A Time to Honor

This was a week when we paused to remember and thank our Veterans. As we read about areas around the world that are struggling with oppression we must recall the service that our men and women in the armed services have provided over the course of our history. Without their unswerving support for “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” we would not be the country we are today.

Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences

Our conference time is scheduled for November 18 from 4 to 7. This is a time when all of us can sit down and review what you have accomplished first quarter and make plans for the next quarter. Maintaining the portfolio will allow you to show your parents or guardians the type and quality of work you have been engaged in. As part of our end of quarter activities, you will be writing a letter home explaining the content and skills you have been working on, what you accomplished first quarter, and your plans for second quarter.

Absences

This year we have been hit with an early flu season which has resulted in absences. If you have been absent, make sure you take the time to stay after school to find out what lessons and assignments you missed so you can stay current with your work. You have five days to make up missed work. You may also use Advisory time to come by 246 to make up work if you have asked in advance for a pass.

CWI

This week we started our unit on South West Asia and began with the map and map quiz. Maps are especially important for this region as you see how Israel was carved out of an area inhabited by Palestinians. You need to look at the complicated borders to see how division is further escalated by multiple sections of land inhabited by both Palestinians and Israelis. You can also see that Afghanistan’s future is hampered by being land locked. And you can see the importance of the Suez Canal as a short cut from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.

Using questions developed by Public Broadcasting’s New Hour, you worked on gathering information from multiple web sites to learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This conflict continues today and your current event focused on these two groups and their ongoing violent disagreements. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has been in the region as well as Secretary of State Clinton urging the two sides to sit down and negotiate a peaceful solution.

We also read about the “hotspots” around the world that President Obama and his administration must deal with. Of the top 10 areas of conflict, 4 were from the South West Asia region. After reading the article, you had to define the problem and come up with your solution. If you were sitting in the Oval Office and the President asked for your thoughts on the conflict...what would you recommend?

On Friday we spent time on a human rights web site gathering information about refugees from South West Asia and then we went to Beyond the Fire to hear from teens that are refugees.

Finally, some classes started the “Seeds of Peace” activity where you take on the identity of a teenager from this region. By reading about their experiences it helps to understand their perspective. Conflict comes about when we don’t make the effort to understand another’s point of view and don’t respect the attitudes, feelings and needs of others. The Seeds of Peace program tries to break down these barriers by giving young people a chance to get to know one and another. This program reminds me of an article I read in the New York Times Magazine last week commemorating Sesame Street’s 40th anniversary. As Sesame Street goes international, it has encountered unique problems as it tries to write a program that would appeal to Palestinian children. The writers of Sesame Street want to encourage peaceful relations among Palestinian and Israeli children and yet are having a difficult time trying to write scenarios that inform and educate but don’t offend.

World History

This week we finished our Enlightenment interviews. The new ideas of social contract and man having rights fueled the French Revolution. In your packet are two primary sources...they can be challenging but we need to practice with the documents as you have two upcoming graduation tasks that are based on your ability to interpret primary sources. Next week we will look at the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” as well as the “Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen.”

The French Revolution can be broken down into four phases: the moderate phase from 1789-1791, a radical phase from 1792-1794 sometimes known as the Reign of Terror, the Directory phase from 1795-1799 and the final phase known as the Age of Napoleon from 1799-1815. Our video on the Revolution produced by the History Channel gives us a good sense of the struggles the people of France had with everyday living while the nobility and the clergy were removed from toil and strife. Our video goes on to show how emotions finally erupted and the King and Queen are captured from Versailles and brought to Paris to face justice.

Next week we will finish the tape, and spend some time reading about Napoleon. Let me remind you that at the end of this unit you will have a standardized book exam. Your mid-term will be based on a standardized book exam so I want you to have practice with this type of assessment.