November 28

SOCIAL 20-1

There are some important key dates coming up in the course:

• Unit 2 WRA II Essay is on Monday, December 2nd (one week from yesterday)
• Chapter 7-8 Test is on Tuesday, December 3rd (please see the study guide below) 
• Unit 2 Final Exam is on Monday, December 9th (the study guide will be posted on the blog on December 2nd)

I reviewed how to write a Social Studies position paper with you today. I gave you some time in small groups to look at the source and start thinking about argumentation and evidence that you might use on the essay. We'll continue working on your argumentation and evidence tomorrow in class. Please go directly to Room 104 tomorrow. 

CHAPTER 7-8 TEST STUDY GUIDE:

This test is on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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" (this is posted on the wiki, and it's in your course books)
• "8 Stages of Genocide" (it's also posted on the wiki)
• "Contemporary Examples of Genocide" (this is posted on the wiki, and it's in your course books)

Please study the following notes packages/film study packages:

• 36 Questions About The Holocaust  
• 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
• 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 on Chapter 7 or 8.

SOCIAL 30-1

We watched a couple of videos today, one on the electoral college and the other on gerrymandering. I also skimmed through the lecture on "Political Challenges to Liberalism". Tomorrow, we'll be watching a documentary on Vladimir Putin (case study fro oligarchy). Just a friendly reminder: the comparative government assignment is due next Tuesday (December 3rd). 

IB 30/35

I showed you a video today called "The Road to War-Italy" today at the start of class. You must read pages 130-135 in your textbook The Move to Global War tonight. I also want you to get a little Paper 1 practice in, so I'd like you to do the Paper 1 Practice for Question 11 for Case Study 2 on page 139 in the textbook. Pick either question 2 (regarding the importance of economics for Italy's foreign policy under Mussolini) which uses Source I (page 114) and Source K (page 116) OR, you can do question 3 (concerning the international response to Italy's invasion of Abyssinia) which uses Source U (page 124) and Source X (page 126).

November 28

SOCIAL 30-1

We continued talking about the American political system today.  We looked at the electoral college system, some previous American presidential elections, and the issues facing overseas American territories. We'll look at gerrymandering, and super PACs tomorrow. 

SOCIAL 10-1

You wrote the Chapter 10-11 Test today. Please remember that your TNC Dossier Assignment is due on Wednesday, December 5th. 

IB 20 HOTA

I continued my lecture on "Joseph Stalin and the USSR" today. If you didn't print off a hard copy of these Google Slides and bring them to class today, please make sure that you do so tomorrow. Please make sure that you check out the Authoritarian States Research Project rubric that is posted on the wiki, it's always nice to know how you are evaluated on a project. Please remember that IA Phase III is due this Friday (November 30th).

It is strongly recommended that you not only go through the rest of the Google Slides in the "Joseph Stalin and the USSR" lecture, but also read Chapter 2 in your Authoritarian States textbook. There is a great of information and detail in this textbook, and it has some great summary charts on Stalin's rise to power (p. 30), Stalin's establishment of an authoritarian state (p.45), and Stalin's domestic policies and their impact (p.56), and Stalin's foreign policy (p. 62). 

November 16

Social 20-1

We started our film study of the HBO documentary "White Light/Black Rain" today. We'll be able to finish it off tomorrow.

IB 20 HOTA

I finished off the electoral college video with you today. I'll probably have to go back to the American system to teach you the formation of the American political parties at a later date, but I needed to move on to the Canadian political system today. We covered the Canadian government structure today, similar to what we did with the American government structure yesterday. We'll continue with the Canadian political system tomorrow.

November 27

Social 30-1

I went through the structure of the American political system. I also covered the electoral college system. We looked at some electoral college maps from previous presidential elections. Please read, highlight and annotate the presidential system section in your Social 30-1 study booklets. We'll talk about the system of checks and balances on Monday. Enjoy your weekend!

IB 30/35

You wrote your Paper 1 today. We'll talk more economics on Monday. Please don't forget to complete the Great Depression Study Guide for Monday's class.

Social 10-1

We completed a film study of "The Other Side of Outsourcing" today. Please remember your TNC Dossier Assignment is due on Friday, December 11th.

July 21

Social 30-1

You wrote your Cold War Exam today. We also talked about positive and negative freedoms, if you missed class today, you need to get these notes from a classmate. We also watched a BBC video called "10 Questions About Democracy", before you watched the video you were supposed to fill in your answers in the middle column in the chart. As you watched the various answers to each of the questions you were supposed to write if your answer changed at all. If you missed class today, you can find the link to the video here. We also went through the USA and Canadian government diagrams in your blue workbooks. I also assigned the USA/Canadian Political comparison chart assignment today, it's due on Wednesday. Your Chapter 8 Key Terms are due tomorrow (just the key terms), and your Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions are due on Wednesday. If you're not sure about the electoral college system still, have a look here:

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Unit 2 Final Exam is on Tuesday, July 22nd (please see the study guide below; it's also highly recommended that you go through the Unit 2 Review Prezi, check the Unit 2 page on the wiki. It is VERY comprehensive!)
• Unit 2 WRA II Essay is on Wednesday, July 23rd (the source was: The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government, and I'm here to help).
• Chapter 10 Test is on Thursday, July 24th
• Unit 3 WRA I three source analysis is on Friday, July 25th

Social 30-1 Unit 2 Final Exam Study Guide:

The Unit 2 Final Exam is on Tuesday, July 22nd. It will be a 70-75 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

Chapter 10 Test Study Guide:

This test is on Thursday, July 24th. 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!)