A Roller Coaster Week

The stock market goes up 190 points one day then falls 165 points the next…what is an investor to do? The world is sending mixed messages. US unemployment goes down - a good sign - but the price of gasoline soars. Investors like stability, and while the US can offer peace and tranquility on the home front, our economy is still nervous about increases in commodity prices and expected sharp cuts in government jobs and services. The lessons we have learned by studying the Great Depression and the New Deal can be seen in our headlines. Should government try to pump money into the economy through public service jobs and rebuilding infrastructure? Should unemployment benefits be extended to the long term unemployed? How does the government provide basic services while trying to cut the deficit?

Tension and bloodshed have increased in Libya as the international community calls for Colonel Kaddafi to step aside. The revolutionary movement has proven to be well organized and tenacious and Colonel Kaddafi has demonstrated his brutality towards his own people with the use of deadly force. No country has come forward to offer the Colonel a safe haven so he may be forced to fight to the end.

Accountable Talk

This week we returned after our break to take up our accountable talk activity. You had two interesting readings as the basis of your discussion as well as the charts that showed income distribution within the United States. Accountable talk gives you the opportunity to initiate questions and topics. It allows you to explore the meaning of the articles as well as to make connections and ask questions. It is like a walk along a path that has several branches…which ones will you explore? So next time, take the opportunity to ask questions, make connections and try to find meaning in these articles.

Depression Assessment

This week I returned your writing assessments on the Great Depression. Some of you earned high grades by clearly writing about the causes and results of the Depression. Some of you were also given the opportunity to revise your work. Revision gives you time to go back and refresh your memory on some of the main concepts of this time period. Revisions were due the next day. If you are not going to revise, you must turn in your original work so you can earn some credit for the work you completed.

New Deal

You have a syllabus for the New Deal and you can see this is a quick unit. We will focus on the programs that FDR adopted. Historians have classified the programs as the three “R’s”: relief, recovery and reform.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt has been described as FDR’s legs. She travelled an estimated 50,000 miles per year gathering information on the challenges people were confronting. She reported back to FDR so that he could make decisions based on information from the perspective of the ordinary citizen. Mrs. Roosevelt was a champion of women’s rights and improved living conditions for minorities. Your project this week gave you the opportunity to learn more about Mrs. Roosevelt and to compare her activism with Mrs. Obama’s. Prior to Mrs. Roosevelt, First Ladies acted as the country’s official hostess, but Mrs. Roosevelt wanted a more active role in her husband’s administration. Many historians have compared Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton, another First Lady who took an active role in policy decisions during her husband’s administration. Mrs. Clinton went on to become a Senator from New York, ran for President in 2008 and now serves as Secretary of State.

Gail Collins, an opinion writer for the New York Times, had an article in Thursday’s paper that referenced Mrs. Roosevelt and the study she sponsored on the status of women. We had the opportunity in class to read that piece. You might be interested to note that the article was the second most emailed article from the paper that day. So you were reading the same article that millions of people across the world were reading.

We will study more about the Women’s Movement when we come to the 1960’s and the push for the Equal Rights Amendment.

New Deal Charts

We finished completing our New Deal charts by working with a partner and using multiple sources. It seemed as if FDR and his administration had a program for everyone: bankers, workers, young people, Native Americans and farmers. The government was trying a lot of different approaches to get the economy moving again.

Critics of the New Deal

Not everyone supported the New Deal. Your homework focuses on the critics from the left, the right and the Supreme Court. Your worksheet has two sides so make sure to answer the questions on both sides using your text.

I want to be a Millionaire

Your handout showed that if you save $20 a week and put it in a bank or other secure investment, you will be a millionaire by the time you are 65. The power of saving early and often and allowing compounding to add to your nest egg is the key to a happy accumulation of wealth. For more information on how to save and invest check out http://www.fool.com/.

International Speaker Series

Once again we heard two fascinating presentations on Friday. Officers from Brazil and Argentina shared with us their countries’ history and culture. I was impressed by their countries’ ability to become energy independent. Can you imagine if our country produced all of its own energy needs? Thank you to the many students who asked interesting questions.
Our next speakers will be March 25 from Norway and Denmark. On April 15 we will hear from France and Chile. Our series ends with a presentation on the United Kingdom.

Was that OUR Mr. Young???

Oh my gosh…was that our Mr. Young on the dance floor? Did someone say it is one of the top videos on You Tube?

The Countdown has begun…only 27 days to go…..