Philosophy of Government, Day 3 - Class Recap

This is what the inside of the United States Capitol building dome looks like, in Washington, D.C. The Capitol is where Congress meets to debate legislation!

Hi everyone,

Today, we started the Forced Choice activity, which took most of class. There were some really valuable discussions and insights that were shared about how we think the world should operate! Here's the class recap for the day:

Learning Targets: 
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 4: I can explain how different ideological movements and philosophies shape politics.

Soundtrack: "Get Up, Stand Up" by Bob Marley. Selected for today because you were asked to stand up and move around for what you believed in, as related to the debate. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/19/17:
News Brief – Olivia
Review Philosophers
Forced Choice
Reflection

Homework: Read the blog. The next news brief is assigned to Tyler.

News Brief: Olivia selected an article about this story to talk about today: CNN.com - Cohn: Trump still planning to withdraw from Paris climate accord. We talked about the Paris climate agreement in terms of what it is and what role the United States government has in it (as well as President Trump's decision to withdraw from the agreement). Thanks, Olivia! Tyler, you are next up.

Review Philosophers: To begin class, we went through the reading and worksheet from last class, as we continue to learn about the European philosophers whose ideas helped create the U.S. Government. There will be a quiz on this in a couple of classes!

Forced Choice: One of my favorite activities of the year. I had the class answer the following questions and choose YES or NO to each of them. Then, we split up the class so that two sides were facing each other. With each question, students moved to the side they felt best represented their opinion on the matter. The questions were:

1. Giving up some of our rights (like our phones being listened to without a warrant) is necessary for our own protection.
2. People in the United States should be able to have firearms if they want.
3. Government officials should have to approve/sign off on marriages that they are against on religious grounds.
4. Marijuana should be legalized everywhere for recreational use.
5. Public schools should strictly enforce a standardized dress code.
6. Organized prayer in public schools should be allowed.
7. The government of a country should be able to make decisions that the majority of the people do not support.
8. Should the motto “In God We Trust” be removed from our currency?
9. I agree with the death penalty option for convicted murderers.
10. Confederate monuments should be taken down/removed from display.

We only made it through question 4 today, so I will pick and choose next class as to which questions we will discuss and debate, before writing a reflective piece about the experience. I love these discussions and I think we did a great job of following the Ground Rules that we established at the beginning of the year. Thank you for your participation! Be ready to keep talking next time. If you have any further thoughts, please post them in the comments!