As part of the Legislative simulation today in class, I played the role of the President of the United States. Here I am in front of the White House, where the President lives in Washington, D.C. in 2010 (when I had a beard!).
Dear class,
I enjoyed the bill simulation today! As usual, there was also a lot of work in going through information about the Legislative Branch. Thank you for your focus and effort! Here's the recap for today:
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: "Rhapsody in Blue" by Leonard Bernstein. Selected for today because the legislative process is long, like this song. No lyrics, but listen here.
AGENDA 10/25/16:
News Brief – Roman
Review Congress Work
Legislative Simulation
Washington's Gridlock
Homework: Read the blog. Continue working on the Washington's Gridlock article and related questions. Next news brief: Shaelin.
News Brief: Roman had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: QZ.com - Salma Hayek is the latest woman to complain about Trump’s advances. Roman's theory was that this would not really impact the race, since Trump's supporters seem very committed at this point. We checked in about the presidential race and latest odds. I also showed my official 2016 ballot, which I will fill out after showing my classes. Hopefully you enjoyed checking it out!
Shaelin was randomly selected for the next news brief. We also checked in about the weekend and anything interesting happening (I am still tired from the weekend in the Bay Area!) before moving on.
Review Congress Work: The past two classes, we have been working on these handouts. First, Oregon reps in Congress:
We also looked at the demographics of the current representatives in congress:
Shaelin was randomly selected for the next news brief. We also checked in about the weekend and anything interesting happening (I am still tired from the weekend in the Bay Area!) before moving on.
Review Congress Work: The past two classes, we have been working on these handouts. First, Oregon reps in Congress:
We also looked at the demographics of the current representatives in congress:
Here is a link to the website/pdf document that has the answers:
We went through most of the answers as a class, then I told students to keep them to prepare for the upcoming Legislative Branch test.
Legislative Simulation: Again, I really liked this. I split up the class into the House of Representatives and Senate (which had less students in it, because that's how it really works), then again into different committees. I then passed out all the ideas for bills that students gave me at the end of last class, to debate. The committees debated the ideas for bills, then chose what they thought was the best one to propose to their chamber of Congress, by answering these questions:
What are you proposing?
Who will it impact?
When will it begin or end?
Where (which states) will be impacted?
Why should this bill pass?
How much will it cost?
After the full House and full Senate debated the two bills that were put forward by the committees, they chose one bill each to vote on and send over to the other part of Congress. This ended up being a bill on raising the minimum wage and one lowering the amount of time that someone with a new driver's license cannot have a friend in the car.
Both sections of Congress debated the bills, changed them, then voted on them, sending them back to the other side (this would now be the conference committee). Eventually, we had a few bills pass into law! So good!
Acting as President of the simulation, I signed the bill into law, with the pen that Governor Kate Brown used to sign the highway safety legislation that was enacted after my dad was killed in 2014.
What are you proposing?
Who will it impact?
When will it begin or end?
Where (which states) will be impacted?
Why should this bill pass?
How much will it cost?
After the full House and full Senate debated the two bills that were put forward by the committees, they chose one bill each to vote on and send over to the other part of Congress. This ended up being a bill on raising the minimum wage and one lowering the amount of time that someone with a new driver's license cannot have a friend in the car.
Both sections of Congress debated the bills, changed them, then voted on them, sending them back to the other side (this would now be the conference committee). Eventually, we had a few bills pass into law! So good!
Acting as President of the simulation, I signed the bill into law, with the pen that Governor Kate Brown used to sign the highway safety legislation that was enacted after my dad was killed in 2014.
Washington's Gridlock: I think this is an important story to learn about, with why many people are very frustrated with the United States government, in that not much of consequence seems to get done. Here is the reading we did in class:
Here are the questions that go along with the article:
As part of the article, we will talk about redistricting and gerrymandering contributing to inaction in Congress. Here's an interesting article about the most gerrymandered congressional districts in America.
We will finish this up next class. Thank you very much!
Here are the questions that go along with the article:
As part of the article, we will talk about redistricting and gerrymandering contributing to inaction in Congress. Here's an interesting article about the most gerrymandered congressional districts in America.
We will finish this up next class. Thank you very much!
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