Government, Day 3 - Class Recap

The Parliament of Barbados, in the Caribbean. Photo taken in 2011.

Hi everyone,

We went into more detail as to what government is and looks like in various systems around the world. Lots of content to check out! Here's what happened in class:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 17: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Communication LT 1:  I can use language and  style that is appropriate to the content area.

Soundtrack: "Paris, Tokyo" by Lupe Fiasco. Selected for today because it's just an excellent song about traveling around the world. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 11/15/16:
News Brief – Andrew
Forced Choice/Reflection
Forms of Government
Group Activity

Homework: Read the blog. Turn in any missing work ASAP! Next news brief: Cameron.

News Brief: Andrew had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: Weather.com - Mass Evacuations Underway After Deadly 7.8-Magnitude Earthquake Leaves 'Utter Devastation' In New Zealand. This is a big news story, as New Zealand had another big earthquake in 2011. I talked a bit about my trip to New Zealand in 2014. We found it in our world maps and noted that a news brief was done on the story. Thanks, Andrew!

Cameron was selected to do the next news brief.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

I also asked about the weekend and what people were up to, before moving on.

Forced Choice/Reflection: This 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 searched without a warrant) is necessary for our own protection.
2. Everyone in the US should have the right to own guns if they want.
3. Government officials should have to approve/sign off on marriages that they are against on religious grounds.
4. Marijuana should be legalized everywhere for recreational use.
5. Public schools should strictly enforce a standardized dress code.
6. Organized prayer in public schools should be allowed.
7. The government of a country should be able to make unpopular decisions.
8. Should the motto “In God We Trust” be removed from our currency?
9. I agree with the death penalty option for convicted murderers.
10. People in power are always corrupt in some way.

Lots of interesting questions and critical thinking! Thank you for your responses and participation. It was not possible to get to every hand that was up in every discussion, for which I apologize. I am glad that students were engaged!

After the debate, I gave some time to the class to these questions (a one page written reflection was due to be completed in class today - if you did not finish, it is homework): What was the most difficult or controversial question for you? Why? How do these sorts of questions relate to the study of government?

I really like the debate format in forced choice, so thank you for your participation and reflection!

Forms of Government: This was a PowerPoint presentation that went over various basic forms of government. Students took Cornell Notes (if they wanted that form - otherwise, it was on a regular sheet of paper) on the lecture. Here's the file for review (there will be an upcoming quiz on forms of government):

Google Drive - Forms of Government PowerPoint

As with most presentations I create, the pictures are almost entirely mine! :-)

Group Activity: We did not have time for this today, so we will do this next class. Thanks, everyone!