What Is? The Civic Mirror

The Civic Mirror

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What Is?The Civic Mirror

What kind of citizen will you become?

The Civic Mirror

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The Civic Mirror

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Civic Mirror Overview

THE CIVIC MIRROR STARTS WITH A

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Each student becomes a citizen who must provide for a

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…

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But …

Because there are not enough goods and services to go around, conflict arises as citizens compete to provide for their families.

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OK … so you might be thinking… • How does this work?• How do students live in a country?• How do they get what they need?• Does each student have his/her own country, does everyone share one?

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Every Civic Mirror country is a 36-Hex Map!

There exists both an economy & a natural environment.

A class of students lives in ONE country, and …

The actions of one affect all!

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The hex map serves as a “civic mirror.”

As students progress through the simulation, their hex map evolves to reflect their collective struggles, political debate, and individual ups & downs.

Each hex simulates something unique about society.

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All Hexes fall into 1 of 3 categories:

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A QUICK RECAP

Everyone lives in the same 36-hex country

There are Wilderness, Business, & Residence hexes

Everyone has a fictitious family that they need to provide for …

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A QUICK RECAP (cont’d)

Students who own hexes operate them as they like

And due to economic scarcities built into the game, some Families will suffer more than others

So ….

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Because everyone is affected by the decisions of the hex owners, conflict arises as citizens debate over how the owners should manage their property and assets.

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And to prevent their country from slipping into a CHAOTIC MESS, students must somehow

GOVERN themselves!

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So participants (students) are left to their own devices to provide for their fictitious families,

This creates ‘player stakes.’ These stakes motivate players to participate in the political, civic, and judicial events that occur in the classroom.

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And !!! Each participant is given a political, economic, and/or

ideological

Hidden Agenda.

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The whole scenario begs the participants to govern themselves and institute law and order.

They immediately begin asking questions like…

o “Can he do that to me?”o “Would I get in trouble if …?”o “Why doesn’t somebody stop her? Or at

least say something!?”o “Would I score points if taxes were raised?”

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Now that we understand how the scenario works and how it generates interest, let’s learn how it sets up classroom events that simulate the U.S. and/or Canadian system of government, law, and economics.

The Civic Mirror is played in rounds, called “Years.” And every country starts in the Year 2000.

Every Year is made up of 4 in-class events, called “Seasons.”

And instructors decide how many “Seasons” are played.

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Season 1 in the U.S. Module

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Season 1 in the U.S. Module

Simulated U.S. Govt. Event

WINTER

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Civic Mirror OverviewSeason 1 in the Canadian Module

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Simulated House of Commons

WINTER

Season 1 in the Canadian Module

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Season 2 in All Modules

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Season 3 in All ModulesTown Hall Set Up

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Season 4 in All ModulesNational Court Set-Up

FALL

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CIVICMIRROR.COM

CIVICMIRROR.COM also comes with Web 2.0 Tools that allow teachers and students to continue their learning and discussions and debate beyond the classroom walls.

• Online discussion forums• Wiki technology• Live chat room• CM Library (educators can share and collaborate on

teaching ideas)

• CM Mail (everyone has their own inbox for private messages)

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STUDENT REFLECTION

“I really learned a lot this term working with Civic Mirror. I liked how everyone had their own agendas and how we had to research the different forms of government so that we could accomplish them to the best of our ability. It was fun to try to find all the dictators and stop them. I also really liked how you had to learn to come together as a community and try to keep everyone alive, we had a lot of dead people after the first couple years. The trials and law making parts were a lot of fun and I really found them informational as I am thinking about a job in criminal justice next year. This made learning fun and I learned more in this class than any of my other classes this year.”~ M.B. Chemawa Indian School Senior

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More Info?

To order or ask about The Civic Mirror for your school,

visitwww.action-ed.com

http://www.action-ed.com/

What Is? The Civic Mirror

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