Civil Liberties

We don't have time for this discussion in class--we have a 13 slide powerpoint and are still only on slide 9! But I sensed it rising its head in class, even though ignored. We've been discussing civil liberties, consitutional protections, and citizenship. Here's your opportunity to air out your ideas on any and all of those issues.

Please remember to keep it academic discourse. You are more than welcome to voice a controversial opinion or statement, but keep your beliefs supported by relevant arguments. If you diasgree with someone, please do so respectfully.

Bureaucracy

The bureaucracy is clearly the largest part of American government, yet it's not constitutionally mandated and the American public seems to be largely ignorant of its scope and duties.

Make an argument for or against the bureaucracy. You MUST support your argument with a SPECIFIC example of how the bureaucracy helps or hinders American government.

Brainwashing or Learning

Brainwashing or learning? This topic came up before break and it resrufaced today as I went off on a diatribe about abortion, federal spending, right to life, and other issues. Several students were uncomfortable with the topic, with my obviously biased viewpoints, and that I "forced my views" upon you. Isn't that what teachers do every day? Is education a series of events and experiences where an authority figure (who has ethos established by their intellectual and academic accomplishments) tells you what to think?

I apologize for the class for becoming too political, too one-sided, or too intimidating in my position. But I challenge you to address the question above. Do teachers force their beliefs on you? Are some of those beliefs more insidious and latent than others? What effects does that produce in society?

What about political figures? Do they force their views on the people as well, or do they reflect the beliefs of society?

Mock Congress

HOMEWORK: Draft a bill. Your bill should propose some course of action related to our Go Green initiative. Pick ONE particular course of action, and consider all aspects of that action (goals/outcomes, resources, methods, etc.) Be creative--we don't need 32 bills all about recycling plastic bottles.

You want your bill to be clear, yet still conscise so you can easily get it through committee. All bills will be submitted using "House" rules (i.e. in the "Hopper"), assigned a number, and then sent to committee. Students will be assigned to the following committees: Recycling, Reduction, ReUse, Marketing, Energy Efficiency, and Rules.

Each student will propose their "bill" and the committees will votes on which bill to put forth. Each committee may add or subtract to the original bill through a "mark-up" session. Each committee will draft a single bill to submit to the Committee of the Whole. Debate will be held, and then bills will be voted on.

US Congress Leadership

So who are the current congressional leaders? And what exactly is a congressional whip? What do they do (and NO it's not kinky!)?

Please Pass the Pork

What exactly is pork (besides a delicious, carnivourous delicacy)? Define pork barrell spending and log rolling. Find examples of pork and log rolling. What's wrong with pork? Isn't a form of "enlightened self-interest"?

Once someone has defined the terms, only add to those definitions, or provide additional examples.

And what exactly are some of the standing committees on congress? What do they do? Who is on them? What committees do our senators (John McCain and John Kyl) sit on? Do they hold any leadership positions?

Senate and House of Representatives

So exactly how much money do these folks make? What other perks, benefits, and privileges do they have? What exactly are the current demographics in Congress? What did most Congress members do before they were elected to this gig? Are they representative of "the people"?

Efficacy

Government texts describes political efficacy as "a belief that you can take part in politics or that government will respond to the citizenry." What about educational efficacy? To what extent do students participate in their own education, and how much can they anticipate their teachers will respond?

For instance, you can read the various rants about the nature of classroom assignmnets. Many of them boil down to the accusation that teachers are "lazy" and assign meaningless work, simply to give students an arbitrary effort grade. Why bother?

Respectively, I designed an explicit syllabus of relevant work. All testing and reading dates are clearly outlined. Yet how many of our class members have actually read ALL the assigned readings? How many have taken notes on their reading? How many have in any way, shape, or form tried to negotiate meaning on their own? But when the average AP class grade is a 76%, and many students earn Ds and Fs, guess who gets blamed for your low test scores? When teachers issue low grades, where does the blame lie?

The majority of students rely on the teacher to provide the answers. It's a fact that the one doing the talking is doing the learning--so I'm really, really smart about government textbook topics. I create (although sometimes steal) power points, I explain them to the class, yet YOU are supposed to learn.

Once and for all, get in my brain! This would be so much easier if you all just would hop right into my head! Does anyone have any answers to this conundrum???

Busy Work

So what exactly qualifies as busy work? Wouldn't one suppose that all assignments a teacher gives serve some higher purpose, whether it be applying the skills you've learned, reading to expand you general knowledge, or practicing what you already know in order to get better?

Students claim they don't want to do "busy work"--but isn't the majority of the life we lead filled with busy work? From making our beds to brushing our teeth, pushing buttons at a fast food restaurant or running errands, we constantly fill our minutes with mindless activity.

Aren't the opportunities given to you at school the chances to escape from the tedium and mundnaness of day to day life? Don't we give you something new to ponder?

BTW--I had to DELETE the entire last post (and all comments) due to the unprecedented filyh that filled my screen. This blog is currently UNMODERATED, giving you the opportunity to post and instantly see the work of your efforts. If the profanity and insults continue (Sam and Alex), I will have to turn on moderating--and you all know how long it takes me to read your writing! And for goodness sakes, use spell check!