Hi y'all... I apologize for being a little inconsistent with my posting recently. This semester of grad school is kicking my butt. So here ya go....
My student teacher has taken over full control and has been doing most of the planning, but I will give you a quick synopsis of the past week.
FROSH SEMINAR
- The first quarter has come to an end for our youngest Huskies. Hopefully their high school experience has been good thus far. Initial statistics of failure rates from this year as compared to last year indicate that the Freshmen Seminar course seems to be helping. We have been reviewing math and vocabulary concepts as usual. Please remind your student to bring their AR books for their English classes and any work they can complete or study. They get time everyday to work independently and some of them are not taking full advantage of that time.
US HISTORY
- We finished up Western Expansion this week by watching a clip from the film Dances with Wolves that shows the intersection and conflict of not only white and native culture, but also conflict between various native cultures. We have since moved into Ch. 18 of the text and are looking at historical American Imperialism. We will make connections back to the ideologies of Western expansion and Manifest Destiny and make connections to Imperialism.
GOVERNMENT
- We have been discussing the role of political parties in our system of government this week. We have also looked at various versions of the political spectrum as we try to comprehend the role that the left/right split plays in American politics. Obviously the election will be a source of discussion as we move into next week.
PARENTS' HOMEWORK
Seminar: Please encourage your students to come prepared to class to make the best use of their independent/guided study time.
US History: I mentioned this last book in my previous post, but it is a good one.... Habits of Empire: A History of American Expansion by Walter Nugent. Also, most books on Teddy Roosevelt would speak to American Imperialism in the United States.
Government: I would recommend The American Voter Revisited if you have any interest in understanding this past election and how people voted. I would also recommend Why Parties?: The Origin and Transformation of Political Parties in America which is an interesting read on American politics. In class the students went to www.politicalcompass.org to see where they were on the political spectrum according to this website. You may be interested in taking this survey as well.
