Constitutional Convention Blog from January 23, 2012 to February 22, 2012
Writing Day 02/22/2012
Wow! I never thought we could write up all our conclusions to the many debates and discussions in a single day. Thanks to great perseverance and hard work by the Constitution Writing Committee we have done it!
We worked from about 8:30 to 1:30, including working as we ate lunch, and produced the first Strattonville Constitution. The Bill of Rights and the judiciary system are "invited amendments" but there is no way we could put that all together and have any hope of ratification by Friday.
Now, on to polishing the language and the ratification process. I will be checking on what others think that looks like. My expectations are that the Convention delegates will gather one last time to agree (or change it) and then "affix their names" or sign it. If there is a "great disturbance in the force" then Friday's celebration can be a signing ceremony/ celebration and ratification can come later.
If everything looks OK, and we still feel like there is still time to attempt ratification, individual classrooms will have to understand it and then vote to adopt it. It is again, a process that feels like there isn't real choice involved. In my view, the celebration can proceed with or without ratification. We simply change what we're celebrating.
Final Day 02/21/2012
Our final day was consumed with ballots and short discussions.
We went through secret ballot voting for both the Constitution Writing Committee and the Ratification Committee.
By the end of the session we came to the conclusion that there isn't anything else to discuss, hopefully we have covered the bases we needed to cover and we will proceed forthwith.
Day Seventeen 02/16/2012
Mrs. Eckels accepted out invitation and came to the CC today!
We had a great discussion about how the two governments in the school can work together. The leadership team of the CC made a proposal to create a Negotiating Group to facilitate cooperation. The group would be made up of
President of Strattonville
Principal of Stratton plus another person s/he invites
Three legislative leaders
Three Judicial leaders
There was concern about what sort of issues would come to this group but we again have intentionally left it for the group (or legislature) to decide. In addition to the examples of school uniforms and computer freedom as possible points of conflict between student government and the building administration, other possible problem areas include curriculum issues, discipline issues. It was noted that the Strattonville CC has stayed away from discipline and academic issues seeing them as primarily issues that lie outside our purview. That could of course change, but it is the tack taken this time through the process.
Mrs. Eckels wondered aloud what other voice from the school community needs to be included in these meetings. The students quickly remembered their families and so then suggestions were received about how to include them. A MicroSociety Parent Club was proposed in parallel with the PTA since there are so many Stratton families who are not in the PTA. That Parent Club is then invited to send a representative to the Negotiating Group.
The other additions she suggested were to make sure sufficient notice is given for meetings and to wonder if there will be regular meetings. Finally that written communication to families is always good and necessary if it will have an effect on them.
The proposal passed as agreed to by Mrs. Eckels and the CC membership.
In the time remaining we were able to discuss and receive self nominations for the Constitutional Writing committee and the ratification committee. We will vote on them tomorrow.
In the final moments we were able to propose and pass how the Constitution shall be amended and ratified.
It may be written by anyone but the legislature must pass the proposed amendment by simple majority.
It will need 2/3 vote of classes (K-5) (so with 22 homerooms, that's 15 classes at this moment) to agree on a written amendment. Governors will go to each class in their grade to take the vote and help the process along.
For ratification, it is the same except there is no legislature or governors. so 2/3 of states will need to pass the constitution for it to become the law of the school.
Day Seventeen 02/16/2012
The student representatives seem to be gassed. At one point, we took a vote by show of hands and there were two voting to affirm the question and none voting against it. In a room full of kids, they were obviously not ready. It wasn't long after that when I suggested to the president that he take a vote on who wanted to go out to breakfast. He couldn't get it out without lots of giggles and so the room was alerted but it provided a bit of levity in the day.
We spent a great deal of time on Governor, the proposed mid level government official. In one frustrating development they group voted against what was decided yesterday.
The governor will be an elected executive official from each grade, for a total of six governors. In a reversal, the vote was to make it a full time, paid government position. No one really knows what the jobs of this role will be.
We voted unanimously that the president will be elected school wide, every citizen has a vote.
Other school wide elected executives are Vice President and Chief of Police.
A secretary and Treasurer will be elected by the legislature and assistants for each of these positions will be hired without any need for approval. We did not contemplate what happens when an executive leaves office unexpectedly. But clearly, a hired assistant can not simply assume the elected position.
Valentine's Day 02/15/2012
The reality is that Valentine's Day Parties are pretty attractive - who doesn't want to party? We had rather poor attendance and lost our quorum only fifteen minutes into the session. We turned it into a planning meeting for any who wanted to stay and that was a good use of time, especially with our deadline looming so large.
Before we lost the quorum, we did decide that we will have executives elected from each grade called Governors. Their role is up in the air but the proposal is for them to:
help kids to stay on task
they they are part time officials but have regular jobs in a venture or agency
that they are elected from each grade
That they report information from the President to each class.
That they make events for the school - for example the bubble blowing contest.
There was an idea that they would serve on an advisory board for the president.
Once we lost the quorum, the planning meeting was very effective. We finished the invitation for Mrs. Eckels to come to the CC and then worked on what the agenda shall be. We also worked through some of the questions that we need to cover before we are done. Many proposals were made by the leadership team and other students who stayed for the planning meeting, now we just have to see what the entire group thinks of them.
Day Fifteen 02/14/2012
The long awaited vote was today!
After waiting for days to give every opportunity for representatives to solicit input from their constituents (their class) we went ahead with the vote. In the grand tradition of a representative democracy, we did not simply report the votes from the people but were merely informed by that. The debate was great to watch as the students started with the five names we had publicised. Several more were added and then our leadership team culled the list by voting on each and the top four names were submitted to a roll call vote where each representative's name was called and a vote was given. It was a close vote following a fun debate.
We immediately moved to the name of the chief executive. This wasn't close at all (sorry Mayor Gerard) but President was the preferred title by a landslide.
At one point, we experienced the rules of meetings when a procedural vote by ayes and nays was not definitive and a member requested a vote by the show of hands.
The debate and vote took almost the entire session but we did revisit qualifications for president briefly. The proposals were 39 days, 60 days and one year. This too was a close vote but in the end, one year was the clear winner. I wonder if it will work out or if this might be something that will be altered through amendment.
Another question that came up today was about the citizenship test vis a vis special ed students. We sent for Ms Luffman but she was unavailable. Before the debate was complete, her student teacher came in the room and so we asked Ms B for expert "testimony" on the subject. In the end, it was generally agreed to that special ed students' citizenship tests would be subject to the usual system and that appropriate modifications be encouraged for anyone who needs them. This is not likely to be be codified in the constitution itself but is recorded here in the spirit of the Federalist Papers.
Day Fourteen 02/13/2012
We made a legislature today!
There was unanimous agreement to create a single group of law makers. The qualifications to be considered for a legislator:
Citizen of Stratton for one month
Grades 2-5
Member of the class they represent
K-1 citizens may petition the legislature directly.
There was a great discussion about the problem of K1 students not being represented in the legislature. we talked about them not being ready to contribute, not liking the long meetings full of talking and so forth. We also talked about how it could turn out that they would not be represented. It made it doubly hard because they aren't represented now - in the CC. In the end, though we did not enumerate HOW this would happen, we did put something in place for their specific use. Perhaps not The Great Compromise but something that was certainly real to the students.
We also nominated and received ballots for the first committee created by the Stratton MicroSociety CC that will take on the Bill of Rights.
Nothing has yet been decided but proposals were put forward with who should be executives of the government. So far we have six, President, VP, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Treasurer, Accountant.
The president may not make laws, but may suggest laws.
S/he must agree to bills passed by the legislature for them to become law.
S/he may disagree and the legislature may over ride his veto by 2/3 majority.
President should enforce laws.
Qualifications for being considered for president:
There was some debate on the age/ grade requirement. A voice vote was taken and it was agreed that a citizen must be in fourth or fifth grade.
There was also debate about being a citizen of Stratton for a period of time. Proposals included at Stratton since Kindergarten, to one year, to 1 or 2 months to two weeks. Another voice vote was taken and the group agreed to two weeks. (Though we didn't use this vocabulary) A point of order was raised that the qualifications for president in this area was less than the qualifications for legislators. We will return to this Monday.
Interestingly, a proposed qualification was to be able to speak English well.
The debate was strong, I have been impressed that the students have been doing so well. This is the last week, and then we have to have something to show for our time together. Don't let up now!
Day Thirteen 02/09/2012
A MUCH better day. The leadership team was able to have a planning team meeting during the lunch hour and that helped greatly. So many good stories about learning through doing. For example, what does impartial really look like? I also provided them with sample constitutions from other MicroSociety schools and some handouts on organising a meeting. Each of them also received their copy of the US Constitution since they expressed some interest in reading it.
The group checked in on the needed input from those we represent on the name of the Stratton MicroSociety and the title of the chief executive. We're getting closer to having everyone report in on that. The leadership team decided to schedule a vote on Monday for both topics.
Speaking of voting, we had out first roll call vote today. There were two proposals regarding "Qualifications to Become a Citizen" That potential citizens must pass a test to gain citizenship was put to a vote and that potential citizens must be a Stratton student for 30 days to gain citizenship was be put to a vote. There was good debate with ideas about the pros and cons of each idea. I did not have to voice any of the problems I thought of because the students raised them all themselves. Even the idea of having different tests for different abilities was raised.
In a roll call vote (where each representative was specifically asked for their vote) the test proposal passed and the residency requirement failed. Though we briefly discussed administering a test, it will be left to the legislature to implement this idea. The initial idea - here just for the sake of preserving it - is to have the same number of questions on the citizenship exam as the grade you are in. For example, fifth graders would have five questions while Kindergartners would have none. The content of the questions would be about the MicroSociety. For example the First grade Q could be, "What is the name of the Microsociety?" Second graders would add "What is the currency called?" Third graders would add to those two Qs, "What is the name of the president" and we could increase the difficulty level for each additional Q up to five questions. We did not discuss whether all current Stratton students must pass the test before citizenship is granted or if existing students are automatically citizens.
We moved from that into the question, "What rights are guaranteed to citizens?" Three were proposed, the right to vote in elections, freedom of speech, and that no citizen may be brought into court without evidence. The group voted by ayes and nays to vote on the three together. In a roll call vote we did just that and they were initially defeated. However, upon questioning several of the individual representatives to explain what they voted on, s/he could not and so the ballot was tossed.
We're making decent progress but the deadline is looming every larger as we march toward the twentieth, and final, day
Day Twelve 02/09/2012
Disappointing, that's how the day felt for many of us. After a rousing discussion of possible names yesterday, fewer than half of the representatives had sought feedback and returned with constituent views on the topic. Of all the things we're doing in the CC, this is easily going to be the most visible to outsiders.
I have to admit, I became frustrated.
It seems as though the students have hit the wall in terms of realising that being a member of the convention isn't just a ticket out of class, but there is actual work involved. Any time there is an election, there is some part of it that is a popularity content. That part of an election is obvious to students.
I also think that there is a reality factor. We so rarely actually empower the students to make decisions that matter - that have real consequences (I don't mean about their own behavior) that they are totally out of their element. In reflecting on the experience, I think we will see this phenomena repeat itself many times until the MicroSociety concept really takes off and the students experience the effects of their power. If we allow it to happen, the potential for lots more trial and error learning is about to happen. Which then, of course, means - lots of error - and learning from that.
It is a totally different way of learning. Teachers and students alike are used to having one right answer (the one at the back of the book - for more see this video by Sir Ken Robinson). If MicroSociety takes off, we're talking about creative thinking, about problem solving, about engagement at a whole different level. Not because it is interesting, but because it matters. WOW, is that cool.
Beyond process, the main discussion of the day was around "Qualifications for citizenship." There is lots of room here for missteps but my role again is facilitator. If I wanted to, I could have just run this excercise in such a way that I basically wrote the constitution (it isn't as if, I have no opinions about what it should say) but again, it matters what laws are passed. It never crossed my mind that there would be a INS equivalent but I suppose it makes sense. Now, how to do it in a way that doesn't trample on people.
It certainly was interesting to listen to the debate and see the students wrestle with a problem and possible solutions. I stepped in at one point to teach a little but made sure to not to join the debate itself.
There are days when even the frustration turns out well - these kids are learning - and differently than they are used to. What will happen next?!
Day Eleven 02/07/2012 Another great day!
We were missing our presiding officer again but regular class work has to come first. Our vice-president did a fine job.
We spent the session considering names for Stratton's MicroSociety. We had quite a long list and then the convention decided narrow down the choices and seek additional input from those they represent. Each name that received at least four votes in the CC was retained and will be presented to class by each class representative.
The possible names are:
Stratton City
Strattonville
Amazing World of Kids
MicroTown
Jaguar Society
Following this we still had time to talk about hierarchy and levels of government. We followed a similar process for possible names of the chief executive and were left with three:
Mayor
Governor
President.
Day Ten 02/06/2012
Our leadership team is having a rough go. One of the three was out today, and the remaining two were unavailable for a planning meeting. I ended up doing much of the class just because we have a deadline and can't just wait around. Tomorrow we planned again to have a planning meeting but I will be out of the building during their lunch hour. bummer. The time is getting short though, and we have a large agenda to accomplish.
Here's the list of things that we MUST have addressed in our constitution:
Optional Additions
We talked about types of government today. This is on top of the lessons they received in their home classroom so we were able to go more into WHY and HOW than just do basics. It was, at times, painful but there were some really sharp responses where it was so obvious that the students get what's happening.
We talked about what kind of government we currently have here, they students were able to says it wasn't a monarchy because the principal's job is not passed through familial generations.
We talked about the US Constitution and who did NOT get to vote when it was originally written.
Women did not get to vote.
Black people of any kind did not get to vote.
Poor people did not get to vote.
In the end we went around the room and asked each citizen if they wanted to help make the rule or have someone else do the thinking for them. Only three chose have someone else do the thinking, the rest wanted to help make the decisions. Given that, the student leaders asked for proposals and ultimately received only one. As a result we voted to select DEMOCRACY as the form of government for the Stratton MicroSociety.
Day Nine 02/06/2012
We had another great day. In many ways, it was the first day - the first because it was the first day that students led the whole session.
The leaders met during the lunch hour to make a plan which we will try to do regularly. There are other things going on during the school day, however.
The discussion was wide ranging. We talked about problems again but our recorder was doing such a great job of recording the conversation, I stopped taking notes myself.
Though we talked through organising our thoughts and even touched on outlining earlier, I don't know how better to teach the need for staying on topic than through having the experience in a meeting where each person who rises to speak addresses a different topic. By counting the topics in the official minutes, we touched on fully three dozen ideas.
Today's plan will have to try and handle this volatility.
As a result of collaboration with other teachers, I elected to not attempt to teach Robert's Rules of Order. It will be interesting to see if a more kid-friendly alternative emerges from the students themselves.
Day Eight 02/03/2012
We finished the election for officers on Thursday.
I made a point of NOT using the title president but rather discussion organiser throughout our lead up to discussion. I just thought it carries too much baggage for actual understanding. Similarly, I didn't use the word vice president but instead called that job, Tangent Control. We had a fun math lesson where we talked about tangents in geometry and related that to a conversation.
We had only a single speech for president. but received many nominations, ten in all. Only four representatives accepted the nomination however so we had four candidates.
During the balloting we talked a little about ceremonies and symbols. Once we received the results, we printed hand bills for each class to post with the results. Then we had a short ceremony where I handed over the symbols of office to each elected leader.
Recorder: Michaela
Tangent Control: Richard
President: Daniel
We received ideas about re arranging the room for our new leadership, proposals were made and a short debate about what and why we should act. In the end, we voted with yays and nays about what to do and will have that set up until it's changed.
Now, the students are running the convention, let's hope we have a great experience!
Day Seven - Election of Officers 02/01/2012
Wow, today was fun!
We started the day using our WONDER notes from yesterday. We wondered about 80+ different things but when we organised them, we only needed five categories. The power of organisation.
Then we began to organise ourselves.
We need three officers, Recorder, Tangent Control and President.
We had a fun math lesson about what a tangent line is in geometry and then applied that idea to discussions. Really "Tangent Control" is vice president but that's a lousy name!
We talked about requirements for each officer (and made comparison to the requirements listed in the US Constitution for legislators and the president). The group named several additional requirements as well.
While we did not allow self nomination, we did allow people to make speeches about why they would like to be elected for each of the offices. We heard just one speech for tangent control.
Five nominations were received but only two were accepted by the potential candidate; then balloting began. Amazingly it was a tie! We voted (by yays and nays) on how to handle that, coin flip or re-vote. Coin flip won but then when we flipped the coin it rolled under the easel and we lost it. One of the candidates picked it up, claiming victory but then I insisted that it must be verified by at least two people to be valid. We flipped again and, of course, had the opposite result. We'll deal with that tomorrow!
We heard four speeches for recorder. Balloting completed just as the time ended so we'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out who won recorder as well.
Too bad I forgot the video camera, it would have been a good day to have a record of.
Day Six 02/01/2012
We spent the first few minutes writing. Almost every student wrote an entire page on what they would change at Stratton. The US Constitutional Convention came about because the Articles of Federation were not working very well, we wanted to see if there are things that aren't working as we begin this new MicroSociety. Many of the students expressed their love of Stratton. Several of them did not have anything to change but instead wrote about why Stratton is great. Very cool. The other main themes are lunch and recess.
Following the writing time, we watched the Charlie Brown version of the Constitutional Convention using WONDER NOTES. Wonder notes are sticky notes that we write questions on as we listen or watch a presentation. What do we wonder about? Following the movie we spent some time categorising the notes - trying to organise our thinking about the topic. The four categories we came up with (followed by an example) in the time we had are:
Charlie Brown Qs (What's the deal with the yellow bird?)
Constitutional Convention Qs (Why did they argue so much?)
Their time/ Our time Qs (why are things so different, e.g. powdered wigs)
History Qs (Why are they talking about inventing baseball when we play it all the time?)
Just for second, we also talked about outlining and using that method as another way to organise thoughts and that the US Constitution is organised in that way.
Article One
Section One
Article Two
Section Two
and so forth...
Day Five 01/31/2012
It was a difficult day. No one seemed interested and I had real ambition to get the students in front of the class by the end of the session. As it was, we were able to discuss problems that the Framers had so many years ago that are still problems today. Specifically:
Human issue - People like to remain in charge.
Once someone is in charge, do they usually give that up?
How do you make them?
Easiest if they know when they are supposed to be done before they start.
Human issue - People usually do what is best for themselves.
Do you usually think of yourself or others first?
Does that change when you are in charge?
Even if you want to think of others first, it’s easier if someone checks.
Moral issue - how do you balance the interests of many vs the few?
Does majority rule always work?
How does right and wrong interact with majority and minority? [I apologised to the students for that college level Q]
examples: The recent voting about the new name of Stratton's currency
Do we take a vote to cross the street, NO. There is a clear right and wrong time to cross the street.
Power issue - Big states vs small states
Imagine: Why was this a problem?
How do we count people who need representatives?
in the US? at Stratton?
First week of CC! 01/30/2012
Overall I think we had a good week. It was interrupted at times and some moments better than others but that's the nature of teaching and life in general.
We had some fun playing name bingo.
We talked about the homework and though not everyone had it, we have some idea of who we represent, I will present the data more thoroughly this week as more students bring it in.
We finally got to talk about what will happen at OUR Constitutional Convention. Looking forward to students leading the sessions this next week! Initially we talked about solving problems. What will happen if everyone wants to speak at once?
We ended the week with everyone writing - Reflecting on how to solve one of the following problems:
What if we all want to speak at once?
What if we have different ideas?
What if we don’t agree?What's working?
01/27/2012
I really like the book Shh! We're Reading the Constitution but it is still non-fiction and not a great read aloud. The inattention was palpable when we read this together on Wednesday. I planned on reading seven pages and felt compelled to stop after five. So it will remain a resource, but I am abandoning it as the centerpiece of the history portion.
Comment 01/31/2012 8:03am; J. Goodfellow-Vargas
The Learn 360 website has this as a video. Our 3rd grade class, watched it and it held attention better than reading the book. Just an idea for next time :)
Musical Performance today - no CC 01/26/2012
CC Day Three 01/25/2012
We started reading Shh! We're Writing the Constitution.
Talked about what happens at a CC
Talked about the problems at Stratton
[edit 1.27.12]
This is what was mentioned in the group discussion:Problems at Stratton
CC Day Two 01/25/2012
We talked about WONDER on the second day of the CC. We need to wonder, it is what makes learning worthwhile. The joy of discovery! We learned that wondering and asking questions is always good.
We have discovered some new vocabulary words.
We talked about two things that will be a big part of the CC as we roll along,
Who do we represent (including homework)?
What does it mean to be "in charge"? Below are some of the responses…
Our first day of the Constitutional Convention! We worked on names and asked the question, "Why do we follow rules?" Good old Dr. Seuss provided an interesting look at power through his story, Yertle the Turtle. We were missing most of the older representatives due to some entertainment preparation down the hallway (singing practice) but I'm sure we'll all gain a stride sooner rather than later.
Wow! I never thought we could write up all our conclusions to the many debates and discussions in a single day. Thanks to great perseverance and hard work by the Constitution Writing Committee we have done it!
We worked from about 8:30 to 1:30, including working as we ate lunch, and produced the first Strattonville Constitution. The Bill of Rights and the judiciary system are "invited amendments" but there is no way we could put that all together and have any hope of ratification by Friday.
Now, on to polishing the language and the ratification process. I will be checking on what others think that looks like. My expectations are that the Convention delegates will gather one last time to agree (or change it) and then "affix their names" or sign it. If there is a "great disturbance in the force" then Friday's celebration can be a signing ceremony/ celebration and ratification can come later.
If everything looks OK, and we still feel like there is still time to attempt ratification, individual classrooms will have to understand it and then vote to adopt it. It is again, a process that feels like there isn't real choice involved. In my view, the celebration can proceed with or without ratification. We simply change what we're celebrating.
Final Day 02/21/2012
Our final day was consumed with ballots and short discussions.
We went through secret ballot voting for both the Constitution Writing Committee and the Ratification Committee.
By the end of the session we came to the conclusion that there isn't anything else to discuss, hopefully we have covered the bases we needed to cover and we will proceed forthwith.
Day Seventeen 02/16/2012
Mrs. Eckels accepted out invitation and came to the CC today!
We had a great discussion about how the two governments in the school can work together. The leadership team of the CC made a proposal to create a Negotiating Group to facilitate cooperation. The group would be made up of
President of Strattonville
Principal of Stratton plus another person s/he invites
Three legislative leaders
Three Judicial leaders
There was concern about what sort of issues would come to this group but we again have intentionally left it for the group (or legislature) to decide. In addition to the examples of school uniforms and computer freedom as possible points of conflict between student government and the building administration, other possible problem areas include curriculum issues, discipline issues. It was noted that the Strattonville CC has stayed away from discipline and academic issues seeing them as primarily issues that lie outside our purview. That could of course change, but it is the tack taken this time through the process.
Mrs. Eckels wondered aloud what other voice from the school community needs to be included in these meetings. The students quickly remembered their families and so then suggestions were received about how to include them. A MicroSociety Parent Club was proposed in parallel with the PTA since there are so many Stratton families who are not in the PTA. That Parent Club is then invited to send a representative to the Negotiating Group.
The other additions she suggested were to make sure sufficient notice is given for meetings and to wonder if there will be regular meetings. Finally that written communication to families is always good and necessary if it will have an effect on them.
The proposal passed as agreed to by Mrs. Eckels and the CC membership.
In the time remaining we were able to discuss and receive self nominations for the Constitutional Writing committee and the ratification committee. We will vote on them tomorrow.
In the final moments we were able to propose and pass how the Constitution shall be amended and ratified.
It may be written by anyone but the legislature must pass the proposed amendment by simple majority.
It will need 2/3 vote of classes (K-5) (so with 22 homerooms, that's 15 classes at this moment) to agree on a written amendment. Governors will go to each class in their grade to take the vote and help the process along.
For ratification, it is the same except there is no legislature or governors. so 2/3 of states will need to pass the constitution for it to become the law of the school.
Day Seventeen 02/16/2012
The student representatives seem to be gassed. At one point, we took a vote by show of hands and there were two voting to affirm the question and none voting against it. In a room full of kids, they were obviously not ready. It wasn't long after that when I suggested to the president that he take a vote on who wanted to go out to breakfast. He couldn't get it out without lots of giggles and so the room was alerted but it provided a bit of levity in the day.
We spent a great deal of time on Governor, the proposed mid level government official. In one frustrating development they group voted against what was decided yesterday.
The governor will be an elected executive official from each grade, for a total of six governors. In a reversal, the vote was to make it a full time, paid government position. No one really knows what the jobs of this role will be.
We voted unanimously that the president will be elected school wide, every citizen has a vote.
Other school wide elected executives are Vice President and Chief of Police.
A secretary and Treasurer will be elected by the legislature and assistants for each of these positions will be hired without any need for approval. We did not contemplate what happens when an executive leaves office unexpectedly. But clearly, a hired assistant can not simply assume the elected position.
Valentine's Day 02/15/2012
The reality is that Valentine's Day Parties are pretty attractive - who doesn't want to party? We had rather poor attendance and lost our quorum only fifteen minutes into the session. We turned it into a planning meeting for any who wanted to stay and that was a good use of time, especially with our deadline looming so large.
Before we lost the quorum, we did decide that we will have executives elected from each grade called Governors. Their role is up in the air but the proposal is for them to:
help kids to stay on task
they they are part time officials but have regular jobs in a venture or agency
that they are elected from each grade
That they report information from the President to each class.
That they make events for the school - for example the bubble blowing contest.
There was an idea that they would serve on an advisory board for the president.
Once we lost the quorum, the planning meeting was very effective. We finished the invitation for Mrs. Eckels to come to the CC and then worked on what the agenda shall be. We also worked through some of the questions that we need to cover before we are done. Many proposals were made by the leadership team and other students who stayed for the planning meeting, now we just have to see what the entire group thinks of them.
Day Fifteen 02/14/2012
The long awaited vote was today!
After waiting for days to give every opportunity for representatives to solicit input from their constituents (their class) we went ahead with the vote. In the grand tradition of a representative democracy, we did not simply report the votes from the people but were merely informed by that. The debate was great to watch as the students started with the five names we had publicised. Several more were added and then our leadership team culled the list by voting on each and the top four names were submitted to a roll call vote where each representative's name was called and a vote was given. It was a close vote following a fun debate.
We immediately moved to the name of the chief executive. This wasn't close at all (sorry Mayor Gerard) but President was the preferred title by a landslide.
At one point, we experienced the rules of meetings when a procedural vote by ayes and nays was not definitive and a member requested a vote by the show of hands.
The debate and vote took almost the entire session but we did revisit qualifications for president briefly. The proposals were 39 days, 60 days and one year. This too was a close vote but in the end, one year was the clear winner. I wonder if it will work out or if this might be something that will be altered through amendment.
Another question that came up today was about the citizenship test vis a vis special ed students. We sent for Ms Luffman but she was unavailable. Before the debate was complete, her student teacher came in the room and so we asked Ms B for expert "testimony" on the subject. In the end, it was generally agreed to that special ed students' citizenship tests would be subject to the usual system and that appropriate modifications be encouraged for anyone who needs them. This is not likely to be be codified in the constitution itself but is recorded here in the spirit of the Federalist Papers.
Day Fourteen 02/13/2012
We made a legislature today!
There was unanimous agreement to create a single group of law makers. The qualifications to be considered for a legislator:
Citizen of Stratton for one month
Grades 2-5
Member of the class they represent
K-1 citizens may petition the legislature directly.
There was a great discussion about the problem of K1 students not being represented in the legislature. we talked about them not being ready to contribute, not liking the long meetings full of talking and so forth. We also talked about how it could turn out that they would not be represented. It made it doubly hard because they aren't represented now - in the CC. In the end, though we did not enumerate HOW this would happen, we did put something in place for their specific use. Perhaps not The Great Compromise but something that was certainly real to the students.
We also nominated and received ballots for the first committee created by the Stratton MicroSociety CC that will take on the Bill of Rights.
Nothing has yet been decided but proposals were put forward with who should be executives of the government. So far we have six, President, VP, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Treasurer, Accountant.
The president may not make laws, but may suggest laws.
S/he must agree to bills passed by the legislature for them to become law.
S/he may disagree and the legislature may over ride his veto by 2/3 majority.
President should enforce laws.
Qualifications for being considered for president:
There was some debate on the age/ grade requirement. A voice vote was taken and it was agreed that a citizen must be in fourth or fifth grade.
There was also debate about being a citizen of Stratton for a period of time. Proposals included at Stratton since Kindergarten, to one year, to 1 or 2 months to two weeks. Another voice vote was taken and the group agreed to two weeks. (Though we didn't use this vocabulary) A point of order was raised that the qualifications for president in this area was less than the qualifications for legislators. We will return to this Monday.
Interestingly, a proposed qualification was to be able to speak English well.
The debate was strong, I have been impressed that the students have been doing so well. This is the last week, and then we have to have something to show for our time together. Don't let up now!
Day Thirteen 02/09/2012
A MUCH better day. The leadership team was able to have a planning team meeting during the lunch hour and that helped greatly. So many good stories about learning through doing. For example, what does impartial really look like? I also provided them with sample constitutions from other MicroSociety schools and some handouts on organising a meeting. Each of them also received their copy of the US Constitution since they expressed some interest in reading it.
The group checked in on the needed input from those we represent on the name of the Stratton MicroSociety and the title of the chief executive. We're getting closer to having everyone report in on that. The leadership team decided to schedule a vote on Monday for both topics.
Speaking of voting, we had out first roll call vote today. There were two proposals regarding "Qualifications to Become a Citizen" That potential citizens must pass a test to gain citizenship was put to a vote and that potential citizens must be a Stratton student for 30 days to gain citizenship was be put to a vote. There was good debate with ideas about the pros and cons of each idea. I did not have to voice any of the problems I thought of because the students raised them all themselves. Even the idea of having different tests for different abilities was raised.
In a roll call vote (where each representative was specifically asked for their vote) the test proposal passed and the residency requirement failed. Though we briefly discussed administering a test, it will be left to the legislature to implement this idea. The initial idea - here just for the sake of preserving it - is to have the same number of questions on the citizenship exam as the grade you are in. For example, fifth graders would have five questions while Kindergartners would have none. The content of the questions would be about the MicroSociety. For example the First grade Q could be, "What is the name of the Microsociety?" Second graders would add "What is the currency called?" Third graders would add to those two Qs, "What is the name of the president" and we could increase the difficulty level for each additional Q up to five questions. We did not discuss whether all current Stratton students must pass the test before citizenship is granted or if existing students are automatically citizens.
We moved from that into the question, "What rights are guaranteed to citizens?" Three were proposed, the right to vote in elections, freedom of speech, and that no citizen may be brought into court without evidence. The group voted by ayes and nays to vote on the three together. In a roll call vote we did just that and they were initially defeated. However, upon questioning several of the individual representatives to explain what they voted on, s/he could not and so the ballot was tossed.
We're making decent progress but the deadline is looming every larger as we march toward the twentieth, and final, day
Day Twelve 02/09/2012
Disappointing, that's how the day felt for many of us. After a rousing discussion of possible names yesterday, fewer than half of the representatives had sought feedback and returned with constituent views on the topic. Of all the things we're doing in the CC, this is easily going to be the most visible to outsiders.
I have to admit, I became frustrated.
It seems as though the students have hit the wall in terms of realising that being a member of the convention isn't just a ticket out of class, but there is actual work involved. Any time there is an election, there is some part of it that is a popularity content. That part of an election is obvious to students.
I also think that there is a reality factor. We so rarely actually empower the students to make decisions that matter - that have real consequences (I don't mean about their own behavior) that they are totally out of their element. In reflecting on the experience, I think we will see this phenomena repeat itself many times until the MicroSociety concept really takes off and the students experience the effects of their power. If we allow it to happen, the potential for lots more trial and error learning is about to happen. Which then, of course, means - lots of error - and learning from that.
It is a totally different way of learning. Teachers and students alike are used to having one right answer (the one at the back of the book - for more see this video by Sir Ken Robinson). If MicroSociety takes off, we're talking about creative thinking, about problem solving, about engagement at a whole different level. Not because it is interesting, but because it matters. WOW, is that cool.
Beyond process, the main discussion of the day was around "Qualifications for citizenship." There is lots of room here for missteps but my role again is facilitator. If I wanted to, I could have just run this excercise in such a way that I basically wrote the constitution (it isn't as if, I have no opinions about what it should say) but again, it matters what laws are passed. It never crossed my mind that there would be a INS equivalent but I suppose it makes sense. Now, how to do it in a way that doesn't trample on people.
It certainly was interesting to listen to the debate and see the students wrestle with a problem and possible solutions. I stepped in at one point to teach a little but made sure to not to join the debate itself.
There are days when even the frustration turns out well - these kids are learning - and differently than they are used to. What will happen next?!
Day Eleven 02/07/2012 Another great day!
We were missing our presiding officer again but regular class work has to come first. Our vice-president did a fine job.
We spent the session considering names for Stratton's MicroSociety. We had quite a long list and then the convention decided narrow down the choices and seek additional input from those they represent. Each name that received at least four votes in the CC was retained and will be presented to class by each class representative.
The possible names are:
Stratton City
Strattonville
Amazing World of Kids
MicroTown
Jaguar Society
Following this we still had time to talk about hierarchy and levels of government. We followed a similar process for possible names of the chief executive and were left with three:
Mayor
Governor
President.
Day Ten 02/06/2012
Our leadership team is having a rough go. One of the three was out today, and the remaining two were unavailable for a planning meeting. I ended up doing much of the class just because we have a deadline and can't just wait around. Tomorrow we planned again to have a planning meeting but I will be out of the building during their lunch hour. bummer. The time is getting short though, and we have a large agenda to accomplish.
Here's the list of things that we MUST have addressed in our constitution:
- Type of government
- Name for MicroSociety
- Level of government
- Mission Statement - What are our values? (like US Constitution preamble)
- Rules for the system of government (e.g. law makers, executives, judges)
- Establishing power in the context of understanding how and why government works (privilege, order, respect)
- Working out how the MicroSociety Government interacts with the existing power structure.
- What powers will the government have (and if it is a divided system, how will the power be divided)?
- Over whom and what will the government have jurisdiction?
- What rights (if any) will be guaranteed to citizens?
- How are the leaders chosen? dismissed? are law makers, execs, judges all the same?
- How will changes to the Constitution be made?
- How shall the Constitution be ratified?
Optional Additions
- separation of powers
- checks and balances
- will there be a tax system? any foundational principles need to be in Constitution? Treasury department?
- Any “must have” agencies or ventures? for example, bank, government departments?
- Bill of Rights, including due process
We talked about types of government today. This is on top of the lessons they received in their home classroom so we were able to go more into WHY and HOW than just do basics. It was, at times, painful but there were some really sharp responses where it was so obvious that the students get what's happening.
We talked about what kind of government we currently have here, they students were able to says it wasn't a monarchy because the principal's job is not passed through familial generations.
We talked about the US Constitution and who did NOT get to vote when it was originally written.
Women did not get to vote.
Black people of any kind did not get to vote.
Poor people did not get to vote.
In the end we went around the room and asked each citizen if they wanted to help make the rule or have someone else do the thinking for them. Only three chose have someone else do the thinking, the rest wanted to help make the decisions. Given that, the student leaders asked for proposals and ultimately received only one. As a result we voted to select DEMOCRACY as the form of government for the Stratton MicroSociety.
Day Nine 02/06/2012
We had another great day. In many ways, it was the first day - the first because it was the first day that students led the whole session.
The leaders met during the lunch hour to make a plan which we will try to do regularly. There are other things going on during the school day, however.
The discussion was wide ranging. We talked about problems again but our recorder was doing such a great job of recording the conversation, I stopped taking notes myself.
Though we talked through organising our thoughts and even touched on outlining earlier, I don't know how better to teach the need for staying on topic than through having the experience in a meeting where each person who rises to speak addresses a different topic. By counting the topics in the official minutes, we touched on fully three dozen ideas.
Today's plan will have to try and handle this volatility.
As a result of collaboration with other teachers, I elected to not attempt to teach Robert's Rules of Order. It will be interesting to see if a more kid-friendly alternative emerges from the students themselves.
Day Eight 02/03/2012
We finished the election for officers on Thursday.
I made a point of NOT using the title president but rather discussion organiser throughout our lead up to discussion. I just thought it carries too much baggage for actual understanding. Similarly, I didn't use the word vice president but instead called that job, Tangent Control. We had a fun math lesson where we talked about tangents in geometry and related that to a conversation.
We had only a single speech for president. but received many nominations, ten in all. Only four representatives accepted the nomination however so we had four candidates.
During the balloting we talked a little about ceremonies and symbols. Once we received the results, we printed hand bills for each class to post with the results. Then we had a short ceremony where I handed over the symbols of office to each elected leader.
Recorder: Michaela
Tangent Control: Richard
President: Daniel
We received ideas about re arranging the room for our new leadership, proposals were made and a short debate about what and why we should act. In the end, we voted with yays and nays about what to do and will have that set up until it's changed.
Now, the students are running the convention, let's hope we have a great experience!
Day Seven - Election of Officers 02/01/2012
Wow, today was fun!
We started the day using our WONDER notes from yesterday. We wondered about 80+ different things but when we organised them, we only needed five categories. The power of organisation.
Then we began to organise ourselves.
We need three officers, Recorder, Tangent Control and President.
We had a fun math lesson about what a tangent line is in geometry and then applied that idea to discussions. Really "Tangent Control" is vice president but that's a lousy name!
We talked about requirements for each officer (and made comparison to the requirements listed in the US Constitution for legislators and the president). The group named several additional requirements as well.
While we did not allow self nomination, we did allow people to make speeches about why they would like to be elected for each of the offices. We heard just one speech for tangent control.
Five nominations were received but only two were accepted by the potential candidate; then balloting began. Amazingly it was a tie! We voted (by yays and nays) on how to handle that, coin flip or re-vote. Coin flip won but then when we flipped the coin it rolled under the easel and we lost it. One of the candidates picked it up, claiming victory but then I insisted that it must be verified by at least two people to be valid. We flipped again and, of course, had the opposite result. We'll deal with that tomorrow!
We heard four speeches for recorder. Balloting completed just as the time ended so we'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out who won recorder as well.
Too bad I forgot the video camera, it would have been a good day to have a record of.
Day Six 02/01/2012
We spent the first few minutes writing. Almost every student wrote an entire page on what they would change at Stratton. The US Constitutional Convention came about because the Articles of Federation were not working very well, we wanted to see if there are things that aren't working as we begin this new MicroSociety. Many of the students expressed their love of Stratton. Several of them did not have anything to change but instead wrote about why Stratton is great. Very cool. The other main themes are lunch and recess.
Following the writing time, we watched the Charlie Brown version of the Constitutional Convention using WONDER NOTES. Wonder notes are sticky notes that we write questions on as we listen or watch a presentation. What do we wonder about? Following the movie we spent some time categorising the notes - trying to organise our thinking about the topic. The four categories we came up with (followed by an example) in the time we had are:
Charlie Brown Qs (What's the deal with the yellow bird?)
Constitutional Convention Qs (Why did they argue so much?)
Their time/ Our time Qs (why are things so different, e.g. powdered wigs)
History Qs (Why are they talking about inventing baseball when we play it all the time?)
Just for second, we also talked about outlining and using that method as another way to organise thoughts and that the US Constitution is organised in that way.
Article One
Section One
Article Two
Section Two
and so forth...
Day Five 01/31/2012
It was a difficult day. No one seemed interested and I had real ambition to get the students in front of the class by the end of the session. As it was, we were able to discuss problems that the Framers had so many years ago that are still problems today. Specifically:
Human issue - People like to remain in charge.
Once someone is in charge, do they usually give that up?
How do you make them?
Easiest if they know when they are supposed to be done before they start.
Human issue - People usually do what is best for themselves.
Do you usually think of yourself or others first?
Does that change when you are in charge?
Even if you want to think of others first, it’s easier if someone checks.
Moral issue - how do you balance the interests of many vs the few?
Does majority rule always work?
How does right and wrong interact with majority and minority? [I apologised to the students for that college level Q]
examples: The recent voting about the new name of Stratton's currency
Do we take a vote to cross the street, NO. There is a clear right and wrong time to cross the street.
Power issue - Big states vs small states
Imagine: Why was this a problem?
How do we count people who need representatives?
in the US? at Stratton?
First week of CC! 01/30/2012
Overall I think we had a good week. It was interrupted at times and some moments better than others but that's the nature of teaching and life in general.
We had some fun playing name bingo.
We talked about the homework and though not everyone had it, we have some idea of who we represent, I will present the data more thoroughly this week as more students bring it in.
We finally got to talk about what will happen at OUR Constitutional Convention. Looking forward to students leading the sessions this next week! Initially we talked about solving problems. What will happen if everyone wants to speak at once?
We ended the week with everyone writing - Reflecting on how to solve one of the following problems:
What if we all want to speak at once?
What if we have different ideas?
What if we don’t agree?What's working?
01/27/2012
I really like the book Shh! We're Reading the Constitution but it is still non-fiction and not a great read aloud. The inattention was palpable when we read this together on Wednesday. I planned on reading seven pages and felt compelled to stop after five. So it will remain a resource, but I am abandoning it as the centerpiece of the history portion.
Comment 01/31/2012 8:03am; J. Goodfellow-Vargas
The Learn 360 website has this as a video. Our 3rd grade class, watched it and it held attention better than reading the book. Just an idea for next time :)
Musical Performance today - no CC 01/26/2012
CC Day Three 01/25/2012
We started reading Shh! We're Writing the Constitution.
Talked about what happens at a CC
- naming problems
- proposals
- argument/ compromise
- agreement
- write it up
- polish
- present to others
Talked about the problems at Stratton
[edit 1.27.12]
This is what was mentioned in the group discussion:Problems at Stratton
- Emotional bullying
- fighting
- disrespecting teachers
- not enough time for science
- too much talking in the cafeteria (for Mr. Tatum)
- fifth graders miss out on recess (all grades)
- hot lunches not popular
- stereotypes about the diversity prejudging
- stuff, things
- teachers don’t take steps to understand some students
- too many kids in detention
- fifth graders think too much of themselves
- some adults don’t allow students a say in things
- too little recess
- not enough extended recess
- some students think too highly of themselves (and too little of the others)
- not fair when “one bad apple ruins the whole tree” (discipline is enacted on the class instead of the offending student)
- not enough free time while using laptops
CC Day Two 01/25/2012
We talked about WONDER on the second day of the CC. We need to wonder, it is what makes learning worthwhile. The joy of discovery! We learned that wondering and asking questions is always good.
We have discovered some new vocabulary words.
- Metaphor - a figure of speech used to describe something, our example was calling a friend a rock. No one actually thinks s/he is a rock. Instead we understand that he is LIKE a rock in some way.
- Turmoil (see Muppet CC movie in links) - When everything is upset, conflict, a polite word for a fight.
We talked about two things that will be a big part of the CC as we roll along,
Who do we represent (including homework)?
What does it mean to be "in charge"? Below are some of the responses…
- You rule over everybody
- you have enough power to do things and say things
- being responsible and safe
- people have to listen to you
- role model
- you make all the decisions
- you have power other do not
- you need to be fair
Our first day of the Constitutional Convention! We worked on names and asked the question, "Why do we follow rules?" Good old Dr. Seuss provided an interesting look at power through his story, Yertle the Turtle. We were missing most of the older representatives due to some entertainment preparation down the hallway (singing practice) but I'm sure we'll all gain a stride sooner rather than later.
