A Blogger Day About You!

Good Morning  and Happy Wednesday!

What a strange day!  It feels like it should be a block day, but ... at last, it is not!  Today I would like to take a break from our regular routine and blog about your goals and what it takes to achieve them.  I know we have done assignments before where I ask you to just list your goals but I wanted to attack this from a different perspective today.  Please read on:

Albert Einstein once said, "Your imagination is the preview to life's coming attractions." It is now time to put your imagination to use. Pretend you have just been hired by a famous Hollywood Director to write the screenplay for your perfect day. Write what your perfect day would be like five years from today. This must be a detailed account so we can truly get a sense that we are living in that moment with you ... the more detail and passion the better.  Where would you wake up? What time would you wake up? What kind of house would it be?  (describe it in detail) What would you do when you woke up? Where would you go? In what kind of car would you be driving around town? Would you have a family?  Etc, Etc! Write in detail what your perfect day would be like five years from today. 

After you have completed that portion of the assignment, now I want you to write a second paragraph that discusses the following;

1. How realistic is the scenario you wrote about above?
2. What support, help, questions do you have in regard to making the above happen
3. Name one reason why the above would not happen
4. How committed would you say you are to making the above happen on a scale of 1-10 and why did you choose that number?

I am excited to read your responses.  I will explain at the end of class why it is so important for something like this to be on paper (or in this case, at minimum, in print)!  Thank you for your thoughtfulness in advance, while I look forward to reading these, I will admit, the purpose is more to benefit you than me :)

Another Current Event Day!

Good Morning!  Today is a current event day.  Take a moment to look online and find a current event article that directly affects you.  Briefly explain the article, what happened and how it affects you.  You can use any news source to find an article.  If you are presenting you are welcomed to use the article you will be presenting today.  Your response should be a minimum of 5-8 sentences.

Deliberation and Negotiations - Continued

For today's blog, please describe one specific instance of disagreement within your family and how it was settled making use of the concepts being studied here (deliberation, negotiation, compromise,
and decision).

Thanks and I'll look forward to reading your responses.

Quarter 2 Begins!

Congratulations on being 1/4 of the way done with your SENIOR year!  The wheels are moving and the year is now in full swing!  Today we are going to begin our unit on American Democracy.  How a Bill Becomes and Law and how the different branches of our government operate!  Very important stuff when it comes to making decisions!

For today's post, I would like you to simply research and define the following terms in relation to decisions being made in our society:

• Agreement
• Consensus
• Deliberation
• Negotiation
• Decision

Please do your best to write down a definition that you truly understand for each of these terms.  Please also leave a space or two between each of your definitions.  Once you have finished the blog post, please click on the following link and fill out the brief survey discussed in class.  

http://goo.gl/3zsHuL

Thank you and Happy Friday!

Individual Rights to Express Individual Thought

Good Morning.  For our blog post today, choose one of the interest groups listed below.  Take 10 minutes to answer the following questions about the group:

1.  Give a brief history of the group and what their purpose is.

2.  Give one example of  what this group does to protect people’s individual rights around the world?

For some of you, you may have started this research Friday.  When we whip around the class after this, see if you can summarize what the group stands for and how they actually have protected individual's rights!

Options are as follows (long list, select 1):

1. AARP – American Association of Retired People

2. ACLU – American Civil Liberties Union

3. AFL-CIO – American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations

4. ABA – American Bar Association

5. American Conservative Union

6. American Farm Bureau

7. AIPAC – American Israel Public Affairs Committee

8. AMA – American Medical Association

9. Americans for Democratic Action

10. ATLA – Association of Trial Lawyers of America

11. The Business Roundtable

12. Center for Equal Opportunity

13. Christian Coalition

14. Club for Growth

15. Council on American-Islamic Relations

16. Eagle Forum

17. Emily’s List

18. Environmental Defense Fund

19. Greenpeace

20. Handgun Control, Inc.

21. NAACP – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

22. NAM – National Association of Manufacturers

23. NARAL – National Abortion Rights Action League

24. NEA – National Education Association

25. National Resources Defense Council

26. NOW – National Organization of Women

27. NRA – National Rifle Association

28. PETA – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

29. Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America

30. Public Citizen

31. Sierra Club

32. US Chamber of Commerce

33. Veterans of Foreign Wars

34. League of Women Voters

Due Process

Good Morning -

Today we are going to be discussing the ways in which our government protects the individual right to express individual thought.  While we discussed a few ways the Constitution protects us yesterday, today we will focus on how the laws, judicial system and other agencies also protect us.  Our first assignment today will focus on how due process protects the rights of individuals?

What is "due process."  In addition to a direct dictionary definition, please attempt to summarize the meaning in your own words.  Bonus points to anyone who can also give an example or examples :)

Thank you and goodmorning!

Current Events and the Government Shutdown

Good Morning and Happy Tuesday -

Did you know that the Government is technically "shutdown" today?  In fact, it has been shutdown for just over 1 week now.  For today's post, take a moment and discuss two ways that this Government Shutdown affects you and/or someone you know personally.  If you are unaware of anyone or anything this "shutdown" is affecting feel free to take a moment to browse online and find something that stands out to you!

Thanks and we'll get started in a moment!