I might actually HAVE to watch Hardball

Miracle of miracles my beloved AP Gov was spared from the budget chopping block. I was told that if we were not loosing 2 AP classes due to teacher vacancies already it had already been axed. I have been in a mad scramble to submit a summer project. Last summer I put together an Election 2008 portfolio that wound up taking on a life of its own as most student's work was close to 50-75 pages each.

After corresponding with a couple of fellow teachers on the APGoPo listserve I am going with a 2 part project using Chris Matthews' Book Hardball. I tried REALLY hard not to like this assignment as I don't really like or watch Matthews.

I think he comes off a rabid dog that was always in Tim Russert's shadow. Russert could get you to give away your mom's secret meatloaf recipe, but Matthews just berates his guests until they cry UNCLE. I give him credit that that after serving as one of Tip O' Neil's staffer during the Reagan Revolution his book is the perfect primmer to Machiavellian politics.

As a political junkie, this assignment is perfect for teaching political maxims and how inside the beltway politics works. Some of my favorites that I incorporated into the assignment:

Dance with the one that brung ya
Keep your enemies in front of you
Hang a Lantern on Your Problem
Only talk when it improves the silence

I am also having my students keep a journal of current events and Obama policies enacted over the summer to set up a public policy research project during the class.

Last semester my AP class wiki was featured in a county-wide school technology newsletter and drew in a representative from the State Department of Public instruction to observe.

I really never thought this class would make again with all the budget cuts. Students this past year returned to say that they thought my tests and assignments were much harder than anything asked on their actual AP test. While a little skeptical, I'll take that compliment.