Thursday, October 4, 2007

Objectives:
After this class, students will be able to:
1. share a personal experience in front of the class.
2. create priorities from a lengthy list.
3. formulate and share personal opinions.

Agenda:
1. Warm-up: In their notebooks, students should answer the following questions: How were things in our class while I was out? What did you do? How was the substitute teacher?

2. Group share activity: Students will review the writing activities they were assigned to complete while Ms. Kingsbury was out on Tuesday and Wednesday. Each student will choose one item to share with the class. 30 points for speaking.

3. Priorities List: From their list of "100 things to do before I die," students will choose the five most important things that they would like to do. They will add a follow-up reason for choosing each one. Example: Before I die, I want to get married, because I believe that love helps a person to live a long and happy life. Possible follow-up activity to this will be to create mini-posters of "100 Things" - that depends on time.

4. Students will begin a discussion of students' rights, which we will continue through next week. Students will read and discuss issues related to fashion and personal expression:

http://www.ballerstatus.com/article/news/2007/09/3115/printer/

Baltimore Jumps Aboard Baggy Pants Ban?
Wednesday - September 19, 2007
By: Liz "Red" Thomas

Baggy and sagging pants seem to be the latest target to the hip-hop generation.

After a highly-publicized attempt to make it illegal to show your boxer shorts of thongs in Atlanta, Georgia (see "Atlanta Considers Outlawing Sagging Pants"), it seems that Baltimore is one of the latest cities to attempt to follow suit, but they aren't -- at least at the moment -- considering citations.

According to the Baltimore Sun, councilwoman Helen L. Holton has introduced a resolution to implore the city's youths to pull up their trousers, due to adults feeling uncomfortable with the youth exposing their underwear.

"There is a wide sentiment across lines of people in this city that have a problem with young people wearing these baggy, low-hanging pants," Holton told the paper. "They're offended by the fact that they have to look at their underwear.

"Perception is reality. When they see young people out like this, there's a heightened sense of, 'Oh, they must be up to no good. They must be selling drugs. They must be a part of this violent crime that is plaguing the city.' So it sends a very negative message," she continued.

Despite her concerns, other people higher in the city's food chain aren't pressed to force a mandatory law against baggy pants, but do agree with uniforms in schools. "Right now I'm dealing with more, in my opinion, important issues," Mayor Sheila Dixon said. "I believe in uniforms for schools. And that's what I'm pushing. Every kid needs to be in a uniform."

Others like Antonio Gray, a buyer for popular urban chain store DTLR (Downtown Locker Room), told the paper that Holton's proposal to do away with low-dipped pants may have worked better five years ago when the trend was bigger, but nowadays, hip-hop is moving to a "slimmer, sleeker look."

"She's completely late," he said. "My fashion-forward customers are guys who four or five years ago might have had on a jersey or a bigger T-shirt, and today that same guy is going to have on a more form-fitting T-shirt or track jacket with a slimmer jean."

The styles change and so do the ladies' opinions of what looks good on a man and a lot of young women aren't feeling the baggy look any longer. "I don't like the baggy look myself. I don't think it's attractive," 20-year-old Sierra Myers, a senior at Morgan State University, told the Baltimore Sun.

Gray however is concerned when politicians try to legislate fashion, arguing how you can regulate something as general as "baggy pants." "How do you say what's too baggy? Are you going to measure it by the inch? Are you going to measure it by how much underwear is showing?" he asked. "If that's the case, you'll be fining plumbers."

Proposals to ban sagging pants have popped up in several cities over the past few months. At the extreme end, wearing pants low enough to show your underwear in one small Louisiana town means six months in jail and a $500 fine, according to the Associated Press. A crackdown also is being pushed in Atlanta. And in Trenton, getting caught with your pants down may soon result in not only a fine, but a city worker assessing where your life is headed.

Homework: There is no homework assigned for this class tonight.