The Power of Working Together

LBJ and Sen. Greene (D-RI)

As we approach the end of the year, we have focused on group activities that help us better understand the tides of change in America since 1960.  Working in groups allows everyone to have better access to the information as long as everyone pulls their weight. Psychologists and people who study how we learn best keep encouraging teachers to use more group activities.  To get the most out of working together you need to have a plan and focus on understanding and discussing the material together, as opposed to copying someone else’s notes.

We used this approach as we looked at LBJ by reading a bookreview written by President Bill Clinton of Robert Caro’s book, “The Passage of Power”.  You had an anticipation guide that you needed to respond to as an individual and then you read your section of the review.  By each member of the group reading one section, the assignment became much more manageable.  Each person then reported the link they found in the reading to the anticipation statement.  You should have discovered that LBJ was the most powerful Majority Leader of the Senate before becoming Vice President to JFK…a job he came to hate.  But as Caro stated, “with the crack of a gun, everything changed” and LBJ became President.  LBJ used his knowledge of the legislative process and his ability “to get to people” to get major Civil Rights legislation passed at a time most observers said it would be impossible.  We also watched an interview of Caro so you could see and hear from the author of this critically acclaimed fourth volume on LBJ.   

We worked in groups for two days in the library on the presidential power points.  Your work plan gave you the opportunity to decide who would be responsible for a particular slide.  Keep in mind that as a group you are the resident experts on the assigned president so you need to be knowledgeable about the entire presentation.  Projects should be shared or emailed to me by Wednesday 7:30 am.  I will put the projects into one folder which will help expedite our presentations on Wednesday.  Keep in mind that we are emphasizing visual information…keep your information on note cards.  This is a great activity for us to end the year.

Your oral history interview project, which you have been working on for the past 3 weeks, is due May 21-25.  Make sure to read over the rubric and hand in the rubric with your final project.  Your thank you note should be written on plain, unlined paper or a note card…not loose leaf paper…enclosed in the envelope with a stamp…after I read the note (remember heart felt notes get extra credit) I will mail it.  Your interviewee will be so pleased to have a real thank you note and you can take pride in taking the extra step to say thank you.

We also had our announced JFK quiz on Monday…if you did not take the quiz, make sure to come by no later than Monday after school to make up the assignment.

We also spent one day on the Women’s Movement.  We read an excerpt from Gail Collins’s book, “When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present.”  We did a compare and contrast chart showing what life was like for women prior to 1960 and how quickly it has changed for many.  But while equal opportunity has dramatically improved, a significant wage gap still exists.  In today’s economy, for similar jobs a woman makes 77 cents for every $1 a man makes. I gave you an example of how this wage gap hit me while working in Washington DC, but it was rectified once my complaint was investigated. We also used music to better understand the times by comparing “Wives and Lovers” and “I Am Woman” written and sung by Helen Reddy.

You have a worksheet on the Women’s Movement and you will have a quiz on this material on Tuesday.  Make sure you know key people and terms (ERA, feminism, Phyllis Schlafly, and Gloria Steinem) as well as why the movement occurred, goals of the movement and why not every woman agreed with the movement.

Seniors

On Friday you received the study guide for the final exam.  You may turn in the guide the day of the exam and earn extra credit on your exam grade.  If you received a textbook, please make sure to return it the day of the exam.  As you may know, we are short of books and we are anxious to collect every book - and I know you don’t want to receive a bill!

Juniors

Prom pictures on Monday? Hope everyone had a wonderful time!