Assessment - "When the Levees Broke"

Due Date: January 7, 2010.

Over the last few weeks, we have viewed the film When the Levees Broke. During that time, we have had many thoughtful and meaningful discussions. For what it is worth, Katrina caused America to take pause and challenged our government's values.

Now the time has come to assess what you've learned from this experience. This is a MAJOR assessment piece.

What do I have to do?

You are going to write a five (5) page essay, based on the questions below. Note that the essay does not have to answer the questions in any sort of order. It has to reflect your thoughts on these questions. These are questions that we have explored in nearly every class session since the first day of school. Use these questions to guide your writing...

What does it mean to be a citizen?

What type of citizen are you?

What is the role of government?

Should the federal government help the less fortunate or provide a safe atmosphere to allow people to become fortunate?

In what areas was the government successful?

In what areas did each level of government fail?

What were the major reasons behind the government's success or failure?

Obviously, the government made some mistakes, but have we learned from the mistakes?

In the aftermath of Katrina were decisions made based on race? class? Or need?

Now that we have all seen the Spike Lee documentary what is our responsibility to our fellow citizens?

Have your ideas about the responsibilities of government changed as a result of seeing this film? Why, or why not?

Sources/Research: It is expected that you will provide at least two sources besides the movie for your information. The teaching guide which I shared with you previously would be a great place to start, particularly the section entitled "What Does it Mean to Be a Citizen?"

Requirements: Your essay must

1. Be typed, and printed in BLACK INK ONLY. Sorry, no Google Docs, or emailing files. We're going "Old School" here.

2. Use a Font Size that may be NO LARGER THAN 12 point. Please use "business" style fonts.

3. Be Spell and Grammar checked.

4. Contains a bibliography, listing all sources used. You must cite any direct quotes that you use from a source in the proper manner.

Please note that if your essay fails to meet any of the above conventions, it will not be accepted.

Here is a copy of the RUBRIC which will be used to evaluate your paper.

Deadline: January 7, 2010. Any essay turned in late will be subject to the following:

Turned in January 8: Reduction of 10%

Turned in January 11: Reduction of 25%

Any assignment turned in past January 11 will be given a grade of 'F'

Failure to submit any assignment will automatically result in a grade of "incomplete."

FYI - When the Levees Broke is available on iTunes. You can purchase and download.

1. Carefully read the article below

2. After reading the article, consider the following questions, and write a thoughtful response to each.

- How might NYC schools change if busing is no longer supplied by the MTA for free?

- Do Students have a right to a free, and public education?

- Does Race/Class play a factor in this situation?

Students See Hard Future if Free Fares Are Ended

By SHARON OTTERMAN

When Alejandro Velazquez, 15, was selecting a high school last year, he decided on Washington Irving in Manhattan because of its strong Spanish-English bilingual program. It was a 40-minute trip from his home in the Bronx, but his mother assented, in part because he could travel free.

His family’s calculus, he said, would have been different had he needed to pay $40 a month or more to get to and from school, a reality that will begin next fall if budget cuts passed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Wednesday are carried out. His mother, an immigrant from Ecuador, works as a cook in a Bronx restaurant to support him and his 10-year-old brother, and there is little cash to spare.

“If I had to pay for the MetroCard, my mother would have preferred a school closer to me — there’s one right down the block from our house,” he said.

The cuts to the student subsidies for the MetroCards are not yet final. The M.T.A. board will have a public comment period over the coming weeks, and then another vote early next year. If the cuts are approved, the 584,000 city students who receive free or half-fare MetroCards would all receive half-fare cards beginning next September. In September 2011, they would pay full fares — nearly $700 for a school year at current rates.

As elected officials wrangle over the responsibility to pay for the program, parents, administrators and students on Wednesday painted a drastically different school landscape were the cuts to go through. It would be one in which school choice, a program expanded under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, would be limited by students’ ability to afford transportation across the city. Absenteeism and truancy, many students predicted, would rise.

Students have had free transportation in New York City for decades, although urban areas in the state are not legally required to provide it, said Tom Dunn, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Education. (Rural areas are.) Even so, the system is the backbone of the competitive high school system, which has eliminated most high zoned schools in the city.

Robert Rhodes, the principal of Millennium High School, a sought-after college preparatory high school with a liberal arts focus at 75 Broad Street, said he feared that the change would significantly alter the composition of the school.

“We value the diversity of taking kids from different neighborhoods and different income levels,” he said. “Will it become a school that’s only available if you have enough money and live in a certain radius? Is that the kind of school that we want?”

Jamillah Burke, 24, is the legal guardian of her 13-year-old sister, who takes two buses to a Leadership Academy school each day from their house on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue. Ms. Burke, who recently lost her job, said she could not afford to pay for her sister’s MetroCard.

“I know a lot of kids who are not going to come to school,” said Iquan Richardson, 15, of Bushwick, as he arrived at the Boys and Girls High School in Bedford-Stuvyesant in Brooklyn. “Or they’ll jump the turnstile.”

David Bloomfield, the former general counsel for the city’s Department of Education, said that the state would most likely face legal challenges were the cuts to go through. “If suburban students have the right to transportation,” he said, urban families would probably press for the same right.

“I believe it would have a devastating impact, especially on kids over 17,” he said. “This might be just another reason for dropping out of school.”

Participation in after-school programs would also suffer, students predicted. Right now, student MetroCards are good for three trips per day, to give students the opportunity to travel to competitions or other events.

The transportation authority says students took 7.3 million rides on the subway in October, and 7.2 million bus rides, a typical month during the school year.

As the cost of the program rose from $162 million in 2000 to $239 million in 2008, based on average fares, the city and state contribution remained relatively constant: about $45 million from the state and $46 million from the city. In 2009, however, the state’s share fell to $25 million, then $6 million.

Several members of the transportation authority’s board said that while they are legally required to pass a balanced budget before the end of the year, they would not vote for many of the specific cuts later. The mayor’s office said his four appointees on the board would not approve the student-fare cut when it comes up for a vote again.

State officials, citing severe shortfalls, say the transit agency should be able to find the money in its operating budget, which is due for an overhaul. The agency says it should not have to bear most of the burden for what is essentially an education benefit.

“No other transit agency in the country subsidizes free or discounted student travel,” said Kevin B. Ortiz, a transit agency spokesman. “Transporting students usually falls on the government body responsible for educating them.”

Karen Zraick contributed reporting.

Tonight's HW - Due Monday 12/14

Opening Activity
Read the following passages:
Passage 1
The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so
intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there
for any time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on
the deck for the fresh air; but now that the whole ship’s cargo
were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential. The
closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to
the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had
scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. This pro-
duced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became
unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and
brought on a sickness among the slaves. . . .

—First-person account of conditions on a slave ship
during the Middle Passage, from Olaudah
Equiano, The Life of Gustavus Vassa
Passage 2

The pungent aroma of backed-up toilets, unwashed bodies,
decaying food, mold and who knows what else. Sweltering
heat. An awful din. Rumors of unspeakable crimes. . . .
“I can’t stand to even look at pictures of that time,” said
Terrie Green, 41, who went to the Superdome with her three
children and infant granddaughter on Tuesday, August 30,
after being rescued from their flooded Ninth Ward home.
By the time we got out of there we were all sick. Sick from
the heat, sick from that stink that was there. Just worn out.”
Because of the heat—outside temperatures soared into
the high 90s, and it reached an estimated 125 degrees inside
the Superdome—the family, including little Alea, only 2 days
old when the storm hit, moved to the concourse that runs
around the exterior.

The heat took a toll on the baby, who developed a rash
and became dehydrated. After they evacuated to Houston,
the infant was hospitalized for a week.
“She’s still kind of sickly,” said Green, who remains in
Houston looking for work.

—Description of conditions in the New Orleans
Superdome during Hurricane Katrina, from Mary
Foster, “There was the fear, the heat, the misery,
but most of all—the smell,” Associated Press,
August 27, 2006

Questions:
1. What similarities can you identify between the description of conditions in the two passages?
2. Do you think the comparison of the two situations is valid? In other words, is it accurate or acceptable to compare the two situations? Why? Why not?
3. How might your views on the evacuation of Katrina victims be different, if this hadn't happened in New Orleans, but in a place that had little history of slavery?
4. Would your views be different if you were from a different racial, or ethnic group? If you were poor, rather than middle class? If you were a man, rather than a woman, or a woman, rather than a man?
5. CLICK HERE. Read the account of life for Katrina survivors in the FEMA trailer park known as Renaissance Village. In what ways might conditions in this trailer park be similar to conditions in quarters inhabited by slaves? Is this a valid comparison? Why?

Tonight's HW 12/7/09

1. Research the charts on pp. 46, 47, 48, and 60.

2. Then, please read the "Handouts" on pp. 75 and 76 of the Teaching the Levees Workbooks.

3. Based on the materials dicsussed, do you believe the tragedy associated with Katrina, and the breaching of the Levees was fundamentally shaped by race, and class?

If not, what alternative hypotheses can you offer?

Back up your statements with evidence!

When The Levees Broke HW Assignment 11/24/09

Hello, PartInGov:

Here's your HW Assignment for tonight. It is due MONDAY November 29th (the day we get from Thanksgiving Break).

You should consider each question as a "mini-essay." In other words, your responses should be thoughtful statements, of at least one paragraph each. Use the Workbook/Teaching Guide as a means to help you write your answers. Please note that no work will be accepted LATER than 11:59 PM on Monday!

1. Which agency, or part of the gov't is most responsive to the emergency? Why do you think it was effective, and how did it compare to other agencies and response organizations?
2. What point does the film-maker seem to be making about leadership?
3. What is the "Cajun Navy?" Why was it needed?
4. How do you evaluate President Bush's statement "no one anticipated the breach of the levees?"
5. How did you respond to the images of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arriving in New Orleans before the Federal Government?
6. How does the lack of response reflect upon the local, state and federal governments?
7. Do you believe, or are you convinced that that the Federal government had no warning that Katrina would be so destructive?
8. How did President Bush famously praise FEMA director Michael Brown? How does the film-maker communicate his view of this praise?
9. What did President Johnson do when Hurricane Betsy hit New Orlean

TTL - Assignment # 2

Hello, Part. In Gov't people:

Here is the link for the workbook from Teaching the Levees

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BywKkVrh4N0RNTE1MDlhNGYtZGQxMy00MDYxLTgxOTktODU0ZjM0M2VlMzQ5&hl=en

Your assignments are as follows

Group #1 - Complete the questions pertaining to "God's Will" on p. 20 of the viewing guide (the page will say "12) on the bottom of the actual viewing guide; it's 20 in the PDF).

Group #2 - Complete the questions pertaining to "Explosions"

Group #3 - Complete the questions pertaining to "Day One"

Be prepared to share answers in a discussion format on Thursday!

teaching the levees assignment #1

Please answer the Questions by posting below. Please note that the questions that you are responsible for answering, based on your last name.

Group #1: Arroyo, to Desai: You are responsible for questions 1-4.

Group #2: Drakes, to Marks: You are responsible for questions 5-8

Group #3: Martinez, to Taylor: You are responsible for questions 9-12

Please POST your answers. NO CREDIT for ANONYMOUS POSTS!!!

Questions: These questions are based on Act One, Chapter One of "When the Levees Broke" You can find the questions on PAGE 20 of the Viewing Guide

CLICK HERE for the Viewing Guide

Tonight's HW

1. Read and Outline pp. 243-246 in the We The People book.
2. Complete the questions "What do you think?" on p. 246
3. Bring your book with you to class tomorrow.
4. Please turn in your evaluation forms from the project. I cannot give anyone a grade until I have that information.

Thank you

Group Evaluation/Self Evaluation

P.I.G. Students:

Thank you very much for your participation in the debate project. I hope that you found the process interesting and informative.

Now, the hard part. The evaluation. In an effort to create an accurate assessment, I need everyone's assistance in completing the evaluations below.

1. Self Evaluation: Print the file, and answer the questions accordingly.

2. Group Evaluation. Please click here, and print the document. After reading the questions carefully, please honestly answer the questions. It is very important that you are honest in your evaluations of yourself, and your team-mates.

Presentation Rubric

CLICK HERE For the Link!

Save to YOUR GOOGLE DOC FILE!

HW Friday 10/16 DUE MONDAY

Participation in Gov't Students:

Based on your topic, and issue position, you are to complete the reading of at least two (2) articles. You are expected to complete index card outlines of each articles. Based on the presentation regarding note-taking, you should come up with at least 3-4 index cards per article. Therefore, you should have at least 6-8 index cards with you in class on Monday.

See you then!

HW Thursday October 15

Tonight's HW:

Based on the groups, and position you've been assigned...

Access the articles related to your issue and position. You must check your WJPS email in order to get the information that you need.

Prepare an outline sheet that identifies the following

• Background Information
• Your Position
• Opposing Position
• How the Bill of Rights supports your position
• Facts, statistics, quotes to support your position
• Current events (new laws, court cases)
• Opposing argument
• Why you disagree
• Summarize your arguments

If you previously completed the essay, you will be in a very good position in terms of outlining, and in terms of information for the presentation.

Project Resources

Part. In Gov't Students:

I have placed all of the files needed for research in a google docs file. Please check your WJPS email in order to access the information.

Based on the issue you've been assigned, access the related links.

Additionally, here are some important links that you can access to help you

Note Taking - Part I

Note Taking - Part II

Here's a sample presentation.

Please note that based on class time, access to lap-top carts, sign-in and sign-out procedures, etc., in-class research time will be limited. Therefore,you must take/make the time to research this information on your own!

Group and Position Assignments

Part. In Gov't Students

Listed Below are your group assignments, the issues you will be covering, as well as the position (affirmative, or negative) that you will be taking. In other words, you will support, or defend a position. So, if you have gun control, and you are the "affirmative side," you will support the government's position that these things should be regulated (regular people shouldn't have access to them). If you are on the "negative side," you will side with those people that think the government should not limit the types of weapons to which people may have access.

Here are the group assignments:

Gun Control: Affirmative: Paula, Ellie, and Ciera. Negative: Alan, Joanna, Angie

Death Penalty: Affirmative: Elena, Penny, Estefania. Negative: Monica, Mike K, Victoria

Student Searches: Ladonna, Divya, Chandler...Negative: Katlyn, Lisa, Alex

Violent Video Games: Michael E, Andrew, Sebastian...Negative: Angela, Marlyn, Christina C.

Religion and Science: Daniel, Josue, Erica...Negative: Mia, Anthony M, Travis

Debate Topics HW Due Tuesday 10/13

Debate Topics. Please click the links below for the issue briefs on each topic. Your job is to read each topic, and answer the questions that follow.

Gun Control

Death Penalty

Student Searches

Violent Video Games

Religion and Science

Trials and Terrorism

Privacy and Security

Please note that you are expected to PRINT each handout, and complete the questions on each sheet.

Tuesday's HW - DUE THURSDAY!

Hello, Everyone:

HW for Tuesday night, due Thursday.

Use the following to outline a persuasive essay on the topic of Schools disciplining students for behavior outside of school. The essay is due on Friday October 9th. If everyone hands it in on time, we will not have homework over the Columbus Day Weekend.

At random, you will be given assignments to either support, or oppose school's right to discipline behavior that occurs outside of school.

Here are some things to consider when writing your essay...

• Background Information
• Your Position
• Opposing Position
• How the Bill of Rights supports your position
• Facts, statistics, quotes to support your position
• Current events (new laws, court cases)
• Opposing argument
• Why you disagree
• Summarize your arguments

HW Assignment #8 Due TUESDAY October 6th

CLICK HERE Download the issue brief, read it, and print it.

CLICK the links below, and read the following articles. You should outline each article and take notes.

Free Speech and Cyberbullying
MySpace Hoax Led to Suicide

Suspension Violated Student's Rights

Students Have Free Speech Rights

'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' Ruling

Student Sues School For Degree

Free Speech vs. Class Disruption

What are the arguments for allowing schools to punish students for behavior outside of school?

What are the arguments against allowing schools to punish students for their behavior outside of school?

What role should schools play in deciding what is or is not appropriate online activity for their students?

Should a school be able to suspend you for insulting a fellow student over Facebook?

Editorials

Students’ Right to Free Speech

Schools Must Monitor Students

Assessment #1 - Constitution and Gov't Review

1. CLICK HERE. Download and Print the following Document. This document packet is the same assignment which we worked on in class Tuesday.

2. Complete the questions related to each document. Your answers should be fairly in-depth, and should be complete sentences. One-word answers will not suffice.

3. There is a firm deadline of FRIDAY October 2nd. Any assignments not turned in will be counted as a ZERO. No excuses. No exceptions. No Kidding!

Health Care - What's the Real Story

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/05/politics/main5215880.shtml?tag=featuredPostArea

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/21/politics/main5326987_page2.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhq3kxb7_269cpsms4dk

http://blog.heritage.org/2009/08/20/is-national-health-insurance-constitutional/

http://eternalhope.blog-city.com/health_care_is_a_right_contained_within_the_us_constitution.htm

Due Monday!

What are some of the objections raised to the Obama Health Care Plan?

Should the Government even be involved with health care?

Is the Health Care system, as proposed by President Obama, even constitutional?

Assignment #7: Due Date Wed 9/23/09

CLICK HERE. Read the article carefully.

In your own words, explain why the President is using the media in this manner.

What do you think about the President's use of the media to further his healthcare plan?

Assignment #6: Due Date Monday 9/21/09

CLICK HERE. View the video, and read the "White House Response" and "Maureen Dowd's Opinion Piece"

How should the office of the president respond to Maureen Dowd and former president Jimmy Carter?

In your opinion does this argument have any validity?

Will this derail the healthcare reform bill?

GEM POINTS - Post a response on the QHST blog. Be sure to identify yourself as a member of the Senior Learning Community at World Journalism Prep HS, and as a student in Mr. Tesler's Gov't class. BE RESPECTFUL AND PROFESSIONAL!

Assignment #5: Due Friday 9/18

1. CLICK HERE and view President Obama's speech on Healthcare.

2. In your own words, analyze the goals of President Obama's plan.

3. Ask a registered voter (your parents, relatives, etc.) their thoughts on the President's plan.

GO THE EXTRA MILE! (GEM!)

4. CLICK HERE and read the reactions of QHST Seniors to the speech. Respond to their posts. Identify yourself as a Senior in my class at WJPS. BE PROFESSIONAL, and RESPECTFUL!

Assignment #4: Due THURSDAY!

Hello, All:

Thank you again for your continued efforts. Here's your assignment, which is due by Thursday.

1. CLICK the Links Below, and complete the following lessons. They are on-line lectures (kinda like what you will get when you're in college!). Listen carefully, and take notes. I'll be checking to see that you took notes.

Lesson 1 - American Democracy

Lesson 2- English and Enlightenment Traditions

2. Complete the Vocab Terms in your notebook. They must be handwritten!

3. Answer the following questions:

Identify how the Magna Carta was created, and EXPLAIN how it contributed to the growth of Constitutional Government.

Discuss the importance of the Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, and the English of Bill of Rights.

Assignment #3: Monday 9/14/09

READ the following article, and then respond to the questions that follow.

Responsibilities of Government

We can begin to address the question of what are the responsibilities of government by first looking at the Declaration of Independence to document the legitimacy of government, then looking at the United States Constitution to determine the obligations of government.

The Declaration of Independence in 1776 provided the following foundation for the right of government to exist:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed....

The Declaration of Independence went on to say that the new government to be established in what was then the 13 British colonies would lay its foundation:

…on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

From this document it is clear that the Founding Fathers of our country saw government as an essential vehicle for citizens to achieve justice, obtain security, and to pursue happiness.

After winning the War of Independence the Founding Fathers gathered again in 1787 to write the Constitution for the new government they had won the right to establish. Their philosophy of the role of government is stated in the first paragraph, i.e. the preamble, of the Constitution of the United States :

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The specific responsibilities of the government of the United States are important enough, and misunderstood enough, to warrant repeating:

1. Form a more perfect union.
2. Establish justice.
3. Insure domestic tranquility.
4. Provide for the common defense.
5. Promote the general welfare.
6. Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

In determining if government is functioning in a responsible manner, we can come back to these obligations of government to see if they are adequately being fulfilled.

An excerpt from the body of the Constitution might also be of assistance in determining whether government is acting is a responsible manner is specific situations. Article I Section 8 states:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes…to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States … (and)

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States…

From both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution it is clear that the federal government has an obligation to do what it can to promote the general welfare of citizens, and to assure that future generations will inherit a nation that provides justice, liberty, and the protection of the general welfare. It is clear that Congress can levy taxes and regulate interstate commerce in order to fulfill these obligations.

Questions.

1. Based on your knowledge of the structure of government in the US, what obligation(s) does the government have to the people?

2. Provide at least THREE examples of ways in which the government meets these obligations.

3. To what extent should the government go, in order to meet these obligations?

Assignment #1: Sept. 11th Leaves its Mark on History Classes

1. CLICK HERE. DOWNLOAD AND PRINT YOUR CLASS CONTRACT.

2. CLICK HERE. DOWNLOAD and PRINT YOUR CLASS PROCEDURES

3. CLICK HERE and READ the Article "9/11 Leaves Its Mark on History Classes"

4. CLICK HERE. OBTAIN THE SUPPLIES FOR THIS CLASS.

Based on the questions below, post an appropriate response, which we will discuss in class tomorrow.

How should adults answer their children when asked, “Why did these events happen?” How should schools represent the people who piloted the planes? What has been the response of the US? How has the US changed since 9/11?, because of 9/11?

BE PREPARED TO DISCUSS THE ARTICLE - REMEMBER, A HUGE PART OF YOUR GRADE IS BASED ON PARTICIPATION!

CLICK HERE, to see what other kids had to say about the same article

Assignment #2: Sept. 11th Illness

Eight years have passed since the occurrence of the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Given the current controversy about health care in the United States, this discussion is still relevant.

Read the following articles.

1. Illness Persisting in 9/11 Workers

2. Here is a follow up to article #1

After reading the articles, post a thoughtful reflection to the following questions.

• How has money played a role in the care of 9/11 cleanup victims?
• Who is at fault for the illness?
• What chages in finance need to be made to correct the problem? Is healthcare a federal, city or individual responsibility?