VIXION R6

May 6

Social 10-1

We watched "Globalization is Good" today in class, and while you watched the video you were to complete the film study guide that went along with the film. We did have time to go over the answers at the end of the video as well. Please remember that your Chapter 13 Key Terms and Questions are due on Monday. This would be a great weekend to get some initial research completed on your TNC Dossier Assignment as well.

Social 30-1

I started off today by drawing your attention to the May 5th post where I put up a bunch of hyperlinks that will help you on the USA-Canada Government Comparison Assignment. You also have to post your answer to the questions posed on the May 5th post as well prior to next Friday. This assignment is worth double homework check marks. I went through a PowerPoint lecture called "Political Challenges to Liberalism" by focusing on the later part of the presentation and examples of non-democratic systems. I have sent this PowerPoint to you already. I then passed out a reading called "The End of Democracy?" from Maclean's magazine. I also gave you the Civil Rights Movement Assignment. I have sent you the essay outline sheets that you need to complete as part of the Civil Rights Movement Assignment already, so check your e-mail.

• USA-Canada Government Comparison Chart is due on Thursday, May 12th
• Civil Rights Movement Assignment is due on Monday, May 16th
• Chapter 10 Test is on Wednesday, May 18th
• Unit 3 WRA II Essay is on Tuesday, May 24th
• Unit 3 Final Exam is on Thursday, May 26th

May 5

Social 30-1

I'm adding some links under the Social 30-1 Links on this page to help you out with your USA-Canada Political System Comparison Chart assignment (which is due next Thursday). Here some websites that I think will help (permanent links will appear on the right-hand side of the blog under Social 30-1 Links):

• Ben's Guide to U.S. Government
• Elections Canada
• Real Clear Politics
• Canadian Parliament
• Canadian Senate
• Government of Canada: Democratic Reform
• The White House
• The United States Senate
• The House of Representatives
• The Electoral College System
• USA: How a Bill Becomes a Law

We also did some small group discussions about four questions related to democracy. Usually I have students post answers to these questions again for homework check marks. While we were having our class discussion today though another idea hit me. Given that we have had a recent federal election in Canada, I would like you to post comments here on the blog answering the following question:  How can Canadian political leaders increase civic engagement among young people in Canada? What can they do appeal to young voters such as yourselves in the next federal election? When you post your comments, please post with your first name, last name initial and what class you're in (Kevin G. in Social 30-1 Period 3). Please take this homework assignment seriously, if the quality of answers is high and the answers are strong I will pass on your ideas to the appropriate MPs and other politicians. This is also worth double homework check marks! You have one week to post your answer on the blog on this day's post.

Social 10-1

We finished watching the video that we started yesterday called the Other Side of Outsourcing. I also went through a PowerPoint presentation with you the I will be sending to you this evening. Tomorrow we'll be watching a very pro-globalization video called Globalization is Good.

May 3

Social 10-1

We finished watching "The Age of Wal-Mart" video and completed the film study that went along with it. I also showed you some exemplars of the TNC Dossier Assignment from previous semesters. Hopefully these examples gave you some ideas and inspiration. I will try to post the assignment sheet and rubric on the wiki in the next couple of days. The TNC Dossier Assignment is due on Wednesday, May 18th. This is the day after your Unit 3 WRA II.

Social 30-1

I talked a little bit about the Canadian federal election results at the beginning of class. I also did the computer usage request forms for your Diploma Exam at the beginning of class. I went through the structure of the American government and as I lectured you were to take some notes on the diagram. We watched a short video on electoral college system, if you want to watch it again, here is the hyperlink. As we watched this video I stopped it occasionally to point out a few quirks with this system, namely that you can win the popular vote and still not win enough electoral college votes to become president.  I also talked about the 2000 election. In that election Florida was the key state. Previously in class I've talked a little bit about the differences between the types of ballots used in Canada and in the United States. In many counties in Florida during the 2000 election they used what's called a butterfly ballot where you punch holes in the ballot to indicate which candidate you are voting for. I think the following graphic illustrates nicely what this ballot looked like.
I think you can see how this might have caused some confusion. If you can't see the ballot clearly, just click on it and you should see a larger view. If you want to look at past U.S. Presidential elections and see the U.S. electoral college maps for the past ten elections, have a look at Real Clear Politics. Have a look at the 1984 election, that was extremely one-sided!
We also looked at the system of checks and balances in the American presidential system.

Here is a link to the Examples of Students' Writing from the January 2010 Diploma Exam. Obviously, you don't study their responses because the three sources will be different and the text-based source for the WRA II will be different too. But this should give you an idea of the standards for the Diploma.

May 2

Social 10-1

You wrote your Chapter 10-11 Test today. I did a homework check on your Chapter 12 Key Terms as well. We'll finish off "The Age of Wal-Mart" video tomorrow as well as talk about the TNC Dossier Project.

Social 30-1

We talked about types of democratic systems today, and in particular direct democracy and representative democracy. We also looked at how a bill becomes a law in Canada, and different types of electoral systems from around the world. I gave you the essay question sheet for your Unit 2 WRA II which is on Wednesday.