Ms. Pius’ Government Class

Before emailing me to inquire (ask) about your grade, please read the remainder of this post!

Student Connect will NOT show you a grade. When I turn grades in this semester, I have to write out what grade each student earned. You can figure out your letter grade by counting how many assignments you have grades for (starting with April 20). 

Student Connect is mostly up-to-date (and includes late work and the final projects). If you turned in assignments after 1pm on Monday, I will be grading those assignments tomorrow morning.

There were a total of 15 assignments.

• If you have 0-8 assignments completed since April 20, you will get an N and have to retake the class in summer school or night school.
• If you have 9-10 assignments completed since April 20, you will get a G (credit, but no impact on GPA).
• If you have 11+ assignments completed since April 20, you will get an A. 

As a reminder, there are no new assignments this week. You have the whole week to work on your final projects. All three parts of the final project are due on June 5. For the final project directions, see this blog post: https://iblog.dearbornschools.org/piusgov/2020/05/26/final-government-project/

We will be having office hours tomorrow to answer any questions you may have about the final project. You will use this link for the meeting: https://moodle.dearbornschools.org/mod/bigbluebuttonbn/view.php?id=217041

Late Work Deadlines

If you have any work that is currently missing, it must be turned in by June 9 @ 11:59 PM. Teachers have to turn in final grades on June 11 @ 3 pm, and we need enough time to grade all late work. If you turn assignments in after June 9 @ 11:59 PM, there is NO guarantee that it will be graded before final grades are due.

I will be holding a Q&A session for our final project at our normal classtimes. Here is the link: https://moodle.dearbornschools.org/mod/bigbluebuttonbn/view.php?id=217041&forceview=1

• 1st Hour: Today (Tuesday, 5-26) at 1pm
• 2nd Hour: Today at 2pm

I will be explaining how the final project will work and answer any questions you may have. I will be recording the meeting as well.

U.S. Government Final Project

The U.S. Government final is common for each class. Your final will have three parts. Each of the three government teachers will be checking a part of the final. This is being done to prevent cheating and sharing of ideas.  In order to submit your final to the correct teacher, the following drop boxes have been created. 

None of these projects need the use of the internet or search engines. Links are attached for research. We expect that these projects will be completed individually and without outside sources besides what has been provided.. You may use any lectures or slideshows provided by your teacher. If you are found to have used outside sources, or shared information between students, you will be given a zero and no credit for your final. Your parent(s) or guardian(s) will also be contacted. 

Due Date: June 5th

Please submit the following parts of the project to each drop box. 

Fordson Bill of Rights: https://forms.gle/QrJsvXhdJPigMyur8

Civil Liberties Project: https://forms.gle/w9n1eAcyGBCFJvqr7

Protests Project: https://forms.gle/ZZxwWbGawiESN1ny5

Good Luck!

Memms, Pius, and Harrison

Links to the Directions

Part I: Fordson Bill of Rights- https://moodle.dearbornschools.org/mod/page/view.php?id=217023&forceview=1

Part II: Civil Liberties Project- https://moodle.dearbornschools.org/mod/page/view.php?id=217033&forceview=1

Part III: Protest Project- https://moodle.dearbornschools.org/mod/page/view.php?id=217038&forceview=1

This week is dedicated to making up any missed assignments and completing any revisions to improve your grade! I will be checking all of the older assignments on May 25. I am only going to be looking at assignments starting on April 20.

If you are happy with your grades so far, you do not have additional work this week. Congratulations on a job well done!

A few more things…

This new “distance learning” has its own set of challenges from being in a regular classroom. I want to clarify some things as we move in to our last month of school.

My “work” hours are from 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday. If you send me emails or Remind messages outside of those hours, I will respond to you within 24 hours. Additionally, I work all day Saturdays and Sundays at my other job, so I will respond to weekend messages on Monday morning.

I have gotten emails from several students asking about updating grades for missing assignments. iLearn does not notify me when you turn work in late. I have to go into each and every assignments individually. Grading late work could be a job on its own. Because of this, late assignments get graded last. Given that this week was a make-up week, I will be going through all Chapter 13/14 assignments (last week’s assignments), today and tomorrow. All late work will be graded on Tuesday, May 26.

We will be meeting today using the BigBigButton application on iLearn. To join the meeting, please click the proper link below:

1st Hour (@ 1 pm): https://moodle.dearbornschools.org/mod/bigbluebuttonbn/view.php?id=214836&forceview=1

2nd Hour (@ 2 pm): https://moodle.dearbornschools.org/mod/bigbluebuttonbn/view.php?id=214840&forceview=1

Chapter 13/14 Guiding Question

1. What qualities make a good president? (Evaluation)
2. Which two roles of the Presidency, do you believe are the most important? (Evaluation)
3. How is the vice president chosen in terms of balancing the ticket? (Analysis)
4. How much power should the president have? Defend or Argue about two powers that president should or should not have. (Evaluation)

Class Meetings

We will be having class meetings on Tuesday (at 1pm for 1st hour and 2pm for 2nd hour). The purpose of this meeting is to review the assignments for the week and answer any questions that you may have. I will post the links for the BigBlueButton on Tuesday morning.

Monday: Vocabulary

Define the Chapter 13/14 vocabulary terms found on iLearn.

Tuesday: What Makes a Good President?

1. Watch the video lecture by Ms. Memminger and follow along using the Google Slides (both are available on iLearn by following the link above).
2. Write a 2 paragraph response answering Guiding Questions #1 and #3. (What qualities make a good president? and How is the vice president chosen in terms of balancing the ticket?)

Wednesday: All in a Day’s Work

Complete the worksheet, “All in a Day’s Work”. You can find the worksheet on iLearn by clicking the link above.

Thursday/Friday: Article of the Week

1. Read the article, “Can Trump Override the Governors”? (Link is on iLearn).
2. Write a reflection that includes all of the components on iLearn.

Hi everyone!

We will be holding class this week using BigBlueButton (BBB) on iLearn. I have posted the links below. When you click the link, it will take you to the iLearn login screen, and then on to the BBB for your class. During this session, we will discuss the directions for this week’s assignments and answer any questions you may have!

• 1st Hour will meet at 1pm: https://moodle.dearbornschools.org/mod/bigbluebuttonbn/view.php?id=213151
• 2nd Hour will meet at 2pm: https://moodle.dearbornschools.org/mod/bigbluebuttonbn/view.php?id=213152&forceview=1

Monday: Chapter 10 Vocabulary

Define the vocabulary terms found on iLearn.

Tuesday: Video/Reflection

1. Watch a video made by Ms. Memminger.
2. Review the PowerPoint.
3. Answer the two short answer questions in paragraph format.

Wednesday: Crash Course Video and Paragraph

1. Watch the two videos on iLearn.
2. Answer the reflection question in one full paragraph (4-6 sentences)

Thursday: How a Bill Becomes a Law Timeline

1. Read the document about how a bill becomes a law (on iLearn).
2. Watch the Schoolhouse Rock video called “I’m Just a Bill” (on iLearn).
3. Create a timeline describing the steps for a law to become a bill.

Friday: COVID-19 Federal Stimulus Bill

1. Read the article about the COVID-19 Federal Stimulus Bill (on iLearn).
2. Answer the questions in the Google Doc (on iLearn).

We are going to cancel this week’s video lessons (no Google Hangouts). I will be posting a video explaining the grading policies and the assignments for the week. The video will be posted later this week!

If you have any questions about this week’s assignments, I will still be near my computer. You are welcome to email me questions during our official class time!