Last week we played the roles of Israeli and Palestinian
young people as they tried to understand each other’s perspective and their
relation to the ancient lands they continue to fight over. Yesterday, the United Nations voted to upgrade
Palestine from “nonmember observer entity” to “nonmember observer state.” While the vote does not bring immediate tangible
gains, it signals that the vast majority of the world’s nations believe the
Palestinians deserve a state of their own and want to see the two sides
negotiate in good faith.
Growing Up Saudi
In class you had the opportunity to work with a partner on
two articles about growing up in Saudi Arabia as a young man or a youngwoman. After reading and talking with
partners, we had a whole class discussion on life in the Kingdom and the
challenges most Americans would have living in this very restricted society. Saudi young people live very different lives compared
to ours, though we still have much in common.
They are a very strict and traditional society even though over half the
population is under the age of 25. We heard Robert Lacey, author of “Inside the
Kingdom,” state that Saudis “hate” Americans for three main reasons: they see us fighting in Muslim countries, we
support Israel, and they consider us a decadent society as illustrated by our
clothing and reality television shows.
Lacey went on to say that only through education will our countries
build a better relationship. This was
the same message we heard from Captain Yaw of the Naval War College as he
kicked off our international speaker series.
Chile and the Netherlands
We had a fascinating tour of Chile and the Netherlands on Friday
thanks to officers from the Naval War College.
Their power point presentations pointed out the great beauty of each
country and their significant contributions to the world through their culture
and strong economies. I didn’t know Ben
and Jerry’s is owned by a Dutch company, Unilever.
Editorial Cartoons
Many of you did a great job finding a cartoon about South
West Asia and providing analysis. Those who
followed the task sheet and rubric earned high marks. Some students did not read the rubric
carefully and forgot to write about the different methods cartoonists use to
convey their message. Cartoons can
convey complex issues in an amusing manner.
It wouldn’t surprise me if there were cartoons on the mid-term exam
(hint, hint).
Time for a Task
This week you received an overview of your CWI Task “It’s My
World” and the prompt. You also received
a form to fill out on the topic you would like to write about. This form is due December 4. Your topic must be approved before writing.
Keep in mind that this task is much like doing a jumbo
current event…you have one international topic and then three news articles you
need to read and summarize for the analysis.
Your reflection must also include a resolution or possible solution to
the problem. You will receive the rubric
during the next class. The task is due on December 17. You must upload it to TieNet and turn in a
hard copy along with the three articles.
This weekend you
should decide upon an international issue and start locating news articles.
Syrian Civil War
This week we focused on the Syrian Civil War by working in
groups and gathering information on the domestic players, the impact of the war
on neighboring countries and the reaction of the international community. This war began in March 2011 when a small
group of teenage boys wrote graffiti messages on the side of a building calling
for freedom and democracy. The boys were
imitating the actions they had seen on Aljazeera TV stories on the uprisings in
Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. The regime led
by Bashir Al Assad cracked down immediately by locating the boys and torturing them. Some of the boys died as a result. This led the people to protest in hopes their
leader would act with understanding and compassion. Instead, he began using troops and
intimidation. Small protests grew
rapidly, and when the Syrian Army started shooting civilians the crisis turned
into a full scale civil war. Many members
of the Syrian Army defected and joined the rebels. This conflict continues today with over
36,000 dead and hundreds of thousands of refugees flooding into neighboring
countries. The UN and Arab league have
proposed peace solutions but the regime has ignored them and continues to use
force. This week the United States seems
to be moving in the direction of providing military equipment to the rebels. Internet service was lost on Thursday and the
airport that services Damascus, Syria’s capital, was shut down….all signs that
this crisis may be reaching a critical stage.
Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences
Thank you to the many families who came by this week. Taking the time to reflect on the successes
and challenges of the first quarter gives us the opportunity to adjust our
teaching and learning so we can be even more successful in the second quarter. If you were unable to book a time slot (they
do fill up quickly), please contact me via email and we can set up a time to
meet. I am available every morning
starting at 6:45 and most afternoons except Wednesday, when we have faculty
meetings.
World History
This week we started with a retest on the Enlightenment. When preparing for a book quiz make sure you
do the vocabulary and the section review.
The quiz is based on your understanding of the key words and concepts highlighted
in the section review.
We went over the characteristics of an effective paragraph. You have a handout you may use when asked to
write a paragraph. An effective paragraph starts with an assertive topic
sentence, followed by an analysis of your argument using examples and a
conclusion restating your thesis. We
practiced this skill in class and then you had the opportunity to write an
independent paragraph on human nature.
We will continue to work on writing effective paragraphs
throughout the year.
We also started reading about the French Revolution. We
generated a long list of causes of the revolution. People in France were divided into three
estates and the bulk of the people had few rights and paid heavy taxes. With a deteriorating economy and a bad
harvest, many people were starving. They
finally reached the breaking point and stormed the Bastille! We watched a video clip from the History
Channel that made this event come to life.
You have your worksheet to prepare for the quiz and you have
a graphic organizer on the Old Régime.
You also have a brief primary source reading on the
Declaration of the Rights of Man with questions. We will go over this during our next class.
Congratulations
A tip of the hat to all members of the MHS Drama Club…great
job!
Good Luck
Go MHS Football Team…
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