Finals Day - Class Recap

Go forth into the next school year, wonderful students. Picture taken in New Zealand, February 2014.

Dear class,

Today was our last class together! I am so glad that I do not have to say goodbye for too long, since I will be at Westview next year to see you in the halls and say hello, if you aren't in one of my classes. I had so much fun teaching you all, and I hope that you learned a lot about American History, as well!

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “Thankful" by Kelly Clarkson. Just like "Changes" by 2Pac at the start of my time with you, I always use this song as the soundtrack at the end of teaching classes. The lyrics read (in part):

I'm thankful

for the blessings

and the lessons that I've learned with you

by my side

I'm thankful, so thankful, for the love

that you keep bringing in my life

in my life

I truly am so grateful to get to teach such wonderful young people. Thank you for all of your efforts this semester!

AGENDA 6/11/14:
News Brief
Final Test
Study Time

Homework: Have a wonderful summer! See you next year!

News Brief: Ashton brought in the last news brief of the semester: ABCNews.go.com - Sea Star Disease Growing on Oregon Coast. Interesting news!

We talked about another tragic shooting, this time close to home: KGW.com - Police: Shooter at Reynolds High School is dead. I hope that the news brief throughout the semester inspired everyone to follow what is currently going on in the United States and the world! It is so important to remain engaged as a citizen. Thank you, everyone, for participating in this!

Final Test: As promised, 50 multiple choice questions and a short essay response about your reflections on how class went this year. I will grade these and have the final grades for the semester posted as soon as I can.

Study Time: The rest of time in class was for study, since I know everyone has plenty of other finals to study for. Thank you for your focus here, while some students were finishing up their tests!

Modern America, Day 3 - Class Recap

Today, we played a game of Jeopardy in class. This weekend is the championships of another kind of game: the French Open. This is a picture I took in Paris at the French Open last year, when Rafael Nadal won.

Dear class,

Welcome to your last weekend of the 2013-14 school year at Westview! I had a lot of fun playing Jeopardy review with everyone! Here's the class recap for today:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark" by Fall Out Boy. Selected because it is pump up song for playing Jeopardy and because of nuclear fallout. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 6/6/14:
News Brief
D-Day
Jeopardy Review
Study Time

Homework: Review notes and PowerPoints for in class final on Wednesday. Read the blog! Last news brief: Ashton.

News Brief: Allison chose this story to talk about: CNN.com - Who is the student who pounced on the Seattle gunman? A hero, many say. This seems like it will continue to be a problem if nothing is done. It certainly will not just stop if we keep the present course.

D-Day: Since today is the 70th anniversary of the "D-Day" landings of Allied forces in Normandy, France, I wanted to talk a little bit about the importance of the day. Here are links to what we checked out in class (interrupted a bit by the fire drill):

History.com - D-Day by the Numbers Infographic

History.com - D-Day Video

ThisIsColossal.com - 9,000 Fallen Soldiers Etched into the Sand on Normandy Beach

Jeopardy Review: This is definitely my favorite way to prepare for an upcoming test. Again, the first four categories contain questions that will actually be on the semester final. The final will be 50 multiple choice questions along with one short essay prompt (that you will not be able to prepare for). Here is the PowerPoint again to review, if you want:

Google Drive - American Studies 10 Semester 2 Final Review Jeopardy PowerPoint

There are obviously questions on the final that are not on the review, and the review does not have the answers. If you want to study so that you know the information, most of the material (some of it will be from the day on 9/11 we did - see below for that) for the final will come from the following PowerPoints:

Google Drive - Cold War and McCarthyism PowerPoint

Google Drive - The Korean War PowerPoint

Google Drive - The Space Race and Cuban Missile Crisis PowerPoint

Google Drive - The Vietnam War PowerPoint

Google Drive - The Watergate Scandal PowerPoint

Google Drive - Afghanistan and The War on Terror

Phew! There you have it! Lots to review for next week. Our last class together is next Wednesday, from 7:45-9:15 for your final. Let me know if you have any questions I can answer!

Study Time: The rest of time in class (there was not a lot, due to the short schedule) was given as study time. 

See you next week!

Modern America, Day 2 - Class Recap

This is part of N591UA, which operate 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.

Hello wonderful students,

Today, I tried to do as much as I could with explaining the current "War on Terror" that United States has been involved with. It was the last real day of new content - next class will be a study day, combined with playing Jeopardy to review some of the main points of the semester. Here's the class recap for today:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day. Selected because we discussed the events of September 11th, 2001 today in class. Lyrics (which some may argue directly relate to the War on Terror) here.

AGENDA 6/4/14:
News Brief
Fall of the Wall
9/11
Afghanistan/The F Word

Homework: Review notes for upcoming in class final. Read the blog! Next news brief: Allison.

News Brief: Sarah chose this story to talk about for his news brief: CNN.com - 12-year-old Wisconsin girl stabbed 19 times; friends arrested. Apparently this was done to impress a fictional character? Wow. Please be good to yourself and each other, everyone.

I also showed this video to the class, which was about the release of a American solider from the Taliban in Afghanistan (this is a very big news story right now): Independent.co.uk - Handshakes and dust: Taliban release video of US PoW Bowe Bergdahl's first taste of freedom.

Fall of the Wall: This was left over from last class. I wanted to explain how the Berlin Wall came to symbolize the Iron Curtain and Communism in Europe, and how the United States helped bring it down. Specifically, we noted that President Ronald Reagan asked the USSR to "tear down this wall!" Here's the video we watched in class:

History.com - Deconstructing History: Berlin Wall

At the same time as the wall was being torn down, the Soviet Union was collapsing - late 1989 into 1990. Those factors also contributed to the First Gulf War, with Iraq, which we talked about later on.

9/11: 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, 2001? What have you heard about it? Do you remember anything? 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.

Afghanistan/The F Word: Some of this material was from my Global Studies class I taught last year a long term sub, so I apologize if this was the second time around for a few students in class. I thought it was important to look at the conflict from a United States perspective. Here's the PowerPoint presentation I went through:

Google Drive: Understanding Afghanistan PowerPoint

I wanted students to take general notes about what led to September 11th and how the First Gulf War between the United States and Iraq helped influence it. We are still currently involved in a war in Afghanistan - it is now America's longest war. Over 2,200 American soldiers have died as a part of it.

The "F" word that we talked about in class was FEAR. To start to look at how fear played a role after September 11th, I showed a couple of videos:

This is United States Secretary of State Colin Powell addressing the United Nations about the "weapons of mass destruction" that the U.S. government thought was in Iraq. It turned out that there were not any such weapons.

This video contains a montage of President George W. Bush and many of the key figures in his government repeating words in speeches that sounded pretty scary.

The last bit to class was another free write. This time, it was about fear in our lives. 

The prompt was: write about a time in which you experienced fear and how you felt. 

After writing and sharing in partners, I asked for volunteers to share with the class. It is nice to be able to look back on scary moments in life and laugh, or just be thankful that we escaped out of it. It was also good to hear about how fear makes us feel - anxious, wanting to do anything to escape, and not wanting to experience it again.

I wanted to make the connection between the fear much of America felt after 9/11. In fact, one of the ways that the government might have helped keep people fearful (or ready) is by making a threat level color coded system.:

In the entire history of the threat level system (which ended under President Obama), the threat level never went below Elevated - meaning we were supposed to be at "significant risk of terrorist attacks," constantly. I ended class by asking that you think about what that might do to people who could be afraid of another terrorist attack.

Whew. With that, the rest of the semester will be review. I tried to pack as much as I could in! Let me know if I can answer any more questions - I really appreciated them all today in class! See you next time!

Modern America, Day 1 - Class Recap

The outside of the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C. I mean, I'm a history teacher - I couldn't resist going to look at the building myself when I first visited the city in 2010!

Dear class,

Second to last week of the year! Today was another one day deep dive into a topic in the last century of American history - Watergate! What a super interesting piece of our history, at least to me! Here's the class recap:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “Waterfalls" by TLC. Selected because today we learned all about the Watergate scandal in class. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 6/2/14:
News Brief
Watergate PowerPoint
The Final Report
Fall of the Wall

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Sarah H.

News Brief: Hailey had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: NBCNews.com - Jack Kevorkian's Aide Pushed Carbon Monoxide for Executions. This relates to some of what we were talking about in earlier news briefs, in that states with the death penalty are finding it difficult to execute people.

Watergate PowerPoint: To start talking about Watergate, I asked the class about what a "scandal" was and gave some examples of scandals. Many scandals have names that end in -gate, due to this scandal! Next, I went through a PowerPoint. I tried to go fast on this, because there are a bunch of slides and I really just want students to get the main points of what happened for the upcoming multiple choice final. Here is the presentation again if you missed class or wanted to read through it at your own pace:

Google Drive - The Watergate Scandal PowerPoint

Some of the main points not covered by the documentary we watched were about President Nixon's Vice President, Spiro Agnew, resigning due to unrelated corruption charges. This also went more into depth about how President Gerald Ford got to be President without ever being elected to the Executive Branch, and the pardon he gave President Nixon.

The Final Report: After the PowerPoint, I showed a National Geographic documentary on what happening in the Watergate scandal. These were the questions to answer in class:

Google Drive - Watergate: The Final Report Video Questions

Here is the video we watched in class:

Again, I find the entire story so interesting! This was a President of the United States, who had to resign, because he was connected to all of these crimes! I hope everyone understood the importance of this, especially in connection to what we were learning about the Cold War and the Vietnam War as a part of it. The result was really deep dissatisfaction and distrust about the U.S. government.

Fall of the Wall: We did not get to this in class. Next time! Quite a lot to pack in: I want to talk about the fall of the Berlin Wall, along with our modern "War on Terror," too. Looking forward to these last few days of teaching you! Have a great weekend and come back ready for one last full week of the school year!

StEPP Career Ed Day, Class Recap

Before coming to Westview I worked at Marshall and Madison High Schools in Portland, for the "Step Up" program, which was largely after school tutoring and mentoring. This is a picture from one of the summer camps we did, which relates to the "StEPP" day, but your future after high school, too!

Hi everyone,

Today's class was almost entirely devoted to going to the Computer Lab with a Westview counselor to complete (or at least start) your StEPP Career Education objectives for 10th grade. Here's the recap:

Soundtrack: "Step in the Name of Love (Remix)" by R. Kelly. Selected because of the "step" connection! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/28/14:
Newspapers Back
StEPP (Computer Lab with Westview counselor)

Homework: All late/missing/incomplete/revised work due tomorrow (with the sole exception of the Cold War newspaper, which I am giving everyone another week to revise, if needed)! Read the blog! Next news brief: Chloe (and Hailey).

Newspapers Back: No news brief today, due to me wanting to give you as much time as possible to complete the career ed materials in the Computer Lab. I did pass back all of the completed grades for the Cold War newspaper project, which I did over the weekend. Your grades should now be completely up to date and you should know what you need to work on!

Here's how I graded the rubric for the newspaper project (definitely come see me if you have further questions):

ALT.17 – Explain process of change and continuity
Describes specific events in editorial, in chronological order, with context of what is going on in the Cold War and how America is changing.

ALT.23 – Influences, impacts, and resolutions of historical conflicts
Depth of description/how well the newspaper describes what has happened in the Cold War up to the date of the newspaper.

ALT.05 – Support arguments with evidence
Range of examples for editorial on who is winning the Cold War, who is losing, why.

ALT.09 – Technological knowledge and innovation shaping society
Analyzes different technologies and their effects during the Cold War period, as appropriate for the time of the newspaper.

Thanks for your hard work on these! I had fun looking through them all! :-)

StEPP: The rest of class was spent with a Westview counselor in the Computer Lab, working on your career ed materials for 10th grade. You need to complete this in order to graduate, so if you did not finish in class, please do so ASAP at home, then turn it in to the career center! Thanks!

Cold War America, Day 12 - Class Recap

The soundtrack for today was "Wonderwall" by Oasis, because of the way in which we presented the newspaper project, and because it reminded me of when the song played at London 2012 Summer Olympics, on August 12th. Congratulations on being done with your last major assignment in class this year!

Hi everyone,

Only three weeks left of school now! Thank you all for your hard work in class. If you did not finish your Cold War newspaper, you definitely need to email it to me - luke_fritz@beaverton.k12.or.us - as soon as possible. With that, here's the recap:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.09: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “Wonderwall" by Oasis. See photo caption above for reasoning. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/27/14:
News Brief
Finish/Print
Gallery Walk
Debrief

Homework: Turn in all missing/late/make up work by May 30 (this Friday). Read the blog! Next class: StEPP career education day in the lab.

News Brief: Tifani had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: CNN.com - Three killed, five wounded in Myrtle Beach shootings. Another shooting story as a news brief - there were certainly a few over the weekend. Just awful.

We also checked in for a bit about how Memorial Day weekend was.

Finish/Print: As promised, we went to the computer lab next to class for about 30 minutes or so, just to finish up (if needed) and print your Cold War newspapers. My thinking here was that I really wanted everyone to have at least something to put up on the wall, and I know that often, it is difficult to get everything printed and ready at home. I was glad to see this time seemed to be utilized well!

Gallery Walk: When we came back to class, I had everyone tape at least the front page of their newspaper to the wall around the room ("wonder wall" - get it?). Then, we spent 10-15 minutes just walking around and looking at what everyone had created. I really loved seeing what everyone had done, and having students be interested in it, too!

Debrief: After the gallery walk, we talked about specific newspapers we really liked in class, and how the assignment went in general. It is always good to hear this information, to help improve in the future!

Thanks again for all of your hard work! See you on Thursday for the StEPP day!

Cold War America, Day 11 - Class Recap

A few students are working on Cold War newspapers in relation to the United States dropping the atomic bomb on Japan. This is the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. Photo taken in January, 2014.

Dear class,

Our last full day of work on the Cold War newspaper assignment today! Here's what class looked like:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.09: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “I Ka Barra (Your Work)” by Habib Koite. Selected because this was the last full in class day of work on your Cold War newspaper project, due next class.

AGENDA 5/21/14:
News Brief
Newspaper Overview
S210 Computer Lab

Homework: Finish newspaper (we will have about 30 minutes in the lab to finish and print, but please come with it done, if possible). Read the blog! Next news brief: Tifani.

Links to homework assignment and grading rubric:

Google Drive: Cold War Newspaper Final Project Assignment

Google Drive: Cold War Newspaper Final Project Grading Rubric

News Brief: Ben had the news brief today and chose this story to bring in: NYTimes.com - 2 Students Arrested After Putting Rat Poison in Teacher’s Water, Police Say. Wow! I would say that I'll have to watch myself, but I feel confident I have nothing to worry about.

Along with this section, I talked about the legalization of same sex marriage in Oregon on Monday. I made sure to go over how this happened and some of the reasons why a judge was able to declare the Oregon constitution invalid. An important day in our history, for sure.

We also talked about the Beaverton School District bond measure passing, what it might mean for Westview, and my being hired as a full time probationary (somewhat permanent) teacher at Westview (these two news items are unrelated). Happy days!

Newspaper Overview: I wanted to talk about the basics of the assignment, one last time. This is what I read in class:

Article 1: From the date that you are choosing to publish your paper, who is “winning” the Cold War? Why is the other side not? What is changing in America at this point?

Political Cartoon/Visual Metaphor that relates to your headline, with caption that explains what it is about.

Article 2: An overview of how technology is shaping the war at the time you are publishing the newspaper. Be sure to address the Nuclear Arms Race, and the Space Race if possible. You could also talk about technology within specific wars.

Make sure to cite your sources if you use out of class information! Your in class notes do not need to be cited.

S210 Computer Lab: The rest of class was spent on the computers. Please work hard on this, to be able to turn it in next class, on Tuesday! This is your final really big assignment of the year - do not neglect to do it! Make sure to ask me in the comments or with an email if you need help!

Cold War America, Day 10 - Class Recap

Sometimes, to make art (like this couple I saw at the John Lennon Wall in Prague, Czech Republic last summer), you need a bit of help. That's what I tried to do today in class!

Hi everyone,

I hope you are as excited as I am about this newspaper assignment! The ideas for cartoons today should be pretty fun to see! The recap:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.09: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “Killer Tofu" by The Beets. Selected because this song is from the cartoon "Doug" and we were working on political cartoons today in class. Listen to it again, here.

AGENDA 5/19/14:
News Brief
Bitstrips/Google Drawings
Blog Precap
Computer Lab N228

Homework: Continue to work on newspaper assignment, which is due next Tuesday, May 20. Read the blog! Next news brief: Ben.

Links to homework assignment and grading rubric:

Google Drive: Cold War Newspaper Final Project Assignment

Google Drive: Cold War Newspaper Final Project Grading Rubric

News Brief: Hailey had the news brief today and talked about this story:

I also talked for a bit about the pending (it will be released at noon today, apparently) decision by a U.S. District Court Judge about Oregon's ban on same sex marriage. Certainly an interesting case to follow and a potentially historic day today.

Blog Precap: A "precap," because I showed this exact post, detailing how you could go about making your political cartoon!

Bitstrips/Google Drawings: I wanted to show the class a few ideas for how to do the political cartoon element that is required for your Cold War newspaper. I think you could have a lot of fun with this!

The first website I showed in class to help with creating a cartoon or visual metaphor for what is going on in the Cold War at the time you are making your newspaper is BitStrips.com/create/comic. I demonstrated a range of ways that website could be used! The only thing you need to watch out for is that in order to save, you need to sign up for the site. If you don't want to do that (it is not required for this assignment), you could either: 1) use the "Print Screen" function. If using a PC with this button, it acts like a screenshot of the entire screen, that you can paste in a Paint or Word document to edit or print. With a Mac, here is the guide to taking a screenshot:

Press the Apple key ⌘ + Shift + 4 all at the same time

You will see the cursor change to +

Drag a box around the section you want to copy and release the mouse

You will find a capture of the screen on your desktop again entitled ‘Picture _’

2) You could also just take a picture of the cartoon using your phone, and upload it to print by emailing it to yourself. This will almost certainly be low quality, though.

The second website I know of to create cartoons is the "Drawings" section of Google Drive. To get there, sign into your Google account, go to Drive, then click on "Create." This is what I am talking about:

That opens up a document that looks a lot like Paint, where you can insert images, play around with text and shapes, add lines, etc.

Basically, I want to see that you have a cartoon or visual metaphor that has some relation to what your newspaper headline and editorial is about. If you can try to make it funny (and be appropriate), that would be great! I am excited to see what you come up with! 

Computer Lab N228: The rest of class was spent on the computers. You definitely need to be working on this assignment over the weekend, because we only have one more day (Wednesday) of in class work before this is due, next Tuesday! Please let me know how I can help, if you need it!

Cold War America, Day 9 - Class Recap

Newspaper front pages around the world on September 12th, 2001. Photo taken at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. in 2010.

Dear class,

Here we go! Today was the first day of working on the last real major assignment of the year in class. Lots of links and resources follow! The recap:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.09: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “Bad News” by Kanye West. Selected because it may seem like today's assignment about making a newspaper is bad news, but it is not! Also, because it was the first clean song that came up under my iTunes when I searched for "news." Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/15/14:
News Brief
Cold War Newspaper Project
Templates/Read Write Think
Computer Lab N228

Homework: Continue to work on newspaper assignment, which is due Tuesday, May 27. Read the blog! Next news brief: Hailey.

News Brief: Alfonso had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: CNN.com - Man smashes truck into TV station, sends tweets while barricaded. It sounds like this man needs serious mental healthcare. Thanks, Alfonso!

Cold War Newspaper Project: I had shown the class a version of this document before, but this time, I actually handed it out, so everyone should know what we are working on. Here are the two pages you are going to need in order to do this assignment:

Google Drive: Cold War Newspaper Final Project Assignment

Google Drive: Cold War Newspaper Final Project Grading Rubric

There are a lot of details on the assignment sheet, on purpose. I wanted to try to make it as detailed as possible. Basically, there are three main elements that I am going to be looking for:

1) An editorial about who is winning the Cold War (again, you could use almost any topic we have been learning about for the past few weeks) at the date that you choose for your newspaper, along with what is changing in American society.

2) A political cartoon or visual metaphor that helps visually explain what is going on at the time your newspaper is being published.

3) An article about the role technology is playing in the Cold War at the time your newspaper is printed, specifically referencing the Nuclear Arms Race and Space Race, if possible.

Finally, as I explained in class, there is no way you are going to be able to finish this all, plus the additional elements that might help it look more authentic, like advertisements or other stories, in class. You will need to be working on this as homework. I have not been giving daily homework throughout the semester because we work hard in class and you sometimes have these bigger assignments which require work out of class. I am hopeful that by getting this one out of the way before most of your final projects and tests are due in your other classes, you can devote a lot of attention to it.

Templates/Read Write Think: In order to do this assignment, I went over three possibilities in class for newspaper templates. You could obviously find your own, or just assemble different articles on a regular newspaper, as well. Here were the options I saw:

1) Use the Printing Press tool on the Read Write Think website. This lets you play around with different formats, add images from your files, and save your work as you go (using a .RWT file that you can only open on that website).

If you use Read Write Think, make sure to spell check your work, because it does not automatically do it for you through the website.

2) Select a template from Google Docs (you will have to log in to your Google account before clicking on the link for it to work - or just search "newspaper templates" on Google). Here is a link to at least 50 different formats you could try: Google Drive - Newspaper Template Options.

3) Download a template for Microsoft Word. I looked around and liked a few of the options here: ExtraNewspapers.com - Newspaper Template Pack. These will download as .zip files, then you have to open them up and select the Word documents to work with.

Do NOT pay for any templates or anything like that! I am sure that you can adequately complete this assignment without buying any.

Computer Lab N228: The rest of class was spent on the computers. I suggested using this blog and your in class notes to find resources to use, but you could also find other sources to help. From what I saw, most students were able to identify the topic for the newspaper and have a general idea for how they are going to accomplish it. Please be prepared next class to keep working on it! We only have two days devoted in class after today for work on this project before it is due.

Bring materials for working on your political cartoon/visual metaphor, as well! Feel free to post in the comments if you are looking for a particular resource that I can help you find here on the blog or elsewhere!

Cold War America, Day 8 - Class Recap

This is at the top of the highest mountain in Vietnam - Fansipan. It was quite the memorable journey to climb up (and down), let me tell you! Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Welcome back! Today was the last full day of class content before we really move in to the last big project of the year - a Cold War newspaper that you will be working on creating. Start thinking about this!

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.09: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “Born in the U.S.A." by Bruce Springsteen. Selected because this is a song about the Vietnam experience - especially how bad it was upon returning home. Some people see this as a patriotic song. The lyrics (which I read out loud in class) suggest otherwise.

AGENDA 5/13/14:
Lyrics/News Brief
Vietnam War PowerPoint
Political Cartoons/Visual Metaphors
Letters Home 

Homework: Read the blog! Think about what you want to do for your newspaper date/topic! Next news brief: Alfonso.

News Brief: Ashton had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: NBCBayArea.com - Michael Sam to Become First Openly Gay NFL Player. A very interesting story, especially as it relates to our study of Civil Rights in the United States. Ashton wanted to have a larger conversation in class about this moment, and I unfortunately had to decline, because I knew that it was a very busy day of content (we barely finished in time). I appreciate the news article! :-)

Vietnam War PowerPoint: I started this section by showing this clip which highlights some of the basics of the war in Vietnam: History.com - Vietnam War History: The Road to War. Most of class was spent going through this. All of the pictures used in the presentation are my own - mostly from my trip to Vietnam to visit a friend in 2011. Also, I tried to listen to feedback about note taking, and made a template of notes for everyone to fill out.

Google Drive: The Vietnam War PowerPoint

Google Drive: The Vietnam War PowerPoint Notes Guide

I know this was a lot of information. I have have been saying that a lot recently. My hope is that by these big overviews, you will find something that you connect to and are passionate about exploring in more depth. I loved all the questions during this! The more, the merrier! Thanks for taking great notes!

Political Cartoons/Visual Metaphors: One of the elements in your upcoming Cold War newspaper assignment is thinking of a political cartoon or visual metaphor for what you are reporting on. I tried to give a bunch of different examples. Here are a few that I showed:

Political cartoon involving my mom (Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz) and her position on reservoir covers: OregonLive.com - Fritz Political Cartoon

Visual metaphor: the Earth melting like an ice cream cone (due to Climate Change).

Visual metaphor: bombs away at a toilet. (Eww.)

Next, I passed out examples of political cartoons during the Vietnam War and had groups of students do a quick analysis about what they were trying to say. Those examples can be found here: TeachingHistory.org - Vietnam War Cartoons.

Letters Home: We did not have the chance to look at a few letters home from soldiers during the war. There are plenty of resources online for you to do this, if you are interested! Thanks again for your focus! Let's get after it next class with the start of the project! :-)

Cold War America, Day 7 - Class Recap

This is a replica LEM (Lunar Excursion Module), like the one that the Apollo program used to land astronauts on the moon. Photo taken at the National Air and Space Museum Smithsonian in Washington, DC, 2010.

Dear class,

Wow, so I definitely tried to pack a TON into today, especially with the lock out and fire drills. I am hopeful that you are here reading to catch up a bit and understand what I went through! Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.09: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “To The Moon & Back" by Savage Garden. Selected because we talked about the Space Race between the USA and USSR today in class. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/9/14:
News Brief
Bay of Pigs
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Space Race

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Ashton.

News Brief: Carly had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: NBCNews.com - Whistleblower Says VA Hospital Covered Up Problems, Delayed Care. The care that we give our returning soldiers is so important! I talked a bit about the suicide problems that plague our armed forces, too. Thanks, Carly.

The other part to the news brief section involved looking at a calendar for the rest of the semester (which I didn't pass out, because it is not set in stone yet) and the upcoming final project for the Cold War, which is creating a newspaper front page with three elements. I will definitely explain this in much more detail in an upcoming class, but I really wanted to be sure that everyone understood the importance of following along with what we are doing in class.

Bay of Pigs: Today's lesson was supposed to have a distinct flow to it - from this, the the Cuban Missile Crisis, to the Space Race. Basically, the Bay of Pigs fiasco was when President John F. Kennedy approved a CIA plan to let former Cubans try to invade and take back the country from Fidel Castro, in 1961. Here was the overview we watched in class (as with everything today, I asked students to follow along and take notes):

After the film clip, I talked about the impacts of this failed invasion of Cuba: 1) Castro needed to seek protection from the Soviets, thus eventually resulting in the Cuban Missile Crisis, and 2) President Kennedy looked like he had abandoned and betrayed the Cuban-Americans who invaded, which resulted in a very long resentment by Cuban-Americans of him and the Democratic Party that Kennedy was a part of. I pointed out that Marco Rubio, US Senator from Florida, is Cuban-American and a Republican.

Cuban Missile Crisis: Again, one of the results of the Bay of Pigs, and also related to the Space Race! Part of the Cold War between the USA and USSR was the development of rocket technology to be able to fire missiles at each other. When the United States discovered that Cuba had nuclear missile sites, being constructed with the help of the Soviets, the Cuban Missile Crisis started - 13 days of being at the very edge of nuclear war. Here's the clip we watched in class about this:

It is very important that we understand how close we were to all out war here. To look at what we were saying to each other, I guided everyone through a look at these primary source documents (just look at pages 3-6, with the questions on page 6 being what we filled out in class):

Google Drive: Cuban Missile Crisis Primary Source Documents

This looked at the deal we worked out with the USSR to end the crisis: we agreed to not invade Cuba (and none of our allies would, either) and also to secretly take our (or really, NATO) missiles out of Turkey, in exchange for the USSR agreeing to not invade Turkey and also to take their missiles out of Cuba.

The Space Race: Finally, we put it all together and learned about the background to the Space Race - how the USSR launched the first satellite, first dog, first man, first woman, first orbit, first spacewalk, etc, and how the US struggled to catch up at first, then eventually landed men on the moon, beating everyone to do it. Here was the PowerPoint (I apologize that some of the slides are a bit chaotic online with all the animations) I went through in class:

Google Drive: The Space Race and Cuban Missile Crisis PowerPoint

I know I went REALLY fast through this, and I apologize for that. It is important to me that everyone understands the content - I'm glad the blog is a resource for everyone to check in and read the recap!

To end class, I showed this video about the Space Race, which had a somewhat humorous look at what happened, with a good soundtrack:

History.com - The Space Race Video

Whew! And there you have it! A whole lot of content in one day. Thank you for your focus and effort in following along! Next class, we are going to talk about Vietnam, then we will get into the final project for the unit! Have a great weekend!

Cold War America, Day 6 - Class Recap

This is me hugging my mom after she won an election for Portland City Council in 2008. My mom is my role model, for sure. She not only provided for us every day, but she was (and is) very politically active! She used to be a nurse every other weekend, as well!

Dear class,

I really loved looking at all of the 1950s magazines with you today! It is great fun to be hands on with history and use primary sources to investigate on our own. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.09: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “I've Got You Under My Skin" by Frank Sinatra. Selected because it is from the 1950s (1956). Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/7/14:
News Brief
Women of the 1950s
The Feminine Mystique
LIFE Magazines

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Carly.

News Brief: Spencer had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: ESPN.com - Jordan: Considered myself a racist. An interesting story, because Spencer was wearing a Jordan brand t-shirt as he talked, and because of the recent Civil Rights unit we did, and the comments by NBA owner Donald Sterling! Thanks, Spencer.

Women of the 1950s: Today was chiefly concerned with the role of women in the United States during the 1950s. I began by asking for some brainstorming on two questions: What do you know about women in the 1950s? How does that role impact us today?

During the results of that, I mentioned that the sizes of mirrors in bathrooms tend to be different for women (larger/full body) vs. men (smaller/just face). Why is that?

Next, I passed out a class set of these documents (pages 3-7) to read over:

Stanford.edu - Women in the 1950s Primary Sources

The general questions that I wanted everyone to answer (just to ensure that you were getting the point of the readings) were:

1. Were housewives happy with their lives?
2. Were women in the 1950s just staying at home?
3. Documents A and B say women were staying at home; but Documents C and D say that women were politically involved and even working. Who should we believe?
4. Do you think African American, Latino, Asian American, and other women of color had similar experiences to those depicted in these documents?

We had a brief class discussion about this, then moved on.

The Feminine Mystique: This was a nine minute video explaining a bit more about what the "Feminine Mystique" was (a quote from the book of the same name by Betty Friedan was included in the readings). If you missed class, or wanted to see it again, here it is: PBS.org - 1950 Housewives.

LIFE Magazines: The rest of class was spent doing some historical research in class, using actual magazines from the 1950s and early 1960s! I loved this so much! Here is the partner worksheet I passed out in class:

Google Drive - LIFE 1950s Magazines Partner Analysis Worksheet

Needless to say, there were some GREAT examples of gender roles in the magazines, which I was able to borrow from the library - I'm glad everyone was so careful with them! It was so interesting to see what everyone found! I hope that it was as interesting for you as it was for me. History is so great! Next class, we will move on into the 1960s and the Space Race a bit more.

Cold War America, Day 5 - Class Recap

Some of the "survival crackers" in the Western Oregon University fallout shelter. Note the date - 1964. There were a TON of these in the shelter. I took this picture in 2007.

Dear class,

The start of a new week! Did you know that there are only 11 B days left before finals? I feel a bit overwhelmed with how much I want to cover in that time! Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.09: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “Each Day Gets Better" by John Legend. Because of many different elements of getting better: the weather, your work, and hopefully the class and my job as a teacher! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/5/14:
News Brief
Review Class Feedback
Finish Atomic Cafe

Discuss

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Spencer.

News Brief: Avery had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: CNN.com - 'Human chandelier' falls: 9 performers hurt in Rhode Island circus accident. I really hope everyone is okay! Thanks, Avery!

Review Class Feedback: It was great to go over this with everyone! Here were the questions I asked students to anonymously respond to:

1. What do you like about this class and what is this class good at?
2. What does the class need to improve on?
3. What do you like about Mr. Fritz as a teacher?
4. What can Mr. Fritz get better at?
5. How is Mr. Fritz doing at communicating and assessing learning targets for proficiency grading?

I wanted everyone to know that I love and care for you all and that I am passionate about your success! Here's what your feedback looked like:

Google Drive: Period 4 Class Feedback PowerPoint Presentation

As usual, this was a mix of funny and serious responses. My takeaway is that we like discussions, know that phones need to be put away way more, that my energy is good, and that I could probably go slower and explain a bit more from time to time. Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

Finish Atomic Cafe: I passed out a more general sheet of questions to respond to for the second half of the movie, which can be found here:

Google Drive: Atomic Cafe Part II Questions

Here is the film to watch again, if you were interested or missed class (we started at about 35:00 in and finished it in class):

Discuss: At the end of class, we had a few minutes to go over different responses. I really liked hearing your suggestions for activities that we do today that might seem crazy or silly in 40 years. History is so interesting!

See you on Wednesday, everyone!

Cold War America, Day 4 - Class Recap

We learned today that some government officials wanted to drop atomic bombs on China, because of their involvement with the Korean War and to fight Communism. Here's part of the Great Wall of China in January 2014.

Hi everyone,

I enjoyed today's class and I am looking forward to reading all of your feedback for me! I always try to do this for my classes, just to see how I am doing and what can improve about the class. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.09: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “Somebody to Die For” by Hurts. Selected because a student in Period 1 requested it via an anonymous comment here on the blog. They wrote that it reminded them of the Cold War! I'm happy to look into any requests for soundtrack choices, as long as it can be related to what we are doing in class. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/1/14:
Extended News Brief
DBQ Grades
Class Feedback
Atomic Cafe

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Avery.

Extended News Brief: Andrew chose this article to talk about: CNN.com - Oklahoma's botched lethal injection marks new front in battle over executions. I was going to mention this anyway, so I am glad he brought it up! The Atomic Cafe movie we watched in class had an execution story (the Rosenberg spy case), as well.

The reason the news brief was extended today was because of this story: FOXSports.com - Union: NBA players considered playoff boycott before Sterling ban. I wanted to talk about this for a number of reasons. First, we just did a lengthy unit on racism and Civil Rights in America. This is yet another case that shows we have not "solved" racism as a society. If an owner of an NBA franchise can be repeatedly accused for years of discrimination and not many people seem to take notice until an audio tape of racist comments is heard, that is a problem. It is a problem if we see society as totally equal now - that we have nothing to work on, when the evidence does not back that up.

Related to this, as some people try to argue that Donald Sterling has free speech rights, and thus can say whatever he wants and not face punishment: I wanted to make sure that we addressed the protesters outside Westview this week. I would feel irresponsible as a Social Studies teacher to not at least have the conversation about what the First Amendment to the United States Constitution is all about, given the very obvious example of it in practice outside of our school. I want to be clear again that it is not my role to take a position in class on the issue the protesters are concerned with. It IS my role to try and inform the class about why they are allowed to, and why counter-protests and demonstrations are also allowed, as long as both sides do not come into open conflict.

The Activist Project assignment was asking students to think of very similar types of actions to help further a cause you believed in. Just because someone may not like your cause, does not mean that you cannot protest or demonstrate. The example I always use is Nazi Germany. If there was freedom of speech in Nazi Germany, guaranteeing Jewish people the right to speak up about the way they were being treated, without fear of being thrown into jail for their beliefs, then it is possible the Holocaust could have been avoided. Freedom of speech is only valid as a core of our democracy when we are able to express our views, however radical they may be, without fear of the government throwing us in jail.

Again, what the First Amendment does NOT guarantee is the right to say whatever you want with no consequences. If Donald Sterling wants to say racist garbage, he is allowed to without going to jail. He can still face all sorts of other consequences in private affairs, like the NBA banning him for life, fining him $2.5 million dollars, and people around him never wanting to associate with him again. Words do have incredible power.

DBQ Grades: I passed back your DBQ grades for the Civil Rights unit. These were included in your progress report grades that went home, except if you did not finish (in which case I was nice and gave you a little more time to make them up before I give out 1 for the proficiency grade). Please come see me if this does not make sense! Yes, I have tried to structure my grade book to be on the side of the student, in that your highest score is the one that I am usually going to take - that said, I do retain the right to make adjustments in the future.

Class Feedback: As I wrote at the top of this blog post, I really value getting honest feedback from students, so I can know what is going well and what can improve, both for myself and for the class. Here were the questions I asked students to anonymously respond to:

1. What do you like about this class and what is this class good at?
2. What does the class need to improve on?
3. What do you like about Mr. Fritz as a teacher?
4. What can Mr. Fritz get better at?
5. How is Mr. Fritz doing at communicating and assessing learning targets for proficiency grading?

I will take all of these responses and combine them into a look at what is going on, using a PowerPoint presentation next class. Thank you for your honesty and willingness to work with me! I know I can always get better - this certainly helps!

Atomic Cafe: The last part of class was spent watching this documentary, which was made using actual clips from the Cold War era. If you missed class, this was the answer sheet that we worked on:

Google Drive - Atomic Cafe Questions

We went over the questions in class, because they covered the first 35 minutes of material (I stopped the video around then). If you missed class, or wanted to watch it again, or spoil yourself for finishing it next class, here it is:

See you next class! Thanks!

Cold War America, Day 3 (The Korean War) - Class Recap

The "Bridge of No Return" between North and South Korea, in the De-Militarized Zone. Photo taken in January of 2014.

Dear class,

After what seems like an eternity due to all the testing last week, we were back at it today in class! Here's what we did:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.09: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “Gone But Not Forgotten” by TQ. Selected because we talked about the "Forgotten War" in Korea today in class. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/29/14:
News Brief
Debrief Primary Sources
The Korean War
Unforgettable

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Andrew

News Brief: Taryn had the news brief today and selected this story: CNN.com - The artificial leaf that could power the world. Such an interesting story! Science is so cool. Thanks, Taryn!

Debrief Primary Sources: I gave the class a few more minutes to finish this up, then we started talking about the sources and what they meant for the start of the Cold War. The four sources and worksheets are here:

Stanford.edu - Cold War Primary Sources

Please keep this for future reference in class!

The Korean War: This was the first actual war of the "Cold War" period in America. Remember, the term "cold" is used to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, because we were never actually at war them directly, just in various wars with allies around the world. Here is the presentation I made, if you missed class, or I went too fast (as is definitely possible):

Google Drive: The Forgotten War PowerPoint

This was a fairly lengthy PowerPoint, I know. I tried to pack the entire history of the Korean War into one presentation. Students were asked to take notes of information that related to the learning targets of the unit (above). Most students did really well with this, it seemed! Thank you! All of the pictures in the PowerPoint are my own - most of them from my trip to Korea in January! I love it when I get to travel to places that I then teach about.

Here is the video that I showed in class, about the geography of the war. It settled back almost exactly where it started, which is another reason people tend to forget about it.

Here is a link which goes over six different stages of the war:

PBS.org - American Experience: The Korean War

Unforgettable: We did not get to this today. It is possible that we will watch it next class, but we may move on (there is SO much to cover in the Cold War). If you want to watch it, here it is:

Again, I really appreciate your focus, effort, and participation today in class! Presentation days can be super boring, I know. Good questions and involvement make it more interesting for everyone. Thanks!

OAKS Test - Class Recap

Today, the class took the OAKS Reading Test in class. It is an acronym for Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, but I still think of trees. This was a tree outside my dorm room at Western Oregon University in 2006.

Dear class,

We had a break from the Cold War today, because it was our scheduled time to take the OAKS Reading test. A much shorter class recap:

Soundtrack: “Ready Steady Go” by Paul Oakenfold. Selected because of "Oak" in "Oakenfold." Get it? The very deep and insightful lyrics are here.

AGENDA 4/24/14:
Attendance
OAKS Test – S130

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Taryn

OAKS Test - S130: I hope this went well for everyone! Next class, we will get back to learning about the Cold War.

Cold War America, Day 2 - Class Recap

 Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, Japan. Today, we talked about the United States dropping the atomic bomb. President Truman was insistent on not using it on Tokyo. Picture taken January 2014.

Hi everyone,

Today is the start of only eight more weeks of school left in the year! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.09: I can identify how technological knowledge and innovation shapes a society, place, or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.17: I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place or region.
SS.HS.KN.ALT.23: I can describe the influences, impacts and resolutions of historical conflicts.

Soundtrack: “Bomb The World” by Michael Franti & Spearhead. Very applicable lyrics for our day of talking about the atomic bomb, including "We can bomb the world to pieces, But we can't bomb it into peace."

AGENDA 4/21/14:
News Brief /Blog Recap
Pro/Con: The Bomb
Cold War Primary Sources
Grade Conferences

Homework: Missing and/or late work to me by next Wednesday for progress report grades. Read the blog! Next news brief: Taryn

News Brief: This is the story that Jocelyn brought in today: CBSNews.com - Famous Los Angeles mountain lion exposed to poison. Hopefully, the mountain lion will fully recover! Interesting that one can live in the territory surrounding Los Angeles.

Pro/Con: The Bomb: This picked back up where we left off last class. If you missed class or wanted to see the document to debate from again, here it is:

wednet.edu - Was the Atomic Bomb Necessary to Win World War II?

The format I used was to pair everyone up and then have one person start on the YES side for about a minute and a half. Then the second person went for the same time, with no interruption. After that, I had each side choose their favorite point that they had heard from their partner, and begin a 30 second final round by arguing the opposite side that they started, using that point. Typing all that just now, I realize that sounds absurdly complicated in print, but it really was not. Thanks for your participation here! After the debating was done, we did a 5 minute free write on these questions:

What is your actual opinion on whether or not the United States should have used the atomic bomb on Japan? What is the single best reason to support your position?

It seemed like the class was about split down the middle on whether or not the atomic bomb should have been used.

Cold War Primary Sources: After the debate, I passed out a class set of copies regarding some beginning of the Cold War sources. I also gave every student a worksheet that had to do with reading and analyzing the sources. If you missed class, or wanted to check them out again, here are the materials that I used:

Stanford.edu - Cold War Primary Sources

Along with the timeline (that I read aloud), I showed part of this clip from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech, about the Soviet Union taking over Eastern Europe:

The other primary source that I used was this website containing President Truman's diary entries from the lead up to dropping the atomic bomb on Japan:

PBS.org - Entries from President Truman's Diary

In particular, the last one, about not dropping the bomb on Tokyo, and focusing on military targets is interesting. Of course the majority of the deaths from the bombs were civilians. 

Grade Conferences: As students were working on the Cold War primary sources packet, I called everyone up to go over grades. If you would like to improve your grade by the progress report, hopefully you know exactly what you need to do now. Remember that grades are always posted by student ID number in the classroom, as well. Keep working hard!