Honors and Standard: Reviewed Map Reading Skills (Bellwork), took notes on Movement of the Earth (and how it affects us) - know rotation, revolution, and tilt. Homework = graphic organizer
AP: Finished Key Issue #4, Cultural Ecology. Homework = finish notes on pgs 25-30
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 30th
Honors: Reviewed/Revised Quiz 1.1 from Friday - note: if you earned an "F", you must get a parent signature and return it
Standard: Took Quiz 1.1 (makeups during tutoring)
Friday, August 27, 2010
Remembering Hurricane Katrina
Google Earth has a good post showing the before and after effects of Hurricane Katrina:
http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/08/remembering-hurricane-katrina.html
http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/08/remembering-hurricane-katrina.html
Model UN first meeting Sunday!!
Hi Model UN students!! Don't forget that our FIRST meeting at MUS Lower School Auditorium is this Sunday from 4-6:15!!! If you can't come, the make up meeting is Sept 8th from 6-8:15. I'll see you there!
Friday, August 27th
Honors: Quiz 1.1
Standard: Reviewed Latitude and Longitude, practiced on Smart Board, learned about Time Zones, HW = study for Quiz 1.1
AP: Discussed regional geography, hw = 7th read pgs 20-25 and take notes
Thursday, August 26th
Honors: Reviewed Latitude and Longitude, learned about time zones, played Battleship Lat/Long in pairs. HW = review for Quiz 1.1
Standard: Reviewed Map Elements, notes on Latitude and Longitude, HW: Battleship game piece
AP: Discussed Mathematical Location, hw for 4th = notes on 20-25
Standard: Reviewed Map Elements, notes on Latitude and Longitude, HW: Battleship game piece
AP: Discussed Mathematical Location, hw for 4th = notes on 20-25
Another GPS article!
Court rules that police can put GPS trackers on cars without a warrant:
http://us.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/08/27/oregon.gps.surveillance/index.html
http://us.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/08/27/oregon.gps.surveillance/index.html
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Wednesday, August 25th
Honors: Reviewed Map Elements, took up homework, notes on Latitude and Longitude, hw = Battleship game piece
Standard: Reviewed GIS/GPS, current events article, notes/vocab for Map Elements, hw = Map Elements and Skills practice sheet
AP: Current events link with China traffic jam and GPS theft, site and situation inquiry using New York
Standard: Reviewed GIS/GPS, current events article, notes/vocab for Map Elements, hw = Map Elements and Skills practice sheet
AP: Current events link with China traffic jam and GPS theft, site and situation inquiry using New York
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
GPS in action!
From today's Commercial Appeal crime report - thief caught because of GPS in smart phone he stole.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/aug/24/crime-report-ex-boyfriend-charged-trying-burn-down/?partner=RSS
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/aug/24/crime-report-ex-boyfriend-charged-trying-burn-down/?partner=RSS
Interesting article about traffic in China
Traffic jam lasts 10 days - some people stuck for up to 5 days. Overpopulation?
Read the article here.
Read the article here.
Tuesday, August 24th
Good to see those of you at tutoring that took advantage of the opportunity to make up the Map Quiz!!
Honors: We analyzed an unknown map (a tourist map of Memphis), introduced the 4 basic Map Elements, homework = create a map of your classes at Central HS using the 4 map elements, include 4 symbols in your legend, add color.
Standard: We reviewed Map Types for bellwork, took notes on GPS and GIS, explored examples on the Smart board, and for homework were to try out a GIS for ourselves.
AP: Began discussion on Place Names, Site, and Situation. 7th period read 14-20 and take notes.
Reminder: Quiz on Friday for Honors, on Monday for Standard!
Honors: We analyzed an unknown map (a tourist map of Memphis), introduced the 4 basic Map Elements, homework = create a map of your classes at Central HS using the 4 map elements, include 4 symbols in your legend, add color.
Standard: We reviewed Map Types for bellwork, took notes on GPS and GIS, explored examples on the Smart board, and for homework were to try out a GIS for ourselves.
AP: Began discussion on Place Names, Site, and Situation. 7th period read 14-20 and take notes.
Reminder: Quiz on Friday for Honors, on Monday for Standard!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Monday, August 23rd
I trust that all my students had a restful and productive weekend. Today in class we...
Honors: took North America Map Quiz, looked at online examples of Geographic Information Systems. HW: practice using GIS at home
Standard: took North America Map Quiz, checked and went over answers, reviewed Map Types. HW: Map Types chart
AP: Took RCQ 1.1, reviewed and exhibited GIS in Action, HW: (4th period) read 14-20 and take notes
Please note that if you did not feel pleased with your map quiz score, you can retake the map quiz at any point until the end of the nine weeks grading period. Your current grade does currently reflect your present quiz grade until you retake the quiz.
Honors: took North America Map Quiz, looked at online examples of Geographic Information Systems. HW: practice using GIS at home
Standard: took North America Map Quiz, checked and went over answers, reviewed Map Types. HW: Map Types chart
AP: Took RCQ 1.1, reviewed and exhibited GIS in Action, HW: (4th period) read 14-20 and take notes
Please note that if you did not feel pleased with your map quiz score, you can retake the map quiz at any point until the end of the nine weeks grading period. Your current grade does currently reflect your present quiz grade until you retake the quiz.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Friday, August 20th
Standard: Bellwork was a matching challenge for map projections, checked homework, reviewed map projections, learned about the fuctions of map (location versus representative) and the map types (political, physical, choropleth, isoline, historical).
Honors: Bellwork was a review of map types. Notes were on GIS and GPS and their uses/functions.
AP: Began exploring GIS. 7th period did political spectrum quiz.
Honors and Standard: North America Map Quiz on Monday - need the map? Go here.
Honors: Bellwork was a review of map types. Notes were on GIS and GPS and their uses/functions.
AP: Began exploring GIS. 7th period did political spectrum quiz.
Honors and Standard: North America Map Quiz on Monday - need the map? Go here.
Thursday, August 19th
Standard: turned in mental map, learned about the three categories of map projections (traditional, equal area, and compromise), examples of these maps, and the pros and cons of each. Homework is a graphic organizer chart.
Honors: turned in mental map, learned about three categories of map projections, learned about the various types and uses of maps. Homework is a graphic organizer chart.
AP: Finished manipulation of data through scale, began GIS/GPS.
Honors: turned in mental map, learned about three categories of map projections, learned about the various types and uses of maps. Homework is a graphic organizer chart.
AP: Finished manipulation of data through scale, began GIS/GPS.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Wednesday, August 18th
Honors: Checked North America Map, discussed opinions on uses of maps/purposes of maps, discussion on geographical perspective and mental maps, began notes on map projections. Homework: mental map.
Standard: Checked US Map, brainstormed uses of maps, learned about geographical perspective, mental maps. Homework: mental map.
AP: Checked 7th period reading notes, discussed Model United Nations, reviewed Map Projections and "All Maps Lie."
Standard: Checked US Map, brainstormed uses of maps, learned about geographical perspective, mental maps. Homework: mental map.
AP: Checked 7th period reading notes, discussed Model United Nations, reviewed Map Projections and "All Maps Lie."
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tuesday, August 17th
Honors: Checked US maps, discussed places of interest within the US, took a virtual tour of North America using Google Earth and National Geographic. HW: North America Map
Standard: Checked North America map (finished/reviewed), discussed places of interest within the US, took a virtual tour of North America. HW: United States Map
AP: 4th period checked reading notes, 7th period got books for reading (pgs 2-14), discussion on scale and perspective
To download the US and North America maps, scroll down to Monday's post, links are in the post.
Standard: Checked North America map (finished/reviewed), discussed places of interest within the US, took a virtual tour of North America. HW: United States Map
AP: 4th period checked reading notes, 7th period got books for reading (pgs 2-14), discussion on scale and perspective
To download the US and North America maps, scroll down to Monday's post, links are in the post.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Interactive Notebooks - A review
Students in my world geography class do not have a textbook that they have access to. Instead, we create our own text, using the strategy called "Interactive Notebooks."
Interactive Notebooks are a spiral notebook (200+ sheet, preferably) that is just for my class. Everything we do in the class goes into this notebook. There are two types of assignments:
Right sides - Your student's notes and guided reading questions will go on this side, called the "in" side. This is where all newly learned information gets inputed to the notebook.
Left sides - Your student's bellwork, classwork, and homework goes on the left side, called the "out" side because that is where the new information gets used, practiced, and output.
Examples of things we'll do can be found here.
Marzano strategies: At CHS this year we are focusing instruction on Marzano's strategies. The interactive notebook falls in line with these strategies very well. Please visit this website for more information.
Interactive Notebooks are a spiral notebook (200+ sheet, preferably) that is just for my class. Everything we do in the class goes into this notebook. There are two types of assignments:
Right sides - Your student's notes and guided reading questions will go on this side, called the "in" side. This is where all newly learned information gets inputed to the notebook.
Left sides - Your student's bellwork, classwork, and homework goes on the left side, called the "out" side because that is where the new information gets used, practiced, and output.
Examples of things we'll do can be found here.
Marzano strategies: At CHS this year we are focusing instruction on Marzano's strategies. The interactive notebook falls in line with these strategies very well. Please visit this website for more information.
Monday, August 16th
Honors: We reviewed the 5 themes, introduced our new students, and gave out homework (a United States map, found here). Our class was abbreviated due to homeroom.
Standard: We introduced new students, labelled our Unit I title page (to use later) in our interactive notebook, and labelled a North America map (17 countries)
AP: We took up the Free Response Question from homework and took notes on an Introduction to Human Geography
Standard: We introduced new students, labelled our Unit I title page (to use later) in our interactive notebook, and labelled a North America map (17 countries)
AP: We took up the Free Response Question from homework and took notes on an Introduction to Human Geography
Sunday, August 15, 2010
A message for parents
Greetings, Parents! As syllabi are passed out, I imagine that many parents and guardians are joining my site, learning about their student's class. Please know that if you have any questions or concerns, I am always available. My email address is linked to the right. If you do not email, please just call the school (number to the right) and they will leave a message for me. I do have a few questions already from parents that I want to answer:
1) a parent asked "What if my child does not understand the homework once they get home? I want to help them but they say they don't understand."
I give homework almost every day. We introduce the idea of the homework at the beginning of the class and they write it in their agenda. At the end of the class, I show them whatever it is they need to do in more detail (which may include copying a graphic organizer, writing down a journal prompt, or some other instructions). Aside from AP, we do not have textbooks. Your student will not be answering questions from the back of the book. Instead, the assignments usually involve reviewing the ideas of the day's lesson, doing something creative with the material, writing a response or reflection, or summarizing. I always ask the students if there are any questions. If your student ever does not understand, I am always available after class for individual questions or even after school, as I stay every day. If your student does not ask, I do not know that they don't understand and cannot help them. If your student gets home and doesn't understand, I suggest calling a peer from the class.
2) after looking at my syllabus, a few parents asked about the types of movie clips we'd watch that included violence. I'd like to address that, because I do know it is a concern for some families.
I show clips or pieces of movies to supplement the curriculum in a visual manner. Most times, these are documentaries and National Geographic clips. Yet, sometimes there are major motion pictures that do an excellent job at explaining a topic we explore. One such example is Hotel Rwanda. We will watch this towards the end of the year, when learning about genocide. Some of the scenes are graphic and violent. If that is a concern for your family, please let me know and your student will be given an alternative assignment.
For my AP class, we will not be watching any full length films due to time constraints. There will be times we watch clips from documentaries like King Corn. There will not be rated R movies shown in my AP class.
1) a parent asked "What if my child does not understand the homework once they get home? I want to help them but they say they don't understand."
I give homework almost every day. We introduce the idea of the homework at the beginning of the class and they write it in their agenda. At the end of the class, I show them whatever it is they need to do in more detail (which may include copying a graphic organizer, writing down a journal prompt, or some other instructions). Aside from AP, we do not have textbooks. Your student will not be answering questions from the back of the book. Instead, the assignments usually involve reviewing the ideas of the day's lesson, doing something creative with the material, writing a response or reflection, or summarizing. I always ask the students if there are any questions. If your student ever does not understand, I am always available after class for individual questions or even after school, as I stay every day. If your student does not ask, I do not know that they don't understand and cannot help them. If your student gets home and doesn't understand, I suggest calling a peer from the class.
2) after looking at my syllabus, a few parents asked about the types of movie clips we'd watch that included violence. I'd like to address that, because I do know it is a concern for some families.
I show clips or pieces of movies to supplement the curriculum in a visual manner. Most times, these are documentaries and National Geographic clips. Yet, sometimes there are major motion pictures that do an excellent job at explaining a topic we explore. One such example is Hotel Rwanda. We will watch this towards the end of the year, when learning about genocide. Some of the scenes are graphic and violent. If that is a concern for your family, please let me know and your student will be given an alternative assignment.
For my AP class, we will not be watching any full length films due to time constraints. There will be times we watch clips from documentaries like King Corn. There will not be rated R movies shown in my AP class.
Friday, August 13th
Standard: We write an essay entitled "My Geography" in 3rd period. The students incorporated the 5 themes of Geography into their essays, telling about their culture and goals. 5th and 6th period learned about the 5 themes.
Honors: We reviewed the ideas behind the 5 themes by breaking into groups and doing graffiti boards for each theme, then presenting.
AP: We discussed summer work, got our FRQ topic, and turned in assignments.
For Monday, please have spirals and colored pencils!
Honors: We reviewed the ideas behind the 5 themes by breaking into groups and doing graffiti boards for each theme, then presenting.
AP: We discussed summer work, got our FRQ topic, and turned in assignments.
For Monday, please have spirals and colored pencils!
Thursday, August 12th
Standard, Honors: We introduced the idea of Interactive Notebooks (Right: Input, Left: Output) and learned about the 5 themes of Geography. HW was a Graphic Organizer on the 5 themes.
AP: We did a FRQ and Multiple Choice workshop, learning about the tricks and strategies for successful test taking.
AP: We did a FRQ and Multiple Choice workshop, learning about the tricks and strategies for successful test taking.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
CNN: 1 in 12 babies born in US is an "anchor baby"
Students, check out this current events article on the immigration debate, focusing on the rights to citizenship a baby born on US soil to illegal immigrant parents has in the US:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/11/hispanic.study/index.html?hpt=C1
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/11/hispanic.study/index.html?hpt=C1
Wednesday, 8/11/10
Standard: For bellwork, we took a map pre-quiz over 10 main countries of the world. We assigned seats.
Honors: Map Pre-Quiz, Assigned Seats, and intro to interactive notebooks
AP: We discussed Physical and Human Geography, the 5 themes of Geography, and the 7 units of the curriculum
Coming tomorrow: Honors/Standard learn 5 themes of Geography, AP gets a workshop on testing tips
Honors: Map Pre-Quiz, Assigned Seats, and intro to interactive notebooks
AP: We discussed Physical and Human Geography, the 5 themes of Geography, and the 7 units of the curriculum
Coming tomorrow: Honors/Standard learn 5 themes of Geography, AP gets a workshop on testing tips
Tuesday, 8/10/10
Standard/Honors Classes: Introduced the idea of bellwork and agenda, reviewed syllabus (expectations, grade policies, cheating policy, and signature), learned about necessary supplies, and reviewed the course outline.
HW - Syllabus signature, Spiral Binder
AP: Reviewed syllabus, explored website (& YIG), began learning about curriculum for test. Curriculum is linked here. Explore this page - the outline we're using is from the curriculum guide, which you can access at the top of the page.
HW - Syllabus signature, set up binder, finish summer work
HW - Syllabus signature, Spiral Binder
AP: Reviewed syllabus, explored website (& YIG), began learning about curriculum for test. Curriculum is linked here. Explore this page - the outline we're using is from the curriculum guide, which you can access at the top of the page.
HW - Syllabus signature, set up binder, finish summer work
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Your first assignment...
Hello students, parents, and committed fans of education!
Your first homework assignment is to bring back the 2nd page of your syllabus. It needs to be signed and completed by your parent/guardian. You are to keep the first page (front and back) in your notebook for future reference.
Lost yours? Go here to download and print a new copy.
Your first homework assignment is to bring back the 2nd page of your syllabus. It needs to be signed and completed by your parent/guardian. You are to keep the first page (front and back) in your notebook for future reference.
Lost yours? Go here to download and print a new copy.
Welcome to Room 316!
There are tabs at the top of the website, under my title, for each class. If you need basic information (like a link to the syllabus, rules/regulations, etc), go there.
I look forward to getting to know you all. Welcome!
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