Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Chapter 4 Test Review

Hey you'uns!

Here are the items for study that you need to know for the Test.

1. Examples of cooperative Federalism
2. Different styles of grants and what their purposes are (Federal to State): Revenue sharing, block, project, land grants. Give differences.
3. DIfferent types of delegated powers given to the national government. (inherent, implied, expressed) and give examples of each.
4. Full faith and credit clause- how it works, what it applies to, examples of how a state might use it.
5. Privileges and Immunities clause- how it works, what it applies to, examples of how a state might use it.
6. The entire process for admitting a new state to the union.
7. Reserved powers, denied powers, etc......what can a state do that the federal government cannot?
8. Exclusive versus concurrent powers and examples of each.
9. What is extradition, how it works, etc.
10. What is the Supremacy Clause, what does it mean, where can you find it?
11. What is Federalism? How many levels of government do we have?
12. What is the division of powers?
13. What is an interstate compact? How do they work? Why are they legal? Examples of interstate compacts?
14. Who can declare war? Who can sign treaties? Can the two levels of government tax each other?
15. Out of state tuition?

You will need to be able to describe all six steps of the plan for FEMA intervention.
You will also need to be able to write all the steps for state admission from memory.

The test will be Thursday for Gold Day, Friday for Red Day. If you are going to be gone for Shadowing, you will have until Tuesday at 3 pm to have made up the test. There will be NO makeup exams after that.

Once that is done we will be heading straight into chapter 18, THE COURT SYSTEM. We'll take at look at the best jury drama of all time, 12 ANGRY MEN, as well as leading into our own mock trial, "Gideon v. Wainwright."

STUDY HARD, peeps.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Political Song

Okay, here is a fun assignment that everyone has to do. Each person must find a song that deals with something political. It can be about just about anything, so long as it has to do with the government, actions of the government, or people in the government. For example, I am going to play you two songs in class- one by the band Alabama, called SONG OF THE SOUTH, which is actually about the results of the New Deal by Franklin Roosevelt. Following that, I'm gonna play a little ditty by Bob Dylan called HURRICANE, which is about Rubin Carter, a black man wrongfully convicted by southern police for a murder he didn't commit.

Music can be a very powerful tool in trying to convince people to change their minds about political issues. So here is what your assignment is:

Find a song.
Print the lyrics in order to hand them out to the class.
Come prepared to play the song for the class and then explain what the song was about, why you picked it, what you liked about it, etc.

All songs must be approved by me (with lyrics included). Please choose wisely when picking songs. If a song has some unsavory language, please use common sense. NWA's "Cop-Killer" will not be approved, because of the obvious multiple F-words that litter the song like fleas on my dog.

We will begin this with the REd Day classes on Friday, Feb. 2. Gold Day will begin this process next Thursday, Feb. 8, etc. We will listen to songs during the last part of each Thursday-Friday until everyone has played.

Thanks!

Monday, January 08, 2007

Requirements of Line of Succession Presentations

For everyone presenting this week on the members of the Presidential Line of Succession, please note the following requirements:

Gold Day will present on Thursday, January 11.
Red Day will present on Friday, January 12.

All that is required is a description of the person's job title (in the case of the Speaker of the House, President Pro Tem)

AND

a description of what their Department does, and what they are responsible for.

I do not want a life story of Alberto Gonzales. I want to know what he does as the Attorney General.

I want to know what the Department of Education is responsible for, but not in a 10-12 minute diatribe. Just 3-4 minutes per person please. You MAY create a powerpoint, but ONLY if you are going to send it to me in advance or it is on a disc/jump drive. Otherwise, make sure you have a 1 page handout to give to your class to assist them in studying for the quiz over this project, which will be on

GOLD DAY: Tuesday January 16
RED DAY: Wednesday January 17.


The race is on!

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

It is Finals Day!

Well, the blessed day is here for you Gold Day peeps!

First, let me comment on the Movie Night last night. Excellent turnout. Nearly everyone followed the rules and left no mess behind.

ALMOST everyone.

To a certain group of people (and you know who you are), I hope you get a lump of coal in your stocking at Christmas. Leaving behind crushed pretzels and spit sunflower seeds for your classmates to clean up is bad form. Hardly befitting the Christmas Spirit.

Special Thanks to Chris, Brock, Ashton, Whitney, Lauren and Heather for helping me clean up the mess. I hope each of you gets a billion dollars in your stockings this year. (Forgive me if I left a name off the list there. I wasn't paying much attention- fuming, seething rage will shrink a person's observational skills.)

Please study for your finals. Good luck to all, and to all a good night!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Final Review Study Guide

THE FINAL is going to be on Wednesday for Gold Day and Friday for Red Day.

Here is what is going to be on the test:

Presidents 1-43. You will have to put them in order AND name their primary achievements and failures.

You will have to write down the entire Preamble to the Constitution of the United States.

You will need to know the Declaration of Independence Vocabulary (we will pass back out your prior quizzes).

There will be questions about the following items:

UNITARY GOVERNMENT
EQUALITY OF ALL MEN ACCORDING TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
TYPES OF DICTATORSHIPS: (Totalitarian, Authoritarian)
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OLIGARCHY, MONARCHY, and DEMOCRACY
WHAT A CONSTITUTION DOES
FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS
JOHN LOCKE'S BELIEFS ABOUT WHY PEOPLE FORM GOVERNMENTS
PROPAGANDA
PRESIDENTIAL GOVERNMENTS VERSUS PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENTS

Also, there is a GREAT chance of me throwing in a few questions about:
Communism
Socialism
Capitalism


:)

I hope everyone studies very hard. I will make my IA all next week a boot camp for passing the class. Anyone who needs it has an open pass to come to my room during IA next week. On Monday we will focus on PResidents 31-43, but after that it is a no-holds-barred attempt to teach ya up real good!

Best wishes to everyone, please work hard!

Final Review Study Guide

THE FINAL is going to be on Wednesday for Gold Day and Friday for Red Day.

Here is what is going to be on the test:

Presidents 1-43. You will have to put them in order AND name their primary achievements and failures.

You will have to write down the entire Preamble to the Constitution of the United States.

You will need to know the Declaration of Independence Vocabulary (we will pass back out your prior quizzes).

There will be questions about the following items:

UNITARY GOVERNMENT
EQUALITY OF ALL MEN ACCORDING TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
TYPES OF DICTATORSHIPS: (Totalitarian, Authoritarian)
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OLIGARCHY, MONARCHY, and DEMOCRACY
WHAT A CONSTITUTION DOES
FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS
JOHN LOCKE'S BELIEFS ABOUT WHY PEOPLE FORM GOVERNMENTS
PROPAGANDA
PRESIDENTIAL GOVERNMENTS VERSUS PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENTS

Also, there is a GREAT chance of me throwing in a few questions about:
Communism
Socialism
Capitalism


:)

I hope everyone studies very hard. I will make my IA all next week a boot camp for passing the class. Anyone who needs it has an open pass to come to my room during IA next week. On Monday we will focus on PResidents 31-43, but after that it is a no-holds-barred attempt to teach ya up real good!

Best wishes to everyone, please work hard!

Monday, December 11, 2006

The Penultimate Week!

Here is what is on tap for this week.

MOnday and Tuesday- President presentations 31-35. PRESIDENTS QUIZ 21-30. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON QUIZ. (NOTE: Wow, am I disappointed with how Red Day did on both quizzes. Gold Day, you must do better.- Chad)

Wednesday and Thursday - President Presentations 36-43. Presentations by appointed people on Gold day. Red Day (Wednesday) will have someone assigned.

Please note that I'm moving the date of presidents 41-43 up a day. No griping, please, you got a free 6 days with the snow, PLUS the delay when I pushed all the presentations back another 2 days.

Friday - RED DAY - PRESIDENTS QUIZ 31-43

Monday, Dec 18- Final Review. (Gold Day) Bonus quiz time!

Tuesday, Dec 19 - Final Review (Red Day) Bonus quiz time!

Wednesday, Dec 20 - Gold Day Finals.

Thursday, Dec 21 - Red Day Finals.

This should be how things go through the end of next week.

REMINDER: Movie Night "Million Dollar Baby." Next Tuesday night, 6 p.m. SHARP.

PLEASE DO SOMETHING NICE FOR SOMEONE THIS WEEK!

Sunday, December 03, 2006

This Week

Well......wow. Three whole snow days! I didn't think I'd ever see it again!

I started writing this about twenty minutes ago....and I just got a call saying school is cancelled again for MOnday! Holy cow!

This was a nice break, but now we have to get back to business. Our schedule for the Presidents Presentation has been messed with quite a bit. Since I'm writing this from home, it is kinda tough to remember which class is on what day, and some class STILL haven't finished the Mr. Smith Goes To Washington Movie. I'm about to have to mortgage my house again to pay the late fees at Hasting's.....heh heh. I ought to just buy the stinking videotape. Oh well.

This week, apart from presidents, you can look forward to

1. A quiz over the presidents
2. A quiz over Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
3. Turning in the Filibuster Worksheets and class discussion
4. 2 random people from each class being assigned to do an independent research project on Terri Schiavo, Nancy Cruzan, and a couple other items.

5. A group art project (heh heh) over the first amendment that will lead in to our semester final AND the beginning of the Spring semester.


THE NEXT MOVIE NIGHT IS TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19 at 6 pm. The movie will be "MILLION DOLLAR BABY."

I was going to do Starship Troopers, but seeing countless alien bugs having their entrails splattered all across the movie screen doesn't quite fit in with the Holiday spirit. So instead I'm going with a movie about a redneck hick girl learning to box. Clint Eastwood is a miracle of cinematic genius. So if you're asking what in the world this movie has to do with the United States government....it has NOTHING to do with the upcoming release of Rocky Balboa, in which 140 year old Sylvester Stallone boxes someone 1/7 his age. Instead, it has to do with a certain Dr. Kevorkian......and the moral/ethical issues it raises. I'm excited about the discussions will can have with this hot-button issue in class!

I hope you all are careful and remain cautious, primarily those of you who live on the back country roads where the ice is still treacherous.

See you Tuesday!

By the way....YOU BETTER HAVE YOUR HOMEWORK DONE NOW! NO EXCUSES!