1. Please send an email to me at my gmail address: mccarthyroom3011@gmail.com. Make sure that the email is sent from the email address that you use for GoogleDocs. I'll be using your email for two purposes: to assemble a contact list for Mock Congress, and to invite you to the Mock Congress wiki.
2. Today you must watch at least the first 65 minutes of "Advise and Consent" and complete the accompanying worksheet. Turn in the worksheet to the substitute teacher before the end of the period. Make sure you allow enough time to place your iPod and headphones away properly - you won't be dismissed until everything is properly put away.
3. If you'd like to check out the beginnings of the class wiki, here are the links for periods 5 and 7:
4. Republicans and Democrats will need to select their leaders. You will be representing the same party as the Member of Congress from the 3rd quarter project. Start thinking about who you'd like to lead your party. I'll also be looking for a volunteer to be the Clerk of the Congress. This volunteer must be a Democrat.
5. We'll be having a class briefing about Mock Congress on Friday. This year we will be using GoogleDocs to track legislation, mark-up, and the Bill Log. We're going to use wikispaces.com to track the actual participation and the nature of participation of all the members of the Congress (this will be self-reported and make up the majority of your project grade). I'm also wondering whether we should use twitter during class itself to record communication. What are your ideas about what to include? If we use twitter, what should our hashtags be? What questions do you have right now about the project that I should address on Friday?
See you Friday!
9 comments:
What are we debating in Mock Congress? What Twitter account are we using? Why Twitter?
Are we going to be able to pick our own bills and choose whether were democratic or republican?
Do we have to use twitter? How about gmail chat. I think it is easer to use than twitter.
How would we exactly incorporate twitter in mock Congress?
Every student will write and submit at least one bill (you get to choose what it's about). You will represen the same congressional district and party as the representative you had for your third quarter project.
I'll think about gmail chat :)
Would we use twitter outside of the classroom as well? Is Mock Congress many days or just one day?
Iara,
I thought that twitter might be a great way for people to communicate outside of the classroom, as well as occasionally being used in the classroom.
Mock Congress is many, many days: until the end of the school year!
Mr. McC
Other questions I've received:
Do we have to dress up for it?
---No
So, if we're doing fake bills, are they going to be as long as real bills, or like fake summary bills?
---They'll be closer to summary bills. I'll show you examples soon.
How long does Mock Congress last?
---the rest of the year
How do we pick our Majority Leader, and Whip?
---members of the parties choose their leaders
Can't we have a vote on it on Friday, or do we have to pick beforehand?
---we'll probably hold a vote this Friday
About the GoogleDocs and legislation, is it real legislation, or our made-up legislation?
---it's your "made-up" legislation
Also, about the twitter and communication thing, what do you mean by communication?
---I think everyone would be helped by an announcement system, since you'll spend a lot of time in committee, isolated from everyone else in the Congress. I'm still working on how exactly to integrate twitter.
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