We Made It

This week we said good bye and good luck to our Seniors. It is always great fun having a mix of students in the classroom as different ages bring different perspectives. Your point of view will change over time as you gain more experiences. The classroom is a safe place to practice developing your points of view and sharing them with fellow students. Don’t ever be afraid to speak your mind but always take the time to gather information and think about your point of view. Argue and debate out of knowledge.

We have had an exciting year as we travelled the globe via our current events and study of Contemporary World Issues. We had our first Naval War College International speaker series with officers from nine different countries. We also heard from Dr. Katharine Modisett on her recent experiences in Lesotho. You will soon find out that the world is really very small...we can see and be in contact with people from all over the globe in a matter of seconds....we can fly to, buy from and sell to any part of the world...and our actions as individuals and a country affect all. You are truly COTW: Citizens of the World!

In addition to our international studies we have spent much time thinking and talking about the major internal changes our country is experiencing. We have talked about domestic issues and even wrote to President Obama with ideas and suggestions. The President’s response has to be one of the highlights of the year!

Presidential Power Points

This week you presented your power point on one of the assigned presidents. This has been a great end of year project where you get to work with a group, locate key information and build an attractive and informative power point. I was impressed with your ability to organize information along with photos to make attractive slides. You have a great talent for sharing emails and using Acrobat to make the project more manageable. You also had the opportunity to do a self-reflection writing assignment. It is important to take the time to think about your thinking…what worked, what didn’t work and how would you evaluate your work using the rubric. With the completion of this project, you will have a good sense of the key events during the last 30 years of our country’s history. So often history classes end at World War II and students are frustrated that modern events and issues are never discussed. We should take great pride that we did it...studied all the presidents while keeping up with current events! Great job!

Nixon/Clinton Impeachment Process

Using the Constitution and handouts, you had the opportunity to study the impeachment process. We started with the grounds for impeachment and then went to the steps the House and Senate take as they debate the veracity of the charges against the President or other federal officials. You saw that President Nixon avoided going down as the second President to be impeached by resigning the day before the House voted on the articles. President Clinton was impeached but then was acquitted in the Senate. So now when Jay Leno or Dave Letterman stop you on the street and ask why Nixon left office and was not impeached while Clinton was impeached but stayed in office…you will know the answer.

Study Guide

You have a study guide to help you review for the exam. I would also urge you to use your portfolio and of course to read over each blog entry. By reading the weekly entry, you will have a review of all the classes since our midterm exam. When doing the study guide, don’t use just the glossary for definitions as that does not put the event, person or term into context. By using the text to read about the events, you will get a better understanding of the reason why the term is on the study guide. Make sure to include the significance....why we need to know...for each term, person or event. As always, I am available for extra help before and after school…all you need to do is ask.

Last Entry

So it is now time to say good-by and wish all of you a happy and safe summer. I want to thank my blog editor for keeping my thinking and writing clear, crisp and accurate. I want to thank my many readers for their comments which always lead to better entries. But most of all, I want to thank all of my students for a great year. Your interest, enthusiasm and questioning have led us all to a better understanding of our world and how we can contribute to a better tomorrow.

Capstone is History

Congratulations to all our Seniors and Juniors who presented their Capstone projects this week. The excitement and anticipation could be felt by the entire school as presentation day approached. To meet standard on your projects, you had a long road to travel...core questions....I Search papers...building power points...and finally the presentation. You should take great pride in your accomplishment and know that next time (yes...you will have other presentations to make at school and in the world of work) you will know how to manage your time and be successful. If you did not meet standard, you have the opportunity to revise and re-present. Thomas Jefferson revised the Declaration of Independence over 20 times, so you can revise your Capstone. Capstone is also a learning process for teachers as we evaluate core questions, apply the rubric, and try to develop a better timetable of due dates for next year’s Juniors. Learning, growing, and adapting...a lifelong journey!

The New Frontier

This week we completed our study of the 1000 days of the Kennedy administration. Your worksheet guided you through our brief chapter that highlighted JFK’s efforts to improve the economy, give aid to the poor, and to put a man on the moon within the decade. Many classes read about the impact of the Kennedy-Nixon presidential debates. Today all of our candidates participate in many debates but the debate between Kennedy and Nixon was the first debate televised for all to see. A candidate’s physical appearance takes on a new significance as voters decide who to support in November. People who watched the debate said Kennedy won but people who listened to the debate said Nixon had won. Finally, we read an excerpt from “The Death of a President” by William Manchester. This 700 page book became a best seller as the American public clamored for information about those 5 fateful days in November 1963. We also looked at some of the famous photos that came from the assassination and the funeral. After all of this background reading and discussion, you took the quiz on the New Frontier.

1968: A Turning Point in History

Our text continues with a section devoted to one year: 1968. As we read the section and looked at the photos you could quickly see that this year was dominated by violence…the assassination of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. Both of these assassinations triggered violence in many of our major urban areas. 1968 was also a presidential election year and the republican nominee Richard Nixon was able to capitalize on the violence in the streets and the population’s disagreement over the Vietnam War. He was able to win the presidency by a slim margin and ushered in a time of law and order as well as major foreign policy initiatives including a trip to China and the Soviet Union.

Study Guide

By now, all seniors should have a copy of the study guide as you prepare for finals starting on Thursday. If you do not have a guide, please stop by any time to pick up a copy. You should also take your portfolio home so you can review past work and of course you have the trusty blog.