Learning target:
· We appreciate the pros and cons of small group decision-making processes and identify our preferences
· We connect these small group processes to questions about how to structure democracy
· Evaluate the pros and cons of different structures of decision-making and apply to governance of the class
Hope the geology field trip went well for everyone. We had an engaging class diving deep into the drafting of the Declaration of Independence watching episode 2 of the mini-series on John Adams. This isn't on YouTube, but I'd encourage you to rent it from Louisa's or stream it out on Netflix or some other service. It's a great representation of how it all went down and will give you some valuable context for our study of the Constitution.
Today, we're going to talk about decision-making. This class might seem circular because we're making decisions about decision-making. Why would we spend time on this?
At the root of every system of government, is a decision-making process. There are essentially two-types of democracies, majoritarian and consensus-based. I want you to really think about what seems the most fair and most effective in real time rather than talking about this in the abstract. Also, we need to make a real decision about what issue we'll try to address with our group project. To make this as smooth as possible, we need to decide on rules for making the decision. This will make things easier next week.
Before we commence this exercise, I'll do a quick review of where we are and where we're going with each of the three threads to A More Perfect Union.
· Group project: We've looked at youth in La Plata County, identified some issues, and talked about how power works in each one as a bit of preliminary analysis; next week we'll try to decide on one issue and start researching it so we can decide on our goals and strategies to create change.
· Term Paper: Today, I'm passing out the term paper assignment. Look at this and come with questions on Tuesday. So far, we've talked about the market and the polis and the four faces of power and done a little bit on the origins of the American Revolution. This is all fair game to write about in your paper and the posts on your DP are meant to help you identify threads you want to write about. Next week we'll look at how we got our Constitution, break down articles 1-4 of the document, and talk about a federalism, which is how we divide power between the federal government and the states. We'll also start writing conferences next week.
· Digital Story: I've just asked you for one entry in your DS journal thus far. We've also watched a couple digital stories. Today or next week, depending on time, I'll ask you to answer another question about your experience with decision-making in this class as it unfolds over the next few days. You should start now adding reflections on your own and perhaps taking photos or recording sound in situations and at moments that seem important.
I've also updated the gradebook with all the graded assignments we've had thus far. I'm going to give some amnesty on getting these assignments done until Tuesday. This won't be the case with every assignment. I see more value right now though in getting us all together with our reflections ready to move forward than worrying over a few points for these relatively minor assignments. So, check the gradebook. If you see a zero that you want to fix, send me a message by Tuesday letting me know you've updated or finished something. If you don't send me the email with the heads up, I'm not going to look for it.
We'll spend the rest of class figuring out how we'll make decisions. You'll need your decision-making homework I handed out on Wednesday. I'm not going to explain the whole process, but hopefully by the end of the day, we'll have a class constitution that everyone present feels good about or can at least live under without trying to overthrow the class government.
Homework due Tuesday, September 15th
1) Next week we'll decide what issue we're going to focus on as a class. They'll be some time to advocate for a particular issue. I want you to prepare.
So, look at this summary from our discussion of youth issues in La Plata County. Look at the issue you identified on your DP reflection. Look at this sheet listing the potential criteria we think will make a good issue.
Choose an issue and make an argument for why we should focus on it. This argument should be at least 250 words and have a thesis statement and at least two reasons why you believe this is the best issue to focus on.
2) Review the term paper assignment and come in with questions
3) If you were in class on Friday, write a half page, a good solid paragraph in your DS Journal, about our experience trying to come up with a decision-making process for the class. If you were frustrated, channel that frustration into this paragraph. Out of frustration can come deep learning if you are willing to dig a bit. But that's on you.
If you were frustrated, think about why. What does that suggest about how a government should make decisions? What does it suggest about what you feel about education? How important is efficiency? How important is it that everyone is heard? Did you feel heard? If you checked out and didn't feel like contributing, why? Was that just this day and this topic or does it suggest a larger belief about politics and community governance? How did this experience challenge the norms, expectations of a classroom (face 3)? How did it challenge the paradigm of education (face 4)?
This reflection could be central to your digital story and be open to the possibility that your perspective on this experience could change over time.
If you weren't in class today, you'll have the opportunity to do a similar assignment next week.
· We appreciate the pros and cons of small group decision-making processes and identify our preferences
· We connect these small group processes to questions about how to structure democracy
· Evaluate the pros and cons of different structures of decision-making and apply to governance of the class
Hope the geology field trip went well for everyone. We had an engaging class diving deep into the drafting of the Declaration of Independence watching episode 2 of the mini-series on John Adams. This isn't on YouTube, but I'd encourage you to rent it from Louisa's or stream it out on Netflix or some other service. It's a great representation of how it all went down and will give you some valuable context for our study of the Constitution.
Today, we're going to talk about decision-making. This class might seem circular because we're making decisions about decision-making. Why would we spend time on this?
At the root of every system of government, is a decision-making process. There are essentially two-types of democracies, majoritarian and consensus-based. I want you to really think about what seems the most fair and most effective in real time rather than talking about this in the abstract. Also, we need to make a real decision about what issue we'll try to address with our group project. To make this as smooth as possible, we need to decide on rules for making the decision. This will make things easier next week.
Before we commence this exercise, I'll do a quick review of where we are and where we're going with each of the three threads to A More Perfect Union.
· Group project: We've looked at youth in La Plata County, identified some issues, and talked about how power works in each one as a bit of preliminary analysis; next week we'll try to decide on one issue and start researching it so we can decide on our goals and strategies to create change.
· Term Paper: Today, I'm passing out the term paper assignment. Look at this and come with questions on Tuesday. So far, we've talked about the market and the polis and the four faces of power and done a little bit on the origins of the American Revolution. This is all fair game to write about in your paper and the posts on your DP are meant to help you identify threads you want to write about. Next week we'll look at how we got our Constitution, break down articles 1-4 of the document, and talk about a federalism, which is how we divide power between the federal government and the states. We'll also start writing conferences next week.
· Digital Story: I've just asked you for one entry in your DS journal thus far. We've also watched a couple digital stories. Today or next week, depending on time, I'll ask you to answer another question about your experience with decision-making in this class as it unfolds over the next few days. You should start now adding reflections on your own and perhaps taking photos or recording sound in situations and at moments that seem important.
I've also updated the gradebook with all the graded assignments we've had thus far. I'm going to give some amnesty on getting these assignments done until Tuesday. This won't be the case with every assignment. I see more value right now though in getting us all together with our reflections ready to move forward than worrying over a few points for these relatively minor assignments. So, check the gradebook. If you see a zero that you want to fix, send me a message by Tuesday letting me know you've updated or finished something. If you don't send me the email with the heads up, I'm not going to look for it.
We'll spend the rest of class figuring out how we'll make decisions. You'll need your decision-making homework I handed out on Wednesday. I'm not going to explain the whole process, but hopefully by the end of the day, we'll have a class constitution that everyone present feels good about or can at least live under without trying to overthrow the class government.
Homework due Tuesday, September 15th
1) Next week we'll decide what issue we're going to focus on as a class. They'll be some time to advocate for a particular issue. I want you to prepare.
So, look at this summary from our discussion of youth issues in La Plata County. Look at the issue you identified on your DP reflection. Look at this sheet listing the potential criteria we think will make a good issue.
Choose an issue and make an argument for why we should focus on it. This argument should be at least 250 words and have a thesis statement and at least two reasons why you believe this is the best issue to focus on.
2) Review the term paper assignment and come in with questions
3) If you were in class on Friday, write a half page, a good solid paragraph in your DS Journal, about our experience trying to come up with a decision-making process for the class. If you were frustrated, channel that frustration into this paragraph. Out of frustration can come deep learning if you are willing to dig a bit. But that's on you.
If you were frustrated, think about why. What does that suggest about how a government should make decisions? What does it suggest about what you feel about education? How important is efficiency? How important is it that everyone is heard? Did you feel heard? If you checked out and didn't feel like contributing, why? Was that just this day and this topic or does it suggest a larger belief about politics and community governance? How did this experience challenge the norms, expectations of a classroom (face 3)? How did it challenge the paradigm of education (face 4)?
This reflection could be central to your digital story and be open to the possibility that your perspective on this experience could change over time.
If you weren't in class today, you'll have the opportunity to do a similar assignment next week.