I am about three class periods into my President unit, and thought it about time to sit down and give my recap on what good works we have been doin'. In order to do this unit justice, I really want to think at the beginning and again at the end... what makes a great President? "I do not believe," said Wilson, "that any man can lead who does not act . . . under the impulse of a profound sympathy with those whom he leads -- a sympathy which is insight -- an insight which is of the heart rather than of the intellect. Wilson brings one angle to this question, one that has been reiterated by some of the best political scientists, like Schlesinger, that there is more to it than just how they use their powers granted by the Constitution. Was it their ability to be a visionary? To incite controversy; and through their commanding presence, empathy, resolute commitment... reunite the country on new yet common grounds? To take risks and reap reward or utter failure in their pursuit of lofty goals? To accept things that seem impossible as attainable goals? (And here, I love this quote from Obama during his quest to pass PPACA... "This is about more than health care; it is about whether or not we can solve hard problems.") With this in mind, I push my students into considering the President on the basis of multiple factors:
Looking at Obama and his use of all of the above, we will begin to get a feel for his effectiveness as a President. For the most part, I do my comparisons using Obama (and to some degree Bush) because he is the current President, and due to his amazing use of social media. (Say what you want about him, he is a master of the media.) First stop on our Presidential tour is a comparison of four different presidents and a determination as to whether or not each President is imperial or not. (Do you want some help visually presenting different interpretations of the Constitution to your kids? Check this out.) I use a fantastic resource from the Bill of Rights Institute that compares Teddy Roosevelt, LBJ, Ronald Reagan, and James Madison and their interpretation of the powers granted under the Constitution. The kids read the resources in homogenous groups and then do a little presentation to the class. We then pull out our Constitution to write a bit about Article II. We separate out all the different powers, as shown below in this graphic organizer I created and discuss each power, as well as some historical context. (That historical context is available in the teacher's edition linked above. You can download the student's copy for free.) After we have inventoried all the different types of powers, talked about them in context, etc... I then show over two different days two different Frontline movies. They are excellent... I cannot recommend them enough. Day one: Cheney's War. (Specifically chapters 5 and 6) Gives the kids an opportunity to observe dismissals of inferior officers, the relationship between Cheney and Bush (which I get into more detail by having my kids read the Washington Post's feature "Angler."), and the revolutionary use of Presidential Signing Statements. (Which I clarify is probably unconstitutional in the same way that the Line Item Veto was ruled unconstitutional in Clinton v New York, but we are waiting for someone who can prove injury to bring it before the SCOTUS, as well as the SCOTUS's desire to hear the case.) Day two: Obama's Deal (Specifically Chapters 2 and 3). Gives the kids an opportunity to see the importance of the appointment power, and formal and informal legislative powers as well as the bully pulpit at work. Both of these are totally awesome. My final stop before a collaborative assignment is to have my kids brush up on the judicial powers, and for that I have them watch this little gem outside of class. It's dense and dry, but I don't have time to make a video for this. Grand finale time: My kids have a collaborative project where they are working together on Prezi and either Piktochart or Infogram (I prefer Piktochart, it's much more flexible) to Grade-a-POTUS. If you are interested in checking out that assignment or any of my other resources for this unit, check me out at TpT.
And now, I am going to watch the Olympics and then House of Cards with my Valentine. Stay warm, Lovgubbers.
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Jen's bookshelf: nerdcation
I want to start by thanking Mr. Snowden and Mr. Greenwald for their uncompromising dedication to giving the NSA violations air time and transparency.
I wanted to share some of the most important things I have learned from this book bef...
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nerdcation
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nerdcation and to-read
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nerdcation and to-read
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nerdcation and to-read
AuthorI lovgov. LOVE IT! I love teaching government, learning about it, debating, discussing, asking questions about government. And not the standard boiler plate questions, but the hard ones that are NOT in the books. Archives
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