Blog Archives

Political Positions and Values, Model Senate Roles, Senior Project Brainstorm (phew!)

9/30/2016

Osprey Week Survey! Take it!
If you can't take this during class, PLEASE take it ASAP! Check as many boxes as you are interested in. Remember, this is just to help us figure out what to offer. We have too many ideas!

Starter 17

Think of 2-3 political issues. What are they, and what are the democratic and republican positions on those issues (broad brush strokes, here!).
Where do these differences come from? WHY do you think the parties hold such different views?

Moral Matrix Discussions
Get in groups of 4-5 with different values

Share posters

Discussion questions
1. How often do you step outside of your own “moral matrix”? Explain, discuss.
2. Why is it so hard to step outside of the moral matrix?
3. Do you think this process of learning about moral values and the moral matrix can help to overcome political polarization? Why/why not?
4. How does this framework connect to The Big Sort?
5. How can you use these concepts in your life? In Model Senate?

Political Parties
Fill out the chart on political parties and beliefs. Use your own knowledge, the internet, the party platforms and classmates. HINT…you might want to look at the political party platforms!

Choose two issues (they can’t be issues we discussed in class), and jot down what moral foundations you think the party uses to establish their position.

Model Senate Roles
Read the roles! If you KNOW you’re not interested in a political player role, just read the LAST role- it’s the default, unless you opt into something else.

Honors students, you are REQUIRED to choose another role. We don’t have enough students to fill them, so if politics is your thing, I encourage you to step up! For non-honors students who choose a role other than the default, there is extra credit (if you do the role successfully and well).

Model Senate Role Surveys
You MUST take this survey. Ashley and I will be assigning roles next week. If you want a little time to research senators and think about it, you can have the weekend, but this MUST be done by Monday.

Honors Model Senate Role Survey: If you are in HONORS, take this one!
Model Senate Role Survey: If you are NOT in honors, take this one!

Senior Project Brainstorm
Review outline/timeline for Senior Project check ins this semester. See the SENIOR PROJECT page of my DP for the document I gave you in class.

HOMEWORK:

Senior Project Brainstorm Phase 1. DUE: Wednesday, 10/5, start of class. See above for details.
Model Senate Role Surveys. DUE: Monday, 10/3, 8:20 am. See above for survey links.

The Moral Matrix

9/29/2016

Starter 16

How similar or different do you think liberals and conservatives are in terms of their morality? Where are the key differences? Where do they overlap?
Think of an issue you feel really strongly about. What do you think of people who take the opposite position?

Moral Foundation Statement Quiz

http://www.yourmorals.org/explore.php
Take the MORAL FOUNDATIONS QUIZ here (you’ll need to register here to be able to take the quiz).
When you’re done, copy the graph you get into a word document or google doc. You’ll need these results later!
Okay, now let’s find out what these results mean.

Haidt: Moral Matrix Setup

This guy is speaking to an audience of liberals, so you’ll notice that his rhetoric is pitched to them.
HOWEVER…don’t let that fool you. His underlying point is actually criticizing the group for being so monolithic. Remember, he’s playing to an audience here. That doesn’t mean his underlying points are invalid.
Tasteless joke about Applebees. Audience has money, is apparently a little snobby about where they eat (point out class issues)

Moral Matrix Sequence

Watch TED Talk
Take notes on the 3 most interesting points he makes
What is the Moral Matrix? Sum it up with the class.
What is he saying about moral values? How does this connect to politics?
1. Harm/care and Fairness/Reciprocity are shared. Slight differences, but liberals and conservatives all value these things.
2. Other 3 are where real differences exist (In group loyalty, Purity, Authority/respect).
3. We ALL use all of them, but for liberals, the first two tend to carry much higher weight.
Class Analysis of three issues
1. Issue: Abortion
2. Issue: Flag Burning
3. Issue: Gay Marriage

Moral Matrix Poster

Make poster for LEAST emphasized value on your chart. Poster should include:
1. Value name
2. Benefits of value (bulleted list)
3. Downsides of value (bulleted list)
4. Symbol or illustration that represents the value
5. Why you value this least—what about it DON’T you like?

The Big Sort and Political Misinformation

9/28/2016

Reminders:

I am caught up on grading! Check the gradebook to see if you are missing anything. If you have questions, come see me. Remember, if you were missing a bunch of starters, you cannot make them up at this point.
Tests should be graded by Monday. No test corrections on these! The grades stand.

INTRO:
Transitioning into Model Senate! General timeline…

A few weeks looking at political parties/positions/values and the question, “Is Congress Broken?”
We’ll also do senator assignments during this time
Issue Studies: Overview of each issue, followed by party caucuses to determine the general guidelines for your legislation. Issues we'll tackle this year are: Climate change/energy policy, College loans/tuition, and Immigration.
Writing legislation, consulting with experts, revising legislation
Parly pro practice
Model Senate! (2-3 days, end of November)

Big Questions for Today:

How much do truth and fact matter in political opinions?
How do different cognitive biases and other trends impact the information we’re exposed to and how we react to it?

Starter 20: Bill Bishop interview on Daily Show
Watch the video of author Bill Bishop talking about the Big Sort (note…the data in this interview is old, but more recent research has actually shown that not only is what he talks about still happening, it’s actually gotten more pronounced!)

What’s the Big Sort? Describe it in as much detail as possible.
How do you see the big sort in Durango? In your own life? Think about the lifestyle markers he talks about, and what lifestyle markers you see around you! Try to give specific examples.

Big Sort Brainstorm

Data old, but still relevant
In your group, brainstorm all the ways we are sorted- make the list as big as possible
Make a BIG list on the whiteboard
How does being sorted that way impact the information you take in? Your political views?

Power of Political Misinformation

Read it
Highlight/underline phrases/words that particularly strike you.
With your partner, summarize the main ideas and findings
Quickwrite: How much do you think this applies to you? Explain.

Group Discussions
Could let the class vote here on if they want to do small group discussions or large class seminar style

What is the main source where you get information about the world? What perspective does that source show you?
What is “the Big Sort?” How do you see it in your own life?
What is the message of the article “The Power of Political Misinformation?” How does it connect to you? Do you see this trend?
How does “The Power of Political Misinformation” connect to the Big Sort?
How do both of these articles/concepts connect to naïve cynicism?
What implications do these articles have for democracy?
Is there a way around the problems these articles pose? Are there solutions, or are we doomed to a misinformed life in a bubble?
How does this connect to the debate? To what you observe in politics and our community today?

Debate FactCheck (IF TIME)
Okay, let’s turn our attention to the debate. We’re not going to watch it in here, but we are going to look at a factcheck. Some fact checking sites are better than others. Factcheck.org is my favorite, because they source their checks, and give an in-depth analysis. Here’s what you need to do:

Discuss with your Partner: How important do you think it is that political candidates are truthful? Why?
Go here: http://www.factcheck.org/2016/09/factchecking-the-first-debate/
First, read the summary.
Now, choose ONE example from each candidate. Choose the one that you think is most severe/important.
Scroll down, and find the in-depth analysis for each of the examples you chose.
Read those two examples
Discuss: In your small groups or with your partners, discuss the following questions:
1. What did you learn from the FactCheck website?
2. What role do you think the media should play in terms of fact-checking candidates?
3. How does this connect to the Big Sort? To Political Misinformation article?
4. How much fact-checking do YOU do of candidates (especially of those you agree with)? Talk about why/how.

HOMEWORK: None!

VRA and Checks and Balances TEST

9/27/2016

Take the Test!

Take part 1 first (multiple choice, matching, etc.)
When done, turn it in.
You have the rest of class to finish your VRA essay.
When done, PRINT, and turn the essay in.

HOMEWORK: NONE

More Study Time! (we must really love you guys)

9/26/2016

Starter 14:
Self Assess: As of right now, which area of the quiz are you most confident about? Which area are you feeling most nervous about? What are your strategies for improving in this area?

Study Stations

VRA Checks and Balances (5 min)

Draw a checks and balances diagram that shows the different checks and balances of the VRA between the Legislative and Judicial branches

Checks and Balances Scenarios (10 min)
Do these individually first, then check with your partner. After most folks are done, we'll review as a class.

The President was found to be participating in tawdry illicit international activities (I’ll let your feverish little brains fill in the gaps here).
A law recently passed in a state legislature banning gay marriages is ruled unconstitutional.
A bill is passed outlawing American citizens from making contributions to charitable organizations from the Middle East is vetoed.
We find that a Supreme Court Justice faked their law school diploma using photoshop.
A Supreme Court justice keels over in shock when another justice walks in wearing a neon orange robe to “modernize the court.” They need to be replaced.

Branch Powers (10-15 min)
Use the flashcards you created on Friday to quiz each other. As you learn them, remove those flashcards from the deck, so that you are only studying the ones you don't already know. When you think you know all of them, give yourself a final quiz using all the flashcards.

ESSAY: Outline and Evidence (rest of class)

Review how essay structure follows thesis structure
Review rubric for in-class writing (it's linked at the top of the documents page!)
Show resources for in-class essay outlining (also linked at the top of the documents page!)
Write topic sentences for each body paragraph
Find evidence/examples for each body paragraph--use texts for this! Websites! Careful thinking!

Have with you tomorrow:

Essay outline, and any texts you need for evidence (don’t rely on the internet!)
Pen or pencil
Computer (for typing the essay). You should either hook it up to my printer TODAY to get the driver, so you can print here, or make sure you have a flashdrive for printing on a school printer.

HOMEWORK:
Study and be ready for the TEST TOMORROW!

Test Study Stations

9/23/2016

Starter 13
Ultimately, based on everything that you have read, is the VRA still needed today? Explain your answer in a substantive paragraph.

Homework Discussion
Talk to the person next to you. Share:

Most interesting thing you learned
What trend you see in terms of voting rights
What you think this says about whether or not the VRA is needed

Assessment Tasks:

In class essay: Is the Voting Rights Act still needed today?
Checks and Balances--give examples of how the VRA shows checks and balances between our judicial branch and legislative branch
Checks and Balances Scenarios: I’ll give you a scenario, you explain what branch can DO the initial action, what branch can check them, and how they can check them.
Branch Powers (multiple choice)

Study Stations (20 minutes each)
ESSAY: Thesis Statement Workshop

Review concessive structure
Everyone write a thesis statement that answers the question: Is the Voting Rights Act still needed?
Trade thesis statements, give feedback on the following questions:
1. Is the stance the author is taking clear? Summarize their argument in your own words.
2. Does this answer the question directly? If not, how could they make it more direct?
3. Based on this thesis statement, what are three things you would expect to find in this essay? These could be arguments, themes, or specific pieces of evidence.
4. List one thing the author could do to make this thesis better.
5. Get thesis feedback, revise
6. If time, and if needed, check out some more resources here: NY Times Op-Eds on VRA

VRA Checks and Balances
List all the different checks that happened between legislative and judicial branch for the VRA. HINT: Look at the amendments! Not everything is here, but some is!

Branch Powers
Create flashcards for different powers

Power on the front
Branch on the back
If time, use these flashcards to study with your partner

Checks and Balances Scenarios

First, try to draw the checks and balances diagram from memory. Don’t cheat here, this is to see how much you know, so you know what to study!
Check it against one of the diagrams on the back wall, and highlight or mark things that you need to study
Draw yourself a blank chart that you can use to study

For each of the following scenarios, tell me:

Who has the power to DO the action?
Who can CHECK this action?
HOW do they check it?

Scenarios:

Scenario 1: Secretary of Defense dies in a chinchilla attack, and needs to be replaced.
Scenario 2: A bill was recently passed to allow citizens to choose their own health care plan under Medicare.
Scenario 3: The United States has signed a peace treaty with Iran.
Scenario 4: The Supreme Court rules a recent law requiring all male citizens to wear clown noses unconstitutional.

HOMEWORK:
Study for TEST next TUESDAY!!! See post above for study guide and strategies.

VRA: Changes After Shelby v. Holder

9/22/2016

Starter 12: Get together with someone who had the other opinion yesterday. Share notes--make sure you understand both arguments! Now answer the following questions:

Which opinion, in your view, is most convincing? Why?
Predict what changes, if any, happen as a result of Shelby v. Holder.

Mini Discussion or 4 Corners:
Voter fraud is a bigger concern than voter suppression. (or, for discussion, which is a bigger concern?)

Aftereffects of Shelby v. Holder
Choose ONE of the following options. I have printed versions of them if the internet is terrible! Come see me!

WEBSITE: http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/state-voting-2014
RADIO SHOW (with transcript): http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-08-13/update-new-voting-rights-laws-across-country
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/07/07/how-has-voting-changed-since-shelby-county-v-holder/

For whatever option you chose, read or listen carefully to this. When you are done, make sure you have summarized in your notes:

What are some examples of changes that have been made that are making voting laws more restrictive?
What are some examples of changes that have been made that make voting laws less restrictive?
What did you learn about the new voter ID laws and voter fraud from your source?
List 3 other interesting things you learned from your source.
On balance, have voting laws become more or less restrictive in the aftermath of Shelby v. Holder?
Based on the information you have now, do you think the Supreme Court made the right decision? Why/why not?

HOMEWORK:
Finish notes on the aftereffects of Shelby v. Holder (see above for specifics) if you didn't finish in class today. DUE: Start of class, Friday.

VRA Amendments and Shelby v. Holder

9/21/2016

Starter 11: John Oliver on North Carolina’s voting rights decision from 8/1/16. Warning! Strong language here. Earmuffs may be needed if you are sensitive to occasional f-bombs. After watching the video clip, answer the following questions:

What were the major provisions of North Carolina’s voter registration restrictions that the Supreme Court recently struck down?
Do you think that individual states should have the right to decide their own voting policies? Should this be a federal issue?
Do you think that this type of media contributes to naive cynicism? Explain.

VRA Amendments (expert groups)
Each of you is going to be assigned one amendment (there are 5 total). In your expert group, read the summary of that amendment provided by Lori.
In your group, you need to make sure that you are an expert (you will have to teach other students about this!). EACH person in the group needs to make a small poster that includes the following:

Title (year of the amendment)
What did this do to the special provisions?
How did this amendment expand coverage?
What new provisions (if any) did this amendment add?

For each of the points above, you should have a small and simple illustration that represents the main point of that piece of the amendment. Make it pretty! Make it clear!? Make sure you understand and can explain these things clearly to other students!

VRA Amendments Jigsaw

Get in a group that has one student from every amendment.
Put the posters together in chronological order
Each student presents their amendments
Now, as a group, identify at least 3 major patterns or trends that you see in these amendments. How did they make the Act different from the original? Summarize in your notes.

Shelby v. Holder Intro: Political Cartoon
Based on this cartoon, work with your group to write down as many inferences as you can about the Supreme Court case Shelby v Holder. Think carefully about what different elements of the cartoon are telling you!
Debrief, get predictions on the board.
Shelby v. Holder: The Basics

Read these two summaries of Shelby v. Holder: Scotus Blog and Civilrights.org
After reading the summaries, put in your notes: How accurate were your predictions? What sections of the VRA did this Supreme Court decision leave intact? What sections were declared unconstitutional?

Shelby v. Holder: The Actual Arguments (rest of class)
Okay, now it’s time to dig into the actual arguments put forth by the Supreme Court. What was the reasoning of the majority? And why did the minority dissent?
Here’s your main resource: NY Times guide to the VRA Opinion

Here are your tasks:

I will assign you a position: majority or minority opinion
For whichever opinion you are assigned, read that section (Majority: Opinion of the Court and Concurring Opinion, Minority: Dissenting Opinion)
Summarize the main arguments put forth in support of or against the decision (this can be a bullet pointed list)
Write the most powerful quote from the justice’s opinion, and explain what it means, and why it is powerful

HOMEWORK: Finish Shelby v. Holder Argument summary and quote analysis. DUE: Start of Class, Thursday.

Voting Rights Act: Summaries

9/20/2016

Starter 10: VRA Act Check-in

What adjectives best describe your experience trying to read and comprehend the Voting Rights Act? List them!
What strategies did you use to help you understand it? How successful were there? Are there any strategies that you didn’t use that could have helped?

Class Review of VRA Act

Let’s go through each section and summarize the main idea(s). See the handout linked on the docs page for a little help here!
Discuss: Which of these sections do you think is most important today? Why?

Read this Washington Post article about North Carolina’s recent voting law controversy and jot down notes on the following questions:

What are the various arguments FOR and AGAINST North Carolina’s Voter ID Laws?
Which pieces of evidence in this article are more convincing to you and most inform your position?
Summarize, to the best of your ability, the legislative and judicial processes that have been involved in shaping North Carolina’s voting laws since 2010. What questions do you have about those processes?

AM CLASS STOP HERE! You skip the podcast, due to James Madison speaker.

Listen to and take notes on this Radiolab, More Perfect, “Imperfect Plaintiffs”-- start at 31:30 into the show:

Take notes on the following questions to help you pull out key ideas from this podcast:

What did Endward Bloom and his wife discover about districts when they were campaigning?
What was Bloom’s “beef” with the way districts were created?
What was Plessy v. Ferguson?
What was the Supreme Court’s ruling on the NAACP v. Virginia case on manufacturing litigation?

Small Group (6-7) Discussion
In your small groups, carry out a mini-seminar on the following questions:

Is Edward Bloom vs. 40,000 civil rights activists marching in the street a false paradigm?
Is Edward Bloom carrying the standard for Civil Rights in America? To what extent?
Do you agree that manufacturing legislation should be counted as a form of freedom of expression?
Is this a legitimate pathway to contend with the problem of the Tyranny of the Majority?
Where do you stand on the issues outlined in the Washington Post article about voter discrimination? To what extent should states have voter ID laws? What kind? (Click on this map of the U.S. that explains how to vote in each state for more ideas on the types of laws various states require. Scope out ColoRADo obviously).
Is it time for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to end? Is it no longer needed?

HOMEWORK:

AM Class: Finish WaPo article and questions if you didn't in class. If you have time, listen to the podcast!
PM Class: None

Gov't Basics: Voting Rights Act of 1965

9/19/2016

Starter 9: Let’s look at one modern day example of voter disenfranchisement: “Why Virginia’s Restoration of Voting Rights Matters”- The Atlantic video

How is felon disenfranchisement related to Jim Crow?
Do you think felons should have the right to vote? Why or why not?and get a bit more informed on felon disenfranchisement (which states allow felons to vote, which don’t?)

Jim Crow Homework Discussion

What stood out to you about these things?
4 Corners: Voting discrimination is still very common today.

Powerpoint lecture on Voting Rights Act of 1965 context and brief overview
Lecture is also linked on the docs page

Voting Rights Act
Now, let’s take a look at the actual Voting Rights Act! (linked on Docs page of my DP). You should work in groups to help you figure this out--use the significant brainpower in this room!

Who? First, figure out who the heck the Attorney General is
Summarize. In the margins of the document or on a separate piece of paper, summarize the main idea of each “section” of the act. Put it into your own words!
Vocab. Look up any words you don’t know! Write their definitions in the margins.
Amendment. Which Constitutional Amendment laid the groundwork for this Act? What does that Amendment say (in plain English)?
Confused? Try to research any remaining confusions/questions your group has! Ask Lori if you really can’t figure out what the heck a certain phrase/section means.
Evaluate. Which of these sections do you think is most important today? Why?
Discuss. Discuss responses to Voting Rights Act and any sections y’all still just don’t get.

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