Executive Branch, Day 3 - Class Recap

Then Senator Barack Obama when he visited Portland near the start of his Presidential campaign in 2007.

Dear class,

Today, we started the Cabinet Project! The Presidential Cabinet is a very important part of how the Executive Branch functions. Here's what happened today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different branches of U.S. government.
Critical Thinking and Reasoning LT 3: I can apply understanding of ideas and concepts to a new context or problem.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Research LT 1: I can effectively conduct and apply research.

Soundtrack: "Step in the Name of Love" by R. Kelly. Selected for today because of us stepping on over to the Computer Lab later in class. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/12/16:
Wildcat News Brief - Claire
The Presidency
Cabinet Project
Computer Lab N210

Homework: Read the blog. Study the cabinet descriptions reading. You might want to download the pdf and then rotate the page (because it is in landscape format). Or, just turn your head, I guess)! Continue working on Cabinet project. Next news brief: Brandon.

Wildcat News Brief: Claire had the news brief today, and selected this article to talk about with the class: WWeek.com - A Vancouver Charity is Funding a Group Backing North Carolina’s Anti-Transgender “Bathroom Bill”. This brought up a pretty interesting conversation in class about gender identity, "religious freedom" type laws, and the backlash to recent laws passing in North Carolina and Mississippi. We also talked about the Westview QSA which meets on Wednesday across the hall from our classroom, after school. Thanks, Claire!

Brandon volunteered to do the next news brief.

Here's Wildcat News for the day if you missed class, or wanted to see it again:

The Presidency: We finished going through The Presidency reading and questions:

Google Drive - The Presidency Reading

These are the questions that go along with the reading:

Google Drive - The Presidency Questions

Cabinet Departments: For this section, we went over what the various different presidential cabinet departments are responsible for. We also watched this video, so everyone could see what it looks like in real life:

We will be doing a similar sort of activity in class, with me playing the role of the President and the class taking on the various department heads!

Cabinet Project: Here's a link to the cabinet project (advising the President) that we worked on in class today:

Google Drive - Presidential Cabinet Assignment Handout

Here are the sign ups for each of the cabinet positions:

Agriculture: Angel and Mo M.
Commerce: Daniel and Avery
Defense: D’Shawn and Mo H.
Education: Emma and Riley
Energy: Ty and Quinn
Health and Human Services: Anna and Vanessa
Housing and Urban Development:
Interior: Nyree
Justice: Brandon and Claire
Labor: Julia and Jessie
Transportation:
Treasury: Alex M.
Veteran’s Affairs: Olivia and Alex B.
State Department: Alex J. and Sophie
Homeland Security: Lexi and Vivian
Environmental Protection Agency:
US Mission to the United Nations:

If you missed class, please see where you are on the list and who your partner is!

Computer Lab N210: We spent the second half of class in the lab. We will also spend much of next class in the lab, and the cabinet project assignment will be due on Monday.

See you next class!

Executive Branch, Day 2 - Class Recap

NOTE: There will be no blog recap for the 4/8 class because we had many students taking the Smarter Balanced test, so we had no new content. Have a great weekend! We will get back to the Executive Branch next class.

Inside the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. Photo taken in 2010.

Hi everyone,

Today, we heard from Deputy Jamie Hallford, our Student Support Officer here at Westview, and also went through more introduction to the Executive Branch. 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 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different branches of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Born in the U.S.A" by Bruce Springsteen. Selected for today because the song is typically seen as representing patriotic themes, but a closer look at the lyrics (as we did in class) show that the song is really about a deep dissatisfaction with American culture and government.

AGENDA 4/6/16:
News Brief – Riley
Deputy Hallford
CRLE Forms
Review Legislative Test
The Presidency

Homework: Read the blog. Smarter Balanced on Friday. Next news brief: Claire (on Tuesday).

News Brief: Riley had the news brief today and selected this article to talk about in class: NYTimes.com - Obama Criticizes Donald Trump for Plan to Cut Money Transfers to Mexico. We talked about this story and the election results from Wisconsin last night. Last class, we learned that President Obama has the role of chief diplomat for the United States government. Today, we heard about how people around the world have been concerned about the election here, and the possible implications of policy proposals. We were a little pressed for time, but this was a good discussion, thank you!

I selected Claire to do the next news brief, in the interests of time, because Deputy Hallford had arrived in the room.

Deputy Hallford: Much of the rest of class was devoted to Jamie Hallford, who is the officer here at Westview. Here are all the questions that were handed in, that he went over:

Google Drive - Questions for Deputy Hallford

Jamie talked about his experience with being the Student Support Officer here for the past five years. Hopefully, you enjoyed hearing him talk with the class, because I always do!

CRLE Forms: As a part of the guest speaker coming in, students filled out a Career Related Learning Experience form (I believe you need to have 4 of these completed as a graduation requirement). I did turn all of these into the counseling office, and the counselor didn't say anything about needing a resume as well, so I think you are good to go! I will try to have my mom come in near the end of the semester for a second opportunity, as well.

Review Legislative Test: Grades have been updated on that back wall and in Student VUE, so please know where you are at and what you need to do in order to improve, if possible! We did not review this in class, because there were so many students in class that had not taken it.

The Presidency: As a blog extra, here is a video from Election Night 2000, when nobody really knew who won the election for President:

At the end of class, we went through The Presidency reading and questions:

Google Drive - The Presidency Reading

These are the questions that go along with the reading:

Google Drive - The Presidency Questions

We ended around question 8 or so, and will pick back up next class (after Smarter Balanced on Friday), then start the Executive Branch project, which involves selecting a cabinet department to research. See you on Friday!

Executive Branch, Day 1 - Class Recap

The White House, in Washington, D.C., where the President (the head of the Executive Branch of the United States government) lives. Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

Today was the Legislative Branch test in class, as well as the start of our unit on the Executive Branch. 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: "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who. Selected for today because last week was April Fools Day. I talked for a bit in class about a prank I helped the Westview staff play on Dr. Franco. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/4/16:
News Brief – Mo H.
Legislative Test
Executive Branch Overview
The Presidency
Questions for Deputy Hallford

Homework: Read the blog. Next news brief: Riley.

News Brief: Mo H. had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about in class: CNN.com - FTC: Scam cancer charities kept millions of dollars. What an incredibly outrageous story, for a variety of reasons. We talked about how the government enforces rules about scams (which is a good lead in to the Executive Branch). Thanks, Mo H.! Riley was drawn as the next news brief.

We also checked in about the weekend and what people were up to, before moving on.

Legislative Test: I was generous in the lead up to this, as I went over basically the exact questions from the test and gave some study time before I passed it out. I should have grades for it available by next class (fingers crossed).

Executive Branch Overview: The next part of class was learning about the Executive Branch. Here are the answers to the sheet I passed out to start the unit:

Google Drive - Executive Branch Overview Notes

As part of going through this, I explained that the 2000 Presidential Election was decided by the Electoral College, not the popular vote (Gore got the most votes in the country, but still lost the election). We will look more into this soon.

The Presidency: Here is the reading that we ended class with. It is not homework to complete (unless you missed class), but be familiar with the basics, as a future test will be based on it!

Google Drive - The Presidency Reading

These are the questions that go along with the reading:

Google Drive - The Presidency Questions

I am fully aware that this was not the most interesting class as far as new content goes. I think it will be more engaging soon!

Questions for Deputy Hallford: At the end of class, we made some questions for Jamie Hallford, who is the officer here at Westview. Here are all the questions that were handed in:

Google Drive - Questions for Deputy Hallford

Next class, Jamie will come in and answer your questions, and talk about his experience with being the Student Support Officer here. In the past, this has been an awesome experience in learning more about law enforcement (directly related to the Executive Branch) and filling out a Career Related Learning Experience form (I believe you need to have 4 of these completed as a graduation requirement). I am looking forward to it! See you next class.