Government, Day 2 - Class Recap

School was canceled yesterday due to snow - nothing like this (in 2008, outside my house), though! 

Dear class,

What a wild week it was! It was so nice to see you on back to back days here at school, since yesterday's A day was canceled by the ice/snow forecast. Again, I really enjoyed the discussion today in class.  Here's what happened in class:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 18: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Communication LT 2:  I can use language and  style that is appropriate to the content area.

Soundtrack: "Let it Go" from the movie Frozen. Selected for today because of the ice (at least, at my house!) that canceled school yesterday. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/14/14:
News Brief – Zacary T.
Forced Choice
Reflection
Forms of Government

Homework: Read the blog. Finish your Forced Choice reflection (see below for assignment). Catch up on any late/incomplete/missing work. Next news brief: Nick

News Brief: Zacary T had the news brief today and selected an article about this story: Space.com - European Probe Survived Comet Landing with Luck and Great Design. We also checked out some of the hilarious responses to Beaverton Schools Superintendent Jeff Rose on twitter: KPTV.com -Beaverton students on superintendent who canceled class: 'Not all heroes wear capes'. I played the VICE "Beyond the Headlines" news clip for today, as well.

Nick was selected to do the next news brief.

Forced Choice: We finished this today - it is 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. These are difficult ethical questions and I am glad that we have the type of classroom culture that students feel able to talk about them! 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 weapons that they want.
3. Same-sex marriage should be legal everywhere.
4. Marijuana should be legalized everywhere for recreational use.
5. Organized prayer in public schools should be allowed.
6. The government of a country should be able to make decisions most of the people do not support.
7. Should the motto “In God We Trust” be removed from our currency?
8. There is only one true, correct, religion in the world.
9. A ban on all guns would reduce crime in the United States.
10. Democracy is always the best form of government for anywhere in the world.

We debated to questions 4-6 today. I love these discussions and I hope that they are engaging and interesting for students, too. It's great to hear people in class say that they are talking about these questions with friends and at home, as well!

Reflection: With about 15 minutes left in class, we stopped the debate, so I could give the assignment, which is important, because we spent most of two days on this activity.

This is due next class: 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?

If nothing was difficult for you to answer, maybe pick one that you felt most passionately about. We will do a short debrief on the activity next class, then move on to learning about the basics of government around the world.

Thanks! Have a great weekend!