dear class,

Today was our last day working with the historical investigation in class (hooray!) which means there is a lot of work ahead this weekend, especially for students that did not have completed rough drafts today! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Research LT 1: I can effectively conduct and apply research.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.
Behavior LT 1: I can manage my responsibilities as a student.

Soundtrack: "You've Got A Friend" by Carole King and James Taylor. Selected for today because a good friend doing a peer review helps a lot, and I wanted everyone to know I was going to try to help as much as possible to get you in a position to be successful on this project. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/7/16:
News Brief - Eric K.
Peer Review
Work Time
Conferences

Homework: Read the blog! Final draft (printed copy) of Historical Investigation is due at the start of next class. Next news brief: Josh.
---
News Brief: Eric K. had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Panama Papers: Putin rejects corruption allegations. We found Russia in our world maps and talked about this ongoing story, including the update that Iceland's Prime Minister (temporarily?) resigned from his job because of this. Thanks, Eric!

The next news brief was assigned to Josh.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


Peer Review: Today's class was supposed to be focused on getting as many good peer reviews on your historical investigation as possible. Here was the sheet I passed out in class for people to use.


Make sure that you look to correct spelling and grammar, as well as the format issues!

Work Time: The rest of class was devoted to working on review or doing whatever possible on the historical investigation. Here is the final assignment, again, if you need to look at it:


Conferences: As students were working on review, I called each student in the class up to talk about where they were at, what support was needed, what changes I saw needed to be done, or in some cases, just asking what in the world has been going on for the last month, since there was so little productivity to be seen. For many students, there is a LOT of work over this weekend to be done.

As always, if you are confused about what to do, please email me or comment and I would be happy to help. I suspect at this point most students know what to do - they just wanted to put it off until the very last moment to get it done. Well, that moment has arrived. Work hard this weekend, please. Thank you!
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Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Historical Investigation, Day 7 - Class Recap


Mahatma Gandhi's bed at his home in Delhi, India. Sometimes, simple living can be powerful - Gandhi's message helped prompt a revolution! Photo taken in March of 2015.

Hi everyone,

Today was our last day of in class Computer Lab time for the Historical Investigation. Next class, the rough draft is due to be peer reviewed! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Research LT 1: I can effectively conduct and apply research.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.
Behavior LT1: I can manage my responsibilities as a student.

Soundtrack: "This Time is the Last Time" by Mae. Selected for today because it was the last time we went to the computer lab together as a class to work on the Historical Investigation! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/5/16:
News Brief - Natalie
Rough Draft Expectations
Final Questions?
Computer Lab N210

Homework: Read the blog! Printed copy of Historical Investigation rough draft due next class. Next news brief: Eric K.
---
News Brief: Natalie had the news brief today and selected this article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Panama Papers: Iceland President declines call to dissolve parliament. We found Iceland in our world maps and talked about a lot of interesting parts to this story: tax evasion, hacking, shell companies, oligarchy, and the impact this release could have. Thank you for the good questions, everyone!

The next news brief was assigned to Eric K.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):


Rough Draft Expectations: Here's the copy of how you will be peer reviewing the Historical Investigation next class, which is so important to being able to turn in a good research paper:


Please be sure to bring in a printed copy at the start of class (I do not want a ton of students needing to print their papers out) so that we can peer review and I can have a look at it as well. I will call students up one by one in class so we can look at it together and I can go over any last changes that I am requesting. Make sure that you look to correct spelling and grammar, as well!

Final Questions? Here is the final assignment, again, if you need to look at it:


It seemed like students knew what they were doing at this point and wanted to get to work, so we went to the computer lab.

Computer Lab N210: The rest of class was devoted to working in the Computer Lab on the assignment, and I was happy to try and answer questions, as well as help as much as I could. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do!
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Friday, April 1, 2016

Historical Investigation, Day 6 - Class Recap


Some students are researching the French Revolution for their Historical Investigation. Here is the French flag waving in Paris, in 2013.

Dear class,

Thank you for your continued hard work on the Historical Investigation. Only about a week left until it is all due! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Research LT 1: I can effectively conduct and apply research.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.
Behavior LT1: I can manage my responsibilities as a student.

Soundtrack: "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who. Selected for today because it is April Fools Day! I did not try to fool anyone in class. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/1/16:
News Brief - Jagrit
Parts C and E
HI Questions?
Computer Lab N210

Homework: Read the blog! Historical Investigation rough draft due next Thursday. Next news brief: Natalie.
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News Brief: Jagrit had the news brief today and selected this article about this story to talk about: AlJazeera.com - PKK claims responsibility for Turkey police car bombing. We found Turkey on the world map, and talked about how this bombing happened in southeastern Turkey, which is close to Iraq and Syria. It does look like a Kurdish organization claimed that they did this.

We also checked in about the weekend and April Fools Day.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

The next news brief was assigned to Natalie.

Parts C and E/HI Questions? I passed out a guide to help with Part E (an OPVL analysis of the sources you used in your Part B research)  It is page 5 on this document:


I explained that if you are not up to Part C (the conclusion, which is on page 4), you are behind schedule, but there is still time to make it up! Part B (all the research and finding good sources) is the most difficult part, for sure. Let me know if you are in need of help!

Computer Lab N210: The rest of class was devoted to working in the Computer Lab on the assignment, and I was happy to try and answer questions, as well as help as much as I could.

Have a great weekend! Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help you be successful!
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