Exam review

Today in Human Geography, the class reviewed the test. Mr. Schick basically told us the topics that will be on the test. According to the link on Mr. Schick's blog, the test topics are: Excellence, Thinking Geographically, Population, Migration, and Close Reading. The topic 'Excellence' will be on A letter to Garcia, Elbert Hubard, Socrates, and ancient Greeks. The next topic which is 'Thinking Geographically', will be on maps, cartography, time zones, and CIA World Factbook. The third section of the exam will be on 'Population', which is on population pyramids, crude birth rate, crude death rate, RNI, TFR, immigration/emigration, NMR, push forces, pull forces, developed nations, and developing nations. The fourth section of the exam will be on 'Migration' which is on demographic transition, Han's Rosling's video, and the Industrial Revolution. The last and final section of the exam will be on 'Close Reading' which includes reading an essay on the topic of immigration, and there will be 10 questions to test our comprehension of the essay. I really hope that I get the grade that I want on the exam, because I need to boost my grade for this subject. That is all we did today in class. 

Working on essays: Day 2

Today in Human Geography, Mr. Schick gave us more time to work on the essays. I had already started my essay yestreday and have completed most of it. I chose option B, to write about. On Mr. Schick's blog, we have to "consider our studies of immigration, push and pull forces, quotas, asylum, legal and illegal imigrants, civil rights and human rights, and the current state of our nation. Then, thoughtfully answer these questions: What are different ways in which United States immigration policy has evolved over the last 100 years? What are the positive and negative effects of these polices? What immigration policies would you recommened the U.S implement right now, and what would be the effects (both positive and negative) of your policies?" The most questions I have answered in the option was up to "What are the positive and negative effects of these policies?" That is mostly all we did today in class.

Working on essays!

Today in class, we worked on our essays. Since Mr. Schick wasn't present, so we had a substitute. Our substitute was the teacher Mrs. Gauthier, she instructed that we work quietly. I decided to complete my blog first, then work on the essay. The blog is due today by 12, and the essay is due by this friday at the beginning of class. Unfortunately, I haven't started the essay for the exam, because I have been working and studying for other subjects that were due sooner than the essay. I do hope to start it today and get most of it done. Mr. Schick just entered a grade for the migration test, and I really wish that I did better on it. I just really want to have at least a B by the end of the second quarter. I also hope that I can do some sort of test retake or correct the test for extra points.

Test day!

Today in class, we took the test on migration. Before this class had happened, I was really busy with studying for other tests and quizzes. Also I have been preparing for exams, and starting on the essay for Human Geography. I hope that I did well on that test, I studied for an hour on it. It seemed pretty easy to me and I knew most of the answers to the questions. The only part on the test that I had trouble with was the mathcing section of it. I have been really trying to boost my grade up to the grade that I want. I hope that this test won't bring me down a letter grade, hopefully my letter grade will either stay the same or go up. I will also work on the essay for the exam later today, at first, it seemed a little confusing, and still is, but hopefully I will eventually get that essay turned in on time. That is all we did today in class.

Notes on presentation

Today in class, we took more notes on the slide presentation. I will be blogging about my notes. Some of the topics in my notes were: 'Unauthorized Immigration' and 'Attitudes Toward Immigrants'. The first section of notes was on 'Unauthorized Immigration'. Mexico's border with the United States. View from the U.S recognized motives that compel unauthorized immigrants to enter illegally. Employment opportunities. Family reunification. Better way of life. View from Mexico is more complex. Residents of northern Mexico wish for compassion to be shown to unauthorized immigrants. Residents of southern Mexico are less tolerant because of number of unauthorized immigrants entering Mexico from Guatemala. The next and last section of notes is on 'Attitudes Toward Immigrants'. Immigration by U.S citizens are ambivalent in nature. Border patrol. They would like more effective border control, but they don't want to spend more money to solve the issue. Workplace. Most recognize that unauthorized immigrants take jobs from U.S citizens, but they understand most citizens couldn't take the jobs, so they support a path to U.S citizenship for these unauthorized immigrants. Civil rights. U.S citizens favor letting law enforcement officials stop and verify the legal status of anyone, but they fear civil rights will be infringed upon the U.S citizens as a result of racial profiling. Local initiatives. Polls suggest U.S citizens believe unauthorized immigration is a pressing matter to the nation, but it should only be dealt with at the federal level and not the local level. Many were opposed to Arizona's 2010 law that obligated foreigners to carry a proof of citizenship with them at ALL times. More than 100 countries across the nation support additional rights for unauthorized immigrants such as a movement is known as "Sanctuary City". Immigration concerns in Europe. Population growth in Europe is fueled by immigration from other regions of the world, a trend disliked by many Europeans. Biggest fear is that host country's culture will be lost, because immigrants: adhere to different religions, speak different languages, practice different food and other cultural habits. Hostility to immigrants has become a central plank of some political parties in many European countries. Immigrants blamed for crime, unemployment rates and high welfare costs. Europeans as emigrants. Inhospitable climate for immigrants in Europe is especially ironic. Europe was the source of most of the world's emigrants during the 19th century. Most Europeans fear losing their cultural heritage to that of new immigrants. Characteristics of migrants. Ravenstein noted: most long-distance migrants are male. Most long-distance migrants are adult individuals rather than families with children. Most long-distance migrants are young adults. 

Taking notes on slide presentation

Today in class, Mr. Schick had us take notes on the slide presentation. Some of the notes I took were on 'Controlling Migration', and 'Unauthorized Immigration'. The first set of notes was on 'Controlling Migration'. Countries have adopted selective immigration policies. Preference shown for specific employment placement and family reunification. Passing the Quota Act in 1921 and the National Orgins Act in 1924 by the U.S congress marked the end of unrestricted immigration to the U.S. More people seek admission to the U.S than is permitted by the quotas, thus preferences are shown toward: Family reunification, Skilled workers, and Diversity. The next topic of notes is on 'Unauthorized Immigration'. Unauthorized immigrants are those who enter a country without proper documents. Characteristics of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S are Source of a country, and Children. Years in the United States, duration of residency has increased for unauthorized immigrants. In 2010, 35% of adults had been in the U.S for at least 15 years. Labor Force. Approximatley 8 million unauthorized immigrants are employed in the U.S. Distribution. Texas and California have the largest number of unauthorized immigrants. That is mostly all I took notes on in class today.

Note taking

Today in class, Mr. Schick handed out a packet to each student in the class. We were given instructions to take notes on the packet and highlight the context that we thought was most important. The packet was called 'Why Do Migrants Face Challenges'? Here are some of the notes that I took. The first topic was named 'Government Immigration Policies'. The two reasons that most visas are granted are four sepcific employment placement and family reunification: The U.N. classifies countries according to four types of immigration policies- maintain the current level of immigration, increase the level, decrease the level, and no policy, similarly, emigration policies are identified by the same four classes. Accoring to the U.N, 21 countries seek more immigrants, 32 want fewer immigrants, 116 wishes to maintain the current level, and 25 don't have a policy. The U.N. considers 67 countries to have policies that encourage more highly skilled immigrants and 14 countries to be encouraging greater family unification. The U.N. found policies to increase emigration in 18 countries. Decrease emigration in 46 countries. Maintain the current level in 43 countries, and 88 with NO policy. The second topic was, 'Unauthorized Immigration'. People who enter without proper documents are called unauthorized immigrants. Unauthorized Immigrant- is the term preferred by academic oberservers, including the authoritative Pew Hispanic Center, as a neutral team. Undocumented Immigrant- the term preferred by some of the groups that advocate for more rights for these individuals. Illegal alien- is the term preferred by some of the groups that favor tougher restrictions and enforcement of immigration laws. Distribution- California and Texas have the largest numbers of unauthorized immigrants. Nevada has the highest percentage. That is all the notes that I took today in class. 

More debates!

Today, we didn't do much in class besides take more notes on the podcast. We also started a little bit of a debate in class as well. One topic that we chose to debate was on whether police forces should use tear gas during protests, in case they get out of control. Tear gas is gas that causes severe irritation to the eyes, chiefly used in riot control to force crowds to disperse. Now I was a little on the fence, about this topic because I think you shouldn't use tear gas in protests/riots because they don't need to fight violence with more violence. Another reason they shouldn't use this is because, this can possibly kill someone who may have breathing problems. On the other hand, I do think this is a good weapon to use in riots or protests because, it can easily get any people out of the infected area without much violence. That is basically all we did today in class, besides our blog.