Week of 31 January 2011

Big week coming up! Well, big in that we will have our first test of the semester together, and our first quiz. Our test will be on Chapters 1&5 - Citizenship. We also will be sharing our first full week together - 5 days.

We will begin Unit 1B after our test. Unit 1B is about the origins of American government. It will include Chapter 2 in our textbook as well as information from the US History textbook. We will look back to the origins of government in prehistoric times and examine how it had evolved overtime to its form during the Enlightenment in Europe. It was in that climate, as Europe was emerging from the Middle Ages and while monarchs held absolute power that the founding fathers embarked on the "Great Experiment" that was the US Constitution. Essentially, if we can understand the point of view of the founding fathers it will make understanding the US Constitution and the purpose of the US government all the easier.

The 2011 State of the Union Address

In case you missed it, President Obama gave his State of the Union Address to Congress last night. This speech is mandated by the US Constitution and must be given at the beginning of each calendar year. The primary purpose of this speech for the President to inform Congress of what he would like to see accomplished in the upcoming Congressional Session. If you want to read the speech, you can view it on the White House website.

Week of 24 January 2011

Welcome to Civics & Economics! I hope you had a successful first semester because we are ready to get moving in the second semester. The state requires you to learn 78 Objectives while giving us only about 85 days to teach it! That does not give us a lot of time to complete our task, so the responsibility will be on you to keep up with the pace.

We will be moving at a pretty good pace in order to cover all the information so you MUST do what you can to keep up with the assignments. I have created this website in order to make it easier for you to keep up. For example, let's say you lost your homework. In the past you would have to call a friend and try to make a photo copy or turn in the work on loose leaf paper, or even worse, not do the work at all. Now you can visit the website, access the work, print a copy and complete it! It is just that simple! No more "zeros" because you lost the worksheet. Are you not sure when the next test is? Don't worry, visit the website, the information will be there for you!

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This week we are covering Unit 1A: Citizenship. Use the link on the left to navigate to that unit's page. In addition, Tuesday, January 25, President Obama will be giving the "State of the Union Address." This is required annually by the US Constitution. I would like for you to watch the coverage of the Address beginning with the commentary and discussion BEFORE the speech. Although every major network will cover this event, I prefer CNN's pre speech coverage because they seem to always explain what the purpose of the speech is and what is going on.

And that is one of the best things about this course, unlike World History or US History which focus on past events, this course primarily focuses on current events - our rights, our government, our role. I hope you will enjoy this course, I am looking forward to it!

Week of 3 January 2011

The end of the semester is upon us, the EOC is two weeks away. We are making good time and will cover all the content required for the End-of-Course Exam. We will also have a good amount of time to review each day. Our main review guide will be in two parts. I have already distributed the first part, the second part will be forthcoming. This will be in addition many other review material we will be using in the next two weeks.

Make sure with the last days ahead of us that you get all work turned in and and tests and quizzes made up. Although this is the end of the semester and we are mentally preparing for the end and getting excited for it, there is still work to do, so don't let your guard down.