Foundations of Government
Our task for this project was to aide a middle school teacher, Mr. McCoy, in teaching his students about the founding documents and the influence drawn from Enlightenment thinking. Our driving question was: “What is the nature of man and how has it influenced the American Government?” We answered this question by creating a way to teach the students interactively. My group decided that we could effectively answer the driving question and address Mr. McCoy's need by creating a series of short videos containing information on the founding documents, the influence Enlightenment philosophers had on said documents, and how the nature of man influenced Enlightenment philosophers.
In order to complete this project, our first step was to learn about the topics we were required to address. We first learned about Enlightenment philosophers and their beliefs. We learned the most about the philosophers through completing a graphic organizer. After learning about the philosophers, we then learned about and analyzed the founding documents and connected what we had learned about the philosophers' ideas to these documents. Most of the connections were made during in-class discussion, however most of the learning about the founding documents themselves came from handouts that were done in class or assigned as homework.
The most difficult part of this project was the time constraint. We had a limited amount of time (one week) to create a quality video that contained accurate information and could be used as an educational tool. Since we did not have time in class, besides one day, we were forced to schedule time outside of class to shoot and edit our videos. We also were each forced to make small sacrifices during the course of this project. None of the content was very hard for me to understand. Most of the connections that we learned about were pretty clear and easy to identify. I did not ever come in after school for help, except once I believe for something very short, because I didn't feel like I needed the one-on-one time.
The learning outcome the I feel that I grew the most in is knowledge and thinking. Learning about the connections between philosophical thinking and government has given me the skill to make similar connections to other things in life that I observe. Before this project, I thought that the Founding Fathers had brilliantly come up with every part of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The government is not perfect, but it is still better than a lot of governments and "governments" in other countries in the world. The content of this project has shown me that people have been thinking about how to govern each other for a long time. It also showed me that knowledge does not die with a person, so long as they have shared this knowledge in some way.
The only thing that I still need help with content-wise is remembering which philosophers had which influences on which parts of the founding documents. Many of their ideas overlap, which makes it just that much harder to decipher. (Perhaps a little cheesy jingle would help me remember.) The only other things I need to work on are personal things that I can really only improve on myself such as work ethic and overall agency.
In order to complete this project, our first step was to learn about the topics we were required to address. We first learned about Enlightenment philosophers and their beliefs. We learned the most about the philosophers through completing a graphic organizer. After learning about the philosophers, we then learned about and analyzed the founding documents and connected what we had learned about the philosophers' ideas to these documents. Most of the connections were made during in-class discussion, however most of the learning about the founding documents themselves came from handouts that were done in class or assigned as homework.
The most difficult part of this project was the time constraint. We had a limited amount of time (one week) to create a quality video that contained accurate information and could be used as an educational tool. Since we did not have time in class, besides one day, we were forced to schedule time outside of class to shoot and edit our videos. We also were each forced to make small sacrifices during the course of this project. None of the content was very hard for me to understand. Most of the connections that we learned about were pretty clear and easy to identify. I did not ever come in after school for help, except once I believe for something very short, because I didn't feel like I needed the one-on-one time.
The learning outcome the I feel that I grew the most in is knowledge and thinking. Learning about the connections between philosophical thinking and government has given me the skill to make similar connections to other things in life that I observe. Before this project, I thought that the Founding Fathers had brilliantly come up with every part of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The government is not perfect, but it is still better than a lot of governments and "governments" in other countries in the world. The content of this project has shown me that people have been thinking about how to govern each other for a long time. It also showed me that knowledge does not die with a person, so long as they have shared this knowledge in some way.
The only thing that I still need help with content-wise is remembering which philosophers had which influences on which parts of the founding documents. Many of their ideas overlap, which makes it just that much harder to decipher. (Perhaps a little cheesy jingle would help me remember.) The only other things I need to work on are personal things that I can really only improve on myself such as work ethic and overall agency.
Myvote
During this project, our driving question was: "How does our government grow and adapt to a changing society?" In order to answer this question, we learned about the California legislative process. More specifically, we learned about the propositions on this year's ballot. We used this information to create a product that described, in detail, the parameters of a proposition. My group was assigned Prop 46 and we decided to build a small 3D model which contained information about the proposition but was still more appealing to the eye than, say, a pamphlet. We also wrote a literacy task that answered the driving question and used the information we learned throughout the course of the project.
At the beginning of this project, I knew almost nothing about the way that the CA voting system works. The only knowledge I really had prior was who can vote, how the actual process of voting works when you go in the booth, and which kinds of places are traditionally voting centers. Now that the project has concluded, I feel that i know much, much more than I did before. I know why people should vote, who doesn’t vote, and how the process works when people vote. I learned about initiatives and referendums, and when each are applicable. I learned how representatives are elected and for how long. I also learned that these representatives can be impeached or “recalled” if the citizens of the state petition for the action. This information is important because it educates me about voting so that I can make my own decisions about voting because I am soon to be legally of age to vote.
The most difficult part about this project was a lack of resources. The content was pretty easy for me to handle, especially when I asked questions about the small parts that I didn't understand fully. However, in almost every stage of the project, a lack of some sort of resource proved to be an obstacle. For instance, when we were creating our 3D model, our original design was to create the model using styrofoam. Obtaining the styrofoam, however, did not come as easily as expected, and in the end did not come at all. Although we had to alter our prior plans, we still completed the product and it worked out better than we had anticipated when we first received the bad news regarding the styrofoam.
During this project, I feel that I grew the most in the Knowledge and Thinking Learning Outcome. Before the project, I knew very little about how California's government works. I also did not know very much about voting in general or how potential bills came to light. I learned about the different forms of democracy, of which I only vaguely understood the differences between them beforehand.
At the beginning of this project, I knew almost nothing about the way that the CA voting system works. The only knowledge I really had prior was who can vote, how the actual process of voting works when you go in the booth, and which kinds of places are traditionally voting centers. Now that the project has concluded, I feel that i know much, much more than I did before. I know why people should vote, who doesn’t vote, and how the process works when people vote. I learned about initiatives and referendums, and when each are applicable. I learned how representatives are elected and for how long. I also learned that these representatives can be impeached or “recalled” if the citizens of the state petition for the action. This information is important because it educates me about voting so that I can make my own decisions about voting because I am soon to be legally of age to vote.
The most difficult part about this project was a lack of resources. The content was pretty easy for me to handle, especially when I asked questions about the small parts that I didn't understand fully. However, in almost every stage of the project, a lack of some sort of resource proved to be an obstacle. For instance, when we were creating our 3D model, our original design was to create the model using styrofoam. Obtaining the styrofoam, however, did not come as easily as expected, and in the end did not come at all. Although we had to alter our prior plans, we still completed the product and it worked out better than we had anticipated when we first received the bad news regarding the styrofoam.
During this project, I feel that I grew the most in the Knowledge and Thinking Learning Outcome. Before the project, I knew very little about how California's government works. I also did not know very much about voting in general or how potential bills came to light. I learned about the different forms of democracy, of which I only vaguely understood the differences between them beforehand.
So you want to start a business?
The Downtown Sacramento Partnership asked us to help revitalize downtown Sacramento by creating a business plan for a business that would bring life and traffic into the downtown area. Due to a nationwide decline in young-adult entrepreneurship, this area has suffered the consequences it has caused. Less new businesses means that there’s an inevitable decline in population and foot traffic. Our business was designed to be one of many new businesses to accompany the new Sports Entertainment Complex.
In order to effectively create our business plan, we had to learn about the essential pieces of a business/business plan and the basic economic concepts of business management. We had numerous workshops regarding each piece of the business plan. The way we learned, the business plan was split into seven parts. An in-class workshop was held for each part and my group used outside resources to learn about some of the parts such as the financial plan. We learned the fundamentals of economics in business through workshops as well. Workshops were held for ideas like supply and demand and cost of production. Thankfully, these concepts were easy enough to grasp that I did not need to use any other resources in order to understand these ideas.
The most important thing I learned during this project was how much effort is needed to become an entrepreneur. One not only has to maintain the business after it is established, but also has to completely plan out every aspect of the business possible in the business plan. The business plan’s seven parts must be as detailed as possible and are all equally important.
The most difficult part of this project was motivating myself to work. Part of this is due to the fact that neither of my group members contributed very much to the project, causing me to do much of the work. I am also not used to being a leader in a group, but I somewhat had to step up to lead my group or else we would have payed severely. I didn't reach out for help very much, and I regret that. I do feel, however, that I have grown throughout this project. I have learned how to lead without being a “leader,’ how to work with a group I don't prefer, and how to motivate myself better to do things I don't want to do.
The learning outcome I grew in the most was Knowledge and Thinking. Before this project, I only had a vague idea of how a business works and how to start one. I did not know that one needs not only access to capital (which is a term I didn't know before this project), but an entire plan of how the business will function and prosper in the succeeding time. I also knew nothing about economic concepts except for a very small amount about economic systems. Now I know the key concepts that one needs to understand in order to keep a successful business running efficiently.
I don't really feel like I need help with any of the content for this project. The ideals of economics are easy for me to learn because they are incredibly easy to connect to real life situations/problems. One thing I do need help with is my agency. I'm worried that my lack of motivational skills will cause me to fall off the track to graduation because I especially have a hard time motivating myself in school because of how uninterested I am in most of what is being taught.
In order to effectively create our business plan, we had to learn about the essential pieces of a business/business plan and the basic economic concepts of business management. We had numerous workshops regarding each piece of the business plan. The way we learned, the business plan was split into seven parts. An in-class workshop was held for each part and my group used outside resources to learn about some of the parts such as the financial plan. We learned the fundamentals of economics in business through workshops as well. Workshops were held for ideas like supply and demand and cost of production. Thankfully, these concepts were easy enough to grasp that I did not need to use any other resources in order to understand these ideas.
The most important thing I learned during this project was how much effort is needed to become an entrepreneur. One not only has to maintain the business after it is established, but also has to completely plan out every aspect of the business possible in the business plan. The business plan’s seven parts must be as detailed as possible and are all equally important.
The most difficult part of this project was motivating myself to work. Part of this is due to the fact that neither of my group members contributed very much to the project, causing me to do much of the work. I am also not used to being a leader in a group, but I somewhat had to step up to lead my group or else we would have payed severely. I didn't reach out for help very much, and I regret that. I do feel, however, that I have grown throughout this project. I have learned how to lead without being a “leader,’ how to work with a group I don't prefer, and how to motivate myself better to do things I don't want to do.
The learning outcome I grew in the most was Knowledge and Thinking. Before this project, I only had a vague idea of how a business works and how to start one. I did not know that one needs not only access to capital (which is a term I didn't know before this project), but an entire plan of how the business will function and prosper in the succeeding time. I also knew nothing about economic concepts except for a very small amount about economic systems. Now I know the key concepts that one needs to understand in order to keep a successful business running efficiently.
I don't really feel like I need help with any of the content for this project. The ideals of economics are easy for me to learn because they are incredibly easy to connect to real life situations/problems. One thing I do need help with is my agency. I'm worried that my lack of motivational skills will cause me to fall off the track to graduation because I especially have a hard time motivating myself in school because of how uninterested I am in most of what is being taught.