Three Cups of Tea [Young Adult Version]: building background knowledge of the Middle East

Three Cups of Tea  is a great book for educational purposes, civil rights specifically.  Three Cups of Tea is an autobiography by Greg Mortensen.  Greg Mortensen tried to climb K2 [a Himalayan mountain],but he fails, and on the way down the mountain  he wanders into Korphe, Pakistan.  He is welcomed into the home of the village chief Haji Ali.  Greg stays there for a while.  When he leaves he sees they have no school.  Greg promises to build a school.  He raises money for the school. With the help of a billionaire who sponsors the trip, he goes back and builds the school.  Jean Hoerni the man who sponsored the trip creates the Central Asia Institute.  Greg's the director of the Central Asia Institute, he now builds many schools. He is still at work in other countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Greg is so committed to his job he will go without seeing his family for 2 months.

This book can help you understand how the Middle East works and why it's hard to have a school there with all of the dictatorship.  For example, in Korphe, Haji Ali had to give up half his best goats to build the Korphe school.  He wanted the school that much.  In Pakistan goats are like money.  He barely had enough to feed his tribe after that.  The guy who did this to Haji Ali was another tribe leader.  This  shows how bad the dictatorship is there.  You'll also get a view of how one American [Greg] uses education to help fight terrorism in Afghanistan.

I recommend this book to everyone, especially to people who don't understand the Middle East very well.  It will help those people view the Middle East from their side, not just ours.  This author tells his story brilliantly.  He  doesn't fail to summarize all 55 schools in one book.  You wont be disappointed if you read this book. It's a real page turner.

Based on what I've told you, and your background knowledge about the Middle East, how can reading a book like this change your views about the Middle East?   If you want, do your own research.

Payton B.

Political Cartoon Ponderings

Political cartoons are a fun way to get a new perspective on issues and current events.  Artists creatively use metaphors of language to make readers have to think beyond the literal.  It is a great visual activity to promote your thinking. Study the political cartoon.  What do you think the man in the tie is talking about. Be sure to explain your thinking.

The Flipped Classroom: A growing trend or passing fad

In today's world of changing technology, access to the world wide web, and availability of  technology resources, schools are considering many different ways of adapting instruction to meet the needs of the students. Schools are under a lot of pressure to increase test scores, improve attendance, provide a safe learning environment while operating under tighter and tighter budgets.  Perhaps Flipped classes are the answer. Flipped classes are where instruction is done through web based learning and the students then come together with the teacher leading collaboration while providing remedial instruction and activities where needed.  Teachers could possibly reach many more students at the same time and actual minutes in class can diminish since lectures and information transfer occurs on student time.

Watch this You Tube video, Why I Flipped My Classroom, by a teacher who describes why she switched to a Flipped classroom.   

This is another You Tube video, Flipping the Classroom - Simply Speaking, that attempts to explain a Flipped classroom.  This one is focused more for the high school level.

What do you think?  Will a Flipped classroom model work at Merrill? Will it work for you personally?          

Should Boys and Girls be Taught Separately?

There has always been private all male or female schools.  The advantages and disadvantages can be debated.  Eliminating the distractions that may occur in coed classes can improve performance of the students in those classes.  Learning to adapt to the different learning styles of different genders might be a sacrifice of being in a single gender class. Many public schools are now considering using this strategy to improve learning for all students, especially in the core areas. Read the article by Laura Marquez from ABC News. The article gives the perspective from both side of the argument. There seems be some legal roadblocks, but as the pressure is put on schools to produce a better product, more creatively needs to be considered.  The arguments for single genders classes are growing louder. Is it time for a change?

I am intrigued by the idea.  I don't believe having math or literacy in a single gender class is going to diminish a student's ability to get along with different genders. There will still be many opportunities to associate with the opposite sex and build relationships necessary to be successful in the future. I see more positives than negatives.  Maybe it's worth a try.

What do you think?  Be sure to defend your answer or response to a post with evidence from the article or another source.  Your opinion matters, but it matters more when there is a professional standing behind you.

Bullying: Boys vs Girls

When it comes to bullying, There seems to be a difference in the strategies and reactions of the bullies and their victims across gender lines.  In an article in The Florida Times Union by Joy Batteh-Freiha the author states that boys bullying more often will result in some sort of physical confrontation and may be short lived.Whereas girls bullying will be more emotional and tend to be drawn out including more deviance and planning drawing more on friends and social cliques.

I found another resource from ABC News: What Would You Do? Watch this amazing video. I know the issue is girls being bullies, but there is so much more going on here. The reactions of the bystanders says a lot about the problem of what to do when you see bullying.  One of the issues we discussed was that the silent acceptance of bystanders is a major motivator for the bully to continue their torment.  If kids and adults had the courage to stand up to the bully, would there be any bullying?  Wouldn't all bullies stand along?

I know there is a lot here, but what do you think? Is girl bullying worse than boys? Do some research. Respond by stating what you think and try to include an article or blog that supports your opinion.

-Mr. Kohl

How Far Will You Go to Stop Bullying?

Plastic surgery to stop bullying? 

Doesn't that mean the bullies win?

We have been discussing bullying throughout the past few months, and we all agreed that parents need to play an important role in helping their kids deal with bullying.  We read about parents that picketed the school, confronted the bullies themselves, and one even attacked the bullies on a bus.  The following covers an issue that was missed in all of our research.

It seems like the issue of bullying, and how to deal with it, has evolved throughout the years into a complex ordeal that may require drastic measures to reach a solution. A recent current event assignment that was handed in to me contained a blog by Andrea Bennett, published on August eighth of this year. Check out her blog by clicking on her name.  Is plastic surgery a possible solution?

Watch the CNN video to get the whole story of 14 year old Nadia Ilse being interviewed by Sanjay Gutal.  You might agree she looks better.  I do, but at what cost.  I'm not talking about $40,000 price tag for the surgery.

Is this a parenting problem or a sample of how society has molded our perceptions? Maybe you are comfortable with this idea. Tell me what you think.

-Mr. Kohl

Holiday Outlook

Holiday Tablets

BY JOE HELLER, GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE  

Experts have used Christmas spending as a great economic indicator that will let us know if the economy is turning around.  The confidence in the public to spend money on higher priced items will tell us if the new year be easier on the middle and lower classes, decrease unemployment, and improve our economic outlook.  

Do you think this political cartoon by Joe Heller of the Green Bay Press-Gazette supports the idea of economic growth? What message is the artist trying to make? Can you make any connections to this cartoon?

Time Keeps On Slipping into the Future

I heard somewhere that studies have shown that time seems different for kids than it is for adults.  Check out a blog by Psychology Today.  The evidence might be all in my head.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201010/does-time-fly-when-youre-getting-old

For kids, time goes slow, the days seem long, nothing ever happens fast enough, and they can’t wait for tomorrow.  For adults, time goes fast, there is never enough time to do all of the things we want to do in a day, and it always seems like we always have to leave something for tomorrow.

We’re talking about the same time here.  For kids, time drags on.  Kids seem to have so much time that they have to fill the void of unusable time with something they call boredom.  We all have seen the physical symptoms of boredom, when a kid’s head becomes limp and may fall from side to side as their eyes roll up toward the ceiling.  This often is accompanied by an involuntary sigh and prolong yawn that can make an adult cringe.  Kids are not afraid to tell you when they enter this mysterious vortex of excess time.  The phrases, “I’m bored,” and “This is boring,” will spew forth almost immediately prior to the physical, all body drop, almost like fainting.

Adults, on the other hand, are tying to figure out what  happened to all the extra time they used to have, and if kids seem to have so much of it, maybe they could share it.  That’s why adults are so frustrated whenever they witness a kid with so much extra time on their hands.

If I had a million dollars, I would see if I could buy some extra time.  I wouldn't need much, just enough to complete the tasks I should have done yesterday.  I want to visit a good friend, catch the big game, or perhaps go on a vacation I have been talking about, but could never find the time.  I’m afraid I am going to spend so much time looking for extra time that someday I just might run out of time.

In conclusion readers, my advise is to cherish time.  Boredom is ok once in a while. Have the courage to take a positive risk to fill that boredom void with some new adventures.  Kids, you are only young once and the responsibilities of adulthood can be managed in time if you learn to manage your time now while you still have so much of it.  And if you don’t want it, I’ll take it.  Perhaps we could start a new adventure together after I finish grading papers, mowing the lawn, picking up my kids from sports and music, making dinner, paying bills…...

-Mr. Kohl

Communication is Key to Ending Bullying

Study: Half of teens have been bullied last year by Andrew Dalton of the Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/27/study-half-of-teens-have-_n_774738.html

Bullying can have a lasting effect by Oshkosh writer Julie Genisot
http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20121021/APC06/310210056/Julie-Genisot-column-Bullying-can-lasting-effect

Above are just two articles of many dealing with bullying in the United States.  We have been discussing the topic in our 6th grade classes at Merrill Middle School in Oshkosh to gain background knowledge of this issue, and develop our thinking about the topic.  The complexity of  relationships and how technology has changed bullying has made it difficult to determine how bullying should to be dealt with. We have considered the causes, the effects on victims, parents' reactions, and the seemly inability of teachers and schools to do anything about it. One conclusion we can all agree on is that bullying is wrong and needs to stop.  Bullies need to be the ones who stand alone.  Strength in numbers is crucial.  Tolerance and acceptance of everyone  will empower the majority and perhaps keep bullies under stronger social disgrace.

What do you think?  With programs trying to increase awareness of bullying, why does it seem to continue to be a social problem.  What do you see being done?  What still needs to be done?

Mr.Kohl