My classes this fall!

Aaaand....the blog is back! I am teaching at Parkmont School this year, a private school up on 16th st. NW in Washington DC. It is a small school with small classes and luckily I will have a good deal of freedom with the curriculum. My first session (there are 7 sessions each year I teach one main lesson of 2 hours and one reading class each session)...my main lesson is US Government and my reading class is modern US Foreign Policy. So it's time to throw out the first two topics for ideas and feedback-

1. What are some good novels on US Foreign Policy at a 7th/ 8th grade reading level? Think Cold War, Vietnam and on.

2. We are in DC so US Government should be full of great guest speakers. Here are some of the topics where I'd like guest speakers. (in no particular order) Help me think of some names to invite!

* The Constitution and Bill of Rights
* Free Press
* Civil disobedience vs. rule of law
* The role of the judiciary and activism vs. restraint
* The power to declare war
* State power vs. federal power
* Security vs. civil liberties
* Separation of Church and State
* Taxation
* Habeus Corpus and the torture debate
* The Right to Bear Arms (DC gun debate)
* The debate over torture
* Warantless wiretapping

Thanks y'all!