Friday, May 10, 2019

Foreign Policy, Day 3 - Class Recap


The Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.. Photo taken in 2010.

Dear class,

It was great to see everyone again today! I introduced the final major assignment of the year today (there will be other assignments in class) and we began work. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 8: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 22: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.
Critical Thinking LT 4: I can evaluate information and explanations within a given context and develop a relevant conclusion.
Critical Thinking LT 5: I can justify and support arguments or interpretation with appropriate evidence.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Research LT 1: I can effectively conduct and apply research.

Soundtrack: "Edge of the Ocean" by Ivy. Selected for today because yesterday, I was in Seaside for a 9th Grade Success conference and the weather has been amazing! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/10/19:
News Brief - Issac
Class Elections
Conflict Presentations
Form Groups
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog! Complete and submit the United States Imperialism assignment if you did not in class. Next news brief: Everett.

News Brief: Issac had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - The US just raised tariffs on Chinese goods. China says it will hit back. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class.

Everett was assigned 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):


Class Elections: At the start of class, we voted in the class elections for Westview. Here's the video we watched :



Voting was only open today through the lunches, but if you were absent and are doing your homework in reading the blog quickly, here's the link to vote:

https://tinyurl.com/2021WVCatsClassElections

Conflict Presentations: At the end of last class class, I showed students what the United States conflict options are for the final presentation of the year, which were:

1. Spanish American War
2. World War I
3. World War II
4. Korean War
5. Bay of Pigs/Cuba
6. Vietnam War
7. Central American Conflict (Grenada, Panama, Nicaragua)
8. Persian Gulf
9. Bosnian War
10. Afghanistan
11. Iraq
12. Involvement in Syria

I posted a survey link in Google Classroom for students to tell me what their top three choices are (after doing a bit of research in class and/or at home) in terms of a conflict in United States history they are interested in learning more about for the presentation, and used this information to make groups.

Here is the assignment for the United States conflict presentations, which is the final major project of the year (hopefully not too stressful, though):


Form Groups: Here is the PowerPoint that shows who is in what conflict presentation group, based on your survey input (if you did not fill out the survey by Thursday, I put you in groups that had space left):


If there were any groups that seemed like they would not work, I reserve the right to move students within these first few days of work time.

Work Time: The rest of class was devoted to work time on the conflict presentation - assigning roles for what to do, starting to create the presentation, etc. Here is the calendar of what I think we will be doing for the rest of the year in American Studies, to help students plan. That calendar is linked here (and may be updated, so use the link over the paper copy you were given):

Google Drive - American Studies 10 Foreign Policy Calendar 2019

See everyone next week, when we will do some review on World War I!
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Monday, May 6, 2019

Foreign Policy, Day 2 - Class Recap


The Pearl Harbor memorial in Hawaii. Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

As we continue our last unit of the year, on foreign policy of the United States, I thought it was important that we review a key concept from Global Studies last year: imperialism. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 8: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 22: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.
Critical Thinking LT 4: I can evaluate information and explanations within a given context and develop a relevant conclusion.
Critical Thinking LT 5: I can justify and support arguments or interpretation with appropriate evidence.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Research LT 1: I can effectively conduct and apply research.

Soundtrack: "The Imperial March" from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Selected for today because of the connection to imperialism and because of it being May The Fourth over the weekend!

AGENDA 5/6/19:
News Brief - Jackson
Imperialism
Cartoon Analysis
Conflict Research

Homework: Read the blog! Complete and submit the United States Imperialism assignment if you did not in class. Take the survey on Google Classroom for what conflict you are most interested in learning more about for your final presentation! Next news brief: Issac.

News Brief: Jackson had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: APNews.com - Just the feces: Kentucky Derby winner poop on sale for $200. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class.

Issac was assigned 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):


Imperialism: This was a bit of review from last year in terms of the concept of what imperialism is, but I did want to make sure students understood how the United States was involved, as well. Here's the presentation we went through together in class:


And here is the sheet for notes that I passed out in class to help guide students:


Hopefully this helps give some context to how the United States is viewed around the world and the reverse.

Cartoon Analysis: The next step was to use this information to determine what some of the reactions to imperialism in the United States were, via some political cartoon analysis. Here is the assignment given in class (posted on Google Classroom, so it can be submitted electronically - I also had paper copies available in class):


Most of the rest of class was devoted to work time on this assignment, which I would like to have turned in on Friday during our next meeting.

Conflict Research: At the end of class, I showed students what the United States conflict options are for the final presentation of the year, which are:

1. Spanish American War
2. World War I
3. World War II
4. Korean War
5. Bay of Pigs/Cuba
6. Vietnam War
7. Central American Conflict (Grenada, Panama, Nicaragua)
8. Persian Gulf
9. Bosnian War
10. Afghanistan
11. Iraq
12. Involvement in Syria

I posted a survey link in Google Classroom for students to tell me what their top three choices are (after doing a bit of research in class and/or at home) in terms of a conflict in United States history they are interested in learning more about for the presentation, and will use this information to make groups.

Here is the calendar of what I think we will be doing for the rest of the year in American Studies, to help students plan. That calendar is linked here (and may be updated, so use the link over the paper copy you were given):

Google Drive - American Studies 10 Foreign Policy Calendar 2019

See everyone next class, when I will introduce the final presentation assignment and we will begin to work on it!
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Thursday, May 2, 2019

Foreign Policy, Day 1 - Class Recap


Today, we started our last unit of the year (and for most students, the last unit of the past two years in my class), which is an investigation of United States foreign policy - how the U.S. relates to other countries around the world. The Olympics (hosted again in Los Angeles in 2028) is an example of this! Photo taken in 2010.

Dear class,

Welcome to our last unit of the year! Hopefully, students have submitted their Historical Investigation research project (due today on Google Classroom) and are ready to move on. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 8: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
Knowledge LT 22: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.
Critical Thinking LT 4: I can evaluate information and explanations within a given context and develop a relevant conclusion.
Critical Thinking LT 5: I can justify and support arguments or interpretation with appropriate evidence.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Research LT 1: I can effectively conduct and apply research.

Soundtrack: "A World Alone" by Lorde. Selected for today because of the relationship of the United States to the world. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/2/19:
News Brief - Ash
Personal Scenarios
Intro to Foreign Policy
Global Scenarios

Homework: Read the blog! The Historical Investigation final draft is due TODAY - submit on Google Classroom! The peer review sheets must be turned in as a part of getting a grade on the Historical Investigation. Next news brief: Jackson.

News Brief: Ash had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Thousands of North and South Carolina teachers are protesting -- but not just for the reasons you might think. After discussing the story, we also checked in to see if anyone was up to anything interesting or fun outside of class.

Jackson was assigned 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):


I also passed out a calendar of what I think we will be doing for the rest of the year in American Studies, to help students plan. That calendar is linked here (and may be updated, so use the link over the paper copy you were given):


Personal Scenarios: To introduce some of the concepts involved in foreign policy, I split the class up into seven groups and had the groups debate these seven scenarios (first page):


After a few minutes, I had the groups discuss their proposed solution to the given situation and asked the class if they agreed. This is basically what the idea of diplomacy is - talking about problems instead of fighting.

Intro to Foreign Policy: Next, I walked students through a brief history of how the United States has related to other countries around the world, with this PowerPoint:


Here is the sheet of notes that I passed out to help students, as they added to it with details from the presentation:


Global Scenarios: Finally, we ended class by going back to the scenario document linked above and having the assigned groups discuss what the United States should do in specific scenarios based off of actual events in our history. This is where we ended class for the day - we will pick back up next week, on Monday!
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