Political Spectrum - Class Recap

The African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C. The soldiers are carrying guns, which relates to the Second Amendment! Photo taken in 2010.

Hi everyone,

We had another good day in class today about the Second Amendment to the Constitution and looked at the political spectrum. Here's what happened:

Learning Targets Addressed:

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

Soundtrack: "Be Prepared" from The Lion King. Selected for today because I was hoping students would have right answers on the Constitution test, and because we are continuing to learn about the Bill of Rights.

AGENDA 3/7/18:
News Brief - Carlos
Constitution Test
Political Spectrum
Second Amendment

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Joshua.
--
News Brief: Carlos had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about with the class: CNN.com - Top economic adviser Gary Cohn leaves White House in wake of tariff rift. We discussed this story for a bit in class.

We also talked a bit about what we were up to outside of class, before moving on.

Joshua was selected for the next news brief.

Constitution Test: As promised! I hope that this went well for everyone. I will try to have them entered in the gradebook ASAP. The first 10 questions were about the philosophy of U.S. Government, and the second 10 questions were about the branches of government/checks of power.

Political Spectrum: I went over the political spectrum in class, which was most of this PowerPoint:

Google Drive - Political Spectrum PowerPoint

Please be familiar with the various different philosophies on the political spectrum, and where they are on the line from left to right, in relation to each other!

Here's the link to the Political Compass test I showed at the end of the PowerPoint. Try it yourself and let me know what you get!

Second Amendment: We will go into this in depth next class. See you then!

Political Spectrum - Class Recap

The African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C. The soldiers are carrying guns, which relates to the Second Amendment! Photo taken in 2010.

Hi everyone,

We had another good day in class today about the Second Amendment to the Constitution and looked at the political spectrum. Here's what happened:

Learning Targets Addressed:

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

Soundtrack: "Be Prepared" from The Lion King. Selected for today because I was hoping students would have right answers on the Constitution test, and because we are continuing to learn about the Bill of Rights.

AGENDA 3/6/17:
News Brief - Genevieve
Constitution Test
Political Spectrum
Second Amendment

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Jason.
--
News Brief: Genevieve had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about with the class: CNN.com - President Donald Trump signs new travel ban, exempts Iraq. We discussed this story and the implications of this travel ban in the United States.

We also talked a bit about the weekend, before moving on.

Jason was selected for the next news brief.

Constitution Test: As promised! I hope that this went well for everyone. I will try to have them entered in the gradebook ASAP. The first 10 questions were about the philosophy of U.S. Government, and the second 10 questions were about the branches of government/checks of power.

Political Spectrum: I went over the political spectrum in class, which was most of this PowerPoint:

Google Drive - Political Spectrum PowerPoint

Please be familiar with the various different philosophies on the political spectrum, and where they are on the line from left to right, in relation to each other!

Here's the link to the Political Compass test I showed at the end of the PowerPoint. Try it yourself and let me know what you get!

Second Amendment: To continue our look at the Bill of Rights, we started watching the "Gun Nation" episode of the "30 Days" documentary series. I asked students to note Pro and Con arguments for gun rights. We will finish watching this next class, and move on to looking in depth at some of the other amendments. Thanks, everyone!

Philosophy of Government, Day 2 - Class Recap

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Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is where the United States Constitution was debated and signed. We did some debating today in class and will continue to do so next time!

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the excellent discussions today in class and for reading the blog! Here's what happened:

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: “I Think of You" by Renaissance. Selected for today because 1) the philosophers we are talking about did a lot of thinking, and 2) the renaissance was an important period for changing views about how government should work. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/16/16:

News Brief – Jayden
Finish Notes

Philosopher Reading

Forced Choice

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Saja.

News Brief: Today's news brief was assigned to Jayden, who selected this article to talk about: TheGuardian.com - Edward Snowden makes 'moral' case for presidential pardon. We talked about this interesting case, as far as Snowden, the NSA, and his current exile from the US government in Russia, along with what a presidential pardon is, during class! Thanks, Jayden!

Saja was assigned the next news brief.

Finish Notes/Philosopher Readings: After reviewing the PowerPoints from last class, I passed out this reading about the four philosophers and a handout to answer with the reading, that asked you to summarize the different ideas for the purpose of government, the role of government in people's lives, and ideas that are included in the current U.S. government. Here they are again if you lost your copy or missed class today:

Google Drive: Philosophers of Government Reading

Google Drive: Philosophers of Government Handout

We went over the answers in class and reviewed who Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau were and what they thought about the role of government. Keep these answers to review for an upcoming test!

Here's the link to the Political Compass test if you want to take it!

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. The Second Amendment means that everyone in the US has the right to have any firearms that they want.
3. Same-sex marriage should be legal everywhere and government officials should have to recognize 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 for convicted murderers.
10. Colin Kaepernick should be able to take a knee during the national anthem if he wants and not face any team or legal consequences.

We only made it through question 2 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!

Philosophy of Government, Day 1 - Class Recap

The ball of yarn that we used in class today for the Class Unity Activity! Thanks for participating in this!

Dear class,

I enjoyed getting to know you all a bit better today! We had a productive time with the yarn activity and learning more about the philosophy of 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 4: I can explain how different ideological movements and philosophies shape politics.

Soundtrack: "Comin' From Where I'm From" by Anthony Hamilton. Because today, we talked about where we are from and how we got to be at Westview, via our family background. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/14/16:
News Brief - Max
Finish Fear
Class Unity Activity
Philosophy

Homework: Read the blog and post a comment (if you have not already). Jaden has the next news brief.

News Brief: Max had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: NYTimes.com - Senate Democrats Block Zika Bill Over Planned Parenthood Provisions. We discussed why the Zika bill keeps failing and why Republicans would want to tie Zika research and funding to defunding Planned Parenthood. I also stated that the federal government is barred from providing funding for abortion services. Lots going on here and an important story to follow!

Jaden kindly volunteered to do the next news brief.

Finish Fear: This was left over from last class, in talking about September 11, 2001, and what fear does to people. It's good to try and process what happened after 9/11 with the US government in context.

Class Unity Activity: I always love this, for many reasons. One, because I love hearing about how everyone came to be in our classroom. Two, because of how the yarn connects us all. Three, because it helps the class (and me) learn names and a little about each other! Thank you for participating in this. It can get lengthy, I know, but I value it so much more than just lecturing for that time. :-)

Philosophy: After the activity, we watched this video (which had a LOT of concepts, I know) as another introduction to Government:

Quick, for sure, but good at asking some of the questions we will be looking into and stating the importance of government.

I wanted to start looking at some of the philosophers of government during the Enlightenment period. Here's the PowerPoint we went through (we only did slides 6-8 today - just focus on those for now):

Google Drive: Philosophers of Government PowerPoint

Again, please review and be responsible for knowing the basics of what Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Montesquieu thought about government.

Finally, we ended class with going over the political spectrum in class, which was most of this PowerPoint:

Google Drive - Political Spectrum PowerPoint

Please be familiar with the various different philosophies on the political spectrum, and where they are on the line from left to right, in relation to each other!

Here's the link to the Political Compass test at the end of the PowerPoint. Try it yourself!

See you on Friday! :-)

The Political Spectrum - Class Recap

The African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C. The soldiers are carrying guns, which relates to the Second Amendment! Photo taken in 2010.

Hi everyone,

We had another good day in class today about the Second Amendment to the Constitution and looked at the political spectrum. Here's what happened:

Learning Targets Addressed:

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

Soundtrack: "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado. Selected for today because I was hoping students would have right answers on the Constitution test, and because we are continuing to learn about the Bill of Rights. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 2/29/16:
News Brief - Renee
Constitution Test
Political Spectrum
Second Amendment

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Chase.
--
News Brief: I had the news brief today (because Renee was absent) we so discussed the past weekend, and looked forward to tomorrow's "Super Tuesday" primary election, which will go a long way in determining the Democratic and Republican nominees for president.

Chase volunteered for the next news brief.

Constitution Test: As promised! I hope that this went well for everyone. I will try to have them entered in the gradebook ASAP. The first 10 questions were about the philosophy of U.S. Government, and the second 10 questions were about the branches of government/checks of power.

Political Spectrum: I went over the political spectrum in class, which was most of this PowerPoint:

Google Drive - Political Spectrum PowerPoint

Please be familiar with the various different philosophies on the political spectrum, and where they are on the line from left to right, in relation to each other!

Here's the link to the Political Compass test I showed at the end of the PowerPoint. Try it yourself!

Second Amendment: To continue our look at the Bill of Rights, we started watching the "Gun Nation" episode of the "30 Days" documentary series. I asked students to note Pro and Con arguments for gun rights. We will finish watching this next class, and move on to looking in depth at some of the other amendments.