Genocide in Rwanda, Day 7 - Class Recap

The United Nations negotiating table between South and North Korea. We talked about "The Interview" movie that was about North Korea, and also watched Hotel Rwanda in class today. Photo taken in January 2014.

Dear class,

Today was our last Global Studies class together in 2014! I was happy to check in on what everyone was up to during Winter Break and talk more about the world, before starting Hotel Rwanda. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 21: I can identify the critical components of imperialism.
Communication LT 2: I can use language and style that is appropriate to the content area.
Critical Thinking and Analysis LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Reelin' in the Years" by Steely Dan. Selected for today because the next time we have class together, it will be a new year! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 12/19/14:
News Brief - Clara
Hotel Rwanda

Homework: Read the blog. Work on any late or incomplete work. Have a great, safe break. See you in 2015! Next news brief: Mr. Fritz.

Wildcat News Brief: Clara had the news brief today and selected an article about this story: CNN.com - U.S. airstrikes kill 3 top ISIS leaders.

We also talked about: CNN.com - Anger over the end of 'The Interview'. What an interesting story about so many different aspects of the world! Technology, movies, spies, hacking, world leaders, money, etc. North Korea seems to have "won" this, since Sony isn't going to distribute the movie after being hacked and threatened. Pretty crazy!

President Obama announced a prisoner swap and better diplomatic relations with Cuba. Here is that story: CNN.com - Historic thaw in U.S., Cuba standoff.

I will be doing the next news brief, since there is such a long time between classes! I love following what is going on in the world, so it will be easy for me. I hope everyone continues to follow the news over break!

We also talked about what we will be up to over break. I shared that my family will be in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for five days, then I will be going to the Rose Bowl on January 1st to see Oregon play. If they win, then I will go to the National Championship game in Dallas on January 12, as well! So there is certainly a lot of travel in the near future for me. :-)

Here is the Wildcat News for today:

Hotel Rwanda: 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:

Google Drive: Hotel Rwanda Questions

We watched 57 minutes in class, and will watch the rest when we get back from break.

At the end of class, I asked again for any revised copies of the Rwanda speech (which I will be grading). If you are needing it to find the rubrics to turn in with your revised paper or work on it over break, here they are:

Google Drive: Individual United Nations Rwanda Speech Assignment

Have a wonderful two weeks off! See you in 2015!

Genocide in Rwanda, Day 6 - Class Recap

A look at the view from the podium in our room for the United Nations speeches about Rwanda!

Hi everyone,

You all did such an amazing job today! I am so proud of you and your effort in these speeches! It was an inspiration to be able to see how well you communicated about the genocide and the learning targets for the unit. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 21: I can identify the critical components of imperialism.
Communication LT 2: I can use language and style that is appropriate to the content area.
Critical Thinking and Analysis LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Heroes" by David Bowie. Selected for today because you got to be heroes for the people of Rwanda. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 12/17/14:
News Brief - Kelli
Setting the Stage
United Nations Speeches
Hotel Rwanda

Homework: Read the blog. Turn in any late or incomplete work. Next news brief: Alyssa.

News Brief: Blake had the news brief today and selected an article about this story: CNN.com - Pakistan militants: Children's massacre was to avenge army strikes. We talked quickly about this, then moved on, due to time.

Clara was selected to do the next news brief.

Setting the Stage: Right after the news brief, I went over exactly how the speeches would work in class, and talked specifically about a tie that I brought in for students to wear if they wanted, which a friend who went to Rwanda brought back for me this past summer. The tie was made by survivors of the genocide, so I thought it was pretty important symbolism as we were talking about needing to prevent it!

After the introduction, I gave about 10-15 minutes for groups to get ready and organized, then we started.

United Nations Speeches: I LOVED these! Again, the vast majority of students did such a good job with this! The basic set up was to have a group come up and line up behind the podium, do their speech in order, then listen as the panel at the front (for your class, it was Vice Principal Cheryl Ashdown, along with myself) gave positive feedback about how your speeches went.

I really appreciated your effort and willingness to speak up about Rwanda! I know that the panel was impressed. I also wanted to make sure and publicly thank Ms. Ashdown for being willing to give her time to come see you speak. What a cool community we have at Westview!

After the speeches were done, there was not enough time to start Hotel Rwanda, so we will do that next class.

At the end of class, I had everyone (who had not already done so) turn in their individual speeches (five paragraphs) with the rubric attached.

Here's the assignment sheet again, if you are needing it to find the rubrics to turn in with your revised paper:

Google Drive: Individual United Nations Rwanda Speech Assignment

Thank you all so much again for your hard work today and in the build up for it! You totally rock! I am very proud of everyone. See you next class - our last before Winter Break! :-)

Genocide in Rwanda, Day 5 - Class Recap

My mom, Amanda Fritz, giving a speech after she was elected to Portland City Council in 2008. Photo taken by my dad!

Hi everyone,

Today was our last day of preparation for the Rwanda speech in front of the United Nations! Lots of tips and stuff to talk about. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 21: I can identify the critical components of imperialism.
Communication LT 2: I can use language and style that is appropriate to the content area.
Critical Thinking and Analysis LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson. Selected because you get to "make that change" with your speech, and also, practicing in front of a mirror is a good strategy to prepare for a speech. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 12/15/14:
News Brief - Jurnee
Race: The Power of an Illusion
Brainstorm: Public Speaking
Group Speech Work

Homework: Read the blog. The Rwanda speech in front of an administrator is next class, so try to dress up! I will provide a tie if you need it (or forget), just to add a bit of formality. Next news brief: Kelli.

News Brief: Jurnee had the news brief today and selected an article about this story: CNN.com - Gunman, two others dead in Sydney siege, police say. This was an ongoing breaking news story when we talked about it in class. We found Australia in the world map packet and highlighted it.

Kelli was selected to do the next news brief.

Race: The Power of an Illusion: I showed this clip to the class, which was emphasizing that race, biologically speaking, does not really exist. I know we all conceptually get that all people are human beings and part of homo sapiens, but this was just some scientific frame work for why it is important to not ignore our fellow humans.

Brainstorm: Public Speaking: We talked in class about some tips for giving a good speech. I used two video clips for this:

The 2014 National Champion of Original Oratory, Andrea Ambam.

I only showed the first two minutes or so of this in class, but the point was hopefully made clear. She does a great job of knowing her material, standing straight, using hand gestures to be engaging, making eye contact, and varying her tone of voice.

As a class, we thought of good public speaking tips. Here's what we came up with:

- Hand gestures to engage
- Tone of voice – emphasized words
- Eye contact with your audience – helps them pay attention
- Memorize
- Clean wording – practice
- Rehearse the style of speech you are giving
- Audience participating by focusing
- Make eye contact around by focusing above
- Stand in one place

Next, I showed this five minute video from Toastmasters (an organization devoted to helping people with public speaking):

I hope that all of this made everyone feel better, or at least, provide some tips on how to feel better, about the speech!

Group Speech Work Time: The rest of the class was devoted to working on the speech in groups - getting the order down, practicing, and refining. The groups are (some may have six, which means that the group will have four middle speakers on speech day):

1) Joanna, Marvin, Jocelyn, Xavier, Takumi,
2) Raedene, Elena, Enrique, Jose, Sam, Nikki,
3) Shaggy, Isaiah, Maria, Paysen, Kelli,
4) Anthony, Tony, Emory, Christian, Orel
5) Nathaniel, Cassidy, Broden, Darius, Meaghan,
6) Fernando, Matt, Clara, Asha, Eric, Tandra,
7) Will, Selerino, Brian, Jurnee, Olivia

Here's the assignment sheet again, if you are needing it to find the rubrics to turn in with your revised paper:

Google Drive: Individual United Nations Rwanda Speech Assignment

Please make sure to bring a revised final copy of your speech (if you have not turned it in already), for me to grade, next class! Be prepared and confident in your speech - I know you will all be great! Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help!