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 class for the semester. 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. Especially this year, which was a pretty challenging one, with my dad being killed - it was so helpful to be able to come to class and work with you. Thank you! Lyrics (some of which I read aloud in class) are here.

AGENDA 6/16/15:

News Brief – Alex M.
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: Alex M. had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: LATimes.com - Vigil for drowned teens ends with four shot in downtown Oakland. As part of this article about more gun violence, I talked about last night's filibuster (that lasted for 14 hours!) in the US Senate, in response to the Orlando shooting. I also followed up on Alex B's comment from last class about Muslim countries in regards to gay rights. Here's an interesting map I showed in class: WashingtonPost.com - The state of gay rights around the world.

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 today, but it could possibly be later in the week.

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. Take care of yourselves and I hope to see you around! Have a great summer! :-)

State and Local Government, Day 10 - Class Recap

My mom, Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, came to talk with our class today!

Dear class,

Today was our last day before finals, so we decided to have my mom, Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, come talk about her job, which counted as a Career Related Learning Experience towards graduation requirements! 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: "City of Blinding Lights" by U2. Selected for today because my mom asked for a U2 song as her soundtrack, and she works for the City of Portland, serving all you beautiful people. :-) Lyrics here.

AGENDA 6/13/16:

News Brief – Claire
Study Time
Commissioner Fritz
CRLE Forms

Homework: Read the blog! Study for your final test, which is Thursday at 7:45 AM. Next news brief: Alex M.

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News Brief: Claire had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Orlando club shootings: Full fury of gun battle emerges. The message I was trying to send in class was: 1) It is important to stand with the LGBTQI+ community during this trying time, and to say how valuable and recognized it is. It happens to be Pride weekend in Portland this upcoming weekend (and June is Pride month), with a large parade downtown from 10-1. 2) Furthermore, it's important not to stereotype Islam as a violent religion, focused on killing others. This attack was conducted during the holy month of Ramadan, which we learned about in the religion unit as a time of fasting and prayer for Muslims around the world. 3) We clearly have to do something as a society to stop these sorts of killings. That can be a variety of possibilities, but it seems clear that simply doing nothing will lead to more of these events.

The next news brief was assigned to Alex M, who kindly volunteered.

Study Time: Here is the study guide for the final test (at least, the first page), if you missed class or wanted to see it again:

Google Drive - Government Semester Final Study Guide

Commissioner Fritz: The next part of class was taken by my mom coming to talk about her experience as a Portland City Commissioner. It was great to have her in to talk with us, after we have talked so much about State and Local Government during the past few weeks! Thank you for your interest, focus, and questions! I'm glad that you got to meet my mom!

CRLE Forms: I'm also glad students completed one of the four CRLE forms you need to graduate! :-)

Your final for this class is Thursday at 7:45 AM. See you then!

State and Local Government, Day 9 - Class Recap

The famous "White Stag" building sign in downtown Portland. Photo taken over Winter Break, 2015.

Hi everyone,

It was a busy last day before finals week in class today! Here's what happened in class:

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: "Summertime Sadness" by Lana Del Rey and Cedric Gervais. Selected for today because it is almost summer, but we unfortunately still have plenty of work to do for finals! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 6/9/16:
News Brief – Olivia
Finish Lift Ev'ry Voice
Questions for Commissioner Fritz
Jeopardy Review

Homework: Read the blog. Continue studying for finals! Next news brief: Claire.

News Brief: Olivia had the news brief today and selected an article about this story: NYTimes.com - California Primary Election Results. We discussed the final states voting in the primary process, and what will likely happen next for the nominations of the Democratic and Republican parties.

Finish Lift Ev'ry Voice: We finished watching an excellent recent documentary from OPB, called Lift Ev'ry Voice. If you want to watch again, share, or get caught up, it is here:

OPB.org - Portland Civil Rights: Lift Ev'ry Voice

Here is the worksheet that goes along with the documentary:

Google Drive: Lift Ev'ry Voice Documentary Questions

I think it is super important that we understand our own history regarding race in Portland, especially as I think there are some common assumptions that are just not true. As such, I was glad to see that almost everyone was glued to this in class. Thanks for your focus and willingness to learn about our own history! It was great to hear student responses after the film about what they learned.

Questions for Commissioner Fritz: After the documentary, we made questions for my mom, Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who is coming to our class on Monday to talk about her role in local government. The questions the class came up with are:

What has been one of the most challenging things that you have had to deal with as Portland’s Commissioner?
What does your day to day life as Portland’s Commissioner look like? Do you have days where you have a lot to do and other days that you do not? Or do you have a steady but stable amount of work each day?
How will the city resolve the homeless crisis in Portland’s streets?
How will the local government deal with the ever increasing rent prices in Portland?
For what reasons did you become a Commissioner?
What is the best thing about being Commissioner?
What is the most interesting thing about your job?
Why do you want to be a part of our government?
Do you think your psychiatric nursing skills have helped your skills as Commissioner?
What got you to leave nursing to be a Commissioner?
What area takes up most of your time?
How did you know that being a Commissioner was something that you wanted to pursue?
What is the biggest problem that Portland is facing?
How long do you want to be Commissioner for?
What is the biggest project that you’re working on?
Who’s your favorite child?
What’s your favorite dessert?

I'm looking forward to having her come in and talk with everyone!

Jeopardy Review: This is always so fun and today was no exception. Thank you for a spirited round of Jeopardy to review for the final! Here are the slides for the game if anyone wants to see them again:

Google Drive: Jeopardy Review for Finals PowerPoint

Thanks for ending the class with a lot of laughter and enthusiasm. I am looking forward to our last week together next week! Keep working hard in preparing for finals!

State and Local Government, Day 8 - Class Recap

Rowena Crest Viewpoint, near Moiser, Oregon (which was just in the news as the site of an oil train derailment). Photo taken in 2016.

Dear class

I enjoyed talking with everyone about the election today, and also our work with analyzing how race has impacted our state and local government, especially in Portland. 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: "Coming Home" by Mat Kearney. Selected for today because it is a song about Oregon. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 6/7/16:
Wildcat News Brief – Ty
State and Local Presentations?
Lift Ev'ry Voice
Discussion

Homework: Read the blog. Continue studying for finals! Next news brief: Olivia.

Wildcat News Brief: Ty had the news brief today and selected an article about this story: Governing.com - Cost of Tax Breaks for States, Localities May Be Exposed. We talked about this story as far as impacting state and local government, and I noted that Donald Trump recently filed for a tax break in New York for people that earn less than $500,000 in a year.

We also talked about the last major day of the presidential primary election, with California being the big state voting today. I showed the New York Times updates on what is going on, and we also looked at the national election map of results for both parties. Cool visual!

At the end of this section, we watched Wildcat News for the day, which is here if you missed class or wanted to see it again:

State and Local Presentations? There were none of these left to present! Woo hoo! If you have not turned in the corresponding paper, please do so ASAP, as I will be grading these with your finals.

Lift Ev'ry Voice: With our last few days before the final, I wanted to focus on how our state and local community has acted with regards to race - specifically, the black community in Portland. To start, I showed this article that (while pretty long) does a great job at going into detailed history here:

Gizmodo.com - Oregon Was Founded As a Racist Utopia

We then watched the first part of an excellent recent documentary from OPB, called Lift Ev'ry Voice. We still have about 40 minutes next class to watch, but if you want to watch again, share, or get caught up, it is here:

OPB.org - Portland Civil Rights: Lift Ev'ry Voice

Here is the worksheet that goes along with the documentary:

Google Drive: Lift Ev'ry Voice Documentary Questions

I think it is super important that we understand our own history regarding race in Portland, especially as I think there are some common assumptions that are just not true. As such, I was glad to see that almost everyone was glued to this in class. I'm looking forward to finishing it up next time and discussing it!

See you on Thursday, everyone!

State and Local Government, Day 7 - Class Recap

The view from Ecola State Park, looking down at Cannon Beach here in Oregon. This would be a good weekend to get to the beach and get out of the heat!

Hi everyone,

Today was a very quick class, with the shortened assembly schedule. We managed to get in some more State/Local project presentations with the short time we were together. 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: "Friday, I'm In Love" by The Cure. Selected for today because it was Friday. :-) Lyrics here.

AGENDA 6/3/16:
News Brief – Sophie
State and Local Presentations
Lift Ev'ry Voice
Discussion

Homework: Read the blog. Continue studying for finals! Next news brief: Ty.

News Brief: Sophie had the news brief today and selected an article about Republican reaction to Donald Trump being less than enthusiastic. I then talked about Hillary Clinton's speech yesterday, which many people see as a turn in her campaign to be more directly confrontational with Trump. Here's the article that I said I would post on the blog: CNN.com - Clinton takes on Trump: Her 34 toughest lines.

And for those wanting to watch the speech, here it is: YouTube.com - Hillary Clinton National Security Address - FULL SPEECH (C-SPAN).

As always, very interesting to follow the campaign!

State and Local Presentations: For the rest of class, we had students who had not presented their projects yet talk about what they did, in terms of identifying a problem, coming up with solutions, and implementing the solution. We will continue with these as we have time to do so! Thanks, and have a great weekend!

State and Local Government, Day 6 - Class Recap

Today was the sunset for the seniors in our class! I am wishing them all the best and success in life! Photo taken in 2007, over California.

Dear class,

Another disjointed day today, due to the seniors needing to finish presenting and take their finals in class, and rest of the class just using the class as a study period, before more State and Local Government 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: "Good Life" by OneRepublic. Selected for today because of the seniors last day! On with the rest of their life soon! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 6/1/16:
News Brief – Alex J.
Senior Finals
Junior Study Time
State and Local Presentations

Homework: Read the blog. Continue studying for finals! Thank you, seniors! Next news brief: Sophie.

News Brief: Alex J. had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - EgyptAir Flight 804: 'Black box' signals detected, French investigators say. We talked a little bit about this story, and tried to make some tenuous connections to the United States government involvement. Thanks, Alex J! Sophie has the next news brief.

Senior Finals: During this time, seniors were taking their final in class. Thanks for respecting their time and effort with being quiet! I hope they went well for the seniors! I am grateful for their effort this semester and I am wishing them all the best! Keep in touch, class of 2016!

Junior Study Time: The rest of class (as seniors were taking the test) was devoted to reviewing for the final. Here's the study guide I passed out for that:

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!

State and Local Presentations: At the end of class, we had students who had not presented their projects yet talk about what they did, in terms of identifying a problem, coming up with solutions, and implementing the solution. We will continue with these as we have time to do so!

Thanks everyone, and especially all of the seniors!