The official start of the presidential race for 2012 began
this week with the Republican primary caucuses in Iowa. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney claimed
the win, though by only 8 votes out of approximately 122,000, and even that win
was clouded by reports of a miscount.
Rick Santorum, a former Senator from Pennsylvania noted for his conservative
fiscal and social positions, came in second.
The next primary is in New Hampshire on Tuesday…so stay tuned. Many of you will be eligible to vote in this
November’s presidential election, so this is a good time to start looking at
the candidates and finding one who represents your views.
And at long last, some good economic news…200,000 jobs were
added last month, bringing the unemployment rate down to 8.5%. Consumer confidence was up, indicating people
are feeling better about the future and therefore are more ready to spend money,
and that allowed small business owners to bring on more workers.
East Asia
This week you received your new syllabus for our unit on
East Asia. The syllabus is your guide
for the upcoming assignments. It is
especially helpful to students who are absent as you can look at the syllabus
and see what you missed. Our first
assignment was the map and a text reading that gave you background on
China. As you progress through your
years of schooling and enter your careers, a broad foundation of knowledge is
essential. It helps you learn new
information, make connections, and develop new ideas. If you know nothing about a topic, it is more
difficult for your brain to retain new information. This is why general reading, watching the
news, and talking with friends about a variety of topics helps you build a
store of knowledge that will help you develop the mental skills essential to a
successful, satisfying career. East Asia
is large in terms of area and population but has only six countries.
The map and notes from your reading are the basis for your
quiz. Period G took the quiz on Friday
and periods A, B, and E will take it on Monday.
To help you see how this region has become known for its
manufacturing, we did a “geography of the house” activity. You were given a list of everyday items that
you have at home and you had to identify the brand name and country of
origin. When you reported back to the
class, we quickly saw that much of the electronic equipment we own comes from
China and Japan. A quick look at
backpacks and sneakers also showed us that many of these items are made in East
Asia.
We also watched a clip from the Choices site that included
an interview with Dr. Andrew Erickson from the Naval War College who helped you
understand why it is important for high school students to know about
China. If you want to be where the action
is, you are going to be involved somehow with China. It is a huge country with growing economic
and political power.
I also shared with you a power point on the Tianmen
Mountains and the road leading to the summit.
While the pictures gave you a sense of geography, they also illustrated
the enormous engineering capabilities of China. Next week, I will share with you some of the
photos I took on my own trip to China and you will see that this country has a
history of accomplishing great things, ranging from the construction of the
Great Wall to the 2008 Olympic Village.
Current Events
A current event from this region is due on Monday January 10. You have been doing this assignment since
September, you have clear expectations, and you have had examples of work
meeting or exceeding the standard. By
now you should be earning high grades for this assignment. If you are still
struggling with it, please come by during Advisory or after school so we can
get you on the right track.
Reminder for Missed Work
Many of you were out before our break and missed in-class
writing assignments. Because of the
closed advisory on Friday, make-up work will be extended to Tuesday
afternoon. Don’t delay…make up the work
as soon as possible so you don’t forget.
Updated Status of Assignment Sheets
This week we updated our assignment sheets. The last two assignments were in-class
writing assignments on India and Pakistan.
Keep in mind that when you write you want to take the time to outline,
list or do a web of ideas so that your final product is clean, consistent, and
fully developed. You also want to
provide your reader with examples and references to the text or videos that we
watched. Clear thinking leads to clear
writing.
NWC Speaker Series
Our series continues on Friday January 13 during B
period. Because of a schedule change we
are unable to have the speakers during the Advisory period. All students in the B period will be
attending. If you are in a different
period and want to attend, pick up a permission slip and ask your teacher if
you can be excused for that period. The
final decision will be up to your teacher of the B period class. Our speakers are from Brazil and the United
Kingdom.
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