November 25

Social 30-1

I covered some key concepts today in class (if you missed class today, get the notes from a classmate), including first past the post (FPTP), simple plurality, single member constituency, single vote, and proportional representation (PR). We re-cast the 2011 Canadian federal election to reflect what the results might have been if Canada employed PR. You then got your Unit 2 WRA II essay question sheet today. You'll be writing the Unit 2 WRA II Essay on Thursday, November 27th in the Blenheim Room and breakout room. Both classes are working with Ronald Reagan quotes, funny how that worked out. I also did a homework check on your Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions.

IB 20 HOTA

We started a PowerPoint lecture on "American Expansionism" that I will finish off tomorrow. We'll do a closer examination of the Mexican-American War tomorrow. We should be able to finish off all of the content of our History of the Americas by Friday, and then you will be writing a Paper 3 on Monday. We'll start looking at Authoritarian and Single-Party States on Tuesday of next week.

May 2

IB 30/35

We watched part of Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11". Before starting this movie, I asked you to view this film critically, to think critically about whether you were watching a documentary film or a propaganda film. If you're interested in reading a little bit about how some people view "Fahrenheit 9/11" a propaganda film that uses propaganda-style film-making techniques you might want to check out the following link.

Here is your class schedule for next week:

• Wednesday, May 7th Paper 1 Review Session
• Thursday, May 8th Paper 2 Review Session
• Friday, May 9th Paper 3 Review Session

I think I misspoke in class about this. After our Paper 3 Review Session on May 9th, the next time we have class will be Thursday, May 22nd.

Social 10-1

You made your selections of corporations today for your TNC Dossier Assignment. This assignment is due on Tuesday, May 20th. This weekend you could get some research completed on your corporation. I will show you some exemplars on Monday of past projects. We also finished off "The Corporation" as well today. Please make sure that you have answers written down for all three parts of the documentary. Please remember that your Chapter 10-11 Test is on Wednesday, May 7th. Please see the study guide here.

IB 20 HOTA

You wrote a current events quiz today. I started a PowerPoint lecture on "American Expansionism and Manifest Destiny" which I will post on wiki today. You will have to go through this presentation on your own. I then started a History Channel documentary on the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), which we should be able to finish off on Monday.

Please take your History of the Americas textbook home this weekend to complete the following work:

• Read pages 95-101
• Answer questions 1-3 on page 103 on Sources A to E

May 1

IB 20 HOTA

I went through a PowerPoint lecture called "The Jacksonian Age" which you can find on the IB 20 wiki under Unit 6: Nation-Building and Challenges. We'll continue our examination of the expansion of the United States tomorrow, and we should get into the Mexican-American War tomorrow as well. You have a current events quiz tomorrow as well.

Social 10-1

We watched another section of "The Corporation" today, and while you watched the video, you were supposed to take notes on it. We didn't quite have enough time to pick corporations for your TNC dossier assignment today, so we'll start with that tomorrow. We'll hopefully have enough time left over to complete "The Corporation". Please remember that you have your Chapter 10-11 Test on Wednesday, May 7th. Please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it).

 

IB 30/35

We did the class picture today. We continued talking about 9/11 and its aftermath. Please make sure that you read the material on the wiki under Social 30-1 Unit 3 on the USA PATRIOT Act, the Anti-Terrorism Act, and "Permanent War Threatens Freedoms". I showed you an excerpt from "Unconstitutional" as well today. Hopefully you were able to complete the film study sheet that went along with this video.

September 6

Sorry for the late post tonight...

IB 30/35

You wrote an OPVL on the Mexican-American War to start class today. Then we talked about writing your IA. Please make sure that you come prepared to class on Monday. We'll be heading down to the Library from our classroom on Monday to do some work on your IAs. By the end of class on Monday, you must have completed Section A of your IA. You will be printing off a hard copy of the IA for submission. You must know what your two key sources will be that you will be evaluating for their origins, purpose, values and limitations. This will allow you to not only complete your Section A but also give you an opportunity to work on your evaluation of sources.

Social 20-1

I finished off the PowerPoint lecture called "Nation and Identity" today. You have a hard copy of this presentation in your blue study booklets and you can also access it from the wiki. You had the remainder of class to work on your Chapter 1 work. Your Chapter 1 Key Terms and Questions are due on Tuesday. Please see the study guide below for the World Geography Test.

World Geography Test Study Guide:

This test will take place on Friday, September 13th. 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 28 countries in the EU, a map of the EU is in your textbook on page 265, of course, it's a bit out of date)
• 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!!**

Geography Games

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

Social 30-1

I gave you some handouts today, including the Unit 1 Worksheet. Your Chapter 1 Key Terms are due on Monday, and the Chapter 1 Questions are due on Tuesday. I started a lecture today called "Ideology and Identity" that I'll finish off on Monday.

September 5

Social 30-1

I went through a PowerPoint lecture called "Introducing Government" which looked at the ideas of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. This PowerPoint is up on the Social 30-1 wiki already, so I'll make sure that you all get access to this wiki in tomorrow's class.

Social 20-1

You got your Social Studies 20-1 booklets today in class. I'll get the numbers on the booklets from you tomorrow. I started a PowerPoint lecture today called "Nation and Identity" which I'll finish tomorrow. I would start reading Chapter 1 tonight, and maybe start chipping away at the Chapter 1 Key Terms and Questions (which are due on Tuesday, September 10th).

IB 30/35

You wrote a quick quiz at the beginning of class. We also talked about the criteria that you used yesterday to determine the most important events that happened over the course of the summer holidays. You'll be getting regular current events quizzes this year again, so you need to add events to the wiki. I did a quick review of American expansionism and the Mexican-American War today. You'll be writing an OPVL on the Mexican-American War tomorrow and a Paper 1 on manifest destiny and the Mexican-American War on Tuesday. After you write the OPVL tomorrow we'll talk about the IA again, and look at how to write the Plan of Investigation.

November 26

IB 30/35

We looked conservatism in the USA in the 1920s today. I went through a PowerPoint presentation called "Conservatism in the 1920s", this presentation is already on the IB 30 wiki in the Great Depression unit. We also watched a video from the U.S. history series called "The Roaring Twenties". You have a quiz on Wednesday on Prescribed Subject 1. It is a matching quiz with a few other surprises.

Social 10-1

We started today looking at the "Impacts of Globalization on Environments" and then transitioned into "Globalization and Sustainability". We started a film study of a NFB film called "Shipbreakers". We will continue this video tomorrow along with the "Globalization and Sustainability" PowerPoint presentation. One week from today, Monday, December 3rd, you will be writing your Unit 3 WRA II Essay. Please remember that your TNC Dossier Assignment is due on Wednesday. Your Chapter 14 Key Terms and Questions will be due on Thursday, November 29th.

IB 20

Most of today's class was spent watching a video on the Mexican-American War. There were a lot of details in this video that should help you complete notes on causes, courses/practices, events and results of this war. Tomorrow, we'll backtrack a bit and make sure that we have completed understanding of the entire American expansionist movement.