May 22

Social 30-1

We finished off the FLQ Crisis video from the History's Turning Points series today. We started to develop an understanding of historical context by examining the 9/11 attacks. In order to understand the mood in the United States after 9/11 and be able to provide a rationale for why they pushed through the USA PATRIOT Act so quickly you need this context. Make sure that complete all of the video questions from the CBC News in Review booklet that I gave you as well as read all of the articles in that booklet as well. Please check your e-mail tonight for notes on the Patriot Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act. Please print these notes off, read them, highlight them and annotate them prior to tomorrow's class. Your Chapter 10 Test is on Monday, please see the study guide below.

Chapter 10 Test Study Guide:

This test is multiple choice format, with 55 questions. Please review the PowerPoint "Political Challenges to Liberalism". You're responsible for all key terms and questions from the Chapter 10 Worksheet. Please review the following as well:

• Democratic Systems (handout notes)
• Non-Democratic Systems (handout notes)
• Structure of Canadian Government
• Structure of American Government
• similarities/differences between the parliamentary system and presidential system
• types of dictatorships
• techniques of dictatorships
• authoritarian systems
• proportional representation concept
• first past the post system
• review political and economic spectrum (again!)

Social 20-1

You had most of the class period to work on a foreign policy booklet that required you to define key terms and concepts, and to provide examples of these key concepts. I will do a homework check on this booklet on Friday. You should have completed this work in class. You also had some time to do some group brainstorming on arguments and evidence for tomorrow's Unit 3 WRA II Essay. Don't be late tomorrow, since we're writing this essay right at the beginning of the day in the Blenheim lab.
 

IB 30/35

We did a lot of review today in preparation for tomorrow's written test. I reviewed the 19th century political spectrum, the 20th century political spectrum, the principles of individualism (PRICES) and the principles of collectivism (PRINCE), the economic-political grid and the techniques of dictatorship. All of these concepts were taught to you in Grade 11, but we needed to review these concepts. You are writing your Unit 1 Final Exam on Friday, please see the study guide below. You have your Economic Systems Exam on Wednesday, May 29th, this exam deals with the market economy, the mixed economy, and the command economy. In the first semester you wrote an exam that covered the market and mixed economy, so it expands on those concepts. You can find the study guide below.

Unit 1 Final Exam Study Guide:

The Unit 1 Final is a 55 question multiple choice test. It will be written on Friday, May 24th. Make sure that you study the following:

• Study the principles of individualism (PRICES) and principles of collectivism (PRINCE)
• Study the Ideology Notes (Black Gold School District PDF file)
• Study the 19th Century Political Spectrum
• Study the 20th Century Political spectrum
• Study the political-economic grid
• Know the values and ideas associated with the various ideologies (on the 19th century and 20th century spectrums)
• Study the Individualism and Collectivism booklet
• review your Enlightenment philosophers that you were introduced to previously: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau

Economic Systems Exam Study Guide:

This is a comprehensive exam that covers all of the major economic systems: market economy, mixed economy, and command economy. It is 70 multiple choice questions. This exam will be administered on Wednesday, May 29th.

 
• study all of the following PowerPoint presentations that are on the wiki for Unit 2:

                   - The Development of Classical Liberalism
                   - Responding to Classical Liberalism
                   - The Evolution of Modern Liberalism
                   - 20th Century Rejections of Liberalism

• focus on the Soviet Union, and left-wing of economic spectrum (command economy), we haven't covered aspects of dictatorships or Nazism yet (the techniques of dictatorship and fascism will be on a Chapter 5 Test)
• please see the summary notes from the Ideologies textbook: Chapter 7 (Private Enterprise) from the wiki 
• supply-side economics
• boom and bust cycle/business cycle
• laws of supply and demand, Adam Smith, invisible hand, market forces
  self-interest, consumer sovereignty, competition, private ownership, profit motive
• basic economic problems/questions
• advantages/disadvantages of the market economy
• causes of the Great Depression
• FDR and the New Deal
• please see summary notes from the Ideologies textbook on the Mixed Economy Case Studies #14 (Sweden) and #15 (Canada), #16 (Japan), #17 (Fascism and Nazism)
• also see the Democratic Socialism booklet on Sweden (indicative planning, "cradle to the grave" economics)
• characteristics of a mixed economy
• nationalization
• privatization
• democratic socialism
• welfare capitalism
• Keynesian economics
• the business cycle and fiscal and monetary policies (study all of the notes I gave you and the booklet that is on the wiki)
• demand-side economics
• neo-conservatives
• monetarism
• trickle down economics
• supply-side economics
• Thatcherism and Reaganomics
• Milton Friedman
• Friedrich Hayek
• how Keynesian economics deals with a recession (remember "the percolator": increase circulation of money reducing taxes, increase government spending on "make work" projects, and reduce interest rates, which according to Keynesian economics is going increase demand for goods and services and lead to more money circulating in the economy)
• how supply-side economics deals with a recession (remember "trickle down coffee maker": government should stimulate the goods and services sector of the economy by reducing corporate and personal taxes, eventually benefits will "trickle down" to the middle class and working class, make connections between supply-side economics and laissez faire economics/classical liberalism)
• advantages and disadvantages of a mixed economy
• neo-conservative criticism of government intervention
• characteristics of a centrally planned economy
• advantages and disadvantages of a centrally planned economy
• Marx notes
• Lenin notes
• establishment of the Soviet Union
• Soviet economic system (top-down decision-making process)
• Lenin's War Communism and the New Economic Policy
• Stalin notes 
• "Changes to Soviet Society After Stalin" notes (this bridges the gap between Stalin and Gorbachev)
• Gorbachev to Collapse Notes

December 9

IB 30

We watched an A & E Biography of Benito Mussolini today, which took most of the period. this sets the stage for the last topic in our study of Prescribed Subject 1 next week, the Italian invasion of Abyssinia.

Social 20-1

Most of today's class was spent in small groups discussing how international organizations address contemporary global issues and their effectiveness in doing so. Please make sure that you check the upcoming important dates below.

Social 20-1 Important Upcoming Dates:

• Unit 3 WRA II (Essay) is on Wednesday, December 14th (you will get the essay question sheet on Monday)
• Unit 3 Final Exam is on December 20th (the study guide will be posted next week on the blog)
• Social 20-1 Final Exam Part A (In-Class Essay) is on Tuesday, January 10th (you will of course, not receive the essay question sheet in advance)

Social 30-1

For most of today we looked back on the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2011. I typically do this to set the stage for discussing anti-terrorism legislation that is passed post-9/11 in Canada and the United States. This is a topic that we will be exploring next week. Please check out the upcoming important dates below.

Social 30-1 Important Upcoming Dates:

• Chapter 10 Test is on Tuesday, December 13th (please see the study guide here)
• Civil Rights Movement Assignment outline is due on Friday, December 8th
• Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are due on Monday, December 12th
• Unit 3 WRA II (Essay) is on Thursday, December 15th (you will not get the essay question sheet in advance)

December 8

Social 30-1

We watched a video from the Turning Points in History series on the FLQ Crisis of 1970. PLEASE make sure that you finish off the FLQ Crisis booklet. There is a useful document based analysis on the FLQ in there, and make sure you read about the Emergencies Act as well.  In today's video we looked at the FLQ crisis, this is the interview on the steps of Parliament that features Trudeau's "just watch me" speech. It's an interesting little debate that is waged being Trudeau and the reporters over the issue on giving up or losing civil liberties in order to ensure security.

Upcoming Important Dates for Social 30-1 Students:

• Chapter 10 Test is on Tuesday, December 13th (please see the study guide here)
• Civil Rights Movement Assignment outline is due on Friday, December 8th
• Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are due on Monday, December 12th
• Unit 3 WRA II (Essay) is on Thursday, December 15th (you will not get the essay question sheet in advance)

Social 20-1

I gave you class time to work on a booklet that outlined various key concepts associated with internationalism and foreign policy. This booklet required you to define the key terms and also provide real-world examples of these concepts. Concepts covered in this booklet included: foreign aid, supranationalism, multilateralism, peacekeeping, peacemaking, international law, international agreements, unilateralism, bilateralism, NGOs. Your Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow.

Upcoming Important Dates for Social 20-1 Students:

• Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow
• Unit 3 WRA II (Essay) is on Wednesday, December 14th (you will get the essay question sheet on Monday)
• Unit 3 Final Exam is on December 20th (the study guide will be posted next week on the blog)
• Social 20-1 Final Exam Part A (In-Class Essay) is on Tuesday, January 10th (you will of course, not receive the essay question sheet in advance)

IB 30

You had the entire period today to write your Emergence of the Americas in Global Affairs Unit Test as well as the Paper 1 on Prescribed Subject 1. Tomorrow we will be looking at the A & E Biography of Benito Mussolini, which will provide you with biographical information on this dictator, his rise to power, his brand of fascism, his invasion of Abyssinia, and his ultimate demise. Next week, we'll look at the Abyssinia crisis.

December 7

Social 20-1

We finished off the "Internationalism and Nationalism" PowerPoint lecture today in class. I will be sending this to you by e-mail soon. I gave you the remainder of class time to work on your Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions.

Social 30-1

You completed an in class writing assignment on a propaganda poster today in class. I also did a homework check on your Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions. Please remember that your US Civil Rights Movement Assignment is due tomorrow, but the essay outline that goes along with this assignment is due on Friday now. The Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are now due on Monday. You have your Chapter 10 Test on Tuesday, December 13th, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it).

IB 30

We finished off our examination of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 today in class. I will be posting some study notes on the wiki covering the Manchurian incident and the Lytton Report as well. Tomorrow you have your Emergence of the Americas in Global Affairs Unit Test, please check on the study guide on the wiki, or here on the blog. You will also be writing a Paper 1 on Prescribed Subject 1 tomorrow as well. Today is the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, so if you are so inclined, have a look at this collection of photos from the Boston Globe feature "The Big Picture".

December 6

IB 30

We looked at international relations in the Inter-War Years today by focusing on a reading that covered the Ruhr Crisis, the Dawes Plan, the Young Plan, and the Kellogg-Briand Pact. We also started looking at the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, which we will continue tomorrow. I also gave you back your Paper 2 essays today on WWI. This Thursday you have a test on the Emergence of the Americas in Global Affairs unit. This test will be multiple-choice format. Also on Thursday, you will be writing a Paper 1 on Prescribed Subject 1 right after the multiple choice test. Please see the study guide below.

The Emergence of the Americas in Global Affairs Unit Test

This is a 38 question multiple choice test. It will be administered in class on Thursday, December 8th. It covers the Emergence of the Americas in Global Affairs unit. Here are some points to review:

• Teddy Roosevelt "big stick diplomacy"
• Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
• Alfred A. Mahan (naval sea power theory)
• What is the "Open Door Policy"?
• What is "dollar diplomacy"?
• Spanish-American War (causes, practices, effects/results)
• Venezuela crisis and jingoism
• Portsmouth Peace Conference (Russo-Japanese War; what role does Teddy Roosevelt play); results?
• President McKinley's accomplishments re: expansion/annexation
• MAIN causes of WWI
• nature of warfare in WWI
• World War I (causes, practices, effects/results: a word of caution here-don't spend any time studying the battles in WWI)
• Canadian participation in WWI (contributions, issues on the home front)
• key players/leaders in WWI (ex. Kaiser Wilhelm II, Nicholas II, etc.)
• Sedition Act and Espionage Act (USA)
• George Creel

After you complete the multiple choice test, you will be writing a Paper 1 on Prescribed Subject 1 (Peacemaking, Peacekeeping and International Relations). Review how to write a Paper 1 by visiting key links on the wiki, especially the OPVL document analysis link. Remember to try and write 4 similarities and 4 differences between the sources (NOT in chart format), and to create an OPVL chart. I have put up an example Paper 1 on the wiki with examiner's comments that covers the Japanese invasion of Manchuria (obviously Thursday's Paper 1 will NOT be on that topic). Other topics in Prescribed Subject 1 that we have covered a fair game, so have a look at this section of the wiki.

Social 30-1

I went through some notes today on rights, responsibilities, human rights, civil rights, the entrenchment of rights, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the notwithstanding clause. I also mentioned the usage of the War Measures Act (we will discuss this in greater detail when we look at the FLQ Crisis of 1970). Check out the following upcoming important dates:

• Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow.
• Civil Rights Movement assignment is due on Thursday, December 8th
• Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are due on Friday, December 9th
• Chapter 10 Test is on Tuesday, December 13th (please see study guide below)
• Unit 3 WRA II Essay is on December 15th
• Social 30-1 Trial Final is on December 21st

Chapter 10 Test Study Guide:

This test is multiple choice format, with 55 questions. Please review the PowerPoint "Political Challenges to Liberalism". You're responsible for all key terms and questions from the Chapter 10 Worksheet. Please review the following as well:

• Democratic Systems (handout notes)
• Non-Democratic Systems (handout notes)
• Structure of Canadian Government
• Structure of American Government
• similarities/differences between the parliamentary system and presidential system
• types of dictatorships
• techniques of dictatorships
• authoritarian systems
• proportional representation concept
• first past the post system
• review political and economic spectrum (again!)

Social 20-1

I started a PowerPoint lecture today on "Internationalism and Nationalism" which I will finish tomorrow in class. For the remainder of the period I gave you time to work on your Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions, which are due tomorrow. I did a homework check on the Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions today. Check out the following important dates:

• Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions are due on Wednesday, December 7th
• Unit 3 WRA II Essay is on Wednesday, December 14th
• Unit 3 Final Exam is on Tuesday, December 20th
• Social 20-1 Final Exam Part A is on Tuesday, January 10th

May 17

Social 10-1

You wrote your Unit 3 WRA II Essay today in the Blenheim Room. I will try my best to have these essays marked within a week. I will be highly motivated to do this because my two Social 30-1 classes are writing their Unit 3 WRA II next Tuesday. Please remember that you are writing your Unit 3 WRA I on Thursday, so it would be a good idea to review how to write a WRA I again. Your Unit 3 Final Exam is on Tuesday, May 24th, please see the study guide below.

Unit 3 Final Exam Study Guide:

Please make sure that you have read Chapters 10-14. Please make sure that you have the following PowerPoint presentations, and that you study from them:

• "Foundations of Economic Globalization"
• "The Expansion of Economic Globalization"
• "Challenges and Opportunities of Economic Globalization"
• "The Impact of Economic Globalization on Environments"
• "Globalization and Sustainability"

Make sure that you have reviewed the Key Terms from Unit 3 (all the terms listed on the Unit 3 Worksheet, plus the extra key terms that appeared in the PowerPoint presentations). The Unit 3 Final Exam will consist of 55 multiple choice questions.

Social 30-1

You spent most of today's class writing your Unit 3 WRA I. Please remember that you are writing your Unit 3 WRA II Essay on Tuesday. You will not be getting the essay question sheet in advance for the Unit 3 WRA II. Please make sure that you review how to write a WRA II (review the "Recipe for Success"). Your Chapter 10 Test is tomorrow, please see the study guide here. Your Unit 3 Final Exam is on Thursday, May 26th. I will be posting the study guide for this final this Thursday.

May 16

Social 10-1

Most of today's class was spent dealing with the short 20 minute video called "The Story of Stuff". I really appreciate the degree to which you watched this video critically, and the conversation that we generated afterwards. Annie Leonard from the Story of Stuff Project has uploaded other videos to YouTube, so if you're interested in watching some more videos, have a look at the ones below. Also, have a look at the upcoming important dates below.

• Unit 3 WRA II Essay is on Tuesday, May 17th in the Blenheim Room (go directly there tomorrow morning)
• Unit 3 WRA I is on Thursday, May 19th
• Unit 3 Final Exam is on Tuesday, May 24th (the study guide will be posted tomorrow)
• TNC Dossier Assignment is due on Wednesday, May 25th

And here's another...

Social 30-1

We finished off the FLQ Crisis video from Friday at the beginning of class today. Here is the video that I forgot to post on Friday. It connects nicely to some of the themes that we addressed today in class with regard to anti-terrorism legislation that was passed in Canada and the United States after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. In Friday's video we looked at the FLQ crisis, this is the interview on the steps of Parliament that features Trudeau's "just watch me" speech. It's an interesting little debate that is waged between Trudeau and the reporters over the issue on giving up/losing civil liberties in order to ensure security.


We watched a video from the CBC News in Review on the September 11th attacks today prior to talking about anti-terrorism legislation in Canada and the United State, because in order to fully understand why this legislation was passed, you need to see the context in which it was passed. The value conflict between ensuring security, peace and order in society versus individual freedom and civil liberties could be a potential topic on Part A of your Diploma Exam (it was on the January 2010 Diploma). Liberal democracies around the world, post-9/11 have had to deal with the issue of the extent to which they must ensure security and the balance between security and civil liberties. It would not be difficult to use a quotation that relates to this issue ("They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."--Benjamin Franklin) and then have the essay question: "To what extent should we embrace the perspective(s) in this source?" Would you be able to write an essay on that topic? Think of the source material that I've given you on the FLQ crisis, the Emergencies Act, the Anti-Terrorism Act, the Patriot Act and the no fly list, and think about other ways you could prepare for this as a potential essay topic. Speaking of writing assignments, please remember that you have your Unit 3 WRA I (source analysis) tomorrow. Your Chapter 10 Test is on Wednesday, here's the study guide (there's more democracy-related questions on the test than authoritarianism/dictatorship questions). Please finish off the activities in the FLQ Crisis booklet (the document analysis fill in the blank exercise). At the back of the booklet there is information on the Emergencies Act which you MUST read over!  I also gave you some handouts on the Patriot Act. We'll be dealing with this on Thursday again. Tomorrow, you have your Unit 3 WRA I (3 source analysis). If you have switched to Social 30-2 you will be writing a WRA III (3 speakers question).