Mr. Gilchrist's Social Studies Blog

January 16

2012-01-16T14:05:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, January 17th 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday, January 18th 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Thursday January 19th 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

January 10

2012-01-10T15:40:00.001-07:00

The focus for today was introducing the TOK essay and TOK presentation that you are responsible for completing. Diploma students must complete both the TOK essay and TOK presentation, and they must work with other Diploma students on their presentations. Certificate students only have to do the TOK presentation. TOK presentations will happen at the end of February. The TOK essay will be submitted electronically and it is due on March 9th. The word limit range for the TOK essay is 1200-1600 words. We gave you numerous handouts for the TOK today and split you into your TOK presentation groups. If you missed today's class, sometime over the exam break you should come and see me for the handouts that you missed today and find out what group you will be in for your TOK presentation.

We played a Jeopardy review game today in class which took most of the period. I am supervising the English Diploma Exam Part A tomorrow morning, but I will be available for tutorial sessions in the afternoon (approximately 1-3 p.m.).
You wrote Part A of your Final Exam today in Room 241. Results of the essay won't be know immediately, nor will they likely be known prior to the writing of Part B of the Final Exam (which is on Thursday from 1-3 p.m.). I will mark them as soon as I can.

January 9

2012-01-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

We did a quick review of the boom and bust cycle and Keynesian economic responses to the various stages of the cycle today. We then looked at the New Deal in a little bit more detail. I also gave you a study guide for the Great Depression and the New Deal that you can work on using your textbook The United States and Its People. Your IA is due tomorrow!! Please meet in Room 111 tomorrow. We will go down to Room 121 as a group to talk about the TOK essay.

We played a review game of Jeopardy today which took up most of the period. Review! Part A of your Final Exam is tomorrow and Part B is on Thursday afternoon.

We went through some essay outlines today, and I have sent you a bunch of essay outlines, so please check your e-mail inbox.

December 22

2011-12-22T11:19:00.003-07:00

I went through a study guide for the 30-1 course for most of the period. I'll make some minor revisions to this booklet before I send it out to you. You MUST study for your two part Diploma Exam over your Winter Break. The study materials that I will be sending to you today will definitely help! Enjoy your holidays, see you in January. Here's a link to the HBO documentary "Shouting Fires: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech".
You worked with a partner today in class going through sample multiple choice questions from Unit 4 material. Part B of your Final Exam, which has 100 multiple choice questions on it has 10 questions from Unit 4, so you are responsible for this material. You must review and study over the Winter Break as you have your Final Exam Part A on Tuesday, January 10th (in Room 241) and Part B in the Main Gym on Thursday, January from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Be prepared!! See you in January!!

We finished watching "The Grapes of Wrath" today. Make sure that you work on your IA over the Winter Break. You can hand it in on Monday January 9th or Tuesday, January 10th. Please check the wiki for more information on writing the Internal Assessment (there's a whole section devoted to it).

December 20

2011-12-20T18:46:00.001-07:00

We continued to look at the causes of the Great Depression and FDR and the New Deal today. We finished watching the video "The Great Depression and the New Deal" today as well as a video from the BBC 20th Century History series called "FDR and the New Deal". Please go directly to Room 121 tomorrow so we can start watching "The Grapes of Wrath".

We watched "Shouting Fire" today in class which looks at controversies in the United States centering around the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to peaceable assembly, in other words, the First Amendment in the U.S. Bill of Rights. Your Trial Final is tomorrow.
You wrote your Unit 3 Final Exam today, and you'll get the results back tomorrow. Your chapter 14 and 15 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow.

December 19

2011-12-19T14:29:00.001-07:00

We did a short discussion of current events today, namely the death of Kim Jong-il and its implications for security and stability in East Asia and the Korean peninsula. I am starting to return some rough drafts of the Internal Assessment this week. Every day there will be about 5-7 IAs returned to their owners. We need to discuss how to cite sources properly! I started talking about the causes of the Great Depression (and I'll start with this tomorrow) and then we'll get into the FDR and the New Deal tomorrow. We'll watch "The Grapes of Wrath" on Wednesday and Thursday in Room 121. Please complete the homework assignment on Hoover and FDR tonight.
I gave you back your Unit 3 WRA II Essays today. I also gave you some advice as well today: if your final mark in Social 20-1 falls between 50% and 65%, you should take Social 30-2 next year. If you have failed any of the essays or unit finals this semester, you should take 30-2 next year. Social 30-1 is a more demanding course than what this year has been. It moves at a fast pace (for example, you might be writing your first essay in 30-1 within the first week in class) and the it is academically demanding.

I went through a lecture today on Unit 4 material, specifically "A History of French-English Relations". I have sent this PowerPoint to you already as well all of the PowerPoint presentations from Unit 3. Your Unit 3 Final Exam is tomorrow, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it). Your Chapter 13 Key Terms and Questions were due today. Your Chapter 14 and 15 Key Terms and Questions are due on Wednesday, and your Chapter 16 Key Terms and Questions are due on Thursday.
You wrote your Unit 3 Final Exam today, and you'll get the results of this test back tomorrow. You'll also have to make a decision tomorrow as to which test you want to wipe out with your Trial Final which is happening on Wednesday. Remember, you wipe out your lowest mark from the term with the Trial Final. I gave you back your Unit 3 WRA II Essays today.

December 16

2011-12-16T14:16:00.000-07:00

You wrote a short matching quiz on Prescribed Subject 1 today for part of the period.We then did a quick review of the boom and bust cycle before applying Keynesian economics to the business cycle. You need to know not only the various parts of the business cycle, but also the "economic snapshots" (what's going on in the economy at that stage) and how monetary and fiscal policy try to address those stages.

I did a homework check on your Chapter 12 Key Terms and Questions today at the beginning of class. The rest of the class period was given over to you to get some work done on your Unit 4 Worksheet. You have all of your key terms and questions from this unit due next week. Next week we will be looking at a history of French and English relations in Canada and regional disparity in Canada as well, two major themes in Unit 4 that I haven't covered yet. Your Unit 3 Final Exam is on Tuesday, December 20th, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it).

We looked at the issue of the invasion of privacy today for part of the period particularly emphasizing increased airport security in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and other subsequent attempted attacks and the response being increased pat-downs and full body scanners at airports in addition to the no-fly lists. You should be making connections between these concepts and the ideas of Thomas Hobbes. We also looked at the issue of CCTV cameras in the UK and Austria by watching a couple of short YouTube videos on the subject. Your Chapter 12 Key Terms and Questions are due on Tuesday. Your Unit 3 Final Exam is on Monday, December 19th, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it). Your Social 30-1 Trial Final is on Wednesday, December 21st.

December 15

2011-12-15T14:30:00.002-07:00

You wrote your Unit 3 WRA II Essay today in the Blenheim Room. It will be interesting to see how many of you agreed with Benito Mussolini. You have your Unit 3 Final Exam on Monday December 19th, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it). Your Trial Final is on Wednesday December 21st, and it will cover the entire course.

You had the entire period to get caught up on some work. Like I said in class, we will be pushing very hard to finish Unit 4 material next week. Your Chapter 12 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow. Your Unit 3 Final Exam is on Tuesday, December 20th, please see the study guide here.

We reviewed a lot of the concepts that I taught to you yesterday for the first part of the class. The only new concept today was the business cycle (the boom and bust cycle) which we will be building upon when we look at Keynesian economics tomorrow. We also watched a short video from the BBC 20th Century History series called "Boom and Bust" which should have reviewed some of the concepts that we've already looked at including "buying on margin". Please remember that you have your quiz tomorrow on Prescribed Subject 1, it will be a matching quiz with another surprise or two.

December 14

2011-12-14T15:50:00.001-07:00

You wrote your Unit 3 WRA II Essay today in class, and it took all of the period to write. Your Unit 3 Final Exam is on Tuesday, December 20th, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it). Your Chapter 12 Key Terms and Questions are due on Friday.

We watched the video "Unconstitutional" today in class, and as you watched this film you were to complete a film study sheet. Tomorrow you are writing your Unit 3 WRA II Essay in the Blenheim Room. Please go there for tutorial tomorrow, I'll let you start the essay early because there is apparently a fire drill during our class. Your Unit 3 Final Exam is on Monday, December 19th, please see the study guide here(scroll down to find it).

I took in your 1920s Study Guide at the beginning of class today. We finished off the "Roaring Twenties" video as well. Then I launched into a long-winded lecture on economics. A lot of the material that was covered connects to the Social Studies 30-1 curriculum, but in order to understand the economic crisis that emerges in 1929 you have to have some understanding of basic economics. We looked at the principles of individualism and collectivism (if you want more details on these please visit the Social 30-1 Unit 1 section of the wiki), classical liberalism and its political/democratic and economic foundations, the 20th century political spectrum, basic economic systems, basic economic values, the political-economic grid, basic economic values (GESSEF), the basic problem economic problem facing all societies (scarcity) and the basic economic questions. It was, I'm sure, a lot to take in. Tomorrow we will forge ahead with looking at the market economy in greater detail, including the boom and bust cycle. Please check the Great Depression section of the wiki as well, as we've posted some YouTube videos there.

December 13

2011-12-13T14:09:00.000-07:00

We started looking at the 1920s today as a precursor to our next unit of study in IB 30, the Great Depression. I went through a lecture on conservatism in the 1920s and talked briefly about the Harding and Coolidge administrations. I have put a 1920s Study Guide on the wiki under the Great Depression unit. The answers may be found in your United States and its People textbook. This homework is due tomorrow. We also started watching a video from the United States History series called "The Roaring Twenties". We'll pick this video up tomorrow where we left off, "The Jazz Age". Please remember that you have a quiz on Prescribed Subject 1 material (Paris Peace Conference to the Abyssinian Crisis) on Friday.

You wrote your Chapter 10 Test today in class, as per usual you will get the results back tomorrow. You have your Unit 3 Final Exam on Monday, December 19th, please see the study guide below. Your Unit 3 WRA II Essay is on Thursday, you will be writing it in the Blenheim Room.

This exam will be entirely multiple choice format. It will be on Monday, December 19th. Please study the following material:

make sure that you have read Chapters 9-12 in Perspectives on Ideology
study all key concepts from the Chapters 9-12 Worksheets (see below)
study all questions/answers from the Chapters 9-12 Worksheets
"Political Challenges to Liberalism" (PowerPoint presentation)

Review the following notes/packages:

Democratic Systems
Non-Democratic Systems
types of dictatorships
techniques of dictatorships
Civil Rights Movement
authoritarian systems (China notes)
review the economic and political spectrum (again!)
re-read the notes on rights that I put on the board (Charter of Rights and Freedoms to War Measures Act)
FLQ Crisis 1970

Know the following key concepts/key events/key terms/key people:

assimilation
self-interest
humanitarianism
Indian Act
residential school system
enfranchisement
the White Paper
the Red Paper
“war on terror"
authoritarianism
consensus decision-making
direct democracy
military dictatorship
oligarchy
one-party state
party solidarity
representation by population
proportional representation
representative democracy
responsible government
democracy
single-member constituency (first past the post)
the Senate
the House of Commons
the House of Representatives
the Senate
mixed-member proportional system
lobby groups
American Bill of Rights
Anti-Terrorism Act
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
emergency and security legislation
illiberal
language legislation
Bill 101
Bill 178
Bill 86
Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms
respect for law and order
terrorism
rendition
the War Measures Act
enemy aliens
internment
the Emergencies Act
USA PATRIOT Act
consumerism
environmental change
extremism
pandemics
postmodernism
global warming
Kyoto Protocol
World Health Organization (WHO)
drought

We watched a video on the genocide in Darfur called "Darfur: On Our Watch" for part of the period. You could use information in this video for your Unit 3 WRA II Essay. Remember, genocide is considered a contemporary global issues. You could argue that internationalism is effective, if not for nation-states pursuing their own national interests. In the case of Darfur, blame could be leveled at Chinese oil interests in Sudan and the Chinese government's usage of their veto power in the UN Security Council to block resolutions on Darfur being passed. You could also use information in the video for the other side of the argument as well.
Here are some other useful links on Darfur:

sudanrreves.org (website on Darfur maintained by Eric Reeves, mentioned in today's video)
PBS Frontline/World: Who's Who in Darfur: Geopolitics of a Tragedy
Amnesty International: Eyes on Darfur

Please remember that you have your Unit 3 WRA II Essay is tomorrow in Room 107. Please go directly to the computer lab tomorrow. Your Unit 3 Final Exam is on December 20th, please see the study guide below.

Please review all of the Unit 3 PowerPoint presentations that I have sent to you:

"Nations, Nation-States and Internationalism"
"Canada's Foreign Policy"
"Nationalism and Internationalism"

Please review all of the Unit 3 Key Terms from the Unit 3 Worksheet in addition to the key concepts that were introduced in the PowerPoint presentations. In addition to this, I would like to emphasize the following points with you:

know the difference between multilateralism, unilateralism and bilateralism and know examples of each
know the spectrum of foreign policy: internationalism, nationalism, ultranationalism, and supranationalism
know the different foreign policy options
know the 6 themes of Canadian foreign policy/Canada's foreign policy goals
what influences foreign policy decisions?
methods of foreign policy
motivations for nations involvement or non-involvement in international affairs
how can foreign policy promote internationalism?
tied aid, bilateral aid, multilateral aid
examples of INGOs and IGOs
the United Nations (organization/structure, bodies, etc.)
peacemaking vs. peacekeeping (and examples)
different understandings of internationalism (types of internationalism)
why do international organizations exist? purposes and examples

December 9

2011-12-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

We watched an A & E Biography of Benito Mussolini today, which took most of the period. this sets the stage for the last topic in our study of Prescribed Subject 1 next week, the Italian invasion of Abyssinia.

Most of today's class was spent in small groups discussing how international organizations address contemporary global issues and their effectiveness in doing so. Please make sure that you check the upcoming important dates below.

Unit 3 WRA II (Essay) is on Wednesday, December 14th (you will get the essay question sheet on Monday)
Unit 3 Final Exam is on December 20th (the study guide will be posted next week on the blog)
Social 20-1 Final Exam Part A (In-Class Essay) is on Tuesday, January 10th (you will of course, not receive the essay question sheet in advance)

For most of today we looked back on the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2011. I typically do this to set the stage for discussing anti-terrorism legislation that is passed post-9/11 in Canada and the United States. This is a topic that we will be exploring next week. Please check out the upcoming important dates below.

Chapter 10 Test is on Tuesday, December 13th (please see the study guide here)
Civil Rights Movement Assignment outline is due on Friday, December 8th
Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are due on Monday, December 12th
Unit 3 WRA II (Essay) is on Thursday, December 15th (you will not get the essay question sheet in advance)

December 8

2011-12-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

We watched a video from the Turning Points in History series on the FLQ Crisis of 1970. PLEASE make sure that you finish off the FLQ Crisis booklet. There is a useful document based analysis on the FLQ in there, and make sure you read about the Emergencies Act as well. In today's video we looked at the FLQ crisis, this is the interview on the steps of Parliament that features Trudeau's "just watch me" speech. It's an interesting little debate that is waged being Trudeau and the reporters over the issue on giving up or losing civil liberties in order to ensure security.

Chapter 10 Test is on Tuesday, December 13th (please see the study guide here)
Civil Rights Movement Assignment outline is due on Friday, December 8th
Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are due on Monday, December 12th
Unit 3 WRA II (Essay) is on Thursday, December 15th (you will not get the essay question sheet in advance)

I gave you class time to work on a booklet that outlined various key concepts associated with internationalism and foreign policy. This booklet required you to define the key terms and also provide real-world examples of these concepts. Concepts covered in this booklet included: foreign aid, supranationalism, multilateralism, peacekeeping, peacemaking, international law, international agreements, unilateralism, bilateralism, NGOs. Your Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow.

Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow
Unit 3 WRA II (Essay) is on Wednesday, December 14th (you will get the essay question sheet on Monday)
Unit 3 Final Exam is on December 20th (the study guide will be posted next week on the blog)
Social 20-1 Final Exam Part A (In-Class Essay) is on Tuesday, January 10th (you will of course, not receive the essay question sheet in advance)

You had the entire period today to write your Emergence of the Americas in Global Affairs Unit Test as well as the Paper 1 on Prescribed Subject 1. Tomorrow we will be looking at the A & E Biography of Benito Mussolini, which will provide you with biographical information on this dictator, his rise to power, his brand of fascism, his invasion of Abyssinia, and his ultimate demise. Next week, we'll look at the Abyssinia crisis.

December 7

2011-12-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

We finished off the "Internationalism and Nationalism" PowerPoint lecture today in class. I will be sending this to you by e-mail soon. I gave you the remainder of class time to work on your Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions.

You completed an in class writing assignment on a propaganda poster today in class. I also did a homework check on your Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions. Please remember that your US Civil Rights Movement Assignment is due tomorrow, but the essay outline that goes along with this assignment is due on Friday now. The Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are now due on Monday. You have your Chapter 10 Test on Tuesday, December 13th, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it).

We finished off our examination of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 today in class. I will be posting some study notes on the wiki covering the Manchurian incident and the Lytton Report as well. Tomorrow you have your Emergence of the Americas in Global Affairs Unit Test, please check on the study guide on the wiki, or here on the blog. You will also be writing a Paper 1 on Prescribed Subject 1 tomorrow as well. Today is the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, so if you are so inclined, have a look at this collection of photos from the Boston Globe feature "The Big Picture".

December 6

2011-12-06T15:57:00.000-07:00

We looked at international relations in the Inter-War Years today by focusing on a reading that covered the Ruhr Crisis, the Dawes Plan, the Young Plan, and the Kellogg-Briand Pact. We also started looking at the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, which we will continue tomorrow. I also gave you back your Paper 2 essays today on WWI. This Thursday you have a test on the Emergence of the Americas in Global Affairs unit. This test will be multiple-choice format. Also on Thursday, you will be writing a Paper 1 on Prescribed Subject 1 right after the multiple choice test. Please see the study guide below.

This is a 38 question multiple choice test. It will be administered in class on Thursday, December 8th. It covers the Emergence of the Americas in Global Affairs unit. Here are some points to review:

Teddy Roosevelt "big stick diplomacy"
Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
Alfred A. Mahan (naval sea power theory)
What is the "Open Door Policy"?
What is "dollar diplomacy"?
Spanish-American War (causes, practices, effects/results)
Venezuela crisis and jingoism
Portsmouth Peace Conference (Russo-Japanese War; what role does Teddy Roosevelt play); results?
President McKinley's accomplishments re: expansion/annexation
MAIN causes of WWI
nature of warfare in WWI
World War I (causes, practices, effects/results: a word of caution here-don't spend any time studying the battles in WWI)
Canadian participation in WWI (contributions, issues on the home front)
key players/leaders in WWI (ex. Kaiser Wilhelm II, Nicholas II, etc.)
Sedition Act and Espionage Act (USA)
George Creel

After you complete the multiple choice test, you will be writing a Paper 1 on Prescribed Subject 1 (Peacemaking, Peacekeeping and International Relations). Review how to write a Paper 1 by visiting key links on the wiki, especially the OPVL document analysis link. Remember to try and write 4 similarities and 4 differences between the sources (NOT in chart format), and to create an OPVL chart. I have put up an example Paper 1 on the wiki with examiner's comments that covers the Japanese invasion of Manchuria (obviously Thursday's Paper 1 will NOT be on that topic). Other topics in Prescribed Subject 1 that we have covered a fair game, so have a look at this section of the wiki.
I went through some notes today on rights, responsibilities, human rights, civil rights, the entrenchment of rights, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the notwithstanding clause. I also mentioned the usage of the War Measures Act (we will discuss this in greater detail when we look at the FLQ Crisis of 1970). Check out the following upcoming important dates:

Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow.
Civil Rights Movement assignment is due on Thursday, December 8th
Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are due on Friday, December 9th
Chapter 10 Test is on Tuesday, December 13th (please see study guide below)
Unit 3 WRA II Essay is on December 15th
Social 30-1 Trial Final is on December 21st

This test is multiple choice format, with 55 questions. Please review the PowerPoint "Political Challenges to Liberalism". You're responsible for all key terms and questions from the Chapter 10 Worksheet. Please review the following as well:

Democratic Systems (handout notes)
Non-Democratic Systems (handout notes)
Structure of Canadian Government
Structure of American Government
similarities/differences between the parliamentary system and presidential system
types of dictatorships
techniques of dictatorships
authoritarian systems
proportional representation concept
first past the post system
review political and economic spectrum (again!)

I started a PowerPoint lecture today on "Internationalism and Nationalism" which I will finish tomorrow in class. For the remainder of the period I gave you time to work on your Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions, which are due tomorrow. I did a homework check on the Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions today. Check out the following important dates:

Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions are due on Wednesday, December 7th
Unit 3 WRA II Essay is on Wednesday, December 14th
Unit 3 Final Exam is on Tuesday, December 20th
Social 20-1 Final Exam Part A is on Tuesday, January 10th

December 5

2011-12-05T15:29:00.003-07:00

You handed in your IA rough drafts today. I had a cursory look at them at the end of the day, and there are missing elements in many of the IAs, such as title pages, table of contents, word counts, poor wording of IA essay questions, etc. Also, don't pictures on the cover of your IAs. Remember, we are not marking the IAs at this point, we are simply giving you some feedback on what you have so far. Some of you won't have as much to do to revise your IA over the Winter Break. Some of you will have a lot of work to do because you have taken shortcuts in your analysis of the sources. We will be getting these IAs back to you prior to Winter Break (last week of classes is what we are targeting). We continued looking at the League of Nations today, in particular successes and failures. We will look at some other diplomatic developments in the 1920s tomorrow before we look at the Manchurian Crisis. You will be writing a test this Thursday, that covers the unit The Emergence of the Americas in Global Affairs (this is multiple choice). On the same day you will be writing a Paper 1 on Prescribed Subject 1 material.

You wrote your Unit 2 Final Exam today, and you will get the results back tomorrow. Your Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow.

We watched a short video from the CBC News in Review series on the election in Afghanistan in 2009. This is important information as it pertains to democratization, spreading democracy. Can liberal democratic values be exported? This ties into the main theme for Unit 3, the viability of liberalism. Please check out the important dates below.

Canada-USA Government Comparison Chart is due on Tuesday, December 6th
Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions are due on Wednesday, December 7th
US Civil Rights Movement Assignment (plus essay outline) is due on Thursday. December 8th
Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are due on Friday, December 9th
Chapter 10 Test is on December 13th (study guide goes up on the blog tomorrow)
Unit 3 WRA II Essay is on December 15th

December 1

2011-12-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

We look at a case study for authoritarianism today in class by watching a couple of videos from the BBC 20th Century History series called "One Man's Revolution" and "China Since Mao". I also gave you a booklet with lots of information and articles on the modern history of China. Read this material!! You have your USA-Canada Government Comparison Chart Assignment due on Tuesday. Enjoy your long weekend!

You wrote your Unit 2 WRA II Essay today. You have your Unit 2 Final Exam on Monday, please see the study guide here.

We continued working through Prescribed Subject 1 material today by looking at the organization and structure of the League of Nations. Please remember that the rough draft of your IA is due on Monday.

November 30

2011-11-30T15:47:00.000-07:00

I went through a PowerPoint lecture on "Canada's Foreign Policy" today, which I have already sent to you. Your Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions are due on Tuesday, December 6th. You are writing your Unit 2 WRA II Essay tomorrow in class. Please go directly to Room 241 tomorrow. If you are late you may not get a computer! Your Unit 2 Final Exam is on Monday, December 5th, please see the study guide here.

I went through a PowerPoint presentation today that covered "Political Challenges to Liberalism". This presentation covered democratic systems like the United States and Canada as well as different examples of non-democratic systems. I also gave you a reading called "The End of Democracy?" which is highly recommended reading. Your Canada-USA Government Comparison Chart is due on Tuesday, December 6th.

We finished looking at another major topic in Prescribe Subject 1 today, specifically looking at three major disarmament conferences in the Inter-War Years. I will be posting this PowerPoint on the wiki tonight. Here is your homework today:

please read in your 20th Century World History textbook on the following topics: the Ruhr Crisis, the Dawes Plan and the Spirit of Locarno sections.
complete the Locarno source analysis on page 65.

November 29

2011-11-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

We watched a video today called "Make Germany Pay" from the BBC 20th Century History series. As you watched this video you had to complete answers to the questions on a video study sheet. We also started to look at enforcement of the Paris Peace Conference treaties and tomorrow we will look at the three main disarmament conferences that occurred in the Inter-War Years. Your homework assignment tonight centers around the Treaty of Rapallo. Please complete the Source-Based Questions on page 39 in your 20th Century World History textbook.

We covered the electoral college system and looked at past U.S. elections today. I also gave you your U.S.-Canada Government Comparison Chart assignment. This is due next Tuesday (one week from today). We also had a class discussion centered around questions such as: should voting be mandatory? Should the voting age be lowered? Should everyone over 18 be allowed to vote? Is the first past the post (FPTP) system democratic? I also did a homework check on your Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions.

Your Unit 2 Dossier Assignment was due today. You received your Unit 2 Essay Questions Sheet today. You will be writing this essay in class on Thursday. Please see the quote below, and the essay question as well. I also gave you time to work on your Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions. Please see the study guide for your Unit 2 Final Exam here.

November 28

2011-11-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

We had a fairly lengthy discussion about current events today, in part because there have been some important developments around the world including parliamentary elections in Egypt, NATO strikes in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the Arab League and Syria, the eurozone and an article in today's Calgary Herald about standardized tests in Alberta. We also looked at the League of Nations mandate system today, I'll post the lecture on the wiki. You do have homework tonight:

Please complete the Source Analysis on page 30-31 in 20th Century World History (the source-based questions are on page 31)
Also, complete the Discussion Point on p. 31, but do not do the OPVL part of the question. Simply find three different historian's perspective on the Treaty of Versailles. I'd recommend you look at A.J.P Taylor, David Thomson, Fritz Fischer, John Terrain, John Scherer, Douglas Newton or Margaret MacMillan for starters. (I just made your lives easier by giving you these names)

I gave you back your Unit 2 WRA I assignments today. I also gave you the results for your Chapter 7-8 Test. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is next Monday, please see the study guide below. Your Unit 2 Dossiers are due tomorrow. Please start working on your Unit 3 Worksheet, specifically your Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions. You will be writing your Unit 2 WRA II Essay this Thursday, you will receive the essay question sheet tomorrow in class.

1. Study the following PowerPoint presentations from Unit 2:

The Causes of World War I
Total War-Allied Victory in WWI-Paris Peace Conference
Ultranationalism in WWII: Italy, Japan, Germany
The Internment of Japanese-Canadians in WWII
The Holocaust
Eight Stages of Genocide (from the Genocide Watch website)
Contemporary Examples of Genocide

2. Know the following key concepts:

national interest
domestic policy
foreign policy
Triple Alliance
Triple Entente
Treaty of Versailles
Big Four (Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, Vittorio Orlando)
appeasement
ultranationalism
propaganda
conscription crisis
Adolf Hitler
Nazis
Hirohito
Tojo
Kristallnacht
The Way of Subjects
League of Nations
total war
internment
War Measures Act
Great Depression
the Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
irredentism
genocide
crimes against humanity
war crimes
Holocaust
ethnic cleansing
lebensraum
Weimar Republic
Final Solution
decolonization
successor state
self-determination

3. Make sure that you review the following broad topics in your review of Unit 2 (and make sure that you can answer ALL of the questions on the Unit 2 Worksheet):

World War I (don't concern yourself with memorizing battles though)
Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles
The Interwar Years
Rise of ultranationalism in Germany, Japan, and Italy
Causes of World War II and key events (turning points in the war)
The Holocaust
Contemporary examples of genocide (review case studies that were emphasized in class and in the textbook, review your notes for "Scream Bloody Murder", "Shake Hands with the Devil")
Decolonization and self-determination (quick review of "Gandhi" film study booklet, what are successor states? What is self-determination? Kosovo case study)

You wrote your Unit 2 WRA II Essay today in the Blenheim Room. Your Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow.

November 25

2011-11-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

You wrote a Paper 2 on World War I today, which took most of the period. You do have the following homework this weekend:

The Peace Settlement: Analyzing a Primary Source (handout)
Prescribed Subject 1 Prep Booklet: p. 27 Review Section 1 and Student Section A and B
Prescribed Subject 1 Prep Booklet: p. 30 Student Study Section

Please remember that the Prescribed Subject 1 Prep Booklet was photocopied and lent to you last week. It might also be a very good idea to read over this section of the 20th Century History textbook as well.

You wrote your Unit 2 WRA I today in class. Please remember that your Unit 2 Dossiers are due on Tuesday, November 29th. Please check your e-mail for the detailed marking guide for this project.

Unit 2 Dossiers are due on Tuesday, November 29th
Unit 2 WRA II Essay is on Thursday, December 1st
Unit 2 Final Exam is on Monday, December 5th (study guide will be posted on the blog on November 28th)

I gave you your Unit 2 Essay Question Sheets today, and I gave you some time to brainstorm in small groups possible arguments and evidence that might be used on this essay. You are only allowed to bring this essay question sheet into the computer lab on Monday, and you are only allowed to write your notes on the front of the sheet. We are booked into the Blenheim Room for this essay, so please go there directly on Monday. Your Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions are due on Tuesday, November 29th.

November 24

2011-11-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

We covered different electoral systems from around the world today, and the division between federal and provincial governments in Canada. I gave you the Chapter 10 Worksheet, the Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions will be due on Tuesday. Tomorrow, we should be able to have some time to work in small groups brainstorming arguments and evidence for the Unit 2 WRA II Essay that you will be writing on Monday.

You wrote your Chapter 7-8 Test today. You will be writing the Unit 2 WRA I tomorrow, review content from Chapters 7-8 only.

We finished looking at the fight to pass the Treaty of Versailles in the United States. Keep in mind there were two main groups of Republicans that lead the opposition to the passage of the treaty, the "reservationists" led by Henry Cabot Lodge, and the "irreconcilables". I will be posting the PowerPoint presentation on the wiki today along with some very detailed notes on World War I that I highly recommend you have a look at. I will post both of these items in Peacemaking, Peacekeeping, International Relations section of the wiki. Tomorrow, you will be writing a Paper 2 during class time. You will be given three different essay questions to choose from, and you must choose one and answer that essay question. I have posted the Paper 2 Markbands on the wiki and you were given a handout on advice for writing the Paper 2 yesterday. The essay questions will focus on the outbreak of the war, and not on the end of the war or the Paris Peace Conference.

November 23

2011-11-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

We started Unit 3 material today by looking at an Internationalism Opinion Survey, and starting a PowerPoint presentation called "Nations, Nation-States and Internationalism". We will come back to this presentation next week. You have your Chapter 7-8 Test tomorrow, please see the study guide here. You are writing your Unit 2 WRA I on Friday. Please review how to write a three source analysis (WRA I).

We covered a few different key concepts associated with democratic systems today including: federalism/federal systems of government and unitary systems. We also looked at the structure of the Canadian government and what the Canadian federal election of 2011 would have looked like if Canada had a proportional representation (PR) system. Remember Canada employs a first past the post (FPTP) system in elections, in other words, you don't need 51% of the popular vote to win a constituency, you just need to get more votes than the second place candidate in the election. I also gave you back the results of the Unit 2 Final Exam today. Please remember that your Chapter 8 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow.
Most of today's class was spent in the library working on the IA. Your rough draft of the IA is due on December 5th. We'll continue looking at the Treaty of Versailles by examining the fight to pass the treaty in the United States.

November 22

2011-11-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

We finished watching "Paris 1919" today in class. If you wanted more information on the key players at the Paris Peace Conference, please check the wiki (under Peacemaking, Peacekeeping, International Relations) for the PDF file called "Who's Who at the Paris Peace Conference". When you were watching this film, some questions should have emerged for you, such as:

Is it possible for all stakeholders to be satisfied?
Can values be placed on dead soldiers, lost livestock and destroyed countryside?
Will new national boundaries be fair and just?
Can new nations be successfully created out of dissolved empires?
Is there a place for idealism in peacemaking?
Is it too much to expect international organizations to be able to maintain world peace?
Can a new world order remedy enduring causes of conflict such as religious and ethnic divides and power hierarchies?

As you should have surmised from the film, none of the major participants in the Paris Peace Conference is completely satisfied with the results. Tomorrow we will be going to the library to work on your Internal Assessments. Please come to Room 111 first and then we will go down to the library together.

You wrote your Unit 2 Final Exam today. You will get the results of this test back tomorrow. Your Chapter 8 Key Terms and Questions are due on Thursday, November 24th. Your Unit 2 WRA II Essay is on Monday, November 28th. Please review the economic concepts that were taught to you in Unit 2. You will be getting the essay question sheet on Friday.

We continued looking at how to write a WRA II Essay today. You will be writing your Unit 2 WRA II Essay on Thursday, December 2nd. Your Chapter 7-8 Test is on Thursday, November 24th, please see the study guide here. Please remember that you are writing your Unit 2 WRA I (3 Source Analysis) this Friday (November 25th) in class. I collected your Gandhi Film Study today. Don't forget that your Unit 2 Dossier Assignment is due on November 29th.

November 21

2011-11-21T18:59:00.003-07:00

Greetings to you in Council Bluffs, Iowa!
We continued looking at the Paris Peace Conference and the major issues dealt with by the negotiators, namely, disarmament, a new map for Europe, war debts and reparations. We started watching the film "Paris 1919" today, and we will finish this film tomorrow. This film should have reviewed the major players at the Paris Peace Conference and their motivations and national interests at the conference. The following is for homework tonight and is due tomorrow:

Source Analysis on page 18 (Questions 1-2) in 20th Century World History (see below)
TOK Link page 19 (you can find a copy of Wilson's Fourteen Points on the wiki, or linked here on the blog)
Source Analysis on page 22-23 (all Sources A-D, all questions)

We looked at the issue of Kosovo's independence by watching a short video from the CBC News in Review series. Please have a look at this link from The Guardian on the break up of the former Yugoslavia. Please remember that your Chapter 7-8 Test is on Thursday, please see the study guide here.

I collected 10 Questions About Democracy, and we discussed the results of the Political Compass survey. We continued looking at Unit 3 material by looking at the two main types of representative democracy that we will be looking this semester: parliamentary democracy and presidential democracy. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is tomorrow, please see the study guide here.

November 18

2011-11-18T12:51:00.002-07:00

I continued lecturing today on the Paris Peace Conference and the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. We will continue to look at this topic next week.

We finished watching "Gandhi", I really hope that you enjoyed this film. I am sending you a PowerPoint presentation this afternoon that covers plagiarism, which will be useful to you when you are putting together your Unit 2 Dossiers (they are due on November 29th). Your Chapter 7-8 Test is on Thursday, November 24th, please see the study guide here. Your Chapter 8 Key Terms and Questions are due Monday, November 21st. Your "Gandhi" Film Study is due on Tuesday, November 22nd, you must hand in the colonial background questions, the content questions and the thought questions.

We started looking at Unit 3 material today. If you missed today's class you will have to get these notes from a classmate. We also watched a video from BBC World called "10 Questions About Democracy" (here is a link to the companion website if you'd like to hear what people had to say again). You are responsible for finishing the entire film study that went along with this video for Monday's class (I'll be doing a homework check on it, and in all likelihood, we'll be able to discuss some of the questions in the video). Your Chapter 8 Key Terms and Questions are due on Thursday, November 24th. Please remember that you have your Unit 2 Final Exam on Tuesday, November 22nd, please see the study guide below. Please make sure that you complete the Political Compass survey (go to http://www.politicalcompass.org/, click on "Take the Test", answer the questions honestly, print off your results). I also gave back the results of your Chapter 7 Test as well today.

It will be a 75 multiple choice question test. In your textbook, this is material from Chapters 3-8. Please look at the studying hints below:

study "The Development of Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
study "Responding to Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Evolution of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Techniques of Dictatorship" (ppt)
study "20th Century Rejections of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Origins of the Cold War" (ppt)
study the key concepts from the Chapters 3-8 worksheets
please see the summary notes from the Ideologies textbook: Chapter 7 (Private Enterprise)
supply-side economics
boom and bust cycle/business cycle
laws of supply and demand, Adam Smith, invisible hand, market forces
self-interest, consumer sovereignty, competition, private ownership, profit motive
basic economic problems/questions
advantages/disadvantages of the market economy
causes of the Great Depression
FDR and the New Deal
please see summary notes from the Ideologies textbook on the Mixed Economy Case Studies #14 (Sweden) and #15 (Canada), #16 (Japan), #17 (Fascism and Nazism)
also see the Democratic Socialism booklet on Sweden (indicative planning, "cradle to the grave" economics)
characteristics of a mixed economy
nationalization
privatization
democratic socialism
welfare capitalism
Keynesian economics
the business cycle and fiscal and monetary policies (study all of the notes I gave you and the booklet that I gave you)
demand-side economics
neo-conservatives
monetarism
trickle down economics
supply-side economics
Thatcherism and Reaganomics
Milton Friedman
Friedrich Hayek
how Keynesian economics deals with a recession (remember "the percolator": increase circulation of money reducing taxes, increase government spending on "make work" projects, and reduce interest rates, which according to Keynesian economics is going increase demand for goods and services and lead to more money circulating in the economy)
how supply-side economics deals with a recession (remember "trickle down coffee maker": government should stimulate the goods and services sector of the economy by reducing corporate and personal taxes, eventually benefits will "trickle down" to the middle class and working class, make connections between supply-side economics and laissez faire economics/classical liberalism)
advantages and disadvantages of a mixed economy
neo-conservative criticism of government intervention
characteristics of a centrally planned economy
advantages and disadvantages of a centrally planned economy
Marx notes (sent by e-mail)
Lenin notes (sent by e-mail)
establishment of the Soviet Union
Soviet economic system (top-down decision-making process)
Lenin's War Communism and the New Economic Policy
"Stalin and the Modernization of Russia" (see film notes)
Stalin notes (sent by e-mail)
"Changes to Soviet Society After Stalin" notes (this bridges the gap between Stalin and Gorbachev)
Gorbachev to Collapse Notes
Economic Planning in the USSR booklet
techniques of dictatorships (USSR and Nazi Germany case studies)
modern liberalism
features of the Nazi state
Hitler's rise to power
Democratic Systems notes
Non-Democratic Systems notes
Types of Dictatorships notes (includes Techniques of Dictatorships as well)
A Comparison of Communism and Fascism notes
Totalitarianism notes
Fascism/Nazism booklet (has techniques of dictatorship in Nazi Germany and USSR)
do a brief review of the political spectrum and economic spectrum and the quadrant model

November 17

2011-11-17T15:02:00.001-07:00

You wrote your Chapter 7 Cold War Exam today. You will get the results back tomorrow. Your "Good Night, and Good Luck" film study was due today. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is on Tuesday, November 22nd, please see the study guide here. Your Chapter 8 Key Terms and Questions are due on Thursday, November 24th. Your Unit 2 WRA II is on Monday, November 28th.

We continued watching "Gandhi" today. We will finish it tomorrow. Your Chapter 7 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow. Your Chapter 7-8 Test is next Thursday. Please see the study guide below.

This test is on Thursday, November 24th. It will consist of 20-24 key terms in a matching section, and 3-4 short answer questions. Please study the following PowerPoint presentations:

"The Holocaust"
"8 Stages of Genocide" (see the Genocide Watch website: http://www.genocidewatch.org/)
"Contemporary Examples of Genocide" (I will send this to you on November 17th)

Please study the following notes packages/film study packages:

36 Questions About The Holocaust
Turning Points in History: The Atomic Bomb (film notes)
White Light/Black Rain (film notes)
Shake Hands with the Devil (film notes + package)
Unit 2 Worksheet (chapter questions for Chapter 7 and 8)
make sure that you have read Chapters 7 and 8!

1. Please study the following key concepts/key people/key events:
genocide:

crimes against humanity
war crimes
the Holocaust
ethnic cleansing
lebensraum
Weimar Republic
Final Solution
decolonization
successor state
self-determination
Wansee Conference
Nuremberg Trials
Mahatma Gandhi
Jawaharlal Nehru
Mohammed Ali Jinnah
home rule
Hutu
Tutsi
Romeo Dallaire
Manhattan Project
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
Robert Oppenheimer
FDR
Harry Truman
Potsdam Conference
Slobodan Milosevic

2. You should be able to answer any of the questions from the Unit 2 worksheet from Chapter 7 and 8.

You wrote your WWI Matching Quiz today, which took a fair bit of time. We started looking at Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points and the key players at the Paris Peace Conference today. I also gave back the Paper 3 that you wrote on the Civil War and Reconstruction period today.

November 16

2011-11-16T20:32:00.001-07:00

We started our film study of 'Gandhi" today. We will continue this film tomorrow in class.

Today was a work/study period. I gave you the Chapter 8 Worksheet, but I think that most of you opted to study for your Cold War Test which is tomorrow, please see the study guide here. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is on November 22nd, please see the study guide below.

It will be a 75 multiple choice question test. In your textbook, this is material from Chapters 3-8. Please look at the studying hints below:

study "The Development of Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
study "Responding to Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Evolution of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Techniques of Dictatorship" (ppt)
study "20th Century Rejections of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Origins of the Cold War" (ppt)
study the key concepts from the Chapters 3-8 worksheets
please see the summary notes from the Ideologies textbook: Chapter 7 (Private Enterprise)
supply-side economics
boom and bust cycle/business cycle
laws of supply and demand, Adam Smith, invisible hand, market forces
self-interest, consumer sovereignty, competition, private ownership, profit motive
basic economic problems/questions
advantages/disadvantages of the market economy
causes of the Great Depression
FDR and the New Deal
please see summary notes from the Ideologies textbook on the Mixed Economy Case Studies #14 (Sweden) and #15 (Canada), #16 (Japan), #17 (Fascism and Nazism)
also see the Democratic Socialism booklet on Sweden (indicative planning, "cradle to the grave" economics)
characteristics of a mixed economy
nationalization
privatization
democratic socialism
welfare capitalism
Keynesian economics
the business cycle and fiscal and monetary policies (study all of the notes I gave you and the booklet that I gave you)
demand-side economics
neo-conservatives
monetarism
trickle down economics
supply-side economics
Thatcherism and Reaganomics
Milton Friedman
Friedrich Hayek
how Keynesian economics deals with a recession (remember "the percolator": increase circulation of money reducing taxes, increase government spending on "make work" projects, and reduce interest rates, which according to Keynesian economics is going increase demand for goods and services and lead to more money circulating in the economy)
how supply-side economics deals with a recession (remember "trickle down coffee maker": government should stimulate the goods and services sector of the economy by reducing corporate and personal taxes, eventually benefits will "trickle down" to the middle class and working class, make connections between supply-side economics and laissez faire economics/classical liberalism)
advantages and disadvantages of a mixed economy
neo-conservative criticism of government intervention
characteristics of a centrally planned economy
advantages and disadvantages of a centrally planned economy
Marx notes (sent by e-mail)
Lenin notes (sent by e-mail)
establishment of the Soviet Union
Soviet economic system (top-down decision-making process)
Lenin's War Communism and the New Economic Policy
"Stalin and the Modernization of Russia" (see film notes)
Stalin notes (sent by e-mail)
"Changes to Soviet Society After Stalin" notes (this bridges the gap between Stalin and Gorbachev)
Gorbachev to Collapse Notes
Economic Planning in the USSR booklet
techniques of dictatorships (USSR and Nazi Germany case studies)
modern liberalism
features of the Nazi state
Hitler's rise to power
Characteristics of Democracy
Characteristics of Dictatorship
Democratic Systems notes
Non-Democratic Systems notes
Types of Dictatorships notes (includes Techniques of Dictatorships as well)
A Comparison of Communism and Fascism notes
Totalitarianism notes
Fascism/Nazism booklet (has techniques of dictatorship in Nazi Germany and USSR)
do a brief review of the political spectrum and economic spectrum and the quadrant model

You wrote a cartoon analysis today for the first 20 minutes, and then I proceeded with the PowerPoint presentation on Canada and Latin America's role in WWI. I have posted this presentation on the wiki because you will need it for your matching quiz tomorrow. There are 39 key concepts in this matching quiz. We'll finish off discussing Latin America's role in WWI tomorrow.

I've mentioned this a few times in class, but I guess it's better late than never! Here is a link to a website that discusses J.R.R. Tolkien's experiences in the Great War, and how that influenced his writing of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, specifically the Journey through the Dead Marshes. The Great War was also a time when some of our most famous landscape artists came to the forefront, I'm referring to the Group of Seven, of course. Can you see some similarities in the pictures that I'm posting below?

I guess my point is that art is based on personal experience, and these artists were heavily influenced by their experiences in the Great War.

November 15

2011-11-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

We went through the short presentations on the battlefield role of Canada and the United States in the First World War today. That was a lot of material to push through, so if you missed some of the details please check the charts out on the IB 30/35 Wiki (see link on the right hand side of the blog) under "Collaborative Notes". We'll be looking at the Battle of Passchendaele and the 100 Days tomorrow. Either on Wednesday or Thursday, expect to write a matching quiz on World War I. It covers key terms, key events, key people and key organizations in WWI, and it consists of 39 matching items. We should be getting into Latin America's role in the Great War by Thursday, and then proceed on to Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points and the Paris Peace Conference by Friday.

We continued watching "Good Night, and Good Luck" today. The film study for this is due on Thursday. "Good Night, and Good Luck" contains a few powerful scenes that I will post here on the blog.

This film explores a lot of issues that are relevant to today. You also have to understand the political climate at the time in the United States to fully understand the movie. Many Americans were drawn to communism in the 1930s due to the effects of the Great Depression, especially academics and those in the labour fields. In the movie they made reference to friends and spouses that had attended meetings long ago. The "Red Scare" caused a huge backlash against those sympathetic to communism or the USSR. Remember, during WWII the Soviet Union was an ally, and many people may have attended meetings out of curiosity. The junior Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy in 1950 charged there were communist sympathizers in the U.S. State Department. Hearings were held, charges were discovered to be unfounded. McCarthy continued accusing communist infiltration in the Democratic Party. McCarthy became the chairman of the House Subcommittee on the investigation of un-American activity (HUAC). On December 2, 1954, McCarthy’s actions were called into question and his accusations were deemed unfounded. On Murrow's show "See it Now", he begins to publicly go after McCarthy. A very public feud develops when McCarthy responds by accusing Murrow of being a communist. Murrow is accused of having been a member of the leftist union Industrial Workers of the World, which Murrow claimed was false.
In this climate of fear and reprisal (which we now refer to as McCarthyism), the CBS crew carries on and their tenacity ultimately strikes a historic blow against McCarthy. Historical footage in the movie also shows the questioning of Annie Lee Moss, a Pentagon communication worker accused of being a communist based on her name appearing on a list seen by an FBI infiltrator of the American Communist Party. In the first half of the film Murrow talks about how McCarthy didn't create the political climate and anti-Communist hysteria sweeping the country, but that he capitalized on it for political gain very effectively. As David Strathairn (playing Murrow in the film says, "We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes which were, for the moment, unpopular. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of the Republic to abdicate responsibility.") The film is framed by the performance of the speech given by Murrow to the Radio and Television News Directors Association in 1958, in which Murrow harshly admonishes his audience not to squander the potential of television to inform and educate the public. I found this short video on YouTube that spliced together Edward R. Murrow's speech that appears at the beginning of the film and continues at the end of the film. I find that this speech has relevance even today when you talk about the level of discourse in the media.

Your Chapter 7 Test (The Cold War) is on November 17th, please see the study guide below.

It is a multiple choice test with 70-75 multiple choice questions. Please make sure that you have read Chapter 7. Here are some other study tips:

study "The Origins of the Cold War (ppt)"
study all notes on the Origins and Causes of the Cold War
study notes on the Korean War
study notes on the Cuban Missile Crisis
study notes on the Vietnam War (see notes package and Vietnam War booklet, and the notes that I sent to you on the Vietnam War)
make sure that you know all the Cold War Concepts
know the chronology of events of the Cold War (study the Cold War timeline and the Vietnam War timeline, and the end of the Cold War timeline that I will be giving you in subsequent class)
know key events that we've emphasized in class (for example: Berlin Airlift, Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War) plus other key events from the timeline
know major arms reduction agreements (bilateral agreements and multilateral agreements)
know about the formation of alliances (NATO, Warsaw Pact) and the formation of "spheres of influence"
anything that I gave you as a handout is testable material and should be reviewed!!
know how the Cold War ends and its results/consequences

Today was a work period in preparation for our film study of "Gandhi". You looked at a history reading of India, including colonial background information, and information on Hinduism and Islam. This information will be key to understanding of the movement to "home rule" for India that we will see in the film. Part 1 of the booklet is due tomorrow, this covers questions 1-4 in that section. Your Chapter 7-8 Test is on Thursday, November 24th, I will post the study guide for this test on November 17th. Your Unit 2 WRA I (3 Source Analysis) is on Friday, November 25th.

November 9

2011-11-09T18:10:00.000-07:00

We started an in-depth study of the Rwandan genocide by starting our film study of "Shake Hands with the Devil". Before we started the film you were to read over the other information in the film study booklet. You should be able to finish this film tomorrow in class.

We finished some of the topics in the Cold War today, by looking at arms reduction talks and agreements, and by discussing trends that have emerged in the post-Cold War world. I also showed you a short YouTube video of all of the atomic tests/explosions since the Trinity test in 1945 to the late 1990s. Please re-read in the textbook the section on the Second Red scare and McCarthyism. Tomorrow, you'll start a film study on "Good Night, and Good Luck". It might be a good idea to check out this link on Edward R. Murrow as well.

It is a multiple choice test with 70-75 multiple choice questions. Please make sure that you have read Chapter 7. Here are some other study tips:

study "The Origins of the Cold War (ppt)"
study all notes on the Origins and Causes of the Cold War
study notes on the Korean War
study notes on the Cuban Missile Crisis
study notes on the Vietnam War (see notes package and Vietnam War booklet, and the notes that I sent to you on the Vietnam War)
make sure that you know all the Cold War Concepts
know the chronology of events of the Cold War (study the Cold War timeline and the Vietnam War timeline, and the end of the Cold War timeline that I will be giving you in subsequent class)
know key events that we've emphasized in class (for example: Berlin Airlift, Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War) plus other key events from the timeline
know major arms reduction agreements (bilateral agreements and multilateral agreements), please study the notes that I will give you next week on this topic.
know about the formation of alliances (NATO, Warsaw Pact) and the formation of "spheres of influence"
anything that I gave you as a handout is testable material and should be reviewed!!
know how the Cold War ends and its results/consequences

We continued our examination of the American role in World War I today, with me finishing off my PowerPoint lecture, and watching a short video on the Great War from an American perspective. Please remember that we are having the presentations on the Canadian and American battles in WWI on Tuesday. Make sure that you add your contributions on the wiki for your assigned battle in WWI by Remembrance Day.

November 8

2011-11-08T19:19:00.002-07:00

We started looking at the role of the United States in World War I today. You have a two-part homework assignment tonight: the Zimmermann Telegram source analysis questions, and Woodrow Wilson's speech before Congress on April 2, 1917 questions.

We watched "Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam", which took most of the class. Please remember that your Vietnam War Assignment is due tomorrow.

We finished watching "Scream Bloody Murder" today. I also gave you a booklet on a few contemporary examples of genocide from the 20th and 21st centuries. Please read it. We set the due date from your Unit 2 research project as Tuesday, November 29th.

November 7

2011-11-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

We continued looking at the First World War today. We watched a short video from the CBS Series on the Great War called "Clash of Generals". I finished the PowerPoint presentation that I started last week which covers some of the key battles of WWI and the end of the war. Remember, I've been going through the "big picture" of the Great War, and then tomorrow we'll start looking at the role of the United States in the war. I'll post the PowerPoint presentation on the wiki this afternoon.

Today was a research period for your Unit 2 Research Project. This will be the only class period that you will have to do research. We'll set a due date for this project tomorrow in class.

I did a homework check on the Southeast Asia package and the Cold War Events Notes booklet today in class. We watched a part of "Born on the Fourth of July" today as well. Please remember that your Chapter 7 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow. I gave you a booklet last week on the Vietnam War that contained the Vietnam War Assignment. This assignment is due on Wednesday. You are responsible for the A-C sections on the front page with this assignment (please see below).
A. PEOPLE
Identify and explain the role each played in the Vietnam War
1. Ho Chi Minh
2. Ngo Dinh Diem
3. Lyndon B. Johnson
4. Richard M. Nixon
5. Viet Minh
6. Viet Cong
7. Le Duc Tho
8. Henry Kissinger
9. William Westmoreland
10. "Draft Dodger"

B. CONCEPTS/TERMS
Explain the significance of the following with regards to the Vietnam War (identify participants or individuals if appropriate)
1. Ho Chi Minh Trail
2. defoliation
3. "search and destroy" mission
4. "Vietnamization of the war"
5. Gulf of Tonkin Incident
6. My Lai Massacre
7. domino theory
8. Kent State University protest (May 4, 1970)
9. Tet Offensive (January 1968)
10. Geneva Agreement (1954)

C. ISSUES
Provide the information requested
1. The predominant religion of Vietnam
2. The battle which marked the end of French colonial rule in Indo-China
3. The scandal which led to the only resignation of an American President
4. The Vice President who replaced the President after his resignation
5. Why was November 1963 a "bad month" for the governments of South Vietnam and the United States?

As we will see, public support for the Vietnam War changes over time as more and more American soldiers are killed. We see a growth in the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, and the media also played a role in the turn of popular opinion against the war. I REALLY recommend that you have a look at the this series of photographs from the Vietnam War era, pretty powerful imagery (make sure that you read the captions too). Here is a link to the NPR that explains the story behind the photograph below, definitely worth the time to read or listen to the podcast, and make sure that you look at the photo gallery of Eddie Adams' photographs of the Vietnam War.

There are certain iconic images associated with the Vietnam War. Here is another:

The above photograph is of Phan Thị Kim Phúc, O.Ont (born in 1963), she is a Vietnamese-Canadian best known as the child subject of a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph taken during the Vietnam War on June 8, 1972. The iconic photo taken in Trang Bang by AP photographer Nick Ut shows her at about age nine running naked on the street after being severely burned on her back by a South Vietnamese napalm attack. Contrary to popular myth, the US Air Force were not involved in the attack, and only two US troops were within 60 miles (97 km) of the scene, neither of whom had any say in the bombings. Still, it is a powerful image associated with the war.

I'm posting the study guide for your Chapter 7 Test (Cold War Exam) below. You have a lot of review and studying to do, that's why I'm posting this study guide so far in advance (this test is on November 17th).

It is a multiple choice test with 70-75 multiple choice questions. Please make sure that you have read Chapter 7. Here are some other study tips:

study "The Origins of the Cold War (ppt)"
study all notes on the Origins and Causes of the Cold War
study notes on the Korean War
study notes on the Cuban Missile Crisis
study notes on the Vietnam War (see notes package and Vietnam War booklet, and the notes that I sent to you on the Vietnam War)
make sure that you know all the Cold War Concepts
know the chronology of events of the Cold War (study the Cold War timeline and the Vietnam War timeline, and the end of the Cold War timeline that I will be giving you in subsequent class)
know key events that we've emphasized in class (for example: Berlin Airlift, Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War) plus other key events from the timeline
know major arms reduction agreements (bilateral agreements and multilateral agreements), please study the notes that I will give you next week on this topic.
know about the formation of alliances (NATO, Warsaw Pact) and the formation of "spheres of influence"
anything that I gave you as a handout is testable material and should be reviewed!!
know how the Cold War ends and its results/consequences

November 4

2011-11-04T13:01:00.000-06:00

We continued our examination of World War I today by watching a short video on the nature of warfare in the Great War from the CBS News Series on WWI called "The Trenches". I also continued with my PowerPoint lecture on the Causes of World War I, which I will post on the wiki this weekend. I also started looking at the concept of total war and specific battles within World War I. Next week, we'll look at Canada's role in the First World War as well as the role of the United States and Latin American countries in the conflict. Make sure that you keep up with the material covered in class, you may be assessed on it at any time.

We continued watching "Scream Bloody Murder" today, and we will continue with this documentary on Tuesday. We also decided on projects for the Unit 2 Research Project. On Monday, please come to Room 111, then we will proceed down to the library.

Hopefully you were able to put to good use the time that you were given in class today. Here's a list of when upcoming assignments are due:

Cold War Events Booklet is due on Monday, November 7th
Southeast Asia Package is due on Monday, November 7th
Chapter 7 Key Terms and Questions are due on Tuesday, November 8th
Vietnam War Assignment is due on Wednesday, November 8th

November 3

2011-11-03T13:37:00.000-06:00

I gave you some more time to complete your Cold War Events booklets, by giving you about 30 minutes to work with the Cold War and After books. I gave you some notes on the Korean War and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and at the end of class you had some time to read them over. I showed you a video from the BBC 20th Century History series on the Cuban Missile Crisis called "Mr. Kennedy and Khrushchev". Please remember that your Chapter 7 Key Terms and Questions are due on Tuesday.

I went through part of a PowerPoint presentation from the Genocide Watch website called "The Eight Stages of Genocide", and as I was going through it you were to take notes on the lecture. You can find a link to the Genocide Watch website under Social 20-1 Links if you are interested in looking at the entire PowerPoint lecture again. We started watching a CNN Special called "Scream Bloody Murder" that covers genocide in the 20th and 21st centuries. As you are watching this video you are strongly encouraged to take notes on these examples of genocide.

I did a quick homework check on the material from the History of the 20th Century textbook and the analysis of the editorial cartoon that illustrated the responsibility of WWI. You spent most of the period working on your IA in the library.

November 2

2011-11-02T17:45:00.002-06:00

We finished watching "White Light/Black Rain" today in class, and completed the film study sheet that goes along with this video. Tomorrow we will look at contemporary examples of genocide.

Today was a busy day since we started working on the Cold War Events booklet by using Perspectives on Ideology and the Cold War and After booklets. You will get some class time tomorrow to work on these booklets as well. We watched a video from the History's Turning Points series on the Korean War and another video on the construction of the Berlin Wall. We'll continue our historical progression through the Cold War by examining the Cuban Missile Crisis tomorrow. Please remember that your Chapter 7 Key Terms and Questions are due on Tuesday.

We had a brief discussion on current events, namely Palestine's inclusion in UNESCO and the Israeli government's reaction to this, the Greek referendum issue, and current developments in the Occupy Calgary situation. We then switched gears and finished watching the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand episode of the BBC series "Days That Shook the World". We then continued looking at the techniques and practices of the First World War, specifically trench warfare. We'll continue this topic on Friday. Please come to Room 111 tomorrow, then we'll go down to the library to work on your IA, so make sure that you have your Internal Assessment materials. Tonight's homework is the following:

Read pages 204-215 in the 20th Century World History textbook
Complete the three questions under the chart on page 215
Complete the cartoon analysis sheet on the WWI cartoon (see below)

(click to enlarge)

November 1

2011-11-01T14:57:00.001-06:00

Mr. Johnson and I split our large IB group into two groups today, so from now on students assigned to me will meet in Room 111. We started looking at the Causes of World War I today, with a PowerPoint lecture on this topic. We also started watching a video on the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand from the BBC series "Days That Shook the World". We'll finish this video tomorrow, and the proceed to look at techniques and practices in the First World War. For homework tonight, it is recommended that you read pages 204-215 in your 20th Century World History textbook.
We watched a couple of videos today from the BBC 20th Century History series: "The Road to Berlin" which explored the end of WWII in Europe, and "Cold War Confrontation" which looked at the division of Germany, the Berlin Airlift and the Korean War. I gave you a timeline of key events in the Cold War that you must memorize. I also gave you a Cold War Events package that included a chart of key events in the Cold War and associated key concepts of the Cold War that must be completed using a supplementary book that you will have access to tomorrow. Tomorrow we will be looking at the Korean War in greater detail, and then you will have some more time to work on your Cold War Events notes.

I would like you to go to the World War II Behind Closed Doors website tonight, and read the sections on the Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference. This is an excellent site, with tons of information, maps, video clips, timelines and archival footage and re-enactments as well. You do need to really make sure that you understand the Yalta Agreements and the Potsdam Declaration (among other things) and this is a great site to do this. Episode 3 is the one that contains most of the information that you would need to read and watch. There's a great little video clip on this website called "Stalin's Distrust of the West" that might help you see WWII from the Soviet perspective and why the Soviets might wish to extend control over Eastern Europe and be so distrustful of their wartime allies. You can find this video clip in Episode 3 (Dividing the World), scroll down and click on the video clip on the right called "Stalin's Distrust of the West". It's a short little clip, but you'll get the idea. We'll continue our look at the Cold War tomorrow.

We watched a video today on the development of the atomic bomb from the "History's Turning Points" series. After watching the video you were to copy down the notes that I had written on the board based on the topics covered in the video. If you missed today's class, you'll have to get these notes from a classmate. We then started a film study of the HBO documentary "White Light/Black Rain". We will finish this video off tomorrow.

October 28

2011-10-28T17:56:00.000-06:00

I showed you the documentary film "Genocide" today in class. We also had some time for a brief discussion on the Holocaust. We'll continue studying the Holocaust after the weekend.

You wrote your Nazi Germany Quiz today, you'll get the results of this test back on Monday. You also got the results back from your Chapter 5 Test today as well. We started to look at the Origins of the Cold War today, so please make sure that you read Chapter 7 over the weekend.

October 26

2011-10-26T18:33:00.000-06:00

We watched an excerpt from the movie "Saving Private Ryan" today, which does a great job of illustrating the defenses on the beaches of Normandy. Please make sure that you add important events to your WWII timeline notes.

You wrote your Unit 2 WRA I today in class. Please remember that you have your Chapter 5 Test tomorrow, please see the study guide here. You also have your Nazi Germany Quiz on Friday, please see the study guide here.

October 25

2011-10-25T14:39:00.000-06:00

I went through a lecture today on the "Techniques of Dictatorship" which really also focused on the propaganda and indoctrination methods in Nazi Germany. We also looked at a short excerpt from "Triumph of the Will", Leni Riefenstahl's propaganda film from the mid-1930s that depicts the days at a Nazi rally in Nuremberg. If you want to learn more about Leni Riefenstahl, please read her obituary from The Guardian in 2003. I am sending you information about the White Rose student group as well today. Please remember that you have your Unit 2 WRA I tomorrow (65 minutes of class time), and your Chapter 5 Test on Thursday (please see the study guide here). Also, you have your Nazi Germany Quiz on Friday, please see the study guide below.

This quiz is a short matching quiz, with a word bank. What you'll have is a list of key people, key terms and key events associated with Nazi Germany (this is your word bank) and then you'll have a description that you'll have to match it up with. Here's a list of possible key terms that you might see on this quiz:

anti-Semitism
Aryan
concentration camp
corporate state
Dachau
decree
deportation
dissent
elite
Enabling Act
ethnic
Führerprinzip
Gestapo
Hitler
Holocaust
indoctrination
inequality
inflation
judicial
jugend
Mein Kampf
Kristallnacht
nationalism
Nazi
Niemoller
Nuremberg
passive
plebiscites
pogrom
Reichstag
Ruhr
SA
SS
state
swastika
War Guilt Clause
White Rose

You wrote your Chapter 5-6 Test today. The results of this test will be added to your upcoming report card. We'll be looking at the Normandy invasion tomorrow.

October 20

2011-10-20T15:39:00.001-06:00

You wrote your Market Economy and Mixed Economy Test today. You'll get the results back tomorrow. Please remember that you have your Economic Systems Test on Monday, please see the study guide here. On Wednesday, October 26th you will be writing your Unit 2 WRA I, and then the next day, you have your Chapter 5 Test (please see the study guide below).

The Chapter 5 Test will be on Thursday, October 27th. It is a 70 multiple choice question test. Please review the following:

"20th Century Rejections of Liberalism" (ppt)
Marx notes (sent by e-mail)
Lenin notes (sent by e-mail)
Stalin notes (sent by e-mail)
Soviet Economy notes
Soviet Economic System notes
Changes to Soviet Society After Stalin notes
Gorbachev to Collapse notes
Economic Planning in the USSR booklet
Characteristics of Democracy
Characteristics of Dictatorship
Democratic Systems notes
Non-Democratic Systems notes
Types of Dictatorships notes (includes Techniques of Dictatorships as well)
A Comparison of Communism and Fascism notes
Totalitarianism notes
Fascism/Nazism booklet (has techniques of dictatorship in Nazi Germany and USSR)
do a brief review of the political and economic spectrums

The following key concepts/key events/key people are mentioned in this test, if you (re-)familiarize yourself with them it will help you out immensely!

centrally planned economies
initiative
FDR and the New Deal
Reaganomics
consumer sovereignty
invisible hand
Keynesian economics
laissez faire economics
War Communism
Five Year Plans
mixed economies
indicative planning
proportional representation
democracy
dictatorship
political spectrum (characteristics associated with the various ideologies)
status quo
egalitarianism
conservative
reactionary
liberal
radical
SA
Hitler
Bolshevik
fascism
communism
indoctrination
controlled participation
terror and force
direction of popular discontent
democratic socialists
supply-side economics
authoritarian
tyrant
totalitarian
totalitarianism
ultranationalism
nationalization
privatization
propaganda
progressive taxation
Marx
Lenin
utopian socialism
Gorbachev
martial law
Reichstag (Reichstag Fire, Reichstag election results)
referendum
collectivization
modernization
classical liberal
laissez faire free market economy
mixed economy
planned economy
(review your economic political quadrant model)
Das Kapital
Mein Kampf
The Wealth of Nations

We covered the internment of Japanese-Canadians today in class by watching "Tides of War" and completing a film study sheet. I will also be sending you a PowerPoint presentation on the internment as well this afternoon. I really recommend that you check out some of the Social 20-1 links here on the blog regarding the internment of Japanese-Canadians, for example the CBC News Archive feature called "Relocation to Redress" is excellent. Make sure that you are reviewing for your Chapter 5-6 Test, which is on Tuesday (please see the study guide here).

October 18

2011-10-18T15:22:00.000-06:00

We looked at the concept of market socialism today, re-visited perestroika and looked at Deng Xiao Ping's Four Modernizations. I gave you a booklet that called "Economic Planning in the USSR" which is due Friday. You had a lot of class time to work on this, so I imagine a lot of you would have almost finished this during class time. Your Market Economy and Mixed Economy Test is on Thursday, please see the study guide here. Your Economic Systems Test is on Monday, October 24th, please see the study guide here. Your Unit 2 WRA I is on Wednesday, October 26th (we'll talk about this tomorrow). Your Chapter 5 Test is on Thursday, October 27th (study guide to be posted on the blog this Thursday). I have sent the 20th Century Rejections of Liberalism PowerPoint presentation, so this will help in preparing for the Chapter 5 Test.

I finished off the PowerPoint presentation on "Ultranationalism in Germany, Italy and Japan" today in class, and I have sent this presentation to you already. Please print it off (4-6 slides per page) and add it to your notes. I also gave you a copy of "The Way of Subjects", and you have six questions for analysis from this reading due tomorrow. Your Chapter 5-6 Test is on Tuesday, October 25th. Please see the study guide below.

This test is on Tuesday, October 25th. The format of the test is matching and short answer. Please use this study guide to focus your review efforts. Study the following presentations:

"The Road to War: Causes of World War I" (ppt)
"Total War, Allied Victory, Paris Peace Conference" (ppt)
"Ultranationalism in WWII: Germany, Italy and Japan" (ppt)

1. Study the following key concepts/key people/key events:

Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Triple Alliance
Triple Entente
the Black Hand
Gavrillo Princip
Tsar Nicholas II
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Battle of Tannenberg
the Schlieffen Plan
Plan 17
General von Moltke
Battle of the Marne
Alsace and Lorraine
total war
Battle of Verdun
Battle of the Somme
the Brusilov Offensive
sinking of the Lusitania
the Zimmermann Telegram
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
General Ludendorff
Friedrich Ebert
Paris Peace Conference
David Lloyd George
Woodrow Wilson
Fourteen Points
Georges Clemenceau
Vittorio Orlando
League of Nations
plebiscites
reparations
collective security
war debts
Treaty of Versailles
"war guilt clause"
"Manchurian Incident"
Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere
expansionism
Hirohito
Hideki Tojo
Benito Mussolini
Adolf Hitler
Kristallnacht
the Nuremburg Laws
any of the key concepts or key events in the Interwar Years booklet is also testable material

2. Look at what I have emphasized in class (Causes of WWI, nature of WWI, armistice, Paris Peace Conference, Treaty of Versailles, the Interwar Years, rise of ultranationalism in Germany, Italy and Japan): this will be the emphasis of the test, there are several topics in your textbook Chapters 5-6 that WILL NOT be on this test, especially if it is event that occurs AFTER the events listed above (so things like Canada's role in Afghanistan, and Arctic sovereignty won't be on the test)
3. Focus your review on the following big concepts:

MAIN Causes of World War I
the nature of World War I (trench warfare, stalemate, total war)
the Paris Peace Conference (national interests in negotiating the treaties)
Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points (links on the blog, under Social 20-1 Links, CHECK IT OUT)
the Treaty of Versailles (terms of the Treaty of Versailles: GARGLe)
Hitler's violation of the Treaty of Versailles (chronology)
the Interwar Years (key events, study your Interwar Years booklet)
the League of Nations (FAILURe of the League of Nations)
ultranationalism in Germany, Japan and Italy
failure of collective security (League of Nations) in Manchuria, Abyssinia, and the Spanish Civil War
appeasement of Adolf Hitler (Munich Conference, Neville Chamberlain, a foreign policy response to ultranationalism)

October 17

2011-10-17T15:29:00.000-06:00

We covered a lot of ground today. We did a short activity called "Was Appeasement a Good Idea?" and completed the Focus Task. We then moved on to looking at the rise of ultranationalism in Germany, Italy and Japan. I will finish this lecture tomorrow.

I did a homework check on your Chapter 5 Key Terms and Questions today. We covered a lot of ground today by looking at "Changes to the Soviet System After Stalin" (notes covering Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov and Cherneko). I also gave you some notes on Gorbachev and the changes that he introduced to the Soviet economy. If you missed today's class, I also put notes up on the board on Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov, Cherneko and Gorbachev. I also went through "E-COW-nomics" today. Your Market Economy and Mixed Economy Test is on Thursday, please see the study guide here. A week from today you have your Economic Systems Test, please see the study guide below.

Market Economy and Mixed Economy Test is on Thursday, October 20th
Economic Systems Test is on Monday, October 24th
Unit 2 WRA I is on Wednesday, October 25th
Chapter 5 Test is on Thursday, October 26th

This is a comprehensive exam that covers all of the major economic systems: market economy, mixed economy, and command economy. It is 70 multiple choice questions. This exam will be administered on Monday, October 24th.

Chapters 3-6 in Perspectives on Ideology
study the applicable PowerPoint presentations that I have sent you for Unit 2
In Chapter 5, just focus on the Soviet Union, and left-wing of economic spectrum (command economy), we haven't covered aspects of dictatorships or Nazism yet (the techniques of dictatorship and fascism will be on a Chapter 5 Test)
please see the summary notes from the Ideologies textbook: Chapter 7 (Private Enterprise)
supply-side economics
boom and bust cycle/business cycle
laws of supply and demand, Adam Smith, invisible hand, market forces
self-interest, consumer sovereignty, competition, private ownership, profit motive
basic economic problems/questions
advantages/disadvantages of the market economy
causes of the Great Depression
FDR and the New Deal
please see summary notes from the Ideologies textbook on the Mixed Economy Case Studies #14 (Sweden) and #15 (Canada), #16 (Japan), #17 (Fascism and Nazism)
also see the Democratic Socialism booklet on Sweden (indicative planning, "cradle to the grave" economics)
characteristics of a mixed economy
nationalization
privatization
democratic socialism
welfare capitalism
Keynesian economics
the business cycle and fiscal and monetary policies (study all of the notes I gave you and the booklet that I gave you)
demand-side economics
neo-conservatives
monetarism
trickle down economics
supply-side economics
Thatcherism and Reaganomics
Milton Friedman
Friedrich Hayek
how Keynesian economics deals with a recession (remember "the percolator": increase circulation of money reducing taxes, increase government spending on "make work" projects, and reduce interest rates, which according to Keynesian economics is going increase demand for goods and services and lead to more money circulating in the economy)
how supply-side economics deals with a recession (remember "trickle down coffee maker": government should stimulate the goods and services sector of the economy by reducing corporate and personal taxes, eventually benefits will "trickle down" to the middle class and working class, make connections between supply-side economics and laissez faire economics/classical liberalism)
advantages and disadvantages of a mixed economy
neo-conservative criticism of government intervention
characteristics of a centrally planned economy
advantages and disadvantages of a centrally planned economy
Marx notes (sent by e-mail)
Lenin notes (sent by e-mail)
establishment of the Soviet Union
Soviet economic system (top-down decision-making process)
Lenin's War Communism and the New Economic Policy
"Stalin and the Modernization of Russia" (see film notes)
Stalin notes (sent by e-mail)
"Changes to Soviet Society After Stalin" notes (this bridges the gap between Stalin and Gorbachev)
Gorbachev to Collapse Notes
Economic Planning in the USSR (again, you'll get these notes tomorrow)

October 14

2011-10-14T15:16:00.000-06:00

We looked at the concept of appeasement today in class. We watched a short video from the BBC 20th Century History Series called "Why Appeasement?" and at the conclusion of the video we went over the answers to the worksheet.

You got the results of your Ideological Reaction to Industrialization Test today. You watched a video from the A & E Biography series called "Joseph Stalin: Red Terror", as you watched this video you were to complete a film study guide. Your Chapter 5 Key Terms and Questions are due on Monday, October 17th. Your Market Economy and Mixed Economy Test is on Thursday, October 20th, please see the study guide here.

October 13

2011-10-13T22:09:00.000-06:00

You wrote your Ideological Reaction to Industrialization Test today in class. You will get your results back tomorrow. Your Chapter 5 Key Terms and Questions are due on Monday, so most students that finished their test early worked on these. Make sure that you actually read Chapter 5! Your Market Economy and Mixed Economy Test is on Thursday, October 20th, please see the study guide below.

Chapters 3-4 and Chapter 6 in Perspectives on Ideology
please see the summary notes from the Ideologies textbook: Chapter 7 (Private Enterprise)
supply-side economics
boom and bust cycle/business cycle
laws of supply and demand, Adam Smith, invisible hand, market forces
self-interest, consumer sovereignty, competition, private ownership, profit motive
basic economic problems/questions
advantages/disadvantages of the market economy
causes of the Great Depression
FDR and the New Deal
please see summary notes from the Ideologies textbook on the Mixed Economy Case Studies #14 (Sweden) and #15 (Canada)
nationalization
democratic socialism
welfare capitalism
Keynesian economics
the business cycle and fiscal and monetary policies (study all of the notes I gave you and the booklet that I gave you)
demand-side economics
neo-conservatives
monetarism
trickle down economics
supply-side economics
Thatcherism and Reaganomics
Milton Friedman
Friedrich Hayek
how Keynesian economics deals with a recession
how supply-side economics deals with a recession

I gave you a really important handout today on the Interwar Years. There are certain key events that occur between 1919 and 1939 which help contribute to the rise of fascist regimes in Germany, Italy and Japan. You need to study these key events very carefully because you will be tested on them on your Unit 2 Final Exam and your Final Exam. We watched Part 1 of the A & E Biography "The Fatal Attraction of Adolf Hitler", and as you watched this video, you should have been taking notes. We also watched "Make Germany Pay".

October 11

2011-10-11T15:09:00.000-06:00

Welcome back from the Thanksgiving long weekend. I hope you enjoyed the weekend and didn't take in to much of the gobble-gobble. We covered a lot of territory again today. We looked at a side-by-side comparison of demand-side and supply-side economics. I have to find one more handout on this topic which I will give you tomorrow and it covers how each economic theory deals with a recession. We then looked at some background information on Russian history (I will send these notes to you tonight along with notes on Marx, Lenin and Stalin). We then watched a video from the BBC 20th Century History series entitled "Stalin and the Modernization of Russia". We also looked very quickly at different strands of socialism (utopian socialism, scientific socialism, democratic socialism). You have a test this Thursday called "The Ideological Reaction to Industrialization Test", please see the study guide here. I also did a homework check on your Chapter 6 Key Terms and Questions.

I went through a handout today called "If World War I Were a Barfight" which quickly covered the causes and aftermath of the First World War. I then started a presentation today called "Allied Victory and the Paris Peace Conference", which I will finish tomorrow. Your Chapter 5 Key Terms and Questions are due on Thursday, please make sure that you actually read the chapter! See you tomorrow!

October 6

2011-10-06T16:48:00.000-06:00

I went through a PowerPoint presentation today called "The Evolution of Modern Liberalism". I will be sending this to you this afternoon. Don't forget that you have your Chapter 6 Key Terms and Questions due on Tuesday, October 11th. Please remember that your Ideological Reaction to Industrialization Test is next Thursday, please see the study guide here.

We did a simulation game on a fictional peace conference to try and avert the outbreak of the First World War. I also gave you your Unit 2 Worksheet. Your Chapter 5 Key Terms and Questions are due on Thursday, October 13th.

October 4

2011-10-04T14:28:00.000-06:00

Today was a work period for most of you, which should have allowed you to read some of Chapter 6 and complete the key terms from the Chapter 6 Worksheet. Your Chapter 6 Key Terms and Questions are due on Tuesday, October 11th. You have test coming up on October 13th, please see the study guide below.

1. Please review material from these PowerPoint presentations:

"The Development of Classical Liberalism"
"Responding to Classical Liberalism"

2. Be familiar with key concepts introduced in Chapters 3 and 4.
3. The Industrial Revolution:

understand fundamental economic, social and political changes that were caused by the Industrial Revolution
understand the connection between the Agricultural Revolution and the Enclosure Acts and the Industrial Revolution
understand the differences, advantages and disadvantages of the cottage system and the factory system

4. Review material in the "Philosophies of Industrialism" booklet
5. Key Beliefs of the Various Ideologies (review the spectrums briefly); also review this material from the "Responding to Classical Liberalism" PowerPoint presentation:

Adam Smith
laissez faire economics/capitalism (key ideas)
John Stuart Mill
Karl Marx (key ideas and beliefs associated with Marx, Das Kapital, The Communist Manifesto, withering away of the state, dictatorship of the proletariat, view of history, etc. ) and Friedrich Engels (see "Philosophies of Industrialism" booklet)
Edmund Burke and classical conservatism

6. Some questions may require you to make connections between this year's material and what you learned in 10-1 and 20-1 as well

You wrote your Chapter 3-4 Test today. You have your Unit 1 Final Exam tomorrow, please see the study guide here.

September 30

2011-09-30T20:58:00.000-06:00

You wrote your Unit 1 WRA I today in class. Your Chapter 3-4 Test is on Tuesday, please see the study guide here. Your Unit 1 Final Exam is on Wednesday, please see the study guide here. make sure that you have read the Causes of World War I booklet for Monday as well.

You wrote a political cartoon analysis today in class, which took most of the period.

September 29

2011-09-29T19:50:00.000-06:00

We listened to the NPR article on the application of Keynesian economics by the Obama administration. If you missed today's class you can listen to the NPR story and read the article under Social 30-1 Links (it's the third link). We then looked at monetary and fiscal policy in detail. Again, if you missed class today, check your e-mail, I sent out the article last night. Be on time tomorrow, you will be writing an political cartoon analysis.

You watched a couple of videos today, one called "Doomed Dynasties" and the other "Clash of Generals". I gave you a handout on the Causes of World War I that I want you to read for Monday's class. I went quickly through how to write a WRA I three source analysis assignment as well. You will be writing a Unit 1 WRA I tomorrow in class. Your Chapter 3-4 Test is on Tuesday (please see the study guide here) and the Unit 1 Final Exam is on Wednesday (please see the study guide here).

September 28

2011-09-28T19:31:00.001-06:00

I went through a PowerPoint presentation today on "The Causes of World War I". I have already sent this presentation to your e-mail accounts. Your French Revolution DBA is due tomorrow. You will be doing your Unit 1 WRA I on Friday, so I will re-teach you how to write them tomorrow. Your Chapter 3-4 Test is on Tuesday of next week, please see the study guide here. Your Unit 1 Final Exam is the next day, please see the study guide below.

One week from today, you will be writing your Unit 1 Final Exam. It is 75 multiple choice questions. Make sure that you have read Chapters 1-4 in Exploring Nationalism. Please make sure that you know the key concepts from Unit 1 (see below). Also review the PowerPoint presentations that you should have in your notes. They are also on the wiki under Unit 1 Presentations. These are the presentations that you should review:

1. Nation and Identity
2. The French Revolution
3. The Napoleonic Era
4. Contending Loyalties

Know the key concepts from the Unit 1 Worksheet (a lot of them have been defined on the wiki by your classmates, check under Unit 1 Key Terms). If you know the key concepts you'll be able apply them to test.

nation
nation-state
nationalism
patriotism
self-determination
sovereignty
sovereign
civic nation
civic nationalism
ethnic nationalism
collective consciousness
French Revolution
Estates-General
Louis XVI
First Estate
Second Estate
Third Estate
cahiers de doléances
Ancien Régime
bourgeoisie
feudal system
philosophes
Declaration of the Rights of Man
National Assembly
Tennis Court Oath
constitutional monarchy
Jacobins
Girondins
National Convention
levée en masse
Robespierre
Danton
Marat
Reign of Terror
Napoleon
Napoleonic Code
Continental System
contending loyalties
cultural pluralism
reasonable accommodation
sovereignists
federalists
royal commission
expressions of nationalism
non-nationalist loyalty
alienation
segregation

We covered a lot of territory today in class. We reviewed monetary and fiscal policy and what a government's response would be to various stages on the business cycle if they were applying Keynesian economic theory. We watched a couple of videos from the BBC 20th Century History series today, and you took notes on them. We watched "Boom and Bust" and "FDR and the New Deal". I also quickly went through how to analyze political cartoons. You will be doing an in-class assignment on this on Friday 9don't be late for class, because if you are, your choices will be limited).

September 27

2011-09-27T14:49:00.000-06:00

I went through a lot of key concepts today. We looked at the emergence of welfare capitalism (and how it means one thing in the United States, and something else everywhere else in the world) and how modern liberalism came into existence as a result of the Great Depression. We looked at Keynesian economics (demand-side economics), and specifically monetary and fiscal policy, and how application of Keynesian economic theory to various stages of boom and bust cycle works. I did a homework check on "Philosophies of Industrialism" today. Please make sure that you read Chapter 4 tonight, if you haven't already done so. Your Chapter 4 Key Terms and Questions are due on Friday.

I finished off the "Contending Loyalties" PowerPoint presentation and I have already sent it to you, so please print it off (4-6 slides per page) and add it your notes. We will be doing a WRA I on Friday, so on Thursday, I will review with you how to write these in-class assignments.Your Chapter 3-4 Test is next Tuesday, please see the study guide below. Your French Revolution DBA is due on Thursday.

This quiz will be on Thursday, October 2nd. It will consist of a matching section (10 key concepts) and a short answer section.

make sure that you study the PowerPoint presentation "Contending Loyalties"
make sure that you have read Chapters 3 and 4 (it is all testable material)
know the key concepts from Chapters 3 and 4 (please see the Unit 1 Worksheet for these)
study your answers to the Chapter 3 and 4 questions from the Unit 1 Worksheet (all could potentially be on the quiz)

September 22

2011-09-23T12:28:00.000-06:00

I went through a PowerPoint lecture today called "Responding to Classical Liberalism". I will be sending this presentation out to you later this afternoon. Your Chapter 3 Questions are due on Monday. We'll be diving into Chapter 4 material next week, so if you get ahead this weekend, it wouldn't hurt to read Chapter 4 in advance of next week's lectures. Please remember that tomorrow is a PD Day, and you don't have school.

You wrote your Chapter 1-2 Test today in class. Hopefully, you'll get the resutls back next week. Your French Revolution DBA Assignment is due on Thursday, this weekend would be a great time to start it.

September 20

2011-09-20T15:01:00.000-06:00

I went through a PowerPoint lecture today called "The Development of Classical Liberalism". I have sent this presentation to you already, so check your e-mail. Your homework tonight is the Chapter 3 Key Terms (due tomorrow), please make sure that you actually read the chapter! Your Chapter 3 Questions are due on Monday.

We finished off the lecture of the Napoleonic Age today. I will be sending this PowerPoint off to you today. Tomorrow we will be finishing off Napoleon by looking at his failed attempt to conquer Russia. Please remember that you have your Chapter 1-2 Test on Thursday, please see the study guide here.

September 19

2011-09-19T13:45:00.001-06:00

We continued watching the A & E Biography called "Napoleon: The Glory of France" today, and as you watched the video you were to take notes on the timeline of Napoleon Bonaparte's life. I also started a PowerPoint lecture on the Napoleonic Age today. We'll finish this off tomorrow.

This test will be on Thursday, September 22nd. The test has a matching section and a short answer section.

Make sure that you have read both Chapters 1 and 2 in your textbook Exploring Nationalism
Study the Chapter 1 and 2 Key Terms from the Unit 1 Worksheet
Study your answers to the questions from the Unit 1 Worksheet for Chapters 1-2

Study the following PowerPoint presentations:

"Nation and Identity" (Chapter 1 material + supplementary material)
"Shaping Nationalism: The French Revolution" (Chapter 2 material + supplementary material)
"The Napoleonic Age" (Chapter 2 material + supplementary material)

You wrote your Unit 1 WRA I today in the Blenheim Room, which took the entire period. We will be starting Unit 2 material tomorrow, so it's probably a good idea to read ahead into Chapter 3.

September 15

2011-09-15T18:07:00.000-06:00

You wrote your Unit 1 Final Exam today. You should get the results for this test back tomorrow, as well as the results for your Chapter 1-2 Test. Read Chapter 3 tonight, we're starting Unit 2 material tomorrow.

We finished watching the French Revolution video that we started yesterday. Please make sure that you study for your World Geography Test (it's tomorrow). Here's the study guide:

This test will take place on Friday, September 16th. It is simply a country identification test. You will be given a world map with certain countries identified and you need to be able to write out what country it is. Here are the countries that may appear on the test:

any of the EU countries (there are 27 countries in the EU, a map of the EU is in your textbook on page 265)
any of the NATO countries (there's some overlap here with the EU, but not all EU countries are members of NATO)
any of the G8 countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom
full members of MERCOSUR: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and other associate members or countries that are achieving membership in MERCOSUR, such as: Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador
to ask you to know ALL of the countries in the African Union would be cruel, so we'll focus on countries that came up last year or will likely be in the news this year: Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Zimbabwe
other very important countries that will be in the news this year, or that we'll be talking about, or get mentioned in your textbook: Cuba, Mexico, Jamaica, Serbia, Georgia, China, India, Myanmar, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel
**BIG HINT: if a country is a member of a few of these international organizations then there's a STRONG possibility that they will be on the test!!**

World Geography Games
Test Your Geography Knowledge
Maps.com Online Games (the "Find It" games are excellent!)

September 13

2011-09-13T15:20:00.000-06:00

We finished watching "Sicko" today in class. I also collected your Chapter 2 Key Terms and Questions. Your Chapter 1-2 Test is tomorrow, make sure that you use the study guide. Your Unit 1 Final Exam is on Thursday, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it). Your Unit 1 WRA II Essay is on Monday.

I continued lecturing from "The French Revolution" PowerPoint presentation today, and I will finish it tomorrow. I gave you some more time to finish your Chapter 2 Key Terms and Questions (due Thursday). I have sent you the "Nation and Identity" PowerPoint today, so check your e-mail. I apologize for forgetting to send this to you earlier. You have your World Geography Test on Friday, please see the study guide here.

September 12

2011-09-12T15:18:00.001-06:00

We started looking at the French Revolution today, and we will continue to do so for most of the week. I will continue "The French Revolution" PowerPoint presentation tomorrow in class. I gave you some class time to read Chapter 2 and work on your Chapter 2 Key Terms and Questions (which are due on Thursday). Please remember that you have your World Geography Test on Friday, please see the study guide here.

I went through an example essay outline to help prepare you for the Unit 1 WRA II Essay which is on Monday, September 19th. I will be sending this to you by e-mail. We then started a film study on "Sicko", which we will finish tomorrow. Your Chapter 1-2 Test is on Wednesday, so please see the study guide here. Your Unit 1 Final Exam is on Thursday, September 15th, please see the study guide here.

September 9

2011-09-09T13:39:00.000-06:00

You wrote your Enlightenment Thinkers Quiz today, and you got the results back today as well. Some of you need to prepare for your tests better! STUDY! Make sure that you prepare for next Friday's World Geography Test (please see the study guide below). Your Chapter 2 Key Terms and Questions are due on Thursday, September 15th, so it's probably a good idea to start working on them in advance. Next week we'll start talking about the French Revolution, so it's advised that you at least read that section of your textbook prior to Monday's class.
This test will take place on Friday, September 16th. It is simply a country identification test. You will be given a world map with certain countries identified and you need to be able to write out what country it is. Here are the countries that may appear on the test:

any of the EU countries (there are 27 countries in the EU, a map of the EU is in your textbook on page 265)
any of the NATO countries (there's some overlap here with the EU, but not all EU countries are members of NATO)
any of the G8 countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom
full members of MERCOSUR: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and other associate members or countries that are achieving membership in MERCOSUR, such as: Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador
to ask you to know ALL of the countries in the African Union would be cruel, so we'll focus on countries that came up last year or will likely be in the news this year: Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Zimbabwe
other very important countries that will be in the news this year, or that we'll be talking about, or get mentioned in your textbook: Cuba, Mexico, Jamaica, Serbia, Georgia, China,
India, Myanmar, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq,
Israel
**BIG HINT: if a country is a member of a few of these international organizations then there's a STRONG possibility that they will be on the test!!**

World Geography Games
Test Your Geography Knowledge
Maps.com Online Games (the "Find It" games are excellent!)

We spent the entire day on re-learning how to write a Written Response Assignment II Essay. I gave you a couple of handouts on this topic, one of which was called "the Recipe for Success" and the other a handout on "Analyzing Quotes". For your Unit 1 WRA II Essay, I really recommend that you work through and answer the questions on the "Analyzing Quotes" handout when you get your source. We'll continue looking at essay writing in Monday's class. Please check the important dates below.

Individualism and Collectivism Booklet is due on Monday, September 12th
Chapter 2 Key Terms and Questions are due on Tuesday, September 13th (don't forget the supplementary key terms go with your key terms!)
Chapter 1-2 Test is on Wednesday, September 14th (please see the study guide here)
Unit 1 Final Exam is on Thursday, September 15th (please see the study guide below)
Unit 1 WRA II is on Monday, September 19th (you will get the essay question sheet on Friday)

The Unit 1 Final is a 55 question multiple choice test. It will be written on Thursday, September 15th. Make sure that you study the following:

Chapter 1 and 2 Key Terms from the Unit 1 Worksheet
Study the Ideology Notes (Black Gold School District PDF file)
Study the 19th Century Political Spectrum
Study the 20th Century Political spectrum
Study the political-economic grid
Know the values and ideas associated with the various ideologies (on the 19th century and 20th century spectrums)
Study the Individualism and Collectivism booklet

September 8

2011-09-08T14:46:00.000-06:00

I talked a little bit today about the e-mail distribution list. Please check your e-mail because I have sent out the first two PowerPoint presentations and the Ideology Notes from the Black Gold School District. We did a review of the 19th century political spectrum and the 20th century political spectrum as well as the political-economic grid. I gave you a booklet on individualism and collectivism that is due on Monday, September 12th. I also advised you to work on the Chapter 2 Key Terms and Questions which are due on Tuesday. Please make sure that you add the supplementary material to your Chapter 2 Key Terms. Make sure that you actually read Chapter 2 as well. Keep doing a little bit of review each night on the material introduced so far in the course, and TEST yourself! Practice drawing out the spectrums and the political-economic grid, test yourself on the principles of collectivism and individualism.

The Chapter 1-2 Test is on Wednesday, September 14th. It is a mixed format test, it will have a matching section and a short answer section. Here is what you should review/study for this test:

Chapter 1 and 2 Key Terms/Concepts and the Supplementary Key Terms from the Unit 1 Worksheet
be able to answer any of the questions from the Unit 1 Worksheet (hopefully you have quality answers to study from!)
you must know the 19th century political spectrum and the 20th century political spectrum
know similarities and differences between communism and fascism
be able to label political and economic spectrums and the values associated with these ideologies
be able to label the political-economic grid and know examples of the ideologies in the quadrants (study the Ideology Notes and the notes I gave you in class)
know the differences between individualism and collectivism, be able to apply your understanding of these concepts
know the key ideas associated with Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau (for example, view of the nature of human beings, etc.)

I went through a PowerPoint presentation today called "The Enlightenment". I will be sending this to you this afternoon so please let me know if you don't get it. As I was lecturing, you were to fill out a chart on these key Enlightenment thinkers. You will have a quiz on this material tomorrow. STUDY! Also, please remember that you have a World Geography Test next Friday, please see the study guide here. Please try the geography games below to study.

World Geography Games
Test Your Geography Knowledge
Maps.com Online Games (the "Find It" games are excellent!)

September 7

2011-09-07T13:19:00.000-06:00

I finished off the "Nation and Identity" PowerPoint presentation today, and I'd like to send it off to you by e-mail, but first I'd like a response to the test message that I sent out today. Once I know the e-mail distribution list is working, I can start sending out these PowerPoint presentations. I gave you class time to work on your Chapter 1 Key Terms and Questions, which are due on Friday. Also on Friday you will have an Enlightenment Thinkers Quiz. Tomorrow, I will lecture on this very topic. You also have a World Geography Test on Friday, September 16th, please see the study guide below.

This test will take place on Friday, September 16th. It is simply a country identification test. You will be given a world map with certain countries identified and you need to be able to write out what country it is. Here are the countries that may appear on the test:

any of the EU countries (there are 27 countries in the EU, a map of the EU is in your textbook on page 265)
any of the NATO countries (there's some overlap here with the EU, but not all EU countries are members of NATO)
any of the G8 countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom
full members of MERCOSUR: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and other associate members or countries that are achieving membership in MERCOSUR, such as: Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador
to ask you to know ALL of the countries in the African Union would be cruel, so we'll focus on countries that came up last year or will likely be in the news this year: Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Zimbabwe
other very important countries that will be in the news this year, or that we'll be talking about, or get mentioned in your textbook: Cuba, Mexico, Jamaica, Serbia, Georgia, China,
India, Myanmar, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq,
Israel
**BIG HINT: if a country is a member of a few of these international organizations then there's a STRONG possibility that they will be on the test!!**

I went through another PowerPoint presentation lecture today called "Identity and Ideology" which introduced the 19th and 20th century political spectrums to you, as well as the economic-political grid. You must memorize all of these spectrum diagrams for your upcoming Chapter 1-2 Test. Your Chapter 1 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow, so I gave you the remaining 15 minutes of class to work on them. I also gave you a booklet with the various spectrums on it, so make sure that you study it. As well, I will be sending you the PDF copy of the Ideology Notes as soon as I have the e-mail distribution list up and operational.

Chapter 1-2 Test is on Wednesday, September 14th (please see study guide below)
Unit 1 Final Exam is on Thursday, September 15th
Unit 1 WRA II Essay is on Monday, September 19th

The Chapter 1-2 Test is on Wednesday, September 14th. It is a mixed format test, it will have a matching section and a short answer section. Here is what you should review/study for this test:

Chapter 1 and 2 Key Terms/Concepts and the Supplementary Key Terms from the Unit 1 Worksheet
be able to answer any of the questions from the Unit 1 Worksheet (hopefully you have quality answers to study from!)
you must know the 19th century political spectrum and the 20th century political spectrum
know similarities and differences between communism and fascism
be able to label political and economic spectrums and the values associated with these ideologies
be able to label the political-economic grid and know examples of the ideologies in the quadrants (study the Ideology Notes and the notes I gave you in class)
know the differences between individualism and collectivism, be able to apply your understanding of these concepts
know the key ideas associated with Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau (for example, view of the nature of human beings, etc.)

When I send you presentations, here is what I recommend that you do: keep an electronic copy of the presentation, preferably in an appropriately named folder. Next you'll need to print it off. I recommend that you print off 4 slides per page. Here's how you do it. Open the presentation up in PowerPoint, then go under File and select Print. Then set things up like the picture below:

September 2

2011-09-02T09:00:00.000-06:00

I thought that I would post some of my classroom rules and expectations of behavior on the blog this year. Also, I will also write down some ground rules for using the blog this semester.

I think that I have very simple, straight-forward classroom rules and expectations. I will be discussing these in class tomorrow, but here's a quick recap:

Please be on-task during classroom time (visit later)
You must wear your visual ID around your neck during class time, no exceptions!
No cell phones; if your parents really need to get in touch with you, they should call the office. Please don't bring cell phones to class, or if you do, please remember to turn them off! Yes, you have some new freedom this year with regard to electronic devices, but not in the classroom!!
Please don't listen to music on MP3 players or iPods during class time, UNLESS I have given you permission to do so.
Be polite. You should be listening during class lectures or when your classmates have questions to ask (you might have some of the same questions).
Be on time. If you are late, please enter the classroom quietly and apologize for being late. If the door is locked, I have started the lecture or there is a class presentation in progress; I will open the door and let you in as soon as possible.
Clean up after yourselves. Please don't leave garbage on the floor. I like my classroom fairly neat and tidy.
Don't bring junk food to class. Healthy snacks only. Or you could always wait until lunchtime.
You may chew gum in class on the following conditions: don't chew like a cow, I don't want to see the gum or hear you chewing it, that's just gross.
Late assignments: 10% is deducted for every day an assignment is late. If you have an excused absence, then there is some flexibility with this rule.
Please make sure that a parent or guardian calls the school to have absences excused. If you miss a test due to an unexcused absence you will be assigned a mark of "zero".
I will be contacting parent/guardians if you have unexcused absences.
Please adhere to the school's academic honesty policy which is on the back of your course outlines.
If you are going away on holidays (please do not schedule holidays during examination periods in June), please let me know in advance. I can prepare materials for you, let you know what you'll be missing, and even give you handouts in advance. This way you won't feel "lost" when you come back from holidays.

Here are some simple rules that I have established for using the blog, and some other informational items:

Please post on the blog anonymously.
If you feel the need to identify yourself, or clarify which grade you're in, please use your initials and your class and section (for example, K.G. in Social 30-1 Period 3).
Some of you may have your own Blogger accounts. Please don't post on this blog using your Blogger ID, otherwise you may have people visiting your blog that you may not want to see what you're posting.
Please be courteous, polite and respectful when posting comments on the blog. Don't be rude to your classmates on the blog.
Please be patient with my response time.
Please post comments and questions on the blog prior to 10 p.m.
Between 6-8 p.m. I am usually not online.
Monday nights are particularly busy for me, this is the night that I have a Masters class at the University.
Please do not post links to questionable materials.
Inappropriate comments will be deleted. Please don't do this, it's a waste of my time, I could be doing more productive things, like answering questions that you may have.

SWCMUN 2011

2011-07-11T08:49:00.000-06:00

Sir Winston Churchill High School in Calgary, Alberta will be hosting a Model UN conference on October 21-23, 2011. For more information about this Model UN conference, please click on the logo above.

Social 30-1 Question Forum

2011-06-10T16:14:00.000-06:00

If you have any questions that you'd like me to answer prior to the Diploma Exam Part A or B, simply comment in this question forum. Click on "Comments", post your question, and make sure that you put your initials at the end of the question.
For example,
"What were the major decisions made at the Yalta Conference?"
K.G. Social 30-1 Period 3

Thanks! Good luck on all of your Diploma Exams!

Social 10-1 Question Forum

2011-06-10T16:12:00.002-06:00

If you have any questions that you'd like me to answer prior to the Final Exam Part B, simply comment in this question forum. Click on "Comments", post your question, and make sure that you put your initials at the end of the question.
For example,
"What's the difference between integration and accommodation?"
K.G. Social 10-1

FINAL MARKS in Social 10-1 have been posted outside my classroom. When you check your mark, please note that it is the mark that is highlighted yellow, and that, yes, I do round those numbers.

The class average on Part B was 81%, so congratulations! Hopefully you are happy with your individual mark. I do not post your marks on the blog, nor do I send them to you by e-mail. The next time that you're in the school, swing by Room 111 to check your marks. Have a great summer, and good luck on all of your other exams!

June 8

2011-06-08T15:45:00.000-06:00

You wrote your Trial Final today, which took most of the period. These exams have been marked already, so you'll get the results tomorrow.

You wrote Part A of your Final Exam in class today, which took about 65 minutes of the period. I also gave you your seat assignment for the Final Exam Part B. The Final Exam Part B counts for 15% of your final grade in Social 10-1, with Part A counting for 10% of the grade. Most of you will be writing Part B in the Main Gym on Monday from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

June 7

2011-06-07T13:19:00.000-06:00

You wrote your Chapter 15-16 Test today, which took most of the period. Make sure that you review how to write a three source analysis assignment (WRA I) because that is what tomorrow's Part A of the Final Exam will be like. Make sure that know the structure and organization of a WRA I. You will have 60 minutes to write this assignment and we will be doing it in class time. Your Chapter 18-19 Key Terms and Questions are due on Friday.

We focused in on preparing for the WRA I of the 30-1 Diploma Exam. We used as an example the January 2010 Diploma Exam WRA I. You broke into small groups of 4-5 to put together a detailed outline of what a WRA I would look like. Once again you'll get copies of these outlines. I'll be giving these out tomorrow. Keep in mind that they won't use these sources again, the idea was to practice writing/planning a WRA I, emphasizing organization, structure and key concepts of the course. Your Trial Final is tomorrow, so make sure that you review, since the Trial Final wipes out your lowest mark. Make sure that the Trial Final isn't your lowest mark!

June 6

2011-06-06T19:21:00.000-06:00

I went through a PowerPoint presentation today called "The Effects of Globalization on Individuals and Communities". I will be sending this presentation to you tonight, along with the Social 10-1 Final Exam Study Guide. Your Chapter 17 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow. Your Chapter 15-16 Test is tomorrow, please see the study guide here. Part A of your Final Exam is on Wednesday, make sure that you review how to write a three source analysis.

I gave back all your essays from the entire semester. I broke you up into small groups of 4-5 to write a group outline based on the January 2011 Diploma Exam WRA II. I'll scan the outlines that you wrote in class and send you a copy of them tomorrow. Please remember that you have your Trial Final on Wednesday, please use the Social 30-1 Study Guide that I gave you to study for it. Remember, the Trial Final wipes out your lowest mark. I'll post your exam marks tomorrow and then you can make a decision as to which test you're going to wipe out.

June 3

2011-06-03T13:43:00.000-06:00

We watched a short video from the CBC News in Review series called "Rising Food Prices Threaten Millions". As you watched this video you were to complete the video study guide that went along with it. Please make sure that you read the information in the booklet as well. I also went through a PowerPoint presentation that looked at the "Biofuel Controversy". This lecture centered on the advantages and disadvantages of the development of biofuels such as ethanol in the United States and Brazil. I have sent this PowerPoint to you already. Your Chapter 15-16 Test is on Tuesday, June 7th, and you can find the study guide here. Part A of your Final Exam will be on Wednesday, June 8th. Part A is a WRA I three source analysis assignment that you will have 60 minutes to write.

Chapter 15-16 Test is on Tuesday, June 7th (please see the study guide here)
Social 10-1 Part A of Final Exam is on Wednesday, June 8th
Chapter 17 Key Terms and Questions will be due on June 7th
Chapter 18-19 Key Terms and Questions will be due on June 9th (Fri.)

I went through parts of two different essay outlines today, one on active citizenship and the other centered around individualism vs. collectivism. I have sent these essay outlines to you already. I have also sent you the Social 30-1 Diploma Exam Study Guide and a chart filled with a comparison between the old Social 30 essay prompts and how easy it is to change it into a Social 30-1 text-based source for a WRA II essay. I did a homework check on your Chapter 13 and 14 booklet today as well. Please study for your Social 30-1 Trial Final (it's on Wednesday, June 8th) using the study guide that I have sent to you. Please check yesterday's post for some links to materials that are designed to help review for the Diploma Exam.

June 2

2011-06-02T15:53:00.004-06:00

We worked on an essay outline for a political-themed essay today in class. I will be sending the outline that both my Period 3 and 4 classes put together. I'll also send you the outlines that previous semester classes put together. Tomorrow, we'll look at what an individualism vs. collectivism and an active citizenship essay might look like. It might be a good idea to start reviewing for not only your Trial Final (which is on June 8th), but also your Diploma Exam. When preparing for Part A it might be a good idea to look at the official Alberta Government preparation guide (here's the link for the 30-1 guide, and here's the link for the 30-2 guide), as well as Student Writing Samples from previous Diploma Exams (here's the 30-1 January 2010 sample, and the 30-2 January 2010 sample, as well as the 30-1 January 2011 sample and the 30-2 January 2011 sample) so you have an idea of what the markers are looking for in your writing.

Social 30-1 Trial Final is on Wednesday, June 8th

We finished watching "Blood Diamond" today in class. There is a film study that goes along with this film which is due tomorrow. There was a comment on the blog the other day about the link to the Amnesty International article not working, and I checked it out and the article that is on the Amnesty site does not deal with all of the topics in Part 2 of the film study. Here's what I'd like you to do instead: Click on this link to a PDF document. On page 3 of this document, you'll find answers to some of the questions in Part 2. Also, you can look into the Kimberly Process here. You can also learn more about the RUF here. If you are interested in learning more about what it was like being a child soldier during the conflict in Sierra Leone, I can highly recommend the book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, it is an excellent book. You can hear Ismael Beah speak in the video below about child soldiers from Human Rights Watch. There's a lot going on in the world that you may not always hear about on the nightly news. Romeo Dallaire's latest book They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children, also looks at the issue of child soldiers, and is also highly recommended. I challenge you to learn more about natural resource-fuelled conflict in the world today. These are problems that are still being dealt with. Here is a link to your Chapter 15-16 Test Study Guide.

Chapter 15-16 Test is on Tuesday, June 7th
Social 10-1 Final Exam Part A (WRA I) is on Wednesday, June 8th

May 30

2011-05-30T17:20:00.001-06:00

We started looking at the role of conflict diamonds in fuelling unrest in Africa today by starting a film study on "Blood Diamond" today. We'll finish this film on Thursday (remember there's no school tomorrow or Wednesday). Please see the study guide for the Chapter 15-16 Test below.

This quiz will follow the typical format: a matching section, a multiple choice section and a short answer section. Please use the following study guide.

Study from your textbook and the following PowerPoint presentations:

"Quality of Life, Human Rights, and Democratization" (ppt)
"Impacts of Globalization on Groups in Society" (ppt)
study the reading "Human Rights Abuses in a Globalized World: Burma Case Study" (from Globalization 101 website, I gave you a copy of this article in class)

Key Terms:

Chapter 15 Key Terms (from Unit 4 Worksheet)
Chapter 16 Key Terms (from Unit 4 Worksheet)
additional key terms from the presentations that correspond to Chapters 15 and 16

Key Questions:

What are human rights?
What is democratization?
What is quality of life?
What is standard of living?
How are ideas about human rights and democracy related?
How are globalization, human rights, and democracy related?
How have ideas about human rights changed over time?
What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
What is the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
In what ways does globalization affect the lives of children and youth?
In what ways does globalization affect the lives of women?
human rights abuses in Burma

We did some Diploma Exam essay preparation today by looking at how to approach writing an essay with an economics-themed source. I will send the essay outline that we put together in class today.

May 27

2011-05-27T21:47:00.000-06:00

I went through a PowerPoint presentation today called "Impacts of Globalization on Groups in Society". I will send this presentation out to you tonight. I gave you some time to work on your Chapter 16 Key Terms and Questions for the remainder of class.

We finished watching "Shouting Fire" today in class, and then we looked at the issue of privacy in a world with CCTV cameras. I gave you a short reading on CCTV camera usage in the UK and we watched an excerpt from a documentary on CCTV camera use in Europe. I also gave you the Chapter 13 and 14 Booklet today, which is due next Friday.

May 26

2011-05-26T15:03:00.001-06:00

You wrote your Unit 3 Final Exam in class today, which took the entire period. Your Chapter 12 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow.

I gave you some notes today on human rights, civil rights, inalienable rights, entrenching rights, the War Measures Act (used in Canada during WWI, WWII, the FLQ Crisis), the Canadian Bill of Rights (1961, not entrenched in the Canadian constitution), and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I also gave you a sheet on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ( a worldwide goal for human rights, serves as a model for other documents, such as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but it's not legally binding. Many UN member states ignore this Declaration). You were to complete the chart activity on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the application of the notwithstanding clause during class time. If you did not complete this chart, here is a hyperlink to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Also, it is really important that you read the article "Human Rights Abuses in a Globalized World" that I gave you yesterday. Your Chapter 15 Key Terms and Questions were due today.

May 25

2011-05-25T15:18:00.000-06:00

We started watching an HBO documentary on the issue of freedom of speech in the United States called "Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech", which we will continue on Friday. You can find this video in its entirety on YouTube broken into 5 parts, the first video in the series is here. Please remember that your Unit 3 Final Exam is tomorrow, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it).

I went through a PowerPoint presentation today called "Quality of Life, Human Rights and Democratization", which I have already sent to your e-mail accounts. Your Chapter 15 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow. Please make sure that you read the article that I gave you on human rights abuses in a globalized world as well. Your TNC Dossier Assignment was due today and it looks like most people handed it in.

May 24

2011-05-24T13:59:00.001-06:00

You wrote your Unit 3 Final Exam today, which took almost the entire period. Your TNC Dossier Assignment is due tomorrow. At the end of the Unit 3 Exam you were to have picked up a copy of the Unit 4 Worksheet. Your Chapter 15 Key Terms and Questions are due on Thursday.

You wrote your Unit 3 WRA II Essay today in the Blenheim Room. This took the entire period. You have your Unit 3 Final Exam on Thursday, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it). I recommend that you copy and paste this study guide into Word and then print it off so you have a hard copy. Your Chapter 12 Key Terms and Questions are due on Friday.

May 19

2011-05-19T20:16:00.000-06:00

We watched a video in class today called "Unconstitutional" which examined the erosion of civil rights in the United States post-9/11 with the passage of the Patriot Act. If you missed class today, you might want to watch the video embedded below.

I also gave you a booklet that covered the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Patriot Act. Make sure that you read this booklet!

Unit 3 WRA II Essay is on Tuesday, May 24th
Unit 3 Final Exam is on Thursday, May 26th (see the study guide below)

This exam will be entirely multiple choice format. It will be on Wednesday, June 2nd. Please study the following material:

make sure that you have read Chapters 9-12 in Perspectives on Ideology
study all key concepts from the Chapters 9-12 Worksheets (see below)
study all questions/answers from the Chapters 9-12 Worksheets
"Political Challenges to Liberalism" (PowerPoint presentation)

Review the following handouts/notes/packages:

Democratic Systems
Non-Democratic Systems
types of dictatorships
techniques of dictatorships
Civil Rights Movement
authoritarian systems (China notes/booklet)
review the economic and political spectrum (again!)
re-read the notes on rights that I put on the board (civil rights, human rights, Charter of Rights and Freedoms to War Measures Act, etc.)
FLQ Crisis 1970 film study and document analysis booklet

Know the following key concepts/key events/key terms/key people:

assimilation
self-interest
humanitarianism
Indian Act
residential school system
enfranchisement
the White Paper
the Red Paper
“war on terror"
authoritarianism
consensus decision-making
direct democracy
military dictatorship
oligarchy
one-party state
party solidarity
representation by population
proportional representation
representative democracy
responsible government
democracy
single-member constituency (first past the post)
the Senate
the House of Commons
the House of Representatives
the Senate
mixed-member proportional system
lobby groups
American Bill of Rights
Anti-Terrorism Act
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
emergency and security legislation
illiberal
language legislation
Bill 101
Bill 178
Bill 86
Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms
respect for law and order
terrorism
rendition
the War Measures Act
enemy aliens
internment
the Emergencies Act
USA PATRIOT Act
consumerism
environmental change
extremism
pandemics
postmodernism
global warming
Kyoto Protocol
World Health Organization (WHO)
drought

Most of today's class was spent writing your Unit 3 WRA I in-class writing assignment. Please remember that you have your Unit 3 Final Exam on Tuesday, please see the study guide here. Your TNC Dossier Assignment is due on Wednesday, May 25th.

May 18

2011-05-18T15:19:00.000-06:00

You wrote your Chapter 10 Test today, which took most of the period. You will get the results of this test back tomorrow. We'll continue looking at the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Patriot Act tomorrow.

We played a Unit 3 Review Game today. Please remember that your Unit 3 Final Exam is on Tuesday, May 24th, please see the study guide here. Your TNC Dossier Assignment is due on Wednesday, May 25th. Don't procrastinate!! You are writing your Unit 3 WRA I (3 source analysis) tomorrow. Review how to write a WRA I tonight!

May 17

2011-05-17T12:49:00.000-06:00

You wrote your Unit 3 WRA II Essay today in the Blenheim Room. I will try my best to have these essays marked within a week. I will be highly motivated to do this because my two Social 30-1 classes are writing their Unit 3 WRA II next Tuesday. Please remember that you are writing your Unit 3 WRA I on Thursday, so it would be a good idea to review how to write a WRA I again. Your Unit 3 Final Exam is on Tuesday, May 24th, please see the study guide below.

Please make sure that you have read Chapters 10-14. Please make sure that you have the following PowerPoint presentations, and that you study from them:

"Foundations of Economic Globalization"
"The Expansion of Economic Globalization"
"Challenges and Opportunities of Economic Globalization"
"The Impact of Economic Globalization on Environments"
"Globalization and Sustainability"

Make sure that you have reviewed the Key Terms from Unit 3 (all the terms listed on the Unit 3 Worksheet, plus the extra key terms that appeared in the PowerPoint presentations). The Unit 3 Final Exam will consist of 55 multiple choice questions.

You spent most of today's class writing your Unit 3 WRA I. Please remember that you are writing your Unit 3 WRA II Essay on Tuesday. You will not be getting the essay question sheet in advance for the Unit 3 WRA II. Please make sure that you review how to write a WRA II (review the "Recipe for Success"). Your Chapter 10 Test is tomorrow, please see the study guide here. Your Unit 3 Final Exam is on Thursday, May 26th. I will be posting the study guide for this final this Thursday.

May 16

2011-05-16T14:32:00.002-06:00

Most of today's class was spent dealing with the short 20 minute video called "The Story of Stuff". I really appreciate the degree to which you watched this video critically, and the conversation that we generated afterwards. Annie Leonard from the Story of Stuff Project has uploaded other videos to YouTube, so if you're interested in watching some more videos, have a look at the ones below. Also, have a look at the upcoming important dates below.

Unit 3 WRA II Essay is on Tuesday, May 17th in the Blenheim Room (go directly there tomorrow morning)
Unit 3 WRA I is on Thursday, May 19th
Unit 3 Final Exam is on Tuesday, May 24th (the study guide will be posted tomorrow)
TNC Dossier Assignment is due on Wednesday, May 25th

And here's another...

We finished off the FLQ Crisis video from Friday at the beginning of class today. Here is the video that I forgot to post on Friday. It connects nicely to some of the themes that we addressed today in class with regard to anti-terrorism legislation that was passed in Canada and the United States after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. In Friday's video we looked at the FLQ crisis, this is the interview on the steps of Parliament that features Trudeau's "just watch me" speech. It's an interesting little debate that is waged between Trudeau and the reporters over the issue on giving up/losing civil liberties in order to ensure security.

We watched a video from the CBC News in Review on the September 11th attacks today prior to talking about anti-terrorism legislation in Canada and the United State, because in order to fully understand why this legislation was passed, you need to see the context in which it was passed. The value conflict between ensuring security, peace and order in society versus individual freedom and civil liberties could be a potential topic on Part A of your Diploma Exam (it was on the January 2010 Diploma). Liberal democracies around the world, post-9/11 have had to deal with the issue of the extent to which they must ensure security and the balance between security and civil liberties. It would not be difficult to use a quotation that relates to this issue ("They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."--Benjamin Franklin) and then have the essay question: "To what extent should we embrace the perspective(s) in this source?" Would you be able to write an essay on that topic? Think of the source material that I've given you on the FLQ crisis, the Emergencies Act, the Anti-Terrorism Act, the Patriot Act and the no fly list, and think about other ways you could prepare for this as a potential essay topic. Speaking of writing assignments, please remember that you have your Unit 3 WRA I (source analysis) tomorrow. Your Chapter 10 Test is on Wednesday, here's the study guide (there's more democracy-related questions on the test than authoritarianism/dictatorship questions). Please finish off the activities in the FLQ Crisis booklet (the document analysis fill in the blank exercise). At the back of the booklet there is information on the Emergencies Act which you MUST read over! I also gave you some handouts on the Patriot Act. We'll be dealing with this on Thursday again. Tomorrow, you have your Unit 3 WRA I (3 source analysis). If you have switched to Social 30-2 you will be writing a WRA III (3 speakers question).

May 13

2011-05-13T13:20:00.003-06:00

I tried to go through a little easy preparation with you today in advance of your Unit 3 WRA II on Tuesday of next week. I will be sending the essay outline sheet that we started in class today, as well as the essay question sheet by e-mail this afternoon. There was at least one of you that forgot the essay question sheet behind in the class. Please remember that your TNC Dossier Assignment is due on Wednesday, May 25th. You also have your Unit 3 WRA I on Thursday, May 19th.

TNC Dossier is now due on May 25th

We started watching a video today on the FLQ Crisis of 1970 and the Canadian government's response to it. As you were watching this video you were to write down answers to fill-in-the-blanks questions. We will finish this video off next week. Please remember that your Civil Rights Movement Assignment is due on Monday, May 16th. Your Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are due on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, you have your Unit 3 WRA I. Please check the May 5th post to make sure that you have commented on the questions I posed about how Canadian political leaders could increase civic engagement of young people.

May 11

2011-05-11T19:02:00.000-06:00

If you missed class today you should know that I gave out a handout on rights that you'll need to get. This handout covered rights, human rights, civil rights, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, entrenchment of rights and other topics. I also gave you a couple of handouts that you can use in tomorrow's in-class writing assignment where you will be writing an analysis of a propaganda poster. You had the remainder of class time to work on your Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions, which are due on Tuesday. Your USA-Canada Government Comparison charts are due tomorrow, as are your Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions. Your Chapter 10 Test is next Wednesday, please the study guide below. Don't forget to post your comments on the May 5th post.

This test is multiple choice format, with 55 questions. Please review the PowerPoint "Political Challenges to Liberalism". You're responsible for all key terms and questions from the Chapter 10 Worksheet. Please review the following as well:

Characteristics of Democracy (handout notes)
Characteristics of Dictatorships (handout notes)
Democratic Systems (handout notes)
Non-Democratic Systems (handout notes)
Structure of Canadian Government
Structure of American Government
similarities/differences between the parliamentary system and presidential system
types of dictatorships
techniques of dictatorships
authoritarian systems
proportional representation concept
first past the post system
review political and economic spectrum (again!)

We finished going through the "Globalization and Sustainability" PowerPoint presentation today. We also watched a short interview between Jeff Rubin and George Strombolopolous as they discussed the future of globalization in a world with triple digit oil prices. Your Chapter 14 Key Terms are due tomorrow.

May 10

2011-05-10T14:32:00.000-06:00

We finished watching "Shipbreakers" today and continued working through the "Globalization and Sustainability" PowerPoint presentation. We will finish the lecture tomorrow in class. Keep working on your TNC Dossier Assignment, it's due on May 18th.

We watched a CBC News in Review from October 2009 on "Afghanistan's Troubled Election". You had the remainder of class time to work on your Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions (they are due on Thursday).

Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions are due on Thursday, May 12th
USA-Canada Government Comparison Assignment is due on May 12th
Civil Rights Movement Assignment is due on Monday, May 16th
Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are due on May 16th
Unit 3 WRA I is on Tuesday, May 17th
Chapter 10 Test is on Wednesday, May 18th (study guide goes up on the blog on May 11th)
Unit 3 WRA II Essay is on Tuesday, May 24th
Unit 3 Final Exam is on Thursday, May 26th

May 9

2011-05-09T19:03:00.000-06:00

We started a PowerPoint lecture today called "Globalization and Sustainability". We started talking about the life cycle of a ship, and what happens to ships when they are built, when they are in operation, and where they go to "die". We started watching a NFB documentary called "Shipbreakers" today as well, which we will finish tomorrow. I also did a homework check on your Chapter 13 Key Terms and Questions today.

Today we focused in on a case study of an ideological one-party state, specifically China. We watched a couple of videos from the BBC History of the 20th Century videos, one was called "One Man's Revolution" and the other "China Since Mao". Both of these videos are a bit dated, so I'd recommend you finish watching the NFB documentary that we started watching in class (but didn't finish due the lag on the network today). The film was called "Sunrise Over Tiananmen Square".

The film is based on the personal experiences of Shui Bo Wang, who was born in 1960, and hence was about 29 years old when the pro-democracy protests took place in Tiananmen Square. It has an interesting mix personal stories, first-hand accounts, photographs and animation as well. I do recommend that you finish watching it. Tonight would be a great night to finish off your half (if you're working with a partner) of the USA-Canada Government Comparison Assignment (which is due on Thursday). Your Civil Rights Movement Assignment is due next Monday.

May 6

2011-05-06T17:16:00.000-06:00

We watched "Globalization is Good" today in class, and while you watched the video you were to complete the film study guide that went along with the film. We did have time to go over the answers at the end of the video as well. Please remember that your Chapter 13 Key Terms and Questions are due on Monday. This would be a great weekend to get some initial research completed on your TNC Dossier Assignment as well.

I started off today by drawing your attention to the May 5th post where I put up a bunch of hyperlinks that will help you on the USA-Canada Government Comparison Assignment. You also have to post your answer to the questions posed on the May 5th post as well prior to next Friday. This assignment is worth double homework check marks. I went through a PowerPoint lecture called "Political Challenges to Liberalism" by focusing on the later part of the presentation and examples of non-democratic systems. I have sent this PowerPoint to you already. I then passed out a reading called "The End of Democracy?" from Maclean's magazine. I also gave you the Civil Rights Movement Assignment. I have sent you the essay outline sheets that you need to complete as part of the Civil Rights Movement Assignment already, so check your e-mail.

USA-Canada Government Comparison Chart is due on Thursday, May 12th
Civil Rights Movement Assignment is due on Monday, May 16th
Chapter 10 Test is on Wednesday, May 18th
Unit 3 WRA II Essay is on Tuesday, May 24th
Unit 3 Final Exam is on Thursday, May 26th

May 5

2011-05-05T20:34:00.000-06:00

I'm adding some links under the Social 30-1 Links on this page to help you out with your USA-Canada Political System Comparison Chart assignment (which is due next Thursday). Here some websites that I think will help (permanent links will appear on the right-hand side of the blog under Social 30-1 Links):

We also did some small group discussions about four questions related to democracy. Usually I have students post answers to these questions again for homework check marks. While we were having our class discussion today though another idea hit me. Given that we have had a recent federal election in Canada, I would like you to post comments here on the blog answering the following question: How can Canadian political leaders increase civic engagement among young people in Canada? What can they do appeal to young voters such as yourselves in the next federal election? When you post your comments, please post with your first name, last name initial and what class you're in (Kevin G. in Social 30-1 Period 3). Please take this homework assignment seriously, if the quality of answers is high and the answers are strong I will pass on your ideas to the appropriate MPs and other politicians. This is also worth double homework check marks! You have one week to post your answer on the blog on this day's post.

We finished watching the video that we started yesterday called the Other Side of Outsourcing. I also went through a PowerPoint presentation with you the I will be sending to you this evening. Tomorrow we'll be watching a very pro-globalization video called Globalization is Good.

May 3

2011-05-03T17:48:00.000-06:00

We finished watching "The Age of Wal-Mart" video and completed the film study that went along with it. I also showed you some exemplars of the TNC Dossier Assignment from previous semesters. Hopefully these examples gave you some ideas and inspiration. I will try to post the assignment sheet and rubric on the wiki in the next couple of days. The TNC Dossier Assignment is due on Wednesday, May 18th. This is the day after your Unit 3 WRA II.

I talked a little bit about the Canadian federal election results at the beginning of class. I also did the computer usage request forms for your Diploma Exam at the beginning of class. I went through the structure of the American government and as I lectured you were to take some notes on the diagram. We watched a short video on electoral college system, if you want to watch it again, here is the hyperlink. As we watched this video I stopped it occasionally to point out a few quirks with this system, namely that you can win the popular vote and still not win enough electoral college votes to become president. I also talked about the 2000 election. In that election Florida was the key state. Previously in class I've talked a little bit about the differences between the types of ballots used in Canada and in the United States. In many counties in Florida during the 2000 election they used what's called a butterfly ballot where you punch holes in the ballot to indicate which candidate you are voting for. I think the following graphic illustrates nicely what this ballot looked like.
I think you can see how this might have caused some confusion. If you can't see the ballot clearly, just click on it and you should see a larger view. If you want to look at past U.S. Presidential elections and see the U.S. electoral college maps for the past ten elections, have a look at Real Clear Politics. Have a look at the 1984 election, that was extremely one-sided!
We also looked at the system of checks and balances in the American presidential system.

Here is a link to the Examples of Students' Writing from the January 2010 Diploma Exam. Obviously, you don't study their responses because the three sources will be different and the text-based source for the WRA II will be different too. But this should give you an idea of the standards for the Diploma.

May 2

2011-05-02T22:49:00.000-06:00

You wrote your Chapter 10-11 Test today. I did a homework check on your Chapter 12 Key Terms as well. We'll finish off "The Age of Wal-Mart" video tomorrow as well as talk about the TNC Dossier Project.

We talked about types of democratic systems today, and in particular direct democracy and representative democracy. We also looked at how a bill becomes a law in Canada, and different types of electoral systems from around the world. I gave you the essay question sheet for your Unit 2 WRA II which is on Wednesday.

April 29

2011-04-29T13:30:00.003-06:00

You watched "The Age of Wal-Mart" in class today. As you watched this film, you were to add notes to the "Advantages and Disadvantages of Wal-Mart" worksheet. We will finish this video on Tuesday. Your Chapter 10-11 Test is on Monday, please see the study guide here. Your Chapter 12 Key Terms are due on Monday as well (just the key terms).

You were to have handed in your Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions at the beginning of class today. Most of today's class would have been spent covering two main concepts: the structure of the Canadian government and proportional representation. If you missed today's class, you need to get the handout on the Canadian government structure from the handout folder and get the notes from a classmate.

April 28

2011-04-28T15:30:00.002-06:00

You had the entire period to complete your Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions, which are due tomorrow. Hopefully you got a lot completed in class and you lessened your homework load.

You finished watching "The Corporation" today in class. I hope that you found this film thought-provoking and interesting. Your Unit 3 project will require you to do research on a major multinational corporation, so hopefully you got some ideas of which TNC you would like to profile in this project. We'll talk about this project next week. Your homework assignment tonight is to prepare for tomorrow's class buy working on the "Advantages and Disadvantages of Wal-Mart" worksheet. It's recommended that you re-read Chapter 1, pages 10-13 for ideas on the positive and negative impacts of Wal-Mart. Please remember that you have your Chapter 10-11 Test on Monday, please see the study guide here.

April 27

2011-04-27T15:31:00.001-06:00

You wrote your Unit 2 Final Exam today, which took most of the period. You will get the full results when I come back from Toronto. You had two pieces of homework due today: Chapter 8 Key Terms and Questions and your 10 Questions About Democracy.

You should have handed in your Chapter 11 Key Terms at the beginning of class today. You continued watching "The Corporation" today and completed a film study sheet that went along with the documentary film. You will finish watching this film tomorrow. Please remember that you have your Chapter 10-11 Test on Monday, May 2nd, please see the study guide here.

April 26

2011-04-26T14:43:00.000-06:00

We started watching "The Corporation" today in class. You will continue watching this video and completing the film study that goes along with the documentary. We also were able to select transnational corporations that you will be profiling in your TNC Dossier Assignment, this assignment is due on Monday, May 16th. We'll be able to talk about this project more next week, and I'll be able to show you some exemplars of past student projects. Please remember that your Chapter 10-11 Test is on Monday, May 2nd, please see the study guide here.

We started looking at Unit 3 material today. If you missed today's class you will have to get these notes from a classmate. We also watched a video from BBC World called "10 Questions About Democracy" (here is a link to the companion website if you'd like to hear what people had to say again). You are responsible for finishing the entire film study that went along with this video for tomorrow's class (I'll be doing a homework check on it, and in all likelihood, we'll be able to discuss some of the questions in the video). Your Chapter 8 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow. Please remember that you have your Unit 2 Final Exam tomorrow, please see the study guide below. I also gave back the results of your Chapter 7 Test as well today.

It will be a 75 multiple choice question test. In your textbook, this is material from Chapters 3-8. Please look at the studying hints below:

study "The Development of Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
study "Responding to Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Evolution of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Techniques of Dictatorship" (ppt)
study "20th Century Rejections of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Origins of the Cold War" (ppt)
study the key concepts from the Chapters 3-8 worksheets
please see the summary notes from the Ideologies textbook: Chapter 7 (Private Enterprise)
supply-side economics
boom and bust cycle/business cycle
laws of supply and demand, Adam Smith, invisible hand, market forces
self-interest, consumer sovereignty, competition, private ownership, profit motive
basic economic problems/questions
advantages/disadvantages of the market economy
causes of the Great Depression
FDR and the New Deal
please see summary notes from the Ideologies textbook on the Mixed Economy Case Studies #14 (Sweden) and #15 (Canada), #16 (Japan), #17 (Fascism and Nazism)
also see the Democratic Socialism booklet on Sweden (indicative planning, "cradle to the grave" economics)
characteristics of a mixed economy
nationalization
privatization
democratic socialism
welfare capitalism
Keynesian economics
the business cycle and fiscal and monetary policies (study all of the notes I gave you and the booklet that I gave you)
demand-side economics
neo-conservatives
monetarism
trickle down economics
supply-side economics
Thatcherism and Reaganomics
Milton Friedman
Friedrich Hayek
how Keynesian economics deals with a recession (remember "the percolator": increase circulation of money reducing taxes, increase government spending on "make work" projects, and reduce interest rates, which according to Keynesian economics is going increase demand for goods and services and lead to more money circulating in the economy)
how supply-side economics deals with a recession (remember "trickle down coffee maker": government should stimulate the goods and services sector of the economy by reducing corporate and personal taxes, eventually benefits will "trickle down" to the middle class and working class, make connections between supply-side economics and laissez faire economics/classical liberalism)
advantages and disadvantages of a mixed economy
neo-conservative criticism of government intervention
characteristics of a centrally planned economy
advantages and disadvantages of a centrally planned economy
Marx notes (sent by e-mail)
Lenin notes (sent by e-mail)
establishment of the Soviet Union
Soviet economic system (top-down decision-making process)
Lenin's War Communism and the New Economic Policy
"Stalin and the Modernization of Russia" (see film notes)
Stalin notes (sent by e-mail)
"Changes to Soviet Society After Stalin" notes (this bridges the gap between Stalin and Gorbachev)
Gorbachev to Collapse Notes
Economic Planning in the USSR booklet
techniques of dictatorships (USSR and Nazi Germany case studies)
modern liberalism
features of the Nazi state
Hitler's rise to power
Democratic Systems notes
Non-Democratic Systems notes
Types of Dictatorships notes (includes Techniques of Dictatorships as well)
A Comparison of Communism and Fascism notes
Totalitarianism notes
Fascism/Nazism booklet (has techniques of dictatorship in Nazi Germany and USSR)
do a brief review of the political spectrum and economic spectrum and the quadrant model

April 25

2011-04-25T15:01:00.000-06:00

You completed a film study of the documentary called "Life + Debt". As you watched this film, you were to take notes on it and complete the film study sheet. Make sure that you complete this worksheet, including the questions after the chart! I did a homework check on your WTO Charts today as well, you'll get these back tomorrow. Your Chapter 10-11 Test is on Monday, May 2nd, please see the study guide below.

This quiz has a matching section and a short answer section. Please make sure that you review Chapters 10 and 11. Please review your answers to questions/activities from your Unit 3 worksheet, as well as the key terms (from Chapter 10-11 and from the PowerPoint presentations).

Please review the following two PowerPoint presentations:

1. "Foundations of Economic Globalization"

2. "Expansion of Economic Globalization"

You should know these key terms really well:

Bretton Woods Agreement
international monetary system
fixed exchange rate
gold standard
floating exchange rate
World Bank
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
centrally planned economy
free market economy
recession
John Maynard Keynes
Friedrich Hayek
Milton Friedman
totalitarian
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
tariff
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

You should also be able to answer the following questions:

What is economic globalization?
How did 20th century world events shape contemporary economic globalization?
What factors laid the foundations of contemporary global economics?
What were the major global institutions that were created at the Bretton Woods Agreement?
What are the major differences between the ideas of John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich Hayek?
What factors contribute to expanding globalization?
How do international agreements and organizations contribute to expanding globalization?
How do transnational corporations contribute to expanding globalization?
How do communication technologies contribute to expanding globalization?
What are the benefits of the WTO system?
What are some criticisms of the WTO?

You wrote your Cold War Exam today, which took most of the period. You will get the results back tomorrow. I did a homework check on your "Good Night, and Good Luck" film study booklets as well today. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is on Wednesday, please see the study guide below.

The Unit 2 Final Exam is on Wednesday, April 27th. It will be a 75 multiple choice question test. In your textbook, this is material from Chapters 3-8. Please look at the studying hints below:

study "The Development of Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
study "Responding to Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Evolution of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Techniques of Dictatorship" (ppt)
study "20th Century Rejections of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Origins of the Cold War" (ppt)
study the key concepts from the Chapters 3-8 worksheets
please see the summary notes from the Ideologies textbook: Chapter 7 (Private Enterprise)
supply-side economics
boom and bust cycle/business cycle
laws of supply and demand, Adam Smith, invisible hand, market forces
self-interest, consumer sovereignty, competition, private ownership, profit motive
basic economic problems/questions
advantages/disadvantages of the market economy
causes of the Great Depression
FDR and the New Deal
please see summary notes from the Ideologies textbook on the Mixed Economy Case Studies #14 (Sweden) and #15 (Canada), #16 (Japan), #17 (Fascism and Nazism)
also see the Democratic Socialism booklet on Sweden (indicative planning, "cradle to the grave" economics)
characteristics of a mixed economy
nationalization
privatization
democratic socialism
welfare capitalism
Keynesian economics
the business cycle and fiscal and monetary policies (study all of the notes I gave you and the booklet that I gave you)
demand-side economics
neo-conservatives
monetarism
trickle down economics
supply-side economics
Thatcherism and Reaganomics
Milton Friedman
Friedrich Hayek
how Keynesian economics deals with a recession (remember "the percolator": increase circulation of money reducing taxes, increase government spending on "make work" projects, and reduce interest rates, which according to Keynesian economics is going increase demand for goods and services and lead to more money circulating in the economy)
how supply-side economics deals with a recession (remember "trickle down coffee maker": government should stimulate the goods and services sector of the economy by reducing corporate and personal taxes, eventually benefits will "trickle down" to the middle class and working class, make connections between supply-side economics and laissez faire economics/classical liberalism)
advantages and disadvantages of a mixed economy
neo-conservative criticism of government intervention
characteristics of a centrally planned economy
advantages and disadvantages of a centrally planned economy
Marx notes (sent by e-mail)
Lenin notes (sent by e-mail)
establishment of the Soviet Union
Soviet economic system (top-down decision-making process)
Lenin's War Communism and the New Economic Policy
"Stalin and the Modernization of Russia" (see film notes)
Stalin notes (sent by e-mail)
"Changes to Soviet Society After Stalin" notes (this bridges the gap between Stalin and Gorbachev)
Gorbachev to Collapse Notes
Economic Planning in the USSR booklet
techniques of dictatorships (USSR and Nazi Germany case studies)
modern liberalism
features of the Nazi state
Hitler's rise to power
Characteristics of Democracy
Characteristics of Dictatorship
Democratic Systems notes
Non-Democratic Systems notes
Types of Dictatorships notes (includes Techniques of Dictatorships as well)
A Comparison of Communism and Fascism notes
Totalitarianism notes
Fascism/Nazism booklet (has techniques of dictatorship in Nazi Germany and USSR)
do a brief review of the political spectrum and economic spectrum and the quadrant model

April 21

2011-04-21T15:52:00.002-06:00

We finished watching "Good Night, and Good Luck" today in class. This film explores a lot of issues that are relevant to today. You also have to understand the political climate at the time in the United States to fully understand the movie. Many Americans were drawn to communism in the 1930s due to the effects of the Great Depression, especially academics and those in the labour fields. In the movie they made reference to friends and spouses that had attended meetings long ago. The "Red Scare" caused a huge backlash against those sympathetic to communism or the USSR. Remember, during WWII the Soviet Union was an ally, and many people may have attended meetings out of curiosity. The junior Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy in 1950 charged there were communist sympathizers in the U.S. State Department. Hearings were held, charges were discovered to be unfounded. McCarthy continued accusing communist infiltration in the Democratic Party. McCarthy became the chairman of the House Subcommittee on the investigation of un-American activity (HUAC). On December 2, 1954, McCarthy’s actions were called into question and his accusations were deemed unfounded. On Murrow's show "See it Now", he begins to publicly go after McCarthy. A very public feud develops when McCarthy responds by accusing Murrow of being a communist. Murrow is accused of having been a member of the leftist union Industrial Workers of the World, which Murrow claimed was false.
In this climate of fear and reprisal (which we now refer to as McCarthyism), the CBS crew carries on and their tenacity ultimately strikes a historic blow against McCarthy. Historical footage in the movie also shows the questioning of Annie Lee Moss, a Pentagon communication worker accused of being a communist based on her name appearing on a list seen by an FBI infiltrator of the American Communist Party. In the first half of the film Murrow talks about how McCarthy didn't create the political climate and anti-Communist hysteria sweeping the country, but that he capitalized on it for political gain very effectively. As David Strathairn (playing Murrow in the film says, "We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes which were, for the moment, unpopular. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of the Republic to abdicate responsibility." The film is framed by the performance of the speech given by Murrow to the Radio and Television News Directors Association in 1958, in which Murrow harshly admonishes his audience not to squander the potential of television to inform and educate the public. I found this short video on YouTube that spliced together Edward R. Murrow's speech that appears at the beginning of the film and continues at the end of the film. I find that this speech has relevance even today when you talk about the level of discourse in the media. Your film study for "Good Night and Good Luck" is due on Monday, April 25th. We also did a quick review of Soviet and American leaders during the Cold War, so if you missed class today, please get these notes from a classmate. I also gave you a handout called "The End of the Cold War". Please remember that you have your Chapter 7 Test (Cold War period) on Monday, April 25th (here is the study guide-scroll down to find it) and your Unit 2 Final Exam on April 27th (Wednesday), please see the study guide here.

We finished off "The Expansion of Economic Globalization" PowerPoint presentation today. I will be sending this presentation to you this afternoon. I also gave back the results of your Unit 2 Final Exam. I gave you a booklet that examined the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank. You have a homework assignment that is due on Monday on the WTO. For Monday, you must create a WTO chart (a T-chart) with advantages and disadvantages of the WTO system. You are to "back up" your statements in your WTO chart (for example, don't simply put "The WTO is killing people", that's a statement that requires clarification) You might want to check out this link to criticisms of the WTO. Your Chapter 10-11 Test is on Monday, May 2nd, so I will be posting a study guide one week in advance (April 25th).

April 20

2011-04-20T15:02:00.000-06:00

We started looking at the film "Good Night, and Good Luck" today in class. This film explores McCarthyism in the early 1950s. The film study that I provided you with also has a film review, and some study questions and some discussion questions. This film definitely has relevance in today's world (which we'll be talking about more tomorrow and in Unit 3 of the course). Hopefully, we'll finish off the film tomorrow, and be able to have a short discussion period of some of the issues the film raises. In all likelihood, the study questions from the film study will be due on Monday. Please remember that you have your Chapter 7 Exam (Cold War Exam) on Monday, April 25th and your Unit 2 Final Exam on Wednesday, April 27th.

Chapter 7 Exam (Cold War) Study Guide (scroll down to find it)
Unit 2 Final Exam Study Guide (scroll down to find it)

In all likelihood, I will start with this speech in the film in tomorrow's class.

I did a homework check on your Chapter 10 Questions today. Your Chapter 11 Key Terms are due tomorrow. You wrote your Unit 2 Final Exam today, which took most of the period. You will get the results of this test back tomorrow.

April 19

2011-04-19T14:33:00.000-06:00

We started a PowerPoint lecture today called "The Expansion of Economic Globalization", which we will finish on Thursday. Tomorrow, you have your Unit 2 Final Exam, here is the study guide. If you didn't hand in your Chapter 10 Questions today, please make sure that you have it ready for tomorrow. Your Chapter 11 Key Terms are due on Thursday, April 21st.

I gave you some notes on arms reduction talks, specifically on bilateral agreements between the USSR and the USA, and multilateral agreements on arms reduction. I also gave you a booklet that covered the same topic. I showed you a National Geographic video called "Inside North Korea", to show you the legacies of the Cold War in the world today. I also did a homework check on your Vietnam War Assignment. Your Chapter 7 Test is on Monday, April 25th, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it). I also posted the study guide for your Unit 2 Final Exam, so please find the study guide here (scroll down to find it).

April 18

2011-04-18T14:45:00.000-06:00

I gave you back your Unit 2 WRA I at the beginning of class today. I will do a workshop on this writing assignment in tutorial on Wednesday. I then showed you a short video from an Australian TV show called "Dateline". This video focused in on "China's Ghost Cities". Building massive cities is one way in which the Chinese government is able to provide jobs and continue maintain GDP growth. You can watch the video here, or have a look at these cities from satellite images as well. We were also able to have a short four corner debate on genetically modified foods from the "Dilemmas of Global Trade" sheet that I gave you on Friday. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is on Wednesday, please see the study guide here.

I did a homework check on your Chapter 7 Key Terms at the beginning of class today. We watched the documentary film "Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam" for most of the period. Here is the link to your Chapter 7 Test (The Cold War), this test is on Monday, April 25th. You'll have to scroll down to find the Chapter 7 Test Study Guide. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is on Wednesday, April 27th, please see the study guide below.

The Unit 2 Final Exam is on Wednesday, April 27th. It will be a 75 multiple choice question test. In your textbook, this is material from Chapters 3-8. Please look at the studying hints below:

study "The Development of Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
study "Responding to Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Evolution of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Techniques of Dictatorship" (ppt)
study "20th Century Rejections of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
study "The Origins of the Cold War" (ppt)
study the key concepts from the Chapters 3-8 worksheets
please see the summary notes from the Ideologies textbook: Chapter 7 (Private Enterprise)
supply-side economics
boom and bust cycle/business cycle
laws of supply and demand, Adam Smith, invisible hand, market forces
self-interest, consumer sovereignty, competition, private ownership, profit motive
basic economic problems/questions
advantages/disadvantages of the market economy
causes of the Great Depression
FDR and the New Deal
please see summary notes from the Ideologies textbook on the Mixed Economy Case Studies #14 (Sweden) and #15 (Canada), #16 (Japan), #17 (Fascism and Nazism)
also see the Democratic Socialism booklet on Sweden (indicative planning, "cradle to the grave" economics)
characteristics of a mixed economy
nationalization
privatization
democratic socialism
welfare capitalism
Keynesian economics
the business cycle and fiscal and monetary policies (study all of the notes I gave you and the booklet that I gave you)
demand-side economics
neo-conservatives
monetarism
trickle down economics
supply-side economics
Thatcherism and Reaganomics
Milton Friedman
Friedrich Hayek
how Keynesian economics deals with a recession (remember "the percolator": increase circulation of money reducing taxes, increase government spending on "make work" projects, and reduce interest rates, which according to Keynesian economics is going increase demand for goods and services and lead to more money circulating in the economy)
how supply-side economics deals with a recession (remember "trickle down coffee maker": government should stimulate the goods and services sector of the economy by reducing corporate and personal taxes, eventually benefits will "trickle down" to the middle class and working class, make connections between supply-side economics and laissez faire economics/classical liberalism)
advantages and disadvantages of a mixed economy
neo-conservative criticism of government intervention
characteristics of a centrally planned economy
advantages and disadvantages of a centrally planned economy
Marx notes (sent by e-mail)
Lenin notes (sent by e-mail)
establishment of the Soviet Union
Soviet economic system (top-down decision-making process)
Lenin's War Communism and the New Economic Policy
"Stalin and the Modernization of Russia" (see film notes)
Stalin notes (sent by e-mail)
"Changes to Soviet Society After Stalin" notes (this bridges the gap between Stalin and Gorbachev)
Gorbachev to Collapse Notes
Economic Planning in the USSR booklet
techniques of dictatorships (USSR and Nazi Germany case studies)
modern liberalism
features of the Nazi state
Hitler's rise to power
Characteristics of Democracy
Characteristics of Dictatorship
Democratic Systems notes
Non-Democratic Systems notes
Types of Dictatorships notes (includes Techniques of Dictatorships as well)
A Comparison of Communism and Fascism notes
Totalitarianism notes
Fascism/Nazism booklet (has techniques of dictatorship in Nazi Germany and USSR)
do a brief review of the political spectrum and economic spectrum and the quadrant model

April 15

2011-04-15T11:35:00.000-06:00

I collected your Chapter 10 Key Terms today in class. We watched part of the China Rises series called "Getting Rich". As you watched this documentary you were to complete film study questions. Information that you collected during this video could be useful on an upcoming essay if you used China as a case study of the positives or the negatives of economic globalization. If you missed class today, please make sure that you pick up the film study and get the notes from a classmate. Here is a hyperlink to the China Rises website, which could be useful for your study. I also gave you a handout called "Dilemmas of Global Trade" which I would like you to have read prior to Monday's class. We will be discussing the issues raised in this handout. I recommend that you also rank your top 3 or 4 choices of scenarios that you would like to discuss in class. Please remember that your Unit 2 Final Exam is on Wednesday, April 20th. Please see the study guide here for this very important exam.
We continued our look at the Vietnam War. I gave you a couple of key handouts on the Vietnam War that you MUST read before Monday's class. I gave you a booklet on the Vietnam War that contained the Vietnam War Assignment. This assignment is due on Tuesday. You are responsible for the A-C sections on the front page with this assignment (please see below).
A. PEOPLE
Identify and explain the role each played in the Vietnam War
1. Ho Chi Minh
2. Ngo Dinh Diem
3. Lyndon B. Johnson
4. Richard M. Nixon
5. Viet Minh
6. Viet Cong
7. Le Duc Tho
8. Henry Kissinger
9. William Westmoreland
10. "Draft Dodger"

B. CONCEPTS/TERMS
Explain the significance of the following with regards to the Vietnam War (identify participants or individuals if appropriate)
1. Ho Chi Minh Trail
2. defoliation
3. "search and destroy" mission
4. "Vietnamization of the war"
5. Gulf of Tonkin Incident
6. My Lai Massacre
7. domino theory
8. Kent State University protest (May 4, 1970)
9. Tet Offensive (January 1968)
10. Geneva Agreement (1954)

C. ISSUES
Provide the information requested
1. The predominant religion of Vietnam
2. The battle which marked the end of French colonial rule in Indo-China
3. The scandal which led to the only resignation of an American President
4. The Vice President who replaced the President after his resignation
5. Why was November 1963 a "bad month" for the governments of South Vietnam and the United States?

I also gave you a booklet that outlined the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, as well as having a graph with the number of American soldiers in Vietnam, as well as the number of deaths in the conflict. As we will see, public support for the Vietnam War changes over time as more and more American soldiers are killed. We see a growth in the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, and the media also played a role in the turn of popular opinion against the war. I REALLY recommend that you have a look at the this series of photographs from the Vietnam War era, pretty powerful imagery (make sure that you read the captions too). Here is a link to the NPR that explains the story behind the photograph below, definitely worth the time to read or listen to the podcast, and make sure that you look at the photo gallery of Eddie Adams' photographs of the Vietnam War.

There are certain iconic images associated with the Vietnam War. Here is another:

The above photograph is of Phan Thị Kim Phúc, O.Ont (born in 1963), she is a Vietnamese-Canadian best known as the child subject of a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph taken during the Vietnam War on June 8, 1972. The iconic photo taken in Trang Bang by AP photographer Nick Ut shows her at about age nine running naked on the street after being severely burned on her back by a South Vietnamese napalm attack. Contrary to popular myth, the US Air Force were not involved in the attack, and only two US troops were within 60 miles (97 km) of the scene, neither of whom had any say in the bombings. Still, it is a powerful image associated with the war.
I'm posting the study guide for your Chapter 7 Test (Cold War Exam) below. You have a lot of review and studying to do, that's why I'm posting this study guide so far in advance (this test is on Monday, April 25th).

It is a multiple choice test with 70-75 multiple choice questions. Please make sure that you have read Chapter 7. Here are some other study tips:

study "The Origins of the Cold War (ppt)"
study all notes on the Origins and Causes of the Cold War
study notes on the Korean War
study notes on the Cuban Missile Crisis
study notes on the Vietnam War (see notes package and Vietnam War booklet, and the notes that I sent to you on the Vietnam War)
make sure that you know all the Cold War Concepts
know the chronology of events of the Cold War (study the Cold War timeline and the Vietnam War timeline, and the end of the Cold War timeline that I will be giving you in subsequent class)
know key events that we've emphasized in class (for example: Berlin Airlift, Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War) plus other key events from the timeline
know major arms reduction agreements (bilateral agreements and multilateral agreements), please study the notes that I will give you next week on this topic.
know about the formation of alliances (NATO, Warsaw Pact) and the formation of "spheres of influence"
anything that I gave you as a handout is testable material and should be reviewed!!
know how the Cold War ends and its results/consequences

April 14

2011-04-14T16:10:00.000-06:00

Most of today's class was spent watching excerpts from the movie "Born on the Fourth of July". I also did a homework check on Cold War Events Notes. Please remember that your Southeast Asia package is due tomorrow. Your Chapter 7 Key Terms (key terms only!) are due on Monday, April 18th. We'll continue looking at the Vietnam War tomorrow and on Monday as well.

For most of the period you watched and took notes on a video called "Global Economic Issues". I also gave you your Unit 3 Worksheets today. Your Chapter 10 Key Terms (key terms only!) are due tomorrow. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is on Wednesday, April 20th, please see the study guide here.

April 13

2011-04-13T19:47:00.000-06:00

We watched a short video today on the construction of the Berlin Wall and then we watched a video from the BBC 20th Century History series called "Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Khrushchev". I also gave you some more notes on the Cuban Missile Crisis as well. Make sure that you have your Cold War Events Notes completed by tomorrow, and your Southeast Asia package finished for Friday. I have sent you notes on the Vietnam War to your e-mail accounts so please read them prior to tomorrow's class.

I finished off the "Foundations of Economic Globalization" PowerPoint presentation today in class. I will send this to you tonight, as well as update the wiki so you can access this presentation online as well. Your Imperialism Research Projects are due today, so please make sure that you send me the hyperlink to your Prezi to my e-mail account. When I get your Prezi links I will respond back so you know that I received it. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is one week from today, please check the study guide here.

April 12

2011-04-12T14:13:00.000-06:00

We started looking at the "Foundations of Economic Globalization" today. I will be continuing this PowerPoint lecture tomorrow. Please remember to send me the link to your Imperialism Research Project Prezis tomorrow by e-mail. You should also submit your reference list tomorrow, but please remember not to put it in Prezi, simply type it up in Word and hand in a hard copy. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is on Wednesday, April 20th, please see the study guide here.

We looked at the Korean War today in class. We watched a video from the Turning Points in History series called "Crisis in Korea". I also gave you a couple of handouts on the Korean War. You had time today to work on your Cold War Events Notes as well. The Cold War Events Notes are due on Thursday, April 14th. Today was your last day to work from the Cold War and After booklets, so if you didn't finish the charts then you'll have to get your information from elsewhere. Your Chapter 7 Test is on Monday, April 25th, I will be posting the study guide for this test a week in advance (the 18th).

April 11

2011-04-11T15:12:00.000-06:00

You wrote your Unit 2 WRA I today in class, which took about 65 minutes of today's period. Your Imperialism Research Project is due on Wednesday, please see the wiki or your e-mail inbox for the rubric for this assignment. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is on Wednesday, April 20th, please see the study guide here. Please make sure that you read the following pages in Chapter 10 from Perspectives on Globalization prior to tomorrow's class: pages 209-216. I will be starting Unit 3 material tomorrow so be prepared.

I returned your Unit 2 WRA I at the beginning of class today. For Period 3 Social 30-1 students please come to tutorial on Wednesday for a workshop session on the Unit 2 WRA I that you wrote. For Period 4 Social 30-1 students, please come to tutorial on Thursday for your session. We watched a video from the BBC 20th Century History series called "Cold War Confrontation" which covers the end of WWII, the Berlin Blockade and the Korean War. We'll be looking at the Korean War in greater detail tomorrow. I gave you a booklet on the causes of the Cold War, and notes booklet that you are to have completed by Thursday called "Cold War Key Events Notes". You will get some time tomorrow to work on this booklet.

April 8

2011-04-08T13:32:00.001-06:00

We finished looking at the residential school apology and the common experience payment (CEP) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission today which sort of wraps up Unit 2 material. Please remember that you have your Unit 2 WRA I on Monday. Like I said in class, think back to the major themes and concepts that we've looked at in Unit 2 and chances are that will be the central theme of the WRA I for this unit. Please make sure that you review HOW to write a WRA I this weekend. This is your last weekend to work on your Imperialism Research Projects as well. Check the wiki I've uploaded some videos on how to use Prezi. Please remember that you are to type your citation list in Microsoft Word and submit it, so you don't have to do it in Prezi. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is on March 20th, please see the study guide here.
We started our examination of the Cold War today. I hope that you read Chapter 7 prior to today's class. If you haven't read it yet, please do so tonight. I delivered a PowerPoint presentation today called "The Origins of the Cold War", which I have already sent to you. Make sure that you read the other handout that I gave you on the Cold War today, because it contains important information. I would like you to go to the World War II Behind Closed Doors website this weekend, and read the sections on the Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference. This is an excellent site, with tons of information, maps, video clips, timelines and archival footage and re-enactments as well. You do need to really make sure that you understand the Yalta Agreements and the Potsdam Declaration (among other things) and this is a great site to do this. Episode 3 is the one that contains most of the information that you would need to read and watch. There's a great little video clip on this website called "Stalin's Distrust of the West" that might help you see WWII from the Soviet perspective and why the Soviets might wish to extend control over Eastern Europe and be so distrustful of their wartime allies. You can find this video clip in Episode 3 (Dividing the World), scroll down and click on the video clip on the right called "Stalin's Distrust of the West". It's a short little clip, but you'll get the idea. We'll continue our look at the Cold War next week.

Mr. Gilchrist's Social Studies Blog

January 16

Tutorial Times during Final Exam Period:

January 10

IB 30

Social 30-1

Social 20-1

January 9

IB 30

Social 20-1

Social 30-1

December 22

Social 30-1

Social 20-1

IB 30

December 20

IB 30

Social 30-1

Social 20-1

December 19

IB 30

Social 20-1

Social 30-1

December 16

IB 30

Social 20-1

Social 30-1

December 15

Social 30-1

Social 20-1

IB 30

December 14

Social 20-1

Social 30-1

IB 30

December 13

IB 30

Social 30-1

Social 30-1 Unit 3 Final Exam Study Guide:

Social 20-1

Social 20-1 Unit 3 Final Exam Study Guide:

December 9

IB 30

Social 20-1

Social 20-1 Important Upcoming Dates:

Social 30-1

Social 30-1 Important Upcoming Dates:

December 8

Social 30-1

Upcoming Important Dates for Social 30-1 Students:

Social 20-1

Upcoming Important Dates for Social 20-1 Students:

IB 30

December 7

Social 20-1

Social 30-1

IB 30

December 6

IB 30

The Emergence of the Americas in Global Affairs Unit Test

Social 30-1

Chapter 10 Test Study Guide:

Social 20-1

December 5

IB 30

Social 20-1

Social 30-1

Important Dates for Social 30-1:

December 1

Social 30-1

Social 20-1

IB 30

November 30

Social 20-1

Social 30-1

IB 30

November 29

IB 30

Social 30-1

Social 20-1