Monday, January 11, 2016

The Holocaust, Day 1 - Class Recap


Auschwitz II in 2013. The chimneys are the only remainder of much of the camp.

Dear class,

Since everyone read "Night" in Mr. Puterbaugh's class, I thought it was especially important to go over some of the basics of the Holocaust in class. Today was our first day looking more in depth at what happened. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 17: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Behavior LT 2: I can self-direct my learning.

Soundtrack: "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie. Selected for today because David Bowie passed away yesterday. A total legend, and someone who was speaking about gender and sexual identity issues publicly long before it was socially acceptable to do so. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 1/11/16:
News Brief – Trent
The Holocaust
Textbook Work
Grade Checks

Homework: Read the blog. Check your updated grades and know what to do to improve by Friday! All late or missing work is due then! Next news brief: Marion.

News Brief: Trent had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: BBC.com - Kenya jails radical Muslim teacher Salim Mohamed Wabwire. We found Kenya on the world map and talked about how it borders Somalia, where the Al Shabab militant group operates, which may have something to do with this.

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):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

I also asked about the weekend and what people were up to, before moving on.

The Holocaust: Again, I think it is really important that I not gloss over the history here (especially with Mr. Puterbaugh teaching Night next door), so we began looking at the Holocaust in depth today. To begin, I asked students to make the Cornell Notes template on a blank sheet of paper, then went through this PowerPoint:


All of the pictures in the PowerPoint are from my own travels. I made sure to try and explain each slide in depth and I was happy to try and answer all of the questions from the class.

Along with the PowerPoint, I passed out two papers. This one was a map of the concentration camps and death camps in Europe, along with some statistics about the Holocaust:


The second paper was a timeline of the Holocaust and a "Pyramid of Hate":


All of these are resources that should help you better understand the Holocaust and what Mr. Puterbaugh has been teaching you through "Night."

Textbook Work: Near the end of class, we started looking at the Modern World History textbook and what it has to say about the Holocaust. A mere four total pages, 502-505! That said, it does have a quote from Night at the end, and I did use it to reinforce the vocabulary terms and concepts. The assigned work in class (we will finish next class and go over it together) was:

Summarize the two sections: The Holocaust Begins + The Final Solution

Write out vocab definitions (words in blue)

Complete questions 1-8 at the end of the Chapter (page 505).

That was where we ended for the day. Next class, you will finish the work in the textbook, go over some more information about the Holocaust and how it relates to our lives today, as well as learn about how the Nazi party rose to power.

Grade Checks: Please make sure you are working on any missing or late work that you need to revise! This Friday will be the last day I accept late work! Let me know if I can help with anything!
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Thursday, January 7, 2016

Genocide in Rwanda, Day 8 - Class Recap


The sun has set on the Rwanda unit! Hopefully it had a great impact on you. Next week, we will move on to the last (shorter) unit before finals! Photo taken in Washington, 2009.

Dear class,

Today was spent finishing Hotel Rwanda and going over everyone's grades, to see what could be improved in the lead up to finals. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 20: I can identify the critical components of imperialism.
Behavior LT 2: I can self-direct my learning.

Soundtrack: "Million Voices" by Wyclef Jean. Selected for today because it is a powerful song from the Hotel Rwanda soundtrack. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 1/7/16:
News Brief - Alex
Finish Hotel Rwanda
Movie Assignment
Make Up/Late Work

Homework: Read the blog. Work on any late or incomplete work, which will be be due at the end of next week as a final deadline before finals. Next news brief: Trent.

News Brief: Alex had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Charlie Hebdo anniversary: Paris police shoot man dead. We discussed how this story from France was related to the attacks in the past year and found France again on our world maps to note we did a news brief.

Trent was selected to do the next news brief.

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):


Finish Hotel Rwanda: We finally were able to completely finish the movie today! Here is the worksheet of questions to answer as we watched:


I hope you enjoyed the film and found it powerful. I've now seen it dozens of times and I am always struck by how good it is - especially about showing the stages of genocide. Thank you for your focus and attention here!

Movie Assignment: After finishing Hotel Rwanda, I gave students most of the rest of class to be working on the notes that went with the movie. We discussed them at the end of class, then I had students turn the assignment in.

Make Up/Late Work: As students were working on the assignment after the movie, I had every student come up and individually check in with me about grades and what could be improved before finals, if anything. If you were in class, you should now know exactly what you need to work on! Grades have been updated on the back wall and on StudentVUE, as well.

Have a great weekend! Next week, we will start a smaller unit on the Holocaust, which ties in with Mr. Puterbaugh's class and your reading of "Night" there.
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Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Genocide in Rwanda, Day 7.5 - Class Recap


Because today was a shorter day, due to the two hour late opening, we played the Sporcle country game, since we couldn't finish all of Hotel Rwanda in class! This is a screenshot of the 169 countries your class was able to name (in green) and those that the class missed, in red.

Hello everyone,

Welcome back from break and to 2016! We had a shortened schedule today due to the snow and ice over the weekend, but it was so great to see everyone! Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 20: I can identify the critical components of imperialism.
Communication LT 1:  I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing
Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.

Soundtrack: "Welcome Back" by Ma$e. Selected for today because it was great to welcome everyone back from break! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 1/5/16:
News Brief - Mr. Fritz
Break
Speech Debrief/Grades
Hotel Rwanda

Homework: Read the blog. Work on any late or incomplete work, which will be be due at the end of next week as a final deadline before finals. Next news brief: Alex.

News Brief: I had the news brief today, due to the break. Here's the story that I chose to talk about: CNN.com - Saudi Arabia-Iran row spreads to other nations. I talked about the recent execution in Saudi Arabia of a leader from the Shia branch of Islam, and how that really upset people in Iran, which is majority Shia. Saudi Arabia and many countries around it are majority Sunni, so this is a conflict within the religion of Islam. We will learn more about this next semester!

Alex was selected to do the next news brief.

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):


Break: After the news brief, I gave students some time to check in with each other about how break was and what they were up to, then provided the opportunity to share out with the class. I talked a bit about my break and my experience with Mexican culture in Puerto Vallarta and going to Texas for the Alamo Bowl this past weekend!

Speech Debrief/Grades: Next, I passed back the graded Rwanda speeches, being careful to go over how I scored using the rubrics. In essence:

1) If you did not address imperialism in Rwanda at all, you received a score of 1 on that target.
2) The communication target was the score for your actual speech in front of the class, as well as how well your individual paper followed the format we talked about in class. I included my notes as well as everyone else at the table listening, so you can see what I wrote about how you did.
3) The critical thinking/multiple perspectives target was for talking about the United Nations own definition of genocide, and talking about the perspective of the people of Rwanda during the genocide in your written speech.

If you have individual questions, I would be happy to answer them in person. As with any assignment, you can always revise it (or resubmit it, if you haven't turned it in) to demonstrate a higher level of proficiency, if needed.

Hotel Rwanda: Before the movie, we played a surprise Sporcle "name the country game, as evidenced by the top of this post. The rest of class was spent watching the movie Hotel Rwanda (2004). I normally do not show entire movies in class, but this one is SO good and relevant to the Rwanda unit. Here is the worksheet of questions to answer as we watched:


We watched until 1:19 in class, and will watch the rest next class

It was so great to see everyone again! Have a great day and see you later this week!
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