Honoring our Veterans

Today is a day we pause to thank our Veterans. The eleventh day of the eleventh month is set aside to remind us of the signing of the armistice that ended World War I. The loss of life was so great – over 30 million – that countries vowed never to resort to war again. This goal has been broken over and over.

As we read about areas around the world that are wracked by violence today, and recall the sacrifices and suffering of the men and women who have served in our own wars, we must ask what each of us can do to create a future where lives, fortunes and talent are devoted to building a better world for all, not mutual destruction.

$100 Challenge

We started our $100 Challenge last week and already students have begun to participate and cast their ballots. Make sure to read last week’s posting for all the details. This is a great activity that can mean so much to those who have so little.

International Speaker Series

Please note the dates for our speaker series in your agenda. This is an exciting event as we hear about a wide variety of countries from some of their top military officials. You will be given a permission slip the week of the event to give to your advisory teacher.

Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences

Our conference time is scheduled for November 21. Letters will be going home announcing the details for the conferences. 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. If you have struggled this quarter, this is the time to put a corrective action plan in place. Do you need to be more prepared for class, do you need to reread some assignments, do you need to follow the current event rubric more closely to earn all your points, and do you need to make up work you may have missed?

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. It is your responsibility to make arrangements for missed work. According to the handbook, if you are absent unexcused, you may get the assignments but no grade will be earned for the work.

South West Asia

This week we started our unit on South West Asia, beginning with the map and map quiz. You were given a syllabus so you know what to expect for this unit. 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 complicated by multiple sections of land inhabited by both Palestinians and Israelis. You can also see how Afghanistan’s opportunities are limited by it being land-locked. And you can see the importance of the Suez Canal as a short cut from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.

We also read an update on the Arab Spring in our UpFront magazine and a personal account of life in Yemen from Newsweek. These readings give you the background you need to understand why people revolt and the different options for ending the uprisings. While reading about the thousands of young people putting their lives at risk marching in Syria or Yemen you should ask yourself whether you would be willing to take to the streets. What values and issues are so important to you that you would march?

On Friday we spent time on a human rights web site gathering information about refugees from South West Asia. Then we watched the presentation “Beyond the Fire” to hear from teens who are war refugees. You also needed to use your text to gather information on the Palestinian refugees. This assignment gave you the information to better understand life as a refugee and to see that this region of the world has produced a high number of displaced people due to conflict.

We also had our first set of current events for the new quarter. Doing your current events assignment is good practice for the portfolio task we will be doing in early December. The task is based on your ability to summarize and analyze a series of current events. At this point, you should be earning high scores for this assignment. You usually have about one week for the assignment and you have a rubric. Excuses for not doing the assignment include “I forgot” (it is written on the board for the week, and don’t you read the blog?) or “My computer is broken, my printer is out of ink, I have no paper” (you do not need a computer to do this assignment...you can hand-write the summary and you can cut the article out of the paper or photocopy it). Students who do the current events are usually the students who earn the highest grades for the quarter.

Also a caution when using the computer for current events…you can’t google “South West Asia current events” as the computer recognizes countries outside of our study region. You must look at the map in the text and take a current event from one of those countries.

Are you watching the evening news or going on line to stream the latest broadcast? It is an efficient way to stay up to date and to build your background knowledge for our class discussions. Be in the know...

Less than a year to go

Our presidential race for 2012 is starting to heat up. The republican candidates continue to hold debates so voters have a clear choice during the primary season. President Obama has begun his campaigning by outlining the choices voters will have next fall. If you will be eighteen you get to vote so be prepared. If this is your last presidential race as an observer, take note how the process works and start thinking about the type of candidate you will support in the future.