Period 2: Intro to Civil Law, Day 3 - Class Recap

We had a lot of rain over the weekend. I was reminded of this time in Aruba (2011), when it rained so hard that water was overflowing huge containment barrels and flooding the streets.

Hi everyone,

Even though I am feeling a bit under the weather, my day was brightened considerably by the excellent work and discussion we had in class. Thank you! Here's a recap of what happened.

Soundtrack: “Set Fire to the Rain” by Adele. Selected because it rained almost the entire weekend, making this September the rainiest on record. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/30/13:
Tort ReportNotebook Pass Back
Debrief Forced Choice
High School As A Prison
Torts Chapter Work

Homework: Turn in missing work! Start reviewing vocab. Check the blog! Tort Report assigned to: Brendan.

Tort Report/Notebook Pass Back: James brought in this article about a woman suing Donald Trump (and ultimately losing in court): Yahoo.com - 87-year-old woman loses to Trump in civil case. It seems as if Mr. Trump took particular relish in combating these charges and winning. Thanks for the article, James! Brendan, you are up next.

Debrief Forced Choice: For this section (which we kept short), I just wanted to hear thoughts about how the debate exercise last week went. I really enjoy them, but I do wonder if students find it hard to stay engaged in a two day long activity. Thanks for the feedback. You will have multiple opportunities to give me feedback during my time with your class!

High School As A Prison: I read this article the other day and thought that it was very relevant to our study of law, considering our setting at Westview. Here is the article online: RollingStone.com - When High School Students Are Treated Like Prisoners.

Here are the questions that we used in class to reflect on the article (which will be graded in the next notebook check):

1. Have you ever felt targeted by someone in power? If yes, what happened? If no, why do you think that is?
2. Do you feel more or less comfortable with SSOs with guns at Westview?
3. Do you feel like adolescent students deserve more rights than they currently receive? Can you think of an example? If you were to make a list of 10 rights that every student should have, what would it consist of?

We had small group discussions about these, then talked as a class. This discussion was so good and relating to what we are learning about that I actually just let it go until the end of the period. The five rights that we came up with so far as a class were: 

1. The right to defend yourself.

2. A process to evaluate and remove ineffective educators.

3. No cruel or unusual punishment.

4. Students will be treated equally, regardless of distinction.

5. Students should have the ability to self-govern.

Next class, we will finish up with this and then get down to work on learning more about what, specifically, torts are.

Please be sure to work on any missing assignments and get them turned in as soon as possible. Thanks!

Period 2: Intro to Civil Law, Day 2 - Class Recap

We talked about the death penalty today and various acts that could lead to it. This is a picture of what used to be Adolf Hitler's bunker in Berlin (taken this past June). Had he not committed suicide here, Hitler certainly would have faced the death penalty for his crimes against humanity.

Dear class,

Thank you for another fun, interesting, and productive conversation today! It is always so cool to hear where everyone is at in regards to the various issues of the day. Hopefully you remained engaged throughout! On to the recap.

Soundtrack: “I’m A Believer” by Smash Mouth. Selected because we talked in class about what we believe in regards to certain issues. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/26/13:
Tort Report
Finish Forced Choice
Reflection
Notebook Check

Homework: Have a great weekend! Make sure to have all work for your notebook check turned in or ready to turn in next week (see below for list). Read the blog! Next Tort Report assigned to James.

Tort Report: Sarah emailed me a Tort Report article, and it was really good. However, she missed class today, so I will hold onto it until next class, when both she and James will present.

Finish Forced Choice: I selected just a few of the questions to go over as a class, since we did not have enough time to address them all. Like I wrote above, I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and debate! Thank you for engaging each other respectfully. Here are the questions again:

1. Giving up some of our rights (like our phones being listened to without a warrant) is necessary for our own protection.
2. The Second Amendment means that everyone in the US has the right to have any weapons that they want.
3. It bothers me that the National Security Administration/federal government can see whatever we do online.
4. Marijuana should be legalized everywhere for recreational use.
5. Organized prayer in public schools should be allowed.
6. There are too many unnecessary  lawsuits in the United States.
7. The government of a country should have the power to make decisions that the majority of the people in it do not support.
8. Someone is always at fault for beginning a conflict.
9. I support the idea of a “three strikes” law, where criminals that are convicted of three different felonies automatically get life in prison.
10. Should the motto “In God We Trust” be removed from our currency?
11. I agree that people who are convicted of taking the lives of others should have the death penalty available as an option for punishment.
12. Should convicted felons be allowed to vote?
13. A ban on all guns would reduce crime in the United States.
14. People in power are always corrupt in some way.
15. I think the idea of mandatory minimum sentences are a good idea (like Measure 11 in Oregon – 25 years for murder, 5 year and 10 months for second degree Assault).

Reflection: After the Forced Choice exercise, I assigned a one page (in class, though if you did not finish it, it is homework) written reflection. The questions I wanted to be sure you addressed are: What was the most difficult or controversial question for you? Why? How do these sorts of questions relate to the study of law?

Notebook Check: Finally, to end class, I showed the grading rubric for the notebook check and collected notebooks. I will go through these after school today. Here's what needs to be in your notebook/attached for a grade:

1. What Is Law? PowerPoint notes and student definition of law: _____ (5 points)

2. Daily Activities and the Law handout (10 activities and how they are impacted by law): _____ (5 points)

3. Criminal Law vs. Civil Law notes/table of differences: ____ (3 points)

4. Street Law - Chapter 1 Definitions and/or Intro to Law PowerPoint notes: _____ (5 points)

5. Intro to Law Vocab Review sheet (checks and balances/federalism/rights on front): _____ (3 points)

6. Last Intro notes (human rights, common law, adversary system, inquisitional system, legislative intent: _____ (3 points)

7. Forced Choice Reflection: _____ (6 points)

Total: _______ (out of 30 possible)

If you are at all confused about this, you came to the right place. Here are the documents that will help you with completing these assignments, if you missed class or misplaced earlier papers:

1) Google Drive - What is Law? PowerPoint

2) The daily activities sheet was a handout in class. If you do not have one, please see me for another copy.

3) This was a table that we completed together in class on the overhead. Please see me for a copy of it.

4) The book has the definitions, or you could just read through this: Google Drive - Introduction to Law Vocabulary PowerPoint.

5) Again, this was a handout in class that we went through together. I have extra copies in the room if needed.

6) Google Drive - Last Introductory Vocab Document.

7) Please see the "Reflection" section above.

Have a great weekend (after classes tomorrow). See you on Monday!

Period 2: Intro to Civil Law, Day 1 - Class Recap

Our class today was somewhat like Olympic fencing, with the forced choice debates! On the right is Mariel Zagunis (picture taken on August 1, 2012), who carried the US flag at the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics and is the cousin of my good friend Joe Zagunis.

Hi everyone,

I love days like today and just getting to mostly listen to everyone talk about their perspective on issues. Thank you all for participating - I am really excited to continue next class!

Soundtrack: “Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley. Selected as the entrance music for today because the class was asked to take a stand on various issues and explain why. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 9/24/13:
Tort Report
Blog Recap
Test Grades/Review
Forced Choice

Homework: Read the blog! Next Tort Report assigned to: Sarah.

Tort Report: Today's report on a civil case (this one is about civil liberties) was brought in by Shakti, who selected: PolicyMic.com - Florida v. Harris Supreme Court 2013 Decison: SCOTUS Sides Against Civil Liberties Argument. So this is actually the OPPOSITE of what Shakti said - in fact, the court ruled that drug sniffing dogs ARE enough to get probable cause to search someone. I will have to clear that up next class, because I don't want anyone thinking incorrectly when police dogs are around!

Blog Recap: I again went over this website and the importance of checking it to keep up with what is going on in class. If you did before the test, you knew one of the answers already! Please be in the habit of reviewing here before and after each class. This is also an important tool if you would like help with anything - just comment and I will get back to you ASAP.

Test Grades/Review: I passed back all the tests that were taken on Friday and went through the answers. I also explained how I scored it, with 25 being the maximum. Your full class grades as of about 7:15 AM this morning are posted in the classroom, by Student ID number. I will be refreshing these as the semester goes along so you know exactly where you are at. If you are unhappy with your test grade, you may retake a version of the same material by attaching full test corrections to your test (What did you get wrong? Why? How would you fix it to make it correct?) and turning it in to me when you are ready to retake it.

Forced Choice: If you missed class or want to review the statements again, here is what we are debating on in class as another introduction to thinking about the elements of law in our lives. Remember, you must select either YES or NO and be prepared to talk about it in class.

1. Giving up some of our rights (like our phones being listened to without a warrant) is necessary for our own protection. 

2. The Second Amendment means that everyone in the US has the right to have any weapons that they want.

3. It bothers me that the National Security Administration/federal government can see whatever we do online. 

4. Marijuana should be legalized everywhere for recreational use.

5. Organized prayer in public schools should be allowed.

6. There are too many unnecessary  lawsuits in the United States.

7. The government of a country should have the power to make decisions that the majority of the people in it do not support.

8. Someone is always at fault for beginning a conflict.

9. I support the idea of a “three strikes” law, where criminals that are convicted of three different felonies automatically get life in prison.

10. Should the motto “In God We Trust” be removed from our currency?

11. I agree that people who are convicted of taking the lives of others should have the death penalty available as an option for punishment.

12. Should convicted felons be allowed to vote?

13. A ban on all guns would reduce crime in the United States.

14. People in power are always corrupt in some way.

15. I think the idea of mandatory minimum sentences are a good idea (like Measure 11 in Oregon – 25 years for murder, 5 year and 10 months for second degree Assault).

We were able to get through the first five questions with this class. On Thursday, we will continue talking (I doubt we will do all of them) and then write a reflection on the exercise. Again, I love this activity because it brings up such great student directed ideas and concepts. I also love just listening to various perspectives and thinking about the issues myself. Many of them are tough for a reason!