Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Semester Finals - Class Recap


Sunset over Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was a great semester, everyone! Thank you for your hard work! Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Today was our last day of actual class for the semester (as it was our scheduled final, next class will be a study hall). We had our final test, reflection on the year, and then talked about life for a while. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
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: "Thankful" by Kelly Clarkson. Selected for today because I always choose this song for the last day of class, since I am so thankful to get to teach you all. Thank you! Lyrics (some of which I read aloud in class) are here.

AGENDA 6/20/17:
News Brief – Ja'Quay
Final Test
Reflection
School's Out

Homework: Read the blog (if you want)! Have a great summer! Let me know if I can help you at any point in the future! :-)
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News Brief: Ja'Quay had the news brief today but was not in class, so I filled in and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - The tour company that took Otto Warmbier to North Korea halts trips for Americans. We discussed this horrific story for a bit in class, before moving on.

I talked in class about the importance of following the news and trying to stay up to date with what is happening in your city, state, country, and world. Knowledge is power! Try to stay plugged in to what is going on, if you can!

Final Test: As promised, this was a cumulative multiple choice final on the work we have done this semester. I anticipate having the grades submitted later this week (final grades are due on Friday at 3:00 PM).

Reflection: The last part to the test was a reflection short answer about how the semester went in Government - what you learned, what you will put into practice in your life, and what you will remember five years from now. I look forward to reading these!

School's Out: The end of class was set aside for study time.

Thank you all so much for being so wonderful to work with. If I don't see you next class on Thursday, take care of yourselves and I hope to see you around! Have a great summer! :-)

Friday, June 16, 2017

Finals Prep - Class Recap


Delicate Arch in Utah. A bridge between this semester and next! Photo taken in 2014.

Hi everyone,

One more week until our last class together before semester finals and I say goodbye to everyone! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
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.

Soundtrack: "Talk" by Coldplay. Selected for today because we continued talking about the role of government through playing Jeopardy. Lyrics here. 

AGENDA 6/16/17:
News Brief – Autumn
Jeopardy Review
Finals Questions?
Study Time

Homework: Read the blog! Study for your final test! Finals are next class, on Tuesday. Next news brief: Ja'Quay.
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News Brief: Autumn had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: ABC.com - Student freed by N. Korea is in a state of unresponsive wakefulness, doctors say. We talked about this story and a little bit about the state of health of the young man, as well as United States policy towards North Korea.

The next news brief was assigned to Ja'Quay.

Jeopardy Review: Another fun session of Jeopardy with the class! This was to review content for the final, next week. If you want to see the slides again, here they are:


Congratulations to Team 1 for coming out on top of the competition! I hope everyone had fun playing.

Finals Review: Here it is (at least, the first page), if you missed class or wanted to see it again:


See you on Tuesday, for finals! Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

State and Local Government, Day 8 - Class Recap


The Painted Hills in Central Oregon. Photo taken in May of 2017.

Hi everyone,

One more class until finals, next week! As such, I did not introduce any new content and I allowed students to work on whatever they wanted as we watched a documentary in class. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
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.

Soundtrack: "So Many Tears" by 2Pac. Selected for today because the documentary was about the tearing apart of America by political lines.

AGENDA 6/14/17:
News Brief – Ziggy
Oregon Occupation
Finals Prep
Questions?

Homework: Read the blog! Study for your final test! Next news brief: Autumn.
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News Brief: Ziggy had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Republican House Whip Steve Scalise, congressional staffer shot in Virginia shooting. This was breaking news as of this morning, and so we tried to understand what happened with this event.

The next news brief was assigned to Autumn.

After the earthquake/fire drill, we also went through the worksheet for Lift Ev'ry Voice (the documentary we watched last class) and talked about what we learned. Thanks for your thoughts here!

Oregon Occupation: This is a PBS Frontline documentary that just came out a couple of weeks ago, on what happened with the recent occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon, and what the protest is about in regards to wanting local control over federal lands. Here it is to watch it again (or if you missed class) you are interested:


I hope you found this interesting!

Finals Prep/Questions: Here it is (at least, the first page), if you missed class or wanted to see it again:


See you on Friday, for Jeopardy review, before finals next week!