The 1980's

When i think of the 1980's, i thing of two things, Ronald Regan and Rap music. Though they may not be the only signifigant events of the 1980's, they are to me!!
The 1980's class did a great job explaining Reganomics. We had a good class discussion about the benefits and detriments of his terms in office. Ronald Regan was really a love/hate sorta character. Though he screwed the poor and gave to the rich, by convincing our country into falling for his "trickle down" scam, and putting our country trillions of dollars in debt, who couldn't resist his fiery personality and movie star smile?
The 1980's had a great transition into rap, by having a rap battle about the events of the 1980's. They made a brief, but informative slideshow that really helped me get a general feel for the 80's. Though some groups didnt really take the rap battle seriously (cough, cough, my group!) it was a great activity.
The 80's group did a good job giving a brief cronological timeline of early hip hop, from its roots in disco, to its later social-consious transformation, and its quality digression in the early nineties. Overall the 80's group did a awesome job!

Teaching the 1960's

Teaching isn' easy. It requires a lot of time and preperation. I underestimated the difficulty of teaching a class. I thought i could throw out a discussion question and have the whole class begin to actively debate the topic and live happily ever after. But that wasnt the case. I realized that teenagers dont like school (with the exeption of me, of course). They'd rather be doing something else. That is why you have to do activities that are both engaging and informative. Its like broccoli. No one likes to eat sraight-up boiled broccoli! But if you smother it in cheese and bacon bits, it becomes a whole different story! Even though you compromise some health benefits, the vitamins and the nutrition of the broccoli is still prevalent. Teaching is the same way. If the lesson plan is pure lecture, no one will listen and every one will lose interest. Sometimes, you need to compromise some teaching time with a fun activity that still gets the point across.

The 1970's

I really had te wrong impression of the seventies. I was always under the impression that the seventies was all about going out to discos and snorting coke. Although that is partially true, the seventies was actually a pretty "full" time, in the sense that a lot of signifigant things happened.
I always had the impression that Nixon was a huge "crook", but i never knew what for. The 1970's group did a good job breifly and effectively explaining the watergate scandal and its effect on american society.
I also enjoyed the fun activites the seventies group had us do. "The Price is Right" was both entertaining and informative. It also was a great segway into the oil crisis. We had a good discussion about the middle east and why we dont like them. It was very helpful in understanding our current situation with iraq and iran. The Electric slide was a great way to end the seventies. Though the "Hustle" wasn't as simple as the Electric slide, everyone had a blast making fools out of themselves!!

1950's

I felt the 1950's group did a great job recreating the mood and the mindset of the time. i always had the "leave it to beaver" impression of two kids, a stay at home mom, and a pipe-smoking father, but i never knew why, nor did I know what factors created the 1950's that made it unique.
I learned that the media, especially television, became a major influence to the consumer. It was interesting to see how directly blatent the advertising schemes were, as seen in the ford commerical. The commercail basically portrayed the ideal American "white picket fence" family. The wife seemed to be too perfect, wearing a pearl necklace and had her hair fixed just to do the dishes! She said she needed a car to go to PTA meetings and to pick uphow the kids, the stereotypical white suburban housewife. I thought it was interesting the wife was given the old car, while the husband got the new one. If my parents got a new car, im pretty sure my mom would get the new one! It shows how the role of women was still second to men in the 1950's.
Another video that left an impression on me was the video on "family ediquete" (for lack of a better term!) I was supprised to see the degreee of gender inequality still prevalent during the 1950's. For example, the wife had the obligation to her husband to make him happy after a long day of work, even if it meant putting on a facade. If I had to describe my impression of the fifties in one word, it would be PROPAGANDA, whether it be political or social.
(I MISSED THE OTHER CLASSES)

1940's

War is an inevitable factor through out history. I don’t think there has been a single second of human existence when there wasn’t at least one warring country. If war is such a bad thing, why hasn’t humankind come to the consensus that war is unnecessary? Is war necessary?

In an idealistic society, everyone would sit down and talk out their issues. However, we all know that this will never happen. Personally, I do not think war is necessary. I feel that there are better ways to solve problems than killing one another. However, war is inevitable. There will always be someone who will try to start a fight. I feel that it would take a catastrophic event for the world to realize that war is unnecessary, an event so catastrophic that it’ll be too late for compromise.

Currently, America is at war with Iraq. The war in Iraq is extremely confusing, convoluted by bias media and conspiracy theories. I personally don’t know what information is fact and what is simply conspiracy, but from the knowledge I’ve accumulated, I have come to a conclusion. The Iraq War is messed up. Although I support the troops at war for fighting for our country, why the hell are they over there? Is it truly to “liberate” the Iraqi people? And aren’t we fighting in the midst of an Iraqi civil war? Bush messed up, but he doesn’t want to admit it. He has no “exit” plan, and it’s a shame that it has taken so long for the American people to realize he’s a complete idiot.

The 1930's

1. Honestly, I didnt learn many things that were salient regarding the 1930's. We learned about the Great Depression and how and why it happened. It was a result of several factors, such as a decline in trade, a lopsided concentration of power, and the infamous stock market crash of October 29, 1929, also known as "black tuesday". I learned that over a quarter of the American people were unemployed and the people who lived comfortably were the SUPER rich, who never shared any of their money with anyone. This was represented in the activity, where we were told that if we al wrote our first name, we'd all get two bonus points. But if three people wrote their full name, they'd get ten points. In our class, two people wrote their full names, meaning they both got ten points, while everyone else received nothing.
We also learned about the Dust Bowl, where there was a massive drought in the southwest. Almost all of the farmers in the area lost their crops. Many of them migrated west to California, were they had no choice but to compromise for hard labor for little pay. Many people also migrated North, where there were job opportunities.
We learned that people relied on sports and family to escape from the depression of the Great Depression, because that was all many people had. People looked up to sports icons, such as Seabiscuit, who represented the "little guy." Seabiscuit was the smallest, scrawniest horse on the track, yet he worked hard and became victorious, living out the American Dream.
The 1930's was a test for the American people and we succeeded triumphantly.

Adversising Analysis

"JUST DO IT;" the ubiquitous nike catch phrase. The phrase, "Just Do It," prior to seeing this ad, always had an athletic connotation to me. However, this advertisement implies a completely different message. "Just Buy It," written in bold, capitol letters, below a pair of sneakers, manipulates the tesosterone-driven "just do it" mantra, in order to sell a product.
I was shocked at the blunt simplicity, but what shocked me the most is this ad was (is) probably extremely effective. This advertisement shows how we are suseptable to media manipulation, even when it is right in front of our face. (I am aware that the last statement is pretty "boneheaded," i meant to do that.)