Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Socratic Seminar


The socratic seminar was a new and interesting way to learn from one another. It was a way to learn from other people's oppinions and points of view. The that was very valuable to me was the comment about the fact that drug dealers and prostitutes and people who do other illicit activities are doing this because they have no other way of gaining money. Economic oppurtunities are a big problem in many countries. Also the comments about corruption and why the army and policemen leave the drug dealers preform these illegal and terrible things. I think chadine had very insightful and intelligent comments which I learned a lot from. There were many times where people disagreed and debated their different ideas , but this would not last long because someone would change their mind and/or they would change someone elses mind. I saw some people taking notes, others asking questions or for people to clarify which shows people were listening and learning. The best part about this seminar and way of teaching is that it is not exactly like a debate people build on to what others have said. Which is an active way of learning from others and from yourself. If I had an other chance I would have more people participating at once and going deeper into the topics discusses.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Thousands Flee Wrecked Haitian Capital


Thousands of people from Port au Prince, Haiti are trying to flee their city to go to the countryside in search of food, stability and shelter. They are crammed in little buses with slogans of hope painted on the side such as "Courage Mon Frère" or "Christ est la Réponse". Some carry stuffed suitcases while others carry only enugh money to pay the transport to the interior of Haiti. Some are going to see friends and family members who live in the countryside while others just want to get out of the wrecked capital of Port au Prince.


For the pepople that have decided to stay or cannot afford to leave, the united nations and world food program have decided to give 200 tons of food aid to more than 95,OOO poepple in 8 different places. Hopefully this will help the poor victims from the terrible earthquake.


*Note* On January 19 2010 we are raising awareness about the catastrophe that has hit Haiti by wearing red. Please participate in this rally and if you'd like to make donations please visit http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/01/13/haiti.earthquake.how.to.help/index.html?hpt=T2


Bibliography: The New York Times

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Success and Failures of the Reconstruction

Successes
  • Finally united the North and South.
  • African Americans finall had rights.
  • The economy is slowly but surely imrpoving.

Failures

  • People were given very high taxes.
  • Many people denied african americans their rights.
  • The land was not redistributed equally.
  • Sharecropping was very hard for the Blacks, however they didn't have much of a choice because they were very poor