Thursday, January 31, 2013

January 31

Welcome to Social Studies 20-1! Social 20-1 is an academically demanding course, we will be moving through material very quickly, so if there is something that you don't understand, ask questions. You also have a friendly letter assignment due on Monday. Please have a look at my classroom rules, and rules for posting on the blog below. See you tomorrow.
I think that I have very simple, straight-forward classroom rules and expectations. I will be discussing these in class tomorrow, but here's a quick recap:

  • Please be on-task during classroom time (visit later)
  • No cell phones (as per school policy; unless otherwise instructed); if your parents really need to get in touch with you, they should call the office. Please don't bring cell phones to class, or if you do, please remember to turn them off!
  • Please don't listen to music on MP3 players or iPods during class time, unless I have given you permission to do so.
  • Be polite. You should be listening during class lectures or when your classmates have questions to ask (you might have some of the same questions).
  • Be on time. If you are late, please enter the classroom quietly and apologize for being late. If the door is locked, I have started the lecture or there is a class presentation in progress; I will open the door and let you in as soon as possible.
  • Clean up after yourselves. Please don't leave garbage on the floor. I like my classroom fairly neat and tidy.
  • Don't bring junk food to class. Healthy snacks only. Or you could always wait until lunchtime.
  • You may chew gum in class on the following conditions: don't chew like a cow, I don't want to see the gum or hear you chewing it, that's just gross.
  • Late assignments: 10% is deducted for every day an assignment is late. If you have an excused absence, then there is some flexibility with this rule.
  • Please make sure that a parent or guardian calls the school to have absences excused. If you miss a test due to an unexcused absence you will be assigned a mark of "zero".
  • I will be contacting parent/guardians if you have unexcused absences.
  • Please adhere to the school's academic honesty policy which is on the back of your course outlines.
  • It is Summer School: you are NOT allowed to take holidays or time off between July 3rd and July 31st. Every day of Summer School is the equivalent of 4-5 regular school days. If you were to miss a week of classes, it would be the same as missing 25-30 classes.
Here are some simple rules that I have established for using the blog, and some other informational items:

  • Please post on the blog anonymously.\
  • If you feel the need to identify yourself, or clarify which grade you're in, please use your initials and your class and section (for example, K.G. in Social 20-3).
  • Some of you may have your own Blogger accounts. Please don't post on this blog using your Blogger ID, otherwise you may have people visiting your blog that you may not want to see what you're posting.
  • Please be courteous, polite and respectful when posting comments on the blog. Don't be rude to your classmates on the blog.
  • Please be patient with my response time.
  • Please post comments and questions on the blog prior to 10 p.m.
  • Between 6-8 p.m. I am usually not online.
  • Please do not post links to questionable materials.
  • Inappropriate comments will be deleted. Please don't do this, it's a waste of my time, I could be doing more productive things, like answering questions that you may have
Please see the classroom rules and expectations that are posted above. I went through the course outline and course expectations with you today. You have a friendly letter that is due on Monday. On Monday, we will hit the ground running and get into course content.
We finished off "White Light/Black Rain" today, and I gave you a reading on the decision to use the atomic bomb. You will get time to meet with your group to prepare for Tuesday's debate. You will also get time to work on TOK this week as well.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

January 17

Final Exam results have been posted outside my room for IB 20 and Social 10-1. The posted IB 20 marks are not standardized. Good luck next semester!!

IB 30 students: use the exam break to get some work completed on your Extended Essay (if you're a Diploma student; this is due on January 31st) and your TOK Presentations.

Friday, January 11, 2013

January 11

We started watching "White Light/Black Rain" today in class. After the exam break we will continue to examine the decision to use the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We will have a class debate on this very topic. If you are a Diploma student, please remember that your Extended Essay is due on January 31st. Please hand in two copies of the EE to your supervisor so that we may be able to keep a copy of it on file.
I had you fill out the scantrons for your final exam today. Unfortunately, I had a meeting to attend to at the Area I office which meant that we couldn't play Jeopardy today. Sorry about that! I will send you the PowerPoint Jeopardy game that we were going to play today to your e-mail accounts. You watched the documentary "Addicted to Plastic" instead. Please remember that Part B of your Final Exam is on January 16th at 1-3 p.m. in the Main Gym. Study !!Don't be late!
As you can see from the post above, I had to attend a meeting at the Area I office today, so unfortunately I was unable to see your TOK Moral Dilemma presentations firsthand so as a result Mr. Johnson had to cover my class for me. Please remember that your Final Exam is on Tuesday, January 15th in the Main Gym from 1-3 p.m. Study!! Don't be late!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

January 10

You got your Paper 2 Topic 3 essays back today. You also had time to work in your groups for your TOK Moral Dilemmas presentations. You're doing the TOK Moral Dilemmas presentations in class tomorrow.
I did a homework check on your Chapter 18 and 19 Key Terms and Questions. We finished watching the movie "Contagion" today. After watching the movie you had to make Jeopardy questions for tomorrow's review game. Please send your Jeopardy questions to my CBE e-mail address. This is a homework check that needs to be completed tonight before 9 pm.
I showed you an excerpt from the film "Saving Private Ryan" today to illustrate the conditions on the battlefield during the Normandy invasion. Next, I showed you a video from the History's Turning Points series called "The Atomic Bomb" which detailed the creation of the atomic bomb and its usage to end WWII. Tomorrow, we'll get into a film study of "White Light/Black Rain".

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

January 9

You wrote Part A of your Social Studies 10-1 Final Exam today. This part of the exam counts for 10% of your final mark in the course. Your Chapter 18 and 19 Key Terms and Questions are due tomorrow. We'll be finishing off "Contagion" tomorrow, and working on some Jeopardy questions as well. Hopefully, we'll be playing a Jeopardy! review game on Friday.
Today's entire class period was spent in the library working on your IA research plan. This needs to be handed in tomorrow! You will get some time to work on your TOK Moral Dilemmas presentation tomorrow
We watched a short video from the BBC 20th Century History series called "Britain Alone", and while you were watching this video you had to complete the film study sheet. We also watched an excerpt from the film "Pearl Harbor" as well.

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

January 8

We watched the film "Blitzkrieg to the Bomb" today, which took most of the period. It should have given you a nice overview of the Interwar Years, the development of extreme nationalist regimes in Italy, Japan and Germany, the type of warfare that characterized fighting in WWII, and the various theatres of war. We'll start to look at specific events within WWII this week. You will get some class time to meet with your TOK Presentation Groups in the second semester.

I did a brief introduction to TOK today. We also watched a short excerpt from a video from Harvard University. If you want to watch the rest of the video, you can below.

You split yourselves into groups for your TOK Moral Dilemmas presentations. These presentations will take place on Friday. Tomorrow you will have time to get some background research completed on your IA. We'll meet in the classroom and then we'll go down to the library as a class.

We talked about global pandemics briefly today, and started a film study of "Contagion". We'll continue it on Thursday. You have Part A of your Final Exam tomorrow in class. You'll have 60 minutes to complete the three source analysis assignment. The Chapter 18 and 19 Key Terms and Questions are due on Thursday.