Period 2: Introduction to Law, Day 2 - Class Recap

One of the places I went this summer was Berlin. This is the top of the Bundestag building, where the German Parliament makes laws. Taken on June 16th, 2013.

Hi everyone,

Welcome to your weekend! I enjoyed class today and I am really looking forward to reading your letters. 

Soundtrack: “Woke Up This Morning” by A3. Selected for today because it was the theme song to The Sopranos TV show (which obviously has a lot to do with Law) and because it was another early morning back at school for all of us. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/6/13:
Blog Recap
Letter to Class/Mr. Fritz
What is Law?
Law in Our Lives

Homework: Check the blog, post a comment if you have not already! Get your syllabus signed and turned in. Try to make sure you have about 10-15 minutes of work left on the 10 Daily Activities worksheet.

Blog Recap: After taking attendance, I showed this website and talked about the importance of following along if you have the ability to. Hopefully it is a good resource for you!

Letter to Class/Mr. Fritz: I always begin my time with classes by writing a letter and reading it aloud, so that everyone can know a little bit more about me. In response, I asked students to write about themselves. If you missed this part of class, here are the prompts I wanted you to answer (hand written, one page):

Who are you outside of the classroom? What are your goals in life? What is important to you? Tell me something quirky or interesting about you. What did you do over the summer? What do you want me to know about you? What kinds of music do you listen to? What movies do you like? Why are you in a Law class? Are there topics you want to learn more about? Make a list! What do you like about high school? What do you not like? What do you think your strengths and weaknesses as a student are? Finally, do you have any concerns, questions, or comments for me about this class?

Thank you for everyone that was in class and completed this! Like I said, I love reading these and I will try to have them back to you with comments next class.

What is Law? Next, we started getting into what, exactly, "law" is. I went through a short PowerPoint of different definitions, then asked students to create their own. Here is that PowerPoint, if I went too fast, or you missed class:

Google Drive: What is Law? PowerPoint

Remember that you need a spiral notebook (or something you can keep your notes/assignments in) that you will eventually turn in to be checked off.

Law in Our Lives: To end the class (I do not think many students finished this), we started thinking about how law impacts our day to day lives. I handed out a worksheet that asked students to list 10 daily activities, how they were affected by the law, if the law(s) were Federal, State, or Local, the possible reason for the law, and if they thought it should be changed.

We will keep working on this next class, then talk about it as a group. Obviously, this exercise is for us to begin to realize how important laws are in our society.

That was it for today! Thanks again for the focus. Have a great weekend!