The American Dream, Day 1 - Class Recap

At the New York Stock Exchange in 2009. Photo taken by my friend Ryan!

Hello everyone,

Today, we started up with class content for real, as we began thinking about what makes someone "American" and what the "American Dream" is. Here's what happened 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.

Soundtrack: "Dream On" by Aerosmith. Selected for today because of our discussion of what the American Dream is and whether or not it exists. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/13/19:
News Brief/Blog Recap - Yash
9/11 and 12/7 Speeches
American Dream
Mother to Son

Homework: Read the blog. Create a slogan about the American Dream, ready to share next class. Bring art supplies if you want, as we will be creating posters next class! The next news brief is assigned to: Maiya.

News Brief/Blog Recap: Today's news brief was brought in by Yash, who selected an article about this story: CNN.com - Debates confirm there is really only one issue in the Democratic primary. We discussed this for a bit and then moved on.

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

Maiya 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

I also showed this website and the blog post from last class, so students could see the level of detail with each post.

9/11 and 12/7 Speeches: This was connected to our lesson last class for September 11th, when I wanted students to look at speeches from President George W. Bush on 9/11/2001 and President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 12/8/1941, which led the United States into war after attacks. Here they are again (questions at the bottom):

Google Drive - September 11th and December 7th Response Speeches

 I really appreciated the text analysis and conversations here - thanks!

American Dream: To really start with content for the course this year, I wanted to begin by defining "American" and the idea of the "American Dream" in class. To go with this, here is the PowerPoint we went through together:

Google Slides - American Dream PowerPoint

First, we defined "American" by ourselves, then worked in small groups to come up with combined definitions, then talked together as a class about what makes someone American.

I then asked everyone to try and define with the "American Dream" is in a free write. After the free write, I showed this video:

We have a fair amount of first generation American students in our classes, so I was particularly interested in these definitions!

Mother to Son: Next, we read a poem called "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes. Here is the poem and the in class assignment that goes with it (it is also posted in Google Classroom if you missed class):

Google Drive - Mother to Son Poem Analysis

We discussed in class about the tone and dialect of the poem, as Mr. Puterbaugh noted some of the historical context to me when I shared it with him.

We ended by continuing to investigate the American Dream and thinking of slogans that we will use next class in your first graded assignment. Thank you for your work in class today!

September 11th, 2001 - Class Recap

This is part of N591UA, which operated United Flight 93 on September 11th, 2001, and was hijacked for possible use against the White House. Instead, a passenger revolt forced down the plane into a field in Pennsylvania. A part of my 9/11 story is that I once flew on that exact same plane, from Portland to Chicago in 1996. Check out my FlightMemory map of lifetime flights.

Hi everyone,

It has been a pleasure getting to know you all and continue trying to learn your names as fast as possible. Today, we had a timely look at what happened on September 11th, 2001 and December 7th, 1941, as well as what happened over the summer. 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.

Soundtrack: "Comin' From Where I'm From" by Anthony Hamilton. Selected for today because we used the ball of yarn to connect to each other about where we were from. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/11/19:
News Brief - Kayla
Class Unity Activity
September 11/December 7
The Summer

Homework: Read the blog. Ask your parents/guardians for their memories of September 11th, 2001. The next news brief is assigned to: Yash.

News Brief/Blog Recap: Today's news brief was brought in by Kayla, who selected an article about this story: USAToday.com - 'We are united.' US marks 18th anniversary of 9/11 terror attack with silence, tolling bells. We discussed this story for a bit and then moved on.

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

Yash 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

Class Unity Activity: I always love this, for many reasons. One, because I love hearing about how everyone came to be in our classroom. Two, because of how the yarn connects us all. Three, because it helps the class (and me) learn names and a little about each other! Thank you for participating in this. It can get lengthy, I know, but I value it so much more than just lecturing for that time. It was nice to enjoy being outside the classroom for a bit, too!

September 11/December 7: To start this section, I asked students to do a free write for about 5 minutes on the following questions:

What do you know about September 11th and on December 7th? What have you heard about it?  What have you learned before, in class, or from parents?

After the free write time, we shared responses as a class and I told my story about September 11th. I was starting my Sophomore year at Wilson High School in Portland. It was definitely a day I will remember for the rest of my life. To drive home the point as to what the day was like, I showed this video in class, which was a timeline of the day:

From there, I moved on to discussing how September 11th, 2001 came about and some facts regarding the day.

We also talked in class about another incredibly important day in American history: December 7th, 1941, which is when the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was attacked by Japan, which caused the US to enter World War II officially. Here was the video I showed in class about the attack and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's speech the next day:

Next, we analyzed the two speeches from US presidents about these two days: President George W. Bush on 9/11 and President FDR on 12/7. Here are the speeches:

Google Drive - September 11 and December 7 Speeches

The questions we looked at were here:

Are there common themes running through these speeches? Be specific.

•  What was the reason for delivering each of these speeches?
•  What effect do you think each of these speeches had on the nation and/or the rest of the world?
•  What are the most important lines in each of these speeches?

Thanks for the discussion here!

We finished with that. Please be ready to discuss next class. See you next class!

Introduction Day - Class Recap

The start of a year long journey together! This is the road to Monument Valley, on the Arizona/Utah border, during the summer of 2014.

Hello everyone,

Thank you for doing your homework and visiting the blog! As I said in class, I think this is a really helpful resource for students, staff, and parents to be able to follow along with what is happening. After every class, I will write up a recap and post it. Most of the time, your only homework will be to read over the blog and be prepared for what is coming next in class. With that, let's get started!

Soundtrack: "Changes" by 2Pac. I always choose this song to start off a new class with, because I like the idea of our room being somewhat different from your other experiences in high school. This song also has all sorts of lyrics that relate to American Studies, like the line:

"And although it seems heaven-sent
We ain't ready to see a black president."

Check out the full lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/9/19:
Introductions/Attendance
Syllabus/Grades
Letter to Class/Mr. Fritz
The Blog
Create Ground Rules
News Briefs

Homework: Share syllabus and website with parents. Bring binder. Next news brief: Kayla.

Introductions/Attendance: At the start of class, I introduced myself and how the agenda on the whiteboard works. I am absolutely delighted to be your teacher at Westview this year!

I took attendance and tried to ask everyone how they wanted me to address them. I did look up any student preferred names/nicknames in StudentVUE before, so let me know if you would prefer to go by something else. It will take me some time, but eventually, I will know everyone's names, I promise!

Syllabus/Grades: I know that this is not the most exciting content in class. I wanted to make sure to go over some of the real key points to the syllabus (like where I am, how to contact me, how your grade is decided, and the need to bring a binder to class). Here is an electronic copy of the syllabus and rubrics:

Google Drive: Westview American Studies Syllabus

Global Studies: Westview American Studies Grading Rubrics

If you or your parents have any questions about any of this, please let me know!

Letter to Class/Mr. Fritz: After the syllabus talk was done, I passed out a letter that I wrote to the class, explaining all about who I am and what sort of expectations I have. Hopefully, most of it was interesting information! I like passing these out and signing them all individually. To me, it represents that I really am interested in everyone in my class.

After reading the letter aloud, I asked everyone to write back to me in a similar sort of fashion. I gave a bunch of possible questions to answer as prompts and about 30 minutes or so to complete the assignment. I LOVE reading these and writing back to everyone! Thank you for your effort - I can't wait to learn a little bit more about who you are!

The Blog: As part of the syllabus, I introduced this website: the class blog! This is seriously so important for your success in this class. If you are staying up to date on here, reviewing what happened in class to get ready for the next meeting, and asking questions if you need help, I guarantee that you will be more successful than if you do not.

Create Ground Rules: Ahh, yes. Your class was great with this usually awkward process! The rules that you came up with and agreed to as an entire class are:

• Be Responsible
• Be Respectful
• Stay Organized
• Be Helpful
• Try to Have Fun

I will be working to make sure everyone, including myself, is following the ground rules! Thank you for participating in this exercise. I will post these in the room and on the top right of the blog.

News Briefs: This is the current event style assignment that everyone will do at least once. Basically, all I want is for someone (I will assign it) to bring in a print out (or email me) of a current news article (within the last two weeks) that is a story about something inside the United States (since this is an American Studies class). We will talk for about 5-10 minutes at the start of class about whatever article this is and whatever else is going on with students - just as a way to help make class relevant and interesting to you and what is going on every day in the country.

Kayla kindly volunteered to do the first news brief. :-)

Thank you for reading! See you next class!