Monday, November 4. 2013

Today's schedule is A-AG-B-C-D

A Block Law 9/10 - Today we have a guest speaker, Mr. Ken Lees. Mr Lees used to teach at Vanier, but now works with SD71 Aboriginal Education Services. He's going to talk with us about Aboriginal principles of justice and how they are being adapted into the Canadian legal system. From the Justice Education Society:

If you have been charged with a crime and are an Aboriginal person, there are special cultural considerations that the court must take into account in assessing your case. This applies to all Aboriginal peoples of Canada, including status and non-status Indian, Inuit, and Métis and whether living on or off reserve. What this means is that, as an Aboriginal offender, a restorative justice process may be more appropriate for you. Such processes focus on healing those affected by the criminal act, including the offender, and so are more in line with traditional Aboriginal justice. Also, a restorative justice approach will often allow for a solution with no jail time, which helps reduce the drastic over-representation of Aboriginals in Canadian jails.

B Block Social Studies 10 - Today we start to wrap up our look at Canadian confederation by focusing on and taking some notes about the reaction in the colonies to the decisions made in Quebec. We will see the problems Tilley faced in New Brunswick, Tupper faced in Nova Scotia, Cartier faced in Canada East and examine the reasons why P.E.I. and Newfoundland refused to join with the Canadas. When we finish this, you will begin work on an editorial cartoon for one of the Atlantic colonies (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, or Newfoundland) about Confederation. Look through the section in your textbook about the reaction in the colonies from the Quebec conference and the plan for Confederation. What did the colonies like or dislike the most about the plan? Who were the characters (Tilley, Tupper, Howe, and Pope in Atlantic Canada and Macdonald or Cartier for the Canadas)? Now read through what an editorial cartoon is on pages 98 & 99 of the text (Skill Builder: Bias in the News) and pages 366 & 367 of the text (Skill: Analyzing Images). Now use all that you've learned and create an editorial cartoon for one of the Atlantic colonies that is either pro (for) or anti (against) Confederation.
Check out Collections Canada political cartoon site on Confederation.

C Block Criminology 12 - This is the last day to get your seminar topic prepared and ready to go for tomorrow. Now let's talk about stress. Some of you are not too fond of public speaking and find it an unpleasant experience. It doesn't have to be. You have five minutes to present information on a criminology topic to the class. The information is about something you are interested in and why you are interested in it. Some of you have indicated that you're panicking about speaking in front of the class which is both natural and actually kind of funny (given that you all have done this already just not in a structured format). So look through the following websites to help you plan for your talk:

CAASAA Public Speaking Skills
How to Conquer Public Speaking Fear
Toastmasters Tips & Techniques
Overcoming the Fear of Speaking to Groups
Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking
The Art of Speechmaking

We start tomorrow with our presentations for the remainder of the week and we have a final quiz on Thursday .Don't forget I need you to hand in your three questions from last week:

1. Should drugs be legalized? Why? If you believe drugs should be legalized, think about whether all drugs should be legalized or just a select few. Why should certain drugs be legalized and others not?
2. Should prostitution be legalized? Why? If you believe it should be legalized, should all the forms of prostitution described in your text be legalized, or only a select few? If prostitution were legalized should government be able to exercise some control over it?
3. Does pornography lead to violence? Why? Is it harmful? Why Consider all forms of pornography (what is currently legal and illegal) when you answer this question.

D Block Law 12 - We'll start with time to finish up your questions from last week (questions 2, 4 and 5 from page 270; 2 & 5 on page 273; 1, 3, & 5 on page 281; 4 & 5 page 283) and then I'll give you a quick review of the Criminal Law defenses we've been looking at in order to get you ready for Wednesday's mid-unit test. After this I'll give you the rest of the class to get yourself organized for the test; don't forget to ask questions and seek help if you need it.