APGov - All Classes - Extra Credit Opportunity

Read one of the following articles and write a comment that relates the article to material that you have covered in one of the Janda textbook chapters this year. Your comment should include specific details from the article and should use vocabulary from the textbook. Comments that meet these requirements and are at least a paragraph in length will receive +2pts. on the most recent exam. Include you first name and last initial at the end of your post to receive credit.

Your Choices:

1. An article about New York's 23rd district and the special election being held to fill its empty seat. This article relates to material we've covered on campaigns and political parties.

2. An article about New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie's reaction to hints from his opponent that he is to obese to be governor. This article relates to material we have covered on campaigns and the media.

APGov - Periods 5&7 - Homework

Week of Oct. 26 - Oct. 30
MONDAY: Janda pp. 171-181; Quarter Project due Wednesday
WEDNESDAY: Janda pp. 181-184
FRIDAY: Janda pp. 184-191

HoA Quarter Exam

The quarter exam for HoA will take the form of identifications. This means that your exam will contain a word bank of 10-12 terms. The terms may be people, events, concepts, or places that we studied as part of the HoA curriculum in the first quarter. Your task will be to choose 5 of these terms, define the term, and explain its historical significance in the context of our curriculum. Typically, a thorough answer is 5-7 sentences.

Answers on the quarter exam will be given one of 3 grades: "full credit", "half credit", or "no credit".

HoA Homework

Week of Oct. 26 - Oct. 30
TUESDAY: Study for Quarter Exam on Thursday!
THURSDAY: Keen pp. 169-175

APGov - 3rd Period Homework

Week of Oct. 26 - Oct. 30
MONDAY: Janda pp. 297-300
TUESDAY: No reading assignment; complete your Campaign Project for tomorrow!
WEDNESDAY: Review notes for Ch. 9 Exam
THURSDAY: Review notes for Ch. 9 Exam
FRIDAY: Ch. 9 Exam

HoA Assignments [updated 10/23]

MONDAY: Keen pp. 157-165 (there will be an in-class worksheet to complete using only your notes from this section of the textbook); Read Diego Maradona article in the Digg Box.
WEDNESDAY: Keen pp. 165-169
FRIDAY: Read "The Revolution" by Tulio Halperín Donghi

REMINDER: The Quarter Exam is Thursday, Oct. 29th

Made in 15 minutes on Animoto.com...

Yes, it's really that easy.

HoA - October 21

Lots of stuff on the agenda:

1. Complete the worksheet on pages 157-165 using only your notes.
2. There are two articles to read about Brazil: a NYTimes article about the latest violence in Rio and an Economist article about the Brazilian economy and politics. No comments are required, but feel free if you want to share your thoughts. [articles available in the Digg box]
   
3. Simón Bolívar! (including Bierck biography)
   

APGov Homework - Periods 5&7

Week of Oct. 19 - Oct. 23
TUESDAY: No Homework; be prepared to share ideas and work on your Quarter 1 Project in class on Thursday. You will have access to the iPods for research purposes on Thursday.
THURSDAY: Janda pp. 171-181

APGov - 3rd Period Homework

MONDAY: Janda pp. 283 - 287
TUESDAY: Janda pp. 287-291
WEDNESDAY: Prepare for "Idea Day" on Thursday. You will have a chance to work on your project in class and receive teacher feedback.
THURSDAY: Tomorrow will be a shortened class; you will be given time to work on your first quarter project.
FRIDAY: Janda pp. 291 - 297

APGOV (10th Grade) Homework

Week of Oct. 13 - Oct. 16
WEDNESDAY: Janda pp. 159-163; Ch. 9 Exam on Friday
FRIDAY: Janda pp. 163-171

HoA Homework [UPDATED 10/15/09]

Week of Oct. 13 - Oct. 16
TUESDAY: Keen pp. 143-156; The Mission comment must be posted by 3pm Friday.
THURSDAY: Read "On Men's Hypocrisy" by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz; Read "Rio's Expensive New Rings" in this week's Economist (find it in my Digg box); Study for Monday's Quiz.

APGov (12th Grade) Homework

Week of Oct. 13 - Oct. 16
TUESDAY: Janda pp. 273-276
WEDNESDAY: No Class, PSAT's
THURSDAY: Janda pp. 276-283
FRIDAY: No Homework, Hispanic Heritage Assembly

HoA Films: The Mission

The Mission is a fictionalized account of the expulsion of the Jesuit Order from South America due to pressure from the Spanish and especially the Portuguese. Keen writes of the situation of the Jesuits and their 30+ South American Missions, "Rather than 'Christian socialism,' the Jesuit system could more correctly be described as 'theocratic capitalism'." (Keen 105) What do you think is the difference between these two terms? Would "Christian Socialism" be any more acceptable to the Bourbon's of Portugal and Spain? Why or why not? Answer these questions in the comment section of this blog entry. Remember to include your first name and last initial in your entry.

The Jesuits were expelled from South America in 1767, but that didn't end the pressure on the Society of Jesus. Read this entry from E.B. about Pope Clement XIV to find out what happened to the Jesuits just six years later.

Virginia Governor's Race and the Primary Process

The New York Times has an interesting article this morning about Democratic candidate for Governor Creigh Deeds and his recent poor performance in the polls. It seems that some Democrats are wondering whether Terry McAuliffe would have been a better nominee for the party. Adam Nagourney describes in the article some of the perceived advantages of having McAuliffe as the nominee. What do you think, did the Democrats choose a weak nominee?

The Invisible Primary

This week we discussed the Invisible Primary - the work that candidates do before the primary/caucus season to win support and funding for their presidential campaigns. Jonathan Martin of Politico.com has written an interesting article about Sarah Palin and one aspect of the invisible primary: stumping for other candidates. It seems that the Republican candidates for Governor in both Virginia and New Jersey are not interested in having Palin travel to their states to support the candidates. Read the article to find out why.

Senior AP Gov - Extra Points Opportunity

When you've completed the Ch. 8 exam, try playing the Presidential Quiz in the Presidents app on the iPod Touch. It's challenging, so if you achieve a score of 8/10 or higher I'll add +2 correct answers onto your exam. To receive credit, you'll have to show me the screen with your quiz result (as shown below) - showing the high score screen will not count!

(Mr. McCarthy did not earn the extra credit)

Abdullah M. - 9/10 (fantastic!!)
Elena L. - 8/10 (wow!)
Manik S. - 8/10 (super!)
Zoe W. - 8/10 (excellent!)
Daniel V. - 9/10 (Stupendous!! - I'm running out of words to use)
Kenin D. - 8/10 (phenomenal!)
Robin T. - 8/10
Gabriela T. - 8/10
Kathy H. - 9/10
Larry C. - 9/10
Cindy Z - 9/10
Leah D. - 9/10

Interesting Healthcare Idea

New App!

Listen to the story titled "Patient Advocates Fear Bias in Wellness Incentives" from the NPR program Morning Edition. You'll need to use the NPR News app on your iPod to listen to this story. After listening to the story, answer the following questions in the comment section of this blog post:

1. How does Safeway attempt to save money on providing health insurance to its employees?

2. Has Safeway's strategy saved money for the company?

3. Why do some organizations criticize the Safeway strategy?

4. Could the federal government institute such a program? Should the federal government institute such a program?

La Familia vs. the Zetas

After listening to the two stories from NPR on drug gangs in Mexico, answer the following questions in the comment section of the blog. Include your first name and last initial at the end of your comment.

1. Which gang represents a greater threat to the Mexican government and why?

2. Which nation has a bigger problem with drug gangs: Mexico or Brazil? Why?

HoA Homework

Week of Oct. 5 - Oct. 9
TUESDAY: Keen pp. 106-117
THURSDAY: Keen pp. 131-143

Sophomore AP Gov Homework [UPDATED 10/9]

Week of Oct. 5 - Oct. 9
MONDAY: No reading assignment, but begin to prepare for next Wednesday's Ch. 9 exam
WEDNESDAY: No Homework
FRIDAY: Janda pp. 159-163; Ch. 9 Exam next Wednesday

Senior AP Gov

Homework for Oct. 5 - Oct. 9
MONDAY: Janda pp. 257-261
TUESDAY: No Reading Assignment
WEDNESDAY: Study for Chapter 9 Exam
THURSDAY: Janda pp. 263-268
FRIDAY: Janda pp. 268-272

Mr. Smith...

After you have completed watching Can Mr. Smith get to Washington Anymore? read this article about Jeff Smith from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. You may find the article surprising. Feel free to add a comment if you have the time.