Adv. US History

Focus:
Vietnam War

CW:
video: Two Days in October

HW:
Text pp. 867-73; p. 876**READ CAREFULLY**

May 28

Adv. US History
Focus:

CW:
Healthy Teens Survey

HW:
Text pp. 867-73; p.876
Due Monday
---------------------------------------
Psychology (28-29)
Focus:
Abnormal Psych

CW:
video: Kip Kinkel

HW:
prep for exam

Adv. US History

Focus:
Vietnam War

CW:
finish presentations
notes: Rise of the Counterculture
video: Summer of Love

HW:
Text pp. 867-73; p. 876**
**NOT DUE UNTIL MONDAY!**

Racially Segregated Prom--From The New York Times

About now, high-school seniors everywhere slip into a glorious sort of limbo. Waiting out the final weeks of the school year, they begin rightfully to revel in the shared thrill of moving on. It is no different in south-central Georgia’s Montgomery County, made up of a few small towns set between fields of wire grass and sweet onion. The music is turned up. Homework languishes. The future looms large. But for the 54 students in the class of 2009 at Montgomery County High School, so, too, does the past. On May 1 — a balmy Friday evening — the white students held their senior prom. And the following night — a balmy Saturday — the black students had theirs.
acially segregated proms have been held in Montgomery County — where about two-thirds of the population is white — almost every year since its schools were integrated in 1971. Such proms are, by many accounts, longstanding traditions in towns across the rural South, though in recent years a number of communities have successfully pushed for change.

When the actor Morgan Freeman offered to pay for last year’s first-of-its-kind integrated prom at Charleston High School in Mississippi, his home state, the idea was quickly embraced by students — and rejected by a group of white parents, who held a competing “private” prom. (The effort is the subject of a documentary, “Prom Night in Mississippi,” which will be shown on HBO in July.) The senior proms held by Montgomery County High School students — referred to by many students as “the black-folks prom” and “the white-folks prom” — are organized outside school through student committees with the help of parents. All students are welcome at the black prom, though generally few if any white students show up.

The white prom, students say, remains governed by a largely unspoken set of rules about who may come. Black members of the student council say they have asked school administrators about holding a single school-sponsored prom, but that, along with efforts to collaborate with white prom planners, has failed. According to Timothy Wiggs, the outgoing student council president and one of 21 black students graduating this year, “We just never get anywhere with it.” Principal Luke Smith says the school has no plans to sponsor a prom, noting that when it did so in 1995, attendance was poor.

Students of both races say that interracial friendships are common at Montgomery County High School. Black and white students also date one another, though often out of sight of judgmental parents. “Most of the students do want to have a prom together,” says Terra Fountain, a white 18-year-old who graduated from Montgomery County High School last year and is now living with her black boyfriend. “But it’s the white parents who say no. … They’re like, if you’re going with the black people, I’m not going to pay for it.”

“It’s awkward,” acknowledges JonPaul Edge, a senior who is white. “I have as many black friends as I do white friends. We do everything else together. We hang out. We play sports together. We go to class together. I don’t think anybody at our school is racist.” Trying to explain the continued existence of segregated proms, Edge falls back on the same reasoning offered by a number of white students and their parents. “It’s how it’s always been,” he says. “It’s just a tradition.”

Earlier this month, on the Friday night of the white prom, Kera Nobles, a senior who is black, and six of her black classmates drove over to the local community center where it was being held. Standing amid a crowd of about 80 parents, siblings and grandparents, they snapped pictures and whooped appreciatively as their white friends — blow-dried, boutonniered and glittering in a way that only high-school seniors can — did their “senior walk,” parading in elegant pairs into the prom. “We got stared at a little, being there,” said one black student, “but it wasn’t too bad.”

After the last couple were announced, after they watched the white people’s father-daughter dance and then, along with the other bystanders, were ushered by chaperones out the door, Kera and her friends piled into a nearby KFC to eat. Whatever elation they felt for their dressed-up classmates was quickly wearing off.

“My best friend is white,” said one senior girl, a little glumly. “She’s in there. She’s real cool, but I don’t understand. If they can be in there, why can’t everybody else?”

The seven teenagers — a mix of girls and boys — slowly worked their way through two buckets of fried chicken. They cracked jokes about the white people’s prom (“I feel bad for them! Their prom is lame!”). They puzzled merrily over white girls’ devotion both to tanning beds (“You don’t like black people, but you’re working your hardest to get as brown as I am!”) and also to the very boys who were excluded from the dance (“Half of those girls, when they get home, they’re gonna text a black boy”). They mused about whether white parents really believed that by keeping black people out of the prom, it would keep them out of their children’s lives (“You think there aren’t going to be black boys at college?”).

And finally, more somberly, they questioned their white friends’ professed helplessness in the face of their parents’ prejudice (“You’re 18 years old! You’re old enough to smoke, drive, do whatever else you want to. Why aren’t you able to step up and say, ‘I want to have my senior prom with the people I’m graduating with?’ ”).

It was getting late now. KFC was closing. Another black teenager was mopping the floor nearby. A couple of the boys mentioned they had to wash their cars in the morning. Kera had an early hair appointment. The next night, they would dress up and dance raucously for four hours before tumbling back outside, one step closer to graduating. In the meantime, a girl named Angel checked her cellphone to see if any of the white kids had texted from inside their prom. They hadn’t. Angel shrugged. “I really don’t understand,” she said. “Because I’m thinking that these people love me and I love them, but I don’t know. Tonight’s a different story.”

Is texting affecting your mental health?

Vietnam War

Vietcong Tunnels. Amazing pictures!

May 26

Adv. US History
Focus:
Vietnam War

CW:
turn in comparative essays
notes: Into the Quagmire
LBJ: Why We are in Vietnam
begin oral history presentations

HW:
Text pp. 856-60
-------------------------------------------------
Psychology (26-27)
Focus:
Abnormal Psych

CW:
Unit 5 Study Guide
discuss schizophrenia
video clip
audio tape: volunteer activity
notes: personality disorders and school shooters
profile of a sociopath

HW:
Reading: Columbine

HAPPY THREE DAY WEEKEND!!

Finally, the Death March is over. It's all downhill to the end of school. Just one final week of May and we're in June. I will feel no pain in June. I left school early today so I could get a jump on my road trip to Indiana to visit this furniture store. Enjoy your weekend.

Republican answer to the Daisy commercial. What do you think?

Adv. US History

Focus:
Civil Rights Movement

CW:
notes: changes in the movement
video clips: Malcolm X and the Black Panthers
comparative essay on Dr. King and Malcolm X

HW:
Text pp. 850-56
finish comparative essay--due Tuesday--no late work will be accepted
**VIETNAM ORAL HISTORY PRESENTATIONS BEGIN ON TUESDAY**

HAVE A GREAT THREE DAY WEEKEND!!

Bob Mann taught me everything I know about biking.

Black Panthers

History of the Black Panther Party. Notice the Ten Point Plan.

LBJ's Daisy Commercial

May 21

Adv. US History
Focus:
Civil Rights Movement

CW:
video : Freedom Summer
notes: LBJ's Great Society

HW:
Text pp. 860-67
------------------------------------
Psychology (21-22)
Focus:
Abnormal Psych

CW:
discuss basic therapies for mental disorders
ECT
which treatment is best?
discussion: eating disorders
video clip: Thin
media and body image activity

HW:
TQ-Schizophrenia
**BRING HEADPHONES TO NEXT CLASS FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA TAPE**

Adv. US History

Focus:
Civil Rights Movement

CW:
notes: overview of the Civil Rights Movement
Letter from the Birmingham Jail
video clips: Freedom Riders and Birmingham protests

HW:
Text pp. 842-46

The Fight for Civil Rights

I will discuss the death of this brave man in class tomorrow:

May 19

Adv. US History
Focus:
JFK

CW:
return old work
return/discuss Unit 11 exam
return oral history papers
preview Unit 12
notes: JFK
video clips: JFK's assasination

HW:
Text pp. 836-42
--------------------------------------------
Psychology (19-20)
Focus:
Abnormal Psych


CW:
discussion: PTSD
video: A Soldier's Heart (may have information for an essay question)

HW:
reading: Therapies (important for unit exam and final exam)

Adv. US History

Focus:

CW:
Unit 11 exam

HW:
Text pp. 830-36

Unit 11 Exam Survival Tips

'Sup shorties? Well, it looks like you've made it to your last unit exam with IDs and an essay. What a year. Anywho, it's been a while since you've had to do both IDs and an essay for an exam. Here are some helpful hints for the exam:


Essay #1:
This is by far the most straightforward of the essay questions. Honestly, I don't have any suggestions for you. Outlining this essay should be rather facile.

Essay #2:
Make sure you discuss the evolution of foreign policy in regards to the U.S.S.R. in your essay. Truman and Eisenhower put their own stamp on foreign policy with the Russkies. I discussed some very specific differences in class.

Essay #3:
I'm expecting students to put forth at least three specific points to receive FULL CREDIT for this essay. I've given you LOTS OF INFORMATION for this question. Please refer to the links I placed on the blog last week for more information. The two videos that appear below this message could also be of service to you in your preparation for this essay. Good luck!

May 15

Adv. US History
Focus:
1950s America

CW:
Who's the Commie?
notes 1950s
10 tips for young women
TBA

HW:
STUDY
Unit 11 exam on Monday
--------------------------------------------
Psychology (15;18)
Focus:
Abnormal Psych

CW:
discuss mood disorders
video clip: living with Depression
discuss Tourette's
video: Tourette's

HW:
reading on PTSD

Adv. US History

Focus:
The Other America

CW:
notes: beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement
video: Emmett Till (absent students, click on this link for more information)

HW:
Text pp. 816-25

May 13

Adv. US History
Focus:
Cold War

CW:
notes: Cold War at home
Who's the commie?
video clips: Atomic Cafe

HW:
Text pp. 804-07
-----------------------------------------
Psychology (13-14)
Focus:
Abnormal Psych

CW:
discuss OCD
are you OCD?
video: OCD
discussion: mood disorders
video clips: living with depression

HW:
reading: Tourettes

Cold War links--could be helpful for essay #3

Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia: very cool website with lots of great details on this post-apocalyptic bomb shelter in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Panic Quiz

Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Communist allegory



Fail Safe trailer:

Adv. US History

Focus:
WWII-Cold War

CW:
test prep sheet #11
overview discussion: a-bomb
video clip
notes: Cold War begins
video: PRNK (if time)

HW:
Text pp. 797-804

A Day Called X

Nuclear war comes to Portland. Enjoy.

Cold War stuff--PARTICIPATION POINTS!

What if scenario for a nuclear blast in NYC. Quite chilling. Post your thoughts please.

May 11

Adv. US History
Focus:
WWII

CW:
Saving Private Ryan (first 15 mins)
Band of Brothers: Day of Days

HW:
Text pp. 784-85; 788-97
-------------------------------------------
Psychology ( 11-12)
Focus:
Abnormal Psych

CW:
video: Andrea Yates
discuss: the DSM
notes: anxiety disorders
video clip: panic disorder

HW:
TQ- Mood disorders

Adv. US History

Focus:
WWII

CW:
finish WWII presentations
notes: fighting and winning the war
D-Day overview
video clip: D-Day

HW:
Option #1: be like Phineas Gage and talk to some squirrels
Option #2: conduct your own research on the history of wagons in Canada
Option #3: all of the above

**First 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan and an episode of Band of Brothers on Monday!!**

May 7

Adv. US History
Focus:
WWII

CW:
notes: treatment of Japanese-Canadians during WWII
oral history presentations begin on WWII

HW:
Text pp. 767-76
--------------------------------------
Psychology (7-8)
Focus:
Abnormal Psych

CW:
return/discuss Unit 4 exam
preview Unit 5 and the end of the course
who has a mental disorder?
discuss the characteristics and causes of abnormal behavior
shades of abnormality

HW:
TQ-DSM
**JUNIORS--UNIT 5 EXAM WILL TAKE PLACE ON JUNE 3 AND JUNE 4
**SENIORS---YOUR COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM WILL TAKE PLACE ON THE SAME DAYS

WWII Propaganda posters--Participation points

Very cool posters.

Adv. US History

Focus:
WWII

CW:
FDR's Four Freedoms Speech
video: US 1941-45
notes: mobilizing the homefront
anti-Axis propaganda

HW:
W. Peter Ward reading:
pp. 458-74

May 5--Happy Cinco de Mayo

Adv. US History
Focus:
WWII

CW:
return permission forms
return old work
return/discuss Unit 10 DBQs
notes: The Road to War
notes: Organizing for Victory

HW:
Text pp. 762-67
--------------------------------------------
Psychology (5-6)
Focus:

CW:
Unit 4 exam

HW:
TQ-Abnormal behavior
reading: what is abnormal behavior?

It's like I'm back in South Carolina

Tip of the hat to Bitney for this outstanding video:

Adv. US History

CW:
DBQ essay
**ATTENTION ABSENT STUDENTS:
Please make plans to come in tomorrow morning by 7:20 to make up the essay portion of the DBQ.


HW:
Text pp. 750-54; 754-55; 758-62

The essay for the DBQ will require you to pick a side regarding the effectiveness of the New Deal. Make sure you are ready to argue both sides of the issue. You must use three documents and put forth three points defending your position.

Enjoy:

Have a great weekend.

Please, don't do this:

May 1--Happy May Day-Last full month of school!!

Adv. US History
Focus:

CW:
DBQ-Part one

HW:
prep for DBQ essay
final weekend for OHP
Text pp. 750-54
-------------------------------------------------
Psychology (1; 3)
Focus:
Social Psych

CW:
discuss power of groups
groups at THS
---------------------------
Kohlberg's theory of moral development

HW:
study for Unit 4 exam