Thursday, July 22

In Class - Group Analyses Presentations. Take down some notes from the presentations and look for the similarities and differences between your analysis compared to other groups. Complete group member evaluations. Briefly discuss education reform.

Overall this was a great learning experience for me. To have a class that is focused on learning, which I hope all of you learned something, is fantastic. I also hope that you guys from Novi will keep in touch. It will be an interesting next school year for both schools with all of the changes in Administration and teaching staff, but remember, you owe it to yourself to make the best of every learning environment. "You may not click with every teacher; you may not think that every assignment is relative to your life. However, there is no excuse for not trying." - President Barack Obama.

If you want to know your final grade, email me and let me know. Thanks again for a great summer school class!!!

Wednesday, July 21

In Class - I will update this later.

Question of the Day - See yesterday's posting. Due by 11:59 tonight.

Homework - Final question of the day is due by 11:59 tonight. Group Public Opinion Analyses (I have confirmed this is the correct spelling) due by 11:59 tonight. Begin preparing for your presentation (final), which will start tomorrow morning at 8:00 am. I will give you a half hour tomorrow morning.

I will also collect all of your written responses tomorrow morning. You will also evaluate your group members (individual aspect of this project) tomorrow morning.

We will also have our final discussion tomorrow afternoon. This will be the last grade in the gradebook.

Articles to check out: You are on your own for this. Subjects to consider researching:
-No Child Left Behind (2002)
-Race to the Top
-Teacher's Unions
-More money for education? Will it work?
-Teacher Evaluations (Tenure)
-Budget deficits (state)
-Merit Pay
-State standards
-State testing (STAR tests in April)

Last day tomorrow. Finish strong!!

Tuesday, July 20

In Class - Turn in homework ("News War" handout). In your groups, work on your public opinion analysis. Although I will give you class time to work on this, you may need to work on this outside of class. You will present your information on Thursday (final exam) and your analysis (one per group) will be due on Wednesday, July 21 by 11:59 pm via email. Each group is responsible for completing their analysis. I will collect the written work on Thursday morning. Begin new topic of education. Individually, rate your education on a scale from 1-10. Discuss this as a class. Watch President Barack Obama's back to school speech from September 2009. Write down anything that catches your attention in his speech. We will continue to work on this tomorrow and the discussion will be Thursday afternoon. This will be one of the last grades in the grade book and participation is vital.

Question of the Day: Using some of the resources below, respond to the following prompt: In a perfect world, what and how would you change the educational system in our country? You may want to research some of these questins to help you in your response. What is the purpose of your education? Do schools need more money per pupil? Should standardized testing be the only way to measure a school? a district? or a student? Should No Child Left Behind be renewed by the federal government?

You do not have to answer these questions, but it may help you when you write. Be sure to write a minimum of two solid paragraphs that are well organized and contain some specific information. Although you do not have to cite your sources, you may want to look at some of the articles below.

Homework - Keep working on your group analysis. Final question of the day is due on Wednesday, July 21 by 11:59 pm.

Articles/Videos to check out:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/video/President-Obamas-Message-for-Americas-Students - POTUS back to school speech (we watched this in class today)
http://www.2mminutes.com/news/pdfs/The%20Forgotten%20Man%20Blog%2012_10_09.pdf - Economic policy - good introduction to the topic of education reform
http://www.projo.com/news/content/central_falls_teachers_02-10-10_INHDDCD_v28.3b40f6e.html - Rhode Island High School shut down
http://www.times-standard.com/othervoices/ci_14424958 - Race to the Top
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/02/17/are-unions-blocking-school-reform/ - teacher unions
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education - White House views on education
http://www.ed.gov/ - US Department of Education - some interesting articles on this site
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/State_of_the_Union/obama-overhaul-no-child-left-behind/story?id=9725517 - Obama to overhaul NCLB
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1972820,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1978589,00.html - should kids be bribed to do well in school

Monday, July 19

In Class - Copy down the five questions concerning the political cartoon analysis. In your groups, discuss the political cartoons while answering the questions for each cartoon. Discuss as a class. Hand out background information concerning the documentary "News War." In this documentary, the statement of whoever controls the media controls the national agenda is analyzed through a variety of cases involving the relationship between national security and the role of the press. Continue to watch "News War." As you watch, be sure to look for evidence responding to the questions on the bottom of the handout. For homework, be sure that you have completed the five Acts/Cases by writing some background information on them (library last Thursday). You will also need to answer questions 1-3, 5. I will collect this first thing tomorrow. Also, take a look at the article regarding specific events where the government and media have clashed. This may help you answer some of the questions. Group Work: In your groups, each will focus on their own questions and responses (100 responses on the five questions from last week). Discuss how you received your responses, any surprising responses, and interesting responses. Preapare and write a detailed analysis that pertains to public opinion. Separate your responses based on gender, occupation, age, and political party. You may have to create some sub groups for each of these to limit the number of categories. In your analysis, include statistics (percentages) and evidence to support your arguments. If there are people that did not include their age, gender, occupation, or political party, then these people will become the +/- percentage. Finally, include in your analysis what surprised you, the overall experience of what you learned, and do factors such as age, gender, occupation, or political party influence public opinion.

Question of the Day: None today. You will have one more assigned tomorrow and due on Wednesday.

Homework - "News War" handout. Be sure to have information regarding the five Acts/Cases and how they relate to the media including the answers to the four questions (1-3, 5) on the bottom of the handout. I will collect this first thing tomorrow morning.

Sunday, July 18

I know I promised you guys an email with your grades. However, I will have these done for you first thing tomorrow morning. It was an interesting weekend, and I will share with you tomorrow.

Also, be sure to have your responses for tomorrow! Enjoy your Sunday.

Thursday, July 15

In Class - As today is sort of a transition day between discussion topics, we will briefly discuss your current events that you brought in today for homework (turn in for points). Watch video clips regarding the issue of race between the NAACP and the Tea Party. Discuss the political implications of this. Group work: discuss and share summaries of your article with your groups. Pass out handout regarding the influence of media on public opinion and on public policy. Library research: Begin looking at the handout (2 government acts, 3 Supreme Court cases) and while you go to the websites listed, write down some key information regarding anything involoving the media. For example, what can the press publish? Are reporters protected from keeping their sources confidential? If you do not finish this today, then it will be homework for Monday. Begin watching the documentary "News War." This documentary is focused on the role of the media and how it relates to public opinion. We will continue and finish this on Monday. Your article regarding public opinion, hang onto this. I will collect on Monday.

Question of the Day - None. Enjoy your weekend.

Homework - Group Project: Your 100 responses to your five questions are due on Monday. Be sure that each of you has one another's contact information in case something should come up over the weekend. Be sure to do your part. Also, follow the guidelines from yesterday's post. You will be using this information on Monday in class, so it is imperative you have this completed. If you have any questions, be sure to contact me via email over the weekend. Also, be sure to complete the handout regarding the documentary (information regarding the websites) by Monday.

Note - We have four days of class left. My goal is to have your grades completed by this Sunday. I will email all of you over the weekend with your current grade.

Wednesday, July 14

In Class - Discuss current events. Short video clips: Taliban training monkeys to kill US soldiers?; Obama's election and commemorative plates; SB 1070. Group Work: Work in groups to discuss political cartoons regarding SB 1070. Be sure to generate information concerning the main argument of the cartoonist as well as its meaning and point of view. Discuss as a class. Continue to formulate your arguments. Small group discussion highlighting your key arguments. Class Discussion: In order to receive credit, you must participate and bring meaningful, intelligent, and original arguments concerning Arizona SB 1070. Before the discussion, respond to the following prompt: Based on your small group discussion, predict how the class discussion on this topic will be. When complete, respond to the overall class discussion. What are your thoughts/feelings? What was presented? How did the conversation go? What surprised/interested you? Hand out article: "Real Education."

Question of the Day - None for today.

Homework - 1) Group project responses. Begin getting your questions to people soon. These are due on Monday, July 19 (all 100 responses). 2) Article summary ("Real Education") and reaction. Write two solid paragraphs (or more!) about what you have read. 3) Bring in one current event about a current world/domestic topic. You will need this for class tomorrow.