The Constitution and the Shutdown

In Ethics class this week we have analyzed Rushworth Kidder's curriculum for identifying and resolving Ethical Dilemmas. Through this process, students learn how to identify Right v. Wrong scenarios, and then if its not Right v. Wrong, it is a situation where there seems to be only 2 options and both are equally Right. We call this a dilemma. Kidder has identified the most common types of dilemmas and articulates strategies for trying to figure out how to resolve the dilemmas. Students will next be choosing someone who has demonstrated Moral Courage and then presenting to the class what this person did and what makes it Moral Courage. One of the best resources for this activity is the web site http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/. This website is a series of paintings by Robert Shetterley. It also give a little bit of information about each person. Its a great place for students to start in looking for someone who has demonstrated Moral Courage. What's awesome is that Shetterley is actually from Maine!

(Nelson Mandela, a great example of Moral Courage)

In History v. Hollywood we have begun watching the film Lincoln. When I first saw this film last November, I was blown away by the performance of Daniel Day-Lewis. I remain transfixed by his work here, but upon repeated viewings I really feel Tommy Lee Jones was somewhat overlooked as Thaddeus Stevens. At any rate, the work of Stephen Spielberg here is pure genius!

Great conversations in class about the techniques of Spielberg and about how films teach about the Civil War and Slavery. We start our film projects next week!

In my other classes we have continued our study of the Constitution. Much time was spent this week on the Bill of Rights and also on how the Courts have ruled that these Rights are slightly different in public schools for a variety of reasons. To help with this we have a guest speaker coming in on Monday. This guest speaker is an Attorney who will discuss 4th Amendment Rights and other rights as well.

One of the biggest issues of the week was the Government shutdown. Students have had lots of questions and its really a tough subject to explain briefly. The most accurate resources I found for this are Democracy Now! and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Still, its a complex topic and students want an easy answer!

Next week I will be observed by my Principal delivering my first Common Core aligned lesson (which I will share), we have the guest speaker coming, and showdown between Hamilton and Jefferson!!!