February 28

IB 30/35

We continued with TOK Group Presentations today (as we did yesterday). We'll hear from two more groups.

IB 20

We continued our examination today of the American Revolution. I believe you were all in class today, but if not, you will need to get the notes from a classmate. We finished watching the Revolution chapter in "America: The Story of Us". What I've been trying to do these last few days is increase your background knowledge and understanding of the events associated with the American Revolution. You do have a homework assignment tonight, which is as follows: Read 4-2 "The Path to War" in The United States and Its People booklets that you have. Then complete the Section Review on page 100. Also tonight, I'd like you to tackle the Analysis of Common Sense on page 22 in your History of the Americas textbook. I also said that we'd have a discussion surrounding the events leading to the American Revolution (chart) tomorrow. What I'd like you to think about prior to tomorrow's class is to try and rank the events leading to the American Revolution (from the chart) in order of importance.

February 24

IB 30/35

I gave you some TOK group presentation time, to get yourselves organized leading into the weekend. I then started lecturing about the Berlin blockade, we'll pick this topic up again next week. Be ready for Monday to do your TOK presentation.

IB 20

You had a current events quiz at the beginning of class. You had some time to work on the events leading to the American Revolution chart (you should be working on this on the wiki this weekend). You also have to complete the map of the Thirteen Colonies this weekend as well. You can find the map on the wiki under Unit 3 The Colonial Period.

February 23

IB 20

We continued looking at the French-Indian War today and its effects. We also discussed the Iroquois Confederacy and connections between it and current forms of government in Canada and the United States. I have created a new page on the IB 20 wiki on the French-Indian War which you will have to work on as a class. You need to complete the causes, courses/practices, events and results for the French-Indian War. You can use the photocopied booklet from The United States and Its People as a source, or any other online sources to complete this chart. Please work collaboratively on the wiki (don't steal the lock!).

IB 30/35

We began looking at the Cold War today in class. I began by doing a general overview of the origins of the Cold War, and how the Cold War was fought. We then began looking at specific WWII conferences, where "the seeds of the Cold War were first planted". I hope that you can see how the disagreements and mistrust that emerged in the WWII conferences foreshadowed the disagreements that would emerge at the end of the war, namely: the future boundaries of Poland, the future of Germany, and the type of governmental systems that will be in place in Eastern Europe. Eventually, I will post the PowerPoint presentation on the wiki in the Cold War section. I will cover a couple of concepts tomorrow in class, particularly the partition of Germany into East Germany and West Germany, zones of occupation, and the Berlin blockade. I will try to give you some TOK group presentation time so that you can organize yourselves heading into the weekend. Here's a link to the "oreo cookie" video that I mentioned in class today when I was talking about military spending. Please keep in mind that this video was made in the United States during the Bush administration, so the numbers will be out of date a bit, but you get the idea. If memory serves me correctly the U.S. military budget is about $700 billion (2011 budget), so that represents even more oreo cookies. Many of you mentioned China's military spending, and I conceded that yes, increasingly China is spending more on its military than in the past, but last I checked China was reportedly spending about $91 billion on its military (now the second most in the world, so again, the video is out of date). Now you might begin to see why as I said in class a few days ago that when Eisenhower left office he warned the American public about the "military-industrial complex" (see below).

February 22

IB 20

We continued looking at colonial America, by looking at the structure of colonial governments and mercantilism. We also started looking at the French and Indian War. I will continue with this PowerPoint lecture tomorrow in class. We're starting to set the stage for the American Revolution over the course of the next few days. You have a homework assignment from the United States and its People booklet that I gave you. You need to read Section 3-2 "Settling Colonies" (pages 54-61) and answer the Section Review questions (Identification, Comprehension, Analysis, and Evaluation) on Page 61 and page 72 (after reading Section 3-3 "Shaping New Patterns of Life"). This homework assignment is due tomorrow.

IB 30/35

We watched another video from the Gwynne Dyer "War" series called "Anybody's Son Will Do". You were given a notes sheet on this video. Also, you had some TOK group presentation time to get organized. Remember TOK presentations begin on Monday, February 27th. Your Extended Essays are due on February 28th.

February 21

IB 30/35

I really think that you should the article that Mr. Johnson posted on the IB 30 wiki over weekend on the topic of historiography and the atomic bomb. We watched a video today from the Gwynne Dyer series War called "The Road to Total War" which illustrated how the nature of warfare has changed in size, scale, scope and tactics from the late 18th century and early 19th century (French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars) to the Civil War to WWI and WWII. There is a definite shift from a limited war using conventional weapons (and in the case of Napoleonic times, with limited firing range) to weapons associated with modern warfare. Dyer discussed factors such as nationalism, industrialization, the mechanization of warfare and the targeting of civilian populations in total war. I just want to remind you of some key upcoming dates:

• TOK Group Presentations will be on Monday and Tuesday of next week (Feb. 27th-28th)
• Extended Essays are due on February 28th

IB 20

Most of today's class was spent on the Thirteen Colonies presentations. Many of you might be worried about missing pieces of information from other group presentations. I have created a page on the IB 20 wiki (in the Collaborative Notes section) that will allow you to share your information. You can post PowerPoint presentations or links to your Prezis in the chart that I have created. Get busy filling it up!

February 16

Sorry, I forgot to post yesterday.
IB 20 students: your presentations on the British colonies are happening on Tuesday, so be ready to present!

IB 30/35 students: this would be a great weekend to work on your Extended Essays and TOK group presentations don't you agree?

February 14

IB 30/35

We finished watching "White Light/Black Rain" today. You should have completed the film study that went along with it. I realize that this documentary at times was quite graphic in nature, by I think it's important for you to see the aftermath of the atomic bombs, not just the destruction of the cities, but to hear what hibakusha have to say about their lives after the event is important. I think the documentary also does a nice job of looking at how the nature of warfare changed after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I gave you a reading booklet after the movie was over so you can prepare for tomorrow's debate.

IB 20

Most of today's class was spent in the library researching your assigned colony for next Tuesday's presentation. Make sure that you are able to communicate with one another over the course of this long weekend. Presentations will happen on Tuesday. Please try to be creative in your presentation! Simply reading off of a PowerPoint isn't what we're looking for! This is also good practice for future presentations that you will have to do in IB (TOK presentations for example).

February 13

IB 30/35

I showed you a video from the Turning Points in History on the construction of the atomic bomb during WWII, and how this invention forever changed the nature of modern warfare. We also started our film study of the HBO documentary "White Light/Black Rain", which we will continue tomorrow.

IB 20

I did a homework check at the beginning of class on your assignments related to the establishment of colonies in North America. We continued watching the video from the U.S. History series on colonization and imperialism in North America. We'll continue this video on Wednesday. Tomorrow we'll begin a little bit of library research on the Thirteen Colonies so that you can do some presentations next week. Please come to Room 111 tomorrow and then we'll go down to the Library as a whole class.

February 10

IB 30/35

We watched an excerpt of "Saving Private Ryan" today to illustrate the type of conditions soldiers faced during the Normandy invasion in WWII. You also wrote your Economics Test today. This weekend would be a great time to get some work done on your TOK group presentations and extended essays, don't you think?

IB 20

I had you do short presentations on your assigned individual from the Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, Scientific Revolution or the Enlightenment today. I also had you hand this assignment in at the end of the period. We also started watching a video on the collision of cultures that occurred with the colonization and settlement of North America. If you are interested in this topic you can watch a great PBS documentary on the subject called "When Worlds Collide". You can watch the documentary online here. There is an emphasis in that documentary on the developments of Latino culture in the Americas, post-colonization. Your History of the Americas textbook also covers this subject (pages 12-21). You have two homework assignments this weekend, bot of which are on the wiki in the Unit 3 section. You will have to download a couple of documents and complete the questions that go with the readings. One of the readings is rather short and discusses the colonial period in North America and how it was transnational in nature. The other article is called "The Settlement and Colonization of North America" with has an emphasis on Spanish, French and Dutch colonization of North America. Next week we'll look at the Jamestown settlement.

February 9

IB 20

We finished off the PowerPoint lecture on "The Age of Enlightenment". I will post it on the wiki this evening. We also watched a little bit more of the "Age of Light" video as well. You were given a homework assignment on an Enlightenment thinker. Unfortunately, we don't have an exemplar to post on the wiki. This assignment is due tomorrow. Please post on the wiki in the collaborative notes section. As a class you need to complete the Enlightenment thinkers chart, especially the far right-hand column.

IB 30/35

I gave you some notes leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at the beginning of class. If you missed class today, you'll have to get these notes from a classmate. We then watched an excerpt from the movie "Pearl Harbor". You have an Economics Test tomorrow. You'll write the test after we watch an excerpt from "Saving Private Ryan".

February 8

IB 20

We continued looking at the Enlightenment today by examining the ideas associated with Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. We also watched a little bit of the video "Age of Light". We'll continue tomorrow with both the PowerPoint lecture and the video.

IB 30/35

We watched a short video from the BBC 20th Century History series called "Britain Alone". I then gave you the remainder of the period to work in your TOK presentation groups, which I hope was helpful to you.

February 7

IB 30/35

We went through key events in WWII today by watching "Blitzkrieg to the Bomb". You have detailed notes on WWII based on this video, so make sure that you read them! You also had a little bit of TOK presentation group time today. I am not assigning homework tonight, so that you can read the various TOK reading packages that I gave you in class today. You should have some TOK time tomorrow, so make sure that you come armed with some great ideas of some potential "knowledge issues" for your area of knowledge.

IB 20

We talked a little bit about your timelines today in class. We then moved on to looking at the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment. We also had some interesting discussion centered around the view of human nature. We also looked at some characteristics of the Enlightenment (view of the universe governed by natural laws, Deism, free inquiry, empiricism, etc.). Tomorrow, we'll start looking at key thinkers of the Enlightenment.

February 6

IB 30/35

I went through a brief lecture on Hitler's rise to power in Germany. If you missed class today, you'll have to get notes from a classmate. We also watched "Why Appeasement?" today (a video from the BBC 20th Century History series)and completed a film study. Tomorrow you'll be watching "Blitzkrieg to the Bomb" and you'll also get some class time to get yourselves organized in your TOK presentation groups.

IB 20

We finished watching the movie "Vantage Point" in class today and we had a little bit of time to discuss the different perspectives of the assassination event and what some of the limitations were of the vantage points of many of the witnesses. Make sure that you bring your timeline to class tomorrow because we'll be looking at them and discussing them.

February 2

IB 20

This will have to be a short post tonight since I'm doing this from my iPhone. Your timeline assignment is due on Monday. We started our film study of the movie "Vantage Point", which we'll finish on Monday. There's no school tomorrow because it's a PD Day. Have a great long weekend!

IB 30

I assigned "shadow research" on the Great Depression in Latin America. Get on the wiki this weekend and fill those pages! I also went through the key events in the Interwar Years with you today. Next week, we'll be going through the key events in WWII. Have a great long weekend!

February 1

IB 20

I did a homework check on your letter of introduction at the beginning of class. I also collected your academic integrity policy and statement from you as well. We continued our look at history and historiography today by having some discussions centered around definitions of history. We also briefly looked at historical thinking skills that we'll be developing during the course. Tomorrow we will re-visit the worksheets on evaluating sources of information, distinguishing between fact and opinion, and the 8C's of historical analysis.

You do have a homework assignment tonight, please read the article "Why Study or Write History?" and answer the following questions:


1. What is history? Summarize and explain three definitions of this concept. Do these different meanings of history contradict or compliment one another?

2. Why study history? How and why do historians seek to make sense of the human experience? List and summarize at least five reasons for studying history, rank them in order of importance and justify your ranking.

3. Identify and discuss the kinds of questions historians ask that guide their investigation into the past.

4. What are primary sources? What are secondary sources? Discuss at least three problems historians must overcome when they use different types of sources.

IB 30

We covered a lot of ground today by looking at the Great Depression in Canada. You should be comfortable with any Paper 3 questions that require you to compare and contrast the Great Depression in the United States to another country in your region of study. Hopefully, you would pick Canada if you were to answer that question. I will post the PowerPoint presentation that I went through today on the wiki this afternoon. We also did a little bit of current events at the end of class. Tomorrow, the goal is to cover the Great Depression in Latin America and get into looking at the road to WWII.