The Legislative Branch, Day 5 - Class Recap

The United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. This is where the House of Representatives and Senate meets to debate legislation. Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Test day today in class! I hope that everyone studied and did well. Judging by the amount of "when is the retake?" questions that were asked, this was possibly not the case. Here's what happened today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 3: I can demonstrate an understanding of how individuals and non-governmental institutions interact with each other and the government in shaping politics.

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

Soundtrack: "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. Selected for today because it's a classic song to play on Halloween. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/30/14:
News Brief – Jazmin
Legislative Branch Test
Washington's Gridlock
The Presidency

Homework: Read the blog. Have a great, safe weekend. Next news brief: Timothy.

News Brief: Jazmin was absent from class today, so we did not have student presented news brief. I did talk about this current event article and show a bit of the video, which I think is appalling: CNN.com - What 10 hours of street harassment in NYC looks like. We need to promote a culture of respect, wherever we are. Catcalling anyone is unacceptable. Just thought it was worth highlighting. Timothy has the next news brief (Jazmin should also have hers ready to go).

Legislative Branch Test: Pretty much exactly as I described it on the blog for last class, right? I will have these graded and back to you as soon as I can. It will probably be this weekend! We will go over the results next class.

Washington's Gridlock: I think this is an important story to learn about, with why many people are very frustrated with the United States government, in that not much of consequence seems to get done. Here is the reading we did in class (pick of the questions sheet in class if you missed it):

Google Drive - New York Times Upfront: Washington's Gridlock

As part of the article, I talked about redistricting and gerrymandering contributing to inaction in Congress. Here's an interesting article about the most gerrymandered congressional districts in America. 

We also talked about the filibuster as a tactic to stall debate. Most of the times now, people don't have to stand and talk - as long as they have enough support (40+ votes, which is almost guaranteed for both sides in the Senate), they can just threaten it and possible legislation won't be voted on. Here's an example of a funny filibuster that I showed part of in class (from Parks and Recreation):

We stopped at the end of the article (which we mostly read aloud using the "popcorn" method). Next class, we will move on to the Executive Branch! Have a great weekend!

The Legislative Branch, Day 4 - Class Recap

Today's town hall had various (fake) political candidates running for office. Here's a very real candidate: my mom, running for Portland City Council in 2012!

Dear class,

Another interesting day, especially with the town hall meeting! Here's what happened today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 3: I can demonstrate an understanding of how individuals and non-governmental institutions interact with each other and the government in shaping politics.

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

Soundtrack: "Party in the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus. Selected for today because our town hall meeting was sort of like a party, with all the different people and groups interacting! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/28/14:
News Brief – Abby G./Mathew
Finish DOMA/Dream Act
Town Hall
Washington's Gridlock

Homework: Read the blog. Review for Legislative test, which is next class. Here are some resources to help you with this:

The second page of this handout, charting how a bill becomes a law, will be on the test. You will need to fill in the blanks with what happens on each side of Congress, then what happens when it gets to the President.

You will need to know: the political spectrum (from left to right: radical, liberal, moderate, conservative, reactionary). the number of representatives in each branch of Congress, and the eligibility requirements for them. The main job of each of the three branches of the U.S. government - legislative, executive, and judicial. The checks that each of the three branches have. Powers that the branches have, as given by the Constitution. Different scenarios with rights, as given by Amendments to the Constitution.

Next news brief: Jazmin.

News Brief: Both Abby G. and Mathew were in class today, with news brief stories! Hooray! Abby selected this article to talk about: NYTimes.com - Is the Affordable Care Act Working? We talked more about "Obamacare" and how it is being implemented. Mathew chose this story to talk about, which related to gun rights: CNN.com - Washington school shooter texted lunch table invites to victims. Another interesting discussion! Thanks, guys! Jazmin was selected to do the next news brief.

Finish DOMA/Dream Act: I was pleased to see many students did their homework and had the DOMA section of this finished:

Google Drive - DOMA and Dream Act Handout/Questions

I went through the DOMA section, then gave some time to work on the Dream Act as a part of preparing for the Town Hall style meeting.

Town Hall: My thanks to Mr. Kellogg for helping me out with this! We had three candidates (well, actually, five students, representing three candidates) in front of the class. Everyone else in the class was responsible for writing questions for the candidates, representing different non-governmental organizations. This hits LT3: I can demonstrate an understanding of how individuals and non-governmental institutions interact with each other and the government in shaping politics.

Here was the assessment I used for LT3, after the Town Hall:

Google Drive - Town Hall Review Questions

If you missed class today, you will have the opportunity in the future to make LT3 up.

Please study for the legislative branch test (some multiple choice, some fill in the blank, some short answer) and let me know if you have any questions I can answer about it! Thanks! See you next class!

The Legislative Branch, Day 3 - Class Recap

The Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan in New York City. Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

We had quite a lot to do today in class and we were pressed for time at the end, so I hope you are visiting with the intent of making it clearer as to what you need to do by next class! Here's the recap for today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 3: I can demonstrate an understanding of how individuals and non-governmental institutions interact with each other and the government in shaping politics.

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

Soundtrack: “Leaders of Men" by Joy Division. Selected because Seth suggested it to me before last class, and the title totally relates to our study of Government (leaders of women, too!). Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/24/14:
News Brief – Mathew
Computer Lab S210
DOMA/Dream Act
Town Hall Prep

Homework: Read the blog.
- Finish the Oregon representatives handout.
- Complete the DOMA questions page of the DOMA/Dream Act handout.
- Know your role for the Town Hall simulation next class. This means reading over your character, if you are a politician, or reading over your assigned group and thinking of a question for the candidates. Again, this is mostly about DOMA and the Dream Act.
- Next news brief: Abby G. and Mathew (again, as neither was in class today).

News Brief: This section sort of fizzled this week, as both Abby G. and Mathew were not in class today, which makes three consecutive days of no presented news briefs. Hopefully, one or both is ready to go on Tuesday!

Computer Lab S210: As I said at the end of last class, I wanted to give some more time to work on the Oregon Reps in Congress handout, so we went to the computer lab and spent most of class there. I think almost everyone has about 10-15 minutes more of work left as homework, so please ensure that you do that! Ask me if there are any questions I can help with! Here's the handout again:

Google Drive - Oregon Representatives on Congress Handout

We will talk about this in class next week.

DOMA/Dream Act: When we returned to the classroom, I talked a little bit about the importance of the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA) in recent American history, along with the idea of the DREAM Act. We are going to have a debate about these two ideas next class. Again, here's the handout I passed out. I'd like students to complete the first page of questions, dealing with DOMA, for homework:

Google Drive - DOMA and Dream Act Handout/Questions

This should take maybe 30 minutes. A fairly quick reading, then some questions associated with it. We will work on the rest of the handout (about the Dream Act) next class.

Town Hall Prep: At the very end of class (I know this wasn't super clear as to how it is going to work, so I apologize - we will go through it again next class), I passed out three candidate profiles, who are going to be represented by students at a "Town Hall" style simulation next class. I also passed out summaries of different nongovernmental organizations, who have positions on one of the two issues we are talking about (this is in reference to LT3). Lots to do next class! Be prepared!
:-)

Thank you once again for your hard work and understanding. Today marked a month since my dad was killed and I was reminded once again by what a joy it is to work with you all. I am truly thankful to be your teacher. Have a wonderful weekend!

The Legislative Branch, Day 2 - Class Recap

As part of the Legislative simulation today in class, I played the role of the President of the United States. Here I am in front of the White House, where the President lives in Washington, D.C. in 2010 (when I had a beard!).

Dear class,

I had fun today and I hope you did, too! I really enjoyed the simulation of how a bill becomes a law, because it was quite similar to how it actually goes. We also started up with looking at the Oregon congressional delegation. Here's the recap for 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.

Soundtrack: “Represent" by Weezer. Because we talked in class about representatives in Congress. Get it? Haha. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/22/14:
News Brief – Mathew
Congress Simulation
Oregon Representatives
Computer Lab S213

Homework: Read the blog. Keep working on the Oregon representatives handout (we will finish it next class). Next news brief: Abby G.

News Brief: Mathew forgot his news brief again today, so I moved on and randomly selected Abby G. to do the next one. We also talked about how the U.S. government is responding to the Ebola virus, as well.

Congress Simulation: Again, I really liked this. I split up the class into the House of Representatives and Senate (which had less students in it, because that's how it really works), then again into different committees. I then passed out all the ideas for bills that students gave me at the end of last class, to debate. The committees debated the ideas for bills, then chose what they thought was the best one to propose to their chamber of Congress, by answering these questions:

What are you proposing?
Who will it impact?
When will it begin or end?
Where (which states) will be impacted?
Why should this bill pass?
How much will it cost?

After the full House and full Senate debated the two bills that were put forward by the committees, they chose one bill each to vote on and send over to the other part of Congress. This ended up being a bill on raising the minimum wage and one lowering the amount of time that someone with a new driver's license cannot have a friend in the car.

Both sections of Congress debated the bills, changed them, then voted on them, sending them back to the other side (this would now be the conference committee). Eventually, only one bill, gradually raising the minimum wage an hour in a tiered system: $7.50 in 2014, $8.00 in 2015, $8.50 in 2016, $9.00 in 2017, and $9.50 in 2018.

Acting as President of the simulation, I signed the bill into law, even though I personally felt that the wage increases were not fast enough - at least it was a start! :-)

Oregon Representatives: Next, it was time to learn more about who serves Oregon as representatives in Congress at the federal level. Here is the handout that I passed out in class:

Google Drive - Oregon Representatives on Congress Handout

The main point here is to know who our representatives are and what they believe.

Computer Lab S213: For the rest of the class, we were in the computer lab, working on the handout. Next class (on Friday), we will go again and finish it.

Thanks for your work on this! See you next class!

The Legislative Branch, Day 1 - Class Recap

This is the office of the Speaker of the House inside the United States Capitol Building. In 2010, when I took this picture, the Speaker of the House was Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Now, it is John Boehner (R-OH).

Welcome back from the weekend, everyone!

Today in class, we reviewed the Constitution test, checked out my blank ballot for the general election, and learned more about the legislative process. Here's the recap for 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.

Soundtrack: “Wavin' Flag" by K'naan. Selected for today because flags are representations of countries, which have governments. I thought it would be appropriate as a pump up song for the test today in class! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/20/14:
News Brief – Mathew
Review Constitution Test
The Ballot
Congress Simulation

Homework: Read the blog. Study how a bill becomes a law handout - be prepared to write your own bill next class! Next news brief: Mathew (again, because it slipped his mind for today).

News Brief: Mathew forgot his news brief today, so he was assigned to do it next class.

Review Constitution Test: Students that were not in class last time we met took the Constitution test outside the room, down the hall, as everyone else went over the answers in class. Generally, I think this went well for people - if it did not, please come and do a retake on your own time (during lunches, study hall, or after school).

The Ballot: I had a lot of fun with this, because I opened my ballot that was mailed out to me (Oregon's "vote by mail" system is awesome) in front of class and explained what some of the different aspects of the system were, along with the candidates and ballot measures (some of which were put on the ballot by citizens petitioning, which is an element of our system in Oregon). Here's a sample ballot to check out, if you are interested in seeing what it looks like, again.

Congress Simulation: We actually didn't get to the real simulation part, because I wanted to make sure we understood how a bill becomes a law really well, before then. So, we went over most of the rest of this handout:

Google Drive - How a Bill Becomes a Law Handout

We also watched this classic Schoolhouse Rock clip (is this still stuck in your head, like it is in mine?):

I think we are pretty good at this point on understanding the process. At the end of class, I had students write possible bills to debate in class next time we meet. It should be a fun simulation!

Constitution Test and Legislative Branch - Class Recap

The United States Capitol Building, which is where Congress (the Legislative Branch of the US) meets. Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Our first in class test today! I hope it went well for everyone. Thanks again for the big spike in blog readership (what a surprise)! We also got started with a unit on the legislative branch. Here's what happened today:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
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 levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: “Wavin' Flag" by K'naan. Selected for today because flags are representations of countries, which have governments. I thought it would be appropriate as a pump up song for the test today in class! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/16/14:
News Brief - Brad
Constitution Test
The Legislative Branch
113th Congress
How a Bill Becomes a Law

Homework: Read the blog. Study how a bill becomes a law handout - be prepared to write your own bill next class! Next news brief: Mathew.

News Brief: Brad had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: FOXNews.com - College students claim they were threatened after handing out Constitutions. Since we were taking a test on the Constitution today, this was particularly applicable! I went and found the Oregon laws on recording people in person without their permission, and whether or not the Southern Oregon representative was allowed to ask them to stop. I am not sure about the "free speech zone" legality issue, but it is certainly interesting. Thanks, Brad!

Constitution Test: As promised, 30 questions, covering three opportunities at demonstrating proficiency with learning targets. I should have grades done and entered later today (during Study Hall). Thank you for giving your best effort on this! We will go over the results together next class.

The Legislative Branch/113th Congress: This was a handout (front and back side) that went through some of through some of the specifics of the legislative process, like what the legislative branch does and who makes it up. The handouts and readings are in class - we reviewed them together and they should be used to study for future tests.

How a Bill Becomes a Law: This was the handout that is homework to read (not complete, because we will do that together next class). Please review the flow chart on page two, specifically. You will eventually be tested on that and we are going to work through that process together in a simulation next class:

Google Drive - How a Bill Becomes a Law Handout

Please make sure to review this! Thank you - see you next week!

Constitution Test Review - Class Recap

One of the questions on the review today had to do with Jay Z. Here he is in concert in London's Olympic Park. Photo taken July 2013.

Dear class,

I hope you enjoyed reviewing for your Constitution test today! Here's the recap for the day:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
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 levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: “Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Deep Blue Something. Selected for today because the news brief was done by Tifani. Different spelling, same pronunciation! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/14/14:
News Brief - Tifani/Logan
Grades
Finish Bill of Rights
Jeopardy Review
Death Penalty

Homework: Read the blog! Study for Constitution test next class. Next news brief: Brad.

News Brief: Tifani had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: USAToday.com - Protest resume in St. Louis over police shooting. In class, Tifani said this was about Michael Brown, the young man who was killed by a police office in Ferguson, Missouri earlier in the year. This is a new case in St. Louis. It is crazy to think about all of the gun violence and death in our country, that this event could happen so close to another police shooting.

Logan remembered to bring his article in today and selected this story: ABCNews.com - Newlywed With Cancer Picks the Day She Will Die. Another super interesting article that gets at the divisions of power and states rights. In Oregon, we passed a "Death With Dignity" law that allows people who are terminally ill (already going to die) to take their own lives with a doctor's prescription. This is obviously a very controversial issue and worth talking about. Thanks, guys! Brad stepped up to volunteer for the next news brief.

Grades: I went over how grades for progress report were calculated (they are posted by student ID number in class) and what students could do to improve them. First and foremost, that would be doing well on the Constitution test in class on Thursday! Let me know if you are at all confused about what to do in order to improve your grade.

Finish Bill of Rights: We finished our look at this handout:

Google Drive - Rights of the Accused

I wanted to be clear about what the Bill of Rights says and does. Review that sheet and the Bill of Rights for the test on Thursday, along with the philosophers that influenced the U.S. government and the Constitution.

Jeopardy Review: Speaking of review, here is a link to the PowerPoint game we played to review in class. Many of the questions are taken directly from the Constitution test (with the obvious exception of the "Mr. Fritz" and "The Class" categories):

Google Drive: Constitution Jeopardy Review

I hope you had fun with this, because I always do. Congratulations to Team 2 for winning!

Death Penalty: At the end of class, I gave some time to study, then we talked about this article:

Google Drive: New York Times Upfront - The Death Penalty Debate

Basically, I wanted to go over the Eighth Amendment protections here that relate to the death penalty. It is also interesting that the many states have the death penalty, whereas most industrialized countries do not. In any case, it's worth thinking about the debate.

Thanks for another good class - see you on Thursday! Be ready! :-)

The Rest of the Bill of Rights - Class Recap

Rays of the sun streaming through the flag of the United States, over the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Picture taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Welcome to your long weekend! Not so long for me, because I will be at school all day on Friday, but I am sure everyone will enjoy  Here's the recap for the day:

Learning Targets Addressed:
SS.HS.KN.ALT.05: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.
SS.HS.CO.ALT.05: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.

Soundtrack: “99 Problems (Clean)" by Jay Z. Selected for today because it discusses the various protections that the Bill of Rights offers. Lyrics (which are decidedly NOT clean, but Rap Genius does offer some interesting interpretations of what they mean) here.

AGENDA 10/9/14:
News Brief - Logan
Political Spectrum
Rights of the Accused
The Death Penalty

Homework: Read the blog! Study for upcoming Constitution test. Next news brief: Tifani.

News Brief: Logan did not have a news brief ready today and will need to make it up. Instead, we had a good class discussion about Ebola and how worried we should be about it. I showed this tweet from the White House, which talks about how someone gets the virus. All in all, it was a good discussion. Thanks! Tifani was selected to do the next news brief.

Political Spectrum: This was leftover from last class, so we finished it up. Basically, I wanted everyone to have some foundation for knowledge about the different political philosophies we are going to be talking about this semester. If you missed it, the PowerPoint is here:

Google Drive - Political Spectrum PowerPoint 

Rights of the Accused: Because I want to get done with the Bill of Rights, today we looked through the details of the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments. Specifically, I started by looking at the cleaned up lyrics to "99 Problems" by Jay Z, then going through a packet of individual U.S. Supreme Court cases that helped set the scope of the Fourth Amendment. That packet is here:

Google Drive - Fourth Amendment Protections Handout

We went over some case studies and had some more good discussion about various student questions:

Then, I showed this clip to introduce the Fifth Amendment:

This led to another handout, going through the rights of the accused in the United States. We finished the first page of in class (get ahead of the game by reviewing it all as homework):

Google Drive - Rights of the Accused Handout

Next class, on Tuesday, we will finish up with this and really start preparing for the Constitution test, which will probably be on Thursday. Have a great weekend!

The First and Second Amendments - Class Recap

I happened to be in Washington D.C. in 2010 when President Obama's healthcare bill was advancing through Congress. There were a lot of angry protesters outside the Capitol, using their First Amendment rights!

Hi everyone,

We had some good discussions today, looking at the first two amendments to the United States Constitution. Here's what happened:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Communication LT 5: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.

Soundtrack: “Don't Speak" by No Doubt. Selected because today we talked about the First Amendment, which gives the freedom of speech as a right. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 10/7/14:
News Brief - Jocelyn
First Amendment
Tinker v. Des Moines
Second Amendment

Homework: Read the blog! Next news brief: Logan.
--
News Brief: Jocelyn had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about: CNN.com - High court refuses to rule -- and gives tacit victory -- on same-sex marriage. This was a super interesting story that happened yesterday - with at least 5 (and possibly up to 11) states now having legal same sex marriage, due to the United States Supreme Court declining to rule on lower court cases that gave same sex couples those rights. We talked about how this is made possible by the Constitution and the process for judicial review. Really interesting discussion! Logan was selected next for the news brief.

First Amendment:  To start this section, I showed this clip from The Daily Show, looking at what some people working for FOX News had to say in regards to the Bill of Rights and the Boston Marathon bomber:

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

I handed out a worksheet that had a few questions about what students thought about different aspects of the First Amendment. For instance, should burning the US flag be allowed? We debated our answers as a class. After this, we tried to identify what the most crucial part to the First Amendment is. Was it freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, or petition?

Tinker v. Des Moines: This is a famous U.S. Supreme Court case about freedom of speech at school. Ultimately, the justices decided 7-2 that the students protesting the Vietnam War by wearing armbands were within their rights to do so. A summary of the case can be found here.

As part of this section, we also talked about the flag burning case of Texas v. Johnson. A recap of that, which found that burning the flag was a protected form of speech, can be found here.

Second Amendment: This was just an overview of the debate surrounding Second Amendment rights, which mostly have to do with gun laws. At the end of class, we started looking at the political spectrum, which was the first few slides of this PowerPoint:

Google Drive - Political Spectrum PowerPoint

Next class, we will finish this and then talk about the rest of the Bill of Rights, including an analysis of the Jay Z song "99 Problems." See you then!

The Constitution and Bill of Rights - Class Recap

On September 21st, 2013, my dad chose to have his birthday celebration by parking our R-Pod (recreational trailer) outside my grandparents retirement community on the street and have the family sit around inside while eating a BBQ style lunch together. Cool guy, my dad. :-)

Hi everyone,

It was so good to see you all today, after just an awful week away. As I said in class, I am so grateful for your support and to feel so welcomed back by smiles, kinds words, hugs, and understanding. My heart and soul is really in our work together here at Westview and it is so good to know that everyone has my back. I also really want to thank you all for the very thoughtful card that Trish gave to me. It seriously was awesome and so appreciated. Thank you. On to the recap:

Learning Targets:
Communication LT 5: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Knowledge LT 1: I can demonstrate an understanding of the interplay between citizens and their governments.
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.

Soundtrack: "Tom Sawyer" by Rush. We played this song at the end of my dad's private memorial service on Saturday, because he loved it and we liked ending with classic rock before the reception. I talked about it a bit in my tribute remarks at the service, but here are the full lyrics.

AGENDA 10/3/14:
My Dad
News Brief - Ariana
Understanding the Constitution
Bill of Rights

Homework: Read the blog. Know your current grade (posted by student ID number in class) and how to improve it (if possible) by next week, when progress reports are due. Next news brief: Jocelyn.

My Dad: I obviously wanted to take the first bit of class to talk about my dad and what happened. I tried to give an overall impression who my dad was. I talked a little bit about the car accident that killed him (we are under the impression that there was absolutely nothing he could have done) and what the last week has looked like for my family.

More than anything, though, I wanted to let everyone know that one of the main lessons my family and I are taking away from this horrible experience is just the importance of being kind and loving. My dad was an amazing man, and I feel so blessed that I got to spend 28 years with him, on an almost every day basis. Our family is so strong because of the leadership of both of my parents. We try to treat everyone with respect and love. It would be so easy to be angry about this, and I suspect that might come from time to time. We are going to try to react out of love. That's why I am back at Westview: I absolutely love being your teacher and the community here. I know it is where I am supposed to be, and doing what I am supposed to do with my life.

So thank you, everyone, for all your kindness to me. I said I would link to a few articles and stories if you were interested in learning more about who my dad was and what happened over the last week, so here they are:

First and foremost, here is the tribute speech that I wrote for the private memorial service we had on Saturday:

Google Drive - Steven Fritz Memorial Tribute Speech

A really well done video recap that the Oregonian did about the public celebration of life on Sunday:

The obituary style article that ran in the Oregonian the day after my dad was killed: OregonLive.com - In death, Dr. Steve Fritz remembered for putting patients first, supporting wife, pursuing adventures.

The written recap of the celebration of life downtown on Sunday, which hundreds of people came to: OregonLive.com - Steve Fritz memorial: Hundreds pay respects to Portland man who was 'unapologetically himself'.

There are at least 16 different articles posted on the Oregonian website about the accident and the aftermath, including one about Westview and me being a teacher here (this was seriously crazy to read out of the blue, especially with my tweets being quoted): OregonLive.com - After Steve Fritz's death, Westview High School supports his teacher son, Luke Fritz.

If you have any other questions or comments that were not addressed in class, please feel free to comment on the blog, email, or just see me personally. Thanks so much, everyone. It's going to be a process, for sure. I can't guarantee that I will always be happy or upbeat with this. I do want you to know that I love you all and I am glad to be back.

News Brief: With that, we started back up with the news brief. Ariana brought in this article to talk about (I was obviously not at school to talk to - usually I want it to be related to the United States government): CNN.com - Hong Kong police and protesters face off outside executive's office. We talked a little about Hong Kong's history as a democracy and the clash with China's communist system after China took over from the United Kingdom. Thanks! Jocelyn was selected to do the next news brief.

Understanding the Constitution: This was a handout that the substitute gave out earlier in the week - the class seemed pretty good with it. We went over the details like the Articles and what each of the branches of government do to check and balance the other. I think most students did well with this.

The other aspect of the class was retakes for the philosophy quiz. Hopefully these went well for the students that took them! I will try and update the grades for next class.

Bill of Rights: At the end of the class, we started looking into the Bill of Rights. Next class, we will look into these a bit more in depth. In a couple of classes, we will have the first test of the year, covering all of the stuff we have looked at to this point.

That was it for today. Thanks again, everyone, for your understanding. It's going to take me a little bit of time to get up to speed with everything - hopefully this weekend will help. Be kind and good to each other. It matters. :-)