State and Local Government, Day 3 - Class Recap

Another beautiful place in our amazing State of Oregon: the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn. Photo taken in 2015.

Hi everyone,

We had our last day of work time on the State and Local project today - papers and presentations will be next class. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 6: 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.
Critical Thinking and Reasoning LT 3: I can apply understanding of ideas and concepts to a new context or problem. 

Soundtrack: "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie. Selected for today because David Bowie passed away over the weekend. A total legend, and someone who was speaking about gender and sexual identity issues publicly long before it was socially acceptable to do so. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 1/12/16:
Wildcat News Brief – Tristan H.
State of the Union
State/Local Project
Library Computers/Grades

Homework: Read the blog. Your State/Local final project is due next class. All late work needs to be turned in by Friday! Next news brief: Nikki.

Wildcat News Brief: Tristan H. had the news brief today and selected an article about Social Security reform to talk about. He did not include the article title or link, so I can't find it online, yet. Thanks, Tristan H! Nikki has the next news brief.

If you missed Wildcat News for the day here it is:

State of the Union: After Wildcat News, I talked about the State of the Union address, which is tonight at 6 PM. The President is required by the Constitution to present Congress with a State of the Union - it traditionally takes the form of a speech. This will be President Obama's last SOTU address, and it will be on pretty much every major channel, along with the Republican Response, delivered by South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, right after. Tune in to see what they say! We will talk about it next class. 

Here's the video we watched in class, going over some of President Obama's State of the Union addresses:

State/Local Project: The final assignment for the unit is this project, which is a two page paper, with at least three MLA citations, about a local issue that you care about. It will be due next class, 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 library.

Library Computers: The rest of class was spent in the library, working on researching for the State and Local project and writing about an issue that you care about in our local community. During this time, I also talked individually with every student in the class about their grade, and what they could do to improve it by Friday. Keep working hard! See you next class.

State and Local Government, Day 2 - Class Recap

As we continue to work in class on the State and Local project, here is a picture I took last year of Oregon's only National Park: Crater Lake.

Hi everyone,

Today was our second work day in class on the State and Local government project. I also passed back grades and updated everyone on what needed to be done as we approach finals. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 6: 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.
Critical Thinking and Reasoning LT 3: I can apply understanding of ideas and concepts to a new context or problem. 

Soundtrack: "Coming Home" by Mat Kearney. Selected for today because this is a song about Oregon (played after the first quarter at Oregon Ducks football home games). Lyrics here.

AGENDA 1/8/16:
Wildcat News Brief – Alex
Citing Sources
State/Local Project
Computer Lab N210

Homework: Read the blog. Continue working on your State/Local final project! Next news brief: Tristan H.

Wildcat News Brief: Alex had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: CNN.com - Obama vetoes Obamacare repeal bill. As we talked about in class, this is the first time that a bill actually has advanced to the President that would repeal his most important legislation. So there is no way that it will not be vetoed, and there is also no way that the House and Senate will be able to override it, because not enough Democrats will agree to. Thanks, Alex! Tristan H. has the next news brief.

If you missed Wildcat News for the day, or simply want the joy of hearing the fight song again again, here it is:

Citing Sources: Because so many students seemed to stumble on this part with the Citizenship Paper, and because the State and Local project has it as a requirement as well, I spent some time in class going over how to cite sources in MLA format. Some links that may help with this:

Purdue OWL - MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources 

Purdue OWL - MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics

EasyBib.com

A works cited page at the end of your research paper is a requirement, as is utilizing in-text citations. EasyBib really helps with the works cited page for electronic resources!

State/Local Project: The final assignment for the unit is this project, 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 a few days (we have at least the next two days in the library to be working on it), 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 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. 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 Tuesday!

State and Local Government, Day 1 - Class Recap

The beach at Puerto Vallarta, on Christmas Eve, 2015.

Welcome back, everyone!

It was really great to see you all today in class. I'm thankful that I have a job that I am so excited to come back to after Winter Break, to see everyone! Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets Addressed:

Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 6: 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.
Critical Thinking and Reasoning LT 3: I can apply understanding of ideas and concepts to a new context or problem. 

Soundtrack: "Welcome Back" by Ma$e. Selected for obvious reasons. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 1/6/16:
News Brief – Mr. Fritz
Unit Overview
State/Local Project
Library Computers

Homework: Read the blog. Turn in any missing/incomplete work. Next news brief: Alex.

News Brief: I started off class by checking in about Winter Break, then talked about this article as my news brief for a recent story affecting our government: TIME.com - Read Barack Obama’s Speech on New Gun Control Measures. Specifically, I read this section, which reminded me of some of the Forced Choice debate questions we engaged in as a class at the start of the semester:

Now, I want to be absolutely clear at the start — and I’ve said this over and over again, this also becomes routine, there is a ritual about this whole thing that I have to do — I believe in the Second Amendment. It’s there written on the paper. It guarantees a right to bear arms. No matter how many times people try to twist my words around — I taught constitutional law, I know a little about this — (applause) — I get it. But I also believe that we can find ways to reduce gun violence consistent with the Second Amendment.

I mean, think about it. We all believe in the First Amendment, the guarantee of free speech, but we accept that you can’t yell “fire” in a theater. We understand there are some constraints on our freedom in order to protect innocent people. We cherish our right to privacy, but we accept that you have to go through metal detectors before being allowed to board a plane. It’s not because people like doing that, but we understand that that’s part of the price of living in a civilized society.

I also talked about the Republican opposition to President Obama's plan, in wanting to focus more on mental health treatment. An ongoing debate, for sure!

Alex was selected to do the next news brief.

Unit Overview: Today, we started our work with State and Local government unit (our last main one before the end of the semester). To begin, I had students do a simple fill-in-the-blank overview of the main concepts. The completed form is here:

Google Drive: State/Local Government Completed Overview

This was meant as a general overview. We will get into some specifics in the coming days.

State/Local Project: The final assignment for the unit is this project, 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 a few days (we have at least the next two days in the library to be working on it), and you will probably be asked to give a short (like a minute or two) presentation. Here's the handout:

Google Drive: State/Local Government Project

I went through the assignment in depth in class, and talked about possible issues for students to research. Basically, go with something you are interested in! It's really up to you - just run it by me, first!

Library Computers: The rest of the class was spent in the library on the computers, researching for the State and Local assignment, I think most students are set with knowing what their problem is and how to research it. We will continue doing this next class. Thanks!