Teaching Government Blog

Exam Day is Fast Approaching

2010-04-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

The Last Minute Scramble...What Did I Forget???

Reference Lessons 7, 16, 23,28, 32, 35

Saturday morning I went for a long bike ride with an AP English teacher who teaches in another building in my district. He was relating to me that he had woke that morning and the first thing on his mind was what had he failed to stress enough during the year that he could scramble this week and review just before the AP test.

I had to laugh for I am in the same boat paddling (or in my case peddling) madly upstream. With only one week left before the test there is so much I would like to review with the kids, but so little time to do it. Where did this year go?

I did have a good review plan this year. We have been in a review mode for the last week or so and I feel like we have covered some solid ground. Since I teach the year long course I have to contend with the kids forgetting the stuff I taught last August! Those of you with semester courses don't have that problem, but of course you are still struggling to get the entire syllabus finished and Government and Politics being the first AP test in the queue isn't helping much.

This last week we will be doing three things in class. First class this week we will finish the scheduled review. In my case we will review about 40 important Supreme Court cases. It is an arduous task, but should be done.

Second class the kids will take the 2002 Released AP Government multiple choice test. They haven't seen it before now, so I will let them get in groups of two or three and work through the test. I like doing this as a mini-group project for a couple of reasons. First, it doesn't intimidate them as much when they see the test with a partner. No sense creating jitters the week before the test! Second, reading the questions together and debating the answers is a great review in itself. Finally, doing this with a partner can be a confidence builder and relieve any pre-test anxiety. Some of my AP kids really put the pressure on themselves, and I find that this is a means of releasing some of that pressure prior to THE Exam.

The last day I will give the kids five or six topics that I feel they need to review for the Free Response section of the test. No, I don't have any inside information....I am as totally clueless as the next fellow on what the questions will be. However, I have had a pretty good track record of guessing some topic areas for the kids to look at and then having those areas having a Free Response questions. Just for fun (again...I absolutely don't have any idea, just uneducated guesses) here are the areas I am suggesting this year:

1. Supreme Court nomination process including vetting by the White House and the confirmation process. Timely and we haven't had one for a couple of years on this topic. (See Lesson 28)
2. Federalism...we seem to have one every other year. In the last decade we have had five or six Free Response questions on some aspect of Federalism, so why not one more. Now Federalism is a big topic, so I am advising the kids to look at mandates and federal laws that are forcing neo-nullification issues. Things like No Child Left Behind, ADA, and drunk driving laws. HMMMM!? (See Lesson 7)
3. Apportionment...hey it is the Census time and this will be a huge topic in another year. How about a little Baker v. Carr and Reynolds v Sims. One man-one vote anyone??? (See Lesson 16)
4. Free speech...it might be a bit too soon for Bong Hits for Jesus (Morse v. Fredrick), but maybe not. We haven't seen a student's rights question in forever. (See Lesson 35)
5. Incorporation...does anyone still teach Barron v. Baltimore, the Slaughterhouse Case, and Gitlow v. New York? If not they maybe sorry! I have been waiting for a good incorporation (14th Amendment) question for a couple of years. This might be the year AP makes me look like I have some idea what I am talking about. (See Lesson 32)
6. The Budget. With the huge deficits and the astronomical national debt, maybe it is time for a good ole budget chart question. We had one of these almost a decade ago, but it is such a hot button question now that I can't help but think we might see it again. This could be a Policy type questions concerning Congress and the budget or a question about the creation of the budget (OMB and CBO type stuff). (See Lesson 23)

I will give my kids this list and challenge them to study these topics for a couple of extra minutes Sunday evening. If I am wrong, they will have looked at some pretty important national issues one more time. If I am right, well....Katy bar the door!

Have a great week finishing your curriculum and getting the kids ready for May 3rd. And of course as always, the best of luck to your students.

Ripped From the Headlines: Party Dealignment in the Making

2010-04-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

Dealignment Revisited: A Ross Perot Type Movement on Steriods???

Reference: CNN Editorial http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/02/04/rollins.tea.party/index.html

Reference: Hippocampus Lesson 11 http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/American%20Government/course%20files/multimedia/lesson11/lessonp.html

My last post featured the Tea Parties and Mid-term elections (Sunday March 10, 2010) and once again I want to focus on the Tea Party Movement as seen in the headlines. This time, however, I would like to take a different approach to the topic and view it from Hippocampus Lesson 11 which looks at the topics of "Realignment and Dealignment" of political parties (covered specifically in Topic Two). The editorial referenced above by Ed Rollins is an example of many that I have view recently on this topic. I liked Rollin's comments particular because he has made a comparison between the 1992 Perot "grassroots movement" and the Tea Party movement of 2009-2010. His inside information on the Perot movement gives Mr. Rollins particular credibility and his editorial a unique slant.

Here is a simple class activity that I will be using with this article. This is a short activity and would be appropriate at this time of year for a review of the basic concepts of party purity, alignment, dealignment and even critical elections and realignment. I will first make a paper copy of this CNN piece and have the students do a quick 5 minute read highlighting key points of the editorial.

Next, I will ask students to create a t-chart of similarities/differences between the Perot 1992 movement and the 2010 Tea Party movement. Similarities should include distrust of government, dislike of budget deficits, desire to see lower taxes, and discontent with political parties. Differences could include that the 1992 movement was personality based whereas the 2010 movement is issue based, the Tea Parties are more "spontaneous" and less created by a 3rd party, no true leadership is found in the 2010 movement, and any other difference the students can pull out.

Once the t-charts are done we will move to a class discussion. I will put the terms (party purity, realignment, dealignment, critical election) on the board and we will define these as a class, insuring we are all speaking the same language. I will then as several questions such as: How are the two movements alike? How are the two movements different? Did the 1992 movement cause permanent realignment or dealignment? Will the current movement cause permanent party alignment changes? How would these movements compare to major movements that resulted in critical elections and permanent party membership changes? Hopefully, we can have a fruitful discussion on these topics and we will initiate some higher level thinking by the students including synthesis, analysis, and comparing and contrasting.

Once the class discussion reaches a conclusion, I will ask the students to look at a past AP Government and Politics Free Response Questions (if you don't know where to find these click on this AP Central link) . In particular, we we look at 2003 Question 2 on Citizen Participation, 2004 Question 3 on 3rd parties and 2004 Question 4 on Trust in Government, and 2006 Question 1 on Interest Groups and Political Parties. Time permitting, I will put the students in groups and have them OUTLINE answers to each of these questions as a group, or we will divide the class into 4 parts and have groups work on one question and then present the question and their answer to the class shotgun style. I will then give the students handouts on the AP scoring guides (see link above) and allow them to self grade their efforts.

The Tea Party movement offers us a unique look at American democracy in action. If you agree with the politics of the Tea Parties or not, we should all agree that the brilliance of our form of government is that it allows free speech, free assembly, and the right to petition the government with our grievances. A closer examination of the Tea Parties can help our students perform better on the AP Exam, but more important, it can encourage them to become an active participant in our political system as they mature and discover their own place in our republic.

Ripped From the Headlines--Mid-term Elections

2010-03-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

Mid-term Elections...Changing the Face of Congress?
Reference CNN sites: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/23/congress.open.seats/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/25/health.care.independents/index.html?iref=allsearch

Reference Hippocampus: Lesson 14 http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/American%20Government/course%20files/multimedia/lesson14/lessonp.html

The picture of Tea Party rallies around the nation has become all too common in our daily news. These Americans, tired of paying high taxes and feeling neglected by those inside the Washington beltway, have taken their protests to the streets, parks, and meeting halls calling for lower taxes, an end to health care bills, and for the major parties to listen to them. Sarah Palin has address them, Republicans have applauded their efforts, and Congress has listened. The question now is, will these dissatisfied citizens speak where it counts the most...at the polls next November.

Right now is a great time to have a class discussion on the midterm elections. I have offered you two articles from CNN to help you with this. The first article is a good ice breaker for your class. Even though it came out before the passage of the health care bill, it brings out many of the points you will want to discuss with your class.

For example, the article points out that many American express concern about single party control of Congress. It also points out that Democrats feel that the health care bill will solidify its voters while the Republican feel like it will drive Independents to the GOP candidates.

What do we know about midterm elections? First, the party in power in the White House almost always loses some seats at the midterm. Wikipedia (Midterm elections) has a nice chart on this you might want to share with the students. Mr. Obama can almost count on losing some seats. The question will be if the health care bill and the Tea Party movement will compound this enough to change the balance of power in Congress.

This is where the second CNN site can be good. This site isn't an article, rather it is an interactive graphic showing how many Republicans and Democrats are leaving Congress thus creating open seats. Since we know that incumbents win in the House at almost a 90% clip and in the Senate at just slightly less of a rate, the open seats might be the deciding factors in the election.

As the time of the year approaches when many of us will begin reviewing students for the Exam, a lively discussion on midterm elections could be very beneficial. First, you can use it as an opportunity to check your student's understanding of Congressional elections and incumbency. Second, you can review elections and campaigning using current issues for examples. Third, you can encourage your students to get out and vote their convictions next year. While many of our students (if they are seniors) have turned eighteen by now, most will not have a real voting opportunity until the November midterm election. While achieving your teaching goals, you might just make this election a salient one for them and promote their responsibility as citizens by getting them out to vote next fall.

November is eight months away...will people still be discussing health reform? Will the Tea Parties die out or will they find new issues to rally around? Will Mr. Obama maintain his majorities in Congress? Will Americans get tired of Washington politics? Wow...a plethora of topics and all timely for AP review. Enjoy!!!! RV.

Ripped from the Headlines--The Court and the Freedom of Speech

2010-03-11T05:36:00.000-08:00

The Court and the Freedom of Speech

Reference NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/us/09scotus.html?scp=1&sq=supreme%20court%20cases&st=cse

Reference case site: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/hatespeech.htm

Reference Hippocampus: Lesson 35 and Lesson 34

Here is a case that is actually near and dear to my heart. In the 1970s I lived in Topeka, Kansas about two blocks from the home/compound of the Fred Phelps family. I had several neighborhood encounters with this now infamous family that were less than pleasant. I never dreamed back then that the Phelps family of lawyers/ministers would be the center of attention in a Free Speech case that gained national notoriety. So now, 35 years later, I am watching with interest while Topeka enters center stage in a national controversy.

The case of Snyder v. Phelps won't be heard until this fall by the Supreme Court, however, it can offer you an interesting teaching opportunity this spring. Here is what I am planning on doing with this case:

1st...I am having the students read several article on the case including the one from the NY Time noted above and also one from the Topeka Capital Journal in addition to any other articles they can find.

2nd...I am placing the students in small groups of two or three. Each group will be assigned as lawyers for the Snyder family or for the Phelps family or as an interested "outside" group that would present friend of the court briefs. The task is to create a legal argument (brief) supporting their family or interest group using past Court cases. Interest groups could include conservative church groups, gay rights coalitions, veteran groups, and city/state governments. In addition, one group (of three) will be Justices. The Justices will each be asked to research the case and write their opinions.

To help with this I am referring the students to a site that actually gives information on hate crimes and fighting language that will give the students case histories and access to Court opinions. In addition to the concept of Free Speech, I will encourage the kids to consider the Free Exercise Clause and subsequent cases given in Hippocampus.

3rd...The task for the students will be to write a brief arguing their point of view. We have discussed briefs in class and will look at templates for briefs that are on-line. I am asking the students to keep their brief simple and succinct. Once these are done, we will present the briefs orally to the Justices and the Justices will render a Court opinion on the case.

While the class won't know until next November or December the decision of the real Supreme Court, this exercise will allow them to review important cases from the 1st Amendment while gaining further understanding of how the Court arrives at decisions.

Depending on your time, you can make this as complicated or simple as needed. I am getting pretty stretched for time in my classes, so I will make this a simple and quick project. You can tailor it to fit your needs. Prepare yourself, however, for some pretty brisk class discussions. This case seems to bring out knee jerk reactions in all who discuss it. RV

Ripped From the Headlines--Guns and Incorporation

2010-03-03T18:51:00.000-08:00

Guns and Incorporation....Continued

Dear Readers....

This is just a postscript to Sunday's blog (see below) on the McDonald v. City of Chicago hand gun case now before the Supreme Court. One of my favorite news broadcasters did this nice piece on the case after the Tuesday oral arguments were heard.

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=124243724&m=124248289

This is a nice 5 minute story including quotes from the Justices and lead attorneys during the Tuesday session of Court. If you are following this case with your class, this might be a nice addition to material you are presenting....RV

Ripped From the Headlines--Incorporation and the 2nd Amendment

2010-02-28T15:21:00.000-08:00

The Court, Incorporation, and the 2nd Amendment

Reference CNN Page: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/30/scotus.state.guns/index.html?iref=allsearch

Reference Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/ct-news-chicago-gun-ban-20100129,0,3152673.story

Hippocampus: Lesson 6, Lesson 28, Lesson 30, Lesson 32

Sometimes news stories can really pull together many of the concepts we try to teach. This Tuesday the Supreme Court will be hearing the case of McDonald v. the City of Chicago, a 2nd Amendment issue. McDonald is asking the Court to strike down a city gun ban that would have far reaching effects on municipalities and states. In effect, the Court has been asked to incorporate the 2nd Amendment. No fewer than 49 amicus curiae have been filed in this case. The Supreme Court last year decided on a Washington, D.C. gun ordinance. Now many are wondering if the Court will reverse 140 years of precedent and open the door to new rights in gun ownership.

For teachers of APGOPO, this case offers a unique look at not only the Court, but also the concept of incorporation. There are several things one could do with this case. In my class, I will have the students do a short Internet research on the history of gun cases in the Supreme Court starting with the Presser case and ending with the Heller case. I will then have them present the findings of the Court in class in each of the cases that they find. We will then follow this case's oral arguments and see what basis the Court will use to determine if the 2nd Amendment is to be incorporated.

Historically, the 14th Amendment has been the justification for incorporation. Will that hold true in this case? When the Court releases its findings and the opinions are brought down, we will ultimately read the opinions and glean the Constitutional issues the Court used in its decisions. This is case will most likely produce not only a majority opinion, but also concurring and minority opinions. It should be a textbook in Constitutional reasoning and justification.

We seldom have an opportunity to watch the incorporation of a right. Since the Warren Court in the 1950s and 1960s, those few provisions of the original Bill of Rights not incorporated have been off limits to the Court. McDonald v. City of Chicago offers us a rare glimpse of incorporation of a right in the making. Some have even suggested that the Court could overturn the Slaughterhouse Case (Hippocampus Lesson 32), rendering the concept of selective incorporation obsolete and radically changing American jurisprudence.

This case can be used in several places within the Hippocampus curriculum. Early on in the year it can be used with Underpinnings Unit in Lesson 6. In Lesson 28 on the Court you could use this case to demonstrate how the Court finds and accepts cases as well as looking at the process of making decisions and rendering the opinions. Lesson 30 concerning judicial review could also benefit from using this case. In addition (and possibly most importantly), it can be used along with Lesson 32 on the concept of selective incorporation.

Depending on how the Court finds following the March 2nd oral arguments, McDonald v City of Chicago might become as important of a case as Mapp v. Ohio, Gideon v. Wainwright, or Miranda v. Arizona to those of us teaching APGOPO. Its probably a good time now to add it to your curriculum.

Ripped from the Headlines--Justice Stevens

2010-02-14T17:37:00.000-08:00

Justice Stevens and the selection of a New Justice

Reference: CNN page: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/12/scotus.possible.vacancy/index.html

Hippocampus Connection: Lesson 31

I want to take just a bit of your time this week and call your attention to this article that appeared on CNN on February 12th. I believe this to be a very solid article to use with classes for several reasons. First, it is extremely timely. The article which is speculating on who President Obama might favor the next Supreme Court seat, falls at a time when many of you who are teaching year long classes will be addressing the Judiciary unit. For those of you with 2nd semester classes, this unit should be right around the corner. So when I saw this article the other day I jumped on the chance of sharing it with you.

Second, when you do begin the Judiciary Unit, this article will really reinforce many of the terms and concepts found in Hippocampus. For example, the article discussing the vetting process that Mr. Obama's staff is already engaged in. This reinforces much of what your students will be viewing in Lesson 31. Again, it talks about the concept of "seats" ("One source said if Stevens were to retire, there would be less political pressure on Obama to name another woman to the court. Souter's exit led to universal agreement inside the White House that a woman should join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, then the lone female on the court, the sources said.") While the term "seat" is not directly used, the idea that the nation has expectations for a certain demographic make-up on the Court is clearly indicated.

The article also discusses what exactly the President is looking for as far a judicial experience and qualities (leadership, court experience, and political ideology). For example, "Judge Diane Wood, 59, of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Many administration insiders believe she would be a strong intellectual force on the high court, where the newly emboldened conservative justices have achieved recent victories on campaign finance and gun rights, the sources said." The article discusses several of the key persons of interest to the White House and why they are a possible appointee.

Third, this article touches on the idea of activism and activist judges as seen in the following clip, "Liberal activists have generally applauded Sotomayor's history-making elevation to the high court, her inspiring story and reliable progressive votes so far on the bench." This would fit into the ideas presented in Lesson 30 in Hippocampus.

Here is how I will use this article in my class. I will print this article off (or have the students view it directly on line) and then give them a list of vocabulary terms used in Judiciary Unit making sure that these terms are found (in some way) in the article. I will then ask the students to match the quote from the article that alludes or refers to the term. My examples above for activism and "seats" would be examples of what the students should produce. This would be a way for the students to check themselves on the vocabulary and be sure they understand what is meant by a term or phrase.

I would make some of the terms difficult to locate. For example, if the term I gave the students was Confirmation Process I would expect them to use the following quote from the article, "And allies on the right seem confident that in an election year filled with legislative challenges, Obama could have a much harder time choosing a high court nominee with a clear liberal portfolio." This would clearly demonstrate to me that the student would understand the process and it's potential pitfalls for the executive branch.

A second way this article could be used is to ask students to imagine that they were President Obama and then decide which of the people in the article they would decide to nominate and explain why. This could be a short essay, a free response type answer, or even a short power point presentation.

I was reminded of the Harry Truman quote, "once you put a man on the Supreme Court he ceases to be your friend" upon seeing that Cass Sunstein, and old friend of Mr. Obama, is being considered. I wonder if Mr. Obama has ever seen that quote?

Ripped from the Headlines--The State of the Union Address 2010

2010-02-03T16:05:00.000-08:00

The State of the Union Address 2010

Reference: CNN page: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/28/state.of.union.highlights/index.html

Hippocampus connections: Lesson 5, Lesson 20

This year's State of the Union address brought several raised eyebrows and a good deal of morning quarterbacks with varying opinions of the president's speech before Congress. Mr. Obama concentrated on the topics of the budget, the economy, education, energy, health care, "don't ask, don't tell", and national security.

There are many ways you could use the State of the Union Address in class. I would avoid showing the students the entire speech. Class time is far to precious for this, especially when the speech runs over an hour as it did this year. I do believe you can encourage students to watch it or listen to it (as extra credit or a class assignment is great), but I find using selected clips from YouTube a much better use of the class time.

I also love what CNN did the next day with a nice combination of summary, key themes, reactions, and poll results. I really think that a solid lesson plan could be devised using the CNN site (hyperlinked above). In addition, CNN added Highlights of past SOTU Addresses and a fun interactive on-line quiz on what we know about the history or SOTU Addresses.

I would break my class into small groups and assign each group to read one of the themes (the budget, education, energy and so on) and then come back to the class and not only report on what the speech said, but also have the group give their opinion on this topic and how it would effect the state in which they live and their lives. They could spend 20-30 minutes doing a quick Internet search on the topic and make 5-10 minute presentations/discussions. This would be a great higher level thinking activity (on Bloom's taxonomy it would rate as evaluation and/or synthesis) and very appropriate for AP level students.

For example, if President Obama said he would like to give families tax credits for college expenses as well as increasing Pell Grant funds how would this effect your students? If the students come from wealthy families, this may not be as salient of an issue as it would be for students coming from lower income areas. And how would this education money be financed? Increased taxes? More national debt? Would Republicans and Democrats support such measures? If not, why?

The State of Union Address can fit into the Hippocampus curriculum in several places. The two most natural would be at the beginning of the year during Lesson 5 on the Constitution if you wanted to discuss enumerated duties of the president at this time. Better yet, during Lesson 20 this would fit nicely in the discussion of the president as Chief Legislator (page 10 of the text section on Expressed Roles). CNN keeps these pages up for a long time, so you don't have to use the State of the Union Address the week it actually takes place. This page should be available to you next year if you teach a year long class or later this semester if you teach a semester class and are now just coming to the executive branch unit.

As always, we must balance the time we spend on any one individual topic. With the institutions of government being up to 60 percent of the AP Exam, time spent on the State of the Union Address is probably justifiable. In the process of creating good citizens, it is very important. I would recommend squeezing this into your curriculum and considering it time well spent.

Some Help Teaching the "Underpinnings"

2010-01-31T11:22:00.001-08:00

We the People Competitions...Another Weapon in Our Arsenals

I find AP teachers to be an interesting group of people. I doubt there exists another set of educators who are so dedicated to finding new ways of presenting material, new ways of exciting students to their topics, and new ways of insuring that come May, their students will be totally prepared for the summative exams that face them. I think that most of use who teach AP classes take the whole thing very personally. When our students succeed, we feel we succeed. When the students fail...well...we tend to blame ourselves. Is this striking a cord with you?

In the quest to be a better APGOPO teacher, I always keep the radar working for new and interesting ways to get students involved. I have shared several of these with you and today I want to focus on another: The Center for Civic Education's We the People Competitions. For us "old timers" this is not a new resource. However, if you are new to teaching APGOPO, this can be a great find in your search for ways of involving students in the learning process.

The Center for Civic Educations stated goal is "... to promote civic competence and responsibility among the nation’s elementary and secondary students...". This is accomplished by providing an educational program with very good publications available and a culminating activity in which students participate in simulated Congressional hearings.

If you are not familiar with the We the People book for high schools you should be. This book is very helpful in teaching the concepts that APGOPO expects the students to understand as far as the Underpinnings of the United States Government are concerned. In my social studies department, we have used this text in our sophomore honors US History, our AP US History, and in our regular and AP Government classes. Classroom sets are available for affordable prices for most public and private schools. Since I have encouraged most of my teachers to attend trainings put on by the Center for Civic Education we have even received classroom sets at no cost!

This week (February 1st as a matter of fact) is the Kansas State Competition in Topeka. Our school will field a team this year under the leadership of my AP History teacher and myself. Winning your state level competition allows your team to advance to nationals in Washington, D.C. Several years ago our school won this honor and the students were of course elated.

Now, having said all of this, there are a couple of caveats that must be looked at. First, the curriculum of We the People: The Citizens and the Constitution covers primarily the Underpinnings of the United States and the Civil Liberties portions of the AP Curriculum (see the table of contents for this publication). These two sections of the AP curriculum make up at the most 30% of the APGOPO exam and at the least 10% (see the Curriculum Outline in the Acorn Book page 10-12).

If you are going to attempt to incorporate the We the People publication and curriculum in your syllabus, you are going to have to carefully watch your time. I have always been a strong advocate of spending the bulk of my teaching time on the Institutions of National Government and Public Policy which can make up as much as 60% of the exam! The We the People curriculum can be a real time consumer if you don't watch out. I would never advocate sacrificing any of our precious time needed for the most significant parts of the AP curriculum for "outside" activities.

If you are like me and have the luxury of a year long class, then We the People can be inserted into your syllabus comfortably. If you teach online or for a semester only, you really need to weight the cost of time versus percentage of curriculum being covered.

A second concern with We the People is cost....especially in these hard times for public education. Beyond the cost of the materials if you must purchase them, transportation and other travel concerns might be problematic for you. Our team (totaling 15 students and sponsors) will need to travel 160 miles for the state competition. If you win state, fund raising will be necessary for the national competition. Be sure if you start on this venture you have the support of your administration, parents, and students.

An alternative to competing in the state competition is that several states have district level competitions that your team could probably compete in with little or no cost other than time. At our school we have even done a school only competition which was unofficial, but cost nothing while allowing the students to present their papers and demonstrate their understanding of the Constitution to local judges. (see the rules of competition)

If you have questions contact your local state representative. It is probably too late this year to get on board with a team, but planning for next year should start soon!

Wish my team good luck. The kids have worked very hard and are very enthusiastic. I can only see this as a great help in the final goal...understanding our government and doing well on the AP Exam!

A New Year and a Look at the Budget

2010-01-17T17:01:00.000-08:00

Ripped from the Headlines

Last year I wrote you a blog on teaching the federal budget and budgetary process (see Dec. 14, 2008), and gave you a short class project that you could use with the students to promote the idea of cutting budgets and balancing budgets. It was a nice little project and I still like to use it with my students.

I need to be totally honest with you and say that this year I really don't have anything new to share with you on this topic, however, I do feel a sense of urgency in having you make sure that your students are really aware of these topics and issues.

It has been several years since we have had a pure budget question appear on the AP Exam. A budget question of sorts appeared in 2002 concerning distribution of federal funds. That question demanded that students have knowledge of the important issues of entitlement payments.

The last real pure budget question dates back to 1999 in which pie charts similar to the one above were used demanding interpretation for students to answer the questions. The question tested to see if the students understood the "barriers" to new policy initiatives. Frankly, it was a tough question. Students had to not only understand the categories of spending but also "walls" in congress that kept spending concerns from manifesting into actual policy decisions. Have you taught that yet this year???

Now, I sure don't have an "in" with College Board or the test writing committees, but any AP teacher who has been in the business for a number of years knows to start anticipating questions from certain topics. Especially when we haven't seen a question from that topic in a number of years we should get a bit nervous about an upcoming appearance. When that topic is front page and "above the fold" on a daily basis in papers all across the nation we better be on the ball and reviewing possible questions with our students. I am not one who likes to play the "guess the question" game, but this year I just have that feeling!

The budget problems we are seeing now in the country are not just federal. States have entered into a serious and contentious set of budget problems. With a recession still affecting many parts of the nation, states as well as the federal government are contending with taxpayer cries of "no new taxes" while the government bodies are experiencing dwindling revenues and increased expenditures. Most states have balanced budgets provisions in their constitutions, leaving a dilemma of daunting proportion.

The AP exams seem to love to hit on timely current event questions that are ripped from the headlines of the daily news. This year, I am spending a couple of extra days on the budget and will surely give it more time in my pre-test review sessions. I just have that feeling!!!

I still like to share the National Debt Clock with the students and we took a look at the Cost of War site. My students this year, like all years, were dumbfounded with the gargantuan numbers and the rapidly ticking off of dollars. One student this asked, "can we even print the money that fast?" Good question...I had never thought of it that way.

The President's budget will be coming out in the next couple of weeks...watch for the headlines and analysis and spend some extra time with the topic...I don't think you will be sorry.

Presidential Approval Ratings Revisited

2009-12-20T13:51:00.000-08:00

How Mr. Obama is Faring

If you are like me the closing of 1st semester usually finds my classes on the topic of the Presidency. For some reason this year I am a tad behind schedule, and will need to finish the Executive branch when I return after the holidays. And that is just fine with me! I believe this is a unique opportunity to analyze the presidency. As Mr. Obama finishes his first year in office, we can look at several aspects of his administration and then apply it to the lessons in Hippocampus.

Last year I blogged on the idea of Presidential approval rating (see December 7, 2008) by directing you to look at a Wikipedia site on the topic. I would like to send you there again this year to see the (Obama) updates. As is apparent by the current polls, Mr. Obama is now at or below the 50% approval rating. Having entered office with a 70% approval rating, we have to ask why the 20% drop in his first year of office. The year has not been a disaster for the new President. The recession according to economists has lessened, the bail-outs to banks are being repaid, the war in Iraq has quieted, and the Nobel committee saw fit to award the President it's Peace Prize. On the other hand federal spending is out of control, the health reform bill is dragging through Congress, the situation in Afghanistan is now demanding a troop buildup, and a right wing backlash led by television pundits and Sarah Palin is vocally attacking the White House relentlessly. So why the drop?

Here is a lesson plan I intend on using in class when the semester resumes that will address this issue. My students have already looked at Rossiter, Neustadt, Burns, and Barber in the Hippocampus lessons and in the Lineberry textbook and we have had an opportunity to digest these in class. We have also discussed as a class the process of polling (see Hippocampus). I will now put the kids in small groups of 3-4 and have them develop a plan for the President to improve his approval ratings by developing policy statement in the areas of a) domestic policy, b) international policy, and c) economic policy. I will give them a class period to define statements from each area. They can use the Internet to develop ideas and as they work in groups I will circulate and give them suggestions and ideas. This most likely will result in some out of the classroom work. Students can so easily communicate today via email, texting, and vehicles such as Google Docs that this can be finished in the day I don't see them.

During the next class each group will present their statements to the class. As they do so, these statements will be recorded on the board. Then as a class, I will ask for a critique of each of the statements as far as how would it be received by the public, by the media, by the Congress, and by the President's party and the opposition party. I anticipate that this activity will take the remainder of the second class.

Following this, I will ask that each student write a page to two page reaction paper based on the activity speculating on how President Obama could raise his approval rating while meeting the needs of the nation and his party. I will also ask them to comment on what they have learned from the lesson concerning the chief executive and his job.

This is a messy assignment. It does not have neat boxes to fill in or specific instructions for the students to follow. It is extremely open ended, and the results of the groups and the content of the reaction papers vary greatly, which is exactly what I want to see. A wide variety of results can come from such an assignment. I first hope students really understand what an impossible job the President has trying to fulfill his many roles while pleasing his multitude of constituents. This usually comes to light as we critique the policy statements of the groups. Second, I hope the students fully understand Neustadt's idea of the President as a Clerk. As the students create policies and as we critique those policies in class it becomes apparent how dependent the President is on his Cabinet and bureaucracy as well as Congress in carrying out his wishes. Finally, I want to revisit the expressed goals of the President as a candidate and see if those goals were achievable in the political climate. This is the Burn's idea on presidential greatness. I always like to ask the students if a modern president can ever be great given the political realities of our time.

I tend to like this type of class project. It forces the students to apply their reading and Hippocampus lessons to the current political climate and analyze and predict outcomes. It is definitely an assignment on the top side of Bloom's Taxonomy. I am fortunate to have students who will take the assignment seriously and will give a reasonable effort in the groups. Since right and wrong answers don't exist for the group portion, the participation in the group is the key issue in establishing a grade for the activity. The response paper can be customize to meet your personal teaching style and student expectations.

In the end, I believe the time we spend with the students discussing policy development and the many snags that policies can create for our leaders is time well spent. Opening dialogue with the kids and encouraging civil discourse can only have positive results.

This is my last blog of 2009. Thanks for your readership this year. I hope your holiday season is happy and that your homes are blessed with the laughter of friends and family. I look forward to sharing my thoughts and ideas with you in 2010. Until then....

Those Pesky Founding Fathers

2009-12-06T15:50:00.000-08:00

Who Were Those Guys Anyway???

For the last couple of years, I have found more frequently that students are entering my class with some pretty heavy preconceived notions concerning government and politics. These opinions seem to be on the extreme ends of the political continuum...that is to say the kids have an unusually conservative or liberal bent prior to walking into my door. Have you also noticed this?

Class discussions that once were based on readings and lectures now become tainted with partisan politics. It seems that the confrontational banter of the more extreme televised pundits has worked itself down to the level of teen audiences and is creating a red/blue divide in the classroom. I feel like Rip Van Winkle; I fell asleep one day and when I awoke the world was a strange new political place.

The advent of President Obama's election and the rise of Sarah Palin as the populist icon of conservative America seems to be the fuel for this fire. I suppose it is only natural that as the nation moves towards moderate liberalism on one hand and grassroots conservativism on the other that the kids will be pulled into the fray. What is interesting in my classroom discussion when we deviate into these ideological detours is that the students all claim that they have the Founding Fathers on their side. Those pesky Founders!

What is precipitating this blog is that for the last couple of years I have felt compelled to interrupt my scheduled lesson plans to return to the very first unit on underpinnings and have a further discussion on the Founding Fathers. There seems to be a great deal of confusion on who these people were and what were their intentions. The deeper into the course I travel with the students the more the Founders seem to intervene. Why is this? I have a theory.

Most American like to believe that our nation was founded by a marvelous group of like minded individual. Some how we have glorified the Founders as intellectual giants, courageous in their opposition to tyranny and self sacrificing in their march toward a democratic government. While this may or may not be true, what was true was the Founders were a factious lot representing many diverse elements of the former 13 colonies. The wealthy landed, the indentured, the small shopkeepers and the yeoman farmer all had their representatives as did the western settlers, the southern plantation owners, and the urban shipping commercial interests.

I don't reject the idea that the Founders were a unique collection of men unmatched in history. I do reject the notion that they had much in common with each other ideologically, economically, or politically. Madison had good reason to fear factions...they were everywhere particularly among the nation's leaders.

On the other hand, which group of Founders do we want to point to? Only four of those who signed the Declaration of Independence also signed the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. Are the grass root revolutionaries such as Sam Adams and Patrick Henry to be put in the same category with later politicos such as John Jay and James Madison? Some how I doubt Sarah Palin looks to Alexander Hamilton, the father of big government, as her role model.

The practical side of today's conversation is that maybe I need to take more time at the start of the year and clarify some of these issues. I have always spent considerable time on ideologies and political beliefs; however, in the highly charged political society we now find ourselves in it might be beneficial and save time in the long run if more time is spent initially on topics like the Founders and their philosophies. I am sure thinking that will be the case on my next go around in APGOPO.

The Iron Triangle

2009-11-22T16:45:00.000-08:00

Teaching the Triangle

I forget the year, but I remember the deafening groan heard nationwide when the Iron Triangle appeared on the Free Response section of the APGOPO Exam. Students and teachers alike were first amazed this was on the test and then dismayed that so little time had been collectively spent teaching and learning the concept. In fact, students who were using the John Q. Wilson book had never heard of the Iron Triangle unless it was a topic of their their teachers lectures. The concept is covered in a different manner with different nomenclature by Wilson.

I have always been big on teaching the Iron Triangle concept. I understand that many college professors will argue that it is over simplistic (true), demonstrates a Pollyanna approach to law making (true), and can be even misleading if not taught correctly (also true). Yet I cling to this model of law making for high school students for several simple reasons. First, it does graphically demonstrate the necessity of all three entities needed in creating good legislation. The simplicity of the Triangle is its strength. Students can relate the inter-governmental relationship between sub-committees, the departments of the bureaucracy, and the clients for whom laws are crafted. While over simplified, it is something they will remember for years.

Second, I strongly believe the Iron Triangle is a perfect way for us to bring some relevancy to the topic by incorporating current events into this topic. Since I am in Kansas, I always first demonstrate the Triangle to the students using an Agricultural scenario. The Congressional Committee is the Agricultural Committee, the bureaucracy is obviously the Department of Agriculture, and the client/interest group is the farmer across the street from our school as well as the Kansas Wheat Grower, the Farm Bureau, giant end users such as General Mills. My bill usually concerns wheat subsidies which allow us to discuss the fact that Kansas receives more government grants and aid than it actually pays in taxes. The kids can understand these concepts even though none of them actually live on a farm.

For the last couple of years my second example has been the highly controversial Air Force Tanker program. Since Wichita's economy is highly tied into Boeing Military Aircraft the tanker program is salient for the students. Many of my kids have unemployed aircraft builders in their family or neighborhood. Discussing current (and recent past) events on this issue and tying it to the Iron Triangle makes tons of sense to everyone. It sure brings the level of interest in a rather dull topic up in a hurry. It also gives us a chance to explore as a class what happens when the Iron Triangle goes wrong.

Finally, using the Iron Triangle model does allow us to ask the question: "What could possibility be wrong with this system?" (See the 2003 AP question) It seldom takes long for my kids to look at the triangle on the board and understand that PAC money could "buy" votes for committee members, that the Bureaucracy and the Interest Groups might not see eye to eye and cause conflict on the information Congress received as feedback, and that Committee oversight might cause a conflict of interest when the Bureaucracy was supplying information to the committee. I seldom have to pull these concepts out of the kids...as they look at the board they become rather obvious.

While I seriously doubt the Free Response portion of the test will ever have an Iron Triangle question again, I still maintain this is an important concept to work on. I encourage you to seek out good local examples for your presentation on the Iron Triangle. Or, as the nation follows the Health Care Reform bills as they pass through House and Senate these can become the focus of your lecture.

It was once said that two thing you don't want to watch being made are laws and sausage. As a born and bread Wisconsin boy I saw a lot of sausage made as a kid, and it wasn't all that bad. Watching laws being made can be down right exciting. You can call me "old school," but that doesn't necessarily mean "bad school"!

Teaching the House of Representatives

2009-11-08T17:17:00.000-08:00

A Daunting Task Involving Much More Than a List of Terms

This week I will begin to start the teaching of the institutions of our national government to my AP class. This is always a daunting task knowing that a large percentage of the AP Exam will be centered on these institutions. The multiple choice questions don't worry me so much. Based on released exams from the past, many of the questions on the multiple choice section dealing with the institutions of government seem to be definition in nature...that is to say, if the kids know what a sub-committee is, they will be able to figure out the answer to the question. This isn't true of the Free Response portion of the exam, however.

If you look at the questions on the Free Response portion of the AP Exam, these often involve so much more than just knowing the vocabulary. The folks at AP don't expect the kids just to understand the structure of the House or Senate, or the roles of the Congressmen in committees, or the influence of interest groups in the legislative process. The questions posed to the students will often involve the juxtaposition of their understanding of Congress with one of the other branches of government.

This means that our job in preparing the students for the exam (and indeed for a life long understanding of the government) involves making sure that they understand the links between the House and Senate and the White House, the Federal Bureaucracy, and the Courts. This means that topics such as Committee and Sub-Committee interaction with the White House staff and Executive Offices need to be discussed. It means that the Iron Triangle needs to be thoroughly understood. And it also means that the tailoring of legislation to withstand judicial scrutiny must be become a topic of inquiry. These and many, many topics need to be touched upon.

It has taken me the better part of 40 years to get a good handle on Congress and its interaction. I don't find it surprising that they say it takes a freshman Representative his/her entire first term just to understand their jobs. And yet, we are pushing our students to get a solid insight on this complex issue in just the two or three weeks we have to dedicate to the topic. Daunting!!!

I do not believe that the textbooks or even Hippocampus can fully do the job of making the connections for the kids. That is why I believe the most important thing we can do for them is to get them following the news and really getting connected with all stories dealing with Congress. Right now we have the Health Care bills that are getting great press. The news stories in the weekly magazines and the newspapers are a tremendous source of real world examples of the inner workings of Congress. As the press is following Committee hearings, interest groups both pro and con on health reform, and the debates within the chambers of the House and Senate we can find many real world examples to help the students really get a grasp on the complexity of our legislative process. At the moment in history, the controversy of health care reform has given the congressional process a transparency seldom afforded. Take advantage of this wonderful teaching tool and bring the real world into your lesson plans.

Elections Can Be Confusing!!

2009-10-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

Helping Our Students Make Sense of Elections

As adults who have watched countless election cycles come and go, we have a pretty good idea about the processes and mechanics of the campaign cycles. We also are able to differentiate between the elections that are simultaneously occurring. What I have discovered in my quarter of a century of working with kids is that this whole political circus that we call elections is a very confusing mess to them!!! We never should forget we are working with 17 and 18 year olds who maybe paid a little attention to the last election, but who completely ignored any previous election that happened in their lifetime. Remember, these guys were only 13 during the Bush/Kerry election and 9 years old during Bush/Gore contest. They don't have a lot of experience to work with here.

To make this worse, many of our textbooks approach the topic of elections in a very unified way. That is to say, the texts lump together the process of presidential and congressional elections and present the topics of finance, polling, campaigning, voter behavior and so on together. When the students finish reading the chapters they have a pretty fair picture, but it is blurred on the edges.

For example, in an essay on Presidential financing, I always have students want to enter into a protracted discussion on PACs. Fine, but PACs should really be discussed in congressional elections since their influence in presidential elections is less vital. On the other hand, in essays on congressional elections I will have students discuss targeting messages to certain groups which can be very relevant in Presidential politics, but much less relevant in House elections, especially in geographically small districts that are somewhat homogeneous. While these mistakes are minor in our our classrooms, on an AP Exam, they can become disastrous leading to low scores on Free Response Questions or incorrectly answered Multiple Choice Questions.

My point here is simple. We need to separate presidential and congressional elections and create lessons, essays, and assignments that will focus on each topic individually. In my classes I intentionally and specifically tell the students, "this week we are working on congressional elections!" Everything for that week to totally focused only on House and Senate elections. We have class discussions, look at the Hippocampus lecture on Congressional Elections, watch Robert Redford's The Candidate, and write essays only on congressional elections. The next week I proclaim Presidential election week and we follow suit. During discussions I always am very careful to delineate congressional vs. presidential politics. (See the blog I use with my own students on this topic: Vix's APGOPO Heights High School)

Now, the experienced viewers are saying to themselves "ah, duh!"; and rightfully so. Most of us who have been around for a while have realized just how confusing the whole election process really is for kids. We have answered student questions time and again that should seem obvious, but in fact really are not. So for you who are just getting into the teaching of government and elections, take heed from us old timers. Never assume the kids understand a thing about the process. Explain every teaching point in fine detail. For while us older, more experienced adults have watched, participated, and voted in many election cycles, for the youngsters in our class, we are awakening them to a whole new and confusing world.

Political Parties...Teaching Controversy

2009-10-08T06:12:00.000-07:00

A Funny Thing Happened in Class This Year...

Teaching the Political Party unit in APGOPO is usually a great deal of fun. By the time students are seniors they have become aware of the political environment in the nation and many of them watch the pundits on Fox or CNN or Comedy Central and have entered the earliest stages of forming a political philosophy. This can make for a very fun class discussion on political parties...but it can also lead to controversy that can be fraught with land mines for a teacher.

With this in mind, I try to always begin a unit on political parties with a couple of class rules firmly entrenched. First, we are discussing politics and all discussion should be done as the Founding Fathers intended..with civil discourse as the basic rule. I like to relate the story of Jefferson/Adams to the students. While these two towers of the early republic differed on almost all subjects of government, their respect and admiration for each other resulted in civility that should become the model for all Americans.

Second, all statements of political philosophy must be backed up with factual evidence...we are after all Political Scientist. The science aspect has its traditions back to Francis Bacon who would argue that observation and experimentation are necessary to understand a theory. Thus in my classes if students want to expound a theory they must produce the facts. Mindlessly repeating babble from televised "experts" is not allowed.

OK, with these rules I have an activity I like to do in class. I divide the class into two groups (after giving a very brief explanation of the political continuum) based on party affiliation. Typically my classes break 50/50 Republican and Democrat, or at least near enough to do the activity. Once we are split, I ask each group to produce a large poster (I give them a 3 foot by 3 foot sheet of butcher block paper) with their concept of what their Party stands for (a) socially, (b) politically, (c) economically, and (d) Constitutionally. They are not allowed to use books or Internet...this is just an activity to see how accurate they understand their Party's core beliefs.

Once this is done each group presents to the other and then the posters are hung in the room. during the presentations I allow questioning and a free flow of ideas to happen. Step two involves some real work. Each group is then charged to view the most current (2008) platform of their Party and to tear that platform down, summarize it, and present the summary to the other group. In the process of the presentations, we compare the assumptions of the group on the Parties core beliefs to the reality of the Party's Platform. (Republican Platform Democratic Platform)

On any given year I find that intuitively the students' perceptions are fairly accurate and that while there are always a few surprises in the discrepancy between assumed Party issue positions and the reality of these positions, these tend to be minor. What happens, however, is that in the process of relating Party lines to each other, the students come to understand that while the means to achieving the end may differ somewhat, both Parties have common goals. In other words, the students are able to understand that the Parties gravitate toward moderation and that the extreme views often shouted the loudest in the media are not the core values of their respective Party.

Several things happen in this exercise. First, students learn to discuss political ideologies and philosophies with civility. Second, students better understand the Party that they believe best reflects their own budding ideologies. The former is a valuable lesson for not only the class, but also for entering life. The latter can either entrench a student in their early ideology and party identification or it can challenge them to reevaluate the values they thought they held.

This year I did have a problem that never occurred before. In one of my classes I ended up with 95% of the class claiming to be of one party, leaving only a couple of students to shoulder the work in the other party. What was interesting was that after the first day, several of the student in the major party came to me and asked it they could switch groups. While one issue drove them initially to one party, the more careful study of the platform demonstrated to them that the other party's umbrella was more inviting.

Here is a fun twist on this project...make the groups look at the Platform of the opposing party and then make the presentations. The results end up very similar, but it puts a new light on the process. The bottom line in teaching the political parties is to embrace the controversy while encouraging the civility.

Teaching Federalism

2009-09-27T16:16:00.000-07:00

A Tough Topic in both the Classroom and American Political Life
Every year as I begin to think about teaching the concept of federalism I cringe. Do you? This is just a tough topic to get the point through to the students. I can't think of any topic in American history or American current events that has had a greater impact. Yet the concept of federalism is just hard to get across. Later in the year as we start to look at important Court cases, federalism creeps into many of them. Obviously Brown v. BOE was central to the federalism problem...can the Court order states to desegregate schools? Wasn't education a state power neither given to the national government nor denied to the states. Yet the Fourteenth Amendment clearly forbade the states from denying the civil rights of its people. Again, in the Gideon v. Wainwright case Florida's case was simply that it did not have to appoint lawyers in non-capital cases. It came down to the issue of federalism in the end.

In the newspapers today we see federalism challenged by states that wish to ignore the full faith and credit clause in the case of gay marriage. And last week in Kentucky a federal census worker was brutally murdered and "fed" inked on his body. There seems to be a renewed call to state's rights in every corner of the nation. So in short, federalism matters. This isn't an irrelevant issue of philosophy to be bantered about. This is a topic the students need to understand and understand well. But how do we do that?

This year I am taking a strong vocabulary approach to the subject. Hippocampus and my textbook do a good job covering the topic, so I am hammering on the vocabulary of the topic and making sure that the understanding is not superficial. To that end, here is the list of words I have generated to focus on during class time. I started this exercise by having the kids list on the board every term they could think of that had to do with federalism. I then linked those terms together and helped them clarify their definitions.

Supremacy Clause
Elastic Clause
implied powers
enumerated powers
shared powers
concurrent powers
delegated powers
Commerce Clause
10th Amendment
14th Amendment
full faith and credit clause
privileges and immunities clause
dual federalism
layer cake federalism
Federalist Papers #16, 17
cooperative federalism
fiscal federalism
marble cake federalism
carrot and stick policies
grants in aid
block grants
categorical grants
revenue sharing
formula grants
mandates
unfunded mandates
nullification
McCulloch v. Maryland
Gibbons v. Ogden

What makes the teaching of federalism so difficult is that all of these terms are quite vital. The above list is not just a scattered group of sort of connected thoughts...they are are totally relevant to understanding the concept. I really believe that if the list is not mastered by the students, then they will be missing huge chunks of the concept in their minds.

The trick is to drill these terms and concepts into the students without totally losing them in the process. In today's world, not an easy job. Yet I am convinced that it is the job at hand.

I may have missed something on the list, I did it from my memory which at my age is a dangerous thing to do. Let me know if I need to add something. In the mean time, start hammering away at these. It seems to me it has been a while since we have had a pure federalism question in the free response section of the AP test....is this the year????

Blog Number 1 for the New School Year

2009-09-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome Back To the HippoCampus Blog

A hearty hello to all of the faithful readers from last year and any new members of the HippoCampus Teacher Blog. I am excited to be back in the saddle and shooting out ideas, lesson plans, and topics for you to consider and use in your classroom. As a veteran AP Government and Politics teacher, an experience AP Grader, and a life long learner, my intention again is to share ideas that you are welcome to adapt to your teaching situation. I also encourage you to utilize the comment section of this blog and add any ideas of your own to the discussion. I never pretend to have all the answers and I look forward to learning from your ideas over the course of the year as I share mine.

This year the blog is scheduled to be updated bi-weekly, but I may slip in some ideas and comments between the scheduled posting dates. So stay tuned!! I also encourage new readers to check out topics that are archived from last year's blog. While I may make some references to ideas given out last year, I am going to make every attempt not to simply repeat those past thoughts. The archive has some great ideas in it you may want to view and use.

That being said, I want to venture into this week's topic...reading the Constitution. As you follow the HippoCampus curriculum we start the year with a good discussion on the underpinnings of our government's traditions. This, I believe, is essential background information for the students to acquire so that once they begin examining the major documents of our government they can have a reasonable understanding (and hopefully discussion) on the original intent of the Framers and the ramifications of that intent today. Without some cursory knowledge of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Paine the students will simply not get the work of Jefferson, Madison, and the cast of characters present in the convention of 1787.

This said, I believe we can move through the Underpinnings fairly rapidly until we reach the Constitution, at which point we need to apply the brakes. A few years ago I read a survey by a major US newspaper (and I admit I don't have this with me right now so please trust my memory) but when asked how many people had actually read the Constitution the number was shockingly low. If memory serves, the percentage was quite a ways below twenty percent. When further questioned, most of those surveyed actually did not know the difference between the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence.

With our AP students we can not let this happen. I strongly suggest that if you are not having the students do a thorough reading of the Constitution you amend your lesson plans (excuse the pun). I like to take an Article by Article look at the document by breaking the class into groups and using the Jigsaw method. The students are not only asked to report back what the document says, but what was their interpretation of the original intent of the individual clauses they read, keeping always in mind the historical content. Thus when the students are reporting their sections to the class, I attempt to draw out the intention and ramification of the sections.

For example, when in Article 1 the students tell me that the House members serve for a two year period and I will ask why two years? Depending on their response I will ask whom did the Framers assume would be the Representatives. In 1787 would it have been reasonable to assume a Representative would run more than once? Was it possible then for the House to see a 100% turnover in an election? Was that a good or bad thing? Is a two year term reasonable in the 21st century? What has changed?

I had some very stimulating, thought provoking conversations come from this type of in depth examination of the document. But here is the rub...it takes time and time is not always available. You need to pick and choice your topics to discuss very carefully and be sure to not squander too much time on interesting subjects that fall off of the AP radar. This is the tough part. I also want to add that I spend most of my time on Article 1 and Article 2 and then move much more quickly through the remainder of the Constitution. Section 8 and Section 9 get a great deal of attention during the time with Article 1.

The bottom line is simple...however you do it, make the kids read the Constitution with a careful eye to the details and intent. This will make the rest of your year so much smoother and so much easier when you are all speaking the same language in class and have a common starting point.

In two weeks I intend on discussing Federalism. This is a tough topic for the kids and is often a tripping point on the AP Exam. Until then, have a great start to the school year....RV

AP Reading is Completed

2009-06-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the Glitch...

Sorry that I did not live up to my blogging promise from the reading this year. I had a glitch with my laptop that was not repairable until I returned home. I didn't mean to leave you hanging...sorry!!!! The picture to the left is one of the incredible sunrises on Daytona Beach. The majesty of these events seemed to be outdone with each and every new day.

The reading went very well this year. We finished the entire project about 1/2 day early! Now that is smooth work. The thousands and thousands of essays were completely graded and we had an afternoon to enjoy the beach and the local shops and restaurants.

Monday was a bit of a sad day for me. My schedule for the next couple of years will not allow me to return to the reading, so I had to spend some time saying good bye to friends I have enjoyed for the last 8 years. I must say that life long friendships are developed at the AP Readings. I continually communicate with three or four people in particular that I have graded with over the years. Even this year, in my last year, I met some very interesting people that I really regret not getting to know over the years.

Again this year, as every year, the informal sharing with some of the best teachers in the nation was a real privilege. You would think that after 25 years of teaching I would know it all (ha ha) but again this year I picked up several great ideas for teaching AP from conversations in the evening. I would really like to try some of these ideas next year, and I will give you some specifics on them at the start of the year in my early blogs and then let you know how they work out as time goes by.

I did meet several Hippocampus Government users at the reading this year. I enjoyed hearing their feedback, both good and bad, and intend on passing the information on to MITE. One user in particular was an old friend from the Colorado grading who wasn't aware I was involved with Hippocampus and had not been a reader of my blog (HMMM!) She was telling me how great Hippocampus was and shocked to hear I was involved with it.

In general, the food was great this year. Grading AP can be a bit like being on a cruise...they really feed you and if you aren't careful you can gain a ton during the reading. On Monday night to celebrate the completion of the reading we had a Prime Rib dinner complete with all the trimmings including incredible cheesecake for dessert. The travel arrangements this year were the smoothest since I have been doing AP Reading...all arrangements were made online and the travel service really outdid themselves on getting the best flights for us.

Rumor has it that we will be in Daytona Beach for one more year. Next year the Comparative Government Reading, which has traditionally been with US Politics, is moving to Kansas City. Rumor also spread that in two years APGOPO will join them there...this is totally unofficial so don't bank on it, but many readers would like to try a new local just for the change of scenery. KC is a great town with tons to do in the evening! We will have to see. Again, this is speculation, nothing official on APGOPO was said by ETS.

I hope you all enjoy your summers. I expect to begin this blog back up in August, so look for new entries then. I intend on doing a great deal of bike riding, camping, fishing, reading, and relaxing and getting my reserves filled for another great year of teaching. Until then.......

Thursday In Daytona

2009-06-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

OK my friends...

If you look at the picture you might notice it is a bit different than that of the other day. Storms are rolling in off the ocean, the beach is empty, rain is coming down, and another day of reading APGOPO is finished. Those are not blue skies in the pix, those are dark dark gray skies!!!

In the dead quiet of the reading room inside the Ocean Center we could hear the rain beating on the roof as the squalls moved inland this morning. As a land lover from Midwest the ominous skies and rough seas looked pretty bad. The locals, however, said this was nothing. I will take them at their word, but it looks pretty scary to me!

I had a great day reading today. Everyone is saying that the reading is going extremely smooth, which is great news. As a reader today I really felt confident in the job and was able to enjoy reading the students' answers. All in all, the day seemed to fly by and now I am ready for the evening. While the weather outside isn't the best, tonight is Professional night and as I mentioned earlier, D'Andra Orey (PHD) is giving an address on race and elections. I have know D'Andra since I first read on a table with him at the University of Nebraska. He has done some outstanding work in this area and I am anxious to hear his address.

First, however, I am headed down to the workout room and put a little time in the gym followed by a little dinner. Speaking of which, we get fed pretty darn good here! We get the three squares plus morning and afternoon snacks at break. I have to get into the gym just to keep the pounds off. This isn't a bad gig...great food, a room with an ocean view in the Hilton, great friends, opportunities to get intellectual stimulation....what's not to like?

Hard to believe tomorrow is Friday already. Another day of reading is in store; I'll let you know how it goes. Until then...

Day Two of the Reading

2009-06-03T18:26:00.000-07:00

Good evening my friends...

Yes...that's me standing in the ocean. I had a really cool video of the sunrise this morning, but for some reason I was having trouble downloading it...I'll try tomorrow

OK, other than standing in the ocean, I actually got quit a bit of work done today. We did grading in earnest today...no more calibrating. The grading room, which had a buzz of conversation yesterday, is dead silent today as 600 readers are busy scanning your student's essays.

Scoring the AP test is a complex task. The buzz from those who know is that the flow of essays seems to be rather smooth as the readers are dealing with the intricacies of applying the scoring rubrics to the essays.

So what does this mean? Overall, the reading is going super. When one stops and thinks of the enormity of the job you realize what a great job the folks from ETS do in preparing for the readers to score your kid's essays.

Tonight we had a College Board Open Forum night. Tomorrow D'Andra Orey will be the main presenter for the Government and Politics Professional Night. Most of us have taken time to spend a little time on the beach, do a little shopping, or just visit with old friends. There is always plenty to keep us busy in our off time.
I will keep you posted tomorrow. Until then...

Day One of the Reading

2009-06-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers...

Well, Day One is over. Today began the process of readers learning their jobs and beginning the readings. For the readers there is always an air of anticipation and excitement. I always feel like a kid on the first day of class on this day.

The first day is always a bit arduous, the process of internalizing the rubric is not easy. We read, discuss, debate, and eventually reach a consensus that allows us to grade many, many essays fairly, quickly, and accurately. As always, ETS is organized to the max and we are off and running in great shape.

The weather here today was great with temps in the 90's, a slight breeze (great for para-sailing), and clear skies. We had a great treat this afternoon about 6:00. The shuttle mounted on top of the Boeing 747 flew right over the beach on its journey back to Cape Kennedy. What a sight for us from the Midwest who never get to see such sights. The locals were a bit less amazed than we were. You could tell tourists (AP Readers) from locals; we were all focused on the Shuttle, the locals never even glanced up. Hmmmm!

Tomorrow grading starts in earnest. We are all very excited to get started. We will start getting packets and the reading will begin. If you were thinking about coming to Daytona Beach this year, but didn't apply, be sure you apply next year. The weather is great, the fellow graders are the best people in the world, and while we have a hard job, we have a great deal of fun. I'll fill you in more tomorrow. Until then...

Sitting In Daytona Beach...Wish you were here

2009-06-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers...

Here I am in Daytona Beach...it is Monday evening and after a long, arduous day of travel I have finished a workout in the fitness center, had a nice dinner of fresh salad, fried chicken, and corn, and am drinking a cold glass of lemonade while writing this entry to all of my cyber friends.

Sitting with me is my good friend from Texas, who is celebrating his 17th year as an AP Reader. He and his fellow table leaders arrived three days ago and have been hard at work for the last two days learning the rubrics, reading essays, and learning the job of a table leader. Like my friend, most of these folks are veteran readers who know the ropes and completely understand their jobs; however, the folks of Educational Testing Services (ETS) are thorough in all of their procedures.

Tomorrow all of the readers will have arrived and the actual reading will begin. The day will go as follows: first, we will be given our questions and all of the graders for each question will be given a "seminar" by the Question Leaders on the grading rubric. Following this we will go to our tables where each table leader will be prepared to help us internalized the rubric. We will begin reading essays as a group making sure that each reader is grading exactly like every other reader. This process of calibration will last the entire day and possibly in the next morning.

Tomorrow is a critical day for the individual reader. He/she will become an expert on the question assigned to them. The rubric will be totally internalized until it's application becomes second nature. By the end of Tuesday and the beginning of Wednesday, the we will be off and running in a full blown grading session. The first day is critical in giving the reader confidence in the rubric and their ability to apply it in all situations.

According to my friend, the first two days of this year's reading went very smoothly. Rubrics were presented and tweaked, the table leaders had great dialogues on the questions furthering their understanding of the grading, and the actual reading of questions was concise and productive. These are all signs of a great year.

I am excited to get with my table leader tomorrow and begin reading what the students had to say. As I am sitting at my desk on the 11th floor of the Hilton listening to the surf pound the sandy beaches of Daytona I am thinking about having a great day tomorrow. I will report back tomorrow evening and let you know what is happening. By the way, thanks for staying with me at the end of your school year....until then...

My Last Regular Blog Post for the Year!

2009-05-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers:

I have a hunch many of you have already abandon me for the year! Your school year is probably over, or like mine, grinding to a slow death. There is something sad about the end of the the school year for me. Every year I look back at unfulfilled promises of the late summer and early fall. Kids I wanted to reach, lessons I wanted to teach, goals I wanted to achieve. Somehow there are always kids that "get away" from me...ones who I wished I could have made better connection with. I always end the year wishing I had taught something different. And the thing about goals is that they are just that, goals. Some get accomplished, some don't. The great thing about the teaching profession is that there is always a next year. It is what keeps us coming back, staying fresh, and becoming better at our craft.

This is my 43rd blog entry for this school year...and I am not finished yet. A week from today (I am writing this on Monday, Memorial Day) I will be flying to Daytona Beach (see the picture) for the AP Government and Politics Reading. Once there I will be doing a daily blog with interviews from readers, questions leaders, and hopefully the chief reader. I will try to keep you up to date on what is happening during the reading, how questions are progressing, and what to expect for grades from your students.

I hope you will follow along with me on this adventure. In fact, I hope that I inspire some of you to join me in the future and help with the reading process. I have said several times this year that if you are a fairly new APGOPO teacher, the thing that will improve your teaching the most is participating in the Reading. This well could be my last year of AP reading. It will be my eighth year and the following two summers I have vacation plans that will conflict with the reading schedule. So, this year, follow along with me in virtual reading land and next year head to Daytona in person!

I would like to take a second to thank my friends at Monterey Institution for Technology and Education for underwriting this blogging effort. I truly have appreciated their encouragement, patience, editing, and suggestions during this year. Their dedication has insured that Hippocampus remains an outstanding on-line teaching tool. Teacher supports, such as these blogging efforts, demonstrate the commitment to maintaining a user friendly education site. Great job MITE!

Next week...on site coverage from the APGOPO Reading in Daytona Beach...until then...RV

Looking at Small Changes

2009-05-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

What to do Different Next Year

My seniors are officially gone. Tuesday will be their graduation ceremony, but as of Friday, they left the building and began that long journey to further education, careers, and hopefully, great lives. Before they left, I did ask them what they liked and disliked about my class. I also asked them what seemed to be the most effective teaching strategies in so far as preparing them for the Exam. Notice I didn't ask what they liked to do the most...but what was the most effective in preparing for the test.

Based on this very informal survey, I will make some small changes next year. Not huge earth shattering changes to my style of teaching or assignment structure, but changes should be made none the less. Here are some of the things that I will probably do next year to save time, make teaching more efficient, and try to adjust to the ever changing learning styles of students.

1. First, I am going to cut back a bit on the historical aspect of political science. College Board seems to be less interested in the historic aspect of political science these days, and much more interested in the juxtaposing of the branches of government, the institutions of policy making, and the linking institutions that bring people and government together.

What exactly does this mean as far as change? I believe I will spend much less time on the Federalist Papers and the Constitution Convention itself. I will also spend much less time on colonial development of democratic institutions. I will also cut out some of the time spent on the documents of the colonial and early republic periods. While I believe these are very important, I have spent a great deal of time in the past with these items (mainly due to my love of teaching them) but have seen almost no questions for several years on the Exam over this content.

For those of you thinking that I am walking on thin ice here please notice I said I will spend much less time...not cut out completely. I think a quick look at the Federalist Papers is still in order and a review of the Constitution Convention is mandatory, but I will severely slash the minutes spent on these topics.

While I don't believe in ''dumbing down" a course, the kids struggle with the Federalist Papers to the extent that I am not sure how much of the actual texts need to be read and how much can be summarized. I know for some of you I have just uttered a profanity, but folks, I teach in a low income school with not always the best readers and if anything I am a realist. I want to challenge and prepare my kids to reach their highest potential. I just don't believe in beating a dead horse to make it move. I do use the Woll Reader which has vital excerpts from the important Federalist Papers which I think is the adequate amount to prepare them for the Exam. For my top kids who look for more challenge I can give extra readings and still not loose the bulk of my class.

2. Interestingly enough, the kids told me that lecture was the number one way that they felt they learned the most. Yet I am planning on much less lecture. I have a series of over 30 power points (if you would like a copy of these let me know and I would be glad to get them to you) but I will probably never use them again. Instead, I am relying almost entirely on the Hippocampus presentations outside of the classroom as the "lecture" for the kids. In class, I am going to make the time more of a dialogue/discussion.

Why? A couple of reasons prevail. First, I hate being the recipient of the Power Point lecture. They are boring! About 90% of our district's in-services are done as Power Points and I tend to sleep through most of them. Am I that boring to my kids????? Lets hope not, but I don't want to take any chances. Power Points have their place, but I have cured my last insomniac; there has to be a better way!

Second, as the demographics of my students have changed over the years, I find that while my current students are as bright as those I had 10 years ago, they tend to be poorer readers, in need of a more stimulating and entertaining delivery of information, and a bit less motivated to hit the books for hours after class. More of them work jobs, participate in extra-curricular activities, and have less structured homes. I need to reach these kids slightly different than those I had a decade ago. It isn't that I didn't reach them this year, but I can improve! I have only been at this job 25 years and every year I can learn something new. If I expect my kids to be life learners and be willing to adapt, then I better show the way!

Thus, out with the Power Point and in with the dialogue/discussion. I am intending on making these multimedia using Internet sites, video clips, and short reading handouts. I am still in the planning stages on this, so I will discuss it much more next fall when we resume the Teaching Government Blog. I also did an in-service on pod casting this year (it was done with Power Point and yes, I did snooze some) which peaked my interest...what if I pod cast my lectures and place the PP notes on my class blog??? HMMMMM!

3. I want to incorporate a great deal of cooperative learning using G-Docs. While I don't want to use power points any longer, I do want my kids to make more of them. G-Docs will allow me to put the kids in teams, have them create projects on important topics, and then monitor who is doing what using the review features of G-Doc.

I was turned on to this over Christmas this year when my son's girlfriend told me that G-Docs were used in her business (she is an automotive mechanical engineer for one of the Detroit automakers). She asked if I utilized G-Docs in my classes. When I pleaded ignorance, she showed me examples and gave me a quick orientation on the "software" found within Google.

Again, I am going to explore this much more this summer and next fall I will report back to you what I am doing with the G-Docs, but it will become a part of my curriculum and will add to the project based nature of my classes.

In short, this summer I am seriously going to review how much of what topics I am spending time on, I am scrapping 15 years of developed power point lectures for a more interactive, dynamic classroom, and I am looking into using Google tools for cooperative project development. I still intend on fishing some too!

I will keep you posted on my progress. Until then...

A Quick Look at the Free Response for 2009

2009-05-10T07:18:00.000-07:00

Not A Difficult Exam for the Prepared Student?

My kids came back to my room this year following the exam looking like the cat that swallowed the canary. They were very confident that they had done well on the Exam, especially the Free Response portion. On Wednesday, we looked at the Free Response questions, analyzed their worth, discussed likely rubric approved responses, and estimated our scores. They were right!!!! They did do well, very well indeed. So lets look at this Exam this week and see what was in it.

Question Number One had an extremely long and descriptive stem this year. After a summary of the purpose of Federalist #10 (previous knowledge of #10 was not required) and a statement concerning majority rule three tasks were asked. First, the students were required to identify the House of Representatives as the branch most closely linked to the citizens. Students also needed to be able to explain why (frequent elections, direct vote, smallest constituency). This would have been worth 2 points.
Next they were asked to explain two Constitutional limits on majority rule (term limits, indirect Senate elections, electoral college) for two more points. Finally, they were asked to pick from a list of three choices and explain two 20th Century developments that made the US a more democratic political system. Softballs such as the 17th and universal suffrage were obvious options. Primary elections may have been the more challenging choice in the list. In all, a relatively easy 6 point question on the basic underpinnings of the US political system.

Question two was also based on the underpinning of government and focused on elections as a linkage institution. The first task was quite easy, asking students to explain how age and education equated to voting patterns. Part (b) asked for one electoral requirement that hurt voter turn out (registration seemed to be the most obvious). Part (c) simply asked students to identify either the media, political parties, or interest groups as alternate linkage institutions and explain how the one they selected connects citizens and government. Again, this was an easy six point question that most students should have done well on. Hippocampus covers this material very well, and even gives a special chart to help students understand this.

Question Number Three was straight out of the Hippocampus unit on the legislative branch. Again a lengthy stem gives students a great deal of information on the concept of partisanship in Congress and then asks three tasks. First, students needed to identify two advantages the majority party has other than voting (the Speaker of the House, controlling committees, setting the agenda, controlling who goes on what committee, controlling the Rules committee in the House, being able to filibuster with 60 votes in the Senate). Part (b) checks to see if students know the basic differences between House and Senate procedures and Part (c) attempts to clarify student knowledge from part (b). This was probably a five point question and again, if students had reviewed how a bill was made in Hippocampus, this should have been another softball!

Question Four was a graph question, but a very easy to read graph concerning age and media news gathering. Again, this question required students to know the policy making cycle of government from the first unit in Hippocampus. Part (a) was a pure definition question on what is the policy agenda. Part (b) asked how the media was a linkage institution...several of my kids claimed to have answered this in question Number 2 (c). Part (c) was looking for a discussion on the changing face of media and part (d) was a simple chart interpretation. Part (e) was trickier, but not impossible. It asked students to discuss how a president could manipulate the media to project his/her policy agenda to the public. This appears to be a six point question with very little challenge for most students.

Ok, my initial impression is that this was an extremely easy exam for the kids IF they were well grounded in the underpinnings of democracy and the flow of issues from linkage institutions to policy makers to actual policy. With very basic electoral knowledge and very fundamental Congressional knowledge, this was a very, very doable test! Of course we will have to wait and see the scoring rubrics and how tight or forgiving those rubrics are. Sometimes very easy questions have very tight rubrics and the scoring is more difficult that first thought. We always hope for forgiving rubrics that leave a bit of latitude for the students, but we will see.

Well, this year is over!!! The next couple of postings will be covering what I will be doing over the summer to prepare for next year. It is never too late to start planning and next year I intend on doing a few new things with my classes that I would like to share with you. During the first week of June I will be doing a daily blog from the grading site giving you up to date information on how the grading is going, interviews with readers, table leaders, and question leaders, and information on how you can join us next year. Until then...

The Big Day is Finally Here

2009-05-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

Now Can be a Time for All of Us to Learn!

OK my friends, here is a new one for you...I am speechless. Some of us started in August on this quest to impart the mysteries of US Government on unsuspecting high school students. Others had to unfortunately start in January with the same, but more daunting task. Now is the time that we will find out just how well we did. Monday at 8am the games begin.

Frankly, as I am sitting in my favorite coffee shop downing shots of espresso and typing this, I am nervous. What are those pesky Free Response Questions going to cover this year, and did I do an adequate job of coverage in class on those topics? Will the Exam resemble the practice questions I drilled the kids with? Are there impossible to read charts and graphs this year on the multiple choice portion? Are the political cartoons so obscure that the artists weren't sure of their meaning? What esoteric Court case will pop up and baffle the masses? These and more questions race through my head. But in the end, we are finished and now it is up to the kids...how will they do?

The next time I see the kids, I will do a couple of activities that will give me some insight on how they did on the exam and how I did as a teacher. First, we will discuss the multiple choice test. What were the difficult questions can they remember? How many questions did they leave blank? Were there political cartoons and what were they about? Were there graphs and charts and what were their topics? These are all debriefing questions I will go over with the kids in an attempt to ascertain just how well they think they did. The big question for some is, "did you finish on time?"

Second, we will look at the Free Response Questions( you should be able to get the booklets from the test administrators 24 hours following the exam). With these we will first figure out how many points each question is worth. This means giving each question pretty intense scrutiny.

Second, I will give examples of answers that I feel will be on the AP Readers Rubric and then ask the kids to self grade themselves. We will actually do this as a class in a discussion setting.

Finally, I will ask the kids if they felt I prepared them well for the questions. This last part can be brutal. I demand the kids be honest... and they are!!!

I have done this activity for 12 years and explain to the kids that their honesty makes me a better teacher for the future years. Over the years I find I have to apologize for less and less, but even now I sometimes just don't give the coverage on a topic that I need to give. I also ask the kids how they could have learned hard topics better. Would a project on Federalism helped? Would a cooperative learning activity on Civil Rights better ingrained the ideas and facts? If you can take the blunt truth, the kids will hone you into a better teacher and give you insight into what you did well, and what you can do better in the next year.

The truth can be painful...but our goal is to always be better teachers and meet the needs of the kids in front of us. I have been doing AP long enough to be able to say that a decade ago my students seemed to be more interested, better readers, better writers, and maintain a higher level of motivation. But frankly, that doesn't matter. My current students are great kids, just as bright, but in need of different types of teaching styles and different levels of teacher involvement. I need their input to improve my craft and help make them as successful as my past students were. Now is the time for that input. I hope you will take advantage of the last few days of having your students and learn from them how to become the teacher they need.

Next week I will have a chat on my class discussions following the Exam, and on this year's exam questions. Until then...

Count Down...T-Minus 7, 6

2009-04-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

Using the Last Week Constructively

OK folks, the final count down begins. I get pretty nervous/excited about right now. As a teacher I have invested almost nine months instructing, guiding, honing, directing, and cajoling my young charges in the hopes that all would pass the AP Government and Politics Exam. I have given lectures, reading assignments, essays, quizzes, tests, group activities in every size, shape, and format that I could invent. Now it all comes down to them...have they learned?

The last week before the test can be important in the entire process. 8:00 am on May 4th is fast approaching, and as the students start to feel the pressure and begin cramming for the Exam you can be a huge help. Two weeks ago I discussed writing the Free Response Questions. If you missed my blog, skip back and take a look at it. One day this week could be used to review the writing process and looking at www.apcentral.collegeboard.com for clues into writing point earning answers. Having student practice a couple of questions time well spent. I even let them do the practice in pairs. This takes the pressure off the students, gives them a chance to communicate and collaborate on an answer, and makes the review process less stressful.

A second day this week could be used for looking at the multiple choice section of the test. Last week I had a discussion on this, so again, if you missed that blog take a peek back at those suggestions. One thing I encourage my students to do is take a practice test (this can be done in class or as homework) and grade it using the AP method (number of right answers minus 1/4 number wrong equals score...no points off for blanks). I then ask them to take the questions they missed and analyze what type of question it was they missed using the Alisal High School site's question classification. This may help them understand why they missed the question: was it wording of the question's stem or wording of the several choices? Was it the type of question? For example, students seem to struggle with the "sequencing a series of related ideas or events" type of question. Was it the time factor? If the student can identify a problem area and come and talk with me, we can usually work things out and develop a comfort zone for the student on the problem area.

One other thing I will be doing this week is using Hippocampus. I will start with the 1st section, Underpinnings and Documents, and using the glossary, will go term by term until I get to Civil Liberties and Civil Rights. We will define each word and have a quick discussion on the concept. I will also throw out questions AP might ask concerning a word. For example, the term Linkage Institution might draw a question from me such as: "describe 3 ways he media can have an effect on public policy". Or for Policy Making Institutions I might ask: "Describe 3 ways the Courts can affect public policy". It can be a bit of an ardious task going through all of the terms, but for several years now students have come back after the Exam and have said it was very effective in triggering their recall and recognition memory.

I am preparing for a wild week with the kids. Prom, spring sports, graduation, and other AP Exams are competing for space in the kid's gray matter. I hope I get a cell or two for APGOPO! We have all done our best...we will just have to wait and see. As they say, the die is cast. Have a great week and I'll write a few comments next week on Exam Eve! Until then...

Reviewing for the Exam

2009-04-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

Multiple Choice Review

Last week I had a discussion on the Free Response section of the AP Government and Politics Exam. I hope you found a few ideas that were useful for sharing with your students. I don't pretend to know everything about the Exam, but after Reading for seven years, serving on the Question Writing Committee one year, and teaching AP for what seems an eternity, I have a pretty good handle on how students can be successful. To sum up my advise from last week: read the questions carefully, follow the commands exactly, be neat and organized, and write succinctly.

This week I wish to have a short discussion on the multiple choice section of the Exam. This, as we all by now understand, is a 60 question test. The students have 45 minutes to complete the test. This is different from some of the AP Exams that give the students 100 minutes. They need to work very efficiently to get done in time. During the year I give my students 20 question quizzes on each unit and give them 15 minutes to do the quiz. I try to prepare them for the time limit. Every year I have students return from the test saying they did not feel they had adequate time to do the multiple choice. I believe some of this is test anxiety, but some of it is good kids struggling to complete a very difficult exam.

A couple of things to remind your kids before they begin on the multiple choice section of the test. First, and most obvious, read the question carefully. I tell my kids to be an active reader. Underline key words, circle words that would be critical to the answer (such as "except" or "always"), and look for patterns in the answers that help to understand the question.

Second, be sure to tell the kids that guessing is not always the best policy. One quarter of a point is deducted for each wrong answer. If a student can not narrow the selection of answers down to two and make an intelligent guess from the two possibilities, then guessing may be costly.

Leaving too many unanswered questions is also a problem however. While the student does not get penalized for an unanswered question, it cut away from correct answers. I always tell my students that they need to get at least 40 correct answers on the multiple choice. If you leave 10 unanswered, that means you don't have much room for error on those you do answer.

The multiple choice questions fall into three basic types of questions. The simplest and often easiest to answer are the identification questions. These usually are asking students if they understand a principle, concept, or term. Reviewing vocabulary and basic facts will help in the studying for these types of questions. The next type of question are the analysis questions which go beyond simple identification and ask for interpretation, compare/contrast, or cause and effect. Like the Free Response Questions, the multiple choice questions are scaffold. AP test writers include easier questions, moderately difficult, and very difficult questions. The higher threshold of questions determines the "5" student from the "3" student.

The final type of question, those that ask for interpretation from graphs, charts, political cartoons, or other data sources can be the most difficult and time consuming of the questions. These questions will give a data input and expect students to use their understanding of the topic to interpret the data and find the correct response to the question. During the year it is important to give students charts, graphs, cartoons, quotes, and other data sources and have the students respond to these in writing. At this point in the year, a short lesson on reading charts and graphs would be a good reminder of these skills. It is also good to go do a short lesson on analyzing political cartoons and give students examples.

Sample AP multiple choice questions are not hard to come by. AP Central has 20 or 25 sample questions (see the hyperlink) for you to look at. I have found several useful sites online also. Alisal High School Social Studies Department in California has some great test taking strategies. They break down multiple choice questions into categories and discusses how to answer these types of questions, and have a breakdown of the percent of topics covered on the Exam. I highly recommend looking at this site. I do not know who is responsible for developing the information, but it is very complete and should be helpful to your students.

60 question tests are also available from the many AP study guides available at your favorite book store. The Princeton study guide has the best tests in my opinion. I do not like the Barron's tests as well. The questions are less "APish" and actually more complicated and more difficult than the actual test. Peterson's tests are pretty good and look much like an AP Exam. REA's guide is also good, and they have come up with a CD with tests that are good. I have a small library of these books that I have purchased and lend to the students to use in study groups. Browsing the study guide section of Borders, Barnes and Noble, or local book stores will give you an idea of the large number of offerings available for you to suggest to your students. Sparknotes also has a 4 page quick study guide that I recommend to my kids for the last minute cramming session. It only costs a buck or two and has all the important facts of government in chart form. I suggest to the students to get in groups and quiz each other on facts from the charts.

May4th is fast approaching. We should all be in review mode pretty soon. We have had the year (or for many of you only this semester) to impart knowledge, now it is time to prepare the students for the exam and review those areas most covered by the test. We all have a busy two weeks ahead!! The picture this week is the convention center in Daytona Beach where 600 or so Readers will begin the grading process in the first week of June. If you happen to be there this year look me up. I will be doing a daily blog keeping you posted on what is happening at the reading with pictures and interviews from Readers, Table Leaders, Question Leaders, and hopefully the Chief Reader. Until then...

Writing the Free Response Questions

2009-04-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

Some Tips from a Reader

I feel it is important that your students really understand the construction and style of the AP Exam. As we all know, there are two parts to the Exam; part one is the sixty multiple choice questions that need to be answered in a 45 minute time span. Sample questions can be found on-line in the so-called Acorn Book. Part two is the Free Response portion with four mandatory questions that need to be answered in 100 minutes. This is the part I would like to discuss this week.

First off, if you are unaware, the last 10 years or so of AP Free Response Questions are available on-line at AP Central. This is a site you should go to with your kids and really go over very carefully. First, they list the questions from the previous year. It is important that your students understand the way the questions are written and what is expected of them. As an AP Reader I am amazed every year how many students do poorly on a question simply because they have not taken the time to read and understand AP expectations. This is very avoidable!

Each question will begin with a factual statement concerning the topic. For example, question number one in 2008 started with: Congressional reapportionment and redistricting are conducted every ten years. When redistricting is conducted politicians often engage in gerrymandering. This should clue your student into the subject including: reapportionment, redistricting, and gerrymandering. I have my students underline or highlight the important key words in this opening statement of the question. On the side of the page I also tell them to make notes on any other word, phrases, Court Case, or current event that might come to their mind. So in this case in the margin of the test booklet they might note: census, Baker v. Carr, one man one vote, losing or gaining Congressional seats, moving district boundaries, and party interests.

These are all things we discussed in class when we did the unit on reapportionment (Hippocampus unit) . The key teaching point for your students right here is don't ignore this factual statement....use it! Too often as an AP Reader I see where a student starts to answer the questions without taking a moment to read this opening statement resulting in a total misunderstanding of what the topic is about.

The next portion is a series of short questions labeled (a) through (d). Have the students look at Student Performance Questions and Answers. This will explain the purpose of the questions and what the question writers were looking for in the answer. If you look at the Scoring Guide, you can see the actual rubric Readers used in evaluating the responses. A few years ago I was on the question writing committee at the AP Grading. I learned a great deal about the writing of these questions. You too can understand this process by reading these descriptions in the Student Performance Question and Answers. (Incidentally, my proposed question appeared on the 2006 Exam)

There is something important to notice about questions (a) through (d). They start fairly easy with question (a) which asks for a simple definition and a simple explanation. The definition will be worth one point and the explanation is worth one point. Most students should be able to gain these two points. Question (b) again is a definition, but a bit more difficult. AP expects most students to be able to understand redistricting, however it is a bit more complex than reapportionment. Part (b) is worth one point. At this point, most students should be able to have gained three points on the question (Q #1 is a 7 pointer).

Now, the threshold for difficulty increases. Question (c) asks not only what gerrymandering is , but the question seeks to determine if the students know the goals of the state legislatures when they attempt to gerrymander. Question (d) is extremely difficult asking the students to know and understand two limits the Supreme Court has placed on the states during reapportionment and redistricting. AP understands that part (c) is getting to a place where students need a fairly sophisticated understanding of the issue.

Notice that while part (c) is pretty tough, it is worth two points and student might be able to gain one of the two. The same with part (d). While this is a hard question, if you have covered the idea of one-man-one-vote, Baker v. Carr and Reynolds v. Sims, and discussed the concept of fairness in redistricting, even an average student may gain one point.

Part (d) is just down right difficult. AP knows that. It also understands that only a select few students will be capable of answering the question correctly and completely. These are the "5" students who make up a small percent (about 12%) of the nation that year. This scaffolding is intentional and you will notice it on all Free Response Questions.

So, how did the nation do on this question? The Student Performance Question and Answer will give the students some clues and the Scoring Statistics show that national mean score was 2.68 with a standard deviation of 1.77. Very roughly translated, a student who could get 3 points on Question One would be about average in the nation. A student with 5 points on this question might be in line for a total score of 4 on the Exam, and a student who could get 6 or 7 points might be on schedule for a 5!

Here is the point I make to my students: maximize your points! Look at the question carefully. Try to estimate how much each part is worth (it isn't exactly rocket science) and then answer as as full as possible trying to be sure you get the point for each question segment. I also emphasis this...there are no points deducted for incorrect or false statements. False statements in the Free Response are simply overlooked by the Reader. So if your student said, "gerrymanding was named after Jerry Mander, a famous map maker" I would laugh, but I would not deduct points. My point: tell the kids to write as much as possible on each part of the question and don't worry if you give a detail or two incorrect. Also, try to include any current events or historical events that would back up your answer. You can not write too much!

A final point is formatting the answer. As an AP Reader I will read several hundred answers in a day. I will be back-checked by my Table Leader and even double checked by the Question Leader, but ultimately, I will be responsible for the grade on your student's paper. Students need to format their answer in a concise, organized manner that is easy for me to read. You will notice on the example the students did not write actual essays. If you are having your students write essays on the Exam, you might actually be hurting their chances for the best grade. Here is what I tell my students.

Write an introduction demonstrating you understand the concept in the factual statement and including some of the additional information you noted next to it on your test booklet.
Answer each question segment and include the letter to show what you are answering (a), (b), etc. Do these in order as they appear on the Exam. (As seen on the samples on-line)
Include examples from history, current events, Court cases and so on when ever possible to supplement your answer. This can help me as a Reader understand your answer better.
Write a short conclusion summing up your ideas and the concepts you remember from the question.

The introduction and conclusion are not necessary; however, I can not tell you how many times students have an additional point awarded for information in these two paragraphs. Readers actually have a term for these "out of place" points...we call them backing into a point. Often students will say something just a bit different and add just the right terms or words in the introduction or conclusion to allow us to give them the point from one of the questions.

The above picture is 1/2 of the AP Reading facility in Daytona Beech. In the first week of June me and 600 of my friends will be there, busily reading your student's Free Response answers. The room will be dead quiet as we use the pre-determined rubrics to assess how much you have successfully taught this year. We will be reading over 125,000 tests...over 500,000 Free Response answers. It is an daunting job, but in six days we will finish the task. Consider joining us next year. AP is always looking for new Readers. It is hard, but rewarding work and the week in Daytona Beech is a blast. Until then...

The Last of the Bill of Rights

2009-04-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

A Quick look at the 8th, 9th, and 10th Amendments

This is the last week I will dedicate to the Bill of Rights. Mainly this week I will discuss the 8th Amendment and in particular the cases dealing with cruel and unusual punishment. A quick couple of comments on the 9th and 10th Amendments and we are done!!!

The students should know the entire Bill of Rights! However, it would be accurate to say that parts of the Bill of Rights are somewhat ignored by the AP Exam. For instance (and concerning the 8th Amendment), I know of no time in recent years when a question on bail has been asked. Nor has the excessive fines clause been a topic of much concern. Teach this stuff, but don't over teach it.

Cruel and unusual punishment, however, has received some notice. This of course concerns the death penalty. I would not be surprised to see (in the next few years) a Free Response Question concerning some aspect of this. The death penalty has been in the news and in the Court a great deal in the last few years and could be on the minds of those constructing potential questions for the Exam. I try to avoid guessing what College Board is asking, but it doesn't hurt to try to think like test makers and cover your bases.

Those bases as far as Court cases are concerned are fairly limited. I think it is essential to cover Furman v. Georgia. The Supreme Court basically ended the death penalty due to the capricious nature of sentencing in Georgia and other states. Most states responded by enacting a bifurcated trial system. This was tested in Gregg v. Georgia and the Court responded by saying that while the death penalty was extreme, the two trial system ended the arbitrary nature of sentencing and thus the punishment could be carried out with Court approval. At least part of the Court's approval.

Since this time, many states have allowed the death penalty to be a part of their punishment for murder and rape. My home state passed a death penalty in 1994, but has yet to carry out the punishment. We have a fairly large number of persons on death row, and within the last couple of weeks we added two more. The state is considering ending the death penalty however due to cost which amount to about 70% more than non-death penalty cases that are similar. Obviously this is a controversial topic and one AP might pick up on.

As far as the 9th Amendment is concerned, the issue of Privacy is the most important. Of course the two major cases are Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade. You need to run the kids through these and they should understand the Court's logic. It is always possible to see a privacy question on the Exam, but I wonder if AP doesn't stay away from Roe due to the explosive nature of the topic. Is there a more knee jerking issue in America today?

The 10th Amendment needs to be covered and explained, but we should have covered this fairly well in the Federalism Unit. I always revisit the 10th and really emphasis how the central issue in many incorporation cases became a battle between the 10th and the 14th Amendments.

My deepest apologies to my faithful readers if this long discussion has killed your interest in this blog. I promise this is the last time that I subject us to such a tedious discussion over so many weeks. I did it to help the newest of the AP teachers who are wondering what to cover and what they can pass over. I hope for the new teachers, this was a helpful instrument.

Next week my discussion is on the actual writing of the Free Response answers. From a Readers view point, what are the do's and don'ts for the students. I will share with you things that the Readers really love to see, and the things that will hurt your student's chances of getting maximum points on their answers. Until then...

Moving on in the Bill of Rights

2009-03-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

The 5th and 6th Amendments

This week I will continue my discussion on teaching the Bill of Rights and the Supreme Court cases we should review in the process. If you have been following the last few weeks, I have listed a plethora of cases...probably too many in fact for the kids to truly remember. We have to be careful to give the students the background to answer tough Free Response Questions that call for case recall and recognition without overloading them. That is a fine line, and one I attempt to balance with each individual group on a yearly basis. Good luck.

This week let's review the 5th and 6th Amendments. From the 5th Amendment which includes Grand Juries (never incorporated), double jeopardy (the kids have seen the movie with the same name which messes up their concept of the principle), self-incrimination (the big one in AP World), due process, and eminent domain I spend the greatest amount of energy on self-incrimination. A short discussion on the difficulty, impracticality, and inconvenience of states conducting grand juries for each crime can be one slide on a power point discussion. Double jeopardy needs only a quick discussion with no case history and for eminent domain we discuss local examples and the 2005 Kelo v. City of New London case (primarily for the humorous aspect when Justice Souter had his homestead threatened following the decision).

Self-incrimination has three cases I discuss, one of which is a BIG ONE in AP World. The first case, Ashcraft v. Tennessee, was a case that put limits on police giving the "5th degree" interrogations. Miranda v. Arizona was the Warren case that you need to focus on. Most of us know the story and the irony (the man who later murdered Miranda was read his Miranda rights) and we need to be sure the students are up on this one. Miranda is always a possible Free Response Question as well as a Multiple Choice option. I also like to give the students the NY v. Quarles case that allows police to interrogate suspects in emergency situations that concerns public safety.

The 6th Amendment is of course the trial procedures amendment including witnesses, speedy trial, impartial jury, venue, indictment, and the BIG ONE...the right to counsel for defense. The Batson v. Kentucky case deals with impartial juries made up of peers. This is the only case I cover on the topic and I have yet to ever see this on an Exam. Speedy trial has a couple of interesting cases (see Hippocampus) but I have yet to see these specifically on an Exam.

The right to counsel is the one to focus on here. The cases for this are as follows:

Powell v. Alabama (the famous Scottsboro Boys Case dealing with lawyers in capital cases)
Betts v. Brady (said states should provide lawyers for mentally challenged, mentally ill, illiterate, and other special circumstances)
Gideon v. Wainwright (incorporated the right to a lawyer during the trial phase...the real Gideon is pictured above)
Escobedo v. Illinios (extended the right to a lawyer during questioning)

I use the Gideon's Trumpet film for this concept and really pound the case into the students. This case can appear on Free Response Questions as well as Multiple Choice. Put a large emphasis right here. If your students have had APUSH they will remember the Scottsboro Boys, but a quick review is in order. I would not dwell too long on the Scottsboro case, just the significance. If you use the movie Gideon's Trumpet, the Betts case is discussed very thoroughly.

Ok, I am almost done. Next week I will discuss the 8th,9th, and 10th Amendments and then we are done with the Bill of Rights. I know this has been a long and somewhat arduous discussion stretched over several weeks, but this is so critical to the AP Exam. On the other hand, the Bill of Rights and it's meaning today is a controversy that is at the heart of the conservative/liberal split in this nation. The students need to understand these issues thoroughly to make their decisions on their personal political philosophies. One way or the other, it is time well spent. Until next time...

The 2nd and 4th Amendments

2009-03-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

Cases to Review

I am back from a wonderful spring break. I took a cross country train ride ending in Chicago and spent 3 days with my son site seeing and enjoying the great food and hospitality of the Windy City. Chicago is a city with a great history and even greater political significance. The city's enthusiasm for President Obama was clearly evident. As I stood in Grant Park I tried to imagine the emotions of that huge crowd that gathered on November 4th. Going back further in political history, it was the city that Harry Truman was nominated as VP in 1944 and who could ever forget 1968? Lots of history and my poor son endured three days of my recitation of it. The picture is the two of us at Cloud Gate in Millennium Park.

So much for my break...on to this week's topics, the 2nd and 4th Amendments. I will start with the 2nd Amendment, the right to bear arms. The first thing I like to point out to my students is that the 2nd Amendment has not been incorporated by the 14th Amendment. The Court has actually been pretty careful to dance around the 2nd Amendment. The problem of course is the language of the Amendment. Does the 2nd give us an individual right to own arms, or a communal right to arm a militia? I love to have the debate in my class after giving the students time to read on both sides of the issue. The cases I present to the students can be found in Oyez or Justia. They are as follows:

Presser v. Illinois (can militia parade with firearms)
United States v. Miller (was the federal firearms act outlawing sawed off shot guns and machine guns constitutional)
Quilici v. the Village of Morton Grove (can towns ban fire arms in the 2nd Circuit Appeals Court)
D.C. v. Heller (same question as above, different answer)

The first case was in the late 1800s and questioned if small militia groups could be banned from parading with arms. The Court said yes, Illinois could make such a ban. Miller claimed he could own any type of weapon including sawed off shot guns and machine guns denied by the Federal Firearms Act. The Court found for Congress and upheld the Act. Quilici and friends had to keep their guns at a gun club and could not have them in their home. The 2nd Circuit Court said that Morton Grove could regulate gun possession. Heller wanted to own a hand gun in Washington, D.C. even though the city had an ordinance denying this. This case saw a reversal of the Quilici ruling and said no to the cities ordinance. However, the Court stopped short of totally allowing all gun ownership. The case basically allowed guns to be owned and kept for defense in the home. Other gun ownership questions were not addressed in Heller however.

I almost doubt if we see Heller on the test at this point. It is a 2008 case and since questions are generated for the test over a year ahead of time, Heller will probably be absent from the Exam, but should be discussed with the students.

The 4th Amendment is great fun to teach, but we have to be careful not to dwell too long here...it is easy to do and I have spent way to many days in some years looking at cases and discussing "what ifs" with the kids. The BIG ISSUE is the exclusionary rule that was first established in US v. Weeks. This of course is the idea that evidence gathered outside the boundaries of due process is not admissible in court. The Exclusionary Rule was incorporated in Wolf v. Colorado, but the decision left the states a lot of wiggle room. Mapp v. Ohio totally incorporated the case. Mapp is a huge case and should be studied very closely with the students. It has appeared on the AP Exam in multiple choice and free response questions on a regular basis.

As far as students go, the New Jersey v. TLO gave school administration great latitude to search students without warrants. Citing Tinker, the Court in TLO agreed that student rights did not end at the school's doorstep, but because of the special safety concerns and the fact that the schools act in place of the parents looking out for the children's safety, schools could search lockers, the students possessions, and the students with reasonable cause and without warrants. TLO is a regular on the AP Exam and should be looked at fairly closely.

I also give a bit of time to Vernonia School District v. Acton. This was a school drug test case that asked students going out for extra curricular activities to give permission to do random urine samples. The school district won the case again with the Court looking at the Tinker and TLO cases.

I give students a run down of other major cases (Terry v. Ohio for one) but try not to overburden them with too many case names. The general idea I try to leave with them is that while most of the time the police and district attorneys must proceed with all due process, there are times when the concern for public safety can override the individual right of privacy.

Try to remember not to overwhelm the kids with too many cases, but we must prepare them to recognize and be able to respond to the major cases that have affected the 2nd and 4th Amendments. Next week I will get into the trial rights and discuss the death penalty cases. Until then...

Completing the 1st Amendment

2009-03-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

Free Press and Assembly

I had an opportunity to collaborate with teachers new to Advanced Placement Politics and Government last week. These were mostly young teachers who had taught government in high school prior to teaching APGOPO, but were pretty new to the AP scene. Several had read this blog and were shocked at my last three entries.

"Too many cases!" was the general comment. I agree! And here is the kicker...a couple of years ago there were almost no cases on the test. I had spent countless hours going over all of these cases and the students came back frustrated that none had appeared on the Exam. Last year, however, cases were all over both parts of the Exam. Who knows?????

Our role is to prepare the students the best we can for the Exam and at the same time give the students a college experience equal to the best 101 Poly Sci taught in the nation. In order to accomplish these goals I have but one thing to say to my young friends, "Case On!"

So, this week let us look at Free Press and Assembly and complete the 1st Amendment discussions. Jefferson once said that give the option of democratic government without a free press or a free press without a government, he would go with the latter. Tough words! Yet from the Zenger Case in colonial America until today, we all rely and trust that our press will speak the truth and be influenced only by their political persuasion, and not that of the government or a governmental agency. It is important we stress to our students that the press in America has always been biased. It is the nature of the American press. But that bias is an editorial decision made by the individual publisher and owner, not by those of whom they are reporting.

So here are some of the important cases I give my students to ponder:

Near v. Minnesota...the incorporation case that establishes no prior restraint by states
New York Times v. Sullivan...the "absence of malice" case
New York Times v. US...the Pentagon Papers could be published regardless of the national security claim by the government
Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart...a judges gag order concerning reporting a murder trial is prior restraint and unconstitutional
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier...student newspapers are not covered under 1st Amendment since they are academic assignments

Of these, I spend the most time on Near, the Pentagon Papers, and Kuhlmeier. Now when it comes to Freedom of Assembly, I get through it fairly rapidly. The right is of course essential, however, the cases tend to be a bit obscure and this has never been a big part of an AP question. At any rate, I think you need to review these cases:

Dejonge v. Oregon...the incorporation case
The Village of Skokie v. National Socialist Party...the Nazi case where the Court said we could not stop an assembly because we hated the message
Hague v. CIO...unions had the right to assemble on public property.

I am headed out on Spring Break this week...if you are joining me enjoy the break. We have a great deal to get done when we return. I will be going over the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendment cases in the next couple of weeks. Following that I have a two part discussion on Brown v. BOE planned that couples with the Civil Rights unit.

Just to let my faithful reader know the schedule for this blog for the rest of the school year, I will be continuing to write weekly into June and will be doing a daily blog from the AP reading at Daytona Beach the first week in June. I will take off a little time over the summer, but will start back up in August ready for the fall term. As always, I hope I am giving you some new and fresh ammo to take to the kids. I am always anxious to read any and all comments you might have....until then...

March Madness...and Free Speech

2009-03-08T12:43:00.000-07:00

It's time to be sure we are Marching toward the Exam!

Hard to believe it is March Madness already. Wow...time flies and May 4th will be here before we know it. We need to be sure to keep on schedule and get it all in. A tall order, especially for those of you who are semester only teachers. With most of us facing spring break in the next few weeks, the days are ticking off.

So dear readers, this week I will push on with the Bill of Rights and discuss the Free speech issue. We discussed incorporation a couple of weeks ago and last week the discussion of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses has really set much of the ground work for this discussion. Again sites I would direct you to are Oyez, Findlaw, and I find that most of the discussions on Wikipedia concerning Court cases are pretty good...at least to start. The students like the oral arguments that are easy to access on Oyez. My students have also found Cornell Law School's site helpful.

Again we don't want to bury the kids in too many cases, but here are some of the cases that we have to teach. I like to break the cases into pure speech and speech plus cases. This helps the kids sort them out a bit in their own minds.

Pure Speech Cases:

Schneck v. US... the "clear and present danger doctrine" (picture above from
Gitlow v. NY...incorporation of 1st Amendment free speech
Chaplinski v. New Hampshire...fighting words not protected
Bethal School District v. Fraser...student speech not totally protected

Are there others you would add to this list? I try to keep it pretty simple. The first two are critical for AP students, Chaplinski was once on the Exam, so I always teach it, and Fraser was a student case and the Exam likes to focus on those. For a full list of cases go to the Bill of Rights Institute site in the Teacher section and there is a very complete list of cases.

Speech Plus Cases:

Tinker v. Des Moines...symbolic speech by students is OK if not disruptive to the school
Johnson v. Texas...the flag burning case where the Court found flag burning was protected speech
US v. O'Brien...Draft card burning is not protected
Morse v. Frederick...the infamous Bong Hits for Jesus...probably not on AP yet, but will be some day...a set back on student right of speech but failed to reverse Tinker

Other Speech Cases:

Miller v. California...sets out the ruling for what is obscene
Buckley v. Veleo...reasonable limits on campaign contribution OK, but could not ban due to political speech issues

With the exception of Morse v. Frederick, all of the above cases have appeared on the AP Exam in either Free Response or Multiple Choice since I have been involved with AP. Don't expect the students to know all of the facts of each case, but knowing the general Court opinion should be a bottom line on these.

Next week I will continue with Free Press and Free Assembly cases. When I finish with my class discussions on cases, I will have the students make charts with the case name, Amendment, and 5-10 word Court finding. It will be a good study guide for them on May 3rd!

If you are off on Spring Break, have a great time. If not....labor on my friends...until then....

Teaching Freedom of Religion

2009-03-01T15:53:00.002-08:00

Establishment and Prohibition

Last week I discussed the concept of incorporation, a very important concept for you students to get a handle on for the AP Exam. If you missed that discussion and are not sure what you need to know about the topic, you might want to scroll down and take a peak at what I had to say. This week I want to look at the 1st Amendment as it concerns the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. Have your students look at the hippocampus. org readings and lectures on these topics. They are first class and will really help with student understanding.

I would also direct you to the Oyez site if you are unaware of it. Here you can locate hundreds of Court cases and find summaries, opinions, information on the Justices and how they voted, and you can even hear audio of the oral arguments on selected cases. Findlaw is another site that will give you the opinions and link you to related cases and cases in which your case is cited.

Establishment Clause

The Establishment Clause is not hard to teach. The students get very interested in the history and the cases. Many of the cases involve students and therefore easy for the kids to relate to. I first start the discussion on the Establishment Clause by referencing Jefferson's famous letter to the Danbury Baptist Church where he makes the famous "wall of separation" statement. This can lead to a discussion of original intention of the Founders including Enlightenment ideals and the state of religion in America in the 18th century.

I move on pretty quickly to the Supreme Court decisions that have truly shaped this concept. Below I will list the cases I focus on. You may have others you enjoy teaching, but I would caution you not to overwhelm kids with too many cases. While we can love cases and case history and remember them from years of teaching, the kids get the confused very quickly (as I have seen on AP exams as a reader).

Lemon vs. Kurtzman (three part standard set by the Court)
Abington School District v Schempp (family pictured above at the time of the case on Bible reading)
Engle v. Vitale and Wallace v. Jaffee (school prayer and moment of silence)
Allegheny v. ACLU (holiday displays by towns and cities)

I hold the students responsible for these cases, especially Lemon. The students absolutely must know the 3 standards the Court established in this case. I like to throw out a couple of other cases such as Lee v. Weisman (prayer at graduation) , Lynch vs. Donnelly (the so called plastic reindeer doctrine), and Sante Fe School Dist. v. Doe (prayer at athletic events). Again, I caution to not get the kids too bogged down in cases...it can prove to be a disaster!

Free Exercise

I start this topic with a discussion concerning the difference between belief and action. The Court in Ballard v. US said it wasn't in the business of defining religion or saying what was a religion and what wasn't, so pretty much, anytime someone has a sincere faith, the Court allows it. However, the Court has made it plain that while faith is allowed, actions can be limited. Here are some of the main cases I hit on during our discussion of Free Exercise which can be found in Oyez:

Reynolds v US (the polygamy case from the 1800s)
Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah (animal sacrifice)
Westside School District v. Mergens (equal access for Bible Clubs)
Wisconsin v. Yoder (mandatory education and religion)
West Virginia BOE v. Barnett (flag salute case)
Employment Division v. Smith (the peyote case)

I like to discuss several other cases, but these are a pretty good group to focus on. Mergens is especially important as it was a case brought by a student. My students are always interested in the facts surrounding her case. Great discussion of some of the above cases are found on hippocampus.org. Be sure to have your students read the text, view the presentations, and check out the Explore boxes!!!

Next week I will share my thoughts on speech and assembly. Until then...

Selective Incorporation

2009-02-22T17:03:00.000-08:00

What AP Students Should Know

This week I am launching a series of blog entries that will cover the Bill of Rights and civil liberties lasting for the next several weeks. During this series, I intend on covering the important cases that students should be familiar with and the aspects of the Bill of Rights that could be covered on the AP Exam. I will do this in the order of the rights as given starting with the two aspects of religion, moving to free speech and ending eventually with the 10th Amendment. This week, however, before getting to the Bill of Rights itself, I wish to discuss the concept of Selective Incorporation and what the test taking AP student should understand concering this topic. In my opinion, this is putting the horse before the wagon!

As I have found over the years, the concept of Selective Incorporation can be tricky to teach. For the average 17 year old, the legal concepts are abstract and the constitutional arguments don't necessarily make a whole ton of sense. In my early years of teaching APGOPO, I was not particularly successful in getting the concepts through to the kids as seen in exam results. I have experimented with several approaches, and the following seems to be the most successful.

I begin my lesson on Incorporation with a discussion on why the Bill of Rights was written in the first place. We discuss the Anti-federalist fear of powerful national government, the individual states' Bills of Rights included in their own constitutions, and the Enlightenment foundations the Framers were working under during this period in history. For most of the students, this is a review of material that they learned in AP US History with slight augmentation. My main point in this time of discussion is that the Bill of Rights was intended to protect the citizens from the excesses of the national government, not from their respective state governments that were solidly founded in civil liberty.

I then move the discussion to Barron v. Baltimore (1833), the Marshall Court case that answered the question, "Should states be required to follow the national Bill of Rights in dealing with their citizen's civil liberties?" Marshall in his landmark decision said no, that under the original intention of the Framers the Bill of Rights was intended on securing the blessings of liberty from the national government and not the individual states.

Continuing this evolution of the concept, we then discuss the 14th Amendment and the equal protection and due process clause. Again, for most of the students this is not new information, just a new way of viewing the 14th. I stress that the 14th was the means by which the Federal government was forcing compliance of the Southern states following the Civil War during Reconstruction. The Amendment would also be used to extend the power of the national government over the states in other areas outside of civil rights, at times running contrary to the 10th Amendment.

From this point, I move the discussion to Gitlow v. NY (1925). This case was the first incorporation case in which the Court applied the 1st Amendment's free speech clause directly to a state. We take a short look at the specifics of Gitlow, but I stress to the students the critical nature of the element of incorporation over other case details. We also discuss the Court's refusal to incorporate all of the Bill of Rights, but choice to look at each of the individual rights on a case by case basis...thus Selective Incorporation.

To solidify these concepts, I ask the students to include in their study notes the evolution of the concept with the following headings: Framer's intent, Barron v. Baltimore, 14th Amendment, and Gitlow v. NY. If they can remember this short list of headings, they will have begun to master this difficult to learn doctrine.

Because many of the cases that are necessary for the students to learn are incorporation cases, setting up your civil liberties and civil rights units with a solid understanding of selective incorporation will get the ball rolling in the right court (pun intended!). Next week, I will begin to look at the First Amendment with the Establishment Clause. Until then...

Court Cases to Better Understand the Court

2009-02-14T12:34:00.000-08:00

A Short List of Must Learn Cases

I would like to complete my discussion of the Supreme Court. For the last couple of weeks I have discussed resources for teaching and learning about the court (Jan. 25 blog), teaching the ideas and concepts behind judicial activism and judicial construction (Feb. 1 blog), and last week we discussed the personalities in the Court and resources for studying these folks. If you missed these discussion and are interested, scroll down the page. This week I would like to complete this discussion by addressing a short list of cases that are "must learn" cases for the students.

Here is the caveat: while this is a relatively standard case list agreed on by most AP Government and Politics teachers, I sometimes wonder if we don't spend too much time with these cases. Mind you, I am not saying don't teach them, or don't expect the students to have at least a cursory understanding of their basic concepts. What I am saying is we need to balance the time we spend on case studies with the other aspects of the Court. I have been to numerous AP seminars where discussions on the Court turn strictly to case studies. For the last few years, I have noticed a diminishing number of cases quizzed on the exam and have had my students report that they feel they spent too much study time on cases that never appeared on the test. Especially the historic cases!

That said, I still think that to understand the Court is to understand to some extent the major cases. So here is my short list of cases that I am now concentrating on and asking the students to remember.

The Marshall Court

Marbury vs. Madison...the case that established judicial review over Congress as the right of the Court.
Martin vs. Hunter's Lessee...established judicial review over state legislatures.
Fletcher vs. Peck...property rights
Dartmouth College...sanctity of contracts
McCullough vs. Maryland...the so called Bank Case that established implied powers of the federal government
Gibbons vs. Ogden...the so called Steamboat Case that established federal power over interstate commerce
Barron vs. Baltimore...limits the Bill of Rights to the actions of the federal government and not the state and local governments

The Taney Court

Dred Scott vs Sandford...defined citizenship excluding African Americans, declared slavery as property rights.

The Fuller Court

Plessy vs. Ferguson...the separate but equal doctrine established allowing legal segregation

The White Court

Schneck vs. US...the clear and present danger doctrine via Oliver Wendell Holmes

The Stone Court...

Korematsu vs. US...allowed the internment of the Japaneses during WW II

The Warren Court

Brown vs. BOE of Topeka, Kansas...ended the Plessy rule of separate but equal, called for the forced integration of public schools
Engle vs Vitale...declares school prayer unconstitutional under the 1st Amendment
Gideon vs. Wainwright...the right of an attorney in all state court cases
Reynolds vs. Sims...one man one vote in reapportionment cases
Miranda vs. Arizona...rights must be read to defendants at the time of arrest...combines Gideon, Escobedo, and Miranda to come up with famous "right to remain silent...".

The Burger Court

Bakke vs Regents of UC...affirmative action allowed but quotas not permitted.
Roe vs. Wade...legalized abortion based on the 4th Amendment
Gregg vs. Georgia...death penelty allowed with the model of two trials...one for guilt and one for sentencing used.

Rehnquist Court

Bush vs. Gore...allowed recount of votes in Florida in effect deciding the 2000 election

You don't see your "favorite" cases to study? Go ahead and add it, but these twenty cases are a hand full for the students to remember, and we haven't even started on the incorporation and Bill of Rights cases that are also "must know" cases.

Case study is sort of a turkey shoot for both teachers and students. Many of us old timers remember the year that Wolf v. Colorado case crashed upon a Free Response question. We had all taught Mapp v. Ohio and Weaks vs US, but very few of us had attempted to explained the Wolf case to our classes. Why did ETS pick Wolf over Weaks or Mapp for pity sakes? Who'da thunk???? Not me!

Fortunately, the question gave several case options for students to pick from, and they were able to avoid a conversation on Wolf (which would have been short and not very pretty). Most often, on the Free Response questions the students do have options on cases to write on so the above list is almost sure to cover those options.

In the near future I will be discussing incorporation and the cases linked to incorporation. I will also be discussing Bill of Rights cases that are important to cover. These, for the most part, are in addition to the above list, so don't walk away from this blog and wonder how I could miss the obvious. The list above are cases I discuss when explaining the Court; how one Court can differ from another, and how the Court has changed historically. Here is my rule in all of this case study: Don't overwhelm the students with too many cases!!! I'll have more to come on this subject. Until then.....

The Current Court

2009-02-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

What Students Should Know About Our Court

When I meet with other AP Government teachers and we discuss the Judiciary and the Court, the topic always seems to come up of how much of the current Court we should expect the students to know. To the best of my knowledge, the multiple choice portion of the Exam has never had a question about current Court members, their ideology, their stance on judicial activism versus judicial restraint, or their views on strict versus loose construction. These topics may trickle into the Free Response questions, but in the past students could get by without specific knowledge of the current Court.

Still, I am an ardent believer that we must teach this information and incorporate it into our classes. While I have been accused of "teaching to the Exam" (guilty...isn't that our job after all?), a great deal of what I cover in my curriculum is information that every intelligent participant in our government should have in their repertoire. Having a cursory understanding of the Justices who make critical public policy is vital to understanding the policy they make. So, I spend a bit of time looking at the life, career, and beliefs of these men and women.

I will have each of my students research one of the nine current Justices and report out to the class on what they find. I give them some places to start, however information is not hard to come by on the internet. For pure biographical information, I like the Oyez site. The information is dependable and straight forward. For case information, the Cornell site is a quick and reliable reference. And of course, there is Wikipedia. We all have our opinions on Wikipedia, I have shared mine in the past. As far as the Court goes, I have found no serious errors, a plethora of quick references, and so-so discussions on Court topics. Trust Wikipedia? No, but it has it's uses for high school students. Caveat emptor...to say the least. Finally, and probably most importantly, the Supreme Court's own site is the first place to send the inquiring students.

As far as books go, last week I mentioned "The Nine" by Toobin. Clarence Thomas' autobiography "My Grandfather's Son" was interesting and insightful, "Scalia Descents" was an eye opening look into the judicial understandings of Justice Scalia, and Jan Crawford Greenburg had some interesting chapters in "Supreme Conflict". For a quick project, these are probably a bit much for the kids to digest. For teachers, they are great summer reads. I also found an interesting interview transcript with John Paul Stevens, the 60 Minutes interview with Justice Scalia was very interesting, as was an NPR story on Justice Breyer. The PBS Supreme Court series does not cover the current court, but it does look at the Rehnquist Court, which gives us a great deal of insight on the Roberts Court. If you have time, it is worth viewing or having the students stream at home.

The problem is not a lack of information on the Court, there is almost too much stuff out there for the students to digest. I am sure they will find many more useful sites that you can add to a list for future use.

Here is the thing about doing a unit on the current Court. If you are lacking on time in your course, this could be an area to cut. A brief mention and the information picked up in the textbook will probably suffice test-wise. If you have the opportunity, however, I would take a few days, get into the Court personalities, and bring the modern Court alive for your students. It is a side trip well worth the effort. Next week I want to focus on a few of the important cases that are a must know for the AP students. Until then...

More on the Judiciary

2009-02-01T07:30:00.000-08:00

Restraint and Constructionism

Most of us agree that President Obama will be faced with two crucial decisions in his administration...the selection of two seats for the Supreme Court. I was just a lad when Justice John Paul Stevens was tapped for the Court. If you have forgotten, Stevens was President Gerald Ford's appointment. At 89, Justice Stevens will most likely leave the Court during the Democratic administration giving President Obama his first opportunity to appoint a Court seat.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg could possibly also decide to leave the Court during the reign of Mr. Obama. While a youngster in Court years, her health combined with age (76) could result in an early retirement. Ginsburg also misses her friend and female colleague on the Court Sandra Day O'Connor and stands alone on many women's issues. Justice Ginsburg most probably would desire to see her replacement be a female and would most likely find Mr. Obama's choices more in line with her own ideologies and views of the Court. Neither Stevens or Ginsburg would want to risk their replacements in the hands of a future conservative GOP administration. I'm betting on their retirements in the next couple of Court terms.

So what are we teaching the students about the selection process that President Obama will utilize to narrow his candidates and make these critical appointments? One of the places to help us and the students gain insight into this process are the confirmation hearings of Justice Samuel Alito. The Alito confirmation was a textbook for the process! The discussions on the topic of judicial activism versus judical restaint were deep and insightful. Justice Alito, of course, professed a disdain for activism, rejecting the concept of the Court as a social engineer. His comments demonstrated the GOP attitude for restraint and conservative case determination.

The topic of constructionism is also found in these hearings. Just how should the Constitution be viewed? Is it a dynamic document bendable with the winds of social, political, and economic change? Or is the Constitution Hammarabi's Law; carved in stone, unchangeable and unflappable, setting principles that endure unchanged with time's ravages?

The Senate's grilling of Justice Alito, and Chief Justice Roberts before him, should give President Obama a clear picture of what to expect when his conformation battles begin. He will need to vet his selections carefully and while many of us foresee Obama candidates as activists and loose constructionist, those characteristics will need to be tempered to pass GOP Senate scrutiny. Without a filibuster blocking 60 votes, the process will be anything but automatic for Mr. Obama and his candidates.

Advanced Placement Exams have been interested in this process in the past years (for example, 2000 Free Response Question Number Two). Since College Board has a tendency to ask questions a year or two following the front page stories, and since we haven't seen a selection process question in almost a decade, it is a good bet one is coming sometime in the near future. I'm not in the crystal ball business, but I think you have to agree we don't want to ignore this topic with the students this year. One very good source for discussions on Court issues is Peter Woll's Reader. I will have my students read several of the articles for class discussion. We will also view the video "Gideon's Trumpet" intentionally watching for Court ideology.

Last week I indicated that this week would be all about the current Court and its personalities, but in my reading and research I got off track and on this subject of judicial ideology. I had intended on covering this anyway so I moved the discussion forward while it was fresh on my mind. I promise next week to discuss the current Court and look briefly at the historic Courts and Justices we should not ignore. Until then...

The Judiciary and the Court

2009-01-25T16:31:00.000-08:00

Part One of Four

Wow...what an historic week! Since my last message to you, a new president has been sworn in, twice, and has claimed his seat in the Oval Office. His first week was busy with the affairs of state including issuing important Executive Orders, talking with foreign heads of state, and watching the confirmation of his Cabinet by the Senate. Wow!!! As government teachers we have to be loving it. But as the first 100 Days grind on and the pundits begin the critiques, we must move on in the curriculum and make sure we are getting our job done and preparing the kids for the AP Exam in May.

Speaking of which, I was selected to be an AP Exam Reader again this year after a one year hiatus. I will be heading to Daytona Beach on June 1, ready and eager to rate YOUR STUDENT'S essay. If you have applied as a reader and have accepted the position, be sure to look me up in Daytona...after 5:00 pm I'll be on the beach earning my well deserved rest for the day.

I am planning this year to do a daily log blog from the Daytona grading site, letting all of you in on the process of rating the Exam, interviews with the rating leaders and ETS, and the latest information from College Board and ETS. More on this later.

This week I would like to introduce the topic for the next four weeks; the Federal Court system, the judiciary, and the Supreme Court. Looking back over the last number of years, several of the Free Response questions have been generated from this area including: 2001 question #3, 2002 question #2, 2005 questions #1 and #3, and 2007 question #2. Betting against having a Court question isn't a wise decision...we always should be prepared on this subject. So, for the next few weeks I would like to walk you through a few areas that I especially like to look at and review the students on. These will include the Justices of the Supreme Court, important cases the Court has decided over the last 220 years, the concept of Judicial Review including the concepts of Activism vs. Restraint and Constructionism.

One point I like to make with students is the demystification of the Court. No other branch of the government works in such secrecy and literally behind closed doors as does the Court. Those nine wise people make fateful decisions in a manner most Americans are ignorant of. One way to "expose" the Court is through video, and my favorite on this subject is "Gideon's Trumpet". I discussed this film in a previous blog (see the hyperlink). This movie can have two big teaching objectives. First, it can teach the ins and outs of the Gideon case (a favorite of the AP Exam); and second, it can teach the ins and outs of how the Court functions. For a couple of hours investment in time you get a big bang for your "bucks".

Of course there are a ton of great books on the Court. A new one I asked for and Santa was nice enough to deliver was The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin. I have just started on this book, but it promises to be an excellent source of information on the "Bush" Court including Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito. I like the short chapters in this book that are great for student readings in or out of class. The hyperlink on this book takes you to an NPR site with reviews, an interview with Toobin you can listen to, and an excerpt from the book...it is worth taking a few minutes on. Other good selections are Bob Woodward's The Brethren, and the classic Lawrence Baum's The Supreme Court, now in it's Ninth Edition. Most of these are way to much for the students to tackle in a semester along with everything else we must demand of them, but these are great background books for teachers and can be used selectively for short readings.

Next week I will give you a short discussion on the Justices of the current Court and do a little speculating on changes we might see during the Obama administration. I hope you continue to enjoy watching the Obama administration form and make decisions that will change the future course of American History. What a great time to be in our trade :) ! Until then...

The 100 Days...

2009-01-18T15:01:00.000-08:00

What Do They Mean?

This Tuesday is an historic day that few Americans will forget. The nation has elected the first African American as President; a benchmark that can only help to forge unity in a nation marked by factions. Inauguration Day will be eventful with "the speech", the balls, parades, and the gathering of who's who in America. It is an event I hope your students are encouraged to view and savor. It is history, and one of America's finest moments. The busy schedule for the next couple of days will keep most of us with one eye on the Internet and television.

For our troubled nation, however, the really important days are the next 100 which will follow Tuesday's pomp and ceremony. Since the fabled First 100 Days of Franklin Roosevelt's administration, the first three months of every president's administration becomes a measuring stick by which much of the next four years is to be judged. This year I believe that the first 100 days is more important than any in recent history. The economy, the war in Iraq, the crisis in Gaza, Iran, China, and the list of issues, problems, and confrontations facing Mr. Obama is endless. All of which offers AP Government and Politics teachers a plethora of teaching moments.

Here are a list of issues facing the nation that I will focus my classes on during the remainder of this semester of school. Using current events discussions, news readings, and class discussions, I will want to make sure the students are aware of the ramifications of these points:

The economic stimulation package and its effect on the budget and debt
The early days of the White House (watching for organization and management style)
The handling of Iraq and Afghanistan and the role of Commander and Chief
The confirmation of the Cabinet and other vital appointments
Approval Ratings (it might be fun to graph them on a chart in the room)
Interaction with Congress (especially the House leadership) in vital economic legislation packages
Interaction with the Bureaucracy (and the Cabinet of "rivals")
The Media and the President...their relationship and how Mr. Obama deals with press issues

These topic will offer the student great discussion points on possible AP Free Response Questions and give the kids a better understanding of the government in general. I am sure your classes are excited (as mine are) with the changing of the guard. Mr. Obama has ignited a new generation of youth who may prove to be more active and participatory than any previous generation. What a fantastic age to be an AP Government teacher!!! Until next time...

More on the Bureaucracy

2009-01-11T16:19:00.001-08:00

The Regulatory Agencies...the Heart of Your AP Government Unit

Last week I discussed the need for teaching the Federal Bureaucracy as an AP teacher. I fear that this unit is often overlooked or skipped entirely. In 2006, the responses to the Free Response Question on the bureaucracy demonstrated a need for more thorough coverage of the topic of bureaucracy nationwide. The problem with the bureaucracy is that it just isn't very glamorous. In fact, it can be a bit boring (understatement) for the students unless we help put a little life in it.

Last week, I focused mostly on the Cabinet; and indeed, the newspapers this week were full of articles about Mr. Obama's selections for Secretaries and the Attorney General post. By all means, we must put a very high focus on these top governmental positions and how they relate to Congress and to the public.

This can also be a great time to introduce the "iron triangle" (remember that famous Free Response Question from the mid-1990s on the iron triangle) and take a look at sub-governments and the relationship that exists between the bureaucracy and Congressional standing committees and clients. I like to read some excerpts to the students from Dan Briody's 2003 book to get them the message on this topic.

This week, however, I want to call your attention to the aspect of the bureaucracy that has most recently caught the attention of the College Board test committees: the regulatory agencies. (Lesson 26 in US Government and Politics at www.Hippocampus.org.) Most of the top textbooks do a pretty good job of handling this topic including a short history of the beginning of the regulatory agencies in the Progressive Era and the proliferation of these agencies in the New Deal and post War years. The books also get into the topic of deregulation during the Reagan years and that continuing trend which persists today.

I like to try to focus the students on a few of the major regulatory agencies. Again, as I do with the Cabinet positions, I use a shotgun method breaking students into groups to study the agencies and then reporting out to the class their findings. The agencies I focus on are: SEC, NLRB, EPA, FTC, FCC, and FDA. (I have linked the home page for each of these for you...like the Cabinet Departments, the Federal Agencies have a great deal of transparency and students can look to these sites for most information they will want or need.) The 2006 question included two of these, and my students were very comfortable answering the question. The Federal Reserve was the other agency from that year, but I cover that under public policy and economic and don't include it with the pure regulatory agencies.

It really isn't hard to hook the students on the regulatory agencies. The FDA is familiar to most students from their US History, but a short reading from The Jungle will help them understand the need for this agency. The FCC was involved in the famous "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl XXXVIII issuing a huge fine and being caught in an interesting Court battle (US Court of Appeals, Third Circuit CBS v. FCC 06-3575 [2008]). The NLRB has been active in union negotiations in our city and news clippings are not hard to find on the EPA. A little creativity and student interest really gets peaked. I also do a current events element in my class (students must find and review two articles for group sharing weekly) and during the unit I challenge them to find articles on these agencies...they always can.

On another note, the inauguration is just around the corner...next week I will put some ideas out for looking at the historic day, THE SPEECH, and how to incorporate it into your curriculum. Until then...

The New Year...

2009-01-04T17:43:00.000-08:00

And What A Year It Will Be

Welcome back readers, and a Happy New Year to you. Now that we have all had a well deserved period of R&R, it is time to get back into the swing of things...and oh, how things will be swinging shortly. The nation is preparing for an historic inauguration, while President-elect Obama has been very busy working on lining up his cabinet. As I write this blog, the hot story flashing on the net is that Bill Richardson, who had been tapped for Secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name citing a federal investigation into business "concerns" during his governorship. Let the drama begin.

I will be beginning this semester with the Hippocampus Bureaucracy Unit, which is great timing. Immediately following January 20th, the Senate will begin considering the confirmation of the cabinet. The news will be full of Senate hearing stories, profiles of the nominees, and the so called "team of rivals" that Mr. Obama has selected to fill the top positions in our federal bureaucracy.

In the years that I have worked with students in AP Government and Politics, I have found that one of the hardest units for them to really get a grip on is the unit discussing the federal bureaucracy. It seems that the working branch of our federal government is ominous, confusing, and quite difficult for them to get their minds around. In 2006, the AP Exam's Free Response section of the test had a bureaucracy question. I was not a reader on that particular question that year, but I did talk with many of the readers for the question. Those folks reported to me that the question was a tough one for the kids to answer and that many of the responses demonstrated that the bureaucracy had remained a mystery to the students. Why is this?

I think one of the best places to start on the bureaucracy is the official White House site under the heading of the Cabinet. Once you are in the site and in the Cabinet section, clicking on the name of the Department will send you to the Department's official site. It is very handy and very easy to use.

I like to make a class project based on this site. I divide the class into five or six groups and have each group research one of the major departments. I always use State, Defense, Treasury, and Justice and since we are in an agricultural state Agriculture and Transportation (we make a bunch of airplanes in our state as well). I have the students find out exactly what each Department does, how it is structured, and current issues the department is facing. I also ask the students to scan the newspapers and on-line news to find articles to share concerning their Department. We use the jig-saw technique and have the students do the teaching.

I don't overly structure this assignment, rather I let the students find information they believe is important. The results are usually amazingly good and in the end, the class has a good feel for the cabinet. The federal government, thanks to the internet, is very transparent and easy to access. I am amazed sometime with how much information the students are able to access with little or no problem. Most often they come to me with questions on how to get their information cut down...not on how to find more!

Of course, the cabinet is only a part of federal bureaucracy. Next week I will discuss a little about the agencies, corporations, administrations, and other bureaucratic branches...especially the regulatory agencies which are of a particular interest to College Board and their question writing teams. Until then...

A Reality Check Now and Then Never Hurts

2008-12-21T10:47:00.000-08:00

Thank You for Keeping It Real

I have a pet peeve I need to share: experts who are so far from working in the real world that their advise to us is at best suspect. You know those folks? The "do-as-I-say-but-have-never-attempted-in-the-real-world-myself" experts! The field of education is full of them and we are bombarded by their theories, practices, and jargon constantly. I am just egotistical enough to believe that unless THEY are in the trenches with you and me working with real time students that most of their rhetoric is just that.

OK, I had a rude awakening this week...yes, I have met the enemy and it is ME! Ouch!!!! Mind you dear readers, I am in the trenches with you. I teach what I preach and all ideas that I share have been time tested with real AP students in a Midwest urban school with a economically disadvantaged student rate of over 40% and a racial diverse student body.

However, I have some huge advantages over many of you. I am my own department chair and have developed a nice vertical team approach to AP in my department starting with freshmen AP Euro, a two year AP US History program, and a year long AP Government and Politics course. I have been fortunate to have administrators that understand the value of an AP curriculum and who have allowed me to make AP a departmental priority. Our school became an AVID school this year which means that the AP programs should be growing and we are well positioned to help all students be successful.

Here is the rub...this week a second year AP Government teacher in my area emailed and asked if I could help her with some critical curriculum decisions. This colleague has a huge problem. She is only given second semester (on an A-B block) to prepare her students for the AP Exam, which this year is on the first day of testing, May 4th. Her problem: what to jettison and what to teach.

Very politely this teacher (who has been a reader of this blog) let me know that for those of us living in an ideal AP world, my ideas are great...for those trapped in a different reality however, I was full of...well..."theories, practices and jargon". Ouch again!!!

The two of us did sit down for several hours one afternoon this week and looking at Hippocampus, Lineberry, and the Woll reader and married her limited calendar to the vastness of the AP Government and Politics curriculum. We had to become minimalists to say the least, cutting and slashing the curriculum, lesson plans, and readings to what can only be called bare bones AP Government. Keeping in mind also that the new College Board audit system calls for maintaining a tight syllabus that is comprehensive we had quite a daunting task.

We have a little more work to do, but by the end of our initial meeting we felt very positive about the course she would be teaching and the expectations for success for her students. And of course for me this experience was a great reality check. When I renew this blog for second semester I pledge to "keep it real" for those of you that face time limits and other real world of public eduction issues.

Thank you for all the work you do to be the best teachers in the country. We hope this blog has been of some benefit to you this year. After New Year's and a full platter of bowl games I will continue where we left off with the Bureaucracy.

I hope you and your families have the most wonderful holiday season. Enjoy your well earned rest. Until then...

The Budget

2008-12-14T16:44:00.000-08:00

Try Not Scaring the Kids to Death

I always tell myself when I start the unit on the budget and the national debt not to scar the heck out of the kids. I traditionally begin this unit by first looking at the national debt clock. When the students see that they will be obligated to pay somewhere in the vicinity of $35,000 to just pay off the current debt, I sort of lose the "don't spread the fear" battle. This is some pretty scary stuff after all. Can you believe that the Times Square Debt Clock maxed out this October going over $10 TRILLION DOLLARS??? Wow....

By now, most of the students should be aware that President-elect Obama has his job cut out over the next four years trying to stimulate the economy out of the recession, while not increasing the national debt to a point that it is unmanageable for the foreseeable future. If they have been following the news, they should have some awareness of the immensity of the task. Here is an activity I have used to help the students further realize how difficult and how controversial this job has been in the past and will be in the future.

First, I use the Federal Spending Pie Graph provided in the Hippocampus unit. As a class, we will look at the chart and discuss the difference between mandatory and discretionary spending. We will then look at all eight of the categories this chart represents. When you point to each section of the pie graph, a brief description of that section pops up. We discuss each section, making sure the kids have a pretty good understanding of the sectors of the federal spending that are being represented on the graph. I try to answer any and all questions at that time to give them a basic understanding of the national expenditures.

I then divide the class into eight groups and assign each group to one of the sections. With this done I pose a problem for the class to solve. I tell them the national budget is $1 million dollars. However, this year we must slash $100,000 from the budget due to lost revenue. The class must then decide which of the sections must be sacrificed with an understanding that there must be a unanimous class vote on solution. The trick is that each group is also told that they will lose class points if it is their section that is cut. Let the debate begin.

As can be predicted, across the board cuts are suggested, but the mandatory groups point out that this is politically almost impossible. The military sector can't imagine losing funds during a time of war and the non-military discretionary is panicky thinking about cuts to education just as they are about to enter college (and seek federal aid!). Printing money is the first out-of-the-box solution (good time to discuss inflation) and borrowing is widely suggest (but one flash back to the debt clock is all that is needed). No group wants to bite the bullet, but I keep insisting that the cuts must be made!

I can't remember a year since the end of national surpluses that the classes were able to really solve this problem . Usually one group (non-military discretionary) gives in and allows cuts in their section on things like highways and transportation, mainly due to class pressure and with my guarantee that points will not be deducted from their grade. As an opening activity to the Budget Unit, I pretty much have the students hooked. What could potentially be boring becomes salient and relevant.

Many of you might have much better budget games, but this is a quick and easy way to demonstrate the dilemmas that Congress and the President face with a national budget and a recession. Give it a try as an opening activity and then get into the facts and details of the process and problems of budgetary politics. And remember, try not to scare them too badly! Until then...

More on the Presidency

2008-12-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

Looking at the Presidential Approval Ratings

When I teach the unit on the Executive Branch I like to bring the unit to a conclusion with two points. First, I show (or have the students view on their own) the HBO video Truman which was based on the David McCullough book by the same title. (See previous blog on using this video in class and related sites on the internet.) My purpose here is twofold; I believe this movie more than any other shows the humanity of the men who serve. Truman was a flawed man with ambitions and conceits identical to you and I. Yet Truman put aside his own personal motivations in order to make the best possible decisions for the nation at a very critical time in history. This leads to wonderful discussions on the Man vs. The Job.

My second purpose is that at the very end of the video we see Truman leaving office and going to the D.C. train station where a crowd of admirers surround him in a farewell tribute. As the scene plays out, the actress playing Margaret Truman reads a voice-over saying that when Truman left office his approval ratings were very low. I use this as a jump off point to go into a discussion on approval ratings and the President.

On the topic of approval ratings, I would like to direct you to a couple of web sites and one article that can be used for teaching and discussing this topic. The first of these is Wikipedia...yes I used the "W" word again. If you can't beat them, join them! The Wikipedia site on Presidential Approval Ratings has all of the approval rating graphs from FDR through our current president. As a class, we look at each one of these graphs and discuss for each president why there are peaks and why there are ebbs in the graph based on historical events.

For example, with the current president we discuss relatively low rates at the onset of the first term (result of a very tight and strange 2000 election), the spike following 9-11, the spike after the apparent success of the Iraq engagement, and then the slow decline as the war dragged on and the economy tanked. The students really get into these discussions...they are excellent ways to bring in the recent history and the politics of public perceptions. I start with FDR and move on. The final question for the students is: "What will the new President's chart look like?" This question forces the students to look at the issues facing Mr. Obama and what will happen to his chart if policies fail or succeed.

The second option for you is the Roper Center for Public Opinion Archive. If you are squeamish about Wikipedia, this site has not only the graphs, but also the data points for FDR through GWB. You can do the above lesson with this site equally as well.

The last place I would like to direct you is an excellent article about the graphs and approval rating titled "Presidential Approval in Perspective". I don't have the students read this, but it is an essential reading for the teacher to have under the belt when doing the above activity. In short, the article discusses how the approval graphs can be misleading and what needs to be done to correct false impressions that presenting data graphically can lead to. I like to summarize the concepts of Dr. Franklin's article and then ask the students questions to see if they get his message of using caution in making comparisons of graphic representations of data.

OK...some pretty heady stuff here, but the students respond positively to it and it does fulfill the College Board's desire for us to teach more about data, charts and graphs, and using these tools. Keep in mind that in the past graphs have been the basis for Free Response Questions. Building graph reading into our lessons is critical. Don't always assume that the students have these skill...they don't!!!!!!!

Next week I will move on and discuss some things I like to look at with the Budget Unit. Until then...

Rating a President

2008-11-30T16:59:00.000-08:00

What will We be Looking for in Mr. Obama?

The transition leadership is taking shape as President-elect Obama is forming his economic and foreign policy teams this week. The pundits, both critics and apologists, are having a hay-day with speculations and predictions of the soon to be Cabinet and White House. On a daily basis the newspapers and online news sites are full of great teaching points. I hope you have been cluing your classes in on these marvelous opportunities.

This week, however, I want to take a different angle on the Presidency. In Lesson 19 in the Executive Branch unit of Hippocampus' AP Government it talks about the qualities of the men who are our presidents. Particularly, there is a discussion of the ideas of James McGregor Burns. Burns has written that as we judge the effectiveness of a President we need to keep in mind if he had clear focused goals going into office and if he was indeed able to achieve those goals. This, Burns would contend, defines presidential greatness.

I would like to call your attention to several fine articles that you will be able to locate on-line that may be a supplement to Lesson 19. You will find them in the PBS Frontline site under "the choice 2004: what makes a good president". The first of these articles is by Fred Greenstein entitled "The Qualities that Bear on Presidential Performance." Greenstein in this article identifies six important qualities that must exist for a President to reach Burns' idea of successful. These traits are: the ability to communicate effectively with the public, possessing organizational capabilities, understanding and using political skills, having a vision for the administration, maintaining a solid cognitive style, and possessing emotional intelligence.

A possible lesson plan for the above article would be to have your class read the article and then break up into small groups. Each group would be assigned one of the modern presidents. They would need to do research on the president and then rate him on the above criteria. Each group would then report out to the class on the man, the president, and his success/failure based on Dr. Greenstein's standards.

The second article is by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. entitled "Rating the Presidents: Washington to Clinton". This article was based on a 1996 ranking of presidents by leading historians and political scientists. The Presidents were rated in one of five categories: Great, Near Great, Average, Below Average, or Failure. If your class has done the above activity or if you have simply read the Greenstein article and discussed it in class, this article will make predictions of greatness by the class very relevant.

The site also has articles by several other authors (one is Karl Rove) that are interesting and can be used in an AP class studying the presidency. This year it would be fun to have a class discussion on the apparent strengths and weaknesses of Mr. Obama, and have the students make their own informed prediction on his White House success. You can have a "you are the pundit" time with the kids. If you do any Socratic seminars this would be a good topic.

Next week I will continue to look at other aspects of the presidency. Until then...

Moving to the Presidency

2008-11-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

The Next Couple of Weeks...

The hottest ticket in Washington is the Presidential inauguration. The city will be packed for the event; pretty exciting stuff. The hottest ticket for AP Government teachers right now is getting into our units on the Presidency. This is my personal favorite area to teach. I really get into looking at the Executive Branch and all of the intricacies that go into the formation of the White House.

In the next couple of weeks I would like to turn our discussions to the White House, President Elect Obama, President Bush, and the myriad of details that surround the Executive Branch. A presidential election year is always special for a government or political science teacher. For one, the creation and formation of a new administration happens right before our eyes. This morning I watched the Sunday pundits agonize over the new cabinet picks and White House insiders. The process is fascinating. The Internet brings such transpency to the process. Those of you who taught AP Government during the transition period for Clinton and even for Bush (II) will remember how difficult it was to get reliable information quickly. We almost have too much information now.

In that vein, I would point you in the direction of the CCN Election Center http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/10/explainer.cabinet.possibles/index.html for a site to send your students. Next week my students will be asked to give me biographical information on 3-4 of Mr. Obama's Cabinet selections. This will be a jumping off point for discussions on the politics of selecting a Cabinet that is acceptable to the Senate confirmation process and capable of handling the issues of the day for the President. We will do our own vetting of the candidates anticipating the final selections and confirmation.

I will also ask the students to read another CNN article http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/18/obama.lincoln/index.html?iref=newssearch hopefully to stimulate a conversation in class about the best type of Cabinet...one that falls in line with the President and his philosophy ( for example, our current President) or one that has a Lincoln style of adversarial opinions. If you spend any time discussing the management style of the President (Hub and Spoke, Pyramid or Military, Ad Hoc) this article can lead to some great analysis and spectulation. Will Mr. Obama be more like a John Kennedy in his management style, an Eisenhower, or a George W. Bush? You will find this in Lesson 21 in Hippocampus' AP Government and Politics.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have been very thankful for having the opportunity to share with you this fall in the Hippocampus Government Blog. Until next time...

A Congressional Bibliography

2008-11-15T10:20:00.000-08:00

Some Sources for the New (and Old) Teacher

From time to time younger teachers in my district and region have asked me for help with Advanced Placement Government and Politics. I have always been very happy to help with suggestions and resources. Teaching should be a collaborative effort. I was taught this by Dr. Will McLauchlan from the Purdue University. A number of years ago at a one day seminar, Dr. McLauchlan gave each participant a CD containing his entire lecture series for a 101 Poly Sci class. His generosity blew me away. For years I have based my entire AP Course on his gift.

This blog is an outgrowth of this willingness to cooperate and share lessons, thoughts, ideas, and curriculum. I know that for readers who are experienced AP instructors, some weeks my blog offers nothing new. But for a new teacher in this field and this curriculum area, I hope that each week I can give some insight into some aspect of teaching AP Government that will assist you in developing your lessons and your teaching philosophy.

This being said, this week I want to share a short "annotated" bibliography on books on Congress that every AP teacher should keep in his/her library. I have found these books excellent references and resources over the years. Many of these are time tested being in the double digit editions. If you have a limited library on the subject of Congress, these might be good suggestions for the Santa Claus in your life.

Congress and Its Members by Davidson and Oleszek: often used as a college text, this book is a wonderful source for detailed informations on how Congress really works. The chapters run 30 pages or so, and are a bit long for students to do as an assigned supplimental reading in high school, but I do use exerpts to help clarify concepts.

The Broken Branch: How Congress is Failing America and How to Get it Back on Track by Mann and Ornstein: These two are leading authorities on Congress and this book has given me great ammunition to discuss Congress with classes. The material is pretty heavy reading for high school students, but it is indispensable for teachers. I highly recommend it as thought provoking reading.

Congress Reconsidered by Dodd and Oppenheimer: I'm not sure what addition this is now in, but you need to own one of these. The collection of essays will benefit you especially when students ask the hard questions. I have used excerpt of these readings with my students. They find the level of reading challenging but understandable.

Constitutional Conflicts Between Congress and the President by Louis Fisher: I use this in the early part of the semester in discussions on Constitutionalism and separation of powers. I have pulled excerpts for students to read and consider. It is another book that brings up issue for all of us to think about.

Unorthodox Law Making by Barbara Sinclair: I have a rather long lecture I call "Hi, my name is Bill" (yes, we watch the School House Rock version) that I could not give without this book. Sinclair really gives good insight into the process of legislating bills through the House and Senate.

I swear I am not on anyones payroll and no commissions will be forthcoming by these promotions. In a world of millions of books available on Congress, these stick out as some of the best. I would put them on an AP Government teachers book shelf. If you have other suggestions please comment back and let me know...I will post those comments. Until then...

Continuing Ed Opportunities

2008-11-09T20:14:00.000-08:00

The Election First...
Every four years I get pretty emotional with my classes. I tell myself I won't do it this year, but... How can we not get emotional. One of the greatest political miracles happens right before our eyes. The most powerful man on earth voluntarily steps asides and hands his job to another who may or may not be a political rival. This miracle doesn't happen everywhere folks. It always happens here!

This year I sort of out did myself. I actually opened the windows of my room and asked the student, "What do you hear?" Beyond a bird or two and a couple of cars they responded "not much." "Precisely," I said. "No tanks, no marching troops, no gun shots or rocket explosions. The miracle of a free election with no threat of military coup, no violence, no blood shed. What a special nation this really is."

Of course the kids think I am an old man who has lost it, and maybe they are right. However I have now lived through this transition of power beginning with Harry Truman returning to Independence, to George W. handing the reigns of power to an African American. Truman desegregated the military and bureaucracy and now a Black man will occupy the White House. Regardless of who you supported this election, you must admit that America grew up just a little bit. 2008 wasn't an election about a Black man becoming President. It was an election about domestic, economic, and foreign policy that just happened to be between a White man and Black man. I am really proud of US (pun intended). I hope you too have passed that on to your students.

.....Then Some Opportunities You Might Want to Check Out

Here are a couple of continuing education opportunities I wanted to share with you. The first is the Bill of Rights Institute. This organization has been around since 1999 and works with a $4 million annual budget. Their mission statement is to education students on the Bill of Rights and the liberties of the American people. If you go to the site, click on Teachers and go to the list of seminars. The one day seminars are absolutely fantastic. Mr. Brett Helm taught a seminar I attended earlier this fall on Supreme Court cases that changed history concerning civil rights and affirmative action. Along with a law professor from the University of Kansas Law School the day was a learning opportunity that no AP teacher should miss. This year the Institute is hosting week long seminars at Mount Vernon in June and August. Several of my colleagues have attended the summer seminars and gained huge amounts of information. Check them out!

The other opportunity might actually fit better in the Hippo History Blog, but then where does history end and political science begin? (my apologies to Karen if I am stepping on her toes :))This is the Gilder-Lehrman Institute. While many AP History teachers are familiar with Gilder-Lehrman, I find that many AP Government teachers have never heard of the organization. G-L's mission is primarily in the history field, but I have applied for a gem of a summer institute this summer (see the list) on the role of the Court in US history. Several other topics offered around the country this summer are very much cross-over topics.

Both of the above mentioned continuing education opportunities will add to your arsenal of knowledge. I have experiences with both organizations and highly recommend them...satisfaction guaranteed.

With changes in Congress, the administration building, and an inauguration around the corner there are tons of great teaching opportunities available. Drop us a line and let us know what you are doing with your classes concerning the transition government. Until then...

Congress on the Net

2008-10-30T16:43:00.000-07:00

Some Sites to Help You and Your Students

Just a couple of days until the historic election of 2008. Wow...I am pumped. I love election night. The excitement of an American Presidential election can not be beat. This the the World Series (how about those Phillies???), Super Bowl, and Stanley Cup all rolled into one. While we are all keeping a sharp eye on those early returns in the Presidential race, let's not lose focus on the critical Congressional races happening nationwide. This year's House and Senate races might just be more important than who ends up occupying that big house on Pennsylvania Avenue. Will America vote for a divided or unified government? Stay tuned :)

Last week, I shared one of my favorite multimedia lessons on Congress. Using the web, readings from the Woll Reader, and class discussions I let you in on my power ladder assignment. In that discussion, I shared several sites with you that are must visit sites. The first was Congress.org which has tons of goodies to look at. In that blog, we focused on the power positions of House and Senate members. If you have time, take a peek at the entire site. It can be a very rich resource to develop lessons or find information.

I also sent you last week to House.gov and Senate.gov, the two official sites for these institutions. Last week we had the specific purpose of finding information and connecting to the individual members of Congress. These sites, however, are rich in many other ways. Try clicking on the Eductional Resources in the House site. I have found this useful as a bookmark to get easy access to documents I often use.

Another site that I find indespensible is Thomas (thomas.loc.gov). This is the Library of Congress site. Again, as you browse you will find a vast number of invaluable resources and pages. If you click on For Teachers and then under Classroom activities you will see the "In Congress Assembled" lesson plans. I really like the concept of these activities which deal with Veteran affairs, the debt, and terrorism. You will find these in Lesson 3.

Gov.com is a site that you might want to remember to help you find stuff. I always tell my kids that if you need to access a particular part of the government but are having problems finding it, this is a great index. Another site that I look at from time to time is lessonplancentral.com. Their section on Congress has some pretty good ideas that I have borrowed when my own creative juices stop flowing. I am one who doesn't believe in reinventing the wheel everyday and as a teacher my motto has always been, "if it's a good lesson, steal it."

I am sure you are probably well aware of these sites and probably have more. For new teachers in government, these are the basics that you gotta know! Please drop me any comments and share some of your favorites. Until then...

A Congressional Lesson Plan

2008-10-25T14:02:00.000-07:00

Power Rankings in Congress

Are you getting close to being campaigned out? If you are like me, it is past time to be moving on in the curriculum, even as the 2008 election rages toward it's final moments. It is hard to pass up teaching points and newspaper articles that you want to share with the students...but the deadline to the AP Exam is calling. So much to teach and so little time to teach it in!! So lets look ahead to Congress for a bit.

This week I want to share what I call my "Power Ladder" assignment. If you have the (Peter) Woll Reader as part of your class it will make this assignment a bit easier; however, don't quit reading if you don't have this resource. The Internet will save you. If you don't use Woll, I highly recommend it for Advanced Placement students. The readings are challenging and you need to give guidance in using this book, but the opportunity for students to read the classic articles by top political scientists is priceless.

One of Woll's longtime readings is the classic Lawrence Dodds "Congress and the Quest for Power" (1977). I assign this for my classes to read. I tell them that while the article has several very important points, I especially want them to concentrate on the part of the article that Dodds calls the "power ladder". If you do not have the article available for the students or if you want to shorten this assignment, go to the hyperlinked Internet summary available for this article. Once the class has completed reading this, we have a discussion on the power ladder and Dodds' ideas to ensure that we are all on the same page.

Next, I ask my students to get in small groups and create for me an eleven by seventeen sized poster of a congressional power ladder that positions our state's Senators and Representatives on their respective rung. They are directed to Senate.gov and House.gov to locate information on committee assignments, important leadership roles, and other pertinent information on our state's delegation. Obviously, if you are in a large state you will want to select 3 or 4 of the Representative for them to research or allow the groups to make their own selections. Since our state has only four representatives, we do all of them giving us a total of six delegates to research.

This assignment does not take long if the groups divide their tasks and work as a team. I only give them two days to complete the job. Each group must then present their poster and justify why they placed the members of Congress on the power ladder as they did. We get great class discussion and it really brings the Dodds' article to life. In the mean time, the class becomes well acquainted with the state's Congressional members and their value to our state in Congress.

The last step to this assignment is what I call the reality check. I send the group to Congress. Org's power ranking page. Their job on this site is to see how the site defines power (and compare that to Dodds), look up the rankings of our delegation, and compare their evaluation and ranking to those on the site. The culmination to this project is an individual reflection paper on the assignment and what was learned.

I like the assignment for several reasons. First, it marries the printed page and the Internet. I believe this reinforces the idea that we want students to rely on multiple sources to find informtion. Second, it involves critical thinking and analysis. I find that too often in my AP class I expect students to absorb facts, but not really use them. I try to keep from falling into that trap. Finally, it is an opportunity for the students to work in a cooperative group and problem solve. Isn't that what government is supposed to be about?

Try the assignment and see if you like it. If you are teaching an on-line class this can become an individual assignment or it can be shortened and used on a "face" day. Let me know what you think. Until next time...

Polls and Polling In the 2008 Presidential Election

2008-10-19T16:10:00.002-07:00

What Students Need to Know about the Bradley Effect, the Cell Phone Effect, and the Science of Polling

With two weeks before the 2008 election, it might be a good time to clue the students in on polling. Don't make the mistake of thinking that they understand the topic. As the major networks and most of the papers and weekly magazines concentrate on election outcome projections, it can become very confusing for the kids. Actually, at times, it becomes very confusing for most adults.

If you are using the Hippocampus curriculum, "Polls and Polling" is actually located in the Executive Branch Unit. This was originally done because in non-election years, the use of polls to gauge public opinion fits nicely with the policy development aspect of the White House. As a matter of fact, I have often used the PBS Frontline "The Clinton Years" video to develop the ideas of polling. (On this site is a transcript of the video in case you don't want to invest in the DVD.) The Chapter entitled "1995-1996 defeat/victory" sports a discussion with Dick Morris which is an excellent linkage tools for students to see how polls are used, or misused, by government. Morris, a Republican pollster and political analyst, joined Clinton's administration resulting in the condemning charge that President Clinton governed by poll.

Most of the college level textbooks also have adequate chapters or sections on the topic. The Edwards/Wattenberg/Lineberry Government in America, for example, has a solid discussion on polling in the chapter entitled "Public Opinion and Political Action". Go to the Hippocampus Advanced Placement Government site and click on Textbooks. You can find the page number for the topic in the NROC recommended books.

This being said, the question the students are throwing at me this year is, "What is the Bradley Effect?" They have heard the term in conjunction with news stories on the election polls, but don't understand the concept. In case you are fuzzy on this issue, the Bradley or Bradley-Wilder Effect is a reference to the 1982 California gubernatorial election. Tom Bradley, the black LA mayor had double digit leads in the polls which evaporated on election day. Bradley lost to George Duekmajian bringing about the idea that white voters will tell pollsters that they will vote for a black candidate, but will change their minds at the ballot box. Of course the application this election lies with Barack Obama's apparent lead with two weeks remaining. Does the Bradley Effect exist today? A good article to introduce the students to this concept is found on the NPR web site. You can either play the audio or print the transcript. I shared the audio with my students just the other day and it resulted in a very lively class discussion.

If the Bradley Effect still exists (and the above article argues it does not), it may be off-set by the Cell Phone Effect. This concept centers on the way polls are conducted; that is, through the use of land line phone numbers. The problem with this falls in the hundreds of thousands of young potential voters who are cell phone owners only. These voters being excluded from the polls could skew the reliability assuming of course that many of these youth are Obama supporters. A fairly new piece of research on this was done by the Pew Research Center. I copied part of this article and most of the graphics and had a lively discussion with this information also.

As if elections were not tricky enough to teach, technology is rearing its head and making the complicated much more complicated. At any rate, I strongly suggest taking a quick look at the polling process with the students and discussing these subjects. A polling question has not appeared on the Free Response section of the AP Government and Politics Exam for as long as I can remember. Who knows??? Until next time....

A Hot Ticket to Congressional Elections

2008-10-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

Look out...I'm Using the "W" Word

I can't believe I am about to do this in public. I'm going to use the "W" word...not only use it, but recommend it. I am sending you to the Wikipedia page for Congressional Elections. I have always been suspicious of Wikipedia; or maybe I should say down right distrustful. But following a long, futile search to locate a site that pulled together all of this year's Congressional races, Wikipedia was the only one that did the job. Let me know if you can prove this wrong.

When you click on the above hyperlink and get to the Wikipedia site, drop down a few lines and you will see United States House Elections 2008 or United States Senate Elections 2008. Click on these and you will get a plethora of great stuff. First, go to the House Elections 2008. On the top of the article is a nice red/blue map of incumbents by Congressional districts. I found this very useful in class discussions. I asked the kids to compare the incumbents of our state to the way our state voted in the last four presidential elections (using the CNN election map discussed last week). This became a springboard for a class discussion on divided government, voting patterns of the electorate, and party loyalty or the lack thereof.

The next thing I did with this page was have the students look at the retiring incumbents. We already had a discussion on incumbent re-election efficiency and open election competition, so this information was combined for a good discussion speculating on the expected changes in the total House membership this year. That led to a discussion on how this could possibly help an Obama Presidency if he wins or hurt a McCain administration if he wins. I saw a lot of light bulbs turn on during this class discussion.

Next, a table is given with pundits rating selected House races. Following this is a brief look at each of these races. We looked at the pundit's predictions for our state. Again, it fostered a great discussion. We then looked at some of the key races in other states. I wrapped this up with a short writing exercise asking the students to make their own personal House predictions, justify these, and then discuss the ramifications of their predicted outcome. I did this with my classroom, but there is no reason that this could not become a bulletin board discussion with a subsequent writing assignment.

The Senate article is very similar. It has the red/blue map, a list of retiring Senators (all Republican), information on all of the Senate races, and predictions by the pundits. If your students are using the Sabato book, they will enjoy seeing their textbook author as one of the pundits. Since our state has a Senate race this year, we looked at it, the predictions, and compared this to the House races.

It is very easy in a Presidential Election year to overlook the Congressional races. In our state, we hardly see any information in the paper on this race and election television ads are just now starting to appear regularly. Our incumbent is fairly safe, but the class discussion on Senate versus House incumbent rate of re-election was interesting. I am using the video "The Candidate" right now, and so this site really helped to reinforce the teaching points we are focusing on (see my blog entry: AP Goes Hollywood, continued on 9-14-08) . The students are also marveling on how some things never change.

Enjoy the election season with the students. One more debate between the Presidential contenders is still coming up and the Congressional races are gaining full force. Its a fun time to be teaching government. Until next time...

A Quick Hitter Election Lesson Plan

2008-10-05T15:41:00.000-07:00

You Be the Campaign Manager

If you are working with the Hippocampus AP curriculum, you are probably finished with political parties and starting the election section. With the Presidential election winding down to the last thirty days, the excitement is building at the perfect time. Are we good or what?

Here is a suggestion for a real quick presidential election assignment that makes the kids go beyond the facts into analytical thinking. For this lesson, I am using the CNN Presidential Election Map. This map is a great tool. It shows the CNN poll predictions using dark blue for a solid Obama state, a light blue for a state leaning toward Obama, a light red for a state leaning toward McCain, and a dark red for a solid McCain state. Yellow is for the battle ground states. Click on each state and you get the prediction for the electoral votes. At the bottom of the pop up box, you can click on the history and see how the state has voted in the last four presidential elections.

Take a look at the assignment I give the students:
1. Pick a candidate and you become the Campaign Manager!
2. Assume you have $30 million dollars to spend in the last 30 days.
3. Decide (and list) the top 10 states your candidate will campaign in and explain why you selected those particular states (battle ground states "yellow", historically favors your candidate, demographics are fitting your candidates message, number of potential electoral votes, etc).
4. For each state you list, describe the demographic group you will "court" and the issue(s) you will focus on. (for example, in Florida, Obama might target the retired population with his Social Security/Medicare plan)
5. Decide how much you will allocate for your selected states, assuming you will spend all $30 million in just these 10 states.
6. Predict the outcome of the election in electoral votes assuming your strategy is successful in all cases.

It can be an individual assignment or a group project in a classroom. You could choose to make this a much more complex assignment. I keep it simple. Even so, it forces the students to incorporate previous knowledge from the political party unit as well as information in this unit on the elections. It combines current issues, demographics, polling, and the electoral college. If you have a classroom, this can become an interesting discussion with "campaigns" challenging each other on strategy and decision making. At any rate, it does bring the election alive in the classroom. After November 4th, the kids will love to compare the real world results with their work.

With two more presidential debates and plenty of issues to watch, it should be a very educational year in teaching parties and elections. Until next time...

Teaching the Free Response Question

2008-09-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

Free Response Question Tips

Having graded the AP Government Exam for seven years, I have a handle on what it takes to score maximum points. As I said last week, after becoming a first year "reader," and realizing what it took to score high on the free response portion of the exam, my students' grades took a significant jump. I would like to pass on to you what I learned.

Here, however, is a caveat for this week's blog: I am only speaking for myself and not for College Board, Educational Testing Services, or even the hundreds of other AP Government readers. Yet I feel confident the following tips will help your students as much as they have helped mine. Here goes!

Tip 1: Look at each free response question very carefully. Each question begins with a factual root statement. Then several (usually three) sub-questions are posed. Starting with the first and working to the last, each question requires a higher level of response on Bloom's hierarchy, and in turn each will have a higher threshold for the grader to award the points. Thus, the first question may only need to identify (knowledge level), the second question may require application, and the third may request analysis.

Tip 2: Be sure to do what the questions ask. Questions typically ask to define, describe, or explain. If a question asks to select from a list, no points are awarded for that.
Define is asking the student to give a thorough explanation of the term, case, or item listed. Students should try to use the proper vocabulary in their explanations. Examples are helpful and can often help clarify poor writing. Define is usually worth one point.
Describe is connected to a particular activity (such as lobbying, or writing a friend of the court brief) and is asking for an in-depth discusion. Students should try to give examples and draw connections. Again, to describe is usually one point.
Explain is asking for detailed analysis. Often the question will juxtapose two concepts, and ask for a comparison or Venn diagram type of a discussion. I tell my kids to take the time and make a t-chart or Venn diagram on the test booklet and answer the question from that source. Explain can be one or two points. Thus a typical free response question is worth 5 or 6 points.

Having the students underline or circle the action words in the question also helps ensure they do what the question ask of them. Nothing disappoints a reader more than to give an essay a low score because the student, who appears to understand the topic, does not follow the directions exactly!

Tip 3: Write a short introduction demonstrating you understand the subject . This introduction should not be long, but should demonstrate the student understands the purpose of the question. I also advise my students to write a summary conclusion. While a conclusion is technically not necessary, readers often "discover" points in the conclusion that were not in the essay. In an attempt to summarize and clarify, students can "back into a point" by giving additional necessary information in their summaries. The process of summarizing forces the writer to reflect on his/her attempt to answer the question and allows a few additional lines to "beef up" an answer.

Tip 4: It is OK to bullet the answer to match the sub-questions. As a matter of fact, as a reader on my 91st essay of the 5th day of reading, I loved bullet format answers. I did not have to hunt around for the answer in a long essay. Remember, these are free response questions and a free response answer if perfectly fine. I realize that AP hardly ever shows a bullet format answer in their samples online, but that does not mean they are not acceptable. In a day and age when young people are used to writing in short, clipped responses, the bullet format can meet the student's writing style and the reader's desire to minimize reading time per essay.

Tip 5: As an instructor, study the AP rubrics and start grading your kids in the fashion of the AP test NOW. We are all tempted to grade essays with a heavy dose of red ink. Save it! Grade on a rubric system (give old AP questions to your students and use the online rubric) and then give the rubrics to the kids and have them try to defend their answers. It will force the students to write in the style that will maximize points on the test in May.

Tip 6: The essay does not have to be long; the essay must be thorough! On a five or six point question, a one to two page essay is usually adequate. Succinct writing trumps long, flowery, wordy essays. There is no B.S.ing your way through an AP free response!

I was at a one day seminar in Kansas City a few years ago where a teacher was complaining that her students all wrote four to five page answers to each question and still received poor grades. Don't equate length with depth...they are often different beasts.

I hope this helps. If you have specific questions about how a free response question is rated, a comment about my tips, or just want to say hello, drop us a comment. We will love to hear from you. Until then...

Becoming an AP Grader = Becoming a More Effective Instructor

2008-09-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

A Band of Brothers?

When I began teaching Advanced Placement Government and Politics I was totally overwhelmed by the task. The prior instructor had a phenomenal pass to failure ratio on the AP Exam, consistently producing "5" students. Upon taking the job, I knew I had to accomplish several goals. First, be as successful as my predecessor; second, create an interesting curriculum that would draw more students; and third, not just teach to a test, but teach practical government capable of helping students navigate the world of politics. My first several years were mildly successful. I did grow my program. I like to believe I gave the students a practical, in depth class. I was not, however, successful in maintaining a high passing ratio.

To be fair, it is hard to "grow" an AP program and maintain scores. If you are recruiting students from beyond the elite students in your school or district, test scores are most likely going to drop. But do they have to? Is there something we can do to be inclusive and successful?

In my quest to raise scores, I tried a wide variety of tactics including Summer AP Institutes, mini-AP seminars, meetings with other district AP teachers , and reading books and guides on improving AP scores. For a couple of years I watched scores slowly creep up. Then came the epiphany. At a one day AP seminar at the University of Kansas the presenter highly encouraged us to become AP graders. His argument was simple. It will help you become a better teacher and raise the test scores.

The grading gig sounded a bit tedious. For one week you sit and grade essays. OUCH!! I was desperate, however, and signed on and was selected by Educational Testing Services (ETS) to be a grader. My first year grading was at the University of Nebraska. The next year, my students scored much higher and I have never looked back.

Here is what you gain from the grading experience. First, you become totally immersed in the free response question aspect of the exam. Grading gives you new insight into the grading rubric, its application by the graders, and the writing methods that will give your students the best score on that portion of the test. I found that much of the advise found in self-help study guides was incorrect. Tips that I had been giving to my students that I had gleaned from those sources were not always beneficial and even harmful.

Second, the formal and informal professional sessions gave me huge insight into the workings of the exam and proven methods for teaching AP Government and Politics. During the grading week, Professional Nights are offered by College Board with selected topics to help instructors. These are always very helpful, but more helpful were the informal sessions that occurred in the evening when groups would gather and do what teachers love to do: talk about teaching. The mixing of college professors, community college teachers, high school teachers, online teachers, and others is the richest experience you will ever have. During my seven years I made close friends from Maine, Texas, Florida, Michigan, and many other states. We email constantly sharing lessons and ideas. I am never alone. I now have a band of brothers always there to assist.

I would highly encourage you to apply today as an AP Grader. ETS is constantly looking for new graders (there is a six year limit). The current grading is in Daytona Beach. Graders stay at the Hilton on the beach...not bad. The stipend is adequate, but more important, if you are looking for that edge to make you a better teacher, this is a sure fire way to acheive your personal instructional goals. Next week, winning tips on writing the free response questions. Until next time...

AP Goes Hollywood...continued

2008-09-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

Films We Can Use in AP Classes

A couple of summers ago at the Advanced Placement Government and Politics grading in Ft. Collins, Colorado, I sat with a group of college and high school instructors and chatted about video as an educational tool. The group collectively believed that video carefully used was an effective method of engaging some of the hard to reach students in either e-courses or in face-to-face classrooms. Here is a summary of that evening's discussion:

Hollywood loves the President, but often inaccurately. A couple of good flicks on the presidency are HBO's Truman (based on David McCullogh's book) and Oliver Stones's Nixon. With Truman, primary resources are found at the Truman Library site. Speeches, policy statements, and Presidential papers are easily accessed making unit building a snap.

Nixon is also brilliantly done, but always use caution with Oliver Stone's history. The Nixon Library online is a gold mine. On the topic of Nixon, All the President's Men is a classic. You can create a unit on the role of the press as "watchdog" as well as expand on Watergate. The Washington Post site is excellent to direct students or find teaching material. Interviews with Bob Woodward are also available on line.

If your clientale will tolerate R raged language Wag the Dog is a cynical look at Presidential misuse of office. It is not an acceptable film for high schoolers, but if you are teaching community college it seems to be a solid catalyst for discuss on government ethics (excuse the oxymoron). The president as crisis manager can be studied in the classic Missiles of October or you can opt for Kevin Costner's Thirteen Days. In either case, Robert Kennedy's book is good primary material.

If you have access to the West Wing on DVD, teaching moments are endless. On the lighter side of the topic, one could use Dave or the American President. The former really has limited teaching moments; the latter does get into the policy making cycle and the relationship between interest groups and policy.

Someone once said that there were two things you do not want to see made: sausage and laws. Hollywood picked up on that an has maded few films on Congress. I personally have used Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Filmed long before cloture rules, it is still not a bad look at Senate procedures. Born Yesterday (the remake) has some interesting moments concerning lobbying and ethics. I can't say it has much other value, but it does introduce students to DeTocqueville who is generously quoted throughout. Distinquished Gentleman is a fun flick, but very limited in educational value.

The Supreme Court lends itself to some good dramas. I mentioned Simple Justice last week. Several docudramas on the Brown case have been made, most are good. Gideon's Trumpet is a classic about the Gideon v. Wainwright case. Warren's decision, the peitition for writ of certiorari by Gideon, and Anthony Lewis' book (same title) are all excellent resources.

As far as trials and litigation, Run Away Jury (the bathroom scene with Hackman and Hoffman is worth the time) and A Civil Action are useable time permitting. These films highlight social/political/judicial issues of gun control and the environment. Twelve Angry Men is often mentioned in these discussions, but I do not feel it portrays juries accurately for the students.

Elections are of course popular Hollywood subjects. I have used The Candidate along with Joe McGinnis' book for years. Primary Colors is a thin guise of the '92 Clinton presidential primary, but again the language is highly inappropriate for a young audience. I wish there was a sanitized version of this film, but about the only way to do it is to hit MUTE.

Although this does not exhaust the discussion we had that summer evening, I will stop here. Feel free to chip in with your favorite films and their primary supporting materials. We would love to hear from you. In the mean time, I will be working on next week when I will be discussing the benefits of becoming an AP Reader. Until then...

E-School Goes Hollywood

2008-09-07T14:45:00.000-07:00

Using Video to Make Your Point

A couple of years ago I was invited to teach a class at a Gilder-Lehrman Saturday Academy in Wichita, Kansas. The purpose of the Academy was to promote the teaching of social studies using historical documents and introduce creative means of weaving primary resources into curriculum. Given few guidelines other than these, I created a course called "Government in Modern Motion Picture". My audience consisted of 9th through 12th graders from public high schools who were willing to sacrifice six Saturday mornings in the middle of the school year. The students received no credit, but there was no homework and free donuts. Pretty good deal!

Within this class, I married primary resources and Hollywood with thematic teaching of the institutions of government and modern policy concerns. For example, the students one week viewed the PBS American Experience film "Simple Justice" and then read Earl Warren's opinion in the Brown v. BOE case followed up by a short piece by Robert Carter (the other major attorney in the Brown case). On a Saturday morning, these kids probably learned more about the litigation aspect of the civil rights movement than many kids learn in a semester.

Let's face it...this generation of kids prefer to absorb information in an engaging manner. In the high tech, video rich world in which they live "edutainment" makes sense. Give them a compelling tale in an sensory rich environment and you can throw in the facts with few complaints. My attitude: if you can't beat them, join them.

To this end, I believe a list of highly recommended movies can be a healthy addition to any e-class, particularly in the field of social science. Of course, some caveats have to be given at the onset of releasing such a list to students. First, the students must realize that at best movies are an interpretation of life. Artistic license will always clash with actual events, so a young viewer can not rely on Hollywood to be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help Cecil B. DeMille. After all, I have the sneaky suspicion that Moses did not actually speak English with a Chicago accent.

Second, having reviewed scores of government textbooks over the years, I have yet to read one that does not show some bias and/or a tendency toward a particular ideology. Edwards/Lineberry, Wilson, Sabato, and the rest of the best for AP Government all have their bones to pick and causes to champion. In the same way, movies ALWAYS posture and often in the most liberal of ways. While this posturing is seldom subtle to cynical APGOPO teachers, the bias of Hollywood can be totally lost on a naive seventeen year old. We must give them some fair warning and careful guidance through these intellectual mine fields.

Finally, at the very best, a movie is the Cliffs Notes version of a complex topic. Having the students read Carter, Marshall, and Warren is a bare minimum in any decent introduction of Brown v. BOE. It is the ultimate fantasy, by us ever hopeful Pollyanna types, that some day the student will be motivated to pick up Richard Kluger's definitive work and delve into the facts behind the flick. Then again, I made it through English Lit with the yellow and black booklets and a Blockbuster membership. We can only do what we can do!

Next week I will get into my video selection and some of the documents I use. Remember, in any e-class format we need to rely on Netflix as a helpmate and hope the students take the initiative to view our suggestions. This means using the films as supplemental resources or, if you have face time, using them during these times. The former can again be Pollyanna and the latter not necessarily the best use of precious face time.

You might be thinking about how to best utilize video with Hippocampus or any other e-school curriculum and give me the benefits of your ideas. Blog me back and pass on the benefit of your experience. If you are teaching in a regular class setting and reading this please share some of your experiences and ideas with political science related video in the classroom. Until then...

Teaching with and Around the Election

2008-09-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

Election 2008

Last week was quite a week to be teaching government! The Democratic National Convention lived up to its pre-show hype, and then some. Hillary was gracious in defeat and defiant in her defense of the Party. Bill gave both silent and vocal approval to the proceedings. Joe showed his willingness to be the attack dog even though the victim of his attacks will be an old and close friend. And Barack...well, Barack had his defining moment.

This week the Republicans will light up the Twin Cities with John McCain and company playing the rebuttal role. As always, the Republicans will show a dignified and united front...but this year some cracks might appear and the behind the scenes compromises will need to be ironed out before the Grand Old Party lights up their own showcase. With a surprise VP pick in Governor Palin of Alaska and Hurricane Gustav knocking on New Orleans' door who knows what will play out in St. Paul?

In the coming weeks and months, it will be difficult not to keep some focus on "the race". The media will follow the horse race effect of the various polls as their reports recount every step and misstep of both of the candidates, their running mates, and even the spouses. At this writing, the polls are showing an even race with Obama enjoying some bounce from the DNC. But we know that with gaffs (I'm not sure how many houses I own), perceptions (he is too young to be the commander in chief), and the BIG MO (momentum) polls will shift and swing on a weekly basis.

While the rat race of Presidential election is going on, the teaching points for the 2008 election season will pile up. I thought I would touch on some topics that I have already pegged as topics of discussion and bulletin boards. Here is my list:
1) The selection process for VP...factors considered by the candidate for his # 2 position
2) Presidential election strategy...where to campaign, when to throw the dirt, how to spin the polls
3) Elections ads...looking at the past classics (Willie Horton and the Daisy Girl) and the present efforts
4) Election finance...PACs, 527s, and campaign finance reform
5) The Electoral College...how it works and should we keep it
6) The Selling of the President...I still like to drag out the Joe McGinnis stuff and see how McGinnis flies with this generation.

In the mean time, we shouldn't forget the vital Congressional election. With a slim lead in the Senate and House, the Democrats need to build on their 2006 successes. It will be a great time to watch some pretty interesting Congressional contests around the nation. This summer I read that the GOP will be defending 25 open House seats (retirements and running for higher office) while the Democrats are looking at only seven. If those numbers have held, it will make for an interesting campaign season.

In the Senate, some GOP safe seats are being challenged by strong, well financed opposition. Again, teaching points pile up including incumbent re-election success rates, PACs and Congressional elections, Presidential election year races versus off-year elections, the role of the media and polling. I suggest having the kids watch the classic Robert Redford "The Candidate" and compare issues from the 1972 film with current topics. Environment, health care, and jobs top the 1972 list. HMMMMM!

Enjoy some great moments from this week's GOP convention and as always, if you have any questions or comments we encourage you to blog in.

Discussion Questions that Engage Students

2008-08-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

Three Big Questions

& The Dilemma

Sometimes teaching an Advanced Placement curriculum such as Hippocampus AP Government and Politics can drive us nuts! We get so caught up in the minute details that seem so critical that we forget to look at the Big Picture. The result is we have unloaded tons of great facts on the kids, but we really haven’t connected dots. And if we haven’t connected dots, we can be darn sure the kids haven’t. It’s a tough act. We need to push the details (after all, the multiple choice section of THE TEST is pretty detailed), but what AP really demands is for the kids to understand the Big Picture. It all becomes a matter of focus.

Focus

So how do we focus? Is the balancing act of teaching details while keeping our eye on the entire scope of government possible? Over the years as I have led various in-services with new AP teachers their number one question is, “What are the main things I need to focus on?”

Let me throw out an idea to you. I like to initiate each new unit with a couple of Big Picture Questions. These questions need to meet the criteria of being a) real world, b) relevant, and c) somewhat controversial. Let’s face it, the opening curriculum for AP Government and Politics can be a bit dry (but totally necessary) stuff. Documents and Underpinnings make up about 15% of the AP Exam, so the kids better get it. On the other hand, some of the issues that underline this Unit are the issues that are dividing government and parties today. We all need to get it.

The Questions

Here are the three questions I am opening Unit One with this year. These questions will drive this unit and engage students as I attempt to tie all assignments, discussions, and essays to them.

Do checks and balances and separation of power work as planned by our Founders, or has the current Executive Branch usurped too much power?
Is our government today a government of the people, by the people, and for the people as Abraham Lincoln speculated, or is it a government controlled by special interests such as oil and big (Wall Street) money?
Has federalism fulfilled the promises of the Founders, or has fiscal federalism perverted the balance of power leaving states impotent?

Perfect questions? Probably not (give me some feed back on these), however, these become my focus for the unit. Question #1 gets the kids thinking about who should run the nation in times of crisis and the time of peace. When does leadership cross the line and impose the policies of one person on the entire nation? These were subjects of concern addressed in 1973 in Arthur Schlesinger’s’ “Imperial Presidency” and are recycled today as hot issues! I have the kid’s watch a short segment from the film “V for Vendetta” and base a discussion from this.

Question #2 delves into the controversy of theories of democracy pitting traditional democracy against elitism (government by big business). A couple of quotes from Greg Palast’s “The Best Democracy Money can Buy” can get the kids fired up. No one likes to think of themselves as irrelevant in a democracy, especially kids getting ready to vote and join the political fray for the first time. I like to have the kids ponder whether hyper-pluralism opens the door for elitism.

Question #3 can drift into issues such as education, national energy policies, and even full faith and privileges. Federalism is a pretty dry issue, but I have found that current topics such as gay marriage and No Child Left Behind get the kids looking at state’s rights and the 10^th Amendment in a new light. Mention a return to a national 55 mph speed limit based on federal highway funding and suddenly federalism can spawn fairly hot debates.

I post these questions at the beginning of the unit. They become points of bulletin board discussions and debates, and they eventually become essays to be answered. These questions drive the Unit and more importantly, keep our focus on the Big Picture while encouraging fact mastery. With a little prodding and playing the devil’s advocate, these can become questions that evoke a little passion in the discussions…yes, even documents and underpinnings can be fun.

What Do You Think?

What questions do you use to drive your instruction? How can we utilize these questions? Give us the benefit of your wisdom this week. As most of us are gearing up for the new 2008-2009 year it is a great time to start collaborating and sharing our wisdom. I can’t wait to hear from you. RV

Next Week: The Election…Rat Race or Horse Race?

Welcome to the Hippocampus Government and Politics Blog

2008-08-17T08:04:00.000-07:00

“Obama Spells Out Energy Policy”. “McCain Seeks West Coast Votes”. “Candidates Attack Each Other on Race”.

Wow!! What a way to start a school year. The biggest election of our young century! The first African American presidential candidate for a major party and a feisty senior citizen squaring off during a period of economic downturns, the Middle East war, and skyrocketing fuel costs. If we can’t get kids interested in politics this year, when could we? But for all of you that are veterans of teaching U.S. Government and Politics, you know that the hoopla of elections may get students hooked on the election horse race, but translating that enthusiasm into learning the details of day to day government is a big jump.

This Blog is all about that jump. The Hippocampus Government and Politics Blog is about a dialogue between all of us…sharing the best practices in a learning community of dedicated educators who happen to be in love with U.S. Government and Politics. Like any good blog, the value is not in the originator or the facilitator. The true value lies in the contributions of you, the readers. New teachers with fresh ideas and insights, veteran educators with tried and true methods, and every one between can become part of this blog with one goal…seeking collaboration that points the way to better instruction and solid educational practices.

Next week I want to get the ball rolling by talking about the “three big questions” that I start my year with. These are the questions that drive my first quarter and are the method behind the madness. In the mean time, check out the right side column. We will include some sites and resources you might want to visit as you are preparing for the new school term with Government and Politics. We would love to have you respond by suggesting some of your favorite sites!

About the Blogger

My name is Ric Vix, and I am the social studies chair at Wichita Heights High School, an urban school with a diverse demographic of about 1600 students. I have been teaching for 23 years and have focused the last 10 or so years on Advanced Placement Government and Politics. For six years I was an AP Grader for the US Government and Politics Exam and have taught an AP Institute for Government and Politics through Wichita State University. My wife Sandi and I celebrated our 25^th anniversary this year with our two adult children. My passions outside of government are camping and fishing, reading, woodworking and building, and travel.