A sign that was in the hotel I stayed at in 2014 in Amman, Jordan, which was hosting refugees from the ongoing battles in the Gaza Strip.
Hi everyone,
Today, we started work on our final unit for the year, on Israel and Palestine (due to me being out the next two days, so you will still have time to work on the demographics unit). Here's what we did today in class:
Today, we started work on our final unit for the year, on Israel and Palestine (due to me being out the next two days, so you will still have time to work on the demographics unit). Here's what we did today in class:
Learning Targets:
Communication LT 2: I can use language and style that is appropriate to the content area.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.
Knowledge LT 9: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements. Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Communication LT 2: I can use language and style that is appropriate to the content area.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.
Knowledge LT 9: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements. Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Soundtrack: "Battlefield" by Jordin Sparks. Selected for today because the end of the year feels like a battle, and because the country of Israel is seen as a battlefield by many. Lyrics here.
AGENDA 5/21/18:
News Brief – Andrew
The Lesson of War
Brainstorm
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
The Lesson of War
Brainstorm
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it, if possible. Next class, we will have a work day on the Demographics unit! Next news brief: Jaden S.
---
News Brief: Andrew had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Royal wedding 2018: All you need to know. We found the United Kingdom in the world map packet and talked about this story for a bit, before moving on.
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 Jaden S.
Finally, we talked about some updates regarding what I have been up to since we last met!
Specifically:
1) I talked about the Country Profile Project grades and status in terms of college credit, as well as some major updates in terms of knowing how credit is earned and such. Stay tuned, as I try and work through all of the issues and get you the information I know you are all wanting!
2) Next year, I will have a new role at Westview! Last week, I interviewed for and was offered the new position of Freshmen Success Coordinator, which is what I will devote about half of my time to. This sounds very much like the type of work that I did with tutoring/mentoring in the Step Up program at Marshall and Madison in Portland before arriving back at Westview. This is a Teacher On Special Assignment (TOSA) position that every high school in the area is creating due to incoming Measure 98 funding. Learn more here, if you are interested: https://highschoolsuccess.org/
You might be interested to hear that the position is modeled after the pioneering work of Chicago Public Schools in increasing freshmen core class credit attainment, which correlates highly with graduation rates. In fact, it sounds like I might be flown out to Chicago in October to witness Freshmen Success Teaming first hand! Here is one of the studies out of Chicago we have been asked to read in advance of starting: https://ncs.uchicago.edu/sites
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 Jaden S.
Finally, we talked about some updates regarding what I have been up to since we last met!
Specifically:
1) I talked about the Country Profile Project grades and status in terms of college credit, as well as some major updates in terms of knowing how credit is earned and such. Stay tuned, as I try and work through all of the issues and get you the information I know you are all wanting!
2) Next year, I will have a new role at Westview! Last week, I interviewed for and was offered the new position of Freshmen Success Coordinator, which is what I will devote about half of my time to. This sounds very much like the type of work that I did with tutoring/mentoring in the Step Up program at Marshall and Madison in Portland before arriving back at Westview. This is a Teacher On Special Assignment (TOSA) position that every high school in the area is creating due to incoming Measure 98 funding. Learn more here, if you are interested: https://highschoolsuccess.org/
What this means for you as students: next year, I will only be teaching three classes of American Studies (meaning, I will still be your teacher if you forecast for that class). I will not be teaching other classes here.
Anyway, thank you for your patience with me, as I unexpectedly have trainings on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week that I will be out of the building! You will have Sherri Kurczewski as your guest teacher for both days, which will be focused on demographics.
The Lesson of War: To start the Israel and Palestine unit, we watched this video, about children on both sides of the recent war in the Gaza Strip:
60 Minutes - The Lesson of War from The Center Mind-Body Medicine on Vimeo.
Brainstorm: After the video, we brainstormed the conflict in Israel and Palestine by noting what we did know at this point, and questions we still had to learn the answers to.
Here is what the class was able to brainstorm and note:
We have lots to learn about, which is good!
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: This was a PowerPoint that I went through with the class. I decided to be nice and pre-print all of the notes to hand out, because I know that it has been a challenging last few months, and I wanted to give everyone a break. I did want to make sure everyone focused on the images and words in the presentation, too. Here's the PowerPoint, for those who missed class:
60 Minutes - The Lesson of War from The Center Mind-Body Medicine on Vimeo.
I asked students to take notes during this, on what we learned and what questions we still have about the conflict.
Brainstorm: After the video, we brainstormed the conflict in Israel and Palestine by noting what we did know at this point, and questions we still had to learn the answers to.
Here is what the class was able to brainstorm and note:
We have lots to learn about, which is good!
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: This was a PowerPoint that I went through with the class. I decided to be nice and pre-print all of the notes to hand out, because I know that it has been a challenging last few months, and I wanted to give everyone a break. I did want to make sure everyone focused on the images and words in the presentation, too. Here's the PowerPoint, for those who missed class:
And here are the pre-printed notes that I handed out:
After the presentation, I talked a bit about at what your final project will be, which is a simulation on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. We went through this in class a bit, but basically, you can pick any (or all) of the five learning targets listed at the top of this post to show proficiency on, by either writing a paper to be turned in on finals day, or creating a presentation (which might also involve writing a paper), if you are in big time need of improving your grade.
There were lots of questions here, which was good. Hopefully, students are starting to understand what I am going to be looking for!
Finally, at the end of class, we watched a VOX video on Israel and Palestine, which does a really good job at explaining a large amount of details about the conflict in 10 minutes. I know this was a lot at once, so turning the captions on is definitely a good idea:
This should give you a solid framework with which to start thinking about how you want to do your final project, and what you should focus on! We will continue to be investigating this in the next few classes. Thanks for your focus today! :-)
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