So I know textbooks are dear to many teachers hearts, but in the long run I would be worried about their end when it comes to government. Look at this video put out by Crash Course yesterday that covers: federalism, cooperative, dual, FDR, commerce clause, grant in aid, categorical aid (formula and project), AFDC, block grants, marble cake, unfunded mandates, reserved clause (10th amendment), new federalism, layer cake and devolution. It even reminds students not to confuse separation of powers with federalism which is a common mistake. In other words next fall my students will get the option for taking notes from their static and somewhat boring e-book or the stimulating video above.
So you know Crash Course just started doing videos on US government, so go here and look for it. I use my own videos for the intro chapter in our book (here and here), and below is one I will use for the Constitutional foundations chapter.
What to do in class after the videos (and how to make your own videos) is tackled in my new book which you can now get from Amazon.
There are some growing pains for this series, so just be warned. It is fun and relatively accurate... But the second episode has errors like stating there are 28 amendments, 52 members in California's house delegation, and he had no idea why the impeachment process starts in the house. Folks on the AP government face book group have been talking about it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip on the mistakes.
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