Week 26 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

Well, we made it through the Daylight Savings Time change and Parent-Teacher Conferences. Thank you to all who came to support your students through the Spring Student-Led Conference. We know that, for some, the conversation you had in this format is much like you already do at home. To that I offer my sincerest "kudos" to you. For many, the demands of schedule and daily activities that occur after school related to work or extra-curriculars often prohibits us from the slow, deliberate, and intentional discussions about school and academic growth in ways that lift up and, if necessary, allow students to reflect on their efforts in a constructive and corrective way. We feel that this Spring Conference format allowed for that for all students. It is powerful. And we thank you for what you do to support your student's education.

As far as what we accomplished in class, well, I've got some examples below (bottom of post). This week we learned about the birth of "AMERICANISM". Dozens of times, I stated "There's nothing more American than ________." filling in the blank with things like Uncle Sam, "The Star-Spangled Banner", Rip Van Winkle, capitalism, technological innovation, pushing the frontier, etc... All these things were born in the two decades after the War of 1812 and created, for the time, a truly unique American identity. The posters we created are intended to showcase the leaders, art, music, literature, and geographic obstacles that defined this identity. I think they did a great job! What do you think? Ask your student questions about their poster: What did they study? How does that (or he) express what America was in the 1820s?

Our efforts this week pave the way for a unit next week as we begin looking at the attempts made to combat the moral and social problems that emerged during this same time and the role of Christianity and the "Second Great Awakening" in leading the charge against "intemperance" and slavery. This will allow us to dig into some primary sources, compare perspectives, and understand the decision making of leaders as they tried to keep America growing in ways they thought best in the face of irreconcilable differences of opinion.

A light way to end the week - yet still community-minded - was our trip to the Humane Society of Branch County (A No-Kill Shelter). Each marking period a different group (arranged by 5th hour classes) of 8th grade students have been spending 1.5 hours out there helping out in ways that 24 laborers can make an impact: cleaning gutters, picking up the yard, going for walks. In the end, it's hard not to fall in love with some. In particular, Brandi, Cooper, and Tiana certainly pushed their way into the hearts of a few of us. You can see these three in our group photo below. There are many more who certainly would love to be in your home, or in the home of someone you know.

It was a chilly day, but we kept warm with our new friends.

Photos from Posters Made This Week

Week 25 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

We had a great week in class! As the week progressed, we recognized that we were very disrespected by other countries for almost thirty years between 1790 and 1820. During this time we were challenged by party rivalry between the Federalists and the Republicans and by foreign affairs. The nasty love triangle that existed between the U.S., France, and Britain certainly paid its toll on Americans and early American leadership.

Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe all dealt with the issues in ways that made it difficult to follow Washington's principle of isolationism and neutrality. When Washington took office, he knew the United States was too weak to be involved. Interestingly enough, it was the War of 1812 and the circumstances that occurred during it that led to respect overseas. By the time Monroe takes office, the United States is able to redefine its desire to be isolated and neutral. It is during this time of prosperity and growth that people in the United States begin calling themselves Americans and establishing a sense of American Identity.

It is this identity that we will study next week. We began today by looking at how everything we know that is "American" began immediately in this period after the War of 1812. The "Star-Spangled Banner", Uncle Sam, "America" ("My country, 'tis of thee"), capitalism, and the idea of national celebrities all have their origins rooted in this period.

I have a poster project that is fun, quick and has the potential for redecoration in mind for next week. This morning when getting it all out of my head, Google Drive was uncooperative and so I wrote all my preliminary handouts on paper. I've shared the five options for next week below so you can start thinking about which aspect of Americanism you would like to research and represent for your classmates. They are my hand-written notes, so, sorry.

Growing Pains Project Options

I hope your weekend is fantastic. Don't forget, Student-Led Conferences are next week. See you all there!

Until then, yours,
Mr. Bruce

Week 24 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

Welcome to March! Today, March 4, 2016 is the 215th Anniversary of Jefferson's inauguration as president. We used this day to spend an extra class period on Jefferson's presidency and his legacy as he left us constantly confused about what he really believed in. This is what makes Jefferson's presidency and his record as a leader difficult, interesting, and important for us to study it today.

All week, we have been exploring the nature of foreign policy as it affected the decisions made by our first presidents. We began by making it clear, using Washington's Farewell Address (video assignment pt. 2 last weekend) that our first president challenged his successors to remain neutral and isolated. Unfortunately, the dirty love triangle between U.S., France, and Britain (our top two trading partners) made this very difficult as the latter two continued to declare war on each other. Adams, Jefferson, and (as we will see Monday) Madison all had to address the dilemma of how to protect American ships engaged in overseas trade.

Adams used a bit of force (Quasi-War) and military build-up to create a firm ground upon which we could negotiate with the French. This resulted in a peace that (kind-of) lasted a few years but it cost us more in the end than we received from the deal (see Notes for Tuesday's Lesson: Adams' Foreign Policy and the Election of 1800 - Web view). As we learned, Adams chose the right thing to do, keeping us out of war and without any permanent alliances. However, as we also learned, it also cost him the Election of 1800.

We took the time to study Jefferson's goals as president to reduce the size of the national government. We had learned about his beliefs of Government last week as we contrasted the Hamiltonian Federalists with the Jeffersonian Republicans. These ideals and goals when he becomes president would definitely bite him as he, too, had to address the same dilemma as Jefferson: how to keep American shipping safe from attack. Whereas Adams had to deal with the French, Jefferson faced more enemies on the seas. He uses the navy to challenge the Barbary Pirates, leading to an end to paying them tribute for our safety (eventually). But his troubles with French are amplified by increased conflict between them and Britain. He works with Congress to pass the Embargo act of 1807, cutting off all trade with Britain and France, intended to punish them. This results in a disastrous effect on our economy and boosted American manufacturing, which Republicans desired less of. In the end, he kicks the problem down the road to the next guy, Madison. We'll learn how his strategy is what the others avoided...

Lastly, as we re-capped and came full-circle of Jefferson's presidency, we learned about Marbury v. Madison. As  most important Supreme Court decision that served as the only battle of the "Revolution of 1800." Feel free to view the notes from today (Friday 3.4.16 - Web view) and the videos we used today.

Looking forward to next week. Until then, I remain

Yours,
Mr. Bruce

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

Week 19 in Mr. Bruce's History

Parents and Students,

What a gorgeous sunny afternoon! Certainly a break from the gloomy weather we've had recently. As you may expect, I'm sad that this winter has not supplied a significant enough snow for sledding or snow fun. I'll get over it, I guess. As we end this week I'm astounded with how much your kids have learned about the Constitution and the composition of government that it creates.

We resumed a paired reading and discovery activity that lead students through the three Articles of the Constitution that created and defined our three branches (Legislative, Executive, and Judicial), as well as the amendment process (Article V) and two fundamental concepts of government limitation: Checks and Balances and Federalism.

As we finished this work we verified our answers and moved into some Law School Practice Problems. This assignment increased the challenge of seeking support for answers using the Constitution. For example, a city in Utah is producing a very unique product for selling overseas; due to its nature the government wants to tax it. Can they? In order to answer this question, students must investigate the powers of Congress in Article I, section 8 and rectify that with powers forbidden to Congress in the following section. Moving forward following this, students are to make flash cards or other study materials for the purpose of nailing this information down so it is second nature. An example of study card questions are attached to this email. I've even prepared a set of cards on Quizlet: quizlet.com/_1ydqqt (requires simple account creation). This is all preparation for the competition that is coming up.

Sample certificate for passing exam with
90% on first try. Students must make
corrections if they fail to reach 90%.

Next week, students are going to take what I am calling a Constitutional Law Bar Exam. And the scenario is that as they "pass the bar" they become eligible to practice as a part of a law firm. Once law firms (teams of 4) are created, they will compete in a competition to see which firm is the best. All is for fun and grades will be given for participation (even the bar exam), but it definitely engages even the most reluctant student and brings the entire class into seeking the depths of why our Constitution matters today.

Also, due to NWEA testing, labs were quite booked and so we postponed our video editing session. It gave our tech department more time to ensure that we would have access to the software we need for the task. So I've booked the computer lab for Monday and Tuesday. Hopefully we will end this unit with a fun and informative session of watching Preamble videos from all the classes. But that's for next week's email...

Until then, I remain yours,
Mr. Bruce


Constitution Review Cards