Wednesday, July 02, 2014

July 2


Welcome to Summer School! I will be teaching you Social Studies 30-1 for the next month. You should have all received an invitation to the course wiki by now, so please let me know if you are unable to access the wiki as it has important handouts, presentations, and information that you need in order to be successful in the course. Social 30-1 is an academically demanding course, we will be moving through material very quickly, so if there is something that you don't understand, ask questions. I will be updating the Social 30-1 tab above to reflect new deadlines for the Summer School version of the course. I went through a fair bit of material today, by going through the "Introducing Government" and "Identity and Ideology" PowerPoint presentations. These lectures is available for download from the Social 30-1 wiki. The Chapter 1 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow, and most of you would have finished a bit of this in class.  You also have a friendly letter assignment due on Friday as well. Please have a look at my classroom rules, and rules for posting on the blog below. See you tomorrow. Please have a look at the upcoming important dates below.

  • Chapter 1-2 Test is on Friday, July 4th (please see the study guide below)
  • Unit 1 Final Exam is on Monday, July 7th (please see the study guide below)
  • Unit 1 WRA II Essay is on Tuesday, July 8th

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)
  • No cell phones (as per school policy; unless otherwise instructed); 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!
  • 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.
  • It is Summer School: you are NOT allowed to take holidays or time off between July 3rd and July 31st. Every day of Summer School is the equivalent of 4-5 regular school days. If you were to miss a week of classes, it would be the same as missing 25-30 classes.
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 20-3).
  • 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.
  • 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


The Chapter 1-2 Test is on Friday, July 4th. It is a mixed format test, it will have a matching section and a short/long answer section. Here is what you should review/study for this test:
Chapter 1 and 2 Key Terms/Concepts:

  • ideology
  • Thomas Hobbes
  • John Locke
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau
  • representative democracy
  • individualism
  • collectivism
  • private property
  • public property
  • ideology
  • radical
  • liberal
  • moderate
  • conservative
  • reactionary
  • communism
  • socialism
  • liberalism
  • conservatism
  • fascism
  • adherence to collective norms
  • economic freedom
  • economic equality
  • rule of law
  • competition
  • individual rights and freedoms
  • cooperation
  • self-interest
  • Adam Smith
Other Study Tips:
  • you must know the 19th century political spectrum and the 20th century political spectrum
  • know similarities and differences between communism and fascism
  • what are the differences between communism and socialism
  • 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.)


The Unit 1 Final is a 55 question multiple choice test. It will be written on Monday, July 7th. Make sure that you study the following:
  • Chapter 1 and 2 Key Terms (please see the Chapter 1-2 Test Study Guide for a list of terms
  • Study the Ideology Notes (Black Gold School District PDF file, on the IB 30 wiki, and in your study booklets)
  • 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
  • you need to be able to apply your knowledge and understanding of these concepts/ideas
  • there are a lot of source-based questions on this exam! (there are references to Nazi Germany, the USSR)

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