10/31 - Class Recap

The "Genderbread Person" that we talked about today in class.

Hi everyone,

Happy Halloween! In DSJ, we continued our study of gender in our society. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
I can communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
I can apply understanding of ideas and concepts to a new context or problem.
I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
I can effectively conduct and apply research.

Soundtrack: "Disturbia" by Rihanna. Selected for today because of Halloween.

AGENDA 10/31/17:
Check-In/Review Agreements
Current Event
#TakeAKnee
Gender as a Social Construct
Gender PowerPoint

Homework: Read the blog! Next current event: Tess, Raedene, Sahardeed.
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Check In/Review Agreements: At the beginning of class, we went over the Courageous Conversations Agreements, as always, to begin our work together for the day. After checking in, we talked for a bit about what is happening in the world outside of class.

Current Event: After checking in, it was time for our first student led current event! Today's was done by Miranda, Mia, Grace, and Paitra. Here was the presentation that they went through:

Google Drive - Current Event #1

Here is an article that is about this story:

OregonLive.com - Sunset High student says Beaverton school officials failed to investigate sexual assault on school bus

As a reminder, this is the assignment for the current event:

Google Drive - DSJ Current Event Group Assignment

#TakeAKnee: For this part of class, we talked about the recent national anthem protests here at Westview, which Samson (in our class!) has played a big role in. We showed this ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) Oregon article about the protest here:

ACLU-OR.org - Students Can #TakeAKnee

Furthermore, the ACLU representative that came out to Westview on last Friday made a video with Samson, which can be found here:

Facebook.com - ACLUofOregon Live At Westview High School

We should point out that we approached Samson before our class and asked him if it would be okay if we talked about this, so he knew in advance that we would be doing so. Both of us are really proud of your activism, Samson! #ImWithSamson

Gender as a Social Construct: Next, we went back to our study of Gender and passed out this article to read, regarding how gender is socially constructed:

Google Drive - Gender as a Social Construction Article

We wanted students to continue to be familiar with how terms are used as we start up this unit.

Gender PowerPoint: Finally, near the end of class, I (Mr. Fritz) led everyone through a PowerPoint that is mostly from a staff training that all Westview teachers did last year. The goal was to go into some more depth in defining key terms and understanding the WHY in terms of studying gender. The PowerPoint is here:

Google Drive - DSJ Gender PowerPoint

This is where we ended for the day. So much to talk about! See you next class!

10/27 - Class Recap

Today's class dealt with the intersection of race and gender through Serena Williams. I (Mr. Fritz) am a huge tennis fan and I have seen Serena win multiple grand slam championships. I took this photo in 2013, as she won the French Open in Paris.

Dear class,

Happy Friday! In DSJ, we looked at the intersection of Race and Gender in our society. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
I can communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
I can apply understanding of ideas and concepts to a new context or problem.
I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
I can effectively conduct and apply research.

Soundtrack: "Sorry" by Beyonce. Selected for today because Serena Williams is featured as a part of this music video.

AGENDA 10/27/17:
Check-In/Review Agreements
Small Groups – Current Event
Serena Williams
Vocabulary Chart Peer Definition
Vocabulary Packet
Review, Highlight and Annotate

Homework: Read the blog! Next current event: Miranda, Mia, Grace, Paitra.
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Check In/Review Agreements: At the beginning of class, we went over the Courageous Conversations Agreements, as always, to begin our work together for the day. After checking in, we talked for a bit about what is happening in the world outside of class.

We talked for a bit about common themes to address that came up with your Race unit reflections (which, on the whole, were outstanding - thank you). These were:

1) Wanting more action/not just talk
2) Diversity in viewpoints needed - class feels pretty liberal
3) Not focusing on just white/black at the start
4) Switch up who we talk to - more one on one, not just in current small groups
5) Near universal appreciation for the Affinity Group activity.

Thank you for your feedback! We are looking forward to continuing to have these conversations and further refine how class works.

Small Groups: We had students get into their small groups and sign up for dates to do a Current Event presentation, by filling in their information on the Google Doc that is on Google Classroom. We will try and remind students as to what they signed up for in advance. Here's the actual assignment, again:

Google Drive - DSJ Current Event Group Assignment

Serena Williams: This was an activity Mrs. Labossiere likes to run regarding analyzing race and gender. We looked at various different statements about Serena Williams, one of the best tennis players in history, as Mrs. Labossiere annotated her responses.

We asked a few questions in small groups and then had a larger group conversation: how much of these sorts of statements are due to Serena's race and how much is about gender?

Vocabulary Chart Peer Definition: This was a continuation of the work packet we gave out a while ago, as we wanted students to get different definitions from peers regarding gender. The packet we are working on is here:

Google Drive - DSJ Vocabulary Guide

Next, we passed out copies of this National Geographic glossary regarding gender terms:

NationalGeographic.com - Redefining Gender

We reviewed these terms, highlighted, and annotated with a class discussion as we ended class. Thank you as always for your ongoing participation here!

10/25 - Class Recap

Today was a bridge from our unit on Race to our next unit, on Gender! Photo taken in 2014 in New Zealand.

Hello everyone,

We started winding down our unit on Race today in class. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
I can communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
I can apply understanding of ideas and concepts to a new context or problem.
I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
I can effectively conduct and apply research.

Soundtrack: "Cry Me A River" by Justin Timberlake. Selected for today by Mrs. Labossiere thought it went well with what we had planned, I guess?

AGENDA 10/25/17:
Check In/Review Agreements
Affinity Groups Debrief
Vocabulary Chart
Small Groups

Homework: Read the blog!
----
Check In/Review Agreements: At the beginning of class, we went over the Courageous Conversations Agreements, as always, to begin our work together for the day. After checking in, we talked for a bit about what is happening in the world outside of class.

Specifically, I wanted to talk a little bit about the Racial Autobiographies as we passed them back with comments. I noted that one student wrote about noticing when they were in a room without different groups of people represented - this is a really great level of awareness.

We also talked about Westview's demographics as compared to other schools, and tried to answer the question about what makes a place diverse. Here is the OregonLive website I was showing for various different schools in Oregon, in terms of their demographics:

OregonLive.com - Westview High School School Profile

Really interesting conversation - thanks everyone!

Affinity Group Debrief: Next, we chose random students to talk about their experience with the affinity group conversation we did in class last week. Notable answers from students that were shared out had to do with how interesting it was just to listen to the perspective of other students, and that one of the reasons they took the class was for these sorts of conversations.

After this conversation, we had students log on to Google Classroom and vote for what subtopics in gender they most wanted to investigate, as well as create questions they were curious about. The link to vote for that is on Google Classroom.

Small Groups: At the end of class (it was a short day, due to being Wednesday), we had students get into their small groups and sign up for dates to do a Current Event presentation. We will try and remind students as to what they signed up for in advance. Here's the actual assignment, again:

Google Drive - DSJ Current Event Group Assignment

That was it for the day! See you on Friday!

10/23 - Class Recap

The cover of my (Mr. Fritz's) old United States passport.

Dear class,

We started winding down our unit on Race today in class. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.

Soundtrack: "Bodak Yellow (Clean)" by Cardi B. Selected for today by Ms. Labossiere because she was feeling like it.

AGENDA 10/23/17:
Check In/Review Agreements
Grades
Vocabulary
Current Events
Reflection

Homework: Read the blog!
----
Check In/Review Agreements: At the beginning of class, we went over the Courageous Conversations Agreements, as always, to begin our work together for the day. After checking in, we talked for a bit about what is happening in the world outside of class. We also checked in about the weekend and what people were up to, before moving on.

Grades: We wanted students to know about what is happening with grades in the class and what they can do to improve by the end of the progress report grading period by next week. Basically, get your Where I'm From poem and Racial Autobiography in!

Vocabulary: This was a return to the big packet of vocabulary terms we want students to be familiar with, so we gave about 15 minutes in class for students to find partners to give their definitions on terms related to race, as we are at the end of the unit. We will continue to go through this (and give answers about the concrete definition) later in the semester. For those that missed class or needed the guide again, here it is:

Google Drive - DSJ Vocabulary Guide

Current Events: We are finally giving control of current events over to students! Here is the form we went over in class today - next class, we will have students sign up for dates to facilitate the discussions.

Google Drive - DSJ Current Event Group Assignment

We are looking forward to having more student led activities!

Reflection: At the end of class, we wanted students to write a reflection on the Race unit in class. This was a timed write, and we wanted students to submit their reflection on Google Classroom if they did not hand write it. The prompts for the assignment are here:

Google Drive - Race Unit Reflection Prompts

If you did not finish this in class, please get it to us ASAP, as we are definitely curious about your responses. See you on Wednesday!

10/19 - Class Recap

The United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Photo taken in 2010.

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your continued participation and engagement in class! Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.

Soundtrack: "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Selected for today because it is Homecoming this weekend. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/19/17:
Check In/Review Agreements
Current Events
Affinity Groups/Q and A
Vocabulary
Further Material

Homework: Read the blog! Either watch the documentary "13th" on Netflix if you have not seen it, or read "The First White President" by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Take notes on either - you will use them for a final reflection on the race unit, starting next class.
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Check In/Review Agreements: At the beginning of class, we went over the Courageous Conversations Agreements, as always, to begin our work together for the day.

Current Events: After checking in, we talked for a bit about what is happening in the world outside of class. We also checked in about the weekend and what people were up to, before moving on.

Affinity Groups/Q and A: After checking in, we turned the room into a fishbowl style discussion. Since our students who identified as being of color talked last class, we had white students talk today about the issues they felt like were coming up in their racial autobiographies and in their smaller affinity group discussions.

My (Mr. Fritz's) notes on the conversation today of White students:

Students of color face so many problems, why are the privileged white people talking?

Racist relatives -> we know it is an issue, how do we deal with this?

Spending lots of time with relatives --> one said my baby brother would have more freedom than me, and I will have to stay home because I'm a girl.

"I have to watch what I say." --> family member came out as gay

Family member: "They are all terrorists anyway - why don't we bomb them?"

"It is very weird for me."

"For a long period of time, that's all that I knew [about being a Republican]" --> you work hard, you don't take handouts

Family who doesn't respect people --> people of color, LGBT --> creates a lot of tension

"It's hard, because you want to love them"

"I will hide my cross in Science class."

"I have an obligation to love my dad, but he is so disrespectful -- he is against everything I am for."

Assumption of beliefs due to being a white male

Being white, you try to say something --> "you don't understand because you are white"

"We have had different experiences because we are white" --> unaware of race during our childhood // you have to actively try to understand it

"I am a Christian white person" --> stereotyped for wearing cross --> we have to work so hard to be seen as something else

"My mom gave a sermon on racism at our church." --> tough when you identify, but people make a bad name for the faith

Conflict and Confederate flag in Mississippi -- people make assumptions we are all Confederates

You can't understand until you have heard everything -- it takes time to know people and be objective

No objective sense that the color of our skin dictates these outcomes

"People are naturally afraid of the unknown." --> exposure is important

"We have nothing on our poster - these are not actual issues."

"I felt bad writing this -- these are small problems"

None of these are issues that I HAVE to deal with -- in the back of my mind, but I don't think about every day

"A teacher once told me it's a girls fault for being raped."

Death to the "Basic White Girl" stereotype

"You are smart for a white girl"

"It's so easy to be unaware and bathe in ignorance." --> our criminal justice system is f***ed up

Don't have to deal with microaggressions

"We have never learned about any other culture -- easy to be ignorant"

"being white is treated as normal/the basis"

"I have autism and experience hate against my condition" -- "It's hard to explain but it is the worst"

We are all different -- you can't generalize everyone

"Just because we are white, life isn't always easy"

Judgement on everyone, stuck with the rest of society

There is a reason stereotypes exist. Deny the problem - attitudes/actions perpetuate racism

"What if someone told me I looked ugly behind my back?" "I would have to punch them."

---- There was a break when I had to leave the classroom to see some students ----

"This class is a perfect way to ask these questions"

Do you consider yourself privileged --> privilege is defined in relation to a group, reference groups that are also white, and gender over gender, instead of making comparison about race

"How could you be against gay marriage?"

Bible as needing to be taken in context
---------------------------
After the conversation, we had a Q and A period for students who wanted to ask questions that came up for them, either from last class or from today.

Further Material: As we wind down with our unit on Race, we want students to engage with some material we think might be helpful in processing what we have learned about in class. The two options for further enrichment (please choose one) are:

1) Watch the "13th" documentary on Netflix. This is an incredibly powerful and challenging film to watch regarding the history of mass incarceration in the United States. The trailer can be watched here:

2) Read "The First White President" by Ta-Nehisi Coates. As with the other article by Coates that we broke up into sections, this is a lengthy look at his analysis of how and why Donald Trump was elected president.

Thank you for your continued effort and participation in class! We will see you next week!

10/17 - Class Recap

With the NWSL Championship trophy in Orlando over the weekend! The Portland Thorns FC won 1-0, for our second championship!

Dear class,

We really enjoyed listening to our affinity groups in DSJ! Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.

Soundtrack: "Nobody's Listening" by Linkin Park. Selected for today because we wanted everyone to focus on listening during the affinity group share time. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/17/17:
Check In/Review Agreements
Current Events
Affinity Groups - Discussion on Issues

Homework: Read the blog! Make sure you have everything turned in, especially your Where I'm From poem and Racial Autobiography!
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Check In/Review Agreements: At the beginning of class, we went over the Courageous Conversations Agreements, as always, to begin our work together for the day.

Current Events: After checking in, we talked for a bit about what is happening in the world outside of class. Specifically, we wanted to talk about the "Me, too" posts on social media regarding experiences with sexual harassment and/or sexual assault. For those of you that did not know what we were talking about, here is a news article about it:

CNN.com - #MeToo: Social media flooded with personal stories of assault

Thank you for engaging in the conversation here! We will soon turn over control of the current event section to small groups.

We also checked in about the weekend and what people were up to. I shared about my trip to Orlando and back - it was quite the weekend, for sure!

Affinity Groups: After checking in, we turned the room into a fishbowl style discussion, starting with affinity groups of color in the inner circle, and students that identified as white in the outer circle. After each group shared, we then switched the fishbowl so that students who identified as white were in the middle.

Here are my (Mr. Fritz's) notes on each group, with no student names attached:

1) Latinx

How to identify as Latinx? --> not accepted --> mixed race comes with wide variety of stereotypes
Don't want to identify with, because of stereotypes. Cultures are intertwined.

Hostility between other groups. History = not always the case. Alliance between Black Panthers and Brown Berets. Why did this change?

Pronouns are embedded in words in culture, so to be non-binary, term is Latinx

Latinas = vision as either Italian/white washed or stereotyped. So many different types of people

Hispanic = from countries that speak Spanish. Latinx = from Latin America (including places that don't speak Spanish)

Don't dress up as another race/ethnicity for Halloween

We mourn differently than other people - Dia de los Muertos

2) Asian-American

Group self identifies as East Asian. Microaggressions = embedded in how people talk - so often!

"Model Minority" = higher standards --> pressure to live up to that stereotype

Why is it more appropriate to make jokes? Because we internalize and do not react - does not make it okay.

History of highly educated Asians immigrating to the US, but all others barred. Stereotypes are not true, and not a compliment to be assumed smart/whatever, especially for refugees.

Couldn't integrate =  forced to make their own areas of town, like Koreatown, Chinatown, etc.

"All Asians look the same" --> media portrays as exotic/fetish/doctors/nerds

Student is 5th generation = put down for not speaking language

Really frustrating to not see Asians represented on TV (nobody to identify with)

K-Pop = Asians can sing!

Stereotypes in society. Specifically looking to date Asian women.

3) Mixed

"What are you?" --> don't know what to say in response, hurtful question.

Belong to both, but don't belong to any. Don't know where to go/identify with

Raised by one parent --> take on one culture, but expected to know the other culture.

Conflict with elders, not used to mixed race.

"Why don't you know your culture?" = seen as disrespectful

Annoying questions: "is that your mom?" - having to defend color of skin

Stigma of race mixing, leading to name calling

Interracial dating = don't say "jungle fever"

Fetishizing mixed/exotic people is seen as trendy

History of preference over people who were black, then laws passed that "one drop" of black blood = black person

"if you are darker than a paperback, you are no longer worthy"

Hard to relate = alienation from both cultures

Hair = people want to touch/comment/play with it without permission

4) African/African-American

We choose to identify as separately African.

Stereotypes = identify as American, but both parents are immigrants

"You don't have a father" (all students present in group have fathers active in their lives)

"You live in a house?"

Stereotyped as "low" = poor, uneducated --> don't know how to react

"I am an excellent swimmer"

hair = "it's like we are animals to touch"

"I was doing better in Africa than I do here"

People think we are whitewashed. Constant separation in Beaverton. Splitting = "where do I belong?"

"I actually like school" = "not black enough"

"spokesperson for black people" in classes. Little to no representation in classes. Seen as the "go to person" and asked to know everything about their race.

Tokenism = "all races are represented here" (not really)

"Use of the 'n' word irks my soul" - white people believe they can use it when black people do
--> "I use it as a term of affection with my sisters."

Black privilege as a concept is wrong. "Affirmative action." Basic human rights being deprived does not equal one scholarship for a college.

"I am never going to be privileged." "I am going to be black for the rest of my life." "I love being black and would not change it for anything."

Still so much beauty --> more positive aspects need to be highlighted

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The point here was just to listen to each group share about their issues that they felt like came up during the racial autobiography and poster brainstorm, without questions or commentary from the rest of the class. We wanted observers to take notes on what they were hearing and be able to reflect on what was coming up for each group. We will debrief this activity more next class. Thank you for all of your participation and preparation with this activity!

10/13 - Class Recap

A photo from the first ever Portland Thorns FC regular season game, in 2013. The team is playing for their second championship this weekend in Orlando, and I (Mr. Fritz) will be there!

Hi everyone,

Welcome to your weekend! Today in class consisted mostly of more preparation to have conversations about issues affinity groups are facing, next class. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.

Soundtrack: "Confident" by Demi Lovato. Selected for today because this song played before Thorns FC home games this year. This weekend, I am going to see the team compete for a championship in Orlando! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/13/17:
Check In/Review Agreements
Current Events
Affinity Groups - Research Issues/Current Events
Prepare for Tuesday

Homework: Read the blog! Make sure you have everything turned in, especially your Where I'm From poem and Racial Autobiography!
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A link to the PowerPoint we went through today in class can be found here:

Google Drive - 10/13 Lesson PowerPoint

Check In/Review Agreements: At the beginning of class, we went over the Courageous Conversations Agreements, as always, to begin our work together for the day.

Current Events: After checking in, we talked for a bit about what is happening in the world outside of class, before moving on.

Affinity Groups: The idea here was to continue to talk about the issues students identified in affinity groups, and to do some research on the historical context for how those issues came about. To that end, I passed out this guide to help:

Google Drive - Affinity Group Issue Research Guide

Basically, we wanted students to understand the history behind some of what they are experiencing. I used the term "microaggression" as an example here.

After identifying some historical context, we then wanted students to find a current event relating to the top 3 issues their group identified. Next class, we will have a fishbowl style discussion (sort of like the Socratic Seminar), where the main focus will be listening to the experiences of other groups. The historical research combined with current events will be helpful in guiding this conversation!

That was our day today. Have a great weekend, everyone!

10/11 - Class Recap

The U.S. Men's National Team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia after losing to Trinidad and Tobago yesterday. Here's a photo from the one time I saw the USMNT in person, in Harrison, New Jersey, in 2010.

Dear class,

What a short class period we have on Wednesday! As such, it was mostly a work day in small groups. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.

Soundtrack: "Irreplaceable" by Beyonce. Selected for today because all of you are irreplaceable and also because "you must not know about me" is related to sharing our racial autobiographies together. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/11/17:
Check In/Review Agreements
Current Events
Affinity Group Work

Homework: Read the blog! Make sure you have everything turned in, especially your Where I'm From poem and Racial Autobiography!
----
Check In/Review Agreements: At the beginning of class, we went over the Courageous Conversations Agreements, as always, to begin our work together for the day.

Current Events: After checking in, we talked for a bit about what is happening in the world outside of class. Students talked about what they were up to, and we had some quick conversations about Eminem and also Harvey Weinstein. Always good to start off with a news check in!

Affinity Group Work: Since it was such a short class, we spent the rest of the time in affinity groups from last class, brainstorming issues we felt were common to our experience on big poster paper. Next class, we will do some research on some historical context for an issue, and prepare to have a fishbowl conversation in the affinity groups next week. Thank you for your continued work! See you next class!

10/9 - Class Recap

Students shared their racial autobiographies today in class - I am sure that many of our backgrounds are related to people who immigrated through New York City. Photo taken in 2010.

Hello everyone,

Welcome back to another week of DSJ! We had plenty to do with our continuing work. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.

Soundtrack: "Thugz Mansion" by 2Pac. Selected for today by Harley, who suggested it last class.

AGENDA 10/9/17:
Check In/Review Agreements
Current Events
White Like Me Debrief
Racial Autobiography Work

Homework: Read the blog! Make sure you have everything turned in, especially your Where I'm From poem and Racial Autobiography!
----
Check In/Review Agreements: At the beginning of class, we went over the Courageous Conversations Agreements, as always, to begin our work together for the day.

Current Events: After checking in, we talked for a bit about Indigenous Peoples Day (vs. Columbus Day) today. Jay shared a great list of resources and links with us - check them out here if you want to learn more about the experiences of First Nations people today, especially in Oregon.

Here was the slideshow (courtesy of Bernadette, the PSU professor for Senior Inquiry) that we went though in class today:

Google Drive - Indigenous People's Day in Oregon

White Like Me Debrief: The next part of class was diving into a book that I (Mr. Fritz) talked about last class as a part of my racial autobiography, White Like Me by Tim Wise. Link to buy the book from Powells here.

Last class, we read and annotated this, and this class, we used a new protocol for sharing our thoughts, in the hopes of getting more students involved in the discussion. I really enjoyed hearing from some newer voices today! We will continue to do this in the future, as well as take volunteers.

Racial Autobiographies: The rest of class was devoted to sharing our racial autobiographies in what we call "affinity groups" where students selected where they felt like they identified most with, in the hopes of having some commonality in the discussion. Here is the assignment for students who want an electronic copy or who missed class:

Google Drive - Racial Autobiography Assignment

We shared the racial autobiographies and developed a list in the affinity groups about top issues that the group felt like they were facing. Next class, we will have a discussion about these issues (I know many groups did not finish with this), with the hopes of engaging everyone in meaningful dialogue.

10/5 - Class Recap

This weekend, I (Mr. Fritz) will be travelling through Vancouver, British Columbia (pictured above) to get to Victoria, British Columbia. I am treating my wife to an overnight getaway using airline points for her birthday!

Dear class,

Thank you for your work today together, as we soldiered on without Ms. Labossiere for the day. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.

Soundtrack: "Colored People" by dc Talk. Selected for today because I talked about the song during my sharing of my (Mr. Fritz's) racial autobiography last class. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/5/17:
Check In/Review Agreements
Grades
What is Whiteness?
White Like Me: Awakenings
Racial Autobiography Work

Homework: Read the blog! Racial autobiography assignment (PRINTED) due at the start of next class.
----
Check In/Review Agreements: At the beginning of class, we went over the Courageous Conversations Agreements, as always, to begin our work together for the day.

As part of the check in, we talked for a while in class about gun control vs. gun rights as a reaction to the Las Vegas shooting. Here were the two articles I (Mr. Fritz) showed in class:

WashingtonPost.com - Just three percent of adults own half of America’s guns

BBC.com - Las Vegas shooting: NRA urges new rules for gun 'bump-stocks'

Thank you for the spirited conversation here. I apologize that I eventually had to cut it short so we could do everything else we needed to in class!

Grades: I wanted to talk about the grades you are seeing in StudentVUE, which have been updated. The major assignment so far in class was the Where I'm From poem. The other grade in the gradebook is a +/=/- grade for the collection of evidence, meaning the letter to me, blog comment, and syllabus signed. If you did all three of those, you got a +, if you missed one, it was an =, and if you missed two, it was a -. If you would like to improve your grade, please resubmit work to us.

The next big graded assignment will be the Racial Autobiography, due next class. We originally said that the Socratic Seminar would be graded, but due to how short that Wednesday class was, we will most likely just include that in a Behavior grade.

What is Whiteness?: For this section of class, I went over what a working definition of "Whiteness" could look like, by showing the following material:

Google Drive - Tim Wise: White Like Me Discussion Guide

The page I showed in class was #12, which goes into some history regarding the social construction of Whiteness.

The second image I showed in class is here:

I wanted students to know what it means when we say, during the Courageous Conversations conditions "Examine the presence and role of Whiteness," what exactly that means.

White Like Me: Awakenings: The next part of class was diving into a book that I (Mr. Fritz) talked about last class as a part of my racial autobiography, White Like Me by Tim Wise. Link to buy the book from Powells here.

In particular, we wanted to have students read about Tim Wise awakened to this field of work, as a white man. I read part of an excerpt from the book, and then had students finish reading it, while annotating and making questions. This was intended as a way to look at another racial autobiography as you continue to put thought and care into crafting your own.

Racial Autobiographies: The rest of class was devoted to continuing to work on our racial autobiographies. Here is the assignment for students who want an electronic copy or who missed class:

Google Drive - Racial Autobiography Assignment

This will be due at the start of next class on Monday, October 9th. Please bring a paper copy. Writing a racial autobiography forces us to consider all of the ways that race has impacted our lives. Please continue to put lots of thought and effort into yours! See you next week!

10/3 - Class Recap

Part of my (Mr. Fritz's) racial autobiography today in class was about my experiences with one of my best friends in life, Ryan. Here we are in 2007! Can't believe this was 10 years ago!

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to another interesting (hopefully!) week of Diversity and Social Justice! Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
I can explain the process of change and continuity in a society, place, or region.

Soundtrack: "Runnin' Down a Dream" by Tom Petty. Selected for today because of Mr. Petty passing away yesterday at the age of 66. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/3/17:
Check In/Review Agreements
News Updates
Racial Autobiographies

Homework: Read the blog! Racial autobiography assignment (PRINTED) due at the start of class on Monday, October 9.
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Check In/Review Agreements: At the beginning of class, we went over the Courageous Conversations Agreements, as always, to begin our work together for the day.

News Updates: Plenty to talk about at the start of class! First off, we moved the position of the "front" of the room to be Ms. Lee's side, due to the class next door to us. We checked in about the weekend and what students were up to. Next, we discussed the shooting in Las Vegas and discussed what we knew about what happened. Related to that, I showed this visual of mass shootings in the last 5 years, via Axios on Twitter:

I also showed the video clip that the district made about our time with Jordan Thierry last week! Here it is:

Equity Conversations at Westview High School from TeacherSource Videos on Vimeo.

Along with that, we showed students that your work has been highlighted in multiple emails to all staff, both here at Westview and across the entire Beaverton School District. Not bad, right?

Next, I showed a news story that Ben B. sent me about his dad, who works for the Portland Police, and implicit bias in a traffic stop with a man of color:

KPTV.com - Portland man, officer share story to help shine light on implicit bias

Super powerful and interesting! We have asked Ben if his dad and/or Mr. Jones might be willing to come talk with our class about this experience.

Finally, we talked about the Dia Nelson Scholarship fund. Details of that can be found here:

It is with great joy--amid our shared grief--that we can announce that the Dia Nelson Memorial Scholarship is up and ready to start honoring a wonderful and dearly missed colleague.

Option #1: Online contributions (VISA only) can be made by going to the "Online Payment System" page of the BSD website.  Once there, please follow these steps (you do not need to create an account in order to donate):

Click the big blue button, "CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION";
Fill in personal donor information;
Under the "School" drop down menu, choose "BEAVERTON SCHOOL DISTRICT";
Under the "Item"drop down menu, choose "DIA NELSON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP";
Both "Memo" and "Amount" are optional.

Option #2: Lenee Gower is able to take cash or check contributions directly in her office here (or mailed to her at Westview). Checks need to be made out to the "Beaverton School District" with a note indicating it is for the "Dia Nelson Memorial Scholarship".

Please contribute if you are able. Dia was a close friend of both Natalie and I. We would love to have her impact on the Westview community memorialized in this way!

Racial Autobiographies: After this opening section, we moved on to our next major assignment of the semester, which is called a Racial Autobiography. Both Ms. Labossiere and I have done this activity ourselves with colleagues on the Beaverton School District Equity Leadership Team, but I have never before read mine before students, and I don't think Ms. Labossiere had, either! Thank you for your patience as we introduced this assignment. Here it is for students who want an electronic copy or who missed class:

Google Drive - Racial Autobiography Assignment

This will be due at the start of class on Monday, October 9th. Please bring a paper copy. Writing a racial autobiography forces us to consider all of the ways that race has impacted our lives. We asked students to identify major themes from our shared autobiographies, and then we asked students to start working on the assignment for the rest of class.

Next class, we will start looking into another racial autobiography of sorts, as Ms. Labossiere will be out and I will introduce a chapter of a book for us to read.

See you on Thursday, everyone!