Model Senate Project
For this project, we spent the semester studying the workings of the United States government in preparation for a model senate we held at the end of the semester. We started off by learning about the 3 branches of government (Executive, Judicial and Legislative) and how they work together to keep are country running. After that, we focused specifically on the Legislative branch and how the Senate and House of Representatives work. Understanding these concepts helped us prepare for our roles in the model senate. Most of my classmates were regular senators, whose jobs were to write bills and vote on them during the actual exhibition. I was also a senator (Tom Udall from New Mexico), but I had an extra role as an expert. As one of the issues we were debating had to deal with climate change, I took on the imaginary role of Head Scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association Climate Change Division. As an expert, I gave a speech during one of committee meetings about the climate change bill on the docket. Afterwards, all the senators (including myself) wrote amendments to the two bills (the other had to deal with military expenditures) and voted on them during our public model senate.
Please see my speech and reflection down below. |
Tocqueville Reflection
Writing Reflection 1
Goal 1: Thesis
As I look back at my writing from this year, I have noticed that my theses have been less than strong. In my blog posts so far, I have been unclear about what I’m going to write. For example, my first blog post from this year addresses what political issue I think is the most important and what one Republican candidate think about that issue. However, I never really stated that that was what I was going to talk about. I did say “Perhaps one of the most pressing issues will be the immigration policy in the United States as of now and what it will become in the future.” But I could have done a better job at leading up to my argument. Part of my trouble with writing a thesis is that when I start writing, I usually have no idea what my argument is. I just start writing, with no action plan. To fix this issue, I believe I will have to start planning out my writing, so I can identify my argument and then make a strong, comprehensible thesis.
Goal 2: Organization/Argument
Surprise! Not planning out my writing also leads to an unorganized piece of writing! In an early draft of my Tocqueville seminar reflection, I had a very sloppy draft with my ideas spread out far and wide (I would put in a specific example, but I didn’t save my earlier drafts). I started by referencing the history of the Declaration of Independence and then I jumped into a very messy argument about Tocqueville’s chapter 2 of his book Democracy in America. After sitting down with my parents, and spending several hours tearing up the draft I had, I made a solider essay. I even had a thesis: Democracy can harbor some tyrannical aspects (though I could have revised this even further and elaborated on it a bit more to fit my paper). For this goal, I will plan out my writing before I start, but I will also have my parents or peers revise my pieces more so than they already do. If I’m struggling with a piece of writing, I will ask for help sooner.
Goal 3: Sentence Craft
My third writing goal is to work on my sentence craft, but not in the traditional sense. My grammar and spelling is usually good enough, but I have been having trouble putting my voice into the writing. For example, the first few blogs I have written are pretty boring. If you look at the second blog I did, “Debate Debrief”, I said this to conclude my argument:
For the upcoming debates, I respectfully plead for more serious and substantial discussions, without false evidence and emotional jabs. I ask for this so that we, as citizens, may feel informed enough to know what the eleven candidates would be like as president, and not like children.
This excerpt exemplifies the blandness of the rest of the blog. I think the reason for this is that when I’m tired or not super pumped for a piece of writing, I usually just do it do get it done. I like writing, but sometimes I’m just too uninterested to make a piece exciting and thought-provoking. I feel that I have been doing a better job, however at making my other blogs more interesting and fun to read, by writing them when I have more energy physically, as well as when I understand the arguments or concepts behind whatever I’m responding to.
Revision to College Essay
Although writing a college essay was new thing for me, I don’t think my writing skills changed or improved throughout the process. Though, I did need a lot of revision for it! I had the most challenge trying to come up with a conclusion for my essay and spent a lot of time revising and rewriting it. For my final draft I had this as my conclusion, "Backpacking barefoot has made me a more confident, independent and self-reliant person. I am excited for the adventures ahead of me, hopefully many of which will be done barefoot."
Though it wasn’t the best way to conclude, I settled for it because I was running out of time to get my essay finished and I thought it was good enough. However, a couple of days ago, somebody pointed out to me that I end the paragraph above with pretty much the same sentence, “Even though I was hiking with a big group, I grew into a more independent and self-reliant person.” Now that my work is posted on the wall at school and I still need to apply to college using that essay, I am currently revising the heck out of the end of my essay. As I said above, I struggle with organizing my writing pieces and to cope, I will begin to plan out my writing before I start. I will use this goal to help me revise my essay by planning out what I want to say and then writing it.
Please check out the essay final HERE
As I look back at my writing from this year, I have noticed that my theses have been less than strong. In my blog posts so far, I have been unclear about what I’m going to write. For example, my first blog post from this year addresses what political issue I think is the most important and what one Republican candidate think about that issue. However, I never really stated that that was what I was going to talk about. I did say “Perhaps one of the most pressing issues will be the immigration policy in the United States as of now and what it will become in the future.” But I could have done a better job at leading up to my argument. Part of my trouble with writing a thesis is that when I start writing, I usually have no idea what my argument is. I just start writing, with no action plan. To fix this issue, I believe I will have to start planning out my writing, so I can identify my argument and then make a strong, comprehensible thesis.
Goal 2: Organization/Argument
Surprise! Not planning out my writing also leads to an unorganized piece of writing! In an early draft of my Tocqueville seminar reflection, I had a very sloppy draft with my ideas spread out far and wide (I would put in a specific example, but I didn’t save my earlier drafts). I started by referencing the history of the Declaration of Independence and then I jumped into a very messy argument about Tocqueville’s chapter 2 of his book Democracy in America. After sitting down with my parents, and spending several hours tearing up the draft I had, I made a solider essay. I even had a thesis: Democracy can harbor some tyrannical aspects (though I could have revised this even further and elaborated on it a bit more to fit my paper). For this goal, I will plan out my writing before I start, but I will also have my parents or peers revise my pieces more so than they already do. If I’m struggling with a piece of writing, I will ask for help sooner.
Goal 3: Sentence Craft
My third writing goal is to work on my sentence craft, but not in the traditional sense. My grammar and spelling is usually good enough, but I have been having trouble putting my voice into the writing. For example, the first few blogs I have written are pretty boring. If you look at the second blog I did, “Debate Debrief”, I said this to conclude my argument:
For the upcoming debates, I respectfully plead for more serious and substantial discussions, without false evidence and emotional jabs. I ask for this so that we, as citizens, may feel informed enough to know what the eleven candidates would be like as president, and not like children.
This excerpt exemplifies the blandness of the rest of the blog. I think the reason for this is that when I’m tired or not super pumped for a piece of writing, I usually just do it do get it done. I like writing, but sometimes I’m just too uninterested to make a piece exciting and thought-provoking. I feel that I have been doing a better job, however at making my other blogs more interesting and fun to read, by writing them when I have more energy physically, as well as when I understand the arguments or concepts behind whatever I’m responding to.
Revision to College Essay
Although writing a college essay was new thing for me, I don’t think my writing skills changed or improved throughout the process. Though, I did need a lot of revision for it! I had the most challenge trying to come up with a conclusion for my essay and spent a lot of time revising and rewriting it. For my final draft I had this as my conclusion, "Backpacking barefoot has made me a more confident, independent and self-reliant person. I am excited for the adventures ahead of me, hopefully many of which will be done barefoot."
Though it wasn’t the best way to conclude, I settled for it because I was running out of time to get my essay finished and I thought it was good enough. However, a couple of days ago, somebody pointed out to me that I end the paragraph above with pretty much the same sentence, “Even though I was hiking with a big group, I grew into a more independent and self-reliant person.” Now that my work is posted on the wall at school and I still need to apply to college using that essay, I am currently revising the heck out of the end of my essay. As I said above, I struggle with organizing my writing pieces and to cope, I will begin to plan out my writing before I start. I will use this goal to help me revise my essay by planning out what I want to say and then writing it.
Please check out the essay final HERE
Street Law Project
For this mini-project, we studied the 4th Amendment and the rights each individual has in different circumstances. We read several articles and watched videos to enhance our understanding of this topic. We started by questioning our rights, as students, in a school environment and what circumstances (questioning, searches, etc.) would give teachers or administrators justification for overriding those rights. We also reviewed several Supreme Court cases about this issue. We then looked outside the school environment, to our rights as drivers and what happens when people are pulled over. For this, we watched a couple of informative videos (see links below) and had two police officers come in for a demonstration and Q&A session. After all this, we started on our projects as a way to inforce what we learned and to inform our peers about their rights, in and out of school.
For the project, I made a simple infographic, using information from one of the videos, about six rules and rights when dealing with police during a pull over (or any situation, really). The points on my final product were ones that I felt were the most informative and useful to my peers as they start to drive. Although I have never been pulled over, I thought this information would be handy to know and I used it for my final project. I made an infographic because it would be the easiest way to convey the information.
Video links:
Police Encounters for Dummies
Practical Understanding of PC and RS
For the project, I made a simple infographic, using information from one of the videos, about six rules and rights when dealing with police during a pull over (or any situation, really). The points on my final product were ones that I felt were the most informative and useful to my peers as they start to drive. Although I have never been pulled over, I thought this information would be handy to know and I used it for my final project. I made an infographic because it would be the easiest way to convey the information.
Video links:
Police Encounters for Dummies
Practical Understanding of PC and RS