Model Assembly
91 Comments Published by clay December 15th, 2007 in Education, State and Local Politics.The primary purpose of the Model Assembly is to give you an opportunity to experience one example of how the political process works in California. I hope you enjoyed something about the experience.
The senior team appreciates your effort throughout the six-week period and more specifically during the four-day simulation.
There are a number of good things the class of 08 did during the four-day simulation. To name some:
(1) Chelsea’s fiery speeches and responses during day 2 and 4.
(2) Kevin’s quiet, but effective manner in getting what he wanted.
(3) Republicans as a whole becoming a voting block to show their power (e.g. passing the note around during day 4 do not vote for Democratic bills)
(4) Judson, Ameen, and Jay (probably more students involved) using the rules to move up a Republican bill to try to persuade Republicans to vote for Democratic bills.
(5) Silky’s objection to consideration to throw out the abortion bill.
(6) The class leaders (Josh, Jordan, Mike, and Robert) managing the senior class over two days or 11 hours of a simulation.
(7) Buddy’s consistent fight for power.
(8) Isaiah’s strong speech against the abortion bill.
(9) Michelle’s speeches and responses to the Republican attack of her bill during Day 4
(10) The political fight in Crime between the Republicans and the Democrats
(11) Raul standing up and trying to get into just about every argument
(12) Gabi M. fiery speeches and responses to questions
(13) Numerous good points
There are many more. In question 2 please share with me what positive things you saw.
Please respond to 2 of the following 3 questions:
(1) The PBL question: How can we as legislators or lobbyists understand the legislative process in CA, so that we can get legislation passed? What do you suggest to the class of 09 to get bills passed? Why?
(2) What positive experiences stand out for you during the four-day simulation? Be specific and use an example.
(3) What improvements do you suggest? And/or if we were to create an additional component, what would you suggest we do? Be specific and use an example.
Overall, I think Model Assembly went well. People kept on telling me how much they hated it, but in the end I knew they would enjoy it, which they did. I commend all the people stated earlier on the great job they did.
I also liked how Jonathan R. used the Points of Order to shut up people who obviously were dilatory and breaking the rules, which saved time and made all of us happier. I also commend the Republican party for doing what Republicans would actually do, but also being lenient enough to allow bills to get passed. I also commend Isaiah for his speeches, which helped the Democratic party bills, even though they were cons. There were also a certain few who tried to lie and cheat to get a certain party to support them, but their intentions were clear enough that they were not fooled.
In regards to changing anything about Model Assembly, I think the chair should be more strict in their decisions, especially in ruling repetitiveness and dilatory. As for adding a new component, maybe having an earlier research check before Day 4, that way people are forced to have more pro and con information, and less people look stupid. But maybe we like seeing other people look stupid?
For the class of 09 i would recommend that, they do alot of research they need to come well prepared before the model assembly. They dont want to come in knowing absolutley nothing about whats going to happend. The class of 09 would also need to compromise with each other, they dont have to look at it as a competition they have to learn to co-exist with each other and move as a “whole.”
Ive learned alot out of model assembly. Ive learned that freedom comes with a great deal of patience. A bill has to go through a tremondous long tedious process in order for it to function.
The improvements this project could have would be not having four minute speeches. This would allow more students to interact with the project. When the chairs assign speeches they shouldnt be so rushed they should take more time on assignning speeches this would allow more people to participate. At the model assembly you would have the same person give two four minute speeches, they got two speeches do to the lack of time the chair had to assign the speeches.
Another research check prior to Day 4. This is a good idea. One potential schedule change could be:
Monday Day 1
Tuesday Day 2
Wednesday Day 3
Thursday Research Check
Friday Day 4
First of all, I think that even if you are reluctant to get into model assembly at first, eventually it sucks you in. To the 09′ students, even if you get a topic that you don’t like or don’t know much about, make it work for you. When the teachers tell you that you’ll end up doing a lot more research than just whats required, they’re not lying- in the end you really do want to research more so that you don’t make an ass out of yourself.
In order to get bills passed, you really need to have ties in both the Democratic and Republican parties, beacause if it is slit down the middle you’ll never pass a bill. And if you are trying to pro or con someones bill, I think that it is crucial that you research the topic and break down their bill instead of just spitting out your own opinions and imposing your morals and beliefs. You opinion means nothing if you have nothing solid to back it up with.
As for changing the project, I really have no recommendations. The only think that I think the teachers should stress is the fact that you are graded not on how many times you speak, but what you are saying when you speak- I think that this would have really cut down on a lot of the time wasted asking useless questions.
before i get to answering the questions, i want to congradulate everyone who spoke and got their bills passed..especially cheslea!! ur speech kicked ass!
anyways, model assembly, what can i say. it took time, lots and lots, not to mention all the research needed and pleanty of speeches. this experience really helped me understand some view of politics and how upsetting, stressfull and complicated it is to even get a bill considered let alone passed. i can now understand why stuff is so hard in a gov job.
as for improvments, i cant really think of much, expcept explain asking questions. that they are supposed to be meaningful, not just stupid. it wastes waayy to much time and energy out of everyone and kind of makes people not care and lose focus. other than that, everything worked well.
o no, wait, maybe talk to each side, and try to get them to try and work with the opposing side, conflict is to hard to get anything done, even though purther loves the conflict, it difficult to work and people need to come to some compromise, it makes stuff much easier for everyone
Some good conflict leads to breakthroughs in collaboration (e.g. moving up Buddy’s bill).
Recommendation:
Teach how to make points meaningful
Ok so. I’m going to be straight up and say that I was completely against this entire project. It was tedious and a drag, especially towards the middle.
Being a Lobbyist was fun, but I think I could have done a better job representing my chosen organization. The first component was my favorite because it involved the most creativity. Definitely keep that. I think I was most sick of the project becuase it was talked about in every class, which you have to do, but still.
In the end however, I saw the project’s purpose. I kept saying that instead of the entire six week thing that we should have just had the info fed to us and tooken a test, but the understanding wouldn’t be what it was without the entire simulation. I definitely understand the Robert’s Rules of Order a lot more than I probably would have if I had just taken a test. I do not dislike the project as much as I thought I would. Like I said, at one point I was so sick of it, but you really do need patience with this.
That’s what my advice is to the Class of 2009, and the ones to follow. PATIENCE will be your biggest asset during this project. Also, know what you need to know and make absolutely sure you get on your chair’s good side so you’re not at the bottom of the agenda. Just like in politics I’m sure, you have to ask for those favors, at one point I tried to bribe Irene, but it didn’t work =]. Also, during the last day, if people are being dumb with their questions, don’t hesitate to call points on them. It shuts them up and keeps things moving. Like mentioned above, have allies in your opposing party. It definitely helps. Try not to be first, second, or third on the last day, 4-7 are the numbers to be at since people start getting the flow of things. When preparing speeches, research the bill topics and formulate coherant speeches. Find a bill’s hole and focus on bringing that up. When a bill sponsor doesn’t know an answer, you look good.
As far as being a lobbyist, use it to your advantage, I know that our chair would let us go first just to let us go so they could get rolling with their democrat or republican party stances and what not. Try to be one of the first to present your bill during comittee, to get out of the “way” and be done with.
If your bill ends up dying, attack everything. There is no reason for you not to since you don’t have a bill and don’t have to worry about angrying people.
Know the constitution, Silky proved that to be very important with his objection to consideration.
Overall my favorite and most memorable experience had to be the final day at West Covina. Everyone was dressed up and ready for business. At first it seemed people were messing around, but it got serious and I think that as a class we did a fantastic job! The quorum’s were really cool too. I was only in the Democrat room and it was all crowded, pretty cool.
As legislators we need to be fully aware of the entire process. Someone who doesn’t know the process won’t be very succesful in passing legislation. That’s why you only really see politician introducing legislation, statewide. I’m sure that if we really tried, then we may possibly be able to get something passed in a city. Like what the QuickScience team is trying to do in Claremont.
As far as making the project better, I suggest you have a break day. A day that has nothing to do with model assembly. I think the students would greatly appreciate that. I like what Rene said about having a research check prior to the actual model assembly. It’s a good way to insure that people are ready. Also have everything be turned in in professionl folders. It makes the simulation seem more real and professional. Maybe actually present the first component. English should be focused more on stronger speeche giving and debate rather than editorials. Math, I get the concept of proofs and surveys. For science, I see why energey has to be one of the committees, you can’t really tie in model assembly directly to science unless you do some sort of social experiment which would be interesting. Maybe tie a mathematical and scientific survey to see how many people are actually politically aware.
The project worked.
Model Assembly. Was actually really amazing. It was amazing because it was cool to see how many people got into it, I know I did and at times, I even hated the Democrats.
For those of us who were legislators and for a select few even lobbyist, I think we all need to understand that working as a team, meaning republicans and democrats, working together, is the best way for bills in California to get passed. I know for our Model Assembly if you were on the democratic side, you were hardcore Democrat, and same for the Republicans…except for a select few. But I know that most Republicans all had the same feelings toward each bill, and if they hated it, each of us wouldn’t vote for it. But this was also a bad thing too because pretty soon passing bills became an all out war. Nothing was getting passed. So teamwork between the two parties is a must. So class of ’09 take this into consideration. Always think of worst case scenario, because I believed that my bill was strong, and that it was going to be a breeze to get it passed. But it turned out that we didn’t even have time to get to it during day three. That sucked so always give it your best during this project.
For question two. That positive experiences that stand out for me most are the speeches that I gave, and the way things turned out. I thought I was going to be one of the worst ones during this whole Model Assembly. But it turned out on day five that I was actually one of the ones to talk the most. I surprised myself. It was cool messing with people, and watching them become angry because you shut them up or something like that. And day five was on of my favorite days because it was great to see everyone engaged and trying their hardest to get their bills passed.
When model assembly began, i seriously thought the entire project was going to be a drag.And it turns out, i was right. The actual process was long, and at most times, boring. But the end result was fantastic. model assembly really brought out some things in people that you thought you would never see in them. Good AND bad. For example, during our ten minute caucus, on day 4, 53 senior and 3 lobbyists crammed into teeny tiny room hidden on the side of the room we were in. Once inside, it was MADNESS. after settling down, wich really didnt take that long, we got down to buisness. we talked about our plan and what we were going to to do specifically when we got back out. Some things we talked about was that the process on each bill was taking way too long, and that the only reason it was taking too long was that people were asking too many effing pointless questions. so we decided, that the democrats should only open their mouth when they actually had something intelligent to say, and leave the stupid questions to the republicans.
On that note, whats this note i hear was being passed around, about “dont vote for the democrat bills”? Hmmm, lets try something else, lets vote the ones we want, dont vote for the ones we dont want, and try to be mature about this huh? That was the difference between the parties on day 4. The democrats only wanted the bills that actually madce sense and the ones they just flat out wanted. The republicans just didnt want to lose to the democrats.
During the process of debate the arguments were getting WAY TOO PERSONAL. people were shooting dirty looks at eachother back and forth, and other people in particular wouldnt shut the hell up even if josh told them to. My bill for example, was getting attacked so bad. and not by everyone, but i’d say just by two people. so its all good. it still passed with more than enough votes. AND WHAT?! during the dabte of my bill, it started to get to a point where people were getting mad and getting other people to get mad at those people getting mad.
So as a suggestion, to class of 09′, if you dont like a bill, dont vote for it. but dont bitch and whine until you think you got people not to like it either. okay? youre only going to make yourself look bad. and dont take it personally. its JUST a project. relax.
despite seeing how rabid seniors can get, i’d say we all had fun at one point or another.
PS. isaiah, there was only 4 days in model assembly. not 5. ahahah :]]
Experience is the only way to understand the legislative process. To pass a bill you must look for common ground between parties, because everyone must agree if the bill should stand any chance of feasibility let alone passage.
The most positive experience for me was when my bill was chosen as the olive branch between parties, and the fact that 100 out of 105 students voted yes for it.
The only improvement I see is to make the chair responsible for the discussion of the bills. The power of the chair wasn’t used and because of this the agenda wasn’t even close to completion. I can understand if one bill is particularly debatable, but when time is wasted on questions about the infinitesimal details, the entirety of the assembly suffers.
With that said, if the opposite of con is pro, then is congress the opposite of progress.
Model Assembly was very use full for me, mainly because it helped my senior project, conformity/ peer pressure and what better way to see it first hand than to have a group of moral clashing students put in one room for more than three hours, for four days, fists began to fly, when ever the abortion bill was brought up. But it was a amazing to see how fast peoples views can change , because of certain events and how one person can make a difference in everything, e.g. the support my bill got by the end of day 4, and i would like to say thank to every one for their involvement.
The improvement I would make would be stress the importance of the points , and especially the motions. and add a research check before the final day.
that is all i have to say.
Hell yeah, I’m fiery!
1. For the class of ’09, I suggest that they get the lobbyists to act as peacemakers. Unfortunately, this year all the lobbyists sided with and helped out the Democrats because of what turned out to be personal issues. Basically, the Republicans pissed us off haha. So if they work together instead, things would go a lot faster by the last day and maybe wouldn’t be so competitive.
2. Day three was really positive for me. My bill passed in both parties and I felt very confident with the questions that I was being asked. It was evident to people that I really knew my stuff, so they didn’t mess with me too much after the initial 20 minutes of hardcore questioning on my bill.
3. I wouldn’t suggest many improvements. Model assembly is long and difficult, but it works. Its purpose is clear and people really do get into it. I’d say make the final research before the final day though. It was really difficult getting more research and working on that when we had already done the initial project. That’s all!
To become a CA legislater, one must learn the rules completley and confidently be able to use them. Next, if they want to at least get thier bill on to the agenda fo the last day, they should chose a topic that is not conrtoversial, inexpensive, and should research thourouhgly all aspects of their bill. There is no gauruntee that their bill will even be disgused on the final day but these will help get the bill onto the agenda.
I really enjoyed being able to sway the room through motions. I liked how people became more comfortable with sharing their points with the entire room. Josh did a good job at keeping the room in order and all the speeches were intresting.
Next time however, it should not be set up where there is no way for all the bills to be disgused. There were obviously too many to get through all of them, so mayb e Model Assembly should start on monday, and the final day should last for both thursday and friday. This would help possibley get through all the bills that are on the final agenda.
Overall, Model Assembly was a good introduction to California Law, and I am glad I got to be a part of it.
Okay! Model Assembly was the most interesting project and only being as I-poly would I ever had the chance to experiecnce what I did. Over the course of the last four days it was stressful. People where really trying to get the grades they wanted and if that ment kill every bil that was going to be gone. The first day was just okay. when we where broken up into our commites that when the fun started. The second was the best because it was great to kill the bills that had made it that far and where just killed or not supported by anyone. It was good to really get our feelings out there and persuade everyone to fight aganist that bill. It was fun to have the power to supporting different bills and not careing about other. it was also a great way to see the different opions that everyone had and really get to know our peers better. Some advice I would give to the class of 09 would probably be to pay attention over the course of the last 3 days. To get as many bills passed as possible try to have an idea of which bills you like and don’t like. Try to have all you questions answered before you get to west covina because there is enough time to get about half of the bills passed and if you waste you time constily dabating about meaningless bills you want get anywhere. Use the time wisely and use the power to put yours first. Also try to get a bill that is likes by both parties and dose involve and tax or budget cuts. Keep it nutral but make sure it will have a big impact. Over all the project was very effective, it help me understand the govenment a lot more!
Kudos Senior Team!
Model assemly as a whole was a good experience. I understand more about the rifts between the Democrat and Republican party. I know why bills are so difficult to get passed, and why new laws are pretty rare. The best part of the model assmbly to me was that the Democrats had majority the whole way through. Depending on how well the Chair ran your meetings, all Democrats could have gotten their bills passed. It was amusing to know that no matter what we had power over the Republicans.
I also agree with the research check BEFORE the last day. Research is a really big factor throughout model assembly, most bills would just be BSed without it. Making sure everyone has sufficient amounts of research before the last day simulation might make it smoother. I really think that the last day should be held maybe over two days so that every committees bill gets to be talked about. Time was a huge issue throughout the whole week maybe make it longer somehow?
When model assembly first got assigned to us I felt like it was a complete waste of time. I didn’t think I would learn anything. I was so wrong! It’s one thing to learn about how bills are passed by sitting in a classroom and taking notes. It’s another thing to actually be apart of it and pass your own bills. At the end of all of it I actually had fun and really enjoyed learning in that way.
I think that the class of ’09 can have a successful model assembly if they come prepared! I agree with what Rene said about doing more research. They really need to make sure that they have facts to back up their speeches and if someone attacks their bill they have hard evidence to prove the other person wrong. They not only need a lot of information on their own bill, but also information on other bills. That can help make their con speeches strong and possibly kill someone’s bill.
I think that the project as a whole is very good. The only thing that kept getting on my nerves was that people kept asking the same questions over and over just to get credit for talking. I think that there should be a limit on how many questions can be asked, that way more bills can be considered.
well.. model assembly was an experience that we might not forget. it was a “stressful” week but we have all managed to get through. i know that i didnt get to talk much, but when i wante to say something, it was already said and it would be pointless if the same question was repeated again. it basically expanded my knowledge about new things and problems that we are curently facing. i now that all of it was stressful. and then there was writing speeches on the opposing bills and trying to kill them. there were some interesting bills and there were some that were pointless. (i am not saying). i guess overall everyone did a good job, especially the chairs! =)
i could now agree when they say that politics play dirty.
some advice that i would give class o/ ’09, is that dont take anything personally. and also if there is a certain group member for another committe dont kill their bill just because you dont like the person. (i am saying this because thats what everyone told when i asked them why they didnt vote for our bill.) also if they want to kill someone else’s bill, they need to do a lot research. if they are going to say a point then it should be meaningful and not BS so that they could get the point. they would also need a lot of rest and patience. =}
Model Assembly was a confusing project. I didn’t understand it until the first Party Platform. But I understood that I wasn’t going to comprehend it until the Party Platform or the Stimulation. I know I was not the only one feeling this way. Throughout the project I always said I hated it, but I understand why we went through it. I think I have a really good understanding of how bills are passed. It’s a complete better understanding than studying for a test.
Something positive about Model Assembly would have to be having another opportunity to open my mouth. I’m trying to make it a goal to talk more. Model Assembly forced me to talk more. I didn’t talk much during the first two days of Stimulation, because I was Co-Chair. On the final day of Model Assembly, I argued a lot. Another positive thing would have to be how Democrats tried so hard to fight for power in the Crime Committee. We had the majority vote; therefore, we made sure to only pass the bills we wanted. It was an interesting experience those two days.
Something that I suggest to change for next year is maybe emphasize research. I never realized I was going to be doing so much research. I was researching without realizing that I needed to mark it in my working bibliography. And the class of ‘09 should make sure to understand that they need support from BOTH parties to pass anything on the final day of Model Assembly. We didn’t pass the first few bills on the final day of Model Assembly because the parties were not cooperating.
Next year I think their are a few things that can be done to pass more bills. The party shouldn’t all not vote for a bill just so that the other party won’t get any bills passed. Another is don’t ask stupid questions and any questions with the answers on the summary sheet. Some positive experiences that stand out was in the family committe when the democrats started working together to get at least one democratic bill passed. Also the third day when all the democrats had the same stance for a lot of the bills, spefically the illegalizetion of abortion.
Model assembly was confusing. To be honest, I really don’t know anything about the government. I had to do a lot of reading in order to understand this project and be on the same level as everyone else.
For the class of ’09, I think it’s best that both the demoratic party and the republican party work together as a team to get bills passed. If republicans only vote for republicans, and democrats only vote for democrats, then bills won’t be passed.
During the four-day simulation, something that I thought was interesting was being able to see certain sides of your peers that you don’t usually see. There were some things that I didn’t expect to see from people. For example, some people have a way with using words and manipulating certain cituations in order to get what they want; other people were so knowledgeable of everything that was going on that they could do things with a lot more confidence than the rest of the people there. Overall, model assembly was confusing and boring. In the end it didn’t turn out to be as bad as we all thought. But I’m glad it’s over with.
To the class of 09 the only words of advice that I can offer are:find a member of the other party who is a good persuasive talker and try to strike a deal with them. try and get them to convince others to vote for your bill in return you will vote for theirs. Then try to convince the people making the agenda to put your bill before theirs and that way you will get their vote for sure, but then just convince your party not to vote for that bill and that way you win twice. That and on the final day of the model assembly focus more on trying to expose real weaknesses in the bill rather than trying to ask questions just to get your name down on the paper.
To improve on the model assembly I would make it to where the teachers are more involved for atleast 1 of the days just to make sure that everything runs smoothly and everyone knows how things are supposed to be run. For the final day make it to where it takes away from your grade if you ask stupid or pointless questions that are answered in the bill or by another person earlier. That way things will actually get done. If they use the excuse of “Oh well I didn’t hear that earlier so I shouldn’t lose points.” then you can easily state that they sould have used Point of Personal Privelege when the student was explaining it. But you have to make sure that atleast 2 other people heard the student say that so that it is confirmed that it was said. As for the other component I would say have a peer review day for the speeches. That way they HAVE to have the speeches prepared ahead of time and they are more on top of what they are saying. Sometimes other people catch things that you didn’t so if you missed somthing in the bill it would help if someone else who found it in the bill pointed it out to you before you looked stupid with your speech. The way you could do it would be…
Monday-Day 1 of MA
Tuesday-Day 2 of MA
Wednesday-Day 3 of MA
Thursday-Day for Peer reviewing(check to make sure everyone has atleast 1 speech and then look at coments afterwards)
Friday-Day 4 of MA
Model Assembly was stressful although a very different experience.I truly enjoyed being part of a processed event in which there were many erroneous situations that in the end were very favorable. A very good example would be my bill not passing, but in the end I guess being runner for Republicans in the end was a fun experience, in my opinion it was the best responsibility of the simulation process. There high-minded experiences during simulation like how we all got to read speeches that some of us I would agree mostly enjoyed.
There are so many recommendations that I could give to the future class of 09. First of all there should be penalizing for students that ask questions that are already cited on the bill. Questions should actually be more concerned with the reasoning of a bill rather than of actuall facts that are quite referable.
Second of all, Its seemed to me that the research part of this component should ahve been considered a lot and stuctured into class qork. Rather than just concentrating on turning in about 16 sources all at then same time. The research made our speeches seem much more compelling and understandable with all the research.
Third of all, I completely understand why we did this. It was to show that an actuall model of bills being passed was much more effective than giving a test to demonstrate the actual situation.
Ohkay well first off I would like to say that model assembly was fun. I wasnt happy when my bill died because I researched day and night and worked so hard on it that it really hurt to see it get rejected I know pretty much everyone felt that way. The one thing that made everything so hard were the Republicans, I heard that on day 3 they were just coming together to shoot down all of the Democrat bills because they heard that the Democrats were doing that when really we werent. We gathered support on quite a lot of Republican bills that we believed should pass. So they were making everything sooo difficult. So difficult in fact that we had to move up one of their bills to show them that we had support for them. And the Republicans kept making really stupid points I mean how many ways can someone say that a breakfast is going to be fresh? Thats what I liked about us Democrats when we went into that room we agreed that to make things faster if anyone was going to make a point that it would be important or make the opposing team look stupid, and thats how it went down we were just trying to speed things up and it would have worked if it werent for the Republicans and their stupid repeated points.
I do however now realize how hard it is to pass bills and make laws. It must take days to get through all the bills we had. Its hard to raise taxes and charge people and take money from organizations that serve good causes. I myself was very frustrated when we did budget cuts because everyone has a noble cause and you cant cut the poor sick kids off and you cant cut science off and you cant cut war funds off. Its super hard to work with a budget.
One thing I would reccomend to the class of 09 is to have communication with the other party because people get mislead so easily. If they want to try to get through as many bills as possible then dont make stupid points just to get a grade you get more credit for a point thats really worth mentioning. And when voting for bills yeah its ohkay to go with what your party tells you to go for but if you know thats a good bill and that it will help improve factors then get facts or do anything to get more people to see it your way. You can even do it with a con like I did against bill F2.
Now that I look at it though it feels like a total waste of time. Yeah I learned how bills are made into laws but where am I going to use this in my future?
Honestly, at first I thought Model Assembly seemed like a waste of time. Being that it was rare we would be State Legislators, many besides myself also thought that it was pointless. But in a way, I guess Model Assembly had numerous hidden significant aspects. Many of which i have learned from. This personally, mainly includes time management. Although it may not seem like such a big deal, time was used almost in every aspect of Model Assembly. I’m usually struggling with my own time management, but this project has allowed me to learn from it. Examples of this include the tardiness rules of party platform and the 4-day simulation. This in a way helped me leard to get to school earlier and keep it consistent. Another example includes the time given to deliver your speeches. I learned from this aspect, because it helped me to overcome talking though nervousness, since when you are nervous, you may tend to talk slower or faster, which is not a consistent way of speaking.
As for improvements, I suggest mabe trying to put a time limit on the debates, eventhough it’s kind of impossible to. Since the chair does have to take every point or question on the floor, this may be hard to do. But i had noticed that even from Party Platform and so on, the debates would be so everlasting. I suggest maybe preparing future students to know what they are saying and onlytalking for a certain length of time. This would greatly improve the debate/speeches, and won’t leave the floor/audience restless.
Personally, i liked day one and day two the most. Those two days in committee went relatively smooth (at least in education). There was pretty good overall control, and not too many irrelevant points were asked. Day three pissed the fuck out of me. I know what the whole point of the day was, but it was out of control in the republican room and a few individuals were making ridiculous and irrelevant points. I just wanted to leave. It was really cool how day four turned out, but because of many dilatory points, my bill did not get considered. That sucked ballllls. Throughout the entire process, it was easy to see who did the research on their topic, and who did not. Overall it was a worth-while experience… i guess.
Adding a new component would probably be great. A research check before the final day would push slackers to read at least some research before day four. If there is still going to be a role of two opposing parties, i feel that the students need an even better understanding of the party roles. I think there were still seniors who didnt understand what the parties were for and against. Giving the seniors a better understanding of the party roles would help them draft their bills in sync with their parties, and help give them a better understanding of how to negotiate bills so that both parties are happy. The last thing that could be changed is the test that put us into our parties. I think if it was longer and spanned a wider variety of topics then a truer tell of which party one belongs in would show. Either that, or make the test relevant to the issues at hand (i.e. education, crime, energy, family) so that you get every students stand on those issues (so you can group like minded people more effectively).
*you should also limit the use of the word “um” to a maximum of 5 per person… some certain individuals said the word “um” like seventy-two times
haha… no but really if its obvious that a bill sponsor does not know the information at hand, the chair should just tell them to sit the hell down.
I liked the whole idea of model assembly but I do believe there needs to be a lot of changes in order to make next years model assembly more effective and less me wanting to slam my head into a wall. Any way I think the whole simulation was a great experience but I thought that having 5 days of the same stuff was really repetitive. By the end of the simulation I knew everything about every bill so I had no real questions to ask, instead of wasting time asking pointless questions I wrote pro/con speeches which I couldnt use because of the time strain. From my point of view students from the democrat side were asking questions they knew the answers to because they wanted points. So even if they were asking stupid, frivolous questions they got points. Another problem I have is that people went way over budget with their bills, we were given an assignment to find a bill that fit into our comitee and our party keeping in mind to stay in budget. When groups presented their bill with a budget of over 250 million and they would raise 200 of that with taxes I was shocked. This is way over budget but its ok because theyre going to raise tons of taxes, it got voted in because no one that goes to high school cares about taxes. I thought taxes were going to be a last resort measure if we didnt have enough money by the end of the day. All in all I think if we lowered the amount of days from 5 days to 3 days the whole simulations would be a lot more interesting.
I really enjoyed model assembly more than I thought I would. The first two days were the best. I felt the third day dragged on. Because we all knew about the bills that were being presented, why present them again and re-open discussion? If the parties could just agree to support all the Democrat/Republican bills and move on to discussion about the opposing party’s bills the day would have moved a lot smoother. In day 4, i thought that people spent too much time discussing one bill. Well, not even discussing, as we all noticed, people started asking random Points just to get their marks. Why would you need to know if the fruits being served in the Breakfast bill would be fresh fruit or canned?! SERIOUSLY. If we could find a way to cut out all the stupid questions and keep discussion quick, it would work wonders for model assembly.
In retrospect, enjoyed the first two days the most, because I thought that there was a lot less BSing. I learned just how important it is to understand opposing viewpoints and covering details. If I hadn’t learned that, people would have torn my bill apart. Model Assembly really taught me to cover everything in my topic. Understanding opposing views helps you understand what to do with your bill.
Well at first i really didnt want to do model assembly, I thought it was really boring and meaningless to us. I thought to myself “how is this even going to help us in life? and what is the point for us to this? I was like clueless i didnt see no point in doing this. However, after i realized that this is a once in a lifetime experience that no other school would of offered us. The point of model assembly was to give us a little taste of how it is in the real world. It also showed us how the real legislatures have to do in order to pass the bills. It was an awesome experience. Some of the positive experiences that stood out for me were the whole idea of using the rules. At first it was really hard for me to remember what point was to for what purpose. After the first day and going on to the second day i got the hang of how things went and what point to use for each purpose. It was fun making it all formal by using rules to speak instead of just saying it just like that. Another thing that stood out for me was the idea of making speeches for the bills like some of them being pros and some being cons. I thought that was an interesting experience because that was one of the ways people got all fiery, and after structure debate was over and general debate was open that is when got arguments came along. In order to make class of 09 pass more bills they need to do a lot of research on their own bill as well as the opposing bills, because you never know if your bill will really make it to the last day of the stimulation. I also think that the class of 09 actually reads the bill summaries so that way they dont make themselves look really dumb when they ask a question that is written on the bill summary especially in bold letters. I think that the class of 09 should ask important questions not just anything especially not somthing that was already said just to get the point. If the class of 09 does that they are nont going to get anywhere and they are just going to waste valuable time, and the same thing that happened to us with the time would probably happen to them too, because we didnt get to go through all the bills because of time matter. HEnce, i suggest the class of 09 come prepared with a lot of resarch and with imprtant questions that are effective and short at the same time in order to get through all the bills.
i just wanted to say, i wrote that speach that isaiah read about the pro abortion. But yeah. Some point for the class of 09 is to be spicific and just kill all of the democraps, just kidding. No! If everyone was to use there own vote for the better of the assembly, and for the good of their own standings, wether your a democrap or a republican, then it could help make model assembly flow better.
Some of the good things that i have experienced that came out of this was that it was fun. It was different and made you think about things in more ways then one. Instead of just reading up on it and writing questions about what we thought might have happened, we were actually able to go and complete what we had set out to accomplish. Experience is everything when it comes down to being a lesgislature.
model assembly went by really quick the last week of killin bills. i was really nervous the first day and was really scared to say anything, but as the week went by it started to pick up and sometimes we had to talk because our grade was counting on us. the last day was a little unorganized like there were too much bills on the screen that for sure we are not going to get too. but i guess its good because for the other people that knew had to give speeches for their bills a little nervous or something to focus on. there should be more days before the final model assembly that most of the bad bills die sooner. and save the best bills for the last day thats what i think the teachers should do for next year. so that the last day will be focusing on less than 10 bills and be more organized. it was really lame that my bill died and democrats were the majority and i remember ciku got really “bitter” and mad so she didnt pass our other teams bill. somedays were funny and i guess overall it wasn’t so bad after all. it was better than i expected. then on friday after the model assembly and i threw myself an after party lol for my birthday and it was fun thanks to everyone that came
So to start off Model assembly had its up and downs. It started off for me as a confusing process that I didn’t know what was happening. Then as the next day came I began to understand the points and motions better so that I could use them to make a statement. I think that we as legislators should understand the process and concepts for the legislative process in California. For the class of 09 I think that they should definitely know their bill down to to its roots and research to better improve their bill. When it comes down to the final day and the bills are on the agenda, many of the groups hope that their bill will be passed. In order for that to happen the class of 09 should make clear and strong arguments so that when the final day comes they are well prepared to fight for their bill to get passed. My experience for model assembly did not go so well during the first model assembly day. I wasn’t fully prepared which wasn’t good in the end because I didn’t talk. However, as the second day came it was so much better for me because I understood the points and motions as well as my bill. I really wanted my bill to pass so I tried to argue against those who opposed to it by explaining my bill more. My bill was on limiting abortion and I knew from the start it was going to be a controversial issue to work with but I didn’t want to give up so I wanted to make some points on it. However, some things that could be changed could be the way its ran and also not so much debating on the bill at the beginning of the first day because it takes to much time and there are so many bills to be talked about. I say the first day should be cut in half on time because basically on the first day we are determining the stance and it shouldn’t take that long to come up with one anyway.
to get legislation passed, all you need to do is either have majority (’cause that’s the way we did it, but i think we actually needed 2/3 vote), or, just get enough of the opposing party to vote along with you. because, honestly, which ever party had majority (especially in committee) they won everything. as you can tell from every single democratic crime bill passing, and 1 republican crime bill passing. i’m just saying…
none of the model assembly was really negative, except for when our bill died. but it think there was just some speeches that really made the whole model assembly. cristina’s speech to the crime committee on day 2 was so well received and put together that everyone was stunned and almost excited over it. chelsea had a really freakishly strong speech on abortion on the last day. just things like that really made the whole model assembly.
i don’t know. you can’t really lower the number of bills, but you can’t really get through all of them. i don’t even know what you could add. it seemed pretty complete, just make sure that all of the teachers know how use robert’s rules, because there was some slight confusion. i think it all really depends on the chair(s)
Honestly, at first I didn’t see the point of Model Assembly. I thought it was a complete waste of time (AT FIRST). But, at the end of the project, I think I’ve learned more than what I would have gotten from reading a textbook because we went through a simulation rather than being taught about how the political process in California works by a book. The stuff we got out of the simulation is something you can never get from reading in textbooks because we actually got to experience what the process was like.
The process of Model Assembly was a long one. But the ending results were amazing. It took a lot of hard work from my group and it all paid off at the end. My advice for Class of 09 is to consider what bill to pick. I remember that my group was going to pick a bill that we couldn’t do much with, too general, and it was a more Republican stance. I’m glad we didn’t pick it in a long run. Picking your bill is the foundation of Model Assembly, if you go with a bill that’s too complicated to comprehend, too expensive, and/or too controversial then most likely it won’t get passed on the final day. My group decided to go with the breakfast bill, which was a very smart thing to do, since it was such a easy topic, easy to defend against attacks (for ex: there were no really no cons that stood out against our bill), and it’s something that we thought would even get votes from the Republican party.
Out of all the days in Model Assembly, the committee meetings were the best for me. One experience that stood out to me was being co-chair in committee. Being co-chair I had somewhat an influence on the agenda. Sam (Minority Chair), Josh (Majority Chair), and I put our bills 3rd, 4th, & 5th on the agenda realizing that for the first bills people wouldn’t get the flow of things yet. I think if I WASN’T CO-CHAIR there would be a chance that my bill wouldn’t have been passed since we didn’t get to get through all the bills in education. By having some sort of influence of the order of the agenda, I got to get my group’s bill on the upper half of the agenda and it passed =].
Another experience that stood out for me was my con speech in committee. I had clear points in my con speech and pointed out flaws in the bill instead of basing it on my personal opinions. People were surprised that I did a con speech and attacked a bill, but I did. I agree with Chelsea, that when you are doing a pro or con speech on a bill you must research that bill and break it down, instead of putting your own views into it, because FACTS are way more important when trying to convince the people in the room to vote your way.
On day 4, I was kind of getting fed up with all the people who stood up to state points that were of no relevance or were just dumb. OBVIOUSLY, some of the points that were being said were just being said because people wanted to speak more in order to get a higher grade. Several points that were not meaningful to the discussion were stated and this wasted SO much time. Some people were just more concerned on how many times they spoke, which made discussion on bills so long and because of this; we didn’t even get through half the bills on the agenda.
For example, I didn’t expect my bill on breakfast to have such a long discussion. It was only $5 million dollars and it was a bill that didn’t really have any holes. But NOOO, our bill took like almost an hour to get passed. My bill was even asked about the lunch program, and I was like HELLO we’re breakfast! =] Questions were repeated a lot too. Instead of going on with discussion of our bill, the people who were attacking it could just have NOT voted for our bill (SIMPLE AS THAT!), instead of asking so many questions so we could just move on with the agenda. You know?! I feel so bad for the bills that didn’t get to go on Day 4 because those bills got passed by the committees yet we didn’t get to it on Friday due to lack of time, so it didn’t get passed in the long run and it’s not their fault, it’s because there were a lot of irrelevant questions that PROLONGED the discussion of bills. I think something to be improved would be being graded on what you ask and say rather than how many times you speak. Being recorder on Day 4, I saw that there were people who only spoke a few times but I saw that their questions were actually meaningful. So for next year’s model assembly, I suggest that people get graded based on the QUALITY of their questions rather than the QUANTITY. =]
Well, I had a lot to say on Saturday when I got this e-mail, but I’ve calmed down now, so I’ll just say what I remember.
2] One ‘positive’ experience I saw in the four day simulation was when a large group of students met together and tried to change something/the mechanics of the day. It was very interesting to see how it worked. Like how the democrats banned together against the republicans that were stubborn, and how the republicans finally saw the light and partly did something about it, even though it was too late and it failed.
3]Improvements: I could list a few. One: I heard Mr. Purther say that in like all the years they’ve done model assembly, on the last day, the farthest ANYONE has ever gotten is like bill 12. Fundamental flaw? I know you have to make groups and each group has to have their own bill, but that should speak to you… something’s wrong. Making it so it’s possible to actually finish would be nice.
Two: I don’t know if it was this year, or if it’s been like this, but the T-Chart in Mr. Ogden’s class I found really helpful to find holes in bill research and helped me researched what I needed to. However, we were assigned in the day before Model Assembly started. I really think it would be a nice improvement if it was introduced WAY earlier in the six week process.
Three: The way the groups were set up was kind of retarded. A little ten-question survey to determine who you’re stuck with for six weeks in a group? I believe there should be a bit more thought put into this, and sorry if this sounds like a blind suggestion, because I can’t think of what would help, but in my opinion it was kind of retarded that it worked out like that.
Four: For like the first four weeks of model assembly, it kind of seemed like we really didn’t know what we were doing. Mrs. Ortega told us that the first year she came here she totally didn’t understand model assembly until the final day. And after the first party platform, I can see what she meant; it made more sense after that. I think if it was explained more in the beginning it would be easier for students to be able to connect and understand.
Five: During the week of actually assembling… a lot of people started to just to vote retardedly, whether it be “Democrats suck” or their personal opinions on the issues. ‘Twould’ve been nice if the committees were like reminded that they are supposed to vote like their PARTY. Else there’s really no point of separating the class into democrats/republicans, right? Would’ve been nice if this was enforced… [and no, I don't believe an issue like this should be left up to the chairs/whips to enforce. The Republican side demonstrated on Friday how much the party leaders really have. And it would be unfair because what if one side has a stronger leader than the other? Kind of like this year...]
That’s all I can think of now…
And Mr. Purther: 11 hours of simulation? 8:00 to 12:38… taking out breaks and stuff… so that’s about 4 hours a day. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday… four hours each… that’s 16 hours right there. Last day 8:30ish to 3:00… take out lunch… 6 hours. How did you get 11? What didn’t you count? [Sorry it sounds mean, but I actually want to know]
I actually liked Model Assembly. More the last 4 days though, because in the beginning it seemed like it would be kinda boring. One thing I think someone needs is patience like Jonathan mentioned. And also respect, don’t let anything personal, or at least don’t make it obvious in your statements, because if something is going to be beneficial, but you don’t like or are frustrated with the person who is the bill sponsor, you won’t end up doing what’s only going to help out more in the end. Also respect in your points, if you’re only asking questions to talk, but you’re making points and questions that are irrelevant or were answered previously you’re making yourself look stupid. So to the class of ’09, I say it’s important to have patience; and also respect, but still be able to stand up and debate and argue for your bill, just in all due respect.
Positive experiences? I really liked Gabi Martinez’s speeches, and also Chelseas. They were straight to the point and they both sounded really intelligant and knew what they were talking about.
As for improvements, make the final research check BEFORE the 4 day simulation. Because it’s pointless, and feels like a waste to be doing it AFTER the project is over, and there’s no need to do more research on it if you should already know it and should have it for your speeches and points. I think it’ll get it out of the way, so once day 4 is over, there isn’t much more to do about the project except to get grades done.
And I think instead of having a grade for as many times someone speaks, it should be how well they speak, no matter how long or short, if it’s influencial or has an impact on something. It should be about the content of it, not how many times someone speeks, because that will only lead to useless points and repetitive questions that were already answered and make people look like they don’t know what they’re doing.
Model assmebly wasnt at all what i thought it would be. It was actually quit interesting. I liked how many people got so envloved and so seroius, it just made model asembly more fun and interesting. There were also so many good speeches and good arguments. I liked how my party which was the democrats side got together and talked about the issues and how to vote together. Some of the bills were really interesting and others were kind of pointless and during the process of the 4 days many people would ask the same questions about the bills, even if the answers were right there but even though that happened we still all came together as a whole towards the end and actually passes a couple bills. i learned alot from model assembly, before i really never cared that much for the government. But now i see it through a different perspective. I see how hard democrats and republicans work to keep there bills alive and hope that they will pass.
i suggest for the class of 09 to research and research like crazy on there bills. at first you might think you have enough research but towards they end you will find that its not even close. I also recommend to have patience and take it seroius but have fun at the same time. Speak as much as you can, debate on it, ask really important Questions and pay attention. Also to take it easy and not to over stress yourself or maybe over think some of the speeches. I was stressing alot over my speeches but i told myself to relax and just go with the flow and my speeches came out better than i expected. so over all i think model assembly was a good expierence.
Well i enjoyed it all in all. Some of the positive things I saw was that this brought a lot of students to learn more about different situations wheter it was their bill or not and research it more, making us learn more about the subjects. Also it gave us a feel of what politicians really do and gave us the opportunity to see if that is an option of a career path we may choose for ourselves or not.
What I would suggest for next year is giving the opportunity for every bill to b discussed throughout all the committees even if you do have to add a day, because those could be bills that could have been passed at model assembly. Also to encourage and engrave it in the minds of the students that it isn’t so much democrats vs. republicans. To focus on what would be best in the terms of the bill for the party. Basically don’t just vote on something because someone from your party tells you to.
First of all, just like the majority of the senior class I initially thought that Model Assembly was a complete waste of time. There are many experiences that stand out to me when I look back and reflect on the 4 day simulation of Model Assembly.
One thing that sticks out from day 1 is the argument between Cynthia and Melanie over which group should be on the agenda first for the next day, mine or C5′s. That was because our bills were so identical and it was obvious that whoever went first would probably get their bill passed. And Melanie was arguing on behalf of my group because we had a simple request to go first. And Cynthia kept saying they had the majority and they should go first. But then Melanie said that she was put in the position of being the Minority Chair so that the minority party, which was the republicans, would have an actual shot at getting their bills passed. But in the end, my group ended up going before C5and it was all good. Then on day 2 I specifically remember that in the Crime Committee, the Democrats had clear majority, 13 to the Republicans 11. And the majority was 13 and a bill needed a smile majority to pass. So as you can see, the Democrats had complete power, if all of them voted one way, they got what they wanted. This is exactly why we Republicans had to join together and try to make all of our votes count. So in the end, all four Democrat bills ended up passing and only 1 Republican bill passed, and luckily it was mine! We thankfully received 3 votes from the democrats and all 11 of the republican votes! I don’t really remember anything specific from day 3. The only thing I can think of is that it was extremely boring and just dragged along the whole day because we all basically knew what all the bills were about. The most interesting day of the Model Assembly simulation was definitely day 4. This is because it was very funny right off the bat when Silky motioned that the abortion bill was unconstitutional and needed 70 votes to be declared unconstitutional and it received exactly 70. Another experience I remember was when Irene, Susie, Briana B., and Michelle’s bill about giving children from low income families the option of receiving either a free or reduced priced breakfast in the mornings. So many people were asking the most ridiculous and irrelevant questions! Such as, “Is the fruit going to be fresh or from the can?” I mean come on people! Think before you speak! And don’t ask questions that are so thoughtless and a complete waste of everyone’s time.
Lastly, there are a few improvements that can be made so that the Class of 2009 has a smoother Model Assembly. First of all, it would be a great idea if you did the research check before the last day because day 4 is supposed to be the last day of Model Assembly, but in reality it isn’t because on the following Monday you have to turn in 16 sources which all have to be highlighted and margin noted. And it’s a hassle having to do all of that over the weekend! So yea, just make the final research check before! And also you should dock people’s grades when they ask idiotic questions so they can just get some points next to their names. It’s either that or grade people on the actual content of their speeches and questions. So if the senior team really wants to improve Model Assembly for next year, you guys should listen to what I said.
11 hours: I added Day 3 & 4 (roughly). I was only adding the time you four managed the process together. However, if you include Day 1 & 2, it would many more hours.
So far, there has been some good ideas (and some consistency on how to improve it, which is good). We will look at each one.
In my personal opinion I thought model assembly was really boring at first. I couldnt face the idea that we were going to be basically talking about the sama things for like 4 days straight. I thought it was going to be really boring. Well i have to admit that the first day went by really slow but it was really fun. The only day that i really didnt like was the fourth and the last day because in the fourth day was when all the democrats and republicans were in their own little place, but still their was a lot of democrats and i didnt really get the chance to ask that many questions. because all the questions that i had in mind obviously someone else already had them in mind too and that is when they said them before i could even get up to say it. I really didnt like the last day because that was when all the democrats and republicans were together and i really didnt have any effective questions because all of the questions i had, had been answered before. I really didnt want to get up and ask a question just to get a point eventhought that question was already asked. after all everything was great it was so much fun, i think class of 09 will really enjoy it. Well for class of 09 i suggest they do a lot of research and know their facts really well or else it is going to be really obvious that they dont know their material that well. I also suggest that they dont just vote for their parties bills only because they want the democrats to have more bills passed or vise versa. I think that they should vote for what they think is right and what will make a difference for them. A lot of things stood out for me especially the speeches we had to do for the opposing bills in order to kill them. The whole model assembly process was so much fun i really enjoyed it, im pretty sure class of 09 will enjoy it as well.
Ok so model assembly, I can guarantee that everyone knew my opinion of model assembly; I thought it was a complete waste of time and was going to be boring and long and stupid and you know, just a complete waste of my time. I have no patience what-so-ever so this may have been boring to me because of all the time we hade to take out because of this? I dunno, maybe? Turns out, yet again I was right, it was long, boring, and to me a waste of time.
Yea, so tell me what is the liklihood of any of us being state legislators?
Any answeres?? Anyone??
Um, yea I thought so. And also when is anyone ever in my whole life going to ask me, what are energy efficiency standards in Schools? or How much do schools use on electricity each year?
Im pretty sure no one is going to ask me that, ever in my life, seriously.
I understand the purpose of model assembly, its just that myself I don`t appreciate it, because I rather be doing other things with my time, that actually pertain to what I am going to do down the road, you know?
[[1]] Humm, as for the class of 09` be more open minded, I wasn`t so I hated it; just learn to liek your topic even if you really don`t. Do all the reasearch to draw support to your bills, and be elaborate on your answers so that people don`t have to ask a whole bunch of questions on your bill. Be elaborate, because the more elaborate you are on your information, the less questions peopel will ask, and the less questions people ask may help you get your bill passed because if you are very detaild, people will know you understand your stuff.
[[2]] I couldn’t believe how many people were into the whole model assembly, how people argued and were all into this. Positive for me was that I learned i coudl argue and defend my points with information I had found. Also I learned that I could be an effective team member and contribute a great deal to my group. For example I helped a great deal with the T-Chart I was very proud of this. For example Chelsea was grilling one team on their bil, and you could tell that she was into the model assembly thing.
[[3]] Improvements, I think everythign went good except the final when we went to the est Co Chaimbers. There were to many bills, and even from the start we knew we would not get through all of them. Throughout the 4 day simulation, we should have had a set limit of bills we would take to the chaimbers, and from there elimit all the bad bills until we reach the limit desired. The chair was good, but I blame them, instead of them hitting the gavel on the table trying to be “powerful” they shopuld have made a plan to stop peopel from asking repetative questions. There shoudl have been a set number of points and motions, because the republicians jst said stuff just so they could have points, they were annoying.
I ended up with a CR for the last simulation, which I think was wack, when in fact I was going to talk but because of stupid republicians and their questions, I was unable to. And overall my model assembly grade was an AP, though I hated model assembly I did what I was supposed to do, and STILL came out with an AP. wtheck???
WACKK!
So weee, 2 thumbs down for model assembly, for Ja`lisa = D
peace
stop stealing my yo- yo !
i suggest that the class of 09 have more cooperation with one another, and try to get along with each other instead of constantly trying to kill each others bills. a lot like how it went for us. it is suppose to be a simulation for what republicans and democrats should be, but if you could help a brotha out you know, it would make the difference in a grade, but with a model assembly like that it would be very dull, and not as exciting as the class of 08 was.
i learned that bullshit questions get people nowhere, and if you know the answer to a question don’t ask it. unless it makes the opposing side look stupid. a lot how we kept asking the same repetitive questions not me specifically but certain individuals.
if you were to add another component i would say add something in which they need to need to raise some type of funds for there bill, and for each dollar that they raised it would be equivalent to sometime of money, 1=1000$ or something of that sort. then have the one that raises the most money have an ae, p , ap etc. then the money gets sent to some type of charity or the winner half the money, then the 2nd and 3rd get the others half of that half.
At first, I hated this project. But in the end, I actually enjoyed it. I liked learning about different problems in California and trying to create solutions for them. I think that the best way to pass a bill is by compromising. I think that the class of 09 should make sure that they try to compromise when discussing their bills. I one party really wants some of thier bills passed, then they should show the other party that they also care about their issues too. If both parties only want to help themselves, then nothing will get done. An example of this is what happened on the 4th day. At the begining of day 4, both parties only wanted their bills to pass and because of that, we wasted a lot of time and were not about to get through all of the bills on the agenda. After the Democrats decided to pass a Republican bill, we were able to compromise and we finally started passing more bills. The thing that stood out in my mind during day 4 was how all the members of the party came together and worked as one. For a while, each comittee group in the parties were seperate and didn’t really work together. During day 4, there was a motion to caucus for 10 mins. and in the Democrat room, there was a lot a coopperation. We all came together and made decisions as a group on what we were going to do to get bills passed. I thought that was really cool. The only thing I would add to the project would a research check before the 4th day. It didn’t make sense to me that we had the final research check after the project was over. Some people did research the day before it was due, and that kind of defeated the purpose of the research.
Now i understand why legislative process in California take forever and they get little work done. The sides pick and the dislike of other people in groups got in the way of passing a bill and little stupid stuff. As well as the the money issue because if a bill that is need and befit California was killed because of the price, which sucked for the people in that group. Luckily i was in Buddy’s group and everyone liked ours.
For the the class of 09 i would recommend that the research sub-topics as well, and try to think head of topics that you may be against and try to kill them in 3rd day if possible because the more bill you kill the more money and time there is for yours. Also try to be cool with everybody because the more you are like by people the more likely it is to pass. sorry rat face…LOL J/K
The second day stands out for me because of the speech that i had to give and i was very nervous and was the best speech i wrote because i research for 4 hours to understand climate change and how anything is delicate interconnected, the atmosphere, sea and the difference between now and the the last ice age was only 4-5 C.
The overall i love it but i suggest that more time is give to write speech and explain more. But you were right in the end it all make sense in the end….i heart the way we had to talk too.
i believe that you need to add more to the assembly. There should be a grade incentive in getting your bill passed. this would spark the battle that all of you teachers want so bad. it would make the students want to kill each other. also it would make everybody take voting for chair seriously. im not saying fail them if it dosent pass the final day but i am saying make it worth extra points for any non-chair groups bill to pass.
If you understand the laws of our country then you can make a law that would not be a set back in its early stages because of minor mistakes. If you understand the complete process of what a law undergoes to get passed, your law will stand a greater chance of being passed and enforced. Model Assembly helped us understand our government and how our nation works because of our existing laws. I can now say that I understand politics a bit more than before Model Assembly. As for the class of ´09, I suggest there be more research checks so that they can be better prepared for the final day of model assembly. That way when their bill gets attacked they will know their information enough to be able to back up their opinions and statements. I also suggest there be more speeches, by making the 4 min. pros and cons 2 min. speeches. That way more people get to speak. Also not to grade on how many times you speak but by what you say. Many people would just ask the same questions over and over or useless questions that the answers were already in the bill’s summary. Because of this it just made people loose focus and not want to get into the debates.
Question 2:
Going through the fourth day of Model Assembly was a little stressful but I thought it was awesome for the chairs to state what bills can pass, see students give their Points of Information, and Motions, and watch the Assembly all come together. But when we got to the West Covina Chambers, I thought that it was amazing to be in a actual room where laws and bills are passed. Not only that but it was also great to hear the speeches, see the chairs get everyone in order, and just seeing the whole process fall into place as we went along. And lastly listening to different opinions everyone had about each bill, and the debates that occurred. They got intense!
Question 3:
One thing I suggest is that everything is a little bit more organized, because I found that anytime we had our party meetings we would spend to much time on one bill and not specifying how long each bill should be discussed. And also specifying when speeches are due way before the actual assembly meeting, because the chairs somewhat just sprung the speeches on us making some write them at the last minute. In other words, give more time for that to be completed.
If there is an additional component added to the task packet, I would say add one about Robert’s Rules of Order. Such as giving each group a certain rule have them study it and give a lesson about their rule, so that everyone can have a better understanding of them all. And also so that they do well on the test! For example, the City of Tustin gets the rule of Motioning to the Previous Question, so they study the rule and give a brief lesson on how to Motion to the Previous Question, and what is excepted of the motion.
Model Assembly was a hard task but we all made it through the speeches, debates, and our biggest goal, to get our bills passed. I learned a lot from this experience.
Day Two of the model assembly was nothing if not awesome. Our bill passed, there was some good discussion, and Chelsea absolutely PWNED E4. If it wasn’t for the fact that we had agreed to pass all of the remaining energy bills earlier, I’m sure that it wouldn’t have even gotten close to passing. Day 1 was all right, too.
Day 3 sucked for me, everyone who was in the Democrats’ room knows why. To be honest, the caucus seemed to be completely frivolous. Discussing party strategy is good and all, but not much of that happened. We just took huge dumps on all of the bills, except for some of the Democrat ones.
Day 4 had its ups and downs. Actually, scratch that. It was more like a bowl. It started off great with the abortion bill getting killed. When it didn’t look like Silky’s objection to consideration was going to pass, I could feel the hatred coming from my party. If the Chair votes weren’t counted, the beatdown would have been epic.
After that, things went downhill. Debating the day care bill shouldn’t have taken an hour. None of those bills should have taken an hour. Especially the goddamned breakfast bill. I think Gabi said it best, why was breakfast more controversial than abortion? Thank God Buddy’s bill got moved up so that the Assembly could end on a good note.
People were being dilatory during the breakfast bill. I know it, everyone knows it. After maybe 10 minutes, the “discussion” came down to the same five or so people asking the same three questions. People who should have been labeled dilatory were allowed to make points that had already been answered multiple times. Not cool. A half hour in, I was tempted to send up a motion to suspend the rule that allowed Republicans to make points. Another ten minutes, and I replaced “Republicans” with one person’s name. It should be pretty obvious whose name it was.
I like the idea of having an extra research check before day 4. I think the schedule Purther posted earlier would be perfect. Hopefully, it would encourage people to actually get educated on the bills they’re opposing and not make dilatory points.
Model assemble was very hectic for me. There was always so much going on, somethimes it was hard to keep up with it all. For the class of 09′ make sure you always keep up and dont let your self fall behind. It is always very helpful to be prepared. There is no room for BSing in model assembly.
It is obvious when you do.
If you want to ensure your bill to pass keep it simple and neutral. Dont pick a really controversial bill. It will only cause a lot of fighting between partys. Another this is, dont choose a really expensive bill and speak up. In general debate you have to speak up and dont be afraid to say something. If you are your just going to get trampled and end up failing. That was the worst part of it all for me.
Model assembly was a good way to know how real bills get passed and the process they have to go through. This project taught me a lot and now I know I dont want to go into politics.
The model assemble stood out to me bu just showing as a whole picture how hard it can be to pass a bill. To insert freedom into the goverment, insert power and justice. There were times when you find yourself voting as a whole and others were at least i felt and agreeded upon with the other party. I vote on there bill and your party is in disapointment. With inthink politicians and assemble members have a very tough job.It was cool though when all the democrats came as one and talked about all the nonsense and stettled as one on how the rest of the model assemble should run. (that was day four)
i feel that a lot of stree when into certain parts of the whole six week model assemble deal. I think for next year students you should tell them, “look, once you decide on your bill, don’t look at it like some piece of paper with importance on it, but that it is something you should look at in terms of fighting for your life. Maybe then, it will get more peole to want to study what they have and have good debates for what they are standing for.
An idea too may be that because time seems not to be on our side on the last day, and it seems that, many bills fail to pass due to time, i think model assemble should start on moday and then on thursady have the reasherch cheek in the morning and spend the remainder of time as if they were at the chambers, then on friday whatever bills are left, which will probable be less will contine on and seen to be passed or killed. wiht this i think more people will be able to say pros, and cons, Wiht points i feel that there should be some relevent ponits that are not repeted or meaningless. This way i think that they can get more into the bill, and if it takes an hour or and an hour in a half there will still be time. Hopefully.
It was an experience, a long one, but i learned to really be certain in what i am saying in a speach, be prepared, motivating and expect anything to be thrown your way.
i think the best way to understand the legislative process is to watch actual legislatures trying to pass a bill. I think that the class of ’09 should make sure that they find a wide variety of research and try not to see things one sided. Its easier to be prepared for an argument when your able to see the perspective of the people who might not agree with you.
I think the experiences that stood out the most to me, was having to persuade people to agree with you. The speeches gave an opportunity to be creative in the way we chose to word our sentences. We could hint things and make counterarguments seem ridiculous in order to get them voted down.
I think that getting dressed up to do something that wasn’t real was kind of stupid. Maybe next time the whole thing should just be held at school at ERSA major or something. If there was an additional component it’d probably be a mess. If anything, the research part shouldn’t be so strict. People should be researching on their own anyway if there planning on getting any of the work done.
p.s i hated it
As for suggestions, I would definitely reccomend that at least on the last day, that there be a time limit. We couldnt even get to a third of the bills! It was super irritating and stupid that each bill was seriously taking about an hour (with the exception of one if i remember correctly). Also, if there were some sort of penalty for asking obviously stupid and pointless questions, I think it would go much faster as well, because way too many people were doing that and it made me want to pound some of them into the floor to shut up. >:O As for another component, I think it would be good if we had some sort of review of our final speeches, because on that last day, not all of the people who were assigned speeches were present, No offense. So I think it’d be goo to have back up ones as well.
As for something positive…that’s kind of a hard one, just because people being stupid is what comes up first in my mind before anything about this whole project, so it’s kinda hard to remember…I guess I would have to say when we were given the opportunity to make a speech that last day even if we weren’t on the schedule for ‘em, because some of those speeches that were made that weren’t asigned were very good arguments.
i suggest that the clas of ’09 be more cooperative instead of passing around little notes saying dont vote for the other side. Also dont ask so many questions that the answers are on the bill summary or are obvious. This will probably get more bills to be passed and less frustration from both sides.
I learned from model assembly that if you have something to say, speak up because no one is going to ask you if you would like to say something. At the beginning i was shy to say anything but as time went on i began to get more comfortable. Expect on day 4 when people were just asking stupid questions just to get points.
All i wanna say is that i was 100% against my effing Bill, and still faught for that mother effer… that was hard…but fun..i laughed at myself….
okay, anyway lol
i thought odel assembly was pointless in the beginning, but maybe that’s just cause giving purther a hard time is my favorite thing to do… but in the end i had a LOTTTT of fun, especially writing y speech against sams bill, cause it sucked… i didn’t get to give it, which sucked also!but……
Q2)
but some positive stuff that really stood out was Raul especially…i didn’t know he was so talented…or knew anything about politics…(i knew he was smart though..ahaha) also, i think that MA did a good job at showing us how things in real life works. Purther told me and a few people about how the real world is this and that and i walked away and said “yeah…righhhttt” (no really, i said that!) then in the end i realized he was actually right…without sarcasm! i’m sure everyone felt smart saying “point of information”…i know i did … i also found things i was passionate for, and really really wanted to argue against, but i couldn’t cause i know i would have gotten a littttle too personal and i didn’t want to make people feel condemned…cause i’m that evil. but i did see that with other people who had passion for their bills and such, really got into it. and i’m sure a lot of us realized some stuff about themselves that they didn’t know before…like chris, he learned that shaving his………..nevermind…
Q3) Though purther did give that speech on “real life stuff”…i don’t think Abortion or gay marriage, and things like that should have been talked about…and i think that most definitely, next year, anything that can or does relate to morals, or religion or anything of the sort, shouldn’t be allowed to be discussed again, yes it is real life, but in SCHOOL it should not be allowed…gang violence is real life but it’s not allowed in schools…it got extremely too personal…i was called a stupid Christian…ahahahah…I LOVE JESUS!!! but especially in the abortion debate, i said not one word, and only voted…and still get called a name..wtf is that about anyway??? we’re kids and we dont’ know when to shut up but it WAS taken way too far. and shouldn’t be allowed next year.
and if there were any kind of project that the class of 09 should do,i think it should be a mix of all of the previous projects (EXCPT FOR SOPHOMORE YEAR) put together. no i’m kidding. that’s “GAY”…(sorry, i had to)
but i do think that they should do a project on economy…everyone is in a group, but they’re supposed to be a family, with a certain income…and certain circumstances, and the group has to learn how to balance checks, budget their money, and still be able to supply for the whole family…SOMETHING like that…why? because i-poly has never taught us those kind of things and as soon as we’re done with highschool, we’re already expected to know how to do it…yeah we learned it in the 4th grade, but i don’t remember any of that crap and theres nothing wrong with refreshing it all…right??
maybe it’s a dumb idea but i think it’s a project that would REALLY REALLY be useful, and would really teach us something…and be fun at the same time…
oh and i know i don’t have to answer all three but for question one
the best way to get a bill passed is to not pick a stupid one that you know people will hate, but you think you can argue good enough to get passed…cause believe me…you’re not that good!!! if you really want it to pass, chose a passable bill…something you know you can handle. something you don’t mind working with or arguing for and something you can actually do research on…
that is all.
and who the heck is clay?
Oh my god, model assembly, what to say about it. It was totally amazing, I loved every aspect of it. From the start to be put in the group at random, but based on your political views, smart. Then to become delegates of a city, and part of a comity, genius. Then we get to make or pick a bill. If we have the brains and guts, including luck, our bill can make it all the way to the top and either pass or be destroyed. It really is fascinating to do things as the real people who make our laws do it. Having a perspective in that, we can understand how our country is run. As well as know what tough decisions our leaders have to do, just as we had tough decisions. If someone wanted to become a city delegate, or go up the political ladder, they already have the heads up in how to do it. Its a good project but….
Its not for me, I found it enormously boring. I bet you that our own politicians find it boring, you can see it in their faces in c-spen. God, I would die if i would have to do it again. Going back to this though good project senior team… Honestly!
Model assembly wasn’t too bad, it was alright. Throughout the four-day simulation it was cool to see just how much interest people had in this. Some people weren’t too thrilled but in my opinion I think that overall, a lot of people did a good job.
To get bills passed, I think the most important thing is to work together. If you have two sides completely against each other then not much will be accomplished. Another important thing to consider is the amount of time that is being spent trying to pass the bill during speeches, debates, etc. For some of the bills we went over, there was a ridiculous amount of time spent and as a result of that, not many bills were passed.
This project has been a great learning experience for those who don’t know much about the government and for those who aren’t aware of what’s going on around them in the world today. The only thing that sucked was that the whole thing was repetitive. By the time we got to the last day of model assembly I didn’t have many questions to ask because we had already gone through most of the information in the days prior to.
Now that I know what it takes in order to pass these bills I don’t think I would want to get into politics.
(1) i dont really understand the question but im going on what i think its saying. i think that the ’09 should be direct with their speaches, and to have as many convincing facts as possible. i cant give any real helpful advice, not really knowing what they would lack in this, so i think that its more of just an experiencing thing. where you would know what to do to fix it after you experience it. all i would suggest to the ’09ers is to just do your best, because thats all you really can do to try and be prepared for anything.
it really does end up being a real good learning experience on what it takes to go through something like this.
(2) the only thing that i could really say that was a part that prepared me for the final day was during the time when we broke up in our topics and debated both dem and reps. i thinik that that was the best experience in this simulation. with everyone explaining what they were all trying to get through to the legislation. it brought me a couple of steps closer to figuring out why and how our legislation works. i cant really say that it is something that i would look into but it is now something that i wont hide from.
i really did enjoy this experience with the senior team and i thank them for alowing us to go through this experience with them.
i believe overall Model Assembly went really well. I actually enjoyed it, and i didnt think i would because I’m not the type of person to enjoy government.
And i didnt even know that Republicans passed around a note to not pass any Democrat bills, anyway.
Q2) Positive things… Different sides of people were brought out, and it was really interesting to see who was a good speaker and persuasive enough to get people to vote in favor of their bill. Robert M. surprised me with his speeches off the top of his head during day 2. I enjoyed leading the Republican Party, it was a lot more work than i thought it would be but it was also very informative.
Q3) Recommendations… I agree with the research check being before day four, i like the proposed change to the schedule. Also i think certain issues or bills shouldn’t be allowed, like abortion, its a national issue and its too close to peoples morals and beliefs, its too personal. Also the T-Charts would have been much more helpful if we did them earlier than we actually did.
i guess what i learn form this whole model assembly is to always be preper and to learn how to really project my voice. their is a lot of patience that i gain form this…just sitting in a room and disgusting the same things over and over again is very tough. at first i thought that this whole project was kind of stupid because we were not getting any where with the whole democrats not voting for the republicans and all but then Mr. Purther told me that this is what is going on in politics today its amazing how much patiences they have to go thought this a lot. for the class of “09 i suggest that they talk to republicans and try to find some kind of bond between them because that is the only way that they will have bills past, that is something our team did wrong we didn’t find a bond =[. i also suggest that everyone know there stuff really well because people ask many MANY questions. i really enjoyed it very much because we really got to see what the process is and how hard it is.
In my opinion, model assembly moved real quick for me. it seemed to me like we were either talkin about, or actually working on it every single day this past semester. IT was and interesting new experience, but, to me, it got kind of boring after day 2. it felt like we were discussing the same things about the same bills. most ppl dont even take advice. when we suggested something, they came back the next day with the same problems they had the day before. i was kinda disappointed at the fact that my bill died. i mean i must have done more work on this project than i ever have on any ipoly project. it hurt… oh well, thats what happens though right? in real legislation, really good bills get looked over and never pass, or even get introduced to the full committee. i really got a good understanding of how it works. i always thought that it was just a vote, but after this, i realized that its much more
First being introduced to the long and difficult process of passing legislations is confusing. However when given the chance to practice the process was very helpful. Like at first I was a little confused about all the different terminology that had to be used to address the chairs and all the Robert’s Rules of Order. Nevertheless when party platform came around everything made sense and things that seemed confusing were answered. Everyone usually gets a better understanding when we actually use different processes like Robert’s Rules of Order.
The whole model assembly experience did actually help me understand the whole process of what legislatures or lobbyists have to go through to actually pass legislation would be to attend a council meeting or something to that extent. I do not actually believe that many people would understand the process by just looking at it. Only because I learn or understand more when I actually have to use it like for instance the Robert’s rules. That is why I believe the most efficient way to get people to understand is to actually have to experience and participate in it. Additionally by just looking at a council meeting and the legislators go through the process of passing bills would just make it more confusing to me.
The advice I would give the next class is whether you are Republican or Democrat passed the other party’s bill so that they would do the same for you. Since at first Republicans did not want to pass any Democrats. However from that we learned we do need the other party to pass our bills. That is why some Democrats pushed a Republican bill to the front so they can pass it and then more Democrats bills could be passed.
I believe that when it comes to grading on the fourth day at West Covina they should be warned to only point out intelligent points or pro and con speeches. A reason we only got through seven bills was that people just said points so that they could get a higher grade. When in actuality the more intelligent and damaging to the other party the comment was the higher the points a person would receive. One thing that especially did not make sense was when people were asking so many questions on the breakfast bill. Additionally most of these questions were repetitive, just asking the same question over and over or asking a question that did not at all relate to the bill. Like for instance many people were trying to bring up points but were just what if questions and not based on any facts. Basically the next class should be able to understand that is not about how many times you talk but how intelligent your question or pro or con speech is.
But don’t get me wrong a lot of people did make intelligent points when they talked and that was so smart when Silky hurried up and put the abortion bill off the agenda. So there were people who did a good job when they talked but the majority of people talking were not.
I thought that model assembly was a cool experience. It shows that people in DC and sacramento have to do day in and day out. I thought that we would be more productive come day 4 but o well. I liked how it was all summed up, as purther contiuned to state it will all make sence come day 4, and guess what, it did. i would recommend that they somehow spot those people that state stupid points just to get their name on the agenda. And prehaps giving everyone the T-charts of the bills which are going to be discussed day4. However those are the only things that i would think needed to be fixed. it was a fun experince, one i will never forget.
For me Model Assembly was an intriguing experience. It was extremely challenging for everyone involved, and created a tense and cuthroat atmosphere. I think that it worked particularly well for the class of 08 because as a whole we are extremely opinionated, and model assembly offered all of us another opportunity to argue with each other in a new and difficult form.
I think something that was particularly effective were the committee days before the full simulation. It was during this day that many bills were taken care of by being removed or improved. It was a terrific opportunity to rid ourselves of many unnecessary bills and to weed out those who were unprepared. Although this was the day in which my bill died I still think that it was a vital day and period for the whole model assembly.
One thing that I think should be made a new component, is something that has to do with how much of the budget each groups bill will cost. I think it is very important for each group to be forced to research how much their plans will cost so that they will be able to justify the amount of spending needed because often times the cost of a bill is what led to its death. Something that I feel was made a little bit unclear to me was the concept and the purpose of the t-chart. I do understand that the t-chart is meant to show exactly where all of the information used came from, but i realized that for the model assembly it wasn’t used very often. There were few occassions where people did mention mistakes on the t-charts but most people were able to weasel around answering the question directly. So I do question whether or not the t-charts really are needed. They would serve a good purpose but the majority of people dismiss these in their minds as methods of questioning.
Personally, I really loved the speeches for structured debate. Especially on the fourth day. These speeches allowed us all the opportunity to stand up out of the crowd and give a passionate speech about a certain topic. I was extremely impressed with every single speech given on the fourth day, I dont recall a single speech during structured debate that wasn’t given with passion nor do I recall hearing a single one where I told myself afterwards “that was a pointless speech”. I would like to commend everyone for stepping up and giving strong speeches making decisions difficult by bringing up strong points for both sides of every bill.
All in all, model assembly went much better than I expected and I enjoyed it more than I could have dreamed I would. For the class of 09, all I really can suggest is, bring your “A” game, and know your stuff or your gonna get killed (figuratively of course)
Modal assembly has been a fun and interesting project. It is an example of PBS at its prime. Overall I found it to be very fun and insightful.
The greatest experience I got from the project was a greater understanding of politics, and how cut throat they can be. Politics are supposed to be a matter for higher society however, it shows the most basic desire of man; survival of the fittest. I have great respect and admiration for political leaders after seeing how skillful and manipulative they must be to achieve their positions.
As great as the project was, there was one great problem. The fact that grades were based on participation had adverse repracutions by creating the very thing it was supposed to create. The point of basing grades on participation is to motivate students to actively engage in the lesson and learn. What happens in reality is it motivates students to only care about one thing, their grade. Because of this they will take part in voicing statements of ignorance. If students were to participate without being pressured to do so for a good grade, there would be better speeches, points, and an overall more efficient procedure.
Honestly, I enjoyed Model Assembly a lot more than I actually thought I would. There were many things to learn, but the best way to understand it was to experience it first hand. Once we went through the little “mini” model assembly, the party platform before the real thing, it was easy to understand what was happening and what to do in certain situations. Situations such as how to ask questions about what a delegate mentioned or if the rules weren’t being followed. It was fun debating over bills and trying to get yours as well as your party’s bills passed and approved, all while trying to kill the opposite party’s bills. This was where I had the most fun. During day 2 I believe of model assembly, even though Democrats won minority, the only family bills that were approved that day were Republican bills. Almost every Republican family bill passed, leaving zero democrat bills put on the platform. Even though this whole ordeal was hard to comprehend at first, I believe that it was the most effective way to fully grasp how bills are passed. It was a MUCH better way of understanding this process than say reading it out of a book. Even though I do not plan to make a career out of politics, just in case, if I ever needed this information in the future, I’m glad that I went though this experience and learned just HOW hard it is for bills to get passed.
One major thing that I would suggest to the class of 09 is to do research and completely understand your bill to the T. You will need to fully understand your bill, and it would be GREAT if you find and keep every single piece of information about your bill that you could possibly think of. Questions about facts pertaining to your bill will be asked and you could throw your research into their face and prove to them that you did your research and you are right.
An improvement that I suggest be made to this project would be to have research checks about a group’s bill often, instead of just at the end. This would force an individual to have research before and during model assembly. This would better prepare the students about knowledge of their bill.
Model Assembly went pretty well. At first i didnt really understand the purpose of model assembly and quite frankly didnt really want to do it either, but after a while everyone started geting into it a lot more. Model Asseble showed us the process of what needs to be done on how to create a bill, make it into something both parties will except, and get it passed. The class of 09 should create more bills that both parties are okay with so that they will pass easier. The best thing i liked about model assembly is that it got mostly everyones opinion. However the things that i would change would be, make the final day longer or last more days, and also the grading. Being graded on how much we talked, i thought didnt seem very fair, because some people are just quite and dont feel comfortable speaking in front of crowds, while others like doing that kind of stuff. Model Assembly should be graded on how well you presented your speeches or how valid your questions were, instead of people just standing up asking dumb questions just so they could get on record that they did in fact talk. Other than that Model Assembly was pretty cool.
First off, Model Assembly was amazing at some points, and just busy work at others. When we got to compete and debate, it was really fun. But the research sucked. We needed it, but it sucked. All in all, this project just fits together. I enjoyed it.
2. The camaraderie was surprising. One person’s bill would get torn up, and a completely random person would be there to back them up.
3. I’d really try to stray away from big social issues, like abortion, simply because of the heated problems behind it. But at the same time thats what debates are meant for. I’d really like to see the scale of what a bill can do be limited, but that also takes away from the point and the experience.
Personally, I wouldn’t change anything major. Maybe just move up the research check, because its a waste to be doing your research the weekend after you finished your project. See how it doesn’t really help?
Model Assembly was something that i wasnt looking forward to. I don’t really like to get up in front of a bunch of people and talk, it’s just something i hate doing. But i could honestly say that after day two, things started to get interesting. I saw my own group members trying to fight for our bill to pass. My bill passed on day two of the simulation through a clever use of the rules. we put our bill on the table because not everybody agreed on it. Once we went through a few more bills, we came back to it. It was me Renee and Damian against just three republicans. we didnt think we had a chance but in the end after we motioned for the previous question, all our points convinced the other republicans. When our bill passed on day two, i started to see just how much fun the rest of the simulation was going to be. Asseble showed us the process of what needs to be done on how to create a bill, make it into something both parties will except, and get it passed. Model Assembly showed us the process that bills go through and what needs to be done on to create a bill. I beleive that in order to make the simulation more exciting, the senior team should show videos of what the model assembly looks like in real life. This would probably help the students get an idea of what exactly will be going on during the simuation and it will put them in the propper state of mind to approach the simulation with a more professional approach.
yea yea yea mr. purther this is late but yesteday i forgot i had other stuff on my mind… but today i am really really bored so im gonna do this. wait bored hmmm that reminds me of model asembly, like the actuall day because people like a person sitting write in front of me would put people to sleep with there nonsence. But positvie things about day four well there was some where you learned things you ddint know before, and things that are actually happening at this moment in the real world like annalises bags bill, this is happening now. Things like this taught me all of these bills were inportant and could really be used in our lives. Another great experienced is having to do 4 speeches this was great for the shy people. even though they or some didnt get to go uop at the begiining they stressed and stressed but buy time they saw all the other ones they calmed down, like me, i was all worried and i calmed down. Improvements, well give less speeches to each person then they feel they have to say them and some dont even make sence. Another improvement is to have it near the school they have Walnut city hall and Pomona, another can be tell the chair to limit the questions or have someone tell someone to send up a motion that can actualy work. Thats all i can think of.
Ok, lets see. Model Assembly. Let me just say it took me a really, really long time to actually like this project. No to say that it wasnt interesting.
I loved how Chelsea conned the abortion bill and how some one called in unconstitutional and got the bill killed. Even during the party platform did we have a fiery debate with that one.
The one thing that stands out in my mind are the first 2 days of simulation. We got to introduce and defend our bills. I used to think legislature just sat around making laws. I never thought of the debates and the research. Its not as easy as I thought it was. One also has to in a sense be strategic, the way the republicans were. Too bad our committe didnt realize that.
On suggestion for next year would be for the chair. PLEASE limit the amount of points or time for genereal debate. And stress the importance of the bill packets. Quite a few points would have been answered if people took the time to read over the bills. And dont let people make stupid points. Like “Will the food be fresh or canned?”
In the model assembly I really enjoyed the general debate. This really helped throughout the project. For example the third day in the simulation my group was drilled and there was some questions we couldn’t answer at that moment. Well we researched more on it and it greatly helped us on the final day. We were prepared for all of the questions. I think the whole way the general debate was set up was a great way to find out if the sponsors actually knew there stuff or were just bs ing. I do suggest that the way we are graded be a little different. It shouldn’t be based on the amount of times someone speaks but the significance of what they are saying. Many times people were standing up to talk just to get a better grade which I felt took away from the whole thing and made it longer than it had to be. I’m not going to lie going in I felt this was going to be a really boring project, and it was pretty boring, but not as bad as I thought it would be.
I have to say that in that through the very beginning of model assembly, I hated it. I just wasn’t taking to it. I advise the next class to not let that stop them. To make sure that no matter what, they do research and get involved in some way. Eventually you’ll see what its all about and that it really has a role in life. And is sort of actually kind of interesting and liberating in the sense that your given a chance to be heard.
I have had to personally go out and participate in actual city council meetings and so have seen for myself just what they do for the community. City council meetings bring the community together. They are for the improvement of the city and give the citizens a voice, the opportunity to make change.
I personally now see them differently. It is something everyone should participate in. I wish I would have gone to ours, but I learned the hard way, and I’m sort of glad I did. Because I now have a deeper appreciation for it and am able to grasp it for all it’s worth. I hadn’t grasped it really for the majority of the time up until having gone and seen them myself.
After going over this whole project, the only improvement I think can be made is on how we are graded for participation. I think it will be harder for students but grading us on what we say instead of how many times we speak is better for everyone. It’ll make model assembly go a lot smoother and may actually relieve some students who may not speak frequently but do speak well and contribute to the state of the bill.
The last day of model assembly really sucks, but it does the get the point across of how tedious the legislation process is in the U.S., yeah I know. But the days leading up to it are pretty great. A person whose performance that I would definitely like to commend is Andrew Laffin. In the energy committee he had fantastic speeches as well as interesting points if I remember correctly. I don’t know if it would have necessarily been appropriate in the actual assembly, but his speeches were entertaining as well as insightful. As most likely stated in all other blogs, we all got sucked in quite a bit. Bill’s that were haphazardly selected off the internet became the babies of city groups, and I felt like mostly all groups got along smoothly (I wouldn’t really know though because I didn’t have a group).
Maybe this can be explained to me, but a problem that I had with being a lobbyist was that I didn’t understand why we were chosen based on being the outliers. It’s almost like there were just extra democrats since based on the quiz three of us were the MOST liberal. I would think that since most lobbyists in the real world are contracted and must sway to the political leanings of whoevers paying and cater to both parties that it would be the middle people that would be best suited for the role. Since we choose our own group I understand that we could just choose a very radical group, but the group isn’t important throughout the project…
Even though I was confused by that, i really enjoyed being a lobbyist.
I think the components were fine and I thought the english class involvement in the project was wonderful. (of course the government involvement is solid as well). I was really confused about the math involvement though. The proofs were good, but the survey…it was such a small part of the project grade-wise and as high school students we don’t have the resources to conduct a reputable survey (as we thouroughly learned in math class), so I don’t know why we spent so much time on it. I think that could be shorter and less in depth to still serve the project while Ogden would be freed up to pursue different math aspects and many more of the reviews.
That’s what I think, sorry it’s late I needed a school break! happy new year
We will try putting middle of the road students as lobbyist next year.
I have seen grading comments about Task 7. The only day where how many times you talked resulted in a grade was the Party Platform: Practice Day.
How many times you talked also played a role in Day 3: the Party Caucus, but it was not the only factor.
With our notes and the timed sheets, we examined each student’s role over the four day process in order to give them an assessment.
In my opinion model assembly was really fun although i missed the third day. missing one of the days can really harm your grade so i really regret that because now im stuck having to redo that day. i have a few recommendations from experience those weeks that can maybe help somenone else next year.
First off i think that the chair should be stricter on people who were just wasting our time in questioning stupid questions that were obviously dilatory. Teachers should make it clear that we were not being graded on how much we spoke but graded on the content of the question and speeches. many students gave great speeches but as well many students kept asking questions that were discussed days before. Another recommendation i think is the research check and the six speeches that were due at the end of model assembly many of us were only given about 3 speeches so those other three i had no clue that they were due at the end of the day so maybe send an email out reminding students about the required assignments that are due within that day and week. other then this i really enjoyed model assembly and i absolutely had a great time and experienced something new and interesting.
Really put work into this project. That is the only way to get even just a “P,” but also to have fun and not become totally annoyed with this project. Find a bill you feel strongly about before deciding a solution/amendment, research the problem in depth, and then research possible solution, even research opposing arguments for the solution. This type of information is best received from forums that let’s real people involved in the problem give their opinions, thoughts, and solution on the matter. Even get statistics and credible sources. Hardcore evidence will persuade your classmates, democratic or republican to pass your bill. Make sure your information and research is all up to date because that can kill your bill automatically. Although you want to make your bill stance clearly your party, you also want to make your amendment important to each side and a subject that can be persuaded. (Subjects like abortion will always be 50/50 due to party stance.) One of the most important things is to make sure your bill doesn’t violate one of the Bill of rights or Amendments. If it may, find ways to interpret the law by using Supreme Court cases. Last but not least research as soon as possible other groups topics so you will have something worth arguing about with them. Same advice for researching for their topics as your own.
One thing that stands out most in this process is how hard it is to get people to see things the way you do. When talking on your bill it is a speech, a persuasive speech. Best tactic is to give real situation. Maybe one that plays an emotional card. You can’t just do the project how Mrs. Purther asks; you have to think outside the box to get what you have to done. Leave something to stick in your classmates mind. That will help to get yours to the top of the agenda, which is very important. Last ones easily die because there is no time to get to them. That’s why you really want someone in your group on chair.
The one thing I would improve on this project would be how much you have to talk and the regulations on that. There needs to be something that stops people from asking stupid, irrelevant, and repeat questions. I know we have to talk a lot but forcing others to just waste time on little petty things is so aggravating. There needs to be a way to only allow concrete questions or statements. That would make the whole Model Assembly way more enjoyable. So would explaining more of how things are suppose to go so we know the point of each day and am not trying to do other things such as argue the bill when we only need a stance for that day.
Some of the things that i really saw quite exciting was how people really started to get into it. They really seemed to understand their bills and know how to back them up. Many students really thought outside the box on how to get certain bills passed or crushed. For example, when a republican decieded to pass up a motion so that a republican bill could have a chance for debat. Also when many democrats started to vote on some republican bills to show that they had the democratic support, and get some bills passed. Overall day 4 of model assembly really came through and semed to be a new fun experience.
One thing that should be thought about is to create another component. This one would actually have a smaller simulation that would really push students to research their bills, and research bills they do not favor. This whole process would really give students a better understanding of the whole process that model assembly does. My personal experience would have to be that I really understood my bill right after the second simulation. My interest for the debat really grew and soon i found myself attacking other bills and becoming really familiar with Roberts Rules.
WEll model assembly was a great experience it helped me and i know many of us understand the whole process of passing bills. The project brought out the best in many of us. It sometimes turned into so much more than just the grade. some of us, well all the democrats, understood that on day for we should actually vote on the bills that we actually though were necessary. not like the republicans that decided to go straight against the democrats and vote as one to kill all the democratic bills. Even some bills that made total sense. for example my bill, it was reasonable and everyone benefited but no! there had to be 2 people to be exact that just wouldn’t let it go and admit that it was actually good. The wanted to prove us wrong but we had all the stuff the asked for. And after all the questions and answers they still weren’t satisfied. But after all our bill passed! but one thing that should be done, as mentioned by annalise, is shorten the math part of model assembly. we spend so much time on it that some of us where fed up with it. it seemed to drag on. at the end it all made sense but it was just a little to long. I also suggest to add a component, the component should include a research check. Because toward the end it just seemed to pile up.
Model Assembly was a very interesting project that no other school probably does not have a chance to do. The project helps you to understand how a bill is made and passed through the legislative process. By doing this whole project many of us should now know how to get legislation passed. I now understand that it takes a lot of hard work and patience to get a bill passes and you also have to know what you are talking. If you don’t know what you are taking about and so you will look like and idiot, therefore your bill would not pass. I suggest the class of 09 to not listen to what their friends think or if one of their bills does not get passes in the beginning to vote down the opposing parties bill because that will get you nowhere. During this simulation I got to see the different sides of people that I never knew could stand up for something they believe in . I would suggest to do more research checks, because I think that most of forgot to get the 4 audio-visuals until the very end, so you could probably do an addition research check before the final check.
I thought model assembly was okay. At first I thought model assembly was really going to suck and it was going to be really confusing but, it didn’t end up that way. I just got tired of repeating and repeating myself that by day 4 I was out of it. Passing a bill is such a hassle! What really bothered me is when people would ask the most unnecessary questions. However what I liked about model assembly is that now I finally get the whole process of passing the bill. I used to think that passing a bill was as easy as school house rock explained but, its not. There’s so much more that goes when passing a bill. First you have to write it, do research on it [a lot], know your research, and know the rules. I suggest to the class of 09 to get a bill that both parties would support and that doesn’t cost much. They should try and stay away from bills that are major issues like abortion. Also I suggest that the parties don’t go against each other, it would save them time. The thing that stood out the most for me on day four was, when the parties went against each other. The democrats even went against bills that were democratic bills. In the end I’m just glad that we passed bills once everyone stopped going against each other. As a CA legislator if we want a bill to pass we must really understand the process of passing a bill so that we know what going on. And when I say understand, I mean not only read and understand the process but also, sit there and watch before you actually attempt passing a bill.
To answer question one I think it has to do with a change in the way people thought about what passing a bill meant. Each different day of the simulation was meant to look at a bill differently. I think many people were confused on this fact. For the best example, when some of the first bills did not pass on the last day of simulation there was enough money to spend for each of the bills left. I was extremely disappointed that people spent much more time on these than necessary. We could have passed a lot of bills but delegates in each party did seem willingly to compromise. I think the class of 09′ has to think like a real legislature would and be much more willing to compromise. In a situation where so much more could have happened, more bills could have passed, many that had little fault, there is no excuse besides the unwillingness of each party.
To answer question two I think it is obvious what I feel is the most positive action of MA. I remember that we were really having a tough time voting any bills. I had personally told Jordan and Robert that either Republicans were going to start voting fairly or they were not going to get a single vote from a Democrat for the rest of the day. I believe it was Mike who cam up with the idea to move up a Republican to show that the Democrats were the ones that were going to compromise. I did not want to do this but I eventually agreed. So I feel that Mike, Judson, Ameen, and Jay had the most positive experience of the entire simulation that I saw.
I would personally like to thank all those who helped out during the 4 days.
Model Assembly was an interesting project. I did not quite get the concept up until the first Party Platform. Many people had the same feelings. But know i have a really good grasp on how bills are passed. Model assembly was a great way to test a students understanding of the concept.
A aspect positive about Model Assembly was that every student had an equal chance to participate. Not one person had an upper hand on the situation. Model Assembly forced people to speak more.
Another positive thing is that my bill was the first to pass in Committee. There where many bills prior to mine but mine passed with 91 votes.Something that I could say to do next year is to make sure that the research coming in has somthing to do with the title.Maby if there was some essay componant due once evry two weeks. Maby there needs to be an emphisis on teaching the students on what to look for in research. I was researching without realizing that I needed to mark it in my working bibliography. The next class should be informed so that there bills would be suitable for both parties. We didn’t pass the first few bills on the final day of Model Assembly because the parties were not cooperating. This will be a huge problem if it continues over to next year.
It was a crazy ride. I can truthfully say that I learned a lot about fighting for what you think is right. Another hugely positive thing for me, was the fact that it put new people out in the spot light. For instance, I can be really quiet and I think having a bill that I believed in really got me to speak up and defend what I thought was right or wrong. It helped I Poly kids become better writers, better speakers, and give them more confidence. It prepared us for similar debates that we will probably face in our future college years or in our careers. Model Assembly was the kind of push that many I Poly kids needed to do things and participate.
There were a few things that might have been improved on. I thought that there was a LOT of repetition. The third and the party platform were a lot alike. In many ways we were just introducing out bill for the fifth time and debating the exact same topics. I also thought that squishing all that activity into the 4th day was really hectic and confusing. We tended to run out of time on a lot of bills.
Over all, though, I think that Model Assembly went all right. It could defenitely use improvement. But it was kind of fun arguing and learning more about the state in general.
positive experience, well for me i thought that learning more about what the republicans and democrats do is pretty interesting. I never really cared about politics just because i never cared what happened. But during model assembly i noticed how much effort and work it takes to get bills through. So that people can get what they want. In the beginning of model assembly i thought it was ridiculous making us work so much for nothing. But at the end i learned something. Which was also that being able to come up with speeches to convince people to do something is really interesting.
What i suggest is probably give more time or probably find a place to go where its not hard to find , because for me and some other students that have told me was that it was very difficult to find and that they didn’t know where to park. So maybe you should decide and easier place. thats mainly everything that was wrong.
For me the most positive experience was the 2nd day when we had to speak in our committees to get our bills passed. My unfortunately failed, but I loved delivering my speech as to why gay marriage should be legalized because I believe it was a passionate, organized and well-written speech. Of course it was not passionate, organized or well-written enough to sway enough votes.
We were the first bill to go up, so that might have been apart of it, but I also think that same-sex marriage is an issue that many already have a stance on and one speech, not matter how good, can’t change people’s attitude on such a controversial topic. I did however get one vote that I didn’t even dream of getting and I won’t say names, but I was pleasantly surprised and returned the favor by voting for her bill. She was of course the ONLY bill I voted for that day because, I must admit, I was extremely bitter, which hurt a bill in my party at the end.
I had no problem with the sponsors or the idea of the bill, I just wanted to prove the point that a party needs to work together because at the end, passing bills boils down to “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”
This leads me to my advice for the upcoming seniors. Strategize before hand, making it clear which bills you will and will not vote for, instead of realizing it half-way through the committee day. Especially if you’re the MAJORITY! By planning it out, you avoid bitter people choosing not to vote (i.e. me) and create more leverage for your party on the final day.
Model assembly was a crazy experience. You had everyone attacking each other even when it wasn’t time to. I sincerely did not like this project. I think it needed to be way more organized by the teachers and I did not respect how certain chair members had to silence many people that had important opinions on certain bills but would let other people speak for a long period of time when they weren’t really saying anything resourceful, just trying to get a grade. Different strategies were a good thing, for example how we as republicans passed notes to each other to inform to not vote for any democratic bills so they would loose by majority. For improving model assembly I suggest that the teachers allow a certain time span for each bill for example see how much time there is available, see how many bills there are and equally divide the time so that each bill can be represented. This way the class 09 does not spend hours on one bill n seclude the other bills from having the opportunity to be discussed on the floor. To better understand the legislative process there should be more practices of how the actual model assembly is discussed. The class of 2009 should make sure that they have pinned down the weak member of the opposing side and make sure to ask that certain person the most challenging questions to sink the whole bill down. Also make a pack with friend in your side to sink down certain bills of the opposing side just to give your bill more opportunity. Although I did not like the model assembly experience I appreciate the knowledge I gained from being inside the Republican Party and seeing how the Democratic Party tried to sink us down. The cutthroat environment really makes you get into the mood of being an actual politician and shutting people bills down.
Model Assembly was alright it seemed drawn out and dull in the beginning. However, i think it was because that most people were figuring out how to use the rules properly and prepare for the big show on friday. The fourth day of model assembly was way better than all the previous days because we actually got to do the real thing and it was interesting to see all the different responses and opinions. What i recommend for the next set of students that do this is to come well prepared to defend every aspect on your bill. Also be sure to reseach other peoples bills because you want to know as much as possible when you are asking questions or attacking them. An improvement to model assembly would be the process in which it is run by, maybe there should be an extra day for like research or something. I don’t think that party platform was necessary in the simulation because it really didn’t affect anything.
i’m still not sure if i really did enjoy model assembly. there were somethings i thought seemed pointless and not structred properly but then there were times where i got really into it. i remember in like november, i was trying to explain the whole process to a co-worker and to me it didnt seem like a big deal but at the end, she was like, “WOAH! THAT SOUNDS HARD!” and i told her that it wasntand it was kind of tedious but it was whatever. i also remember explaining it to my dad one time and he was like, “I LOVE WHAT THIS SCHOOL TEACHES YOU GUYS! YOU GUYS KNOW SO MUCH MORE THAN MOST ADULTS!”. and after hearing it out loud and actually looking back on it, we did do a lot and SO MUCH more than any high school does. it was fun understanding the rules afterwards and using them during the actual simulation.
if there was anything to change, i think is to find a way not to make the first few months rather “pointless”. i know that it all makes sense in the end but find a way to apply all that other stuff in the beginning. and find a way so that our actual city matters because i was upland and i dont know when i ever used that except for the 1st project[the poster].
our bill was never presented so it never got to the last day which was kind of disspointing. but hearing everythig else was amazing because we all worked really hard to get what we believeed in passed and get others to think so too.
it was very i-poly of us.