Time for a Break

We’ve had a week to celebrate President’s Day, catch up on sleep, and perhaps read a good book. I hope you took the time to do whatever you find most restful so upon your return you are ready to delve into our next units. While there was no formal homework over the break, I just know you were watching the news and keeping up with the outside world! So much has been happening in Northern Africa as citizens of Libya try to emulate what happened in Tunisia and Egypt by overthrowing the 40 year reign of Omar Kaddafi. Instability in this oil-producing region could play havoc with the world economy…just look at the price of gasoline over the past week.

Modern America in a Global World

In the week before the break we watched excerpts from the PBS video “The Crash of 1929” that helped us better understand the irrational exuberance of the stock market and the ultimate crash. The nation was faced with high unemployment, a sluggish economy, and families driven into destitution. President Hoover believed the situation would ultimately correct itself and urged banks and companies to participate in voluntary programs that would aid the economy. In the election of 1932, America had a clear choice between Hoover and his voluntary approach and Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s approach that called for massive government intervention, which he called The New Deal. The citizens spoke clearly and elected FDR in a landslide.

We also reenacted the decisions families had to make during the Depression on how they would try to increase their income and cut down on spending. We quickly discovered that a family’s spending helps provide someone else’s income, while tightening our belts actually hurts the community. During tough times we want to protect ourselves from the unknown but cutting back too far on spending slows the recovery. All you have to do to see this effect is to drive down Thames Street in Newport and look at the empty shop windows. Small business has been especially hurt during today’s rough economic times.

We had our final assessment on the last Friday before break. All of the questions came from our class activities so I expect some excellent grades. After the assessment you were given the New Deal chart that will allow you to organize information about the programs FDR and Congress implemented to improve the economy. Be on the lookout while you are watching the news or reading the on-line papers for the programs President Obama and Congress are working on to put people back to work.

Accountable Talk

Because of my absence, we did not have the opportunity to conduct our accountable talk discussion based on the Economist reading and the Bob Herbert column. We will do this activity when you return on Monday so please be prepared. You also have your income distribution charts that you may use during our discussion. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the disparate levels of income within this country. Were you surprised to find that the top 5% of the people own 72%of the wealth in the US while the bottom 80% of the population own 7% of the wealth?

We will also start our new but very short unit on the New Deal. We will look at the role of government and what programs were put in place in the 1930’s so another Great Depression would not happen. Some of these safeguards were abandoned in the late 1990s and many believe that is why we came so close to having another depression when financial markets collapsed. You will be hearing debate for a long time to come over the government programs enacted in the past three years to prevent an even greater decline – did the government do too much or too little?

This is the time for you to start thinking about what role government should play in our lives. It is easy to dismiss “big” government and urge the least amount of regulation but when serious issues and challenges confront our country, many look to the government for help. Once we come to some conclusions about the role of government, we then have to ask who should pay for these services. Should people with a greater income pay a greater share or should people at all income levels pay the same percentage in taxes?

International Speakers Series

On February 14 we heard from the Kazakhstan and Germany international officers who are attending the Naval War College. Their power point presentations, remarks and question and answer periods gave us new insights into two countries who have had a history of conflict but since the fall of the USSR, have become allies. Our series continues in March.

The Headlines Say It ALL

The headlines say it all:

Cairo Erupts in Jubilation
Revolution in Egypt
Mubarek is Gone
Egypt is Free

Reporters and leaders around the world kept repeating that “history was unfolding before our eyes” as the world watched the people of Egypt, young, old, from all walks of life, come forward and march through the streets of Cairo with the goal of freedom. We must celebrate this great victory and hope that the days ahead will be filled with progress as the Egyptians try to figure out how to shape their new democracy. Thirty years of dictatorial rule are over and the hard work of fashioning a civil society is ahead. While the world watches to see what transpires, other leaders in the Middle East are already under pressure to open their societies. This is truly a turning point in history!

Did you make any money?

This week we looked at the causes of the 1929 stock market crash and ensuing Depression. Investors got caught up in get-rich-quick attitudes and bought stock on margin in hopes of making huge sums of money. Consumers over-extended themselves by buying on the installment plan many items they could not afford. And farmers struggled to make loan payments when the demand from Europe dried up. The result was the crash of 1929. You worked on a stock chart from 1929 and one from today. You quickly saw that money could be made if you bought your stock on a low day and sold at a high, but how was an investor to know when that would happen? You have to be smart about money. If you are prudent and have a plan you can amass a comfortable sum of money (more on that next week when I show you how to be a millionaire by the age of 65). You need to know how money can help you meet your goals in life but it also can bring misery if you don’t follow some simple rules of spending and saving.

Comparisons between then and now

As we studied the economic situation of 1929 and today, we learned many new vocabulary terms. We talked about the Bull and Bear markets, speculation, collateral and buying on margin. These terms are important for you to know and to use as we talk about economic issues. Your current event, which is due on Tuesday, must be on a business or economic issue. In addition to the regular summary and analysis you also need to identify new vocabulary words and meanings from the article.

Our UpFront article gave us a good comparison between 1929 and the current economic slowdown. You could see that our current slowdown could have been much worse but the government took steps to avert such a sharp turn down. Many of the New Deal programs that were put into place after the election of President Roosevelt are still with us today. It is hard to think how families survived the 1929 Depression without unemployment insurance, Federal Depositors Insurance, or Social Security. If you have family members who like to reminisce, ask them how their families survived this period – and whether they knew of people who did not.
We also finished watching The Crash of 1929. In addition to news from this year, you heard from people who lived through this time and how their lives changed with the crash.

This week you also had a quiz on chapter 22, section 1. If you missed the quiz, you have 5 days to come by and take it. Don’t delay.

Next week we will look at the social effects of the Depression and you are to complete activity 6 on your syllabus. You were also given a reading to prepare for our accountable talk discussion on Wednesday. Some of you have an opinion piece from Bob Herbert of The New York Times and others have an article from The Economist (Admiral Wisecup’s favorite magazine). We will do a family reenactment lesson where you will decide how your family is going to survive the Depression…how will you try to increase your income and what can you do to decrease your expenditures? What are your priorities? How do your individual family decisions then affect the community?

Final Assessment

We will finish the week with an in-class writing assignment. The goal is to complete the study of the Depression so you can go off on February break with no homework. I know you will keep up with current events but there will be no assigned work if we can complete our assignments next week.

Obama “Hoovervilles”?

While reading the NYT this morning, I came across this headline that caught my eye so I am passing it on to you. Mitt Romney, who is expected to be running for the Republican nomination for president in 2012, compared the lines of unemployed today with the Hoovervilles of the past. “These job fairs and unemployment lines are President Obama’s Hoovervilles!” Next week during our accountable talk activity, let’s see if your assessment is the same as Mitt Romney’s.

In-School Field Trip

On Monday we have two more guest speakers from the Naval War College. We will be hearing from officers from Germany and Kazakhstan. Please sign in with your advisory teacher and then come to room 212.

Shaping Your Future

So much has happened this week…while I know you want to read about your midterm exams and our new syllabus I feel compelled to write about the turmoil in Egypt. Watching the news and seeing people in the streets trying to take back their government is a source of inspiration for all of us. The violence has been regrettable but so much has been accomplished by ordinary people displaying great courage. The people have spoken and it appears a transitional government will be put into place so free and open elections can be held for the first time in over 30 years. I am in awe of the brave people in Cairo and the brave journalists from all over the world who have given us a window into this tumultuous world. I hope you read the front page article in The Newport Daily News about one of our own MHS graduates who has been teaching in Egypt. There was also an article in The New York Times about young Americans of Egyptian descent who are finding a renewed sense of pride in their heritage.

Midterm

Congratulations for all of your hard work this week. We finally finished our midterm exams even though Mother Nature put up a good fight. Your exam was a mix of open and closed questions. While an open ended question gives you the opportunity to write from many different perspectives you have to be careful to avoid generalities and sweeping statements. When you are responding to an open ended question make sure you anchor your comments with examples and evidence. Some students wrote about disease as a challenge in Africa without mentioning the types of diseases, why diseases run rampant in some countries and steps that are being taken to eradicate the diseases. Another common mistake on the exam was not answering all parts of the question. You did a great job on the cartoon interpretations but some students did not explain if the message was accurate. When the question asks you to discuss or explain you need to think about writing more than one sentence. One sentence reads like a list…you need to expand on your thoughts so your reader sees that you have more than a surface understanding of the issue.

Half Way Home

We are at the half way point in the school year. This is a perfect time to pause and reflect on your track record and plan for the second half of the year. For those of you who are meeting standard — keep up the good work. For those of you who have been struggling, let’s put together a corrective action plan: a more serious approach to your studies, doing the homework, staying after for extra help, and making up missed work after being out. It is your choice!

Mr. Young Takes the Helm

With the start of the new semester, Mr. Young is now taking over for Periods A, B, C and D. He is a master of PowerPoint so you have already seen “The Faces of the Depression” which was the basis of your writing assignment. But now I have to say that the blog, while it welcomes all readers, will focus on the activities of the E period class. So while all students are welcome to read please keep in mind that the assignments listed on the blog ONLY pertain to the E period class.

CWI now becomes Modern America in a Global World

As we start our new semester, we switch our geography text for an American History text. Make sure to turn in your book ASAP so we can issue you the new text. The new text will be used for our study of Modern America, starting with the Great Depression of 1929 and ending with the Obama Administration. While we will be looking at the US we are not forgetting that we live in a global society so we will be integrating these issues into our study of America.

This week we started a new unit on the Great Depression. We will be looking at the Depression of the 1930’s and comparing it to the worldwide recession of today. We started with a photo assignment that gave you the opportunity to see what the Depression did to people. You also have a vocabulary words list with economic and business terms that you need to start working on. I have also posted an UpFront article that provides background information and connections to today’s economic slowdown.

This unit gives us the opportunity to talk about money. You have to be smart about money and know how it can work for you or how it can lead to big problems. As young adults who will be out on your own in a few short years, learning the importance of budgeting, saving, investing, and credit is essential. You don’t want to be someone who starts off their adult life with all-consuming debt.

Finally, take the time to speak with family members about their experiences with economic slowdowns. You may have a family member who can tell you stories about the Great Depression or someone who lived through the economic slowdowns of the early 1970’s. You can even talk about how your family may be coping with today’s recession. Have you reduced spending by cutting back on Friday pizza nights...maybe renting DVDs instead of going to the movies...carpooling instead of everyone driving in different directions...the list goes on and on.

International Officers Series

Our series continues on February 14 with international officers from Kazakhstan and Germany. You will have a pass to present to your Advisory teacher. When you come to room 212 you will need to turn in the pass so we have an accurate attendance record. If you are unable to attend (for a legitimate and compelling reason) you MUST tell Mr. Young or myself as this is a mandatory activity.

Quote of the Day

Below is an excerpt from a student response to the extra credit question on the midterm exam…I was impressed!

“The most important current issue is the war in the Middle East. It always makes me think that if only we were all only citizens of the world rather than citizens of individual countries that maybe we could all get along better. ..."COTW" should be the new way to live”