State and Local Government, Day 5 - Class Recap

Something I care a lot about in our local community is supporting the Portland Thorns women's professional soccer team. I helped paint this banner for the start of last season! Photo taken in 2015.

Hi everyone,

Today was almost entirely devoted to State and Local Project Presentations. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.
Research LT 5: I can effectively conduct and apply research. 

Soundtrack: "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys. Selected for today because students were presenting on what they wanted to have happen in the state/local government. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/26/16:
News Brief – Kourtney
Prep Time
State and Local Presentations
Study Guide

Homework: Read the blog. Start studying for the final! All late work is due by today at the latest (not including the State and Local Project). Next news brief: Chase (no write up needed, just story)

News Brief: Kourtney had the news brief today and selected this post to talk about: PortlandOregon.Gov - Mayor Hales: Priorities and Accomplishments. This was talking about the city of Portland and the current mayor, and what he wants to do with the last year in office. Thanks, Kourtney!

We also checked in about the long weekend, before moving on.

Prep Time: After the news brief, we had some time to prep for the state and local presentations, as I helped multiple students print out their papers. Ugh. Seriously, we had three days in the Computer Labs to do this. Be on top of your stuff.

State and Local Presentations: Thank you for your work and for the class in focusing and respecting the presentations. It was good to see the thought and effort put into these and making possible solutions! I enjoyed hearing all about the ideas for possible solutions in our state and local community! If you have not presented yet, you will be asked to do so next class, probably after the seniors are done with their tests.

Study Guide: The end of class was devoted to checking out the study guide I passed out for final (this was mostly to help out the seniors, who are taking the final next class, on Wednesday):

Google Drive - Government Semester Final Study Guide

Students who were in class also got a more detailed study guide on the back side of this. Come see me if you missed class for this. Thank you! Have a great long weekend!

State and Local Government, Day 4 - Class Recap

Another beautiful place in our amazing State of Oregon: the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn. Photo taken in 2015.

Dear class,

Busy times! Seniors have about a week left in class with us, and today was our last day of in class work on the State and Local project. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.
Research LT 5: I can effectively conduct and apply research. 

Soundtrack: "Battlefield" by Jordin Sparks. Selected for today because the end of the year can feel like a series of battles. Keep working hard, everyone! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/24/16:
News Brief – Alexis
#StandUpFG
State/Local Project
Computer Lab N210

Homework: Read the blog. Your State/Local final project is due to be turned in and presented next class! Seniors: your final for the class is next Wednesday! Next news brief: Stephanie/Kourtney.

News Brief: Alexis had the news brief today, but forgot to bring it, so we moved on to talking about the weekend.

#StandUpFG: After the news brief, we had a great in class discussion about the #StandUpFG walk out at Westview last Thursday, which was related to a banner at Forest Grove High School being hung that said "Build The Wall" (allegedly, it was up for a couple of minutes before it was taken down). As part of this section, we talked about freedom of speech issues at school, student activism, responding to people you do not agree with, and the Westview administration response. Here's the news story that I showed:

KGW.com - 'Build A Wall' banner sparks countywide protest, student reportedly apologizes

I also showed part of Dr. Franco's response to the students that protested, as well as some of the tweets that were posted about the walk out. We then had a really interesting conversation about all of these issues. Thanks, everyone!

State/Local Project: We kept working on this project, which is a two page paper, with at least three MLA citations, about a local issue that you care about. Here's the handout:

Google Drive: State and Local Government Final Project

We went through this together again, and then went to the computer lab.

Computer Lab N210: The rest of class was spent in the computer lab, working on researching for the State and Local project and writing about an issue that you care about in our local community. Next class, you will be presenting about your problem and turning your paper in. Thanks for your hard work, everyone!

State and Local Government, Day 2 and 3 - Class Recap

Note: I will be at the tennis state championship tournament on Friday for Westview, so I will not be in class. Students will be working in S219 Computer Lab with the sub (after checking in and taking attendance in our usual room) on the State and Local Government Project, which was assigned last class (see below). See you next week, on Tuesday! I'm looking forward to discussing #StandUpFG with everyone! :-)

As we continue to work in class on the State and Local project, here is a picture I took in 2014 of Oregon's only National Park: Crater Lake.

Hi everyone,

We began our last major project for the year in today's class! Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.
Research LT 5: I can effectively conduct and apply research. 

Soundtrack: "Joker and the Thief" by Wolfmother. Selected because I search "mother" on my iTunes and this was a good song that came up, because my mom won re-election to Portland City Council last night! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/18/15:
News Brief – Donovan
Election Review
State/Local Project
Computer Lab S210

Homework: Read the blog. Continue working on your State/Local final project! Be good for the sub on Friday - I will be at the state championships for our tennis team! Next news brief: Alexis (on Tuesday).

News Brief: Donovan had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: ChicagoTribune.com - Sanders, Trump win Oregon; Clinton, Sanders in tight Kentucky race. This was a great article to start class with, because it was about the election here last night!

Election Review: We also talked about the election results from the entire state of Oregon, which can be found here:

OregonLive.com - Election Results

Here is the link for Multnomah County election results. My mom, Amanda Fritz, has won re-election to her job as Portland City Commissioner. Yay!

MultCo.us - Election Results

In the primary for local positions (like my mom's), a candidate needs over 50% of the vote in order to be declared the overall winner (no further election needed). If no candidate gets to 50%, then the top two candidates face off in the general election in November.

State/Local Project: After going over the results of the election, we talked about the State and Local government reading and assignment from last class:

Google Drive - State and Local Government Readings/Questions
I then went through the final assignment for the class, which is a two page paper, with at least three MLA citations, about a local issue that you care about. It will be due in class *probably* next Thursday, and you will probably be asked to give a short (like a minute or two) presentation. Here's the handout:

Google Drive: State and Local Government Final Project

We went through this together, and then went to the computer lab.

Computer Lab S210: The rest of class was spent in the computer lab, working on researching for the State and Local project and writing about an issue that you care about in our local community. When I was checking in with students, it appeared that most had a great start as far as selecting issues and beginning to work on the project. Next class, we will be going back to the computer lab to continue working. Please let me know if you have any questions about what to do! See you on Wednesday!

State and Local Government, Day 1 - Class Recap

The beach at Puerto Vallarta, on Christmas Eve, 2015.

Hello everyone,

We started our last major unit of the year today, on state and local government! Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 6: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "The End" by The Doors. Selected for today because we are nearing the end of the school year!

AGENDA 5/16/16:
News Brief – Steven
Review Feedback/12 Angry Men
State and Local Government
Election Night!

Homework: Read the blog. Turn in any missing/incomplete/retakes/revisions by next Thursday. Next news brief: Donovan.

News Brief: We started off class with Steven talking about this article: BostonGlobe.com - Anti-Trump forces in GOP ramp up their efforts. We discussed the current state of the Republican and Democratic primaries for President, as well as why it would certainly be in Trump's interest if Sanders ran as an independent third party candidate (instead of another Republican running, as the article says). We also checked in about the weekend and what people were up to, before moving on.

Donovan was selected to do the next news brief.

Review Feedback/12 Angry Men: Last class, I asked students to provide me with some feedback about how class is going - what is going well, and what can be improved, both for the class, and for me as a teacher. Here are the (very interesting!) results that we went through:

Google Drive - Period 6 Class Feedback PowerPoint

We also reviewed the 12 Angry Men film assignment (I will likely use this as a behavior target grade, just for paying attention), and the answers to the Judicial Branch test.

State and Local Government: For the last part of class, I passed out a reading with questions about our last major unit of the year, on state and local forms of government. Due to the feedback asking that I give more time for assignments, the rest of class was devoted to filling this out:

Google Drive - State and Local Government Readings/Questions

We will go through the answers together next class.

Election Night! This was earlier in class, but because I asked students to follow the election results in Oregon as homework, I am posting about it here. We talked about following the results from the entire state of Oregon, which can be found here (starting at 8:00 PM tomorrow night):

OregonVotes.gov - Election Results

Here is the link for Multnomah County election results, if you would like to join my family in rapidly refreshing the page tomorrow at 8 PM to see if my mom, Amanda Fritz, has won re-election to her job as Portland City Commissioner:

MultCo.us - Election Results

In the primary for local positions (like my mom's), a candidate needs over 50% of the vote in order to be declared the overall winner (no further election needed). If no candidate gets to 50%, then the top two candidates face off in the general election in November.

It's definitely a cool time to be a government teacher! Thanks for your focus and effort today, everyone! See you next class, when we get to talk about the election results!

Citizenship Paper - Class Recap

Today is the start of tennis districts, so I will not be at school tomorrow! Photo taken in 2011.

Dear class,

Today we worked on a one day assignment on citizenship (what it is, how you get it, responsibilities of a citizen, and the naturalization process). Here's what happened today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.

Soundtrack: "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. Selected for today because you should be happy about the upcoming weekend and the end of the year! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/12/16:
News Brief – Xander
Class Feedback
Citizenship Paper
Computer Lab N210

Homework: Read the blog. Finish citizenship paper if you did not in class! Next news brief: Steven.

News Brief: Xander had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: CNN.com - North Carolina, U.S., square off over transgender rights. This happens to be the same story (and article) that Jordan R. brought in last class, and it is of course always good to continue talking about major current event stories.

We also checked in about the weekend - our next class is on Election Day here in Oregon! Hooray!

Class Feedback: I always try to ask students at least once about how class is going and what could be going better. This was anonymous (unless you wanted to put your name on it) feedback based on these questions:

What do you like about this class? What do you think you as students are good at?

What does this class (you, as students) need to improve at?

What do you like about Mr. Fritz as a teacher? What is Mr. Fritz good at as a teacher?

What does Mr. Fritz need to improve at as a teacher?

I look forward to reading your answers and sharing the results with the class next time!

Citizenship Paper: This is meant as a short assignment, just so be able to demonstrate proficiency again with LT 1 and the Research target. Here's the assignment, due at the start of next class:

Google Drive: Citizenship Paper Assignment

Again, I am just looking to see that you can identify and explain the basics of rights and responsibilities as a United States citizen. Thank you for your hard work on this!

Computer Lab N210: The rest of class was spent in N210, working on the citizenship paper. If you did not finish this today in class, it is homework. Get it in to me as soon as you can. Thank you! Enjoy your weekend!

Judicial Branch, Day 7 - Class Recap

Inside a subway station in Washington, DC, where the three branches of our federal government are based. Photo taken in 2010.

Dear class,

We finished the judicial branch today in class, with wrapping up the movie and taking the test! Here's what happened today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Money" by Pink Floyd. Selected for today because trials and lawyers cost a lot of money to run.

AGENDA 5/10/15:
News Brief – Jordan R.
12 Angry Men
Judicial Branch Test
Class Feedback

Homework: Read the blog. Turn in any late/incomplete work. Next news brief: Xander.

News Brief: Jordan R. had the news brief today and talked about this story: CNN.com - North Carolina, U.S., square off over transgender rights. This is an important ongoing news story that directly relates to what we have been talking about in class, with the Department of Justice suing the state of North Carolina over some of the provisions in their recently passed law. Very important to continue to monitor! We also talked about last weekend, before moving on.

Xander was assigned to do the next news brief.

12 Angry Men: Before the test, we finished watching one of the most critically acclaimed movies ever: 12 Angry Men (1957). This is a great way to wrap up the judicial branch unit, as we learn more about the jury process through watching this film. I know it is old and black and white, and I was glad to see that students were paying close attention. Here is the film note-taking assignment, if you missed class or lost your copy:

Google Drive: 12 Angry Men Film Questions

We will wrap this up next class, as I wanted to be sure to give students enough time to finish the judicial branch test in class.

Judicial Branch Test: As promised, 40 questions, multiple choice. It has been an extremely busy week, and I will hope to get these grades get entered ASAP. Thank you for your effort on this! We will start our last unit on State and Local government soon - next class, we will be going to the computer lab to be working on a citizenship paper. See you then!

Judicial Branch, Day 6 - Class Recap

The exterior of the Colosseum in Rome. At the end of gladiator fights, the loser would famously be judged by the emperor. Photo taken summer 2014.

Dear class,

It is always great to see you in the morning before the weekend! It helps brighten my day immensely. Here's what happened today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different branches of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Oye Como Va" by Carlos Santana. Selected for today because of it being Cinco de Mayo (remembering a famous Mexican victory over the French) and because Carlos Santana is an amazing Mexican-American guitarist. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/6/16:
News Brief – Jasmine
Juries
Study Guide
12 Angry Men

Homework: Read the blog. Study for the Judicial Branch test next class! Turn in any late/incomplete work - know your grade and how to improve it. Next news brief: Jordan R.

News Brief: Jasmine had the news brief today and talked about this story: OregonLive.com - Oregon Supreme Court: Injured people can't sue state for more than $3 million, controversial law stands. This is a pretty important ruling, because some damages cost much more than $3 million lifetime to cover (like the case mentioned in the article). A really interesting ruling by our own state Supreme Court. We also checked in about the weekend and what people were up to.

Jordan R. was assigned to do the next news brief.

Juries/Study Guide: Most of class was spent going over many questions about the judicial branch. I also passed out this study guide (the juries reading was on the back side) for preparation:

Google Drive: Judicial Branch Test Study Guide

Google Drive: Reading on Juries for Judicial Branch Test

One of the questions on the test will be (thanks for checking the blog!): In this case the U.S. Supreme Court declared that no one accused of a crime has to stand trial in any court in the land without benefit of counsel unless he or she specifically refuses it.
A. Dred Scott v Sanford C. Gideon v Wainwright
B. Plessy v Ferguson D. Brown v Board of Education

If you aren't sure, guess in the comments and I will tell you what the answer is!

12 Angry Men: To finish class, we started watching one of the most critically acclaimed movies ever: 12 Angry Men (1957). This is a great way to wrap up the judicial branch unit, as we learn more about the jury process through watching this film. I know it is old and black and white, and I was glad to see that students were paying close attention. Here is the film note-taking assignment, if you missed class or lost your copy:

Google Drive: 12 Angry Men Film Questions

We will finish watching this next class, then take the Judicial Branch test! See you then.

Judicial Branch, Day 5 - Class Recap

The flag of the United States, before the Holiday Bowl football game in 2008, which the Oregon Ducks won over the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Today, we had an interesting mock trial on saying the Pledge of Allegiance in class.

Hi everyone,

I really enjoyed the discussions and debates the the mock trials brought up today, and I had the sense that most students did, too. Here's what happened today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Duel of the Fates" from Star Wars. Selected for today because it was May the 4th! Star Wars Day!

AGENDA 5/4/16:
News Brief – Daniel/Konner/Jonny
Mock Trials
The National Judiciary
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog. Get any late work in ASAP to improve your grade. Next news brief (no write up needed, just talk about it): Jasmine.

News Brief: Jonny had the news brief today and talked about John Kasich dropping out of the race for the Republican nomination for president. We had an extended check in at the start of class about Ted Cruz dropping out of the race for the nomination, as well. This means that Donald Trump will almost certainly be the Republican nominee for President of the United States, so we had a long question and answer session about that, where I talked about how both Clinton (to a lesser extent) and Trump are quite unpopular overall. What a strange and interesting time in analyzing what is going on with our government! Thanks for the discussion!

Jasmine was assigned to do the next news brief.

Mock Trials: We had a really excellent discussion on the issues: school segregation, drug searches at school, and saying the Pledge of Allegiance in class. Please complete the rest of your mock trial packet, if you did not in class! Here are the actual results of the cases, with audio of the arguments, if you are interested:

Case #1: Oyez.org - Morse v. Frederick

Case #2: Oyez.org - Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1

Case #3: Oyez.org - Safford Unified School District v. Redding

Case #4: Oyez.org - Elk Grove United School District v. Newdow

We finished all the cases within the class! Thank you for participating in this - I thought it was a pretty cool activity and I was glad to see students engaged in trying to answer these important legal questions.

The National Judiciary/Work Time: I passed out this handout, so students could read and review them to prepare for the upcoming test. I will see how it goes next class with going through these, but the test will be on this reading, as well as the Supreme Court cases that we have been studying.

Google Drive: The National Judiciary Readings and Questions

Please keep working on this! Sound good? Let me know if you have any questions I can answer! Thanks again for an enjoyable class this morning! :-)

Judicial Branch, Day 4 - Class Recap

Today in class, I showed students my ballot (not filled out) for the upcoming May primary! Here's my mom, Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, at a parade in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Welcome back from your weekend! I enjoyed starting the mock trials today in class. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different branches of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. Selected for today because of the teen spirit involved in Morse v. Frederick, the recent PRIDE assembly, and because we have made it to May together! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/2/16:
Ballot/News Brief – Dasha
Mock Trial Prep
Present Cases
The National Judiciary

Homework: Read the blog. Look at your grade and improve it, if possible! Next news brief: Daniel/Konner/Jonny.

News Brief: Dasha had the news brief today and talked about this story: CNN.com - Bernie Sanders: Not 'impossible' to topple Clinton in Democratic race. This was an interesting look at how Bernie Sanders is continuing his campaign for president, despite being pretty far behind in both the pledged delegate and "super" delegate counts for the Democratic Party nomination. We also talked for a bit about Indiana's Republican primary tomorrow.

I also opened my ballot in front of the class and talked about the process for voting in Oregon. So cool to be able to vote for my own mom!

If you are 17 and not already registered to vote, here's the online enrollment form:

Oregon Secretary of State: Voter Registration

Yay for participating in our democracy! :-)

Mock Trial Prep: I gave the class about 20-25 minutes to finish preparing to present the four cases in the mock trial. Again, I know this was somewhat complicated, but I think we got the hang of it eventually!

Present Cases: During class, we were only able to get through the first case. The first was Morse v. Frederick, involving the humorous (but serious Constitutional issue) of a student holding a "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" sign outside of a school in Alaska as an Olympic torch relay went by. In class, the judges found 4-1 for Frederick (the student) in being able to do this as protected free speech. In the actual case, the judges ruled for Morse. Here is the overview:

Oyez.org - Morse v. Frederick

That was it for the day! Next class, we will do the last three trials and then move on with the rest of the judicial branch unit. Remember to hang on to all of your mock trial materials and notes - you will be turning them in! See you Wednesday!