Goal for the day:To explore your beliefs about how change happens Today we'll spend most of the day working in our issue groups. I will pass out the assignment for your issue group presentations on October 7th and a workplan so you can divide up work and be efficient in putting everything together. The presentations offer the opportunity to be creative, but I've also given a list of specific things to include. Most of this is a matter of thinking. It doesn't require tons of outside research, but it does require applying the knowledge you have thus far and your logic and beliefs. With big, complex global issues, it helps to focus on something specific so you can feel like you're moving forward. By the end of class, you should identify one piece of your problem that you want to work on. This narrowing will actually open up a whole set of questions and options to consider. After break I'll share with you a project that I worked on which seemed big, complex, and impossible when we started out but ended up being effective at changing the way people think about transportation in Los Angeles and the interconnections between a variety of issues. Assignment for Monday, September 29th Work on your Issue Group Assignments. |
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Goal for the day: For students to decide when they would limit free speech
We're continuing with our discussion of limits on free speech. We'll start with a video of a speech given before the United Nations by U.N. Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson on gender equality. We're taking time to watch the video for several reasons: women's speech and freedoms around the world are curtailed to a much greater degree than speech for men, there has been a subsequent backlash against Watson in the last few days since she made the speech, and because it showcases her effort to address a big, complex, global issue, the same thing you are trying to do with your global issue work. From here, we'll move to complete the When Does Free Speech Go Too Far? handout. We'll end the first half of class, watching the next segment of the Shouting Fire video on free speech. This segment focuses on the controversy over the opening of an Arabic-English dual immersion public school in New York City. This video will deepen our discussion about defamation and how this relates to freedom of the press. After break we'll take a Free Speech Gallery Walk, discussing the case law around defamation, obscenity, offensive and hateful speech, symbolic speech, and true threats. Students will then make their next First Amendment journal post about when they feel it is all right to limit free speech. Assignment for Friday, September 26th None Goal for the day: For students to decide when it's okay to limit free speech?
The first half of the day was spent working on maps of the causes of our big issues. Our maps reached various states of completion but everyone now has broken down their problems into different pieces. This is a bit of an exercise in abstract thinking but will prove useful as each group begins discussing what to do about these problems. By the end of the week, these maps will be refined and informative for each group. Each group gave a summary of their map, and it became clear how all of the maps are connected. The second half of class was spent completing the When Does Free Speech Go Too Far? handout. The First Amendment freedoms are not the only rights in our Constitution. They must be balanced against other needs and values within our society. Sometimes society needs to limit free speech. Where do we draw the line? This is the purpose of the handout. Students confronted scenarios related to the limits of free speech: defamation, obscenity, symbolic speech, offensive and hateful speech, and "true threats." We didn't finish this handout and will continue with this line of inquiry tomorrow. Assignment for Thursday, September 25th None Goal for the day: For students to clarify their own views on foreign policy
We started with a "memory test" to refresh the content we studied last week after the three day weekend. We then reviewed the three strategies we are using to understand the First Amendment: looking at connections to current events, strategizing on big issues, and studying relevant case law. We ended last week with our seminar on ISIS or the Islamic State and the role of the United States in promoting first amendment freedoms in other countries. I pushed a number of arguments to gauge individuals willingness to intervene in other countries to protect fundamental freedoms. Most were hesitant for the United States to get involved. After a summary of where we're headed for the week, we picked up this discussion using clips from the television show The West Wing to revisit the U.S. role in the Middle East. In the clip, communications director Toby is arguing with ex-wife and congresswoman Andrea about a speech the President plans to give to the United Nations. Toby says "They'll like us when we win." We went from this into a four corners activity, as students allied themselves with one of four viewpoints on U.S. foreign policy, interventionist and isolationist perspectives from both the conservative and liberal points of view. We discussed the reasons for students' choices. Students then posted in their personal First Amendment Google Doc on the following question: In what way are 1st amendment freedoms important beyond our borders and how as a country should we support them? After break, we broke into issue groups and we started the process of mapping the causes of the issues we've been looking at: overpopulation, climate change, pollution, lack of clean water, and global peace. I passed out this handout illustrating the different maps that you can make to analyze an issue or problem and decide on an action strategy. Assignment for Wednesday, September 24th None. Goal for the day: To consider the importance and implementation of First Amendment protections around the world
We have talked a great deal thus far about First Amendment protections in this country and discussed how we balance these freedoms against national security. We’ve discussed limitations on speech of people and organizations and when this is okay and when it cross the line. But our essential question is which First Amendment freedoms will be most important to the world over the next one hundred years. Today, we’re going to get out of the box and consider the role of First Amendment freedoms in the unstable and worn-torn countries of the Middle East like Iraq and Syria as our country again begins military action in the region. Here are some questions that I’ll raise in seminar: · Are the lack of First Amendment freedoms in Iraq and Syria at the root of the problem or are first amendment freedoms a symptom of deeper issues such as colonial history, religious extremism, and environmental degradation? · How important are our respect for first amendment freedoms in separating the U.S. from ISIS or distinguishing between ISIS and other groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood or the ANC, that have a history of using violence to achieve political ends? · Which First Amendment freedoms are most important to solving the problems in Iraq and Syria? · How aggressively should the U.S. support, spread, or defend First Amendment freedoms around the world? While one half of our group is doing seminar, the other half will continue working in their Issue Groups. Here are the steps thus far on our Issues Project: 1. Defining a vision 2. Deciding what you need to know 3. Collecting and sharing information among your group members The fourth step, which some of you might get started on today, is to analyze the dynamics of the problem. For this, creating a map of the problem is helpful. I will pass out this handout tomorrow explaining the different kinds of maps you can make. This map will help you choose an action strategy next week. If you feel you’ve done enough research, make a map during the seminar time. Assignment for Tuesday, September 23rd I’ve shared a list of current events and issues cropping up in the news. Add your name next to the current events you want to talk about in class and/or add another event or issue that isn’t currently on the list. Goal for the day: To consider the connection between the First Amendment and foreign policy
We began today talking about the referendum on Scottish independence and how the questions at play are the same ones that we’ve discussed with regard to our own constitution. It looks like the referendum did not pass and so Scotland will not become its own country. But 80-90% of eligible voters participating in the election? That’s amazing and real victory for democracy. We then broke down into two groups and had a very good second seminar on the Patriot Act and First Amendment protections, which again raised questions about what should be constitutionally protected free speech and what should be restricted in the interests of national security. A short mini-lecture on how the Supreme Court has decided these issues followed the break. The current standard for speech that crosses the line is words that are likely to cause “imminent lawless action.” You can also promote terrorist organizations as long as you are acting independently and not doing it under their direction. Everyone journalled about their views on the balance between national security and civil liberties. These journal entries will form the basis for your analysis paper as part of the first amendment project. The answers to so many of these questions depend on what counts as a “terrorist organization.” What do you think? We then moved consider a scenario describing how countries and their allies should respond to organizations that use violence to achieve political ends. We discussed the similarities between the current response to ISIS and the response of the South African government to the African National Congress in the 1970s and 1980s when the ANC was considered a terrorist group by the apartheid South African government, which assassinated its leaders and bombed their bases in foreign countries. I passed out this diagram of the situation with ISIS in Iraq—how we got to where we are today and what could happen in the future. I asked everyone to submit a question about the situation. Based on this each person was assigned an article to read about the ISIS situation. Everyone has to provide a short summary of the article in the Humanities 12 – ISIS Seminar Prep document for their article. Assignment for Friday, September 18th Read your assigned ISIS article and add a point to the Google Doc for seminar prep. We will go over this tomorrow before seminar. Goal for the day: To clarify personal views on the balance between national security and civil liberties
We spent today preparing to seminar on the Patriot Act and First Amendment protections. I began by showing a video contrasting President Obama talking about civil liberties in 2007 with more recent statements in 2013 after the uproar over the revelation of NSA (National Security Agency collecting phone data and other personal information). Is this video evidence of hypocrisy on Obama’s part or does it simply reflect the fact that he’s adjusted his views based on the information he now has access to as President? Next, our two focus groups on the Patriot Act (one pro- and one con-) solidified their arguments and presentations. After sharing and clarifying their points for each other, we took a break and then broke down into two groups. Half of the class went into seminar on the essential question “What is the proper balance between national security and civil liberties?” The other half of our class worked in their issue groups doing research on their issue. This pattern will continue on Thursday and Friday. Thursday we’ll switch with the second group doing seminar and the first doing issue research. On Friday, we’ll also seminar and do issue group work. Assignment for Thursday, September 18th None Goal for the day: To explore the balance between liberty and security
Today is the first of two days focusing on how we balance civil liberties and national security. This is especially relevant given the new military push against the group ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Will renewed military action against a new enemy result in additional restrictions on our 1st Amendment freedoms? How do you feel about this? We’ll start out exploring your own feelings on the issue with another Four Corners Exercise. Then I’ll give some background on how this tension stretches back to our founding with the Alien and Sedition Acts, restrictions during the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and through the Cold War. You’ll then divide into two focus groups to go deeper into the Patriot Act. One group will argue for the Patriot Act, the other against. You’ll use primary sources to construct and argument as a group. At the end of class each group will have a chance to ask clarifying questions of the other. Today’s class should prepare you for a dynamic Socratic seminar tomorrow on these issues. Assignment for Tuesday, September 17th Bring two written questions for the group arguing the opposite position. You will use these tomorrow in seminar. Goal for the day: For students to reflect on what’s important for them about the First Amendment
Welcome to the rest of the First Amendment Media Project…Today, we’ll take a fresh look at the protections guaranteed by the First Amendment and you’ll have a chance to reflect on what’s important to you about this piece of our Constitution. We’ll start with you considering some of the arguments about why these protections will be vital for the next hundred years. You’ll rank these arguments. This will get you started on the type of thinking you’ll need to make an effective video. Speaking of the video…we’ll go over the project again as we’re now pointed downhill toward its completion. You’ll have a block of project days in mid-October to work on the project, but the preparation starts now as you’ll use what we do over the next several weeks to build your argument. We’ll look at the calendar and I’ll explain what the next few weeks will hold. We’ll get a little Four Corners action going before break to help you sort through the nuances of applying the First Amendment to our complex society and then I’ll give you a broad framework for the content we’re going to go over. After break, we’ll consider the different reasons that people give for why the First Amendment is important. And you’ll come up with your own and enter it into our new Google Doc that will function as your blog space for the duration of the FAMP. We’ll then consider 9/11 and how living in the modern world of indiscriminate violence affects our First Amendment freedom. WARNING *** This involves watching a video with graphic content. You do not have to watch and can leave at any time. We’ll end with another look into the future as you’ll revisit the visions for the big issues that you discussed on Friday. You’ll report out to one another the results of your visioning. This is the first step on what will be an ongoing project. Assignment for Tuesday, September 16th Read Matt's excellent summary of the Patriot Act Goal for the day: For students to take on the role of a change agent.
We’ll spend most of today’s class, taking our test on the Constitution and American government. The focus of the test is on bring together your knowledge with your values and applying both to discuss the issues of the day with intelligence and insight. The content thus far is showing you the tools in our government’s toolbox. Our course will now turn to using these tools to think about what we need our government to do over the next 100 years and the role of the first amendment in accomplishing this task. We’ll spend time after the test in small group discussion about the issues you think are most important and I’ll introduce the rest of the course. Several of you still need to turn in your Learning Journal assignment. And don't forget your individual conference time. Assignment for Monday, September 15th None |
AuthorMarcus Renner is just a working teacher at Animas High School in beautiful Durango, CO Archives
November 2015
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