Summer+2011+Assignment

Here we go.......I'm so glad that you are an academic athlete and have decided to really take advantage of the educational opportunitites that are offered here at Dakota. I'm hoping that one of the reasons you took AP Government is also because you're interested in the subject matter. I certainly am. I don't think you'll find this summer assignment too difficult and perhaps you'll even find it kind of fun.

First Step - Read the first chapter in your American Government text. Hi-lite, make notes in the margins (annotations), or write notes on paper, but try to really have a good idea what the authors are telling you about how to proceed with your study of American Government. Make sure you've mastered the vocabulary on page 28 and take the practice quiz found at the end of the chapter. We will have a test on this chapter your first week back to school in September. Doesn't that sound like a long, long time from now? Be careful, it's really not.

Second Step - Check the wiki for updates on the required summer work on the following dates:

July18th July 30th August 22nd

On those dates, click on the Summer 2011 Assignment and follow the instructions.

If you have any trouble at all, send me an email at poconnor@cvs.k12.mi.us or you can also call me at home. My number is 810-329-6219.

Have a fun summer and be ready to come back and have a meaningful senior year. I'm already excited!

July 18th Assignment........

So much has been happening in our country. The US Women's Soccer team made it all the way to the finals to lose in a very close contest with the Japanese women. How exciting to see these two excellent team of women play such an exciting game. In politics, there are other "contests" as well. Will Michelle Bachman be the Republican candidate for president by this time next year?? Will it be Mitt Romney?? WIll President Obama have a chance to win a second term if the jobless rate doesn't improve by then?? But even more important right now, what will happen with regards to our debt ceiling? So, here's your assignment. Do whatever research you have to in order to answer the following questions. When you have what you think are pretty good answers, email them to me. If you can't email me for any reason, you can do it the old fashion way and just mail it to me using the US postal system. My address is 6491 Fred W. Moore Hwy., China, MI 48054

Here's your questions. Be succinct and exat in your answers. There is no need to answer in volume.....just in accuracy.

1. What does the term "debt ceiling" mean? 2. What are the potential ramifications of not raising the debt ceiling? 3 Who is one person or group who is defending the raising of the ceiling and what is their support for that defense? 4. Who is one person or group who is against raising the ceiling and what is their support for that defense? 5. Whatis one issue that President Obama and some Democrats want to attach to the raising of the debt ceiling? 6. What is one issue that the Republicans want to attach to the raising of the debt ceiling?

You may want to get together and find these answers together. I'm just fine with that. If you do that, send one email and make sure to include all names. Even if you do it alone, please make sure that you sign your name so that I know who has done their homework.

By this time next year, you will be surprised at how smart you've become and how politically aware of the world you are as you go off to college. This assignment will be the start of learning how to get there.

Your assignment is due back to me by email or postmarked by next week, Monday July 25th.

Here's a web site that you might find really interesting. Remember it, book mark it, because we'll be using it a lot this year.

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July 30th Assignment........

You did great on your first assignment!!! It should have helped you all to really get what's going on as you watched all of the debt ceiling drama in the last week. All I want you to do now is to KEEP WATCHING. On Tuesday, August 2nd, tell me what the status is that day.? Did Congress get their act together and make a decision about how to move forward? Did they fail to find a compromise? What happened after they either compromised or did not? You can actually wait a couple of days to report back to me so let's say that this assignment will be due back to me by August 9th. I will be in Ireland for the next 12 days so I'll post how Europe is interpreting what's going on in our country. That should be an interesting perspective for all of us. Keep checking here and I'll try to post something every few days. I should be able to check your assgnment in and respond as well as long as I can find a place that will allow me to get on the web. I'm taking my brand new Pad just to see how small the world can actually be. I'll even try to post a picture or two here so that you can all see that I'm truly in Ireland.

August 25th Assignment.......

Well I hope you had a wonderful summer break, but I also hope that you're as excited as I am to get back to school and start learning how to be a political scientist. Your last assignment is one that should get you ready for a discussion we will be having on your very first day back. The first thing you need to do is to go back to your text book and go to the chapter on Elections. Look up primary and caucuses. Just read to get a general idea of where we're at today on the timeline towards the next presidential election in November of 2012. We are at the beginning of that election cycle and I not only want you to be a prepared voter next fall, but I want you to have some fun watching each stage between now and then. When you're done gleaning as much information as you can from your text, go to any media sources and start a list of the potential candidates for the man or woman who will be chosen by the Republican Party to run against President Obama in 2012. Once you have your list, just keep watching between now and the first day of school. When you come in on the first day, be ready to turn in a short, typed paragraph of WHO the "frontrunner" is as of Monday, September 5th and WHY. This is a good first step to playing at political science. Have fun.