Continuing the Game

On Friday when we all got to class, Mr. Schick wasn't here! We waited till after the announcements and he still did't show up! We found out that Mr. Torres was our teacher for the day. We were not sure why Mr. Schick wasn't in class but I think we will find out the next time we have class. Since Mr Torres was our teacher he was assigned to tell us that we had to continue playing the game we were playing the other day in class. We got to work in groups which I was happy about. I was also happy because when I looked on Mr. Schick's blog I found out that if we got a bad grade on our world leaders test we got to retake it! Over the weekend I checked all of my notes and made sure that I had all the information I needed so I can't get any questions wrong this time. I'm going to make sure that I read all of the questions more carefully this time also so I don't make any silly mistakes.

The Emmy Award

Today was a lot more special than the other human geo classes I've had. I got to hold an emmy today! A man who has won several awards was here in our school today! It was really cool because Mr. Schick brought it in and we were allowed to take pictures of us with it on our phones. I got a picture with Hailey and I and also with Stephanie, Carly, Jazz, Sarah, Payton and Steven! I've never seen an emmy and it was so awesome to see one today and also hold it! After we finished taking pictures we played a game that was on Mr. Schick's blog that had to do with microfinance. I thought that was pretty cool too because we got to work in a group or with a partner. I never thought today I would get to hold and see an Emmy award! I thought it was really awesome and something I won't forget.

Open Notes Quiz Returned

We took a little break from learning about microfinance to go over our test on the world leaders that we got back. I did not do as well as I thought I did. I still passed which I am happy about but I didn't get a very high grade like I was expecting. Some of the questions I got confused on because when it asked for the country I put the leader. I think I should have read the questions more clearly. I had all of the information I needed but what also threw me off was the world map. I got one or two questions wrong because it was hard to tell which country on the map they were talking about. I was still really happy that I got more time to finish my test completely. That definitely helped with my grade because if I did not have extra time I would have gotten a really bad grade! I wasn't happy with the grade I got on this test but next time I will read the questions more clearly so I won't make the silly mistakes I made this time.

Microfinance

 Microfinance- this is a term used to describe financial services to low income people or those who don't have access to a banking service. It is also the provision to financial services such as loans, insurance, savings and training to people who live in poverty.

Many people and communities are using microfinance successfully because it's a way to fight off poverty in rural areas. It puts savings, credit, insurance and other basic financial services within the reach of the people living in poverty. Through microfinance many institutions can have small loans, receive money from relatives that are working and safeguarding their savings. It is used for entrepreneurs and small businesses lacking access to related services or a bank. One of the places where microfinance is used is Southern Africa. It is used to supply financial services to the low- income employees. Mirofinance is a wide category of services which includes microcredit. Microcredit is a provision that is given to poor, low income clients.

Thursday's Test

We had the play on Thursday and that means our classes were a lot shorter! I liked having short classes but we had a test in Human Geo. I had all my notes prepared but since our class was short I couldn't finish. I was really upset I couldn't finish because if I had a little more time, I think I would have finished. Other people in my class didn't either and I wish we had more time. The questions I did finish I think I got correct! Hopefully I got a decent grade but I don't know if I will pass since I didn't have enough time to finish. The next time we have a short class I will get to class a lot faster so I will have more time to be able to finish.

Test Tomorrow!

THE WORLD LEADERS:
(Afghanistan) Hamid Karzai- opposed government

• Afghanistan is an Islamic republic 
• He emerged as a resistance leader under Taliban rule and worked to undermine the regime.
• He is well versed in several languages, including his native Peshto, Persian, Hindi, French and English. (speaks 5 different languages) 
• Several times in 2001, Karzai warned the United States that the Taliban were connected with al Qaeda and that there was a plot for an imminent attack on the United States, but his warnings went unheeded.  

(Brazil) Dilma Rousseff- strong background in economics 
Dilma-opposed government 

• Brazil is a federal republic 
• She opposed Brazil’s military dictatorship of the 1960s and ‘70s, and served three years in prison, where she was repeatedly tortured.
• She has been divorced twice.
• She has a degree in economics, and now rules the country with the eighth-biggest economy in the world
• She underwent chemotherapy for lymphoma in 2009, and is now in remission.

(China) Xi Jinping 

• China is a communist state
• Xi Jinping is the son of revolutionary veteran Xi Zhongxun, one of the Communist Party's founding fathers.
• He married folk singer Peng Liyuan, who also holds the rank of army general, in 1987. To many in China, Ms. Peng was the better-known half of the couple before Xi Jinping became leader of the Communist Party.
• The couple have a daughter named Xi Mingze, who is studying at Harvard University in the US.

(France) Francois Hollande 

• France is a republic 
• Hollande has no previous experience in a national government position.
• The mother of his four children is Ségolène Royal, with whom he shared a 30-year relationship.
• He was born in 1954 in the city of Rouen to an extreme-right physician father and progressive social worker mother.  

(Germany) Joachim Gauck, Angela Merkel 

• Germany is a federal republic 
• Graduated from University of Leipzig in 1978 with a degree in physics and physical chemistry; earned a PhD in quantum chemistry from the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin in 1986
• Has been Chancellor since November 2005 (Angela Merkel)
• Merkel has earned the top spot on the FORBES list of Most Powerful Women In The World for eight of the past 10 years.

(India) Pranab Mukherjee- has a strong background in economics 

• India is a federal republic 
• He taught Political Science at the Vidiyanagar College, and worked as a journalist before entering politics.
• Mukherjee was rated as one of the best finance ministers of the world in 1984 and was adjudged the best parliamentarian in 1997.
• He had a conflict with Rajiv Gandhi (who took over as Prime Minister from his mother Indira after she was assassinated in 1984) and started his own party – Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress.

(Iran) Khamenei and Ruhani- opposed country's government (khamenei)

• Iran is a theocratic republic-members of a religion are the rulers, and they use a holy book as a book of laws
• In 1963, took part in street protests against the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran. After the uprising was quashed, Khamenei was exiled. Khamenei was imprisoned multiple times and, in 1975, was internally exiled to a remote region in southeastern Iran.
• Was elected President of Iran in 1981 and re-elected in 1985.  Became Iran’s Supreme Leader in 1989.
• Mr Rouhani has held several parliamentary posts, including deputy speaker and has also served on the Supreme National Security Council.
• Was just elected President of Iran - June 2013
• He has been openly critical of the outgoing president, saying Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's "careless, uncalculated and unstudied remarks" have cost the country dearly. (Ruhani)

(Israel) Peres and Natanyahu -they belong to Judaism 

• Israel is a parliamentary democracy
• Shimon Peres was born in Belarus. To escape the persecution of Jews there, the family fled to Palestine in 1934.
• When Arab forces launched their attack on the new state of Israel in 1948, Peres was given the chief responsibility for securing military equipment for Israel from abroad.
• Later he organized Israel's nuclear program and is regarded as the father of Israel's atomic bomb.
• As Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres was in charge of the Israeli negotiations during peace talks with the Palestinians.  In the autumn of 1994 he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with his own Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Natanyahu: goes by "Bibi"

• As a child and youth he lived with his family in the US in the years 1956-58 and again in 1963-67
• After his brother Jonathan (Yonni) was killed, in July 1976, in the course of the Entebbe Operation, of which he was one of the commanders, Netanyahu returned to Israel and started to advocate international cooperation in fighting terrorism.
• Quote: "There are those who say that if the Holocaust had not occurred, the State of Israel would never have been established. But I say that if the State of Israel would have been established earlier, the Holocaust would not have occurred."

(Mexico) enrique Pena Nieto

• Mexico is a federal republic 
• managed to get elected in 2012 despite personal scandals involving extramarital affairs 
• He was the eldest of four siblings in a middle-class family; his father, Gilberto Enrique Peña del Mazo, was an engineer for the electric company and his mother, María del Socorro Nieto, a schoolteacher.
• Reports that he fathered two children in extramarital affairs while his wife Monica raised the couple’s 3 children, plus the investigation into the sudden death of his wife at home in 2007, have prompted many to call him the Teflon candidate because trouble seems to slide off him.
• Two years later he announced his engagement to soap opera actor Angelica Rivera.  Rivera became his wife in a star-studded wedding ceremony two years ago and is now the first lady of Mexico. 

(Saudi Arabia) Abdallah 

• Saudi Arabia is a kingdom
• He has fathered 22 children, the youngest when he was 79.
• He is worth approximately 21 billion dollars.
• He was appointed commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard, a post he was still holding when he became king.
• In November 2007, King Abdullah visited Pope Benedict in the Apostolic Palace. He is the first
• Saudi monarch to visit the Pope.  In March 2008, he called for a “brotherly and sincere dialogue between believers from all religions.”
• ruled by leader who is both a king and prime minister 
• In 2011 he granted women the right to vote and run in future municipal elections, the biggest change in a decade for women in a puritanical kingdom that practices strict separation of the sexes, including banning women from driving (the only country in the world with such a ban).

(UK) Cameron and Queen Elizabeth 

• The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and Commonwealth realm
• At the age of seven, the young Cameron was packed off to Heatherdown, a highly exclusive preparatory school, which counted Princes Edward and Andrew among its pupils. Then, following in the family tradition, came Eton, Britain’s top private school.
• His first child, Ivan, who was born profoundly disabled and needed round the clock care, died in February 2009.
• The experience of caring for Ivan and witnessing at first hand the dedication of NHS hospital staff, is said by friends to have broadened Mr Cameron's horizons. He had, friends say, led an almost charmed life to that point.
• Cameron is the youngest Prime Minister (43 when he took office) in over 200 years.
• Elizabeth became queen on February 6, 1952, and was crowned on June 2, 1953.  Her reign has lasted 60 years - and counting.

(Venezuela) Maduro 

• Venezuela is a federal republic
• Nicolás Maduro Moros worked as a bus driver before becoming politically active in the early 1990s.
• Maduro was introduced to Hugo Chávez in 1992, after Chávez and other disenchanted members of the military were imprisoned for an attempted coup and Maduro began campaigning for  Chávez's release. (Chávez was released in 1994 and won election to the presidency four years later.)
• After President Chávez won a third term in October 2012, he selected Maduro to serve as vice president. Maduro worked alongside the outspoken president, serving as one of his closest advisers as well as a loyal spokesman, until Chávez's death at 58 on March 5, 2013, from cancer.

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More Notes On the Leaders

Like our other classes we took notes today. We continued our note taking on the countries leaders. We aren't quite done with our note taking yet but were almost there. Mr. Schick has a power point that he put together with facts about all the leaders. A couple of the notes I already had but some I didn't have and also didn't know about that leader! For example, Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, who is the leader of Saudi Arabia, has 22 children and many wives. His last son was born when he was 79 years old. Also, the leader of Mexico has has two affairs and most of his kids are from different women. We still have a few more countries to go but I think once we are finished taking notes there will be a test coming up soon. It's going to be a lot to remember because there are a lot of leaders and many facts about them. If I start studying in advance I think I will do okay. I need to keep my grade up so that means I have to do well on my tests and quizzes.

Extra Three Points

We took the retake for our test and went over the answers. I ended up doing better than I did last time and then got an extra three points! When we were going over the answers we realized that the computer checking our tests marked a problem wrong when it wasn't! The whole class put A for the answer for number 30 and we all got it wrong. Mr. Schick said that he would change it and we would all get an extra three points. I got an 83 but now I have an 86 because of that! I definitely think that I did a lot better on the retake than I did on the first test. I think for the next test and all the other tests I need to study more because next time I may not get a second chance. I was very great full that Mr. Schick let us take a retake but I know I will not get that next time or for every test. I will study a lot more and take very good notes so next time I can do a lot better and keep my grades up.

Facts about the Leaders

Shimon Peres (Israel)

• Shimon is the ninth and current president of Israel
•  He served twice as the Prime Minister and served once as the Interim Prime Minister                            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimon_Peres 

Hassan Rouhani (Iran)

• Hassan is the seventh president of Iran
• On June 14, 2013 he wins the presidential election after having more than 50 percent of the votes

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Rouhani
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/10/world/meast/hassan-rouhani-fast-facts/

Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (Saudi Arabia)

•  He is the king of Saudi Arabia and got the thrown August 1, 2005 after the death of his Half-brothe
• Was one of the sons of the founder of (modern) Saudi Arabia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_of_Saudi_Arabia

Nicolas Maduro Moros (Venezuela)

• He used to be the Vice President and also the Minister of Foreign Affairs
•  His occupation is a world leader and Government official

  http://www.biography.com/people/nicol%C3%A1s-maduro-21145011

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A1s_Maduro

Dilma Rousseff (Brazil)

•   She is the first women to hold the office of president of Brazil
•  She has been the president of Brazil since January 1, 2011       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilma_Rousseff

Jean-Marc Ayrault (France)

• Jean-Marc led the French Socialist Party group in the National Assembly from 1997-2012
•  He was appointed the Prime Minister of France on May 16, 2012

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Marc_Ayrault

David Cameron (UK)

•   Is the first lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil service, and Leader of the conservative party
•   He studied Philosophy, Economics, and Politics at Brasenose College, Oxford

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cameron

  Joachim Gauck (Germany)

•  Has been serving as the President of Germany since March 2012
• He is a Lutheran Pastor as well  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim_Gauck

Hamid Karzai (Afghanistan)

•   He is the 12^th and also the current President of Afghanistan
•   He took office on December 22, 200    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamid_Karzai

 Pranab Mukherjee (India)

•  The 13^th president of India
•     He is a senior leader of the Indian National Congress

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pranab_Mukherjee

 Xi Jinping (China)

•  Is the 7^th President of the People’s Republic of China since 2013
• He has been the 6^th Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2012

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping

Enrique Peña Nieto (Mexico)

• He is the 57^th President of Mexico
• Served as governor of Mexico from 2005-2011

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Pe%C3%B1a_Nieto

Political Geography

Mexico

federal republic

leader: Enrique Peña Nieto 

• hasn't been in office for long
• oldest of 4 siblings
• came from a middle class family 
• graduated as a lawyer 
• his wife died as a epileptic episode in 2007 
• he told many people to call him the Teflon candidate because nothing seemed to stick with him (trouble doesn't seem to stick with him)
• had two affairs and kids with different women 
• hes like the JFK of Mexico 
• his wife Monica and him had three kids 

China:

Communist state

Leader: Xi Jinping

• highly educated 
• only received one vote against him 
• married to a famous Chinese singer 
• they have a daughter who is attending Harvard University in the US
• china is a communist state 
• china has control of all the cell towers 
• blocked google 
• he holds a high rank of army general in 1987
• he was the son of the man that founded the communist 

• 
  

India

federal republic

Leader: Pranab Mukherjee

• he was rated as one of the best finance ministers of the world in 1984 and was adjudged the best parliamentarian in 1997
• had a conflict with Idira who was assassinated 
• taught political science at the Vidiyanagar College 
• worked as a journalist 
• wrote many books
• hes one of the best finance ministers in the world 
• taught science at Vineyard College  

Afghanistan

Islamic republic

Leader: Hamid Karzai

• he can speak many different languages 
• he emerged as a resistance leader under Taliban rule 
• he warned the US that the Taliban were connected with al Qaeda and that they were planning to attack the US
• 5 different languages

Germany

federal republic

Leader: Joachim Gauck

• The Chancellor is Angela Merkel 
• Angela Merkel graduated from University pf Leipzig in 1978 
• she is more important 
• has a degree in physics and physical chemistry 
• earned a PhD in quantum chemistry 
• has been chancellor since November 2005 
• has the top spot on the FORBES list of Most Powerful Women In The World
• he warned us about the attacks of 9/11 
• he is married but doesn't own any land or money 

UK

Constitutional monarchy and Commonwealth realm

Leader: David Cameron

• also Queen Elizabeth 
• David is the Prime Minister of the whole UK
• Queen Elizabeth fell in love at the age of 13
• shes been on the thrown for 60 years 
• David is the youngest Prime Minister 
• David has had a very fortunate life 
• his first son had a very sick life and only made it to 6 years old 
• his sons name was Ivan 
• David rides his bike to work
• youngest prime minister in over 200 years (hes 43)
• 
  

France

Republic

Leader: Jean-Marc Ayrault

• headed by Francois Hollande 
• hes for gay rights and tried to push it into France
• married for 30 years with 4 kids then divorced 
• no previous experience in a national government position 
• was a child of parents with totally different political views 

Brazil

Federal republic

Leader: Dilma Rousseff

• had cancer multiple times 
• was tortured for many years 
• married multiple times and divorced twice 
• degree in economics 
• she went to prison 
• the torture didn't make her crack or break down completely 
• divorced a couple times
• has a degree in economics 
• she underwent chemotherapy 

Venezuela

Federal republic

Leader: Nicolas Maduro Moros

• Venezuela has a lot of oil
• the man before Moros (Huge Chaves) wanted to get into a fist fight with President Bush 
• Moros used to be a bus driver 
• after Chaves won third term in October 2012 he was picked to serve as vice president 
• Chaves died on March 5, 2013 from Cancer Moros took over 
• hes only been in office for about 6 months 

Saudi Arabia

Monarchy

Leader:  Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud

• he was the 10th son 
• he is 93 years old 
• he has 22 children 
• he has many wives
• he had the youngest child when he was 79
• he is worth approximately 21 billion dollars 
• probably got his money from oil 
• he was in the national guard 
• in March 2008 he visited Pope Benedict in the Apostolic Palace 
• in 2011 he granted women the right to vote and run in future municipal elections 
• he was in the National Guard 

Iran

Theocratic republic

Leader: Hassan Rouhani

• also ruled by supreme leader Ali Hoseini-Khamenei 
• married to his cousin who is 6 years younger than him 
• when he was younger he too part in street protests against the US-backed Shah of Iran 
• was elected President of Iran in 1981 
• he took part in street protests against 
• has been supreme leader for about 24 years 
• he did not want to be like Ahmadinejad 

MAHAMOUD AHMADINEJAD

• he was crazy and radical 
• he told people that the holocaust did not happen and they were lies 
• thinks that Israel should not exist and the Jews should be taken out and forced to live somewhere else or be killed 

Israel

Parliamentary democracy

Leader: Shimon Peres prime minister is Binyamin Netanyahu  being head of Israel is one of the hardest jobs in the world  they have had armed guards on every flight going in and out of their country  Netanyahu lived in the US as a child and his brother was killed  Peres was given the Nobel Peace Prize  he was born in Belarus he was fled to Palestine in 1934 to escape the persecution of Jews he was given responsibility for securing the military equipment for Israel  he organized Israel's nuclear program  while being Israels Minister of Foreign Affairs he was in charge of the Israeli negotiations  he started peace talks with the Palestinians  BINYAMIN NETANYAHU  his brother was killed in July 1976 in the course of the Entebbe Operation  KNOW: WHAT LEADERS REVOLTED AGAINST THEIR GOVERNMENT  THEOCRACY- GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION ARE ALIKE

Retake Time!

Mr. Schick graded our culture and religion tests and was not happy at all with our grades. Luckily he was very nice and decided to give everyone a second chance! Sections one and two got to retake their tests yesterday and my class got to take ours today! I made sure to write down a couple notes over the weekend that I really needed to remember so I made sure to study them carefully. Once we got the test I made sure to do all of the questions that I knew for certain and then go back and fill in the ones I wasn't so sure about. I made sure to fill in the best answer I thought was right. I was really happy we got a chance to retake the test. I made sure to study and I hope I get a good grade.

Everyone Gets A Second Chance

We took our test on culture and religion on class Friday morning. Walking into class I wasn't sure how I was going to do. I studied the power point and went over my notes but I still wasn't sure how the test would turn out. Unfortunately, for me the test did not go as well as i planned. Mr. Schick was not happy with the tests also with anyone in all three sections. Thankfully, Mr. Schick is letting us retake his test. We have to study the power point and our notes and be extra prepared for the test Monday morning. I am very happy that we are able to retake the test! If we get a better grade on the test the second time then that is what our new grade will be. I hope my studying will pay off this time and hopefully I will get a better grade. I need to make sure to bring my grade up and if I keep studying and doing the work I am supposed to do I think I will be able to do that.