Gulf of Tonkin Incident and LBJ

14/8/14
Robert McNamara, Johnson's Secretary of Defense


Today we looked at President Johnson and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.  Using the website Conflict-Indochina and the pages LBJ and The Gulf of Tonkin and The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, we read a brief overview of Johnson's presidency and watched 5 video clips giving different perspectives of the incident.  The class then had 6 questions, posted on Edmodo/14August, 2014, to answer.  The last 2 questions needed more work so students have been directed to watch the 5 videos again and consider their answers to questions 5 and 6.                                                                                

Armaments Minister and Relationship with Hitler

13/8/14
Today, we continued with our Albert Speer work.  Class were directed to read the information on our Albert Speer website on the pages Armaments Minister and Speer's Relationship with Hitler.  Besides the reading there are also a number of questions that need to be completed.  Both pages also deal with the question of how much Speer actually knew about the Jewish question or Final Solution.  This work is to be completed as Learning Preparation and any problems can be dealt with during our revision session on Monday after school.

Vietnam Divided and the Diem Regime

25/7/14
During this lesson we looked at the sheet posted on Edmodo, HSC Trial.pdf which sets out the layout of the exam.
We then looked at the website Conflict-Indochina, (see Essential Websites) which is to constitute our text book for this unit of the course and began working through the booklet, Vietnam, 1954-1963 (see Essential Websites).  The work in the booklet is to be completed before the Trial and provides depth to the work in the Edmodo folder, Conflict-Indochina. This work covers Dien Bien Phu, Geneva Conference, Geneva Accords and the Diem Regime.

Conflict in Indochina

16/7/14
Today, we did Assessment Task 3, a source analysis on Albert Speer. 
This was our only period this week as Monday was a Professional Development Day and we lose Thursday's double to the Careers Market.  Everyone has the work posted on Edmodo/Jul 15, 2014 to complete before the beginning of next week.  This work covers Propaganda and Terror, Domestic Policy and Opposition to the Nazi regime. This is the last lost of work to be done on Nazi Germany.

21/7/14
Today we began work on our last unit, Conflict in Indochina, 1954-1979.  All the work in the folder Conflict-Indochina on Edmodo needs to be completed by Friday.  This work covered the period 1954-1960 and looked at Dien Bien Phu, Geneva Conference, Geneva Accords and the Diem Regime. The folder contains information sheets and worksheets. 

We looked at ways of revising Modern History for the HSC, using the sheet HSC Revision.doc, posted on Edmodo.
After school several students stayed back to work on revision.  We looked at how to interpret essay questions in the HSC.

I also set work on Albert Speer to be completed during Wednesday's period (IEU strike).  The work was to complete the section on the website, Work for the Nazis, 1938-1945.

Speer, 1938-1945

26/6/14

We watched the videos and discussed the information on the page Work for the Nazis, 1938-1945 on the website 99 Shades of Albert.  We also looked at the pages in Republic to Reich, pp 239-244, which takes us up to the beginning of the War.
Everyone began working on the questions on the website in Work for the Nazis, 1938-1945.  This needs to be completed before the beginning of Term 3.  The relevant pages in Republic to Reich are pp 244-247.

Speer, 1934-1937

23/6/14
Period shortened to 10 minutes owing to school assembly.
Took this time to watch to video clips - one a virtual tour of Germania, the other the trailer for Speer's
 Berlin.

25/6/14
We began by going through the assessment task notification sheet.
Then we discussed work for the holidays - Nazi Workbook and the Jewish Question on Edmodo.
Went to Early Work for the Nazis on the website and read and discussed the chronology then continued work on the questions on that page. The questions included Speer coming to Hitler's notice, his rise within the Nazi structure, Speer's theories of architecture, how he and Hitler formed a relationship approaching friendship, the Paris World Fair German pavilion and other building projects in the period 1934-1937.

Speer's Early Work for the Nazis

18/6/14
We read and discussed the relevant section in Republic to Reich on Speer's early work for the Nazis.
Next, students began work on the questions about Albert's early work for the Nazis on the page on prestonhistory.wix.com/albertspeer Early Work for the Nazis.

20/6/14
Missed today's lesson owing to Sports Carnival.

Albert 1931-1933

In the double period on Monday we looked at Speer's introduction to Nazism.  Using the page Background 1931-1933 on our website, we looked at the chronology, watched the video clip from Hitler's Henchmen, read the excerpt from Inside the Third Reich and answered the questions Speer's Introduction to Nazism.

After this students began work on the mind map, tracing Speer's reasons for joining the Nazi Party in 1930.

Albert Speer, 1905-1930

June 11 & 12
Today we began work on Albert Speer.  Using the website, 99 Shades of Albert (see Essential Websites) we discussed the syllabus information on the page "Syllabus" and looked at the quotes by way of introduction to the man and his life.

We then went on to the page "Background 1905-1930", read and discussed the information about Speer's family and his early life.  We watched the video - a clip from Hitler's Henchman.  The class then worked on the questions relating to his early life.

During the double period we worked on the source analysis questions at the bottom of the page "Background 1905-1930".  From there we went on to "Background 1931-1933" to consider Speer's reasons for joining the Nazi Party.  After watching the second video clip from Hitler's Henchman, we read and discussed the relevant section from Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer.

Failure of Weimar to Totalitarianism, 2

May 1 - May 27
Next was the Consolidation of Power which included Republic to Reich, pp 113-118 and working through the pdf Consolidation of Power in the Nazi Germany folder on Edmodo.  We then had a deeper look at Totalitarianism, pp 111-113, 118-122 and 127-129 in Republic to Reich.

We went into more detail with Night of the Long Knives and the Death of Hindenburg, pp 122-127 in Republic to Reich. 

Finally, we looked at the Fuhrerprinzip and the Hitler Myth, reading and discussing pp 133-142 in Republic to Reich and completed the document studies.

Failure of Weimar to Totalitarianism, 1

April 9
We began looking at the failure of the Weimar Democracy, working through the website 1929-1933 - Hitler Comes to Power and the pdf Hitler's Path to Power in the Nazi Germany folder on Edmodo.  This work focused, in particular, on the fall of the Muller Government in 1930 to Hitler becoming Chancellor in 1933.

April 30
When we returned to school we began with Hitler and the beginnings of Nazism up to the Beer Hall Putsch.  After reading and discussing Republic to Reich pp 60-66, students worked on the document studies in that section of the text. Next everyone completed the worksheet Nazi Party 1924-1933, posted on Edmodo, April 30, 2014.  We also read and discussed pp 66-78 in Republic to Reich. This worksheet gave an overview of the Nazi leaders, Mein Kampf, Weltanschauung (Hitler's World View), Anti-Semitism, Social Darwinism, Democracy, Fuhrerprinzip, Propaganda, Lebensraum, Communism, Post-Beer Hall Putsch, and Alfred Hugenberg.

May 1 - May27
During this period we covered the following work:
- How and why did Hitler and the NSDAP come to pwer.pdf - completed questions and activities,
read and discussed pp79-107 in Republic to Reich.
- How did Hitler gain control2.pdf - chronology of events, January 1933-March 23 1933 (the Enabling Act).
- Role play - Chancellor to Fuhrer.
- Consolidation of Power.pdf - activities and information covering Election March 1933, Reichstag Fire, Enabling Act, Night of the Long Knives, Oath of Allegiance and Death of Hindenburg.

Life in Nazi Germany

Following Totalitarianism, we went on to Life in Nazi Germany.  We began by reading and discussing pp 105-6 and pp146-156 in Republic to Reich.
Using the pdf Life in Nazi Germany 1a in the Nazi Germany folder on Edmodo we looked at the Hitler Youth and Education. We did the source analysis Youth in Nazi Germany which is also in the Nazi Germany folder and posted on our class page on June 3, 2014.

Following this we began working through Life in Nazi Germany 1b and completed the questions on Women and the Family and began work on Volksgemeinschaft. We used pp 142-148 in Republic to Reich for our information to complete the activities.

Finally, the questions on Life in Nazi Grrmany 2 are to be completed during Learning Preparation over the next week, 6/6/14 - 13/6/14. These cover the areas of Religion, Economic Life, and Propaganda and Terror.  The relevant sections in Republic to Reich are Religion - pp 156-157; Economic Life - pp 161-165; Propaganda and Terror - pp168-185.

Totalitarianism

Last lesson we began work on the pdf Totalitarianism 1 in the Nazi Germany folder on Edmodo. We began with the 5 laws that primarily contributed to the establishment of Nazi Totalitarianism.
We read and discussed the relevant sections in Republic to Reich, pp111-113, 118-122, 127-129.

In today's lesson we went through the 5 laws together. Following this we looked at the Key Events. Students have  to describe each event and explain its significance in establishing the totalitarian state of the Nazis. This work was for homework.

Next we opened the pdf Totalitarianism 2 in the Nazi Germany folder on Edmodo and began work on the Fuhrerprinzip.  To complete this work we read and discussed the relevant section in Republic to Reich, pp127-129 and pp135-142 and completed Document Studies 7.1 and 7.2.

Following this we worked on the note-taking activity in Totalitarianism 2, Nazism as Totalitarianism - The Reality; read and discussed the essay question and notes on how to answer it effectively.

Germany 1923 - 1929

April 7
We began work today on the period 1923-1929.
Using the website, Germany 1923-1929, students answered questions on the Munich Beer Hall Putsch; created a Very Brief Overview which included Economic Recovery after 1923, Weakness in the German Economy, and Political developments 1924-1929; constructed a timeline of events 1923-1929. We referred to pp 34-40 in the text, Republic to Reich.


April 9
Everyone received their Weimar Workbook to be completed by the end of the holidays.  The workbook is partly for revision (1918-1923) and partly work that is yet to be completed (1923-1929).
Chapter Three of Republic to Reich, The Years of Stability, 1923-1929, provided basic information for work on the Weimar Workbook.

Role of the German Army

March 26

We completed the worksheet, Weimar 1920-1923.pdf which focused on the Role of the German Army and the problems faced by the Republic in 1923. This PDF was posted on Edmodo, 26 March, 2014, on our group page.

The first Focus Question was "Explain how the German Army preserved its influence in the period 1918-1923".
Everyone needed to work through each of the following sections, reading the information and completed all questions and activities.
- End of WWI (notes)
- The Army 1918-1919 (notes and questions)
- The Kapp Putsch (notes and questions)
- Changes to Society to 1923 (notes and questions)

The second focus question began "In 1923 the Republic faced its most difficult year . . .". This section of the document dealt with the problems faced by the Republic in 1923. Very brief notes were provided and students had to expand these to be included in their own study notes.

The Weimar Constitution

March 25

The following information and activities were posted on Edmodo on the group page, March 25, 2014.

All questions and activities needed to be completed by the end of the week.
- The Constitutiion of the Weimar Republic (worksheet)
- Political Parties in Germany (information sheet)
- Definitions Weimar Politics (ppt)
- Weimar Republic Constitution (ppt)
- The Weimar Constitution (ppt)
- Germany, Political Parties (ppt)

Also posted on the same day but in a separate post was the PDF Weimar Germany 1918-1923.  This document provided a summary of the period.

Origins of Weimar 1918 - 1923

March 24

We read and discussed the information in Origins of the Weimar Republic on the website Germany 1918-1923.  We then completed the section The Origins of Weimar  - Some Questions.
Next was the Role of the German Army and the Kapp Putsch in Role of the German Army on the website.  There were readings, activities and a video clip to work through.

In 1919-1923 on the website, Germany 1918-1923, we looked at changes to society, the occupation of the Ruhr and the problems of hyperinflation.  One again we read and discussed the information on that page and then completed a number of activities aimed at building up study notes.

The Treaty of Versailles

March 3 we began work on the Treaty.
The Edmodo post for Mar 3 2014 was comprised of background.pdf which provided information; background to the treaty.pdf which, apart from information, also provided questions; Treaty.pdf which is a series of questions; treaty of versailles worksheet.pdf  which speaks for itself; and finally, beginning of the republic.pdf which provides a series of questions.

Also posted on Edmodo for March 3 is a timeline covering the period 1918-1919. We read and discussed this together.

This work took us up to the beginning of the exam period 12/3/14 - 21/3/14 with a couple of periods given over to preparation for Assessment Task 2 on 21/3/14.

The End of the War

We began our National Study, Germany 1918-1939, on 1st March.

Starting with Germany at the end of the war, we used the information, activities and questions in the Edmodo folder, The End of the War.  Together we read and discussed the three readings: Germany Capitulates, Aftermath of WWI and End of War Account. We followed this up with the worksheet End of War Questions.