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!