18 June 2020
Do the Summer Reading Contest. This is super fun!
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/learning/summer-reading-contest-week-1-what-got-your-attention-in-the-times-this-week.html _______________________________________________________
17 June 2020
Do the Summer Reading Contest. This is super fun!
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16 June 2020
We will examine closely images and events related to racism.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2020-06-22
____________________________________________________________________
15 June 2020
Hello, read this story and respond in a paragraph or two how graduation, the coronavirus and Black Lives Matter intersect.
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12 June 2020
Read this short article and explain the problem faced by Detroit homeowners.
______________________________________________________
11 June 2020
Good morning everyone. Let's read these stories and discuss them today.
Have you formed an opinion on any of these issues? Are you likely to read and
think more about these issues in the days ahead?
- Teen redefines the word racism: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-5299330
____________________________________________________
10 June 2020
Hello, here are two important stories. The first describes a media outlet followed by the president. The second describes differences in the financial resources of different ethnic groups. Read both stories, take a few notes and be prepared to discuss the stories Thursday.
https://www.nytimes.com/article/oann-trump.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/your-money/race-income-equality.html
________________________________________________________
9 June 2020
Origins of Inequality
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/7/4/ta_nehisi_coates_danny_glover_make
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_race_massacre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Hemings
https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/fort-pillow-massacre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Forge
More articles on race
https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/175832
https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/175834
https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/175833
https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/175835
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8 June 2020
Hello all: Read the short article below and explain what the attorney general has done in a pararaph or two.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/william-barr-trumps-law-and-order-enabler
___________________________________________________________
5 June 2020
We've had a an eventful week. Let's take a step back today and reflect. Feel free to write whatever comes to mind as you take a breath and be still.
Optional:
After reflection, you may wonder what you can do. Read this column and find out.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/opinion/stacey-abrams-voting-floyd-protests.html
____________________________________________
4 June 2020
- George Floyd Update
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bav4VZVuQw
- International Perspecive:
Dear America: We Watch Your Convulsions With Horror and Hope
Geography Quiz
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/01/learning/Country-Photo-Quiz.html
Interview
https://www.democracynow.org/2020/6/4/tamika_mallory_george_floyd_protests
______________________________________________
3 June 2020
Reflections on these difficult days
Read this opinion piece and reflect on these questions and others you may have in a paragraph or two:
1. Should people have the right to protest?
2. What limitations should our laws place against destructive behavior during protests?
3. Do you think the president has demonstrated appropriate leadership during protests over the last week? Explain your response.
4. Imagine that you are the president. Describe the measures you would take to lead our country at this difficult moment.
_________________________________________________________________________
2 June 2020
Protests
Young people take lead
Stefan Perez
Troy protests
Michigaa Protests https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2020/06/01/protests-enter-4th-day-detroit-spread-troy/5311771002/
List of Black people killed by police
https://www.npr.org/2020/05/29/865261916/a-decade-of-watching-black-people-die
Nikole Hanna-Jones - 1619 Project
https://www.essence.com/feature/black-history-now-nikole-hannah-jones/
Trump's responses
-
Have you been following the news? What is your reaction to the events that have taken place this past week — Mr. Floyd’s death while in police custody; the protests that have erupted in at least 75 cities across the United States; reactions by politicians and the media; use of force at the protests by the police; or any other aspect of this news, which continues to break?
-
George Floyd died in Minneapolis. Why do you think protests have spread to so many other cities?
-
Have you participated in any of the protests? Do you know anyone who has? Do you live in one of the cities where these protests are occurring? How do these protests, and the movement to protest police violence, connect to your life and community?
-
The authors describe how this moment is playing out under “dystopian circumstances, with a pandemic that has kept much of the nation at home for months, Depression-era job losses and the public bitterly divided on politics and culture.” What role do you think these three factors — the coronavirus, the unemployment rate, and the nation’s political divisions — are playing in the protests and violence?
-
The authors write, “The escalating violence and destruction felt like a warning that this moment could be spinning out of control both because of the limitations of a largely spontaneous, leaderless movement and because, protesters and officials warned, there were indications it was also being undermined by agitators trying to sabotage it.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
- What role do you think the president should play when the country is facing a crisis like the current one. What do you think of President Trump’s response?
-
Do you think that anything will change — either locally in Minneapolis or nationally — as a result of the protests? Why or why not?
-
What questions do you still have? What concerns are on your mind?
By: Liset Diaz - Western International HS graduate
I hope my high school legacy will be: "I survived an epidemic and went to college." I need that. At first, I was fine leaving school for the quarantine. I had fun leisuring. Yet, after some time, I kept getting reminded that my last goodbye to childhood was stolen. I became eighteen during the pandemic. I became an adult while the nation was in crisis. My first week as an adult was just me mourning the situation we were all put in. I'm not angry that I couldn't go out to eat at Denny's for my birthday. I'm frustrated that people were being exposed to dangers because of their own stubbornness and idiocy. I'm frustrated that those selfish people spread the culprit to my frustrations. I just really miss my routine. I want it to go back the way it ought to be.
I don't want to know what the White House tweets. I don't want to be reminded of the selfish and foolish people who put themselves and others at risk of becoming infected by the virus.
What I want to know is what's happening in senior citizen’s homes, who's helping the homeless access good hygiene, how are the mentally disabled receiving aid, and who's protecting our essential workers? I find it ironic how people are upset that they are being moderately affected by the quarantine when there are people in intensive care struggling to survive due to complications from the virus.
Have we completely lost compassion? Do we as a collective not feel for the less fortunate? We seem to enjoy making the rich richer but have no sympathy for the dying. We are a very self-centered society. We're at a place where many are fine with sacrificing health insulation costs, high prices for childbirth and other treatments - as well as not preventing new cases of this virus or any easily transmitted diseases - for the sake of our pleasure. We don't handle things as a community, unless it affects us directly.
We allow workers to live paycheck to paycheck in order to get the best products in the market. So many people are left jobless and need aid in order to survive, leaving many people unprotected during a crisis. Undocumented workers are being left out of federal aid - that’s thousands of families left unprotected. Thousands of contributors to America's economy are just considered machinery, tools, not parents or workers.
Routine. We take it for granted. Americans take a lot for granted. I miss my schedule so much. I have a sorry attempt for a schedule right now. I go to sleep after hours of frying my brain on Facebook. I sleep until 8:00 a.m. only to wake up and be conscious enough to follow along with my Spanish class. I have 30-minute breaks in between 30-minute classes. I do housework in between classes, so, by the time I get to my "lunch" hour, I have time to clean my room and fry my brain on Reddit. When "school" is over I do activities with music or a show in the background - that fill my void just enough to drown out my thoughts - as I aimlessly exist. My education has been cut off short. My advanced placement exams will be cut down shorter. My high school experience will be shaven down to a phone screen.
My accomplishments feel like simple tasks. I received a letter a few days ago stating that I did not win a scholarship. I usually just shrug my shoulders and try again. However, this time I cried. I felt panicked. I felt as if that was the end of my higher education. I have gone to public schools all my life, and university is an opportunity to build for myself and for my own benefit. This is my selfish desire. What can I do? Nothing. Cry. Try again.
___________________________________________________________
1 June 2020
Watch this short video, 'We're Sick and Tired': Voices from Minneapolis Protests.
In one or two paragraphs, reflect on your thoughts and feelings about the recent protests and violence that has erupted throughout the country.
____________________________________________________________
29 May 2020
Welcme to the Weekend, Journalists!
Let's explore one of life's pleasures: delicious food!
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/28/learning/restaurant-food.html
________________________________________________________
28 May 2020
It's amazing what you can learn in a story about toygers!
Toyger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGfftjzoveo
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization
Spaying refers to the removal of the reproductive organs of female dogs and cats, while neutering is the removal of the testicles in male dogs and cats. The surgeries are always performed while the animal is under anesthesia. ... Depending on the procedure, the animal may need to have stitches removed after a few days.
DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is the molecule that contains the genetic code of organisms. ... DNA is in each cell in the organism and tells cells what proteins to make.
Hybrid: The offspring of two plants or animals of different species or varieties, such as a mule (a hybrid of a donkey and a horse).
Bengal
27 May 2020
Hello everyone: Let's check out this amazing behavior in the animal world. Please read the story and respond to the questions.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/24/us/17-year-cicadas-virginia.html
1. Why are cicadas such a topic of interest? What makes them different from other insects?
2. What are some of the good things about cicadas, perhaps surrounding their return happening now? What are some bad things about the insects?
4. What do they have working in their favor in terms of protection from predators? Explain how most of them are able to evade danger?
5. Why does it take so long for cicadas to emerge? How can people plan accordingly for an emergence?
____________________________________________________________
26 May 2020
How Will the Coronavirus Pandemic Reshape Our World?
Bill Mckibben
The number 350 means climate safety: to preserve a livable planet, scientists tell us we must reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from its current level of 400 parts per million to below 350 ppm.
Arundhati Roy is an Indian author best known for her novel The God of Small Things, which won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. She is also a political activist involved in human rights and environmental causes.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-new-normal-society-effects-changes-60-minutes/
By: Liset Diaz - Western International HS graduate
I hope my high school legacy will be: "I survived an epidemic and went to college." I need that. At first, I was fine leaving school for the quarantine. I had fun leisuring. Yet, after some time, I kept getting reminded that my last goodbye to childhood was stolen. I became eighteen during the pandemic. I became an adult while the nation was in crisis. My first week as an adult was just me mourning the situation we were all put in. I'm not angry that I couldn't go out to eat at Denny's for my birthday. I'm frustrated that people were being exposed to dangers because of their own stubbornness and idiocy. I'm frustrated that those selfish people spread the culprit to my frustrations. I just really miss my routine. I want it to go back the way it ought to be.
I don't want to know what the White House tweets. I don't want to be reminded of the selfish and foolish people who put themselves and others at risk of becoming infected by the virus.
What I want to know is what's happening in senior citizen’s homes, who's helping the homeless access good hygiene, how are the mentally disabled receiving aid, and who's protecting our essential workers? I find it ironic how people are upset that they are being moderately affected by the quarantine when there are people in intensive care struggling to survive due to complications from the virus.
Have we completely lost compassion? Do we as a collective not feel for the less fortunate? We seem to enjoy making the rich richer but have no sympathy for the dying. We are a very self-centered society. We're at a place where many are fine with sacrificing health insulation costs, high prices for childbirth and other treatments - as well as not preventing new cases of this virus or any easily transmitted diseases - for the sake of our pleasure. We don't handle things as a community, unless it affects us directly.
We allow workers to live paycheck to paycheck in order to get the best products in the market. So many people are left jobless and need aid in order to survive, leaving many people unprotected during a crisis. Undocumented workers are being left out of federal aid - that’s thousands of families left unprotected. Thousands of contributors to America's economy are just considered machinery, tools, not parents or workers.
Routine. We take it for granted. Americans take a lot for granted. I miss my schedule so much. I have a sorry attempt for a schedule right now. I go to sleep after hours of frying my brain on Facebook. I sleep until 8:00 a.m. only to wake up and be conscious enough to follow along with my Spanish class. I have 30-minute breaks in between 30-minute classes. I do housework in between classes, so, by the time I get to my "lunch" hour, I have time to clean my room and fry my brain on Reddit. When "school" is over I do activities with music or a show in the background - that fill my void just enough to drown out my thoughts - as I aimlessly exist. My education has been cut off short. My advanced placement exams will be cut down shorter. My high school experience will be shaven down to a phone screen.
My accomplishments feel like simple tasks. I received a letter a few days ago stating that I did not win a scholarship. I usually just shrug my shoulders and try again. However, this time I cried. I felt panicked. I felt as if that was the end of my higher education. I have gone to public schools all my life, and university is an opportunity to build for myself and for my own benefit. This is my selfish desire. What can I do? Nothing. Cry. Try again.
1. Describe at least one similarity between Liset’s concerns and those of Mckibben and Roy.
______________________________________________________
22 May 2020
Have a good holiday weekend, everyone. Here are some stories to keep you informed and brilliant! Enjoy your weekend reading.
Michigan AG Nessel Calls Trump "Ridiculous"
Trump Tries to Take Away Your Right to Vote
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/us/vote-by-mail-trump.html
Skateboarder, 11, Catapults to Fame
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/sports/1080-skateboarder-gui-khury.html
What Issues Are Most Important to You?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/learning/what-issues-in-the-2020-presidential-race-are-most-important-to-you.html
________________________________________________________
Please Adhere to the Days and times for your grade level presentation.
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
9th Grade MHA Meeting 11:00am - 11:30am
Staff, Please share the log in information with your 9th graders
+1 313-462-2305 United States, Detroit (Toll)
Conference ID: 585 346 949#
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
10th Grade MHA Meeting 1:00pm - 1:30pm
Staff, Please share this log in Information with your 10th graders
+1 313-462-2305 United States, Detroit (Toll)
Conference ID: 242 951 116#
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
11th Grade MHA Meeting 11:00am - 11:30am
Staff, Please share log in information with the 11th graders
+1 313-462-2305 United States, Detroit (Toll)
Conference ID: 256 285 875#
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
12th Grade MHA Meeting 1:00pm - 1:30pm
Staff, Please share this with All Seniors
+1 313-462-2305 United States, Detroit (Toll)
Conference ID: 795 149 376#
21 May 2020
CNN10
Trump and Voting
Dam Breaks and Flooding Causes Destruction in Midland
Short Attention Span
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/us/politics/presidents-daily-brief-trump.html
SAT Test
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/opinion/napolitano-california-sat.html
_______________________________________________________________
20 May 2020
Hello All: Read this article about the president’s policies for the environment, energy and climate and respond.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks.html
Choose one of those Trump administration actions to research further. Visit the “Read more” link after the short description. Then answer the following questions:
-
What was the original environmental, energy or climate rule, before the Trump administration initiated changes?
-
Why was the rule originally put in place?
-
Why did the Trump administration reverse this rule?
-
What will be possible consequences of this rollback?
-
Do you think the Trump administration’s reversal of this rule is good government policy? Why, or why not?
You may need to do additional research to answer these five questions.
_______________________________________________________________________
19 May 2020
City Year
We’re reaching out to see if you know any other young people who would be interested in the opportunity to serve with City Year. During this uncertain time, City Year is a unique opportunity for young people to not only make a positive impact on students, schools and communities, but it is also an opportunity to invest in themselves and use service to develop skills they’ll need in future careers or educational opportunities. No matter what the start to the next school year brings, City Year AmeriCorps members will be there to support students whether it is in person or virtually.
Our next application deadline is on May 29. After that, we will be accepting applications on a rolling basis.
We would love to connect with any young people you’d recommend for our program. Please share this link with members of your network who you think will make strong and impactful future City Year AmeriCorps members: http://pages.cityyear.org/HQI-MACRFY20RecommenderReferralForm19-20corps_LP-RecommenderReferral.html
Yours in Service,
The City Year Admissions Team
City Year, Inc.
287 Columbus Ave
Boston, MA 02116
CNN10
Migrants
Dating
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/style/teenager-quarantine-coronavirus.html
Students, read the entire article, then tell us:
-
What, if anything, in the article do you relate to? Explain. If you are dating someone, are you allowed to meet in person? Have you disagreed with your parents about the situation?
-
What advice do you have for the teenage couples you read about? What about for their families?
-
If you were a parent, would you let your teenager go out during the quarantine to see friends and significant others? Why do you say that?
-
The related essay “Watching the Pandemic Steal Intimate Moments From Teenagers” shares a mother’s perspective on this topic. Kathi Valeii writes:
As parents, we’re supposed to solve things. From the moment our kids are born, we are their protectors, their guides and advocates. But in a pandemic, I feel helpless to solve my son’s most pressing need — to be with his significant other. (Both of them have consented to my telling their story.) When his chin quivers and he looks at me with pleading eyes, the guilt washes over me. I didn’t create the pandemic, I didn’t devise the rules that determine safety as isolation from the ones we love the most. But I’m the enforcer of those rules and even though my kids mostly understand, I still feel like a monster.
Later in her essay, Ms. Valeii says:
None of these kids had any choice in their separation. There was no transitional period to allow them to adjust. They did not know at the time to invest their moments together with the weight and ritual of farewells.
We don’t know how this pandemic will end. We’re all desperate for the day when we can hold the ones we’re separated from, but experts caution we could be practicing some form of social distancing for years. I’m afraid. Afraid that this will go on and on, and also afraid of guidelines and orders being relaxed too soon. I’m mostly afraid of traversing that in-between, of holding that tight line of protection and having it snap under the weight of my almost-adult kid’s frustration.
Do you think Ms. Valeii understands her son’s emotions? Why do you think she says she feels like a monster? How do you interpret the line “I’m mostly afraid of traversing that in-between”? Do you think your parents also feel that way about upholding the rules — about dating or anything else — while knowing the difficulty their children face while social-distancing measures are in place? Explain.
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18 May 2020
Hello All: Read this short article on tuition-free college and respond.
1. What reasons are given for tuition-free college?
2. Miller-Adams argues that it is the not the state's but the federal government 's role to provide free college Why?
3. What cost analysis comparison does Miller-Adams make with business?
4. Which post-WWII U.S. government program does Miller-Adams cite as a model for providing free college tuition today?
The 2020 Detroit Free Press Summer Apprentice Program will run three days a week from June 29-July 15. Applications are due May 24. If you have questions about the program, please email jgopwani@freepress.com.
Read article:
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15 May 2020
We Made it to Friday! - Check this Out:
The 2020 Detroit Free Press Summer Apprentice Program will run three days a week from June 29-July 15. Applications are due May 24. If you have questions about the program, please email jgopwani@freepress.com.
Read article:
Hello all: Please read the opinion piece on national service and respond to the prompts below.
National Service
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/opinion/national-service-americorps-coronavirus.html
1. Do you agree with David Brooks, the writer of the Op-Ed, that the United States should greatly expand national service programs for young adults? Why?
2. Should a national service program be mandatory? For example, should high school or college graduates be required to serve one year of national service in the military or in a civic organization? Do you believe that mandatory national service would create a sense of patriotism or national unity? Or, would it be undemocratic? What might be other advantages and disadvantages of requiring national service?
3. Have you done any volunteer or community service work? Was the community service required by your school? What was your experience like?
4. In the comments section of Mr. Brooks’s Op-Ed, many Times readers did not think that young people should have to make substantially less money doing national service. How do you think people participating in a national service program should be paid?
5. Mr. Brooks argues that the current coronavirus pandemic is an example of when national service could be useful. How do you think young adults could serve the country right now?
___________________________________________________________
14 May 2020
- Teens Around the World
- Does it Matter What I Look Like When No One's Watching?
1. Reflect on this report.
- Fake News Video
https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion
1. Can you explain cold war-era propaganda and disinformation with Fake News today?
- Teenage Driving
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/well/family/teenage-drivers-cars-safety.html
Read this short article and respond to the following:
1. What in the story do you agree with?
2. With what do you disagree?
3. What would you add to this story that wasn't mentioned?
4. Describe your view on driving. If you do not have a driver's license, do you plan to get one? Why or why not?
- What's the Craziest Thing You Did as a Kid?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/13/learning/whats-the-craziest-thing-you-did-as-a-kid.html
____________________________________________________________
13 May 2020
Please review the latest on this tragedy.
Mumford Student drowning Death Report
- Take Today's Weekly News Quiz:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/12/learning/12News-Quiz-for-Students.html
- Chose one issue from among the week's news and express your opinion of its importance in a paragraph or two.
_______________________________________________________________________
12 May 2020
Read the article, then answer the following questions:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/09/us/atm-cash-135000-albuquerque-police.html
1. Where did Mr. Nuñez find the money? Why did it have a tag on it that said how much money it was supposed to contain? How much money was in the bag?
2. Why did he move the money from the place where he found it? Why did he decide not to call the phone number that was posted on the A.T.M.? What did he do instead?
3. How did Mr. Nuñez say he felt at the time? What about later, when he learned that a ceremony would be held to honor him?
4. Mr. Nuñez said, “I’ve wanted to be a crime scene investigator or a detective for the police since I was a kid.” Based on how he reacted in this unusual situation, do you think he would make a good law enforcement officer? Why?
5. Officer Simon Drobik, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, described the Nuñez family as humble. He also said: “It was amazing to watch them. There’s a greater good there. They weren’t blown away by Jose’s actions, but everyone else was.” Why was the Nuñez family not surprised by what Jose did? Why do you think other people were surprised? What was your reaction when you read the article?
_____________________________________________________________________
11 May 2020
Hello All,
Choose a story and analyize it. Tell me what you think.
Rats!
Telehealth
Travel to an "Unknown" Destination
China Threat and Diversion
Jusrtice Department and the FBI
Anitbody Video (in "Health")
11 May World Financial Markets Show Optimism
lama antibodies
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/science/llama-coronavirus-antibodies.html
money found
madagascar
Krugman
mcdonald's denmark
Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/president-unraveling/611146/
__________________________________________________________________
8 May 2020
Hello everyone. We made it to Friday.
- Take a look at the week in review on CNN10:
- Read this Student Opinion and reflect on it by writing a pargraph or two:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/opinion/coronavirus-teenagers-depression.html
_________________________________________________________________________
7 May 2020
Read this story.
- Give examples of similes:
- How does Kakutani describe what she hears in New York?
- Why does Kakutani invoke the artists de Chirico, Magritte and Hopper?
- Describe what Kakutani means in this sentence: “If Trump’s presidency made many of us feel we were living in the Orwellian world of “1984” (with Big Brother trying to define a new reality in which 2 + 2 = 5),”
- Why does Kakutani refer us to many artists and writers? Do the writers and artistes she cites have something useful to teach us? Explain.
As with 9/11, many New Yorkers reached for metaphors borrowed from movies and books to try to convey the surreal mood of the city. If Trump’s presidency made many of us feel we were living in the Orwellian world of “1984” (with Big Brother trying to define a new reality in which 2 + 2 = 5), the coronavirus pandemic spurred some housebound readers to pick up Mary Shelley’s “The Last Man” (arguably the first apocalyptic novel in much the way that “Frankenstein” can be regarded as the first modern horror novel), Emily St. John Mandel’s “Station Eleven,” Michael Crichton’s “The Andromeda Strain” and Stephen King’s “The Stand.” Scholars dissected plague references in Shakespeare plays like “Romeo and Juliet,” “Macbeth” and “King Lear” (in which the king calls his daughter Goneril “a plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle, / In my corrupted blood”) and they compared depictions of the plague in such fiction and nonfiction accounts as Boccaccio’s “The Decameron,” Defoe’s “A Journal of the Plague Year,” Samuel Pepys’s diaries and Camus’s “The Plague.”
- Read this article and compare the style and purpose of these stories.
________________________________________________________
6 May 2020
Hello Amazing Journalism Students!
- Please take the news quiz.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/05/learning/05News-Quiz-for-Students.html
- Please read this page, take a few notes and be prepared to discuss Thursday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/learning/when-the-pandemic-ends-will-school-change-forever.html
- Please read this short story on Cinco de Mayo in southwest Detroit.
___________________________________________________________
Senior meeting Scheduled for
Thursday, May 7, 2020 at 11:00am -12:00pm
+1 313-462-2305 United States, Detroit (Toll)
Conference ID: 921 773 073#
Graduating Class of 2020 Teams Meeting
5 May 2020
Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Farmworkers
https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/175287
Immakolee Farm Workers
https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/30/world/ciw-fair-food-program-freedom-project/index.html
________________________________________________________
4 May 2020
Welcome to Monday, everyone. We have two stories today, one on teens' creative responses to producing alternatives to a yearbook while in quarantine, and a story of outstanding leadership by the female heads of several countries. Read each article and write a short reflection on one of them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/style/instagram-yearbook-coronavirus.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/opinion/coronavirus-leadership.html
________________________________________________________
1 May 2020
Good morning, welcome to Friday, May 1st (May Day).
Compare your observations of yesterday's events in Lansing with this report by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).
1. What is similar and what is different between your report and the BBC report?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52496514
2. Describe the significance of May Day around the world in the past and today.
https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/common/labor-day
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To celebrate the Class of 2020 through our online platforms. Seniors complete the senior class survey - link: DPSCDSR2020. Students will share their school, parent/guardians, next step (college, military, work) and if college, the name of the school and a senior picture. On Monday, May 4th, we will launch our Senior Connections through social media. We want make certain your seniors are included.
The actual DPSCDSR2020 Link: https://dpscd.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dczXurLB5FKPp6B
30 April
Please Read Assignment #1, view #2 and read #3.
Then describe what has happened at today's protest in Lansing. Use any source you wish: social media, TV or reports on the Internet.
Then list the following: 1. Your source. 2. Describe what you learned. 3. Write your opinion of the events.
#2. Protesting Stay-at-Home Order in Lansing:
#3. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/us/politics/coronavirus-china-disinformation.html
The two items below are extra resources for your information.
- Gov. Whitmer vs. Michigan legislature over state of emergency.
- Please read this story about high school seniors in Michigan and respond.
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29 April
Good morning everyone.
Here are five different sources of newsworthy topics and events.
Please review them and choose one on which to write a 2-3-paragraph description/analysis/opinion.
Please try to use the word document function in the assignments section of our class on Teams. Or, simply send to me by email: william.bowles@detroitk12.org or tablescotten@gmail.com
Have a good day. See you Thursday.
Video: Chicano Culture in Japan:
Video: College Virtual Tours:
How College Campuses Will Open Up:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/opinion/coronavirus-colleges-universities.html
Teenage Migrants During the Coronavirus:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/us/politics/coronavirus-teenage-migrants-ice.html
Video: Algorithm Tracks Coronavirus:
The computer algorithm that was among the first to detect the coronavirus outbreak
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28 April
Hello. Please read this short article and describe what is disturbing to you about this situation. At least two paragraphs.
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27 April
Hello Everyone,
As a reminder, we will meet on Teams Tuesday and Thursday this week during our designated class times.
- Please complete the weekly news quiz: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/24/briefing/coronavirus-canada-nfl-draft-news-quiz.html
- Please read these student comments on our current situation and add your own.
Summer Job Opportunity for Artistic Young People
Mint Artists Guild is moving ahead with plans for hiring creative young artists for our Creative Summer Jobs program. We run it in partnership with Grow Detroit's Young Talent, the city of Detroit's youth jobs program. (The deadline for any Detroit youth to register with GDYT is Friday, May 1.)
Mint hires young people ages 14 to 21 and we will hire about 13 of them this year. That's 30 percent more than last year and a big commitment by a very small nonprofit. Our youth paint, create mosaics and other creative projects; they learn from art teacher Jacqueline Lane and other guest artists.
Our next interviews are on Tuesday and young artists must send us an email - mintartistsguild@gmail.com - and tell about themselves to be invited to interview via Zoom.
We will schedule other interviews in early May - and we hope you will help us spread the word to hardworking and creative students from Detroit. Here are some FAQs about the summer program. The young people should follow our Instagram or Twitter for interview dates and contact us via email to schedule an interview. We also share on Facebook so that some of their parents, aunts, teachers may see and encourage them to apply!
Thank you so much. And please stay healthy and stay creative.
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24 April
Reading Online:
Detroit Public Library: https://detroitpubliclibrary.org/
Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/
Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/nationalemergencylibrary
Hello everyone. We made it to Friday. It was excellent speaking with you on Teams yesterday! Let's keep up the good work. Try this for today:
- Watch CNN10. Choose one of the stories presented today and write your opinion on it (minimum one paragraph). https://www.cnn.com/cnn10
- Mexican Chef Enrique Olvera. Describe three new ideas that Olvera has brought to Mexican cuisine.
- Post your responses to the document on Teams or send by email: william.bowles@detroitk12.org
- Have a good weekend!
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23 April
Hello everyone. Our meeting days on Teams for journalism and film studies are Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please meet me in our class in Teams at the scheduled time.
Please let me know if you have questions. Best to everyone!
-Mr. Bowles
- Watch CNN10. Choose one of the stories presented today and write your opinion on it (minimum one paragraph).
- No dough for Dreamers: Read this story and respond (minimum two-paragraphs).
Please post your responses in Teams. If you have trouble doing that, send to my email: william.bowles@detroitk12.org
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22 April
Take this news Quiz
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/21/learning/21News-Quiz-for-Students.html
Listen to this podcast and complete the questions and the one-page writing:
Send your responses to me: william.bowles@detroitk12.org
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For 21 April 2020
Hello everyone. Please watch this 14-minute video about José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen. Then post your responses to Teams.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jose-andres-chef-feeding-coronavirus-impact-60-minutes-2020-04-19/
José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen
- World Central Kitchen serves how many free meals in how many cities?
- According to Andrés, does the U.S. have enough food to feed its people?
- “Little Spain” is the name of _______________.
- How does Little Spain get food to people?
- T/F: Andrés ran out of chorizo.
- Little Spain normally employs 600 workers. How many work there now?
- Andrés is feeding military personnel who work where?
- What did Andrés mean by “The urgency of now is yesterday?”
- In San Antonio, Texas, cars were lined up to get 200 pounds food, which is expected to last how long?
- Food banks have shortages of money and _____________.
- In what U.S. city did we see Andrés feeding homeless people?
- Andrés has fed people in Mozambique (Africa), Japan and, after Hurricane Maria, in what U.S. territory?
- Andrés says the federal government should pay for the hiring of which type of workers to feed hungry people?
- Andrés served meals of grilled chicken kabob with what two vegetables?
- Andrés says hungry people are a national security issue. What do you think that means?
- Andrés described restaurants as the DNA and foundation of the U.S. economy. He said restaurants have a “trickle down” effect on the economy. What does he mean?
- Name two types of food products farmers are throwing away.
- Why are they throwing them away?
- What types of food plants have closed because of infected workers?
- What percentage of farm workers is undocumented?
- Why are many farm workers reluctant to seek medical assistance?
- This report concludes by finding that undocumented workers are essential to the U.S. food supply and to the U.S. economy. Why?
- According to Andrés, who are the “heroes that keep America fed?”
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For 20 April 2020
Hello, can anyone relate to these seniors? Please read and respond with your thoughts: william.bowles@detroitk12.org
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/style/prom-canceled-coronavirus.html
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For 17 April 2020
Hello students: I will be attempting to call each of you in the next 3-5 days. Please tell me how you are doing. We will discuss assignments, grades and expectations for the remainder of the school year. I look forward to speaking with you.
For today:
1. Take a look at the news, especially how teens are coping in these trying times.
CNN10: https://www.cnn.com/cnn10
2. Please read this story, respond to the questions and email to me: william.bowles@detroitk12.org
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/arts/design/thoreau-walden-coronavirus-quarantine.html
1. Why was Henry David Thoreau a failure for most of his life by conventional standards of success, according to the author? How did his book, “Walden; or, Life in the Woods,” change his fortunes?
2. How did a cairn or loose pile of stones at Walden Pond become an ongoing public monument honoring Thoreau? What is its meaning?
3. Why is Thoreau’s two-year-plus experiment in self-isolation beginning in 1845 instructive to us during our present pandemic moment, according to the author? Why does Mr. Cotter contrast what he calls “constructive solitude” with the “sheltering-in-place” kind of isolation many of us are now experiencing?
4. How did Thoreau use his time of semi-seclusion for self-education? What role did books, journal writing and nature play? Which of these aspects resonates most with your own attempts at self-education?
5. The article concludes:
But the monument of stones at Walden is the opposite of angry, or declarative or, for that matter, monumental. It speaks of aloneness-within-solidarity — a message we need to hear these days — in a homely down-to-earth way, one that Thoreau, who scorned all pomp and eye-baiting elegance (he once described himself as a “stuttering, blundering clod/hoper”) might have approved of.
It’s a monument designed by no one, built by everyone. It’s assembled one piece at a time, over time, by individuals who will never meet, but who, in our devotion, form a community of souls. It’s a monument that honors the dead, but is living, changing, growing. During the present crisis that is isolating us, this monument has the potential to bring us together: It is an instructive emblem to contemplate, and a consoling one.
What does the author mean by “aloneness-within-solidarity”? Do you agree that it's a message we need to hear during a time of social distancing? How does the Walden cairn have the power to bring us together?
6. Which quotation, passage or image from the article was most provocative, surprising or memorable? Explain why. What more do you want to learn about Thoreau’s life, works and philosophy and why?
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For 16 April 2020
Hello Amazing Students:
Please read these options for recording your thoughts, observations, memories, fellings and more. Decide which one you would like to do, and reply to me: william.bowles@detroitk12.org
Have Fun!
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For 15 April 2020
Hello Everyone,
- Please read each story. Write a short reflection on one of the stories.
- Address the issue from your personal point of view.
- Please send your responses to: william.bowles@detroitk12.org
Have a safe and engaged day.
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For 13 April 2020
- Hey all, hope you had a safe weekend. I will be reaching out to you this week, maybe by telephone (but not before 1:00 p.m.!)
- Let's try this creative activity today: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/learning/whats-going-on-in-this-picture-april-13-2020.html
- Let me know how it goes: william.bowles@detroitk12.org (Notice that I have asked you to use my DPS email address).
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For 10 April 2020
- Hello Everyone. We made it to Friday, and we are strong!
- Please read this activity and the article and respond to the questions, answers only, and submit to me: tablescotten@gmail.com
Have a safe weekend.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/learning/lesson-of-the-day-meet-your-meme-lords.html
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For 9 April 2020
Hello! Please watch this short report and respond to me: tablescotten@gmail.com
Take care.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-economy-united-states-unemployment-60-minutes-2020-04-05/
- Which types of businesses are the focus of this story, big or small?
- Which type of business is one of New York City’s largest employers?
- What happens when unemployed people apply to the unemployment office?
- How long can Caitlyn go on before running out of money?
- Which two expenses will Alisha Navarro not be able to pay this month?
- If someone cannot pay their rent, how many months can they expect to stay without being evicted?
- Give two examples of how business owners and others are working to help each other through this economic crisis.
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For 8 April 2020
Please watch the short interview with Angeles Solis and repsond to the following questions, and email me your responses: tablescotten@gmail.com
-Have a good day.
Angeles Solis
https://www.democracynow.org/2020/4/7/amazon_state_island_warehouse_workers_walkout
- What company is in the spotlight?
- What is the problem?
- Who is Angeles Solis?
- Roughly how many people are employed at the Amazon warehouse on Staten Island, New York?
- How does Solis’ organization, Make the Road New York, define itself? (Click on link #2 at top).
- List two of Solis’ complaints about Amazon toward its workers.
- What action did members of Make the Road New York take?
- Why is Amazon more profitable today than before the coronavirus pandemic?
- What protection measures does Solis say have not been taken to protect Amazon workers?
- Solis says Amazon is the richest corporation in the world. How much is Amazon worth in dollars?
- According to Solis, The National Occupation and Safety Administration has named Amazon ____________.
- According to Solis, how does Amazon respond to worker concerns?
- Name two reasons Solis gives for high rates of coronavirus infection among economically disadvantaged people.
- What percentage of adult Latinos has lost their jobs due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to Solis?
- Solis says that thousands of undocumented workers are playing critically important roles during this crisis. Name two types of jobs they are doing.
- Undocumented workers pay taxes, but do they receive unemployment pay?
- According to Solis, New York governor Cuomo has failed undocumented workers in a least two ways. Name them.
This is the best essay on writing I have ever seen. Please read it, save it and reread it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/smarter-living/how-to-edit-your-own-writing.html
The secret to good writing is good editing. It’s what separates hastily written, randomly punctuated, incoherent rants from learned polemics and op-eds, and cringe-worthy fan fiction from a critically acclaimed novel. By the time this article is done, I’ll have edited and rewritten each line at least a few times. Here’s how to start editing your own work.
Understand that what you write first is a draft
It doesn’t matter how good you think you are as a writer — the first words you put on the page are a first draft. Writing is thinking: It’s rare that you’ll know exactly what you’re going to say before you say it. At the end, you need, at the very least, to go back through the draft, tidy everything up and make sure the introduction you wrote at the start matches what you eventually said.
My former writing teacher, the essayist and cartoonist Timothy Kreider, explained revision to me: “One of my favorite phrases is l’esprit d’escalier, ‘the spirit of the staircase’ — meaning that experience of realizing, too late, what the perfect thing to have said at the party, in a conversation or argument or flirtation would have been. Writing offers us one of the rare chances in life at a do-over: to get it right and say what we meant this time. To the extent writers are able to appear any smarter or wittier than readers, it’s only because they’ve cheated by taking so much time to think up what they meant to say and refining it over days or weeks or, yes, even years, until they’ve said it as clearly and elegantly as they can.”
The time you put into editing, reworking and refining turns your first draft into a second — and then into a third and, if you keep at it, eventually something great. The biggest mistake you can make as a writer is to assume that what you wrote the first time through was good enough.
Now, let’s look at how to do the actual editing.
Watch for common errors
Most writing mistakes are despairingly common; good writers just get better at catching them before they hit the page. If you’re serious about improving your writing, I recommend you read “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, a how-to guide on writing good, clear English and avoiding the most common mistakes. “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell is also worth studying if you want to avoid “ugly and inaccurate” writing.
Some of the things you’ll learn to watch for (and that I have to fix all the time in my own writing) are:
- Overuse of jargon and business speak. Horrible jargon like “utilize,” “endeavor” or “communicate” — instead of “use,” “try” or “chat” — creep in when people (myself included) are trying to sound smart. It’s the kind of writing that Orwell railed against in his essay. All this sort of writing does is obscure the point you want to make behind false intellectualism. As Orwell said, “Never use a long word when a short one will do.”
- Clichés. Clichés are as common as mud but at least getting rid of them is low-hanging fruit. If you’re not sure whether something is a cliché, it’s better to just avoid it. Awful, right? Clichés are stale phrases that have lost their impact and novelty through overuse. At some point, “The grass is always greener on the other side” was a witty observation, but it’s a cliché now. Again, Orwell said it well: “Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.” Oh, and memes very quickly become clichés — be warned.
- The passive voice. In most cases, the subject of the sentence should be the person or thing taking action, not the thing being acted on. For example, “This article was written by Harry” is written in the passive voice because the subject (“this article”) is the thing being acted on. The equivalent active construction would be: “Harry wrote this article.” Prose written in the passive voice tends to have an aloofness and passivity to it, which is why it’s generally better to write an active sentence.
- Rambling. When you’re not quite sure what you want to say, it’s easy to ramble around a point, phrasing it in three or four different ways and then, instead of cutting them down to a single concise sentence, slapping all four together into a clunky, unclear paragraph. A single direct sentence is almost always better than four that tease around a point.
Give your work some space
When you write something, you get very close to it. It’s almost impossible to have the distance to edit properly straight away. Instead, you need to step away and come back later with fresh eyes. The longer you can leave a draft before editing it, the better. I have some essays I go back to every few months for another pass — they’re still not done yet. For most things, though, somewhere from half an hour to two days is enough of a break that you can then edit well. Even 10 minutes will do in a pinch for things like emails.
And when you sit down to edit, read your work out loud.
By forcing yourself to speak the words, rather than just scanning them on a computer screen, you’ll catch more problems and get a better feel for how everything flows. If you stumble over something, your reader will probably stumble over it, too. Some writers even print out their drafts and make edits with a red pen while they read them aloud.
Cut, cut, cut
Overwriting is a bigger problem than underwriting. It’s much more likely you’ve written too much than too little. It’s a lot easier to throw words at a problem than to take the time to find the right ones. As Blaise Pascal, a 17th-century writer and scientist (no, not Mark Twain) wrote in a letter, “I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.”
The rule for most writers is, “If in doubt, cut it.” The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer John McPhee has called the process “writing by omission.” William Faulkner exhorted, “In writing you must kill all your darlings.” This is true at every level: If a word isn’t necessary in a sentence, cut it; if a sentence isn’t necessary in a paragraph, cut it; and if a paragraph isn’t necessary, cut it, too.
Go through what you’ve written and look for the bits you can cut without affecting the whole — and cut them. It will tighten the work and make everything you’re trying to say clearer.
Spend the most time on the beginning
The beginning of anything you write is the most important part. If you can’t catch someone’s attention at the start, you won’t have a chance to hold it later. Whether you’re writing a novel or an email, you should spend a disproportionate amount of time working on the first few sentences, paragraphs or pages. A lot of problems that can be glossed over in the middle are your undoing at the start.
Pay attention to structure
The structure is what your writing hangs on. It doesn’t matter how perfectly the individual sentences are phrased if the whole thing is a nonsensical mess. For emails and other short things, the old college favorite of a topic sentence followed by supporting paragraphs and a conclusion is hard to get wrong. Just make sure you consider your intended audience. A series of long, unrelenting paragraphs will discourage people from reading. Break things up into concise points and, where necessary, insert subheads — as there are in this article. If I’d written this without them, you would just be looking at a stark wall of text.
For longer pieces, structure is something you’ll need to put a lot of work into. Stream of consciousness writing rarely reads well and you generally don’t have the option to break up everything into short segments with subheads. Narratives need to flow and arguments need to build. You have to think about what you’re trying to say in each chapter, section or paragraph, and consider whether it’s working — or if that part would be better placed elsewhere. It’s normal (and even desirable) that the structure of your work will change drastically between drafts; it’s a sign that you’re developing the piece as a whole, rather than just fixing the small problems.
A lot of the time when something you’ve written “just doesn’t work” for people, the structure is to blame. They might not be able to put the problems into words, but they can feel something’s off.
Use all the resources you can
While you might not be lucky enough to have access to an editor (Hey, Alan!), there are services that can help.
Grammarly is a writing assistant that flags common writing, spelling and grammatical errors; it’s great for catching simple mistakes and cleaning up drafts of your work. A good thesaurus (or even Thesaurus.com) is also essential for finding just the right word. And don’t neglect a second pair of eyes: Ask relatives and friends to read over your work. They might catch some things you missed and can tell you when something is amiss.
Editing your work is at least as important as writing it in the first place. The tweaking, revisiting and revising is what takes something that could be good — and makes it good. Don’t neglect it.
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For 7 April 2020
- Take the Weekly News Quiz:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/07/learning/07News-Quiz-for-Students.html
- Good job on yesterday's work. I have sent your responses to Ms. Visconti. Today, please take a look at each of the three resource sites. All are free. The Detroit Public library offers a free library card and the ability to read books and watch movies online. Take a few minutes to browse these sites and read or watch whatever catches your attention. Have a good day.
- Reading Online:
Detroit Public Library: https://detroitpubliclibrary.org/
Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/
Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/nationalemergencylibrary
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For 6 April 2020
Journalism students: I received this request from our director, Ms. Visconti, last week:
Funding for the Crain MSU Detroit High School Journalism Program ends in August. We are hopeful Crain will continue its support, but I need your help.
If you could please write a few sentences about what you like about the program or the importance of the program and get it to me ASAP, I would appreciate it.
Director Visconti said this “will help with us with our presentation to Crain next week. Thank you!!”
Would you kindly write a short paragraph and submit it to me: tablescotten@gmail.com
Or william.bowles@detroitk12.org
Thank you. I will forward your responses to Ms. Visconti.
FYI: CNN10 for today: https://www.cnn.com/cnn10
Thanks all.
Let’s have a positive start to our week. We are all in this together, and we will prevail.
Best,
-Mr. Bowles
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For 3 April 2020
Quarantine Humor:
https://www.newyorker.com/cartoon/a24050-dailycartoonjpg
Please read this interview transcript and/or watch/listen to the interview and respond to the questions.
https://www.democracynow.org/2020/4/3/covid_us_mexico_border_immigration_jails
- Who is demanding that ICE release prisoners from immigration jails?
- What Trump administration policy is keeping many thousands of immigrants in camps in Mexico?
- Who is Laura Molinar?
- Why is José Estrada very concerned?
- How does Molinar describe the situation?
- Why is it difficult to prevent the spread the coronavirus in the camps?
- How does Molinar describe the lack of preparedness for the coronavirus at the camps?
- How many immigrants live in Texas?
- Do they have health care?
- What is Molinar doing to help immigrants?
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For 2 April 2020
We are almost to the weekend, and we are strong! This assignment is a bit longer than usual, so please feel free to take more time to complete it.
1. View today's CNN10 broadcast and respond to the questions below.
2. Tbilisi, the capital of the country of Georgia: Please take a look at where it is on a world map. One female world traveler told me that of the many countries in the world she has visited, Georgia is the most beautiful.
- According to CNN10, is it possible to have the coronavirus yet have no symptoms?
- Name two businesses that are now making masks.
- Name two Italian businesses that have committed to making large numbers of masks.
- Which European country is using 3D technology to make face shields?
- A female fashion designer has converted her shop in Tunis to making facemasks. Tunis is the capital of which country? In which continent?
Please follow directions here. Please try also to complete the "Going Further" section, and send all respsonses to me: tablescotten@gmail.com
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/learning/learning-about-coronavirus-and-the-class-divide.html
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For 1 April 2020
We Made it to Wednesday, Amazing Western Students!
- Good work to all who have been completing these assignments.
- Please read this story on celebrities during our crisis and respond to the questions below. Please email me your responses: tablescotten@gmail.com
- You may find it helpful to read the questions before reading the story.
- Keep safe today - we are going to make it through this!
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/arts/virus-celebrities.html
1. What role do you think celebrities should have during this crisis? Because they have such large platforms and can be so influential, do you think celebrities have an obligation to speak out about the coronavirus crisis? Or, is it more responsible for them to keep a low profile and leave it to those with more expertise and knowledge to offer advice?
2. Do you find messages from celebrities like Ryan Reynolds urging fans to “work together to flatten the curve” helpful or appropriate? Are you interested in seeing how celebrities are coping with social distancing in their mansions? Tell us which posts by celebrities you have enjoyed and which have turned you off.
3. Do you agree with Ms. Hess that the pandemic has led to the “dismantling of the cult of celebrity”? Do you think it is fair for people to criticize people like Pharrell Williams for asking his followers to donate to help front line responders? Why or why not?
4. Has your own relationship to celebrities and celebrity culture changed during the coronavirus pandemic? For example, if you were a big follower of celebrity culture, do you now question your interest in the rich and famous?
5. Do you think the public will go back to revering celebrities after the pandemic? How do you think you will view them?
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For 31 March 2020
Welcome to Tuesday, most excellent journalists and film students!
A thought for the day: We have seen throughout the coronavirus crisis that accurate information provided by journalists (like you) is essential to our collective health and safety.
Please read this news Bulletin and respond. https://www.bridgemi.com/talent-education/whitmer-end-michigan-school-year-seniors-graduate-others-move
Please explain whether you agree or disagree with Gov. Whitmer's decisions, and why. Please write at least two paragraphs. Also tell me if you would like your response to be published either in our student newspaper, The Western Express, http://www.detroitdialogue.com/section/western-international or in another online news site.
Please email your responses to me: tablescotten@gmail.com
Let's have another good day!
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For 30 March 2020
Welcome back, my amazing students!
Here is an excellent source on the Cornonavirus:
https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus
But let's take a break from all the Coronavirus talk:
Lion Tamer
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/29/world/middleeast/egypt-circuses-lions-women.html
- Mention something humorous in this story.
- What is the central human rights aspect of this story?
- How does the reporter, Declan Walsh, include history in this story?
- What statistics does Walsh include in this story?
- How did Ms. el-Helw become a lion tamer?
- Walsh compares the National Circus to what other show?
- How does Walsh describe the National Circus?
- How does Walsh describe the danger of lion taming?
- Which description of Ms. el-Helw working with her lions is most realistic and interesting to you?
- In your opinion, was this story worthy of being published? Did it arouse your interest and curiosity? Did you enjoy learning about the life of this unusual woman? Explain.
Please email your responses to me: tablescotten@gmail.com
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For 27 March 2020
Hello Awesome Students!
- Take a moment to scroll through The Times Coronavirus Outbreak coverage. Which industries and workers seem to be most affected by the economic shutdown caused by social distancing and shelter-in-place measures? How, if at all, will the stimulus bill help them?
- Choose one of those industries or groups to read about more in depth, like the travel and hospitality industry, cultural institutions like museums and theaters, public transportation, undocumented household workers and Uber and Lyft drivers.
- Please email your responses to me: tablescotten@gmail.com
1. What are this group’s specific needs and concerns?
2. Does the stimulus package address them? If so, how?
3. Is it enough to sustain them for weeks or even months? If not, what measures would you add to the bill to support them?
4. Based on what you learned, to what extent do you think the government has a responsibility to help individuals and industries stay afloat during an economic crisis?
5. What responsibility do employers have to their employees?
6. What should we, as individuals, do to support the small businesses, workers and hospitals in our communities?
Fun This Weekend
- Check out these short, funny, creative "vocabulary videos" created by high school students:
Have a good weekend and take care. We are going to get through this!
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For 26 March 2020
Hello Amazing Students! After watching CNN News and the short video on Mexico City, please respond to the following questions. Reminder: read the quesitons before watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUkPlcsX7w8
1. What percentage of the world’s population is under quarantine?
2. According to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, can you contract coronavirus from food?
3. According to Dr. Celine Gounder, what is the highest risk in getting food delivered to you?
4. T/F: Medical researchers are working on treatments to protect against the coronavirus using antibodies from the blood of people who have recovered from the virus.
5. Testing for the virus is recommended for people: a) who show symptoms of coronavirus, or b) people who are asymptomatic (without symptoms)?
6. Time outdoors is safe under what conditions?
7. When will the next summer Olympics Games be held?
“As the Coronavirus Approaches, Mexico City Looks the Other Way.”
- The American female flight attendant in Mexico City used a metaphor when she said, “We are, like, on a petri dish most of the time . . .” What does she mean?
- What reason does Dr. Francisco Moreno give for the low-recorded numbers of infected people in Mexico City?
- Contrast the views of Dr. Moreno with President López Obrador.
- Obrador said Mexico’s medical facilities are equipped to handle people infected with the virus. Is he right? Why or why not?
- Social scientists have a term called “normalcy bias.” It is a common human coping mechanism to impending disaster in which we convince ourselves that “since a disaster has never occurred it will not occur.” Do you think President Obrador has normalcy bias? Why or why not? _____________________________________________________________________________________
For 25 March 2020
The New York Times Wants Your Opinion.
Please link to the page below and respond. You may become published writer in the Times. Please let me know if the link does not work.
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For 24 March 2020
Welcome back, my amazing students!
- Please read this short article from the New Yorker magazine and respond to these questions (tablescotten@gmail.com).
- A reminder: read the questions before reading the article.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/03/30/the-high-schooler-who-became-a-covid-19-watchdog
Last week, as cities across the country shut down in an effort to slow the spread of covid-19, President Trump said, “We have a problem that, a month ago, nobody thought about.” Well, somebody did. On December 29th, as Trump vacationed with his family at Mar-a-Lago, Avi Schiffmann, a seventeen-year-old from Washington State, launched a homemade Web site to track the movement of the coronavirus. Since then, the site, ncov2019.live, has had more than a hundred million visitors. “I wanted to just make the data easily accessible, but I never thought it would end up being this big,” the high-school junior said last week over FaceTime. Schiffmann, gap-toothed and bespectacled, was sitting on his bed wearing a blue T-shirt and baggy pajama bottoms. It was late morning. He was at his mother’s house, on Mercer Island, outside Seattle. Somewhere in the room his cat, Louie, mewed. Behind him hung a Ferrari poster.
Using a coding tactic known as “web-scraping,” Schiffmann’s site collates data from different sources around the globe—the W.H.O., the C.D.C., Yonhap News Agency in South Korea—and displays the latest number of covid-19 cases. It features simple graphics and easy-to-read tables divided by nation, continent, and state. Data automatically updates every minute. In a politicized pandemic, where rumor and panic run amok, the site has become a reputable, if unlikely, watchdog.
The New Yorker’s coronavirus news coverage and analysis are free for all readers.
Schiffmann goes to Mercer Island High School. (Its mascot: Herbert the Snail.) He began teaching himself to code when he was seven, mainly by watching YouTube videos, and has made more than thirty Web sites. “Programming is a great creative medium,” he said. “Instead of using a paintbrush or something, you can just type a bunch of funky words and make a coronavirus site.” One of his first projects, in elementary school, was what he calls “a stick-figure animation hub.” Later sites collated the scores for his county’s high-school sports games, aggregated news of global protests, and displayed the weather forecast on Mars. “His brain is constantly going from one thing to another, which is good, but I also try to focus him in,” his mother, Nathalie Acher, said. “I’m not techy at all myself. I see it as just really boring. He sees it as an art form.”
Schiffmann created the virus project during a family ski weekend in Snoqualmie Pass. Acher, who is a primary-care doctor, said that, when he had finished building it (he’d skipped a ski day), “he was beaming as though he’d discovered the cure for cancer.” Flattening the curve has been an isolating experience for many, but Schiffmann has never had so much attention. “I’m getting e-mail after e-mail,” he said. “Every couple of seconds it’s a new one.” Some people suggest changes to the site. “They’re, like, ‘Great Web site!’ ” he said. “And then they send a massive list of demands, and I’m just, like, ‘O.K., later.’ ”
While his twelfth-grade friends worry about whether the prom will be cancelled, Schiffmann is navigating global fame.“I literally see myself on, like, African news Web sites, Thailand, Taiwan—like, everywhere,” he said. He had two podcast interviews scheduled for that day. Then he was off to a photo shoot. “I want more professional photos, because I don’t like the ones that the news places use.” (“I look weird,” he said.) A few days earlier, his school had shut down. But he had already skipped the last week of classes to focus on the site, he said, “when it kind of blew up.” His mother, whose medical colleagues use the site, had given up coaxing him to return. “Maybe learning algebra can come later,” she said. (Her son is a C student.)
Schiffmann took the virus threat seriously before many others did. “I’ve been kind of concerned for a while, because I watched it spread very fast, and around the entire world. I mean, it just kind of went everywhere.” He took his own precautions. “I got masks a while ago. I got, like, fifteen for seventeen dollars. Now you can’t even buy a single mask for, like, less than forty.” His mother chimed in. “I wish I had listened to him,” she said. “But, in his teen-ager way, he’d come down the stairs with his eyes huge and be, like, ‘There are fifty thousand more cases!’ and I’d be, like, ‘Yeah, but they’re over there, not here.’ ”
Now that the grownups of the world are finally, and appropriately, freaking out, it is hard for Schiffmann not to feel righteous vindication. “If you told someone three months ago that we should spend, like, ten billion dollars in upgrading the United States’ health care, they would have been, like, ‘Nah,’ ” he said. “Now, everyone’s, like, ‘Oh, my God, yes.’ But this is the kind of stuff we should have done a long time ago.” ♦
- Schiffmann is an autodidact. What is that?
- Schiffmann employs the metaphor of a paintbrush to describe his creative work. What type of work is it?
- How many geographic categories has Schiffmann created on his website? https://ncov2019.live/
- Name them.
- How many total countries have confirmed infections?
- T/F: Schffmann is an “A” student.
- How did Schiffmann learn to code?
- In addition to creating his website, what other precautions did Schiffmann take earlier than others, especially adults, including his physician mother?
- The data Schiffmann collects comes from three sources. Name them.
- Can you think of other examples where teenagers have had more insight than adults? Name one or two.
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For 20 March 2020
Note to my journalism and film studies students:
I will be posting assignments on this page regularly. Please email me your responses: tablescotten@gmail.com
6-Minute Workout!
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/well/move/in-6-minutes-you-can-be-done-with-your-workout.html
https://www.pbs.org/video/episode-2-winner-takes-all-rh6z1c/
Watch episode 2 of Networld ("Winner Takes All") by clicking on the link above and respond to the following:
1. What important "connection" was established in 1866?
2. Railroad, telegraph, radio and television are examples of ________.
3. T/F: Nodes or hubs controlled the flow of information.
4. Concentrated of ownership meant "The more you have, the more you ____."
5. The passage from the Book of Mathew in the Bible: "To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance" gave network theory the name, "The Mathew _____."
6. According to the Mathew Effect, the more friends you have, ____________.
7. How do Google and Facebook make money?
8. If you buy a pair of shoes online, you are likely to see ads for shoes pop up in your Internet searches. Why? How does this happen?
9. Facebook, Google and Amazon are good examples of the Mathew Effect. Why?
10. Describe one common way in which Google, Facebook and Amazon got bigger?
11. What is Facebook doing in Africa to acquire more customers?
12. What do you give Facebook when you like or comment on a Facebook post?
13. Ashburn, Virginia, is known as what?
14. Give an example of a positive and a negative effect of the use of "big data."
15. "The masses have sharp eyes" is from a Communist slogan in China. What does it refer to today?
16. Why is excessive surveillance referred to as "Orwellian?"
17. Ferguson uses the term "surveillance capitalism." What does that mean?
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For 19 March 2020
Note to my journalism and film studies students:
I will be posting assignments on this page regularly. Please email me your responses: tablescotten@gmail.com
https://www.pbs.org/video/episode-1-disruption-wwmwuj/
1. Watch episode 1 of Networld ("Disruption") by clicking the link above.
2. Note the connections made among human and nonhuman networks throughout history.
3. Give examples of the following networks in which you take part:
a. face-to-face
b. voice-to-voice
c. written language
4. How are health professionals, governments, individuals and families using knowledge of networks to contain the Corona Virus?