Thursday, December 20, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 16 - Class Recap


Monet's Garden in Giverney, France. I will be heading to France again over Winter Break, to spend time with my wife's family!

Dear class,

Welcome to your Winter Break from Westview and the end of the Civil Rights unit in class! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Behavior LT 2: I can manage my responsibilities as a student.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 16: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: "La même" by Maître Gims. Selected for today because it has been a popular song in France this year, and I am going over Winter Break with my wife! Lyrics (in French) here.

AGENDA 12/20/18:
News Brief – McKenzie
Gallery Walk
Unfinished Business
Next Steps

Homework: Read the blog. Know your grade (updated on StudentVUE) and improve it, if possible! Have a great break! Next news brief: Mr. Fritz.

News Brief: McKenzie had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: KPTV.com - Rare tornado damages homes near Port Orchard, Washington. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class over Winter Break.

I will have the next news brief, as it is after break.

As part of the 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):


Gallery Walk: Next, students showcased their Activism Projects by putting them on their desks as the class walked around and looked at them. Here's the assignment sheet for the project, which was due today:


I am always so impressed by the thought and effort put into these! It is inspiring to see how students are wanting to change the world through action. I look forward to grading these and getting them back to everyone!

Unfinished Business: Of course, our unit on Civil Rights could not end without taking a hard look at what is going on today. As such, I wanted to showcase a few stories from our country in the past few years. Here's the presentation that we went through as a class:


The articles that we went through (the first three intentionally withheld information about dates and places) are here:


Finally, I passed out a class set of readings about social media fueling hate and the recent opening of a museum about lynching, which just came out earlier this month:


Thank you for the discussion and conversations here!

Next Steps: At the end of class, I showed students a list of what my Diversity and Social Justice students brainstormed for ways they could impact our community and world right now. That list is here:

Write a Letter/Email/Call (List of Elected Officials)

Talk with Family and Friends

Register to Vote (if you are 16 or older and eligible)

Call it Out: Be a Consistent Ally

Read the News (know biased sources)

Identify Actions to Take

Contribute to Charities

Be Educated and Help Educate Others

Write About Your Own Experience/Read Books/Articles



Stay Woke (Don't Close Your Eyes)

Love Your Peers With Reason (Don't Go To The Sunken Place)
---
I hope that throughout this unit, students have learned that change is possible and that there are plenty of means to do so available. Thank you for all of your hard work in 2018! When we come back in January, we will do a shorter unit on Immigration in the lead up to finals. Take care and see you next year, everyone!
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Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 15 - Class Recap


Something I care a lot about in our local community is supporting the Portland Thorns women's professional soccer team, to help sustain a professional league for women in the United States. I helped paint this banner for the start of a season! Photo taken in 2015.

Hello everyone,

Our last week of 2018 together! As promised, today was a work day on the Activism Project, which I assigned at the start of the month and will be due next class, on Thursday. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Behavior LT 2: I can manage my responsibilities as a student.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 16: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: "The Times They Are A-Changin'" by Bob Dylan. Selected for today because of our work trying to identify what we want to change in the world via the activism project. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 12/18/18:
Wildcat News Brief – Grace
Activism Project
Work Time
Grade Check

Homework: Read the blog. The Activism Project is due next class, on Thursday! Next news brief: McKenzie.

Wildcat News Brief: Grace had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - In reversal, White House shifts border wall funding demands, wants to avoid shutdown. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class over the weekend.

McKenzie was selected to do the next news brief.

As part of the 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):


Finally, at the end of the news brief section, we watched Westview Wildcat News, which is available here to watch again:



Activism Project/Work Time: The rest of class was dedicated to working on  the Activism Project, which is where students choose to identify a cause that they care about and create a poster or brochure explaining why and how people could be involved. Here's the assignment sheet that I passed out earlier this month:


This assignment will be due the last day we meet before break, which is next class, on December 20th. If you are leaving before that day for break, you will need to turn it in before.

Generally, students can choose almost anything that they want to, but I do want to hear about the issue before embarking on too much work. We will set aside a fair amount of class time before the break to do this, and I will provide large sheets of paper, but if a student wants to go above and beyond in working on the project at home or with a poster board, that is obviously great as well.

Some examples of student choices are:

Climate Change
Animal Rights
Gun Issues
Immigration/Border Issues
Human Trafficking
College Tuition

Thanks for your continued work and engagement with the Civil Rights unit! We will keep at it next class. Here's our schedule for our next classes until break:

December 18 (above): Activism Project Work Time (final day)

December 20: Activism Project presentations/gallery walk/Unfinished Business with Civil Rights

Grade Check: As students were working on the Activism Project posters, I went around and checked in with everyone about their grade in class and what, if anything, could be done to improve it as we approach Semester 1 finals after the break. I look forward to seeing everyone next class, for one last time before 2019!
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Friday, December 14, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 14 - Class Recap


The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC. Photo taken in 2011.

Dear class,

I intentionally waited until far into our Civil Rights unit to discuss Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X in depth, as we did today. It's important that students know there is WAY more to the Civil Rights Movement than these two men, and also, their ideas and lives are incredibly important to understand. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 16: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: "A Dream" by Common. Selected for today because of the obvious connection to learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 12/14/18:
News Brief – Connor
MLK and Malcolm X
Compare and Contrast
Project Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Continue working on your Activism Project assignment! Next news brief: Grace.

News Brief: Connor had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: WFLA.com - HCFR lieutenant arrested for making cannabis oil at fire station released from jail. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class over the weekend.

Grace was selected to do the next news brief.

As part of the 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):


MLK and Malcolm X: To begin the next section of class, I showed this video introducing two of the key people in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States:



Next, we read a background essay about who Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were, before I split the class up into halves - one side learning about MLK's ideas and philosophy, and one side learning about Malcolm X and his ideas and philosophy. All of those documents are available to view here, online:


After each side learned about their assigned person through the reading, we then partnered up with the opposing side, so each student pairing could discuss what they found.

Compare and Contrast: Next, students completed the compare and contrast Venn Diagram (overlapping circles) to try and understand the ideas of both people. We talked about this as a class, and then went through this PowerPoint to understand a bit more of the context around who MLK and Malcolm X were:


As we went though the PowerPoint, student were taking notes and filling out information on this assignment sheet (both sides were due today in class):


This was all done in the hopes that students would have more depth of understanding around two of the most crucial figures in 20th century American history. I encourage everyone to continue to research on your own, as well!

Project Work Time: The rest of class (if we had time) was dedicated to working on  the Activism Project, which is where students choose to identify a cause that they care about and create a poster or brochure explaining why and how people could be involved. Here's the assignment sheet that I passed out:


This assignment will be due the last day we meet before break, December 20th. If you are leaving before that day for break, you will need to turn it in before.

Generally, students can choose almost anything that they want to, but I do want to hear about the issue before embarking on too much work. We will set aside a fair amount of class time before the break to do this, and I will provide large sheets of paper, but if a student wants to go above and beyond in working on the project at home or with a poster board, that is obviously great as well.

Some examples of student choices are:

Climate Change
Animal Rights
Gun Issues
Immigration/Border Issues
Human Trafficking 

Thanks for your continued work and engagement with the Civil Rights unit! We will keep at it next class. Here's our schedule for our next few classes until break:

December 14 (above): MLK vs. Malcolm X – Whose Ideas Were Best?

December 18: Activism Project Work Time (final day)

December 20: Activism Project presentations/gallery walk/Unfinished Business with Civil Rights
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Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 13 - Class Recap


Musicians often have messages in songs that relate to protest and/or activism. Here's Jay Z at London's Wireless Festival in 2013. Probably the best concert photo I've ever taken!

Hi everyone,

A short Wednesday together, so we listened to music related to activism! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 16: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: "Born this Way" by Lady Gaga. Selected for today because it is a song that advocates for a cause: namely, LGBTQ recognition and empowerment. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 12/12/18:
News Brief – Bob
Songs for Activism
Listen to the Music
Project Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Continue working on your Activism Project and Songs for Activism assignment! Next news brief: Connor.

News Brief: Bob had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Michael Cohen sentenced to three years in prison. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class.

Connor was selected to do the next news brief.

As part of the 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):


Finally, we also discussed the terms "colored people" "minorities" and "people of color" and why the latter term is what is currently favored for use (especially as I saw the first term being used on the Little Rock Nine response). Here's the article that I showed briefly in class:


Here's the Google graph of the terms and their use in books over the course of time that we looked at:


Thanks your attention to this section of class! Words are important.

Songs for Activism: This was the assignment that I passed out last class, after we looked at and listened to some examples of songs about a particular issue or event:


The idea here was to have some fun in listening to music (which almost everyone enjoys!) and see how music as an art form can be used to further a cause (like the one you are working on for your project)! Please make sure that this assignment is turned in - everyone had to do their own copy, even if students were working with a partner.

Listen to the Music: Next, students presented their songs to the class as we looked at the lyrics and listened to the songs (if a school appropriate version was able to be found). I enjoyed listening to the music with everyone and getting to know a bit more about what students enjoy in songs!

Work Time: The rest of class (if we had time) was dedicated to working on  the Activism Project, which is where students choose to identify a cause that they care about and create a poster or brochure explaining why and how people could be involved. Here's the assignment sheet that I passed out:


This assignment will be due the last day we meet before break, December 20th. If you are leaving before that day for break, you will need to turn it in before.

Generally, students can choose almost anything that they want to, but I do want to hear about the issue before embarking on too much work. We will set aside a fair amount of class time before the break to do this, and I will provide large sheets of paper, but if a student wants to go above and beyond in working on the project at home or with a poster board, that is obviously great as well.

Some examples of student choices are:

Climate Change
Animal Rights
Gun Issues
Immigration/Border Issues
Human Trafficking 

Thanks for your continued work and engagement with the Civil Rights unit! We will keep at it next class. Here's our tentative schedule for our next few classes until break:

December 12 (Wednesday - above): Share Music/Work time on Activism Project

December 14: MLK vs. Malcolm X – Whose Ideas Were Best?

December 18: Activism Project Work Time (final day)

December 20: Activism Project presentations/gallery walk/Unfinished Business with Civil Rights
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Monday, December 10, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 12 - Class Recap


The Rocky statue outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I will bet you probably know the theme song!

Dear class,

It was great to be back with everyone today, after only one day seeing you all last week! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Behavior LT 1: I can self direct my learning.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 16: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: "Rocky Theme" from Rocky. Selected for today because of our work today regarding music and activism! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 12/10/18:
News Brief – Marianne
Debrief Children’s March
Songs for Activism
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Continue working on your Activism Project and Songs for Activism assignment! Next news brief: Bob.

News Brief: Marianne had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - China bans most iPhone sales after granting Qualcomm an injunction against Apple. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class over the weekend.

Bob was selected to do the next news brief.

As part of the 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):

Debrief Children's March: Last class, with the guest teacher, students watched a short film about the "Children's March" and non-violent activism. This was the handout:


Today in class, we debriefed the film together and talked about the importance of activism, as it relates to our unit!

Songs for Activism: Next, I introduced what I think will be a pretty fun assignment - listening to music with a partner (if students chose to), and identifying events and/or issues that the song is about. To start, we went through some examples a class, here:


We analyzed the lyrics as I played the songs in the presentation. Then, I gave students this assignment to work on in class:


The idea here was to have some fun in listening to music (which almost everyone enjoys!) and see how music as an art form can be used to further a cause (like the one you are working on for your project)!

Work Time: The rest of class was dedicated to working on the music for activism assignment above, along with the Activism Project, which is where students choose to identify a cause that they care about and create a poster or brochure explaining why and how people could be involved. Here's the assignment sheet that I passed out:


This assignment will be due the last day we meet before break, December 20th. If you are leaving before that day for break, you will need to turn it in before.

Generally, students can choose almost anything that they want to, but I do want to hear about the issue before embarking on too much work. We will set aside a fair amount of class time before the break to do this, and I will provide large sheets of paper, but if a student wants to go above and beyond in working on the project at home or with a poster board, that is obviously great as well.

Some examples of student choices are:

Climate Change
Animal Rights
Gun Issues
Immigration/Border Issues
Human Trafficking 

Thanks for your continued work and engagement with the Civil Rights unit! We will keep at it next week. Here's our tentative schedule for our next few classes until break:

December 10 (above): Music as Activism (graded) – partner assignment

December 12 (Wednesday): Share Music/Work time on Activism Project

December 14: MLK vs. Malcolm X – Whose Ideas Were Best?

December 18: Activism Project Work Time (final day)

December 20: Activism Project presentations/gallery walk/Unfinished Business with Civil Rights
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Thursday, December 6, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 11 - Class Recap


One of the quotes at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington DC.

Hi everyone,

I was out of the building today at another 9th Grade Success meeting, so this post is what I was hoping happened in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Behavior LT 1: I can self direct my learning.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 16: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

AGENDA 12/6/18:
News Brief – Esther
Children's March
Debrief
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Continue working on your Activism Project! Next news brief: Marianne.

News Brief: Esther had the news brief today and selected an article about a story inside the United States to talk about.

Marianne was selected to do the next news brief, on Monday.

As part of the news brief, we usually watch the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day:


Children's March: To begin the next part of class, the following document was passed out:


I wanted to see how much students knew about Birmingham, Alabama and non-violent activism before we watched the video below as a class, and noted how parts of non-violent activism related to actions taken:



Hopefully students found this interesting and engaging! It is definitely powerful to see how children made a different during the Civil Rights Movement.

Debrief: After the film, students completed the back side of the assignment sheet. I am certainly curious as to if there is anything you would be willing to go to jail for! I want students to keep the Children's March note sheet so that we can go through it together next Monday.

Work Time: Last week, I introduced the main project for the Civil Rights unit, which is where students choose to identify a cause that they care about and create a poster or brochure explaining why and how people could be involved. Here's the assignment sheet that I passed out in class:


This assignment will be due the last day we meet before break, December 20th. If you are leaving before that day for break, you will need to turn it in before.

Generally, students can choose almost anything that they want to, but I do want to hear about the issue before embarking on too much work. We will set aside a fair amount of class time before the break to do this, and I will provide large sheets of paper, but if a student wants to go above and beyond in working on the project at home or with a poster board, that is obviously great as well.

Some examples of student choices are:

Climate Change
Animal Rights
Gun Issues
Immigration/Border Issues
Human Trafficking 

Thanks for your continued work and engagement with the Civil Rights unit! We will keep at it next week. Here's our tentative schedule for our next few classes until break:

December 6 (substitute): Children’s March (What Would You Do?) / Work Time on Activism Project

December 11: Music as Activism (graded) – partner assignment

December 13 (Wednesday): Share Music/Work time on Activism Project

December 15: MLK vs. Malcolm X – Whose Ideas Were Best?

December 19: Activism Project Work Time (final day)

December 21: Activism Project presentations/gallery walk/Unfinished Business with Civil Rights
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Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 10 - Class Recap


These are all of the 9th grade students on their first day at Westview this year. Imagine how different it would be to enter high school as one of the Little Rock Nine?

Dear class,

Given that I will be out on Thursday at a 9th Grade Success training, this was the one day this week I was able to spend time with you all! As such, we continuing looking at civil rights issues, including school integration after the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Here's what happened in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Behavior LT 1: I can self direct my learning.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 16: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: "Blackbird" by The Beatles. Selected for today because the song was partially inspired by the Little Rock Nine. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 12/4/18:
News Brief – Vicky
Little Rock Nine
Poster Slogans
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Continue working on your Activism Project! Next news brief: Esther (Thursday) and Marianne (Monday).

News Brief: Vicky had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: APNews.com - New York man gets prison for trying to sell fake cocaine. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class over the weekend.

Esther was selected to do the next news brief (on Thursday with the guest teacher) and Marianne will have it on Monday.

As part of the 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):


Little Rock Nine: To begin this part of class, I showed students where Little Rock, Arkansas is, and then we went through this lesson:


As a part of this, we watched this introductory video:


We then read some of the accounts from history texts about the Little Rock Nine, which are linked to here:


After the readings, students worked on the following response, which is graded (also available on Google Classroom to submit there):


If you did not finish this in class today, please turn it in ASAP!

Poster Slogans: We didn't have much time in class to do this today, so I just passed this sheet out (so students can see some examples if they are wanted to work on the Activism Project at home) and we will work on it next week.


Hopefully this helped a bit in thinking about what you might do as your Activism Project!

Work Time: Last week, I introduced the main project for the Civil Rights unit, which is where students choose to identify a cause that they care about and create a poster or brochure explaining why and how people could be involved. Here's the assignment sheet that I passed out in class:


This assignment will be due the last day we meet before break, December 20th. If you are leaving before that day for break, you will need to turn it in before.

Generally, students can choose almost anything that they want to, but I do want to hear about the issue before embarking on too much work. We will set aside a fair amount of class time before the break to do this, and I will provide large sheets of paper, but if a student wants to go above and beyond in working on the project at home or with a poster board, that is obviously great as well.

Some examples of student choices are:

Climate Change
Animal Rights
Gun Issues
Immigration/Border Issues
Human Trafficking 

Thanks for your continued work and engagement with the Civil Rights unit! We will keep at it next week. Here's our tentative schedule for our next few classes until break:

December 4 (above): Little Rock Nine (graded) / Work Time on Activism Project (poster analysis activity)

December 6 (substitute): Children’s March (What Would You Do?) / Work Time on Activism Project

December 11: Music as Activism (graded) – partner assignment

December 13 (Wednesday): Share Music/Work time on Activism Project

December 15: MLK vs. Malcolm X – Whose Ideas Were Best?

December 19: Activism Project Work Time (final day)

December 21: Activism Project presentations/gallery walk/Unfinished Business with Civil Rights
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Friday, November 30, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 9 - Class Recap


Me and my friends Scott and Clarke, in 2009 at a Portland Trail Blazers Playoff game. The Moda Center (then the Rose Garden) was built on land that was formerly part of the Albina neighborhood.

Hi everyone,

Today in class we wrapped up our viewing of Lift Ev'ry Voice and I introduced the Activism Project. Here's what happened in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Behavior LT 1: I can self direct my learning.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 16: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: "We Shall Overcome" by Pete Seeger. Selected for today because it became a song that rallied many people together during the Civil Rights Movement. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/30/18:
News Brief – Grace
Finish Lift Ev'ry Voice
Discussion
Activism Project

Homework: Read the blog. Continue working on your Activism Project! Next news brief: Vicky.

News Brief: Grace had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Alabama mall shooting suspect is arrested after a week of shifting police narratives. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class over the weekend.

Vicky was selected to do the next news brief.

As part of the 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):


Lift Ev'ry Voice: Next, we finished watching an excellent documentary from OPB, called Lift Ev'ry Voice. If you want to watch again, share, or get caught up, it is here:


Here is the worksheet that goes along with the documentary:


As students were watching, I tried to pause and explain more of what was going on with maps and background information. I hope this was helpful in understanding!

Discussion: After the documentary, we went through the questions together as a class and had a discussion about the film. For the most part, I find that students generally have no idea about Portland's racial history and current issues, so I am glad that this unit allows for some connections to be made locally. I then collected the response questions, which will be entered in the gradebook as a behavior target.

Activism Project: Finally, I introduced the main project for the Civil Rights unit, which is where students choose to identify a cause that they care about and create a poster or brochure explaining why and how people could be involved. Here's the assignment sheet that I passed out in class:


This assignment will be due the last day we meet before break, December 20th. If you are leaving before that day for break, you will need to turn it in before.

Generally, students can choose almost anything that they want to, but I do want to hear about the issue before embarking on too much work. We will set aside a fair amount of class time before the break to do this, and I will provide large sheets of paper, but if a student wants to go above and beyond in working on the project at home or with a poster board, that is obviously great as well.

Thanks for your continued work and engagement with the Civil Rights unit! We will keep at it next week. Here's the schedule for our next few classes until break:

November 30 (above): Lift Ev’ry Voice (behavior grade) / Assign Activism Project (graded)

December 4: Little Rock Nine (graded) / Work Time on Activism Project (poster analysis activity)

6 (substitute): Children’s March (What Would You Do?) / Work Time on Activism Project

11: Music as Activism (graded) – partner assignment

13 (Wednesday): Share Music/Work time on Activism Project

15: MLK vs. Malcolm X – Whose Ideas Were Best?

19: Activism Project Work Time (final day)

21: Activism Project presentations/gallery walk/Unfinished Business with Civil Rights
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Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 8 - Class Recap


We continued watching the documentary "Lift Ev'ry Voice" today in class, which goes over how the creation of the Memorial Coliseum and Moda Center impacted the African-American community in Portland. Photo taken in 2009.

Dear class,

Another quick Wednesday together, as we continued talking about Civil Rights in Portland. Here's what happened in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Behavior LT 1: I can self direct my learning.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 16: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: "Alabama" by John Coltrane. Selected for today because Coltrane composed this in response to a bombing at a church in Alabama in 1963 that killed four African-American girls. Learn more here.

AGENDA 11/28/18:
News Brief – Anusha
Kelly on Vanport
Lift Ev'ry Voice
Discussion

Homework: Read the blog. Know your grade and how to improve it, if possible! Next news brief: Grace.

News Brief: Anusha had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith wins Mississippi US Senate runoff amid racial controversies. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class.

Grace was selected to do the next news brief.

As part of the 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):


Kelly on Vanport: At the start of this unit, Kelly Simonsen, who is an instructional aid in Period 1 and 3, asked me if we would be talking about Vanport in class, as she wrote a paper in college about it! So, I asked if she would be willing to share parts of the paper with the class, which she did as a reminder as to what happened with Vanport (as seen last class in the first part of the documentary). Here's the paper, with parts highlighted that she shared in class:


Thank you Kelly, for sharing your research and paper with everyone!

Lift Ev'ry Voice: For the rest of class, we continued watching an excellent documentary from OPB, called Lift Ev'ry Voice, and ended class about 51 minutes in. If you want to watch again, share, or get caught up, it is here:


Here is the worksheet that goes along with the documentary:


I think it is super important that we understand our own history regarding race in Portland, especially as I think there are some common assumptions that are just not true. As such, I was glad to see that almost everyone was glued to this in class. Thanks for your focus and willingness to learn about our own history! We will finish this next class and then turn our attention back to national level issues with the Civil Rights movement.
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Monday, November 26, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 7 - Class Recap


The famous "White Stag" building sign in downtown Portland. Photo taken over Winter Break, 2015.

Hi everyone,

Welcome back from your Thanksgiving Break! We now have 4 full weeks together before we break for the end of the year, and lots to do! Here's what happened in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Behavior LT 2: I can manage my responsibilities as a student.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 16: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: "Come Rain or Come Shine" by Billie Holliday. Selected for today because of the rainy weather over the weekend and the desire to keep a positive attitude about coming back to school! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/26/18:
Wildcat News Brief – Sofia
Oregon's Racist History
Lift Ev'ry Voice
Discussion

Homework: Read the blog. Know your grade and how to improve it, if possible! Next news brief: Dahson.

News Brief: Sofia had the news brief today and selected an article about this story: NBCNews.com - San Diego border crossing shut down after migrants try entering U.S.. This was obviously a big story and we spent some time debriefing what is going on and why. We also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class over the long weekend. It was great to rest up and relax!

Anusha was selected to do the next news brief.

As part of the 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):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

We also watched Westview Wildcat News today in class, which is available here if you wanted to watch it again:



Oregon's Racist History: As I tried to point out today, there is a LOT of history in our own community of racism, that I think students do not typically know about. But, there is a reason that Portland is one of the whitest major cities in the United States. A few links for curious students to check out:




I also wanted to be sure that we talked about the laws that prevented people of color from owning property in places like Lake Oswego and throughout Oregon. Here is an example:


We also watched the first 4 minutes or so of this video, to help set the stage for the main documentary I wanted to show in class:



Lift Ev'ry Voice: For the rest of class, we started watching an excellent documentary from OPB, called Lift Ev'ry Voice, and ended class about 27 minutes in. If you want to watch again, share, or get caught up, it is here:


Here is the worksheet that goes along with the documentary:


I think it is super important that we understand our own history regarding race in Portland, especially as I think there are some common assumptions that are just not true. As such, I was glad to see that almost everyone was glued to this in class. Thanks for your focus and willingness to learn about our own history! We will continue to watch this next class!
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Monday, November 19, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 6 - Class Recap


The Supreme Court of the United States. Photo taken in 2010.

Dear class,

Only one day of class together this week, due to Thanksgiving! We continued our focus on Civil Rights today, and specifically looked at segregation and the process of integration. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed: 
Behavior LT 2: I can manage my responsibilities as a student.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 16: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: "Thank You" by Led Zeppelin. Selected for today because this is the week of Thanksgiving. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/19/18:
News Brief - Sean
Separate but Equal
PowerPoint
Brown v. Board of Education

Homework: Read the blog. Make sure you turn in your Early Struggles response if you have not already.

The next news brief is assigned to: Sofia.

News Brief: Today's news brief was brought in by Sean, who selected an article about this story: BBC.com - California wildfires: Why are so many listed as missing?. We discussed this story for a bit and then moved on.

We also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class over the weekend.

Sofia was selected to do the next news brief.

As part of the 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):


To end the News Brief section, we watched Wildcat News, which is available to view online here if you missed class or wanted to see it again:




Separate but Equal: To begin this part of class, I passed out candy to everyone! Hooray! Except: some rows in the class got to pick their candy from a nice assortment of good candy, and some rows were given the worst, lamest candy I could find. But hey, you all got candy! Obviously, there was some controversy here, which was my point. Is "separate but equal" truly equal? We had a good conversation about this in class. Then, yes, everyone was able to select from the good candy.

PowerPoint: Next, I wanted to show some more effects of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision by the Supreme Court, which allowed segregation laws (known as "Jim Crow" laws) in states. Here's the PowerPoint we went through in class (only to slide 17 - Brown v. Board of Education) as students took notes and made observations:


Hopefully this was interesting and enlightening! After the Thanksgiving break, we will look and see how separate but equal has been the law in the past in Oregon, as well.

Brown v. Board of Education: To end class before Thanksgiving, I introduced the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson in the realm of public schools (which was eventually extended to most other areas of public life), Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954). Here's the case:


The rest of class was spent reading through the case and answering the questions on the back side, on a separate (but equal!) sheet of paper. We then answered the questions as a class at the end of the period. Have a great Thanksgiving break, everyone! I am so thankful for you all!
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Thursday, November 15, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 5 - Class Recap


Part of the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C. The inscription at the base of this monument reads "From the Civil War to Civil Rights and Beyond." Photo taken in 2010.

Hi everyone,

We continued learning about the history of the Civil Rights movement in the United States and what happened after our initial look at Plessy v. Ferguson. It was more of a reading and work day after all of the fun last time - back to business! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed: 
Behavior LT 2: I can manage my responsibilities as a student.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 16: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye. Selected for today because it is a song about the struggle for peace, especially as a part of the Civil Rights Movement. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/15/18:
News Brief - Haddie
Courageous Conversations
Jim Crow
Early Struggles

Homework: Read the blog. Your revised Writing for Justice narrative is due today if you did not already turn it in.

The next news brief is assigned to: Sean.

News Brief: Today's news brief was brought in by Haddie, who was not in class at the start, so I filled in and selected an article about this story: CNN.com - Ralph Lauren to become first American designer to receive British knighthood. We discussed this story for a bit and then moved on.

We also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class over the weekend.

Sean was selected to do the next news brief.

As part of the 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):


Courageous Conversations: Before asking the class if there was anyone who wanted to share their Writing for Justice narrative with everyone, I went over the Courageous Conversations agreements and protocols, which is something the staff at Westview uses in our own work, and I used last year in Diversity and Social Justice a lot. Here's the compass:


With this in mind, I asked if there were any student that felt like they wanted to share their narratives with the class. Thank you for respecting this process, everyone! I am very much looking forward to reading all of these, and I am grateful for your willingness to engage with what some students described as a challenging assignment.

Jim Crow: Next, I showed this video of an overview of the Jim Crow laws (especially in the South of the United States, but also prevalent in Oregon, which we will learn more about soon):



This was to remind students about the laws that made segregation and lack of civil rights a fact. A few classes ago, we analyzed the United States Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson, which helped to implement these laws.

Early Struggles: Next, we defined the term hierarchy as a class, as: a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.

Then, I passed out a class set of a reading called "Early Struggles" from a book called Free At Last. Here is the reading if anyone needs an electronic copy to access:


As a part of understanding the reading, we continued to talk about the idea of a "hierarchy" in society, in terms of different levels. The assessment that goes along with the reading can be found here:


The rest of class was devoted to work time in reading the chapter, understanding it, and writing responses. If we had time in class, we went over the responses together, before turning them in.

Have a great weekend - see you next Monday for our only class of the week, due to Thanksgiving!
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Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 4 - Class Recap


This is one of my favorite ever photos I have taken, at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Today in class, we held our own version!

Dear students,

Welcome back from your extended weekend! It was so great to see you all today and to have a little fun after the stress of progress reports and grades by opening the walls with Mr. Puterbaugh next door. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed: 
Behavior LT 2: I can manage my responsibilities as a student.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 16: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: "You Are My Sunshine" by Ray Charles. Selected for today because I was listening to this song on the flight home from Chicago and it reminded me of how much I missed you all! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/13/18:
News Brief - Arturo
DBQ Grades
Narrative Writing/Peer Review
Work Time
Olympics

Homework: Read the blog. Your revised Writing for Justice narrative is due on Thursday, November 15 at the start of class.

The next news brief is assigned to: Haddie.

News Brief: Today's news brief was brought in by Arturo, who selected an article about this story: NYTimes.com - Black Security Guard Responding to Shooting Is Killed by Police. We discussed this story for a bit and then moved on.

We also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class over the weekend.

Haddie was selected to do the next news brief.

As part of the 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):


We also watched Westview Wildcat News for the day, which is available to watch here, if you want:



DBQ Grades: Next, Mr. Puterbaugh and I talked about how we graded the Native American DBQs and what we were looking for with each learning target. These scores were included in your progress report grades. We hope these make sense! If you have any questions about your DBQ, please come by to see one of us in Lower North Teacher Cluster during lunch, Study Hall, or after school. Please also remember that you have multiple other opportunities on each of these learning targets this semester.

Narrative Writing/Peer Review: Last week, we did an activity of identifying the roles of Ally, Bystander, Perpetrator, and Victim in a narrative story that had something to do with the idea of justice. The stories that we analyzed are here:


The first page in the linked document is what students were filling out as we read the stories and thought about times in their own lives that they had been one of the roles in the stories. Here was the assignment that students had due today (this is also posted in Google Classroom):


Today in class, we continued working on this narrative writing by looking at a check list that Mr. Puterbaugh had most students work with last year, found here:


We wanted students to see ways to revise their Writing for Justice assignment and had students have their narrative peer reviewed with a partner or group. Please remember that these stories are sometimes challenging to tell and hear, and so confidentiality is very important.

Work Time: The rest of the first period was devoted to working on revising the Writing for Justice narratives. I must say that I have *really* enjoyed reading these first drafts and I am so proud of the work students have already put into these. 

Olympics: For the second half of the combined class, we wanted to have some fun, realizing that we have not done some community building for a while and that students were understandably stressed with progress report grades. So, Mr. Puterbaugh and I created various group activities that we called the Olympics! Thank you for your good humor and participation in these! It's so great to come to class and work with all of you. See you Thursday - remember to complete your revised Writing for Justice narrative before class!
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Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 3 - Class Recap

Note: There will not be the usual recap today, as I am traveling to Chicago for 9th Grade Success work. Students in class were working with the guest teacher on their Writing for Justice narratives (minimum two pages, double spaced), which will be due at the start of class, next Tuesday. Links to this assignment and explanations about what to do are in the previous blog post.

Please make sure to turn in any missing work you want to count towards this Progress Report by tomorrow (Thursday)! Have a great long weekend, everyone!
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Monday, November 5, 2018

Civil Rights, Day 2 - Class Recap


Photo posted to the Westview High School Facebook account on March 14, 2018. Taken during the student walkout against gun violence.

Hi everyone,

As we continue the start of the Civil Rights unit, I wanted to talk about race, racism, and activism in modern context, so students could understand a bit more about what happened in history. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed: 
Behavior LT 2: I can manage my responsibilities as a student.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 16: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 19: I can explain the role and impacts of social hierarchies.

Soundtrack: "I Can See Clearly Now" by Jimmy Cliff. Selected for today because of the work we did regarding bias in class. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/5/18:
Wildcat News Brief - Jaida
Implicit Bias
Who Do I Belong To?
Bystander Activity

Homework: Read the blog. Be good for Mr. Beach on Wednesday (I will be in Chicago on a 9th Grade Success trip for a night).

Any late/missing work needs to be turned in by Thursday for the first Progress Report.

The Writing for Justice narrative is due on Tuesday, November 13 at the start of class.

The next news brief is assigned to: Skyla (Wednesday) and Arturo (next Tuesday).

News Brief: Today's news brief was brought in by Jaida, who selected an article about this story: CNN.com - Tallahassee gunman reported for harassing women, police say; records show groping case dropped. We discussed this story for a bit and then moved on.

We also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class over the weekend.

Skyla was selected to do the next news brief (Arturo will have the news brief next Tuesday).

As part of the 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):


Finally, we watched Westview Wildcat News today in class. If you missed class or wanted to watch it again, it is available:



Harvard Implicit Bias: The next part of class was devoted to defining the term "implicit bias" as well as taking the Harvard Implicit Bias test on Race, which can be selected here:


The goal here was to learn a little bit more about our own personal attitudes and biases, as we continue with this work. We asked that you share your results in small groups around you. Did you find anything especially interesting or surprising about your results?

After delving into how we might be biased in one way or another, I then showed this overview regarding active and covert racism:


The point here is to identify that there are certain socially unacceptable forms of racism, but that there are also all sorts of socially acceptable forms of passive racism. We talked about cultural appropriation during the Native American unit, as well.

Here were the terms we defined in class today as students took notes:

Racism: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.

Overt and Covert Racism: see slide

Implicit Bias: Implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. 

(Not for notetaking: These biases, which encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness or intentional control.)

Ally: a person who is a member of an advantaged social group who takes a stand against oppression, works to eliminate oppressive attitudes and beliefs in themselves and their communities, and works to interrogate and understand their privilege.

Bystander: a person who is present at an event or incident but does not intervene or take part.

Perpetrator: a person who carries out a harmful, illegal, or immoral act.

Victim/Target: a person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event or action.

Who Do I Belong To?: Next, I read from an article that my Diversity and Social Justice class co-teacher last year had published (so cool!):


Students were asked to listen and again, write down what they were thinking and any questions that they had.

I then showed this video of Ta-Nehisi Coates talking about why white people should not use the 'n' word:

Bystander Activity: At the end of class, we did an activity of identifying the roles of Ally, Bystander, Perpetrator, and Victim in a story. The stories that we analyzed are here:


The first page in the linked document is what students were filling out as we read the stories and thought about times in their own lives that they had been one of the roles in the stories. Here was the assignment that we ended class with and students will be working on in class on Wednesday (this is also posted in Google Classroom):


This assignment will be due in class on Tuesday, November 13th, so students have about a week to complete it. Please let me know if you have any questions I can answer - I will definitely still be available via blog comments or emails on my trip!
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