Wednesday, December 18, 2013

December 18

I finished my last lecture today in Social 20-1 on "Regional Disparity", which is part of Unit 4. Your Chapter 13 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow. Your Chapter 14-15 Key Terms and Questions are due on Tuesday, January 7th. Your Unit 3 Final Exam is on Thursday, January 9th, please see the study guide below.

Please review all of the Unit 3 PowerPoint presentations that I have sent to you:
  • "Nations, Nation-States and Internationalism"
  • "Canada's Foreign Policy"
  • "Nationalism and Internationalism"
Please review all of the Unit 3 Key Terms from the Unit 3 Worksheet in addition to the key concepts that were introduced in the PowerPoint presentations. In addition to this, I would like to emphasize the following points with you:
  • know the difference between multilateralism, unilateralism and bilateralism and know examples of each
  • know the spectrum of foreign policy: internationalism, nationalism, ultranationalism, and supranationalism
  • know the different foreign policy options
  • know the 6 themes of Canadian foreign policy/Canada's foreign policy goals
  • what influences foreign policy decisions?
  • methods of foreign policy
  • motivations for nations involvement or non-involvement in international affairs
  • how can foreign policy promote internationalism?
  • tied aid, bilateral aid, multilateral aid
  • examples of INGOs and IGOs
  • the United Nations (organization/structure, bodies, etc.)
  • peacemaking vs. peacekeeping (and examples)
  • different understandings of internationalism (types of internationalism)
  • why do international organizations exist? purposes and examples
We finished watching "Shouting Fire" today. We also started looking at the issue of right to privacy. In addition to CCTV cameras in the UK, you might want to also check into NSA surveillance into the lives of American citizens. Your Unit 3 Final Exam is on Monday, January 6th, please see the study guide below.

This exam will be entirely multiple choice format. It will be on Monday, January 6th. Please study the following material:
  • make sure that you have read Chapters 9-12 in Perspectives on Ideology
  • study all key concepts from the Chapters 9-12 Worksheets (see below)
  • study all questions/answers from the Chapters 9-12 Worksheets
  • "Political Challenges to Liberalism" (PowerPoint presentation)
Review the following notes/packages:
  • Democratic Systems
  • Non-Democratic Systems
  • types of dictatorships
  • techniques of dictatorships
  • Civil Rights Movement
  • authoritarian systems (China notes)
  • review the economic and political spectrum (again!)
  • re-read the notes on rights that I put on the board (Charter of Rights and Freedoms to War Measures Act)
  • FLQ Crisis 1970
Know the following key concepts/key events/key terms/key people:
  • assimilation
  • self-interest
  • humanitarianism
  • Indian Act
  • residential school system
  • enfranchisement
  • the White Paper
  • the Red Paper
  • “war on terror"
  • authoritarianism
  • consensus decision-making
  • direct democracy
  • military dictatorship
  • oligarchy
  • one-party state
  • party solidarity
  • representation by population
  • proportional representation
  • representative democracy
  • responsible government
  • democracy
  • single-member constituency (first past the post)
  • the Senate
  • the House of Commons
  • the House of Representatives
  • the Senate
  • mixed-member proportional system
  • lobby groups
  • American Bill of Rights
  • Anti-Terrorism Act
  • Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
  • emergency and security legislation
  • illiberal
  • language legislation
  • Bill 101
  • Bill 178
  • Bill 86
  • Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms
  • respect for law and order
  • terrorism
  • rendition
  • the War Measures Act
  • enemy aliens
  • internment
  • the Emergencies Act
  • USA PATRIOT Act
  • consumerism
  • environmental change
  • extremism
  • pandemics
  • postmodernism
  • global warming
  • Kyoto Protocol
  • World Health Organization (WHO)
  • drought

You handed in your IA today. We continued watching "It's a Wonderful Life".

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

December 17



We completed our economic forum today and started watching "It's a Wonderful Life", which we'll continue tomorrow. Please remember to bring two hard copies of your IA to class tomorrow. You must be ready to hand it in at the beginning of class.


We started to examine free speech issues today by watching the HBO documentary "Shouting Fire". We'll finish this documentary off tomorrow.


You wrote your Unit 3 essay in class today. We'll cover another major Unit 4 concept tomorrow, and that is regionalism and regional disparity in Canada. Your Chapter 12 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow.

Monday, December 16, 2013

December 16


Today was all about getting you into your TOK presentation groups. You had some class time to get yourselves organized, pick an area of knowledge and start thinking of knowledge questions and presentation format. We have our economic forum tomorrow. Please make sure that you are ready to hand in two hard copies of your IA on Wednesday.

I did a homework check on your Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions and your Foreign Policy Worksheet at the beginning of class. Your Chapter 12 Key Terms and Questions are due on Wednesday. You are writing your Unit 3 WRA II Essay tomorrow.

You wrote your Unit 3 WRA II Essay today, which took the entire class.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

December 12


You wrote an analysis of a propaganda poster today for part of the class, and then we watched a short video from the CBC News in Review series that looked at "9/11: The Day that Changed the World". Please make sure that you have all of the answers to the video questions, and that you have read the entire package. You need to understand the historical context of 9/11 in order to understand the American political response to the terrorist attacks. In the days to come we'll examining the USA PATRIOT Act, the Anti-Terrorism Act, no-fly lists and other restrictions to civil liberties that have occurred in Canada, the United States and even the UK. You'll be writing your Unit 3 WRA II Essay on Monday, you will not have access to the essay source in advance.
 
I showed you your results for the Unit 2 Final Exam at the beginning of the class, along with your current mark in the course. I finished off the PowerPoint on "Internationalism and Nationalism" today as well. I gave you the Unit 3 WRA II Essay question sheet today (one day in advance). You will be writing this essay on Tuesday, December 17th. Please check the wiki for some ideas on writing the Unit 3 essay, argumentation and evidence. Check under WRA II Essay Writing on the Social 20-1 wiki.

You wrote the Social 30-1 Market and Mixed Economy Test today. If you missed today's class, you'll be writing this exam tomorrow in Period 2 (and if necessary write it into the break). Here's a link to the study guide for this exam.  We'll be preparing for the economic forum tomorrow.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

December 11


I gave you back your Unit 2 WRA II Essays today. I also gave you back your Unit 2 Research Projects as well. Now that everyone has written the Unit 2 Final Exam, you'll get the results of this exam tomorrow. I started a PowerPoint presentation today that I'll finish off tomorrow called "Internationalism and Nationalism". You will be writing your Unit 3 WRA II Essay on Tuesday, December 17th, and you'll get the essay question sheet on Friday.

We finished off the FLQ Crisis video. I gave you a couple of handouts on how to write an analysis of propaganda posters. You'll be writing an analysis of a propaganda poster tomorrow. We'll continue looking at illiberalism this week by talking about the changes to the world caused by 9/11. Please remember that you have your Unit 3 WRA II Essay on Monday, December 16th.

I tied up some loose ends today with supply side economics and how demand-side and supply-side deals with a recession. Please remember that you have your Social 30-1 Market and Mixed Economy Test tomorrow, please check out the study guide here (scroll down to find it).

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

December 10


We had some "housekeeping" items to take care of today: Grade 12 validation sheets, and the Tell Them From Me survey. You were also to complete the comparison chart of the Great Depression in Canada and the United States. Please hand those charts in on Wednesday. Your Market and Mixed Economy Test is on Thursday, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it).

We looked at the concept of illiberalism today. I gave you some background information before we jumped into the FLQ Crisis. We'll finish off the documentary tomorrow on the FLQ Crisis. Your USA-Canada Comparative Government Assignment was due today. Your Civil Rights Movement Assignment (don't forget to do the essay outline) is due on Thursday. Your Chapter 11 Key Terms and Questions are due on Friday. You'll be writing an analysis of a propaganda poster in tomorrow's class, don't be late.

You wrote your Unit 2 Final Exam today. If you were away today, you'll be writing this exam tomorrow in class. One week from today, you'll be writing your Unit 3 WRA II Essay (December 17th). I will be returning marked essays tomorrow.

Thursday, December 05, 2013

December 5



I showed you a video from the CBC News in Review series called "Afghanistan's Troubled Election". You were to complete the video study guide questions. Please make sure that you read the "Canada's Role in Afghanistan" section of the booklet. You had the remainder of class time to work on your Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions. These key terms and questions are due on Monday. Your USA-Canada Comparative Government Assignment is due on Tuesday. Your U.S. Civil Rights Movement Assignment is due on Thursday, December 12th.
You essentially had the entire period to finish off your Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions (which are due on Monday). I made the recommendation that you also read Chapter 10, and complete those key terms and questions as well. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is on Tuesday, December 10th, please see the study guide below.


1. Study the following PowerPoint presentations from Unit 2:
  • The Causes of World War I
  • Total War-Allied Victory in WWI-Paris Peace Conference
  • Ultranationalism in WWII: Italy, Japan, Germany
  • The Internment of Japanese-Canadians in WWII
  • The Holocaust
  • Eight Stages of Genocide (from the Genocide Watch website)
  • Contemporary Examples of Genocide

2. Know the following key concepts:
  • national interest
  • domestic policy
  • foreign policy
  • Triple Alliance
  • Triple Entente
  • Treaty of Versailles
  • Big Four (Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, Vittorio Orlando)
  • appeasement
  • ultranationalism
  • propaganda
  • conscription crisis
  • Adolf Hitler
  • Nazis
  • Hirohito
  • Tojo
  • Kristallnacht
  • The Way of Subjects
  • League of Nations
  • total war
  • internment
  • War Measures Act
  • Great Depression
  • the Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
  • irredentism
  • genocide
  • crimes against humanity
  • war crimes
  • Holocaust
  • ethnic cleansing
  • lebensraum
  • Weimar Republic
  • Final Solution
  • decolonization
  • successor state
  • self-determination

3. Make sure that you review the following broad topics in your review of Unit 2 (and make sure that you can answer ALL of the questions on the Unit 2 Worksheet):
  • World War I (don't concern yourself with memorizing battles though)
  • Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles
  • The Interwar Years
  • Rise of ultranationalism in Germany, Japan, and Italy
  • Causes of World War II and key events (turning points in the war)
  • The Holocaust
  • Contemporary examples of genocide (review case studies that were emphasized in class and in the textbook, review your notes for "Scream Bloody Murder", "Shake Hands with the Devil")
  • Decolonization and self-determination (quick review of "Gandhi" film study booklet, what are successor states? What is self-determination? Kosovo case study)
You wrote a short quiz on the Great Depression at the start of class, and then we looked at the impact of the Great Depression on Latin America. You can find the PowerPoint lecture on the Great Depression in Latin America on the IB 30/35 wiki under "The Great Depression and the Americas". I will also be trying to upload a chapter on the Great Depression in Latin America next week. I strongly recommend that you look at the chapters that have been posted on the USA in the 1920s, the Wall Street Crash and the causes of the Great Depression, Herbert Hoover and the Depression, and the New Deal. As I've said many times Churchill students to pick essay questions on the Paper 3 that deal with either the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Movement, the Cold War in the Americas or on the Great Depression and the Americas. This is a topic that you should know extremely well for not only your IB exams, but also your Social 30-1 Diploma Exams in June. Your Social 30-1 Market and Mixed Economy Test is on Thursday, December 12th, please see the study guide below.


  • Chapters 3-4 and Chapter 6 in Perspectives on Ideology
  • please see the summary notes from the Ideologies textbook: Chapter 7 (Private Enterprise)
  • supply-side economics
  • boom and bust cycle/business cycle
  • laws of supply and demand, Adam Smith, invisible hand, market forces
    self-interest, consumer sovereignty, competition, private ownership, profit motive
  • basic economic problems/questions
  • advantages/disadvantages of the market economy
  • causes of the Great Depression
  • FDR and the New Deal
  • please see summary notes from the Ideologies textbook on the Mixed Economy Case Studies #14 (Sweden) and #15 (Canada)
  • nationalization
  • democratic socialism
  • welfare capitalism
  • Keynesian economics
  • the business cycle and fiscal and monetary policies (study all of the notes I gave you and the booklet that I gave you)
  • demand-side economics
  • neo-conservatives
  • monetarism
  • trickle down economics
  • supply-side economics
  • Thatcherism and Reaganomics
  • Milton Friedman
  • Friedrich Hayek
  • how Keynesian economics deals with a recession
  • how supply-side economics deals with a recession 

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

December 4



I finished off the "Nations, Nation-States and Internationalism" PowerPoint today. You can find a hard copy of this presentation in your Social 20-1 blue study booklets, and on the Social 20-1 wiki under Unit 3 Presentations. I also gave you some time to work on your Chapter 9 Key Terms and Questions as well. You will have class time to work on this textbook work tomorrow. Please remember to review for your Unit 2 Final Exam, it is a challenging exam in part because there is so much content and material to draw from. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is scheduled for Tuesday, December 10th. Please see the study guide below.



1. Study the following PowerPoint presentations from Unit 2:
  • The Causes of World War I
  • Total War-Allied Victory in WWI-Paris Peace Conference
  • Ultranationalism in WWII: Italy, Japan, Germany
  • The Internment of Japanese-Canadians in WWII
  • The Holocaust
  • Eight Stages of Genocide (from the Genocide Watch website)
  • Contemporary Examples of Genocide

2. Know the following key concepts:
  • national interest
  • domestic policy
  • foreign policy
  • Triple Alliance
  • Triple Entente
  • Treaty of Versailles
  • Big Four (Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, Vittorio Orlando)
  • appeasement
  • ultranationalism
  • propaganda
  • conscription crisis
  • Adolf Hitler
  • Nazis
  • Hirohito
  • Tojo
  • Kristallnacht
  • The Way of Subjects
  • League of Nations
  • total war
  • internment
  • War Measures Act
  • Great Depression
  • the Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
  • irredentism
  • genocide
  • crimes against humanity
  • war crimes
  • Holocaust
  • ethnic cleansing
  • lebensraum
  • Weimar Republic
  • Final Solution
  • decolonization
  • successor state
  • self-determination

3. Make sure that you review the following broad topics in your review of Unit 2 (and make sure that you can answer ALL of the questions on the Unit 2 Worksheet):
  • World War I (don't concern yourself with memorizing battles though)
  • Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles
  • The Interwar Years
  • Rise of ultranationalism in Germany, Japan, and Italy
  • Causes of World War II and key events (turning points in the war)
  • The Holocaust
  • Contemporary examples of genocide (review case studies that were emphasized in class and in the textbook, review your notes for "Scream Bloody Murder", "Shake Hands with the Devil")
  • Decolonization and self-determination (quick review of "Gandhi" film study booklet, what are successor states? What is self-determination? Kosovo case study)

We covered authoritarianism in China today. I gave you a readings booklet on the "Modern History of China" and then we watched a couple of videos from BBC 20th Century History series. One of the videos was called "One Man's Revolution" and the other was "China Since Mao". Admittedly, these videos are a bit dated, however it should have given you a nice overview of Chinese history from the 1940s to the 1980s. Please make sure that you read the "Modern History of China" booklet. I also gave you a U.S. Civil Rights Assignment that is due on Thursday, December 12th.
I went through the "Great Depression in Canada" PowerPoint presentation today. Please make sure you complete the homework assignments that are due tomorrow: Hoover and Self-Reliance questions, and the Critics of the New Deal chart. Please remember that you have your Social 30-1 Market and Mixed Economy Test on Thursday, December 12th. Please see the study guide here.

Tuesday, December 03, 2013

December 3


I went through a PowerPoint presentation on "The New Deal" today. You can find this presentation on the IB 30/35 wiki under The Great Depression and the Americas section. As I went through this lecture, you were to complete a chart on the New Deal. Your homework assignment documents are posted on the wiki as well, and these assignments are both due on Thursday, December 5th:

  • Hoover's Self-Reliance (find on the Great Depression and the Americas page of the wiki)
  • Critics of the New Deal (chart). You will also need to open up the PDF file called Challenges of the New Deal. You can find these handouts also on the Great Depression and the Americas page of the IB 30/35 wiki.
Next Thursday (December 12th) you will write your Social 30-1 Market Economy and Mixed Economy Test. Please see the study guide below to aid you in preparing for this multiple choice test.

  • Chapters 3-4 and Chapter 6 in Perspectives on Ideology
  • please see the summary notes from the Ideologies textbook: Chapter 7 (Private Enterprise)
  • supply-side economics
  • boom and bust cycle/business cycle
  • laws of supply and demand, Adam Smith, invisible hand, market forces
    self-interest, consumer sovereignty, competition, private ownership, profit motive
  • basic economic problems/questions
  • advantages/disadvantages of the market economy
  • causes of the Great Depression
  • FDR and the New Deal
  • please see summary notes from the Ideologies textbook on the Mixed Economy Case Studies #14 (Sweden) and #15 (Canada)
  • nationalization
  • democratic socialism
  • welfare capitalism
  • Keynesian economics
  • the business cycle and fiscal and monetary policies (study all of the notes I gave you and the booklet that I gave you)
  • demand-side economics
  • neo-conservatives
  • monetarism
  • trickle down economics
  • supply-side economics
  • Thatcherism and Reaganomics
  • Milton Friedman
  • Friedrich Hayek
  • how Keynesian economics deals with a recession
  • how supply-side economics deals with a recession


I covered a couple of key concepts at the beginning of class, including first past the post (FPTP) and proportional representation (PR). I also went through the PowerPoint lecture on the "Political Challenges to Liberalism". You can find this presentation on the Social 30-1 wiki under Unit 3 Presentations. I also gave you a reading from Maclean's magazine called "The End of Democracy?" (highly recommended reading). Please remember that your Canada-USA Comparative Government Assignment is due one week from today (December 10th).

I started on a PowerPoint lecture today called "Nations, Nation-States and Internationalism", which I should be able to finish off tomorrow. If you missed class today, you missed some good rants too. If you haven't written your Unit 2 WRA II Essay, it is expected that you will write it tomorrow. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is Tuesday, December 10th, please see the study guide below.

1. Study the following PowerPoint presentations from Unit 2:
  • The Causes of World War I
  • Total War-Allied Victory in WWI-Paris Peace Conference
  • Ultranationalism in WWII: Italy, Japan, Germany
  • The Internment of Japanese-Canadians in WWII
  • The Holocaust
  • Eight Stages of Genocide (from the Genocide Watch website)
  • Contemporary Examples of Genocide

2. Know the following key concepts:
  • national interest
  • domestic policy
  • foreign policy
  • Triple Alliance
  • Triple Entente
  • Treaty of Versailles
  • Big Four (Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, Vittorio Orlando)
  • appeasement
  • ultranationalism
  • propaganda
  • conscription crisis
  • Adolf Hitler
  • Nazis
  • Hirohito
  • Tojo
  • Kristallnacht
  • The Way of Subjects
  • League of Nations
  • total war
  • internment
  • War Measures Act
  • Great Depression
  • the Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
  • irredentism
  • genocide
  • crimes against humanity
  • war crimes
  • Holocaust
  • ethnic cleansing
  • lebensraum
  • Weimar Republic
  • Final Solution
  • decolonization
  • successor state
  • self-determination

3. Make sure that you review the following broad topics in your review of Unit 2 (and make sure that you can answer ALL of the questions on the Unit 2 Worksheet):
  • World War I (don't concern yourself with memorizing battles though)
  • Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles
  • The Interwar Years
  • Rise of ultranationalism in Germany, Japan, and Italy
  • Causes of World War II and key events (turning points in the war)
  • The Holocaust
  • Contemporary examples of genocide (review case studies that were emphasized in class and in the textbook, review your notes for "Scream Bloody Murder", "Shake Hands with the Devil")
  • Decolonization and self-determination (quick review of "Gandhi" film study booklet, what are successor states? What is self-determination? Kosovo case study)

Monday, December 02, 2013

December 2


I reviewed monetary and fiscal policy with you today. We also reviewed the Keynesian economic response at various stages of the business cycle. I then walked you through a handout on the stabilization of the business cycle using monetary and fiscal policy. I also gave you a handout on the Great Depression in the USA. Please make sure that you check out all of the resources at your disposal for the unit The Great Depression in the Americas. Questions related to this topic are often covered by students on their Paper 3 in May.
You finished off writing your Unit 2 WRA II Essay today in the Blenheim Room. Please make sure that you send me your essay by e-mail, send it to my CBE account. We'll be getting into some Unit 3 material this week. Your Unit 2 Final Exam is on Tuesday, December 10th, please see the study guide below. The format for your Unit 2 Final Exam is multiple choice.

1. Study the following PowerPoint presentations from Unit 2:
  • The Causes of World War I
  • Total War-Allied Victory in WWI-Paris Peace Conference
  • Ultranationalism in WWII: Italy, Japan, Germany
  • The Internment of Japanese-Canadians in WWII
  • The Holocaust
  • Eight Stages of Genocide (from the Genocide Watch website)
  • Contemporary Examples of Genocide

2. Know the following key concepts:
  • national interest
  • domestic policy
  • foreign policy
  • Triple Alliance
  • Triple Entente
  • Treaty of Versailles
  • Big Four (Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, Vittorio Orlando)
  • appeasement
  • ultranationalism
  • propaganda
  • conscription crisis
  • Adolf Hitler
  • Nazis
  • Hirohito
  • Tojo
  • Kristallnacht
  • The Way of Subjects
  • League of Nations
  • total war
  • internment
  • War Measures Act
  • Great Depression
  • the Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
  • irredentism
  • genocide
  • crimes against humanity
  • war crimes
  • Holocaust
  • ethnic cleansing
  • lebensraum
  • Weimar Republic
  • Final Solution
  • decolonization
  • successor state
  • self-determination

3. Make sure that you review the following broad topics in your review of Unit 2 (and make sure that you can answer ALL of the questions on the Unit 2 Worksheet):
  • World War I (don't concern yourself with memorizing battles though)
  • Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles
  • The Interwar Years
  • Rise of ultranationalism in Germany, Japan, and Italy
  • Causes of World War II and key events (turning points in the war)
  • The Holocaust
  • Contemporary examples of genocide (review case studies that were emphasized in class and in the textbook, review your notes for "Scream Bloody Murder", "Shake Hands with the Devil")
  • Decolonization and self-determination (quick review of "Gandhi" film study booklet, what are successor states? What is self-determination? Kosovo case study)

You wrote your Unit 2 WRA II Essay in Room 241 today. Please make sure that you send me your essay by e-mail, send it to my CBE account.

Friday, November 29, 2013

November 29

You wrote your Prescribed Subject 1 Quiz today, and then you had time to work on your Great Depression and New Deal study guide. This is due on Monday. You can find this handout on the IB 30/35 wiki under The Great Depression and the Americas.
We went to the Blenheim Room today to type up the first paragraph of your Unit 2 WRA II Essay. You were to save this essay to your H drive and print off a hard copy of it to have it peer edited by a classmate. You will write the remainder of your Unit 2 WRA II Essay on Monday in the Blenheim Room.
I gave you your USA-Canada Comparative Government Assignment today. It is strongly recommended that you work with a partner for this assignment. This assignment is due on Tuesday, December 10th. I also had you write a response to two of the following questions:
  • Should the voting age be lowered?
  • Should voting be mandatory?
  • Should everyone over the age of 18 be allowed to vote?
I then had you split into groups to deal with the questions and discuss them. Please don't forget that you have your Unit 2 WRA II Essay on Monday. Please go to the Social 30-1 wiki under the section called WRA II Essay Writing.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

November 27


We continued examining the process of writing a WRA II Essay today. I gave you the essay question sheet, and you had some time for some small group brainstorming of arguments and evidence. I then walked you through the structure of the first paragraph by showing you an example of an outline for the Unit 2 WRA II essay source. I will post this on the wiki today, so please check the section on the Social 20-1 wiki called WRA II Essay Writing. I also did a homework check on your Chapter 8 Key Terms and Questions. Please remember that your Chapter 7-8 Test is tomorrow, please check out the study guide here (scroll down to find it).  
I did a homework check on your Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions. I went through a lot of political concepts today, so you'll need to get these notes from a classmate if you were away. We covered direct democracy, representative democracy, parliamentary democracy and presidential democracy. Our example of a parliamentary democracy that we'll examine in greater detail is Canada. We talked about the organization/structure of the Canadian political system, responsible government and the Senate and House of Commons. Other concepts that you should understand moving forward are representation by population, minority government, majority government and non-confidence votes. Tomorrow, we'll finish off our examination of the Canadian political system. I will also give you your Unit 2 WRA II Essay question sheet tomorrow.
I went through a lot of economic concepts today, so if you missed class you will need to get these notes from a classmate. I went through the basic economic problem facing all societies (scarcity), economic systems, economic values, basic economic questions and how the economic systems would answer the questions differently. I also reviewed the economic-political grid, the law of supply and demand and the boom and bust cycle (the business cycle). I will start tomorrow with the boom and bust cycle and discuss what the Keynesian economic response will be to the various stages of the cycle. Please remember that you have your Prescribed Subject 1 Quiz on Friday.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

November 26


You wrote your Paper 1 today, and I started to give back some IAs. Please remember that you have a Prescribed Subject 1 Quiz on Friday, which consists of a matching section and some other "surprises". Your 1920s Study Guide is due tomorrow.


You got the results back for your Unit 2 Final Exam today. You also had class time to work on your Chapter 10 Key Terms and Questions, which are due tomorrow.


We started looking at positional thinking today, and the differences between argumentation and evidence as well. Tomorrow, you'll get the "recipe for success" for writing WRA II essays. I will also give you the Unit 2 WRA II Essay Question Sheet, and we'll start building the essay together tomorrow. You will be writing the first paragraph of the Unit 2 WRA II essay on Friday, and then you'll finish it off on Monday. Please remember that you have your Chapter 7-8 Test on Thursday, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it).

Monday, November 25, 2013

November 25

We started class today by watching a video called "The Roaring Twenties" from the U.S. History series. You then had the remainder of class time to work on the 1920s Study Guide. You were to bring your United States and Its People textbook to class today, and use it answer the questions from the 1920s Study Guide. The most useful chapter in the textbook to answer the questions would be Chapter 20: The Twenties: Blowing the Lid Off 1919-1928. This study guide is due on Wednesday. Please remember that you're writing your Paper 1 tomorrow.

Your Unit 2 Research Project was due in class today. If this project is handed in late, you lose 10% off in marks for every day that it is late. I also did a homework check on your "Gandhi" film study. We tied up some loose ends in the Unit 2 material today by covering the case study of Kosovo declaring its independence in 2008. We watched a CBC News in Review video on this topic. Your Kosovo CBC News in Review Questions are due tomorrow (November 26th) and your Chapter 8 Key Terms and Questions are due on Wednesday (November 27th). Please remember that you are writing your Chapter 7-8 Test this Thursday (November 28th). Please check out the study guide below.



This test is on Thursday, November 28th. It will consist of 20-24 key terms in a matching section, and 3-4 short answer questions. Please study the following PowerPoint presentations:

Please study the following notes packages/film study packages:

  • 36 Questions About The Holocaust
  • Turning Points in History: The Atomic Bomb (film notes)
  • White Light/Black Rain (film notes)
  • Shake Hands with the Devil (film notes + package)
  • Unit 2 Worksheet (chapter questions for Chapter 7 and 8)
  • make sure that you have read Chapters 7 and 8!

1. Please study the following key concepts/key people/key events:
genocide:


  • crimes against humanity
  • war crimes
  • the Holocaust
  • ethnic cleansing
  • lebensraum
  • Weimar Republic
  • Final Solution
  • decolonization
  • successor state
  • self-determination
  • Wansee Conference
  • Nuremberg Trials
  • Mahatma Gandhi
  • Jawaharlal Nehru
  • Mohammed Ali Jinnah
  • home rule
  • Hutu
  • Tutsi
  • Romeo Dallaire
  • Manhattan Project
  • Hiroshima
  • Nagasaki
  • Robert Oppenheimer
  • FDR
  • Harry Truman
  • Potsdam Conference
  • Slobodan Milosevic

2. You should be able to answer any of the questions from the Unit 2 worksheet from Chapter 7 and 8. 


You wrote your Unit 2 Final Exam today. I also did a homework check on your "10 Questions About Democracy" booklet as well.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

November 21

We started Unit 3 by looking at your results for the Political Compass survey. We also watched a video from BBC World called "10 Questions About Democracy" (here is a link to the companion website if you'd like to hear what people had to say again). You are responsible for finishing the entire film study that went along with this video for Monday's class (I'll be doing a homework check on it, and in all likelihood, we'll be able to discuss some of the questions in the video). One of the people that was interviewed in the video, Stanley Fish, is a writer for the New York Times; here's an article he wrote after he was interviewed for the documentary.



It will be a 75 multiple choice question test which will be held on Monday, November 25th. In your textbook, this is material from Chapters 3-8. Please look at the studying hints below:

  • study "The Development of Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "Responding to Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "The Evolution of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "The Techniques of Dictatorship" (ppt)
  • study "20th Century Rejections of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "The Origins of the Cold War" (ppt)
  • study the key concepts from the Chapters 3-8 worksheets
  • please see the summary notes from the Ideologies textbook: Chapter 7 (Private Enterprise)
  • supply-side economics
  • boom and bust cycle/business cycle
  • laws of supply and demand, Adam Smith, invisible hand, market forces
  • self-interest, consumer sovereignty, competition, private ownership, profit motive
  • basic economic problems/questions
  • advantages/disadvantages of the market economy
  • causes of the Great Depression
  • FDR and the New Deal
  • please see summary notes from the Ideologies textbook on the Mixed Economy Case Studies #14 (Sweden) and #15 (Canada), #16 (Japan), #17 (Fascism and Nazism)
    also see the Democratic Socialism booklet on Sweden (indicative planning, "cradle to the grave" economics)
  • characteristics of a mixed economy
  • nationalization
  • privatization
  • democratic socialism
  • welfare capitalism
  • Keynesian economics
  • the business cycle and fiscal and monetary policies (study all of the notes I gave you and the booklet that I gave you)
  • demand-side economics
  • neo-conservatives
  • monetarism
  • trickle down economics
  • supply-side economics
  • Thatcherism and Reaganomics
  • Milton Friedman
  • Friedrich Hayek
  • how Keynesian economics deals with a recession (remember "the percolator": increase circulation of money reducing taxes, increase government spending on "make work" projects, and reduce interest rates, which according to Keynesian economics is going increase demand for goods and services and lead to more money circulating in the economy)
  • how supply-side economics deals with a recession (remember "trickle down coffee maker": government should stimulate the goods and services sector of the economy by reducing corporate and personal taxes, eventually benefits will "trickle down" to the middle class and working class, make connections between supply-side economics and laissez faire economics/classical liberalism)
  • advantages and disadvantages of a mixed economy
  • neo-conservative criticism of government intervention
  • characteristics of a centrally planned economy
  • advantages and disadvantages of a centrally planned economy
  • Marx notes (sent by e-mail)
  • Lenin notes (sent by e-mail)
  • establishment of the Soviet Union
  • Soviet economic system (top-down decision-making process)
  • Lenin's War Communism and the New Economic Policy
  • "Stalin and the Modernization of Russia" (see film notes)
  • Stalin notes (sent by e-mail)
  • "Changes to Soviet Society After Stalin" notes (this bridges the gap between Stalin and Gorbachev)
  • Gorbachev to Collapse Notes
  • Economic Planning in the USSR booklet
  • techniques of dictatorships (USSR and Nazi Germany case studies)
  • modern liberalism
  • features of the Nazi state
  • Hitler's rise to power
  • Democratic Systems notes
  • Non-Democratic Systems notes
  • Types of Dictatorships notes (includes Techniques of Dictatorships as well)
  • A Comparison of Communism and Fascism notes
  • Totalitarianism notes
  • Fascism/Nazism booklet (has techniques of dictatorship in Nazi Germany and USSR)
  • do a brief review of the political spectrum and economic spectrum and the quadrant model

We finished watching "Gandhi" today. The film study guide for "Gandhi" is due on Monday. One week from today, you have your Chapter 7-8 Test. Please remember that your Unit 2 Research Project is due on Monday, November 25th.


This test is on Thursday, November 24th. It will consist of 20-24 key terms in a matching section, and 3-4 short answer questions. Please study the following PowerPoint presentations:
  • "The Holocaust"
  • "8 Stages of Genocide" (see the Genocide Watch website: http://www.genocidewatch.org/)
  • "Contemporary Examples of Genocide" (you have a hard copy in your Social 20-1 blue study booklets)

Please study the following notes packages/film study packages:
  • 36 Questions About The Holocaust
  • Turning Points in History: The Atomic Bomb (film notes)
  • White Light/Black Rain (film notes)
  • Shake Hands with the Devil (film notes + package)
  • Unit 2 Worksheet (chapter questions for Chapter 7 and 8)
  • make sure that you have read Chapters 7 and 8!

1. Please study the following key concepts/key people/key events:
genocide:

  • crimes against humanity
  • war crimes
  • the Holocaust
  • ethnic cleansing
  • lebensraum
  • Weimar Republic
  • Final Solution
  • decolonization
  • successor state
  • self-determination
  • Wansee Conference
  • Nuremberg Trials
  • Mahatma Gandhi
  • Jawaharlal Nehru
  • Mohammed Ali Jinnah
  • home rule
  • Hutu
  • Tutsi
  • Romeo Dallaire
  • Manhattan Project
  • Hiroshima
  • Nagasaki
  • Robert Oppenheimer
  • FDR
  • Harry Truman
  • Potsdam Conference
  • Slobodan Milosevic

2. You should be able to answer any of the questions from the Unit 2 worksheet from Chapter 7 and 8.



Despite the delays with the fire alarm, we were able to finish off the "1920s Conservatism in the USA" PowerPoint presentation. Please bring your United States and Its People textbooks to class on Monday. You are writing your Paper 1 on Prescribed Subject 1 on Tuesday, November 26th. This is your last weekend to prepare for it, so I suggest that you work very methodically through the Paper 1 duotang, and do some research into historiography for the various topics that the sources potentially could be on with the Paper 1. Use this long weekend to your advantage!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

November 20

We continued our film study of "Gandhi", we should be able to finish it off tomorrow. I did a homework check on the Chapter 7 Key Terms and Questions and the colonial background information on India. You have your Chapter 7-8 Test on Thursday, November 28th, please see the study guide below.



This test is on Friday, November 26th. It will consist of 20-24 key terms in a matching section, and 3-4 short answer questions. Please study the following PowerPoint presentations:

Please study the following notes packages/film study packages:

  • 36 Questions About The Holocaust
  • Turning Points in History: The Atomic Bomb (film notes)
  • White Light/Black Rain (film notes)
  • Shake Hands with the Devil (film notes + package)
  • Unit 2 Worksheet (chapter questions for Chapter 7 and 8)
  • make sure that you have read Chapters 7 and 8!

1. Please study the following key concepts/key people/key events:
genocide:


  • crimes against humanity
  • war crimes
  • the Holocaust
  • ethnic cleansing
  • lebensraum
  • Weimar Republic
  • Final Solution
  • decolonization
  • successor state
  • self-determination
  • Wansee Conference
  • Nuremberg Trials
  • Mahatma Gandhi
  • Jawaharlal Nehru
  • Mohammed Ali Jinnah
  • home rule
  • Hutu
  • Tutsi
  • Romeo Dallaire
  • Manhattan Project
  • Hiroshima
  • Nagasaki
  • Robert Oppenheimer
  • FDR
  • Harry Truman
  • Potsdam Conference
  • Slobodan Milosevic

2. You should be able to answer any of the questions from the Unit 2 worksheet from Chapter 7 and 8. We did some housekeeping today, with me returning some homework checked assignments and sharing results on the Cold War Exam. We watched the National Geographic documentary called "Inside North Korea" as well today. Please complete the Political Compass survey and bring in your quadrant print out to class tomorrow. Please check out the Unit 2 Final Exam study guide below.

This Unit Final is on Monday, November 25th, it will be a 75 multiple choice question test. In your textbook, this is material from Chapters 3-8. Please look at the studying hints below:

  • study "The Development of Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "Responding to Classical Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "The Evolution of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "The Techniques of Dictatorship" (ppt)
  • study "20th Century Rejections of Modern Liberalism" (ppt)
  • study "The Origins of the Cold War" (ppt)
  • study the key concepts from the Chapters 3-8 worksheets
  • please see the summary notes from the Ideologies textbook: Chapter 7 (Private Enterprise)
  • supply-side economics
  • boom and bust cycle/business cycle
  • laws of supply and demand, Adam Smith, invisible hand, market forces
    self-interest, consumer sovereignty, competition, private ownership, profit motive
  • basic economic problems/questions
  • advantages/disadvantages of the market economy
  • causes of the Great Depression
  • FDR and the New Deal
  • please see summary notes from the Ideologies textbook on the Mixed Economy Case Studies #14 (Sweden) and #15 (Canada), #16 (Japan), #17 (Fascism and Nazism)
  • also see the Democratic Socialism booklet on Sweden (indicative planning, "cradle to the grave" economics)
  • characteristics of a mixed economy
  • nationalization
  • privatization
  • democratic socialism
  • welfare capitalism
  • Keynesian economics
  • the business cycle and fiscal and monetary policies (study all of the notes I gave you and the booklet that I gave you)
  • demand-side economics
  • neo-conservatives
  • monetarism
  • trickle down economics
  • supply-side economics
  • Thatcherism and Reaganomics
  • Milton Friedman
  • Friedrich Hayek
  • how Keynesian economics deals with a recession (remember "the percolator": increase circulation of money reducing taxes, increase government spending on "make work" projects, and reduce interest rates, which according to Keynesian economics is going increase demand for goods and services and lead to more money circulating in the economy)
  • how supply-side economics deals with a recession (remember "trickle down coffee maker": government should stimulate the goods and services sector of the economy by reducing corporate and personal taxes, eventually benefits will "trickle down" to the middle class and working class, make connections between supply-side economics and laissez faire economics/classical liberalism)
  • advantages and disadvantages of a mixed economy
  • neo-conservative criticism of government intervention
  • characteristics of a centrally planned economy
  • advantages and disadvantages of a centrally planned economy
  • Marx notes (sent by e-mail)
  • Lenin notes (sent by e-mail)
  • establishment of the Soviet Union
  • Soviet economic system (top-down decision-making process)
  • Lenin's War Communism and the New Economic Policy
  • "Stalin and the Modernization of Russia" (see film notes)
  • Stalin notes (sent by e-mail)
  • "Changes to Soviet Society After Stalin" notes (this bridges the gap between Stalin and Gorbachev)
  • Gorbachev to Collapse Notes
  • Economic Planning in the USSR booklet
  • techniques of dictatorships (USSR and Nazi Germany case studies)
  • modern liberalism
  • features of the Nazi state
  • Hitler's rise to power
  • Characteristics of Democracy
  • Characteristics of Dictatorship
  • Democratic Systems notes
  • Non-Democratic Systems notes
  • Types of Dictatorships notes (includes Techniques of Dictatorships as well)
  • A Comparison of Communism and Fascism notes
  • Totalitarianism notes
  • Fascism/Nazism booklet (has techniques of dictatorship in Nazi Germany and USSR)
  • do a brief review of the political spectrum and economic spectrum and the quadrant model

You watched the A & E Biography of Benito Mussolini. I also shared some upcoming key dates with you on the IB calendar.
  • Paper 1 on Prescribed Subject 1: Tuesday, November 26th
  • Diploma students: TOK Essay meeting during tutorial on Thursday, November 28th. Attendance is mandatory.
  • Prescribed Subject 1 Quiz on Friday, November 29th                                        .

Friday, November 15, 2013

November 15

After your current events quiz today we began our examination of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. We'll finish off this topic on Monday. Please make sure that you keep up with the topics that we're covering in Prescribed Subject 1. Make sure that you know that the areas on which the source-based questions in Paper 1 will focus on are:
  • aims of the participants and peacemakers: Wilson and the Fourteen Points
  • terms of the Paris Peace Treaties 1919-1920: Versailles, St. Germain, Trianon, Neuilly, S'evres/Lausanne 1923
  • the geopolitical and economic impact of the treaties on Europe; the establishment of the mandate system
  • enforcement of the provisions of the treaties: U.S. isolationism-the retreat from the Anglo-American Guarantee; disarmament-Washington, London, Geneva conferences
  • the League of Nations: effects of the absence of major powers; the principles of collective security and early attempts at peacekeeping (1920-1925)
  • the Ruhr Crisis (1923); Locarno and "the Locarno Spring" (1925)
  • Depression and threats to international peace and collective security: Manchuria (1931-1933) and Abyssinia (1935-1936).
You'll be writing a Paper 1 during the week of November 25th. We'll have a definite date for you next week.
We finished off our film study of "Shake Hands with the Devil" today. Your film study answers will be due on Monday. This would be a great weekend to get some work completed on your Unit 2 Research Project, which is due on November 25th. Your Chapter 7-8 Test is on November 28th, I will be posting the study guide on the blog next week.

We finished watching "Good Night, and Good Luck" today. Your film study questions are due tomorrow. The film study for this is due on Monday, November 18th. "Good Night, and Good Luck" contains a few powerful scenes that I will post here on the blog. Please remember that you have your Chapter 7 Cold War Exam on Tuesday, November 19th. You can find the study guide here (scroll down to find it).



This film explores a lot of issues that are relevant to today. You also have to understand the political climate at the time in the United States to fully understand the movie. Many Americans were drawn to communism in the 1930s due to the effects of the Great Depression, especially academics and those in the labour fields. In the movie they made reference to friends and spouses that had attended meetings long ago. The "Red Scare" caused a huge backlash against those sympathetic to communism or the USSR. Remember, during WWII the Soviet Union was an ally, and many people may have attended meetings out of curiosity. The junior Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy in 1950 charged there were communist sympathizers in the U.S. State Department. Hearings were held, charges were discovered to be unfounded. McCarthy continued accusing communist infiltration in the Democratic Party. McCarthy became the chairman of the House Subcommittee on the investigation of un-American activity (HUAC). On December 2, 1954, McCarthy’s actions were called into question and his accusations were deemed unfounded. On Murrow's show "See it Now", he begins to publicly go after McCarthy. A very public feud develops when McCarthy responds by accusing Murrow of being a communist. Murrow is accused of having been a member of the leftist union Industrial Workers of the World, which Murrow claimed was false.
In this climate of fear and reprisal (which we now refer to as McCarthyism), the CBS crew carries on and their tenacity ultimately strikes a historic blow against McCarthy. Historical footage in the movie also shows the questioning of Annie Lee Moss, a Pentagon communication worker accused of being a communist based on her name appearing on a list seen by an FBI infiltrator of the American Communist Party. In the first half of the film Murrow talks about how McCarthy didn't create the political climate and anti-Communist hysteria sweeping the country, but that he capitalized on it for political gain very effectively. As David Strathairn, playing Murrow in the film says, "We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes which were, for the moment, unpopular. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of the Republic to abdicate responsibility." The film is framed by the performance of the speech given by Murrow to the Radio and Television News Directors Association in 1958, in which Murrow harshly admonishes his audience not to squander the potential of television to inform and educate the public. I found this short video on YouTube that spliced together Edward R. Murrow's speech that appears at the beginning of the film and continues at the end of the film. I find that this speech has relevance even today when you talk about the level of discourse in the media.



Thursday, November 14, 2013

November 14


We started our film study of "Good Night, and Good Luck." today. We'll finish it off tomorrow. The film study guide questions will be due on Monday. Please remember that you have your Chapter 7 Cold War Exam on Tuesday, November 19th, please see the study guide for this test here.
 
We began our examination of the Rwandan genocide today. I gave you some class time to read the synopsis for the film "Shake Hands with the Devil" and complete the pre-viewing questions in the study guide prior to starting the film. We'll finish off "Shake Hands with the Devil" tomorrow.
 
We went through a PowerPoint called "Disarmament and Enforcement of the Treaties" today. You can find this presentation on the IB 30/35 wiki under Prescribed Subject 1.
You have homework tonight out of the Prescribed Subject 1 duotang:
  • Read pages 50-55 in the Paper 1 study duotang
  • Complete the Student Study Sections on page 52 (both questions) and p. 55 (just the top study section question)
Please make sure that there are enough good current events on the wiki to make a current events quiz, or else I'll have to go back a couple of weeks for questions.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

November 13


We finished off the film study of "Scream Bloody Murder" today. I also told you to read the following sections in your Social 20-1 blue study booklets:

  • Contemporary Examples of Genocide (ppt) on pages 227-231
  • Ukraine Famine (the Holodomor) on pages 232-234
  • If you're doing your Unit 2 Research Project (due on November 25th) on a 20th century genocide, you might want to read the Samantha Power article "Never Again: The World's Most Unfulfilled Promise"
We'll continue with the topic of genocide this week by examining a case study of the Rwandan genocide. We'll start "Shake Hands with the Devil" tomorrow.
We finished off the tail-end of the "Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam" documentary today. I also gave you some handouts on the Korean War today (I realize that I was back-tracking with this, but it was necessary because we need to talk next week at the consequences of the Cold War in the present day). I also gave you some notes on the board on bilateral arms agreements between the USA and the USSR and multilateral arms control agreements. Make sure that you understand the concepts of deterrence, MAD (mutually assured destruction), arms race, SALT I, INF Treaty, SALT II, and START I and START II, and detente. Make sure that you read section on McCarthyism (p. 265-267) in Perspectives on Ideologies prior to class tomorrow. We'll be starting a film study of "Good Night, and Good Luck." Please remember that you have your Chapter 7 Cold War Exam on Tuesday, November 19th, please see the study guide here. Please remember that your Vietnam War Assignment is due on Friday, November 15th.
We actually covered a lot of ground today. We finished off the "League of Nations" PowerPoint presentation, and also talked about the League of Nations' mandate system. We also watched a video from the BBC 20th Century History series called "Make Germany Pay". While you watched this video you should have been taking notes. You do have a brief homework assignment tonight that you can find on the IB 30/35 wiki under Prescribed Subject 1 on the Convenant of the League of Nations. It should take you about 20 minutes to complete this homework assignment that is due tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

November 12

We examined the League of Nations today, and we'll continue this topic tomorrow. You were also assigned your Prescribed Subject 1 duotangs today. If you missed class today, you'll need to get one of these duotangs from me tomorrow. If you missed class today, and you missed an assessment that happened last week, you'll need to write it tomorrow.
We watched part of "Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam" today. I did a homework check on your Chapter 7 Key Terms and Questions as well. Your Vietnam War Assignment is due on November 15th (Friday). Please see the Chapter 7 Cold War Exam study guide below.
It is a multiple choice test with 70-75 multiple choice questions. You will write this test on Tuesday, November 19th. Please make sure that you have read Chapter 7. Here are some other study tips:
  • study "The Origins of the Cold War (ppt)"
  • study all notes on the Origins and Causes of the Cold War
  • study notes on the Korean War
  • study notes on the Cuban Missile Crisis
  • study notes on the Vietnam War (see notes package and Vietnam War booklet, and the notes that I sent to you on the Vietnam War)
  • make sure that you know all the Cold War Concepts
  • know the chronology of events of the Cold War (study the Cold War timeline and the Vietnam War timeline, and the end of the Cold War timeline that I will be giving you in subsequent class)
  • know key events that we've emphasized in class (for example: Berlin Airlift, Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War) plus other key events from the timeline
  • know major arms reduction agreements (bilateral agreements and multilateral agreements), please study the notes that I will give you next week on this topic.
  • know about the formation of alliances (NATO, Warsaw Pact) and the formation of "spheres of influence"
  • anything that I gave you as a handout is testable material and should be reviewed!!
  • know how the Cold War ends and its results/consequences

Most of today's class was spent watching the CNN documentary "Scream Bloody Murder" which should help you to understand contemporary examples of genocide in the 20th and 21st century. We'll finish this video off tomorrow. We should be able to get into our case study of the Rwandan genocide this week as well.

Friday, November 08, 2013

November 8


You wrote your WRA I three source analysis assignment today on World War I.

Mr. Fitz went through the "8 Stages of Genocide" with you today. You need to memorize these stages and remember examples of each of the stages from the Holocaust, the Rwandan Genocide, the Cambodian Killing Fields, etc. Depending on the time, Mr. Fitz may have started showing you "Scream Bloody Murder". If not, we'll start watching this CNN documentary on Tuesday.
You were given the Chapter 7 Worksheet today. The Chapter 7 Key Terms and Questions are due on Tuesday, November 12th. You saw excerpts from the Oliver Stone film "Born on the Fourth of July" as well today.

Thursday, November 07, 2013

November 7

I hope you enjoyed the Remembrance Day ceremonies today...
You had some class time to work on your Cold War Events Notes. You also received the Southeast Asia package (hopefully you had time to work on this), and the Vietnam War Assignment.
A. PEOPLE
Identify and explain the role each played in the Vietnam War
1. Ho Chi Minh
2. Ngo Dinh Diem
3. Lyndon B. Johnson
4. Richard M. Nixon
5. Viet Minh
6. Viet Cong
7. Le Duc Tho
8. Henry Kissinger
9. William Westmoreland
10. "Draft Dodger"

B. CONCEPTS/TERMS
Explain the significance of the following with regards to the Vietnam War (identify participants or individuals if appropriate)
1. Ho Chi Minh Trail
2. defoliation
3. "search and destroy" mission
4. "Vietnamization of the war"
5. Gulf of Tonkin Incident
6. My Lai Massacre
7. domino theory
8. Kent State University protest (May 4, 1970)
9. Tet Offensive (January 1968)
10. Geneva Agreement (1954)

C. ISSUES
Provide the information requested
1. The predominant religion of Vietnam
2. The battle which marked the end of French colonial rule in Indo-China
3. The scandal which led to the only resignation of an American President
4. The Vice President who replaced the President after his resignation
5. Why was November 1963 a "bad month" for the governments of South Vietnam and the United States?

As we will see, public support for the Vietnam War changes over time as more and more American soldiers are killed. We see a growth in the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, and the media also played a role in the turn of popular opinion against the war. I REALLY recommend that you have a look at the this series of photographs from the Vietnam War era, pretty powerful imagery (make sure that you read the captions too). Here is a link to the NPR that explains the story behind the photograph below, definitely worth the time to read or listen to the podcast, and make sure that you look at the photo gallery of Eddie Adams' photographs of the Vietnam War.



There are certain iconic images associated with the Vietnam War. Here is another:

The above photograph is of Phan Thị Kim Phúc, O.Ont (born in 1963), she is a Vietnamese-Canadian best known as the child subject of a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph taken during the Vietnam War on June 8, 1972. The iconic photo taken in Trang Bang by AP photographer Nick Ut shows her at about age nine running naked on the street after being severely burned on her back by a South Vietnamese napalm attack. Contrary to popular myth, the US Air Force were not involved in the attack, and only two US troops were within 60 miles (97 km) of the scene, neither of whom had any say in the bombings. Still, it is a powerful image associated with the war.

Today was your one and only library research day for your Unit 2 Research Project. This project is due on November 25th.


You wrote your Emergence of the Americas Unit Test today. Please remember that you are writing a WRA I three source analysis assignment tomorrow. Please review how to write a WRA I before class tomorrow, you can find this information on the IB 30/35 wiki. If you missed this test today, you will have to write an alternate assignment, a Paper 2.  

Wednesday, November 06, 2013

November 6


You finished off the film "White Light/Black Rain" today. Afterwards, Mr. Fitz should have led you in a class discussion on whether the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki could be considered a war crime. You're going to be in the Library tomorrow for your Unit 2 Research Project.
You watched a video that covered the construction of the Berlin Wall today. You also started to look at the Cuban Missile Crisis, with some handouts, and by watching a video from the BBC 20th Century History series called "Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Khrushchev".
You wrote a matching quiz on the Emergence of the Americas unit, specifically World War I. Afterwards, you tied up some loose ends on the Treaty of Versailles, and its ratification in the USA. Please remember that tomorrow you will be writing the Emergence of the Americas Unit Test.

Tuesday, November 05, 2013

November 5

You finished off your WWI Battle Presentations today. After the presentations Mr. Fitz went over the fight to ratify the Treaty of Versailles in the United States.
You wrote your Nazi Germany Quiz today. You watched a couple of videos from the BBC 20th Century History series: "The Road to Berlin" and "Cold War Confrontation". You should have also started the Cold War Events booklets. The Cold War Events Notes will be due on Thursday.

You started a film study of the HBO Documentary "White Light/Black Rain". While you were watching this film, you were supposed to answer the film study questions.

Monday, November 04, 2013

November 4


We started your WWI Battle Presentations today, you'll finish them off tomorrow. Please remember what assessments you are facing this week:

  • Emergence of the Americas matching quiz is on Wednesday, November 6th
  • Emergence of the Americas Test on Thursday, November 7th
  • World War I Written Response Assignment I (WRA I), three source analysis is on Friday, November 8th
We looked at the construction of the atomic bomb today by watching a video from the "History's Turning Points" series called "The Atomic Bomb", as you watched this video you should have taken notes. We also did some brainstorming at the end of the class on the causes of the Second World War. If you missed class today, please get the notes from a classmate.
I finished off the PowerPoint lecture on "The Origins of the Cold War" today. You have access to this lecture on the Social 30-1 wiki. You'll have to write the Nazi Germany matching quiz tomorrow, I completely forgot about it. Here's the study guide for the quiz (scroll down to find it). I would like you to go to the World War II Behind Closed Doors website this week, and read the sections on the Yalta Conference  and the Potsdam Conference. This is an excellent site, with tons of information, maps, video clips, timelines and archival footage and re-enactments as well. You do need to really make sure that you understand the Yalta Agreements and the Potsdam Declaration (among other things) and this is a great site to do this. Episode 3 is the one that contains most of the information that you would need to read and watch. There's a great little video clip on this website called "Stalin's Distrust of the West" that might help you see WWII from the Soviet perspective and why the Soviets might wish to extend control over Eastern Europe and be so distrustful of their wartime allies. You can find this video clip in Episode 3 (Dividing the World), scroll down and click on the video clip on the right called "Stalin's Distrust of the West". It's a short little clip, but you'll get the idea. We'll continue our look at the Cold War this week.

Friday, November 01, 2013

November 1

We finished watching "Paris 1919" today. Please make sure that you are ready to present your assigned WWI battle on Monday. Please make sure that you know what assessments will be happening next week.

  • On Wednesday, November 6th you will be writing a matching quiz on the Emergence of the Americas unit.
  • On Thursday, November 7th you will be writing a 38 question multiple choice test on the Emergence of the Americas unit (this covers World War I too).
  • On Friday, November 8th you will write a three source analysis assignment on World War I.

We watched excerpts from "Schindler's List" today and I answered questions about the Holocaust afterwards. This weekend might be a good chance to start your Unit 2 Research Project.


I started lecturing on "The Origins of the Cold War" today. I will continue this on Monday. Also on Monday, November 4th you will be writing a matching quiz on Nazi Germany. Please see the study guide for this quiz below.


This quiz is a short matching quiz, with a word bank. What you'll have is a list of key people, key terms and key events associated with Nazi Germany (this is your word bank) and then you'll have a description that you'll have to match it up with. Here's a list of possible key terms that you might see on this quiz:
  • anti-Semitism
  • Aryan
  • concentration camp
  • corporate state
  • Dachau
  • decree
  • deportation
  • dissent
  • elite
  • Enabling Act
  • ethnic
  • Führerprinzip
  • Gestapo
  • Hitler
  • Holocaust
  • indoctrination
  • inequality
  • inflation
  • judicial
  • jugend
  • Mein Kampf
  • Kristallnacht
  • nationalism
  • Nazi
  • Niemoller
  • Nuremberg
  • passive
  • plebiscites
  • pogrom
  • Reichstag
  • Ruhr
  • SA
  • SS
  • state
  • swastika
  • War Guilt Clause
  • White Rose


Thursday, October 31, 2013

October 31

Happy Halloween!
You wrote your Chapter 5 Test today. You'll get the results back tomorrow. We should be getting into the Cold War over the course of the next few days.
We continued our examination of the Holocaust today. We watched a documentary called "Genocide" and I answered some questions about the Holocaust as well. We'll watch some excerpts from Schindler's List tomorrow.
Your IA rough draft was due today. I continued to lecture on the Paris Peace Conference today. We also started watching the film "Paris 1919". We'll finish this off tomorrow in all likelihood.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

October 30



You were able to select your topic for the Unit 2 Research Project. This project is due on November 25th. After you made your selections I was able to complete a PowerPoint lecture on "The Holocaust". This presentation is on the Social 20-1 wiki (see link under Social 20-1 Links here on the blog) and you have a hard copy in your blue Social 20-1 study booklets. We'll continue our examination of the Holocaust tomorrow.


You wrote your Unit 2 WRA I three source analysis assignment in class today. Please remember that you are writing your Chapter 5 Test tomorrow. Please see the study guide below.


The Chapter 5 Test will be on Thursday, October 31st. It is a 70 multiple choice question test. Please review the following:

  • "20th Century Rejections of Liberalism" (ppt)
  • Marx notes (see wiki)
  • Lenin notes (see wiki)
  • Stalin notes (see wiki)
  • Soviet Economy notes
  • Soviet Economic System notes
  • Changes to Soviet Society After Stalin notes
  • Gorbachev to Collapse notes
  • Economic Planning in the USSR booklet
  • Characteristics of Democracy
  • Characteristics of Dictatorship
  • Democratic Systems notes
  • Non-Democratic Systems notes
  • Types of Dictatorships notes (includes Techniques of Dictatorships as well)
  • A Comparison of Communism and Fascism notes
  • Totalitarianism notes
  • Fascism/Nazism booklet (has techniques of dictatorship in Nazi Germany and USSR)
  • do a brief review of the political and economic spectrums

The following key concepts/key events/key people are mentioned in this test, if you (re-)familiarize yourself with them it will help you out immensely!

  • centrally planned economies
  • initiative
  • FDR and the New Deal
  • Reaganomics
  • consumer sovereignty
  • invisible hand
  • Keynesian economics
  • laissez faire economics
  • War Communism
  • Five Year Plans
  • mixed economies
  • indicative planning
  • proportional representation
  • democracy
  • dictatorship
  • political spectrum (characteristics associated with the various ideologies)
  • status quo
  • egalitarianism
  • conservative
  • reactionary
  • liberal
  • radical
  • SA
  • Hitler
  • Bolshevik
  • fascism
  • communism
  • indoctrination
  • controlled participation
  • terror and force
  • direction of popular discontent
  • democratic socialists
  • supply-side economics
  • authoritarian
  • tyrant
  • totalitarian
  • totalitarianism
  • ultranationalism
  • nationalization
  • privatization
  • propaganda
  • progressive taxation
  • Marx
  • Lenin
  • utopian socialism
  • Gorbachev
  • martial law
  • Reichstag (Reichstag Fire, Reichstag election results)
  • referendum
  • collectivization
  • modernization
  • classical liberal
  • laissez faire free market economy
  • mixed economy
  • planned economy
  • (review your economic political quadrant model)
  • Das Kapital
  • Mein Kampf
  • The Wealth of Nations

We covered Latin America's role in the First World War today. We began to transition to our Prescribed Subject 1 topic today, "Peacemaking, Peacekeeping and International Relations (1918-1936)" as well. Please remember that your IA rough draft is due tomorrow. WWI battle presentations are starting on Monday, November 4th.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

October 29


I covered the role of Canada in the First World War today. I also showed you a video from the CBS History Series on World War I, today's episode was called "Trench Warfare". Tomorrow we'll look at the role that Latin America played in WWI. Please remember that your rough draft of your IA is due on Thursday, October 31st. You'll be doing a WRA I three source analysis next week on Thursday, November 7th, you'll have 60 minutes to write it. You'll also have a test on Friday, November 8th on the Emergence of the Americas Unit Test which includes 38 multiple choice questions and a matching section. I will post the study guide on the blog later this week.


We watched the first part of the A & E Biography called "The Fatal Attraction of Adolf Hitler". I also gave you the results of your Economic Systems Exam today. You have a Unit 2 WRA I three source analysis tomorrow, and then on Thursday you will be writing your Chapter 5 Test, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it).


I finished off the topic of "Blitzkrieg to the Bomb". We then watched an excerpt of the film "Saving Private Ryan" to see what the invasion of Normandy (D-Day) might have looked like.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

October 24

sorry for the later post tonight, it's been a busy day...
I went through a PowerPoint on how to write a WRA I. I will give a handout on this very topic tomorrow as well. You will be writing a Unit 2 WRA I on Wednesday, October 30th. Please don't forget that you are writing your Economic Systems Exam on Monday, October 28th, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it). One week from today you will write your Chapter 5 Test (on October 31st), please see the study guide below.

The Chapter 5 Test will be on Thursday, October 31st. It is a 70 multiple choice question test. Please review the following:

  • "20th Century Rejections of Liberalism" (ppt)
  • Marx notes (see wiki)
  • Lenin notes (see wiki)
  • Stalin notes (see wiki)
  • Soviet Economy notes
  • Soviet Economic System notes
  • Changes to Soviet Society After Stalin notes
  • Gorbachev to Collapse notes
  • Economic Planning in the USSR booklet
  • Characteristics of Democracy
  • Characteristics of Dictatorship
  • Democratic Systems notes
  • Non-Democratic Systems notes
  • Types of Dictatorships notes (includes Techniques of Dictatorships as well)
  • A Comparison of Communism and Fascism notes
  • Totalitarianism notes
  • Fascism/Nazism booklet (has techniques of dictatorship in Nazi Germany and USSR)
  • do a brief review of the political and economic spectrums

The following key concepts/key events/key people are mentioned in this test, if you (re-)familiarize yourself with them it will help you out immensely!

  • centrally planned economies
  • initiative
  • FDR and the New Deal
  • Reaganomics
  • consumer sovereignty
  • invisible hand
  • Keynesian economics
  • laissez faire economics
  • War Communism
  • Five Year Plans
  • mixed economies
  • indicative planning
  • proportional representation
  • democracy
  • dictatorship
  • political spectrum (characteristics associated with the various ideologies)
  • status quo
  • egalitarianism
  • conservative
  • reactionary
  • liberal
  • radical
  • SA
  • Hitler
  • Bolshevik
  • fascism
  • communism
  • indoctrination
  • controlled participation
  • terror and force
  • direction of popular discontent
  • democratic socialists
  • supply-side economics
  • authoritarian
  • tyrant
  • totalitarian
  • totalitarianism
  • ultranationalism
  • nationalization
  • privatization
  • propaganda
  • progressive taxation
  • Marx
  • Lenin
  • utopian socialism
  • Gorbachev
  • martial law
  • Reichstag (Reichstag Fire, Reichstag election results)
  • referendum
  • collectivization
  • modernization
  • classical liberal
  • laissez faire free market economy
  • mixed economy
  • planned economy
  • (review your economic political quadrant model)
  • Das Kapital
  • Mein Kampf
  • The Wealth of Nations

We talked about the repercussions of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, namely in Canada the internment of Japanese-Canadians in WWII. I showed you a video called "The Tides of War" and as you watched this video you had to complete a film study sheet. I also gave you some notes on the War Measures Act and the three instances in Canadian history in which the War Measures Act was used: WWI, WWII and the FLQ Crisis. You are strongly advised to check out "The Internment of Japanese-Canadians in WWII" PowerPoint presentation that is in your Social 20-1 blue study booklet, or on the Social 20-1 wiki. Please remember that you have your Chapter 5-6 Test on Monday, October 28th, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it).
I finished off the "Causes of World War I" PowerPoint lecture. Today's lecture actually focused more on the nature of conflict in WWI. I went through "If World War I were a Barfight" today as well. You should be able to find this on the IB 30/35 wiki, if not, please let me know. We also watched a video from the CBS video series on World War I called "Clash of the Generals". I gave you some notes on this video, and I also talked briefly about the European empires that would not survive after the war. 

I mentioned this in class, so I thought that I would share a link to a website that discusses J.R.R. Tolkien's experiences in the Great War, and how that influenced his writing of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, specifically the Journey through the Dead Marshes. The Great War was also a time when some of our most famous Canadian landscape artists came to the forefront, I'm referring to the Group of Seven, of course. Can you see some similarities in the pictures that I'm posting below?









Wednesday, October 23, 2013

October 23

I finished off the lecture on "Ultranationalism in WWII: Germany, Italy and Japan". I then showed you an excerpt from the movie "Pearl Harbor" which does a nice job of recreating the attack on America's Pacific Fleet that was at anchor in Pearl Harbor. Please remember that you have your Chapter 5-6 Test on Monday, October 28th, please see the study guide here (scroll down to find it).
You got the results back for the Market and Mixed Economy Test. On Monday, October 28th you will write your Economic Systems Exam, please see the study guide here. I gave you handouts that covered the last topics in the command economy, so if you missed class today, you need to get those handouts from the folder at the front of my classroom. I also wrote some basic notes on the board that covered the 20th century leaders of the Soviet Union (get these notes from a classmate if you missed today).
I talked briefly about your homework assignment that is due on Friday: Harvard style notes for Chapter 17 (specifically section 17-2 onward) and Chapter 18. I started a PowerPoint lecture called "The Causes of World War I" which I will finish off tomorrow. I also showed you the key parts of the "The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand" episode from the BBC's "Days that Shook the World" series.