September 29

Social 20

We watched a video today on Napoleon's attempt to invade Russia. I also gave you time to plan and discuss your game board projects. Please post comments/questions about the French Revolution Quiz in the discussion forum below. The study guide is here.

Upcoming Important Dates for Social 20 Students:

• French Revolution Quiz is on Monday, October 2nd
• Chapter 4 Questions are due on Monday, October 2nd
• Napoleon's Domestic Policy Chart is due on Tuesday, October 3rd
• DBA #2 is due on Wednesday, October 4th
  
  

September 29

Social 10

I gave you the class period to finish work on Western Alienation. Please remember that the study guide for your Regionalism Unit Study Guide was posted on September 25th. Please use the study guide to focus your review. I also collected your Regional Brochures.

If you have any questions about the Regionalism Unit Final, please post them in the discussion forum/comments section below.

Upcoming Important Dates for Social 10 Students:

• Regionalism Unit Final is on Monday, October 2nd
• Regionalism Extra Credit Assignment (Website) is due Friday, October 6th
  

September 28

Social 20

Today I delivered a lecture on the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. I also gave you your second Document Based Analysis assignment. I also assigned questions from Chapter 4. Please see below for due dates for these assignments. I would like you to visit the following hyperlink on "How France Changed Under Napoleon" and print off the PDF (don't print off the activities page of the PDF), it will help you with the second part of DBA #2. I will be sending you today's PowerPoint presentation, as well as the marking guide for the French Revolution/Napoleonic Era Board Game project, as well as a chart that covers Napoleon's Domestic Policy (due Tuesday).

Upcoming Important Dates for Social 20 Students:

• French Revolution Quiz is on Monday, October 2nd
• Chapter 4 Questions (Q1-8, Q9, Q11, Q12, Q14, Q16) are due on Monday, October 2nd
• DBA #2 is due on Wednesday, October 4th
• Napoleon's Domestic Policy Chart is due on Tuesday, October 3rd
• French Revolution/Napoleonic Era Board Game is due on Tuesday, October 24th

Social 10

You wrote your French-English Relations Quiz at the beginning of class. You were then given time to work on the note-taking/questions on Western Alienation. You probably also had time to do some studying for your Regionalism Unit Final, which is on Monday.

Upcoming Important Dates for Social 10 Students:

• Regional Brochures are due tomorrow (Friday, September 29th)
• Regionalism Unit Final is on Monday, October 2nd
• French-English Relations Timeline is due on Tuesday, October 10th
  

September 27

Social 20

Today was a very busy class. I went over very quickly the political spectrum in Revolutionary France and a 19th Century Political Spectrum as well. If you missed class today, you will need to get these notes from someone. I also introduced the next project to you, that being the French Revolution and Napoleonic Era Board Game Project. I will be sending the rubric for this assignment to you tomorrow. We also watched a video on Napoleon and completed a timeline of key events in his life. I will be delivering a lecture/presentation on Napoleon tomorrow that should also be helpful to you in completing this timeline.

Upcoming Important Dates for Social 20 Students:

• French Revolution Quiz is on Monday, October 2nd
• French Revolution/Napoleonic Era Board Game Project is due on Tuesday, October 24th
  
  

Social 10

I gave you most of the class period to gather more information from the Canada Today textbook for your French-English Relations Timeline project. As well, if you finished taking notes, you should have also prepared for tomorrow's quiz on French-English Relations.

Upcoming Important Dates for Social 10 Students:

• Regional Brochures are due on Friday, September 29th
• French-English Relations Quiz is tomorrow (Thursday, September 28th)
• Regionalism Unit Final is Monday, October 2nd
• French-English Relations Timeline is due on Tuesday, October 10th

September 26

Social 10

I showed you a couple of excerpts from the CBC News in review video series today. The first one was on the 20th anniversary of the FLQ Crisis of 1970. The second video was on the 1995 Quebec Referendum. I gave you the remainder of the time to work on collecting information for your French-English Relations Timeline Assignment. Please note the changes to the following upcoming important dates.

Upcoming Important Dates for Social 10 Students:

• Region Brochures Project is due on Friday, September 29th (note the change in the due date)
• French-English Relations Quiz (fill in the blank) is on Thursday, September 28th (study using the PowerPoint notes)
• Regionalism Unit Final (multiple choice) is on Monday, October 2nd
• French-English Relations Timeline is due on Tuesday, October 10th
  
  

Social 20

Today I gave you some homework assignments. The first assignment was to try and place the following groups in Revolutionary France onto a political spectrum: the King, Jacobins, Aristocracy, the Church, Girondins, Reform Clergy, and the Middle Class. We will be discussing this in class tomorrow, and I will be expanding upon this political spectrum to a 19th century political spectrum (this will be helpful in Social 30). Additionally, I gave you two Word Search puzzles to complete for tomorrow. These puzzles (if attempted without the textbook as much as possible) are a good review of some of the causes and key events of the French Revolution. They are due tomorrow. I also gave you a reading entitled "the Terror". Please read this article, highlight and make notes to yourself. It goes into greater detail than the textbook on the topic of the Reign of Terror. I also showed you a short video on the French Revolution from the series "History Bites" (hopefully you got the jokes).

Upcoming Important Dates for Social 20 Students:

• French Revolution Word Search Puzzles are due tomorrow (September 27th)
• Revolutionary Political Spectrum is due tomorrow
• Read "The Terror" for tomorrow
• the French Revolution Quiz is on Monday, October 2nd

September 25

Social 10

I returned your Regionalism booklets at the beginning of class today. I also reminded you that your Regional Promotional Brochures were due this Thursday. I gave you a new project, a French-English Relations Timeline Assignment, which is due on Tuesday, October 10th. I gave you the remainder of the class period to work on this new project. I also told you that you will be having your Regionalism Unit Final next Monday. Here is the study guide for that unit final...

Regionalism Unit Final Study Guide:

1. Regions of Canada (review your notes/worksheets and the PowerPoint presentation)

• physiographic regions
• climatic regions
• physiographic regions (chart)
• basic Canadian geography (provinces, territories, capitals, rivers and bodies of water)

2. Regionalism (review your notes/worksheets and the PowerPoint presentation)

• what is regionalism?
• causes of regionalism in Canada

3. Regional Disparity (same as above)

• what is regional disparity?
• what causes regional disparity?
• "have" and "have not" provinces
• what does the government do to ease regional disparity?
• shared-cost programs
• personal transfers
• equalization payments
• indicators/signposts of regional disparity
• know the key concepts!!

4. French-English Relations (review notes from the timeline assignment and the PowerPoint)

• Treaty of Paris (1763)
• Quebec Act
• Constitutional Act
• Act of Union
• Confederation
• Riel Rebellions
• WWI Conscription Crisis
• Quiet Revolution (1960-66)- Jean Lesage
• FLQ Crisis (1970)
• Parti Quebecois-Rene Levesque
• 1980 Referendum
• Meech Lake Accord
• Charlottetown Accord-referendum
• know the key concepts!!

5. Western Alienation (we'll be covering this topic later this week)

• Causes of Western alienation (root causes)
• Development of Western alienation (Great Depression)
• formation of regional political parties (UFA, Social Credit, CCF/NDP, Reform, etc.)
• regional political party ideas/objectives

Upcoming Important Dates for Social 10 Students:

• Regional Promotional Brochures are due on Thursday, September 28th
• Regionalism Unit Final is on Monday, October 2nd
• French-English Relations Timeline is due on Tuesday, October 10th
  

Social 20

Today was the last day of viewing "The French Revolution: Years of Terror". We watched the following key events in the French Revolution today:

• the assassination of Marat
• the execution of Marie Antoinette
• the Reign of Terror/the fall of Danton

We will continue with our examination of the French Revolution in tomorrow's class. Please have a look at some of the Social 20 hyperlinks on the right hand side of the blog; there are several links to readings on the French Revolution. You are STRONGLY encouraged to read over them.

Upcoming Important Dates for Social 20 Students:

• French Revolution Quiz is on Monday, October 2nd (please see the September 22nd post for the study guide).
  

September 22

Social 10

I delivered a lecture/presentation on French-English relations in Canadian history. This presentation will be sent to you this afternoon, so please let me know if you didn't receive it. I have assigned you a homework assignment for the weekend (don't worry, it shouldn't take you too long to complete). I would like you to visit the hyperlink below, and write for yourself point form summary notes of the article. It explains what the equalization payment program in relatively plain English terms. We will be discussing equalization briefly on Monday, so please be prepared!

Please visit the following hyperlink to complete the homework assignment:

CBC News Indepth-Equalization

At the beginning of class I collected your Regionalism package, which was to have been completed today.

Social 20

We continued watching "The French Revolution: Years of Rage" (notice the change in the title of the movie). This segment of the film included the following key points in the French Revolution:

• the imprisonment of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in the Temple Prison
• LaFayette's defection
• Marat calling for the September Massacres
• Danton powerless in the face of "mob rule"
• Battle of Valmy (French victory)
• French monarchy is abolished by the National Convention
• Saint-Just calls for the execution of Louis XVI
• the trial of Louis XVI before the National Convention
• the execution of Louis XVI

I also told you in class today that I will be giving you a quiz on the French Revolution. This quiz is scheduled for next Friday, September 29th (however, it may be delayed). Please be prepared to write next Friday. When studying for this exam, please concentrate on the French Revolution PowerPoint notes that I have sent to you, as well as the "Glossary of Names", the timeline, and other assignments that you may have done for me. Please use the following study guide to help focus your studying.

French Revolution Quiz Study Guide:

1. Key Terms, Key Events, Key People of the French Revolution (the following list is a good start):

• Bastille
• cahiers
• Civil Constitution of the Clergy
• Committee of Public Safety
• Danton
• Declaration of the Rights of Man
• Directory
• the Three Estates
• Estates General
• Girondins
• "Great Fear"
• Jacobins
• Lafayette
• Law of Suspects
• Levee en Masse
• Louis XVI
• Marat
• Marie-Antoinette
• the "Mountain"
• National Assembly
• National Convention
• Necker
• Old Regime
• the "Plain"
• Reign of Terror
• Republic of Virtue
• Revolutionary Tribunal
• Robespierre
• Sans-culottes
• September Massacres
• Supreme Being
• Tennis Court Oath

*This list is alphabetically arranged from a glossary of key terms that I gave to you as a handout, so study from it.

2. Structure of French Society under the Old Regime

3. Causes of the French Revolution (intellectual, political, social, economic)

4. Declaration of the Rights of Man (major concepts/ideas in the Declaration)

5. Revolutionary Governments

6. Reign of Terror

7. Changes that the Jacobins introduced into French society

8. Key Figures/Leaders of the Revolution

9. Political Spectrum

10. Results of the French Revolution

We haven't discussed some of these topics in great detail yet, but we will be getting to them next week.

Are you feeling feisty? Then you may want to play a couple of the games that I have set up hyperlinks to below (you might even learn something)

• French Revolution: Make the Teacher Walk the Plank!
• French Revolution: Fling the Teacher!
• Early French Revolution: Penalty Shootout (hopefully, you'll have better luck than England did at the last World Cup)

Don't throw me too far...

September 21

Social 20

We continued watching "The French Revolution: Years of Hope" in class today. The film covered the following topics today:

• Louis XVI being forced to accept the tri-colour
• the abolition of feudal privileges
• the Declaration of the Rights of Man
• the Women's March to Versailles
• Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette fleeing to Varennes
• declaring war on Austria

I really like the fact that you've been asking questions during the viewing of this film. If you don't understand something or want clarification or just want to discuss something in the film, I really encourage you to ask questions.

Social 10

Today was your first and only research period in the library for your Regionalism brochure. I would like to remind you of the following information that I posted on the blog yesterday:

Whenever you do Internet based research, please keep in mind the following: anyone can post information on the Internet. Just because it's on the Internet does NOT mean that true. Approach any website with a healthy dose of skepticism. With any new piece of information that you encounter online always consider the following:

• Who is the source?
• What am I getting?
• When was it created?
• Where am I?
• Why am I there?
• How can I distinguish quality information from junk?

For more information on this topic you are STRONGLY encouraged to read the information at the following hyperlink: Media Awareness.
When citing your sources for this project, and any other Social Studies assignment or project that you will do for me this year, please use the following citation format. The actual format guide is on pages 22-25 of this PDF document. It is recommended that you make a copy of this guide as this the accepted format for citing sources that I will use this year.

Social 10 Links for Canadian Geography:

The following is not meant to be an exhaustive list of websites, however it may be useful to examine them as a starting point in your research.

• Canadian Landscapes Photo Collection (click on "Search by Physiographic Region")
• Canadian Tourism Commission Photo Gallery
• Images of Canada from VIA Rail (select a photo album to view)
• The Parliament of Canada Photo Gallery (only useful for St. Lawrence Lowlands region)
• Statistics Canada: Thematic Maps (may be useful)
• Travel Links: Canada (Travel Canada, most useful set of links. Includes links to provincial tourism websites)
• Canada Infolink (lots of information, useful images)
• Get2KnowCanada (looks pretty useful)

September 20

Sorry for the later post tonight...

Social 20

We continued watching "The French Revolution: Years of Hope" video today in class. If you ever have questions while watching the video I'd be happy to answer them.

Social 10

You were to have completed the Regionalism package today in class. If you didn't finish it, you need to come to tutorial tomorrow to try and finish it up. I will be taking this in from you on Friday at the beginning of class. Tomorrow we will be going to the library to start research for your "Regional Brochure Assignment". Please feel free to use any of the following hyperlinks when working on this project:

Social 10 Links for Canadian Geography:

The following is not meant to be an exhaustive list of websites, however it may be useful to examine them as a starting point in your research.

• Canadian Landscapes Photo Collection (click on "Search by Physiographic Region")
• Canadian Tourism Commission Photo Gallery
• Images of Canada from VIA Rail (select a photo album to view)
• The Parliament of Canada Photo Gallery (only useful for St. Lawrence Lowlands region)
• Statistics Canada: Thematic Maps (may be useful)
• Travel Links: Canada (Travel Canada, most useful set of links. Includes links to provincial tourism websites)
• Canada Infolink (lots of information, useful images)

Whenever you do Internet based research, please keep in mind the following: anyone can post information on the Internet. Just because it's on the Internet does NOT mean that true. Approach any website with a healthy dose of skepticism. With any new piece of information that you encounter online always consider the following:

• Who is the source?
• What am I getting?
• When was it created?
• Where am I?
• Why am I there?
• How can I distinguish quality information from junk?

For more information on this topic you are STRONGLY encouraged to read the information at the following hyperlink: Media Awareness.

When citing your sources for this project, and any other Social Studies assignment or project that you will do for me this year, please use the following citation format. The actual format guide is on pages 22-25 of this PDF document. It is recommended that you make a copy of this guide as this the accepted format for citing sources that I will use this year.

September 19

Social 10

I delivered a lecture/presentation today on "Regional Disparity" in Canada. I have already sent this presentation to you, in two versions, one with a white background. I have also sent you a white background version of the "Regions of Canada" presentation as well. Please check your e-mail inboxes, and let me know if you didn't receive these PowerPoint presentations. Please print these notes off ASAP, and put them in your notebooks. Tomorrow, you must finish in class the Regionalism package. For most of you this means finishing the "Regional Challenges" worksheet. You will have the entire class period to work on it, and finish it. There is no homework tonight.

Social 20

We did a little "housekeeping" at the beginning of class today, and then we finished watching "The French Revolution" video. We then started watching Part 1 of "The French Revolution: Years of Hope", which we will be watching over the course of the next few class periods.

September 18

Social 10

I told you the results from the Canadian Geography Quiz at the beginning of class. As usual, the results of this quiz were quite high. You were given more class time to work on the Regionalism booklet material. It seems that many of you are now on the "Regional Challenges" worksheet, which is fantastic. You also did a 25 minute library orientation today. Please remind me to give you a handout that outlines the key points of the presentation tomorrow in class.

Social 20

You wrote your Enlightenment Thinkers Quiz at the beginning of class (these quizzes have already been marked, and you will get the results back tomorrow). I then began showing you a documentary film on the French Revolution, which we will continue tomorrow. Please remember that your Chapter 3 questions are due tomorrow at the beginning of class. We will also take up in class the Declaration of the Rights of Man assignment very briefly. I will return your DBA assignment tomorrow, I would like to go over it in class this week, possibly on Wednesday, but I will keep you posted on this matter.

September 15

Social 10

You wrote your Canadian Geography Quiz today. This is the easiest quiz that you will get from me this year, so hopefully the results will be good. After completing the quiz you were to continue working on the Regionalism booklet, specifically, you should be on the Population Distribution section of the booklet.

Social 20

I collected your DBA Assignment and French Revolution timelines from you at the beginning of class. I then assigned more questions from Chapter 3, specifically Q 9-16. All assigned Chapter 3 questions will be taken in on Tuesday.

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Declaration of the Rights of Man assignment is due on Monday, September 18th (please don't think that you have to use all of the clauses!)
• Enlightenment Thinkers Quiz is on Monday, September 18th
• Chapter 3 questions (Q1-16) are due on Tuesday, September 19th
  

September 14

Social 20

I sent you an assignment today via e-mail on the Declaration of the Rights of Man, so please check your accounts for this message. This assignment is due on Monday, it is very straightforward. Your DBA assignment is due tomorrow. I also assigned and gave you class time to work on the following questions from Chapter 3 Q 1-8. I also collected your Chapter 2 questions at the beginning of class.

Upcoming Important Dates:

• DBA Assignment is due tomorrow (Friday, September 15th)
• Declaration of the Rights of Man assignment is due Monday, September 18th
• Enlightenment Thinkers Quiz is on Monday as well
  
  

Social 10

I gave you class time today to work on the Regionalism booklet, specifically, finishing off the work on the impact of climate and physiography. You should have completed the two maps (one on climate, and the other on physiography), as well as the chart for this section in class today. A fair bit of this unit is self-directed, but you must keep up with the pace that I lay out for you, so please use class time effectively.

Upcoming Important Dates:

• the Canadian Geography Quiz is tomorrow (Friday, September 15th)

September 13

Social 20

I delivered a presentation/lecture today in class on the "Key Events of the French Revolution".I have sent this presentation to you via e-mail, so please check your e-mail. Please remember that it may have been sent to your "junk e-mail" if you have a Hotmail account, so please check there.

Upcoming Important Dates:

• Chapter 2 Questions are due tomorrow (Thursday, September 14th)
• DBA Assignment #1 is due on Friday, September 15th
• French Revolution Timeline is due on Friday, September 15th (this should have been completed during class time)
• Enlightenment Thinkers Quiz is on Monday, September 18th (I discussed the format today in class, please check previous posts for the study guide)
  
  
  

Social 10

I delivered a presentation/lecture on the "Regions of Canada" in class today. While I delivered this presentation you were to take notes in the retrieval chart that you have all printed off. I have sent this presentation to you via e-mail, please check your "junk e-mail" folders as it may have been delivered there, especially if you have a Hotmail account. We then did an opinion survey on Canada regionalism issues, and discussed your opinions briefly. Tomorrow you will have some time with the atlases to finish off your physiographic regions and climatic region maps.

Do you think that you're pretty smart when it comes to geography? Well, try this link out. There's an article about the knowledge level of American students when it comes to geography, and there's a geography quiz. The beginner level is easy, as is the intermediate (or so I think, you might disagree). If you try the advanced level, be warned, it is quite difficult because there aren't as many geographical clues. Have fun with it!

September 12

Social 10

Please make sure that you forward the Regionalism package from your CBE student e-mail accounts to a Hotmail or Yahoo account so you can print it off (assuming of course that you were unable to print it off last night). Please bring this booklet to class for the next couple of weeks. You do not have homework tonight. I will be returning your maps tomorrow in class. Please remember that you have a Canadian Geography Test this Friday. Please prepare for it.

Social 20

I have sent out all the presentations and the DBA assignment to you in a massive e-mail today. This e-mail should have gone into your CBE accounts as well as the other e-mail accounts that you gave me in class today. That having been said, I did have three undelivered messages. Would the following students send me an e-mail from the account that you gave me today so I can send it again: Zohra, Brad, Kim (all from Social 20-4). One more thing that I should mention, when I send a message to Hotmail accounts from my CBE account it usually goes into your "Junk" folders, so please check there for the e-mail message (this usually only happens the first time, and then you set me up as someone that you want to receive e-mails from).

Upcoming Important Assignments:

• Finish reading Chapter 2, and answer the following questions: Q 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 13-17 (this is due on Thursday September 14th)
• DBA Assignment is due on Friday September 15th
• Enlightenment Thinkers Quiz is on Monday September 18th
  

September 11

Social 10

I gave you class time to work on a worksheet called "Basic Canadian Geographical Information". Here are some hyperlinks to help you finish those last few questions:

• CIA World Factbook: Canada (useful for questions 24, 25, 26, 27)
• Welcome to Baker Lake (you might have to read a bit to figure out how this website helps)
• Canada InfoLink (you might have to look a bit, but this site should have answers to any other questions that might have, scroll down the page to "Geography" to find useful links)
  
  

This worksheet is due tomorrow. Please make sure that you have printed off the Regionalism package that I sent out to on Sunday night. Please follow the printing instructions that are included in that e-mail message (you don't have to print off the two map pages). You will NEED this booklet for the next couple of weeks in my class, so print it off and bring it to class everyday.

Social 20

We went over the Enlightenment Thinkers Chart for the first part of class today. It seems like most of you have a pretty good grasp of the ideas of the philosophes. You will have a quiz on the following Enlightenment Thinkers next Monday (September 18):

• Voltaire
• Rousseau
• Locke
• Montesquieu
• Quesnay
• Smith

If I could give you one piece of advice for this quiz (it's a matching style quiz) it would be this: know their ideas about the nature of human beings, know their main ideas, and know what books they wrote (even ones that I didn't mention in the PowerPoint presentation...in other words check the textbook).

I have sent you a couple of e-mail messages. The first one is a Document Based Analysis (DBA) Assignment. Please print this off and bring it to class tomorrow. I will discuss how to approach this assignment.

I also sent you today's presentation/lecture, "France: A Setting for Revolution". Please print this presentation off and put it into your notes.

I would like you to read the following pages in Century of Change prior to tomorrow's class:

• p.20-22 which covers the reign of Louis XIV and Louis XV
• on p. 26 start reading from "Economic Conditions Leading up to 1789" to p.29 (stop at the heading "National Assembly")
  

Notice to all Social 10 and Social 20 Students:

There seems to be a lot of problems with your CBE Student e-mail accounts today. My priority tonight is to make sure that all Social 10-1 students receive their Regionalism booklets. If you are a Social 10-1 student, and still haven't been able to open the PDF file or even the Word version of the Regionalism package, please send me an e-mail from a Yahoo or Hotmail account (or any other e-mail system other CBE) and I will send it to you. You really NEED that package tonight for tomorrow's class.

For Social 20-3 and Social 20-4 students, I know that you'd like to have the DBA and the PowerPoint presentations tonight, but it isn't as pressing as the Social 10 students, so we'll sort these problems out tomorrow.

Tomorrow in class I'm going to be sending around another e-mail list, and I'll be asking for your Yahoo or Hotmail or Gmail account addresses. I just can't trust the CBE mail server completely, it's been a bit unreliable tonight. I can't spend this much time online during my evenings when I can be spending "quality time" with my son.

September 8

In case you missed class today, here is what you missed:

Social 10

I gave you the entire class period to work on your mapping assignment. Those maps are due on Monday. They must be labeled and colored correctly. I will post a few maps and hyperlinks to complete this assignment, in case you don't have access to an atlas at home. I also sent you a short message through the e-mail distribution list. The message was "ping" respond back with a "pong".

Here's a map of Canada that might be helpful to you (click on the picture for a larger view).


There's a link on the right hand side of the blog under Social 10 Links to the Atlas of Canada. Here's a shortcut to the Atlas that may be useful to you since it has large maps of the provinces and territories. Have a good weekend, see you on Monday!

* I have sent you a package via e-mail that you need to print off! Please check your e-mail! I sent it out Sunday night at 5:10 p.m.

Social 20

I delivered a presentation today on the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. I will be sending out this presentation later today, so please let me know if you don't receive it. Also, your homework assignment this weekend is to read pages 5-12 in the textbook and to complete the Enlightenment Thinkers chart that I will be sending to you by e-mail. We will take up the chart in class...be prepared! Have a great weekend!

September 7

Here's a quick recap of today's classes:

Social 20

I delivered a lecture on life in Europe prior to the French Revolution. I will not be sending this presentation to you. I also gave you a chart that illustrated the Three Estates in France prior to the Revolution. We took up the answers to the chart in class. I look forward to getting an e-mail from you if you didn't know your CBE Student e-mail address today in class. Send me an e-mail!

Social 10

We did a quiz on Canada today for most of the class. I distributed a mapping assignment at the end of class. You'll have class time tomorrow to work on it, so it's not for homework! Please send me an e-mail message if you didn't write your e-mail address on the list in class today.

I will respond back to your e-mail messages tonight when I get home.

September 6

Welcome to my class! I hope that we'll have a good semester together. Please see yesterday's post to familiarize yourself with my classroom rules and rules for posting on this blog.

Social 20 Homework:

• Please send me an e-mail message from your CBE Student Mail accounts. Send the message to my CBE mail account. In the subject line please put your full name and class and section. Thanks!
• Your "letter of introduction" is due tomorrow at the beginning of class. Please make sure that it is a "good copy" (typed or written in pen).
  
  

Social 10 Homework:

• Please send me an e-mail message from your CBE Student Mail accounts. Send the message to my CBE mail account. In the subject line please put your full name and class and section. Thanks!
• Your "letter of introduction" is due tomorrow at the beginning of class. Please make sure that it is a "good copy" (typed or written in pen).
  

Have a good night, and I will see you in class tomorrow!

September 5

I thought that I would post some of my classroom rules and expectations of behavior on the blog this year. Also, I will also lay down some ground rules for using the blog this year (not that I didn't have rules last year, I just made them up as I went along).

Classroom Rules/Expectations of Behavior:

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); 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.
• If you are going away on holidays (please do not schedule holidays during examination periods in January and June), please let me know in advance. I can prepare materials for you, let you know what you'll be missing, and even give you handouts in advance. This way you won't feel "lost" when you come back from holidays.
  
  

Posting on the Blog:

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.
• Wednesday nights are particularly busy for me, this is the night that I have a Masters class at the University and then I play in a volleyball league. I'm rarely home before 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. on these nights.
• 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.