Teaching International Relations Program

Dear Leah,

Thank you for participating in TIRP outreach! This folder is for your four session reports. This is a public forum and we encourage your professors and teachers to review your journal entries for feedback. Make sure your report of classroom activity is appropriate for public viewing.

Remember:
1. Each entry must be submitted within a week or before the next session, whichever comes first.
2. Entries need to be at least 500 words. It is your responsibility to save a copy of your report.
3. Your reports should focus on the content of the TIRP session. Spend no more than one paragraph discussing logistics. Include the key IR concepts and specific student responses.
4. Select "Post Reply" not "New Topic" when submitting each entry. This will ensure that all your
reports are posted in a way that will be easy for CALIS staff, professors and teachers to read.


A CALIS staff member will review your entry each week and leave a posted message approving it toward your extra credit. Thank you for your participation in TIRP!
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Report 1 - APPROVED - 10/22/09 - Lauren
Great job Leah! I'm glad you found a way to get them fired up about the topic. Good luck next week!

Report 2 - NOT SUBMITTED as of 10/29/09 - Lauren
Please submit your report by next Thursday, 11/5/09.
Report 2 - NOT SUBMITTED as of 11/9/09 - Lauren
Report 2 - LATE/ CONTENT APPROVED - 11/17/09 - Lauren
Nice report!

Report 3 - NOT SUBMITTED as of 11/9/09 - Lauren
Please submit your report by next Friday, 11/13/09.
Report 3 - LATE/ CONTENT APPROVED - 11/17/09 - Lauren
Great job!

Report 4 - APPROVED - 11/16/09 - Lauren
Great report Leah!

Hello, fellow TIRPers, professors, and teachers,

Keith, Dan, and I had our first meeting with our TIRP kids on Thursday, October 15th, at the magnet school on 32nd Street. At first I was really nervous, being that I would be in front of an entire classroom of seniors (and if they were anything like I was when I was in high school, then I was in for trouble). We met outside a little early, then walked down the halls of the high school and into Mr. Russell’s World History class. Gulp.
It actually went really well. We had chosen an article to read called “Spanish Immigration Ploy: Hire Mothers” from NPR in 2007. It was a good chance for the kids to see that maybe the US wasn’t the only country with immigration issues; this particular excerpt focused on an immigration ploy used in Spain to only hire mothers for seasonal agricultural work. When you think about it, there are a lot of pros: they would want to return to their family; there were government incentives such as free room and board, classes, and higher pay; they were a lot better than those darn promiscuous Eastern European immigrants who wouldn’t work as hard. The kids were great at responding to our questions. Sample questions included:
Why would Moroccan women have a reputation of being hard workers?
Was this a success story? If so, why? Would this continued to be carried out throughout all of Spain?
What kind of rights should these women be given?
These questions allowed the kids to branch out into the four worlds: they were able to consider military/political and economic aspects of the situation, but also social and cultural implications. They discussed how there could be economic effects in both Spain and Morocco because of the migrant agricultural work. What really made me think was when a student asked about the social and cultural implications: she mentioned that mothers leaving their children for months at a time could damage social networks in Morocco. Another student brought up the cultural world, saying that racism against Moroccans (and Eastern Europeans, someone else mentioned) could play a key role as well.
One of the best parts of the first session was at the end. After we had gone over the worksheet as a group, the kids started getting a little chatty. Then I raised the question of immigration in the United States, and the entire classroom went silent. I asked, “Well, what do you guys think? Are the immigration policies in the United States too strict? Or are they too loose?” Several students raised their hands. “Way too loose,” one student said. When I asked why, she said, “It’s too easy to get here. People can just cross the border in the desert.” Another student responded, saying something along the lines of, “People wouldn’t cross the border unless it was a last resort. Immigration laws are too strong, so people have to sneak in for work.” From there we went on to discuss what possible solutions would be and the topic of building a wall came up. A little extreme, but interesting. We then got into a discussion on what kinds of jobs illegal immigrants tended to have, and why we thought of the stereotypes as “agricultural workers” and “fast food workers.” It was really amazing to see these kids take something that happened thousands of miles away and connect it to their own home. They were really into it, and it made me feel so proud! One girl even asked me to help her with her “strawberry farm” on Facebook. Yep, we were in high school all right.
I can’t wait to go back on Thursday. Talk to you then!

Leah

Our last session was on Thursday, November 12th. It was somewhat sad, being that we wouldn't see any of the students again. Though, afterwards Dan, Keith, and I discussed possible doing the same class next semester together, so we'll see how that goes!! I am looking forward to it. We did probably one of the most popular activities today, called "Mr. Goodbar." Basically, it gave students a chance to have a hands-on look at global networking and trading. Keith (my hero) was able to print the money and bring supplies, and we were set to go right at 8:15.
The kids were a little rowdy, especially when they saw the paper bags undoubtedly filled with goodies for them. Nonetheless, we started handing out papers and going over key concepts, like globalization, tariffs, etc. We asked them for examples of resources that the United States uses that aren’t necessarily grown or produced here, as well as examples of other resources that are commonly imported and exported across the globe. A lot of the students spoke about oil, technology, and agriculture. We then spoke about interdependence, which a lot of the kids didn’t understand. Wanting them to fully understand the concept, I asked what “dependence” meant. After a student answer, I asked someone else to explain, or at least guess, what “inter” was used. They understood that “interdependence” meant countries networking together and depending on each other for security, and in this particular activity, we were focusing on economic interdependence.
We then started the trading: each student got their own paper bag filled with a paper clip, peanut, Hershey’s kiss, and fake money to represent key aspects of trade systems (technology, agriculture, financial stability, etc.) We then had them stand up and talk with each other, and try to trade goods. We did five minute rounds for about 30 minutes, pausing in between to talk about what they had accomplished, what they were experiencing, and future ideas on how to get more “bang for your buck.” We also had them compare their “wealth” to their peers’ wealth, and guess to which country they were most similar.
It was most interesting at the end of the simulation, when we had kids explain their reactions. A few were happy, being that they had the most wealth and thus the most chocolate. Others thought it was unfair, saying that a few students only traded with their friends or only traded for very high rates. We laughed, and explained that unfairness and inequality and manipulation were very common in trading throughout the world, especially involving the United States. Another student was irked because, when I had walked around the room and handed out fake money to imitate an aid organization, he didn’t receive funding and his neighbor did. We laughed, and said that sometimes, that was how it worked. Some nations would receive aid, and others didn’t qualify. And, we added, at least we didn’t simulate pirates and go around stealing goods from you!
In all, this was a great experience. The kids were great, and I hope we get the chance to participate with them and Mr. Russell again. I’ve had a great time, and I look forward to participating in TIRP again.

Our second session lacked a little bit of the enthusiasm we had loved the first session, but nevertheless, we tried to start class off with a few jokes (on my part, largely unsuccessful!) and laughs. I remember when I was a senior in high school, and I never wanted to have guest speakers come in and make us read something out loud or complete a worksheet! So we tried to make things a little more fun, with a few jokes here and there.
Our focus for the second session was the clash between multinational companies and indigenous groups in terms of resources and right of land. More specifically, we read an LA Times article about the Achuar tribe and their struggle against an oil company. With a little prompting, the students began to read out loud. After finishing the article, Keith started asking the questions. We discussed key terms, such as “Achuar tribe,” “multinational company,” and “indigenous.” At first the students didn’t answer, so I started choosing individuals to at least guess what a particular term meant. A few students started getting a little more involved, even tying the situations from the article to the United States and Native Americans. After that, we spoke briefly on globalization and how increased globalization can sometimes lead to the manipulations of rights for native peoples.
After reviewing the terms, we had the students split into groups of two or three and answer the questions provided on the back of the worksheet. As usual, Keith, Dan, and I started walking around the classroom in case any students had any questions. We provided help with a few questions because the wording was a little confusing, but it was interesting to see how well the students were answering. Compared to our last session, they seemed more experienced and able to cite specific sentences and concepts from the article itself. After about twenty minutes, we had the students take their seats again, and I jumped at the opportunity to write on the board (my favorite!). We spoke about key concepts, but also about potentially confusing terms like “shareholder meetings.” We asked what the kids would do in their situation: if you were faced with someone who wanted to continue taking what was yours, what steps would you take? We asked them whether or not Tomas, the representative from the Achuar tribe, had a right to the land. If so, how could we stop the abuse? I tried to make sure the students realized that the land was the Achuars’ to begin with, but also provided the devil’s advocate viewpoint by saying that if we didn’t take advantage of these lands, then we wouldn’t have substantial fuel/resources for industrialized nations.
Dan then spoke about a more local issue, drawing similarities between the struggle from the article and struggles against corporations here in Los Angeles. I think it was an interesting chance for the students to see that people can make a difference against huge companies, but also, that we are similar to people across the world. We finished up, excited for the next session!

The third session’s topic was “Getting Rid of US Farm Subsidies.”
To be completely honest, I was confident about the topic. I didn’t fully understand what farm subsidies were, and the article was interesting but confusing at times. Luckily, Keith was able to explain it carefully in simple terms, and I laughed because I knew I would explain it the same way to the students.
Like the last few sessions, Keith printed out an article and some worksheets for the kids to complete. We handed them out and walked around the classroom to see if any particular groups of kids needed help. One particular group (I called them my “favorites,” hoping they would get the sarcasm!) seemed to be having difficulty because they were talking too much about unrelated subjects. I laughed along with them, only to separate them so they could get some work done. (Secretly, I enjoyed the power! Haha).
After walking around for a while, I noticed the kids were a bit confused about certain questions. Well, like me, they were confused about the concept of “farm subsidies,” to which I paraphrased Keith’s answer from earlier that morning. I made sure differentiate between subsidies and tariffs, and to outline who benefits and who loses from them. It was good practice to have to explain economic terminology in simpler language, and it actually helped me understand the article better!
In thirty minutes, we rejoined as a larger group for a discussion. We went over the answers, and talked about taxes, tariffs, and subsidies. It was cool to see the kids I had helped raise their hands and answer questions with confidence. We then outlined the four worlds, and asked the kids which aspects of the article corresponded with which world. After, we discussed policies (or the lack thereof) that were implemented to prevent harm on smaller, local farms. In this particular case we were studying, it was obvious that smaller farms were losing, and larger corporations were winning. Furthermore, the public was losing from a limited amount of produce. Keith and Dan were really great and discussing the problem, taking about security and national tariffs/policies that the United States had, as well as how certain countries have more power to implement subsidies than others because of industrialization.
It was a little disheartening to see the students so lackluster… granted, it wasn’t the most interesting topic, but still, the kids spent more energy talking to each other than to us. It got a little frustrating, and I even had to take a cell phone away from a student (from the previously mentioned “My Favorite” group). He was texting his friends, and it was distracting to his classmates around him. Having a younger brother and knowing how boys operate, I took the phone and the next time it buzzed from a text, I “answered” it, pretending it was a call from his mother. I spoke to “her” briefly, explaining how her son wasn’t listening and creating a disturbance and his face was in shock. The entire classroom was silent. I “hung up” and gave him back the phone, and the kids started paying more attention to the worksheet. They eventually learned that I was faking, but it was hilarious to see their reaction to the new “tough” Leah!

Looking forward to our last session! It will be bittersweet.