Philosophy of Government, Day 4 - Class Recap

The Parthenon, which is a part of the Acropolis in Athens. We learned today about Greek democracy influencing the United States government! Photo taken in July, 2014.

Dear class,

Thank you for your participation in what we are working on in class. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets:
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: "GDFR" by Flo Rida. Selected for today because it was Going Down For Real when the United States declared independence from Great Britain.

AGENDA 2/16/18:
News Brief - Lucas
Finish Forced Choice
Reflection
European Influences

Homework: Read the blog. Study for philosophy and European influences quiz next class. Next news brief: Patrick.

News Brief: Lucas had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: CNN.com - Obama calls for 'common-sense gun safety laws' after Florida school shooting. We obviously needed to talk about this story anyway, so I am glad Lucas decided to bring it in. I talked about this recent New York Times article about how to potentially reduce gun shootings: NYTimes.com - How to Reduce Shootings. Thank you for the discussion in class, everyone.

Patrick has the next news brief. We also checked in about the weekend and what people were up to, before moving on.

Finish Forced Choice: I wanted to give the class time to finish some of the debate from last class. 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. It should be illegal for a baker to refuse to make a wedding cake for a same sex couple, based 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. The death death penalty should be an option for punishment of convicted murderers.
10. Confederate monuments should be taken down/removed from display.

Here are two articles that are relevant to the conversation, if you are interested in reading more:

OregonLive.com - Can Oregon afford the death penalty?

SeattleTimes.com - ‘In God We Trust’ sign hangs in Clark County Council room

The prompt after the activity was this: Write a one page reflection on the activity. What was the most difficult or controversial question for you? Why? How do these sorts of questions relate to the study of government? What did you think of this activity?

The learning targets being assessed for this one are: Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing AND Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.

If you did not finish this one page reflection in class, please treat it as homework. Thank you!

European Influences: In order to progress up to the Declaration of Independence, we first had to look at some of the key ideas that influenced the foundation of our country. This was a four page reading and some associated questions, that I gave some work time in class for. If you missed class, or lost your copy, here they are again to see and study for the quiz next class:

Google Drive - European Influences on the United States Government Reading

Google Drive - European Influences Reading Questions

Use this reading and your answers to study for the upcoming quiz, next class!

Thanks for your work and effort in class, and for doing your homework in reading the blog! :-)