FAQ

With Much Success!
The Civic Mirror has been used in courses with high-stakes standardized exams with lots of success. Before we outline how teachers in courses like these should use the program, view the following two videos for basic context:
* How Does the Civic Mirror Fit Into Classrooms?
* Teaching and Learning with the Civic Mirror

A few key points from the videos:

Planning and Integration
* The Civic Mirror does not replace traditional teaching and learning; it enhances it by providing students with an experience that helps them "get" what they're studying

* The Civic Mirror Events can be spread throughout a calendar to (1) coincide with relevant course readings, and (2) provide time for discussion, debate, and self-study.

In our Resources section there are several examples that show how the Civic Mirror can be integrated throughout large courses with high-stakes exams like AP U.S. Government & Politics. Some teachers, on the other hand, like using the Civic Mirror as a stand-alone unit, using a scope and sequence like the 5-week unit plan as a lesson guide.

Experience = Relevance = Worth Learning
Again, the Civic Mirror does not replace traditional teaching and learning. Students still need to read and work at understanding the course content. But because the Civic Mirror turns students into citizens who must survive in and mange their own country (with its own government, court system, economy, etc.), the course content becomes more interesting and relevant. This makes the material worth learning! And using the rewards and incentives the Civic Mirror provides amplify this effect.

Rewards, Incentives, and Reading Checks
By taking advantage of (1) the Civic Mirror's rewards and incentives and (2) our suggested open book reading check method (from the second video), teachers are finding (a) student buy-in is HUGE and (b) they don't have to spend as much time "covering" the material because their students are covering it on their own outside of class ... in preparation for the open-book, reward-linked reading checks!

This method of using the Civic Mirror in tandem with open book reading checks allows teachers to devote more class time to (1) reviewing and discussing the material at a higher level, and (2) the Civic Mirror.

Also, we would recommend teachers link Civic Mirror $$ or Points to effort-based assignments that help their students prepare for the standardized exams. For example, Regan Ross, the creator of the Civic Mirror education program, required his students complete this Vocabulary Assignment for every unit of study. He linked its completion to Civic Mirror $$ and Point-Steals, and even allowed his students to sell their vocab memory tricks to one another for CM $$. His last group of students scored 7% higher than the state/provincial average on the standardized exam.

Yes, so long as there are 5 or 6 students. While smaller classes won't experience 'representative government' with some student politicians representing all the other student citizens, the students in your small class will be involved in all of the political/legal processes.

Suggestions for Small Classes

1. Less Politicians. If you're running the U.S. Module, merge the two congressional houses into one senate, and explain to your students that the senators will assume the roles of both the House and the Senate. If your class is really small, you may want to have only 2 instead of 3 senators, with the President acting as a tie-breaker for votes. If you're running the Canadian module, decrease the House of Commons to 3 or 5, whichever size you think works better for your class.

2. Decrease Residence Hexes. When the Civic Mirror begins there are 11 residence hexes. After the Practice Run, change some of these residence hexes into wilderness hexes so that the supply isn't more than the demand (i.e. number of students). For example, if you have a class of 7 students, don't start the game with more than 7 residence hexes.

3. Less Energy/Industry (E/I) Units. Recall that every business or residence hex in the Civic Mirror requires an E/I unit to serve its purpose. If you get rid of some of the residence hexes, you may want to add a rule that would reduce the number of units an E/I hex produces to 10 or 11 (down from 15).  If you don't, students with some hidden agendas will have an unfair advantage. Because we don't have a 'unit destroyer' at this time, you'll have to enforce this (i.e., "Johnny, you cannot use more than 10 or 11 of the units your E/I hex produces or you will be fined $$ or WB Pts").

Hope these help!

CM Country Accounts
Because the Civic Mirror offers a class of students (and their teacher) the opportunity to become citizens living in a shared country, the cost is per class for Public Grade Schools, or per student for Tuition-Collecting Schools. If you would like an exact quote, we recommend you review this page and contact us. In the meantime, you can always get started with the 30-Day Free Trial.

CM Pioneer Program:
At this time we are offering Civic Mirror subscriptions at a price far below its educational value, but only for the first few hundred teachers to use it. The goal of the CM Pioneer Program is to help and reward the cutting-edge teachers, schools, and districts who are first to use the Civic Mirror, and to gain steam.

It's our hope to grandfather the CM Pioneers in at these prices for at least a couple years after the program ends. And we're showcasing these educators on the CM Pioneer Map which can be found in the "Learn More" section of this website, on the "Who's Using It?" page.

Civic Mirror Manuals
The Civic Mirror Manuals are essential for success with the program. As part of the CM Pioneer Program we are offering the first few hundred educators to use the program the option of using PDF Draft versions of the Student and Instructor's Manual for free. The other option is to purchase the Published Manuals which are much nicer and fully synchronized with one another. In the long run it's actually cheaper to purchase a class set or two of the re-issuable published Student Manuals (they're only $13.95 each), but, while we're running the CM Pioneer program, it makes sense for first-time educators to use the PDF Draft versions their first time.

Yes, absolutely. Students from different states and provinces talk about the Civic Mirror and "Real World" issues (i.e. politics, economics, law, business strategy, etc.) with another all the time. Not only is there a General Discussion space and a CM World Newsreel, but students can view the discussion forums of other simulated countries (i.e. classes of students) and post comments (that is, if the country allows 'foreigners' to post comments). There have been many lively discussions between students from all over the continent on weeknights and weekends.

Also note that we have built in measures to prevent students from using abusive language, and, if they try to, our profanity filter and "report abuse" features work to keep the online space fun, friendly, and safe.

Yes, each student will definitely need a student manual. The Student Manuals contain all the game rules, procedures, and strategy tips that will help them learn and succeed. As well, they contain all of the overviews and scripts for the student-led events, which are vital to running the Civic Mirror.

At this time, and as part of the the CM Pioneer program, we are offering educators free use of the PDF manual. The published manuals, however, are much nicer, fully synchronized with the published instructor's manual, and cheaper (in the long-run) than continually making copies of the draft manuals as they can be re-issued like any textbook. You can order them here.

Most of the Civic Mirror Events are held in the classroom and do not require a computer lab. Specifically, there are only two events that require the computer lab:

1. The CM Practice Run: this event occurs only once and it is the second pre-game event. Basically it's a practice version of the "Open Market" event.
2. The Open Market: this is the second event (of four) in every simulated year, and how often it occurs depends on how many simulated years the instructor chooses run.

That said, the online program is constantly being used by students outside of class time. Your students will be able to access the program to debate, discuss, and trade outside of class as much as they/you like. This serves the purpose of driving up excitement and anticipation for the next classroom event.

Note that it is helpful to have a computer projector for the in-class events so students can pull up the website to access items and information (e.g. legislation, economic info, a response to a discussion forum, etc.). For more information about the Civic Mirror Events, check that page in the "Learn More" section of this website.

Absolutely not. So long as you have access to the internet and internet browser (e.g. Internet Explorer, FireFox, Safari, etc), you're good to go. It's very low maintenance to run.

One day (hopefully soon) The Civic Mirror will have an International Play component, where two or more classrooms will be able to join together and create a Civic Mirror World. Countries would then be able to trade with one another, negotiate with one another, and even attack to conquer one another. In International Play, 3 events would be added to the existing Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, but I can’t tell you what they’ll be just yet. It’s my vision to see Civic Mirror classrooms from a variety of schools traveling to participate in International Civic Mirror Tournaments. Could you imagine 500 student at a convention center running around with laptops and Blackberries and iPhones working out domestic and international business, diplomatic, and humanitarian deals?

I really believe these Civic Mirror World Tournaments will be as – or more – exciting than they typical sports tournaments that get so much hype. That’s because everyone will be involved, everyone will be in the middle of high-intensity, high-tech negotiations. It’s going to be lots of fun, and the learning possibilities will be unbelievable.

One day, this will be the space for Civic Mirror Worlds, but for now, all we can do is play the game and spread the word so more and more people start using it in their schools and classrooms.