Week 23 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

I went to start writing this, titling it Week 22, when I realized that this is actually week 23 and I missed getting last week's out. Bad, bad, bad. Sorry for not keeping you all in the loop with a regular email. I'll make it my goal to keep up for the rest of the school year.

We had a great week, in spite of the day off yesterday. When the reports came on Monday of a likely snow storm, I started planning for a day off. While today was a little crazy, we certainly accomplished enough this week to feel good about it. I'd like to make sure here that you know about/remember the video assignment: Washington's Foreign Policy (mrbruceshistory.wikispaces.com for videos and handouts).

The biggest thing I want you all to quiz your son/daughter about is our first real political parties. We spent the bulk of our time learning about how the Federalists and Republicans emerged as a result of early challenges to the new nation. As Washington struggled to keep us out of foreign conflict (at the same time Europe ignites as a result of the French Revolution), opinions about economy, government, how to interpret the Constitution, and whether or not we should support France all worked to divide leaders into these two distinct political divisions. Good questions to ask your students are:

• Why did more southerners align with the Republican Party?
• Why did Hamilton's plan for a National Bank upset Republicans?
• What do you think Jefferson's vision for America was? How did this differ than Hamilton's?

This period in our history, while probably as critical and fragile as (or more than) any other, gets far too little attention. Our political history begins here with the beginning of a two-party system. It also gives us a chance to explore the beginning of our nation's foreign policy. Washington's plan for isolation in foreign conflict will set a foundation for over 100 years. 

Monday, we will explore the Election of 1800 as it exposes a huge flaw in our Constitution and how it sets a standard for a peaceful transition of power from one group to another. From there, we will explore that idea of isolation as a new nation with no navy and no desire to get dragged into a war in Europe. We'll also learn how America deals with pirates.

Until next week I remain yours,

Mr. Bruce

Week 21 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

Have you seen Mary Poppins yet? This production put on by our Quincy Drama Society is great! It is also one of a few reasons why this weekly email is coming to you a few days late. My daughter plays the role of Michael and much of our time outside of school has been quite devoted to arranging for the demands required of this performance by a dedicated cast of many students. Big shout out to Annika, Taylor, Audrey, Natalie, and Rachel who have also dedicated countless hours and who have done a great job through the opening weekend. If you haven't been out to see it yet, there are shows Thursday, Friday and two on Saturday this weekend.

So, last week we wrapped up our work on understanding and increasing our efficacy with the Constitution. This was demonstrated in a competition between student created teams of "Law Firms." I described this in last week's email. The result was fantastic! Just so you know what I mean by Constitutional Dilemmas I have the link here for you to see them: Law Firm Competition: Constitutional Dilemmas.

To end the competition, the top teams from each class were pulled into my room during 6th hour on Friday. Here I asked them 8 more situation-based questions - the hardest I could think up - in order to determine the overall best team. The result was a tie between a team of Brian B., Kelsey M., Madelyn A., and Emily H., and a team of Riley H., Torri S., and Megan K. CONGRATULATIONS to them!!!

This week, we will be applying what we learned about the Bill of Rights to our own lives for the purpose of making it clear that our personal rights and protections do not exist unless we know them and can defend them. We will examine two Supreme Court cases (Tinker v. Des Moines and Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier) to see how students like us have helped define rights to freedom of speech (expression) and freedom of the press in the academic setting and to see how far institutions can restrict personal freedoms.

A few things to think about coming in the weeks ahead:

• Bring Your Parent to School Day - This Wednesday, Thursday (Feb. 17-18)
• Friday, all MS students will be going to see an abridged version of Mary Poppins after lunch
• Student-Led Conferences: March 16, 17 

Taken during the "Tournament of Champions" Friday afternoon

One of the champion teams making it look easy

See you at Tibbits Opera House ;)

Until then, I remain yours,
Mr. Bruce

Week 20 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

February is in and with it was the prognostication of America's favorite weather "man" that there will be an early Spring. The sunshine today makes this feel like it might be a possibility, even though I'm not sure we had a winter in the first place.

The ambitions of this week were met with the realization that we were, for the most part, not ready for a competition of Constitutional understanding. The Bar Exam that we held on Tuesday revealed that too many of us didn't take the opportunities given in the previous week to learn about the Constitution and the government it creates to the extent that was expected. This was a little disappointing, but not outside the ability to recover. To be clear the work they were asked to do last week in preparation for the Bar Exam and Law Firm Competition was not easy, but was intended to be more manageable by pairing up with a buddy to whom we could be accountable. In the end, this activity was a lesson in how we work together and what happens when we don't do that well.

To remedy the lack of readiness, we endeavored to recover what was missed in their first time through. For this, we used in class direct instruction and note-taking. This is not usually as effective as paired/small-group work, but this time around it provided a base coverage of the expected content required for us to proceed. These notes can be accessed here.

Monday we will assuredly begin our Law Firm Competition (see image at right). Teams have been created and the work is finished. Finally we can have some fun as we end this unit. Over the weekend, I encourage you to work through the flash cards that were created for the Bar Exam as well as use the outline/notes (link above) to prepare for the Competition. No one wants to be the weak link on a team.

This leads to "what's next?" One of the first things that Congress did (and the States approved) once they convened for the first time was to follow through with a promise of adding a Bill of Rights to the Constitution. We will end next week by discovering how the first ten Amendments were created and how they still protect us today.

Enjoy your weekend!

Until next week,
Mr. Bruce