Nestled away, in the back corner of G.P. Vanier, you'll find room 115 (we used to be 611). Lurking in the shadows of this room is Mr. Young...waiting to pounce on unsuspecting students and natter on about volcanoes, hail, psychopathy, criminal law defenses, cultural diffusion, media theories, crime, and urban models of city development. He loves his job in 115 and can't wait to work with you this year.
C Block Social Studies 11 - We'll finish episode 1 of "The Dark Years" a National Film Board cartoon about the Great Depression in Canada.You'll need to wrap up your questions and then we'll focus on the political partiesthat emerged in reaction to the harsh economic and political climate of the time. We
will look at the Union Nationale (Maurice Duplessis), the Social Credit Party
(William "Bible Bill" Aberhart) and the
Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation (J.S. Woodsworth). We'll even talk about the
Canadian Nationalist Party (Joseph Farr) and the National Social Christian Party
(Adrien Arcand) which were both unabashedly
fascist (Arcand eventually became the leader of the National Unity Party).
Lastly you'll need to work on questions 1 & 2 on page 89.
D Block Introduction to Psychology 11 - The eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin sense the world around us, but for the most part we do not experience sensation - we experience the outcome of perception. All perception is your brain's construction of past utility (or "empirical significance of information"). Our topic for today is Perception and we'll look at: sensory interaction; selective attention; sensory adaptation; perceptual constancy; and illusions. I'll have you look at some illusions and more illusions to try and understand our concepts today. From Psychology Today
The basic outline of how perception works is this. Through experience, the mind/brain builds perceptual categories of objects. These categories emerge from basic interaction with the object and, in humans, via conceptual knowledge and naming. These perceptual (and, to a lesser extent, conceptual) categories serve as schema or templates, and perception occurs via the process of matching sensory input patterns to perceptual templates. The matching process is what gives us the experience of figure/ground relationships. Cognitive and neuroscientists attempt to explore the rules by which bottom up sensory inputs are matched to top down perceptual templates to give rise to the experience of the object.
D Block Introduction to Psychology 11 - We'll head to the library to work on our week 3 package and to continue the process of Inquiry for our project. Don't forget, within the context of Psychology in order to develop your inquiry process you'll need to ask/consider:
What is my broad area of inquiry?
How can I narrow down my focus...
Some possible inquiry questions are...
Where can I find reliable information sources?
Another activity I'd like you to begin is your psyblog or psychjournal. This IS NOT a "Thought Diary" or "Journal Therapy" (the purposeful and intentional use of reflective writing to further mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health and wellness)! I would like you to write down your thoughts, ideas, impressions, questions and opinions about the course content we are going through together. I'd prefer not to give you writing prompts as I want you to drive your own learning so here are the topics we are covering in the course:
Contemporary Psychology and Psychological Perspectives
Bio-psychology: Neurons; the Brain, the Nervous and Endocrine Systems
Sensing, Perceiving and sensory systems
Consciousness: dreams; states of consciousness; and altered states produced by psychoactive drugs, hypnosis, and meditation
Development, Learning & Intelligence: Cognition and measurements of Intelligence; Stages of human growth and development; and How we learn
Emotion, Motivation and Personality: Motivation (why we engage in a given behavior); Affect (the experience of feeling or emotion); Universal facial displays of emotion; and Traits and Personality Types (MBTI)
Psychological Disorders and Treatment: Classification & the DSM-V; Anxiety, Mood and Personality disorders; Psychotherapy and Biomedical Therapy
I would like you to be reflective, introspective, and intentional about your writing so what is it you are interested in and why...be specific. Was there a video or on-line link that helped clarify your ideas on a specific topic? What was it and why did it help.
An example...Let's say we're looking at altered states of consciousness and I mentioned Ayahuasca in the Amazon or Peyote in the Southwestern USA - Northern Mexican region. Let's imagine you looked on line and found the following link at National Geographic and were curious about the cultural psychology of altered states of consciousness (it was used as a religious sacrament among more than forty American Indigenous groups). What are your honest thoughts about the topic? Why does the sacred medicine draw your attention? Is it that you are skeptical of modern "western" ideas of morality or are you interested in ethnobotany?
Another example...Let's say we're looking at psychological disorders and I mention Stephen Wiltshire in class. Let's imagine you have a relative who has autism and want to know more so you go online and find his website and this National Geographic video on him. Perhaps you want to know more about him or are just amazed at how fricken cool he is. Reflect on his brilliance. Why does it draw you to him? What would it be like to be him or live his daily life?
If you love the feeling of physically writing down your thoughts, a paper notebook may be the best option for you. Keeping a paper journal gives you total physical control over your writing, and it gives you the most privacy, since there's little chance of your journal being "hacked" or "lost" when a service shuts down or is compromised.
If you want to be online, Penzu started off as a simple, password-protected online journal, but the service is much more than that now. In addition to a password-protected journal that only you can read, you can also share specific posts with individuals if you want them to see them, or you can leave everything private and locked down. You might just want to start a blog. That doesn't mean your blog has to be view-able to anyone but you, or even public at all. Most popular blogging platforms like Google's Blogspot,Wordpress, Live Journal, Bloguni, Tumblr or Squarespace or any other blog creation site you choose allow you to create completely private entries or entire blogs that only you can see. I would HIGHLY recommend staying with Wordpress, Live Journal or Blogger (you have a Google account through the school district and Blogger is a Google product so it makes sense to use your school e-mail account to create a Blogger site). If you are going to keep a psyblog please remember:
Ensure your privacy: Keep your journal materials in a safe place (password protected).
Return to what you have written: Save everything you write and review it often. The process of going back to what you have written can not only spark inspiration for future writing, but can offer perspective.
Write freely: Hush your inner critic and ignore the urge to edit your work. Your psyblog is not meant to be pretty or grammatically correct; it is meant to be real.
Be honest with yourself: Honour your thoughts, feelings, and experiences with the authenticity they deserve.
C Block Social Studies 11 - You have time to work on question 1 a & b from page 79 in Counterpoints and the Using Statistics in History questions 1 a, b, 3, and 4 from page 81 in the Counterpoints text. By doing this we will be able to see the impacts of the Great Depression on the Prairies in 1932 and 1933.
After, we'll watch episode 1 of "The Dark Years" a National Film Board cartoon about the Great Depression in Canada. From IMDb..."A wildly disparate group of Canadian newsmen sets out to cover the major events of the 1930s in ways that will guarantee their newspaper - The Toronto Daily Star - comes out on top. Viewers relive the stories of the toughest decade of the 20th century told through the excitement, romance and razzle dazzle coverage of a big city newspaper. Series uses original animation, archive and eye-witness accounts". I'll have you answer the following while watching:
Why did Prime Minister Mackenzie King tell Canadians that the Stock Market Crash would have little impact on Canada?
What promise did Prime Minister R.B. Bennett and his Conservative Party make to get elected in 1930?
Should prime ministers try to minimize citizens’ anxieties during a crisis?
While the economic conditions in the 1930s prevented many people from spending money on consumer goods, the newspaper industry was surprisingly profitable. Why?
What was the extreme response of some people to the financial crisis?
What was the “jungle”? What happened to the people who lived here who could no longer cope with the Great Depression?
How did unemployed men travel around the country, without paying? What was this called?
What program did the government set up to deal with the unemployment crisis?Where were the convicted members of the Communist Party of Canada taken, and what were the conditions there?
B Block Law 12 - Today we'll watch an episode of Law & Order from season 14 called "Hands Free". From tv.com..."When McCoy fails to win a murder conviction against an eccentric cross dressing millionaire for the death of his neighbor, he redoubles the effort to convict the man for murdering his second wife years earlier by demonstrating that he murdered a witness to the crime." This episode is connected to the Robert Durst murder. Who is Robert Durst? He is the son of New York commercial and residential real estate developer Seymour Durst
and was also investigated in the 1982 disappearance and murder of his wife Kathie McCormack Durst in New York, the 2001 murder of his neighbour Morris Black in Texas, and the 2000 murder of his friend Susan Berman in California.
In early 2015, a six-part HBO documentary titled The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst described circumstantial evidence linking Durst to the 2000 slaying of Susan Berman, who was believed to have knowledge of Kathie Durst's 1982 disappearance. The documentary detailed the disappearance of Kathie Durst, Berman's subsequent death, and the killing of Durst's neighbor Morris Black. Against the advice of his lawyers, and his wife Debrah Lee Charatan, Durst cooperated with filmmakers, giving multiple interviews and unrestricted access to his personal records. In February this year (2016) Durst pleaded guilty to a federal gun charge in New Orleans, paving the way for extradition to California to stand trial for the 2000 murder of Susan Berman. His arrest in New Orleans coincided with the airing of HBO's documentary series, "The Jinx,".
During the show, Durst was confronted with two handwriting samples — an anonymous letter that had been sent to police alerted them to a "cadaver" at Berman's house and another letter he sent to Berman — that appeared to be a match and had identical misspellings of Beverly Hills.
Afterward, he blurted into a hot microphone: "There it is. You're caught," and "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course."
In the time left you may finish the work from the past two days.
A Block Introduction to Law 9/10 - So we looked at profiling yesterday (and learned about the efforts of Howard Teten, John Douglas, Robert Ressler, and Roy Hazelwood). The piece we watched (Wayne Williams and Robert Hansen) was biased and really showed profiling in a very positive light. There are questions surrounding the efficacy of criminal profiling and Criminal Minds has certainly glamorized it as a subject, however it is a tool in the proverbial crime fighting tool box.
Another topic that has a great deal of attention, but that the APA (American Psychological Association) is unclear on, is psychopathy. In the DSM-V, the APA recognizes Antisocial Personality Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder but not Psychopathy. Dr. Robert Hare of the University of British Columbia created a checklist called the PCL-R (Psychopathy Checklist Revised). From Mind Disorders...Hare describes people he calls psychopaths as "intraspecies predators who use charm, manipulation, intimidation, sex and violence to control others and to satisfy their own selfish needs. Lacking in conscience and empathy, they take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without guilt or remorse".
While both psychopathy and sociopathy are extreme forms of antisocial personality disorders, sociopathy is caused by social or environmental factors whereas psychopathic traits are more innate.
In his landmark book on psychopathy, The Mask of Sanity, researcher Hervey Cleckley theorized that some people with the core attributes of psychopathy -- egocentricity, lack of remorse, superficial charm -- could be found in nearly every walk of life and at every level, including politics. Robert Hare, perhaps the leading expert on the disorder and the person who developed the most commonly used test for diagnosing psychopathy, has noted that psychopaths generally have a heightened need for power and prestige -- exactly the type of urges that make politics an attractive calling. In any event, the idea that a psychopath could reach the heights of power is nothing new.
Over a century ago, famed American philosopher and psychologist William James said, "When superior intellect and a psychopathic temperament coalesce [...] in the same individual, we have the best possible conditions for the kind of effective genius that gets into the biographical dictionaries." Perhaps, then, that's the key; it's the combination of other talents with certain elements of psychopathy that can make an effective leader.
So we'll look at Hare's PCL-R and then watch the CBC DocZone video below
B Block Law 12 - Today we' finish our look at Criminal Law by shifting into sentencing. You will need to answer the following questions over the next two days:
Questions: page 298 Review Your Understanding question 3; page 301 Review Your Understanding question 1; page 314 Review Your Understanding question 1
To finish we'll look at recidivism (re-offending, re-arrest, and re-incarceration) and prisoner reentry into society
We'll be finished our Criminal Law unit today and then tomorrow we have a Law and Order video to watch. I'll have your final project ready for you by no later than next Monday. The questions from today are due by the end of Thursday's class.
A Block Introduction to Law 9/10 - Today we'll finish up work on our "Typical Victim" of Assault. Who will most likely be assaulted and why? Now you are taking information and enhancing stereotypes for the people you are drawing. The stereotypes you're basing your drawings on are an example of profiling. Today we'll spend time discussing the differences between mass and serial murder. We will look at profiling and begin to understand what a psychopath is. Dr. Robert Hare of the University of British Columbia created a checklist called the PCL-R (Psychopathy Checklist Revised). We'll examine the "Unholy Trinity" of serial killer characteristics and today we'll watch a video on how profiling was developed in the F.B.I. Behavioural Science Unit (through the efforts of many highlighted by the work of John Douglas) today. The first part of the video focuses on Wayne Williams and then looks at Robert Hansen. Don't forget that in Canada the R.C.M.P. call the technique criminal investigative analysis.
D Block Introduction to Psychology 11 - Today we'll finish our look at the senses we have. Taste (gustation) and smell (olfaction) are chemical senses that employ receptors on the tongue and in the nose that bind directly with taste and odor molecules to transmit information to the brain for processing. Our ability to perceive touch, temperature, and pain is mediated by several receptors and free nerve endings that are distributed throughout the skin and various tissues of the body
After we finish our sensational look at the senses...I'll have you answer the following:
Why is experiencing pain a benefit for human beings (please don’t say it builds character)?
Think of the foods that you like to eat the most. Which of the six taste sensations do these foods have, and why do you think that you like these flavours?
C Block Social Studies 11 - We'll continue with yesterday's work on economic cycles on how material consumption drives the North American economic market and determine what impact losses on the stock market has on consumer confidence. We'll try to understand stocks and shares, supply and demand, and the costs of using credit. We'll also look at protectionism and see how it impacts international markets. You have only question 1 a & b from page 79 in Counterpoints to work on and then you and a partner will work together on the Using Statistics in History questions 1 a, b, 3, and 4 from page 81 in the Counterpoints text. By doing this we will be able to see the impacts of the Great Depression on the Prairies in 1932 and 1933.
Canada History Project: The Great Depression Canadian Encyclopedia The Great Depression CBC Canada A People's History Hard Times Canadians Suffer History Channel Stock Market Crash of 1929
C Block Social Studies 11 - We'll see how material consumption drives the North American economic market and examine economic cycles. The economic cycle is the natural fluctuation of the economy between periods of expansion (growth) and contraction (recession). Factors such as gross domestic product (GDP), interest rates, levels of employment and consumer spending can help to determine the current stage of the economic cycle. We'll determine what impact losses on the stock market had on consumer confidence in 1929, or 2008 or... (We will not examine Supply-Side economics or Keynesian macroeconomic theory - you should take Mr. Rebitt's classes if you are interested here). We'll try to understand stocks and shares, supply and demand, and the costs of using credit. We'll also look at protectionism and see how it impacts international markets. We'll watch a the Crash Course Economics video below and take a few notes today.
Why is the Stock Market Crash of 1929 relevant today? David Frum explained the link between 1928 and 2008 like this:
Americans assumed crushing levels of debt in the 2000's to buy expensive homes, homes they assumed would continue to rise in price forever. In 2007, household debt relative to income peaked at the highest level since 1928. (Uh oh.) When the housing market crashed, consumers were stranded with unsustainable debts, and until those debts are reduced, consumers will drastically cut back their spending. As consumers cut back, businesses lose revenue. As businesses lose revenue, they fire employees. As employees lose their jobs, their purchasing power is reduced. As purchasing power is lost throughout the economy, housing prices tumble again.
Rinse and repeat.
Think Canada is immune? From the Toronto Star last month (March 2017)...
Fuelled by mortgages and low interest rates, household debt has been climbing steadily in recent years. Policy-makers have raised concerns about household debt and see it as a key risk to the economy. While interest rates have been low for years, making borrowing money cheap for Canadians, some have expressed concerns about what could happen when rates rise or if there is a shock to the economy that results in a large number of job losses.The increase in the key debt ratio came as income rose by 1.1 per cent, while household credit market debt gained 1.2 per cent. Statistics Canada said the amount of household credit market debt rose to 167.3 per cent of adjusted household disposable income in the fourth quarter, up from 166.8 per cent in the third quarter.
That means there was $1.67 in credit market debt for every dollar of adjusted household disposable income.
D Block Introduction to Psychology 11 - We'll finish our look at colour and then I'll have two questions to wrap your brain around:
Imagine for a moment what your life would be like if you couldn’t see. Do you think you would be able to compensate for your loss of sight by using other senses (why/why not)?
Color is not a physical property of our environment. What function (if any) do you think color vision serves? What is your favourite colour? Why do you think it is your favourite? Do you associate colour with taste? Can colour affect your behaviour and mood (how)?
After we'll examine the sense of hearing. Sound waves that are collected by our ears are converted into neural impulses, which are sent to the brain where they are integrated with past experience and interpreted as the sounds we experience. This translates into our ability to hear nature, to appreciate music, and to communicate with one another through spoken language.
After you'll need to fill in a diagram of the Ear and answer the following too
Given what you have learned about hearing, are you engaging in any activities that might cause long-term hearing loss? If so, how might you change your behaviour to reduce the likelihood of suffering damage
A Block Introduction to Law 9/10 - Today we'll finish up work on our "Typical Victim" of Assault or Theft (here at school). Who will most likely be assaulted or stolen from and why? Now you are taking information and enhancing stereotypes for the people you are drawing. The stereotypes you're basing your drawings on are an example of profiling. Later this week we'll take a deeper look at criminal profiling starting with a look at what psychopathy really is along with the differences between serial and mass murder. The poster is due on Thursday and next Monday you'll have a quiz then begin your first major assignment in the course.
B Block Law 12 - Today and tomorrow we'll finish our look at Criminal Law by shifting into sentencing. We'll look at the objectives of sentencing (deterrence, retribution, rehabilitation, re socialization, and segregation). You will need to answer the following questions over the next two days:
Questions: page 298 Review Your Understanding question 3; page 301 Review Your Understanding question 1; page 314 Review Your Understanding question 1
We'll be finished our Criminal Law unit tomorrow and then Thursday this week we'll begin looking at Civil Law and Civil procedures. I'll have your final project ready for you by no later than next Monday. The questions from today are due by the end of Thursday's class.
A Block Introduction to Law 9/10 - So on Friday we looked at what a victim of crime is and at the three "Theories of Victimization" (active & passive victimization; deviant place & high risk lifestyles; and routine activities). Today you have the class work on the following assignment: Every day we have specific routines we engage in. Many of these routines are tailored to preventing us from becoming victims of crime. We do things like lock our doors, watch where we walk at night, or avoid walking alone. We take these actions because at some level we are afraid of the possibility of being a victim of crime. Despite taking these actions people often fall prey to crime in Canada.
Is there a “typical” victim of crime? I would like you to explain and draw the typical victim of that crime now. I want you to think about STEREOTYPES...What would the stereotypical victim of an assault look like and behave like? An assault is any unwanted application of force so who would be the typical person in school that would be punched, shoved, or picked on? You will need to keep in mind the demographic statistics about victims and the factors that add to the risks of being a victim. This will be due on Friday. You will need to look at the following factors when determining who might be a target for violent crime in Canada:
• Gender
• Age
• Social Status (wealth and social cohorts)
• Relationship status
• Behaviour / Demeanour
• Location
So there are two things you need to accomplish:
A) Identify the characteristics listed above of the most likely victim of that crime (you may cheat and look in the course handout/booklet I'll give you tomorrow to see some characteristics)
B) Draw what you believe the typical victim of the violent crime, that you chose, to look like (11 x 17 paper will be provided for you).
B Block Law 12 - Today you have your criminal law unit test. If you studied and are prepared then I'm certain you will do fine. You have the block but if you finish early then work on questions 1, 2 and 4 from page 200 as well as questions 1, 2 and 3 from page 207 of the All About Law text...Good Luck!
C Block Social Studies 11 - Today I'm going to review a few things from last week. Today we will spend the first part of the class discussing Communism. Why? Communist ideology and Marxism rand directly against the rampant consumerism and capitalist ideology that emerged after WW1 and dominated the 1920's in North America. This, of course sets up nicely for a look at economic cycles and on how material consumption drives the North American economic market (spoiler alert the end of 1929 is a huge slap in the face to that Roaring 20's thing)
D Block Introduction to Psychology 11 - Are you paying attention? It's time to talk about your senses. This week we'll look at sensation and perception which work together to allow us to experience the world through our five senses of seeing (eyes), hearing (ears), smelling (nose), touching (skin), tasting (tongue). However, we also have senses that give us sensations connected to balance (the vestibular sense), body position and movement (proprioception and kinesthesia), pain (nociception), and temperature (thermoception). Our focus today will bee on vision/seeing.
I'll have two questions to wrap your brain around today:
Imagine for a moment what your life would be like if you couldn’t see. Do you think you would be able to compensate for your loss of sight by using other senses (why/why not)?
Color is not a physical property of our environment. What function (if any) do you think color vision serves? What is your favourite colour? Why do you think it is your favourite? Do you associate colour with taste? Can colour affect your behaviour and mood (how)?
And don't forget you've got a quiz tomorrow. Hooray!
