The end…

June 8, 2010 in Uncategorized | No comments

P1000279Before I get to the academics, let’s address one thing.  No, Mr. Shaw and I are not dating, we are in fact engaged!  He took me to his favorite spot in Monterrey on Saturday and asked me to marry him and I said yes.  He is the kindest, most wonderful and fun person I have ever known and I feel so lucky that he feels the same way about me.

And now to the academics…

It’s finals week, I can’t believe it’s already here and that in a few days we are going to be done!  I’m definitely ready for summer, but I’m not ready to say goodbye to you all yet, the year has gone way too fast!

Congratulations again to all of you for finishing your Legacy of Imperialism projects and for doing such incredible work.  We will spend Monday and Tuesday reviewing for the final exam and then finals begin on Wednesday.  Remember that I will collect your study guide and your notebook on Friday, the day of your final.  And I must remind you one more time that I don’t want to hear any whining about missing the Mexico soccer game on Friday, I can’t watch it either!

Good luck this week you guys, be sure to study and ask if you have questions.

Week 16, 5/24-5/28

May 24, 2010 in Uncategorized | No comments

Sorry that I missed week 15, the camping trip really threw me for a loop last week.  Thank you again for being so wonderful with the sub while I got to enjoy some time with the DSA juniors in the Santa Cruz mountains.  I enjoyed the time I got to spend with my students from last year, but I really missed you guys, I was thinking about you often while I was away.  I can’t believe that our year together is almost over, it’s gone by so fast!

This week we will begin our next and last project for World History.  You will write a 5 paragraph essay discussing whether Afghan citizens should follow the Soviet backed government or the U.S. backed Mujahideen.  Remember to use all that you have learned about the Cold War as well as any notes and quotes you have to support your position.

We will also be spending time getting ready for the Legacy of Imperialism presentations next week.  You should make sure that each group member knows all the information, especially about the description of need and the project proposal.

Homework:

  • Current Event #4 (last one of the year!) due Wednesday, 5/26
  • Legacy of Imperialism project

Week 14, 5/10-5/14

May 11, 2010 in Uncategorized | No comments

I hope that you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend and that you were able to spend some time with and celebrate your moms or mom figures in your life.  I was able to spend the morning with my mom who is one of the strongest, most intelligent, and most patient people I have ever known in my life.  She is not only my Mom, but she is my confidant and one of my best friends.  I feel so lucky to have her in my life and that I got to spend time with her the other day.

This week we will keep up with our focus on the Cold War and the STAR test.  We will be testing in class on Tuesday and Wednesday and then doing an activity on Thursday and Friday.  Please do the best you can on the STAR test and show everyone all that you have learned this year at Mount!

Homework:

  • Workbook page 137 due Tuesday, 5/11
  • Workbook page 139 due Thursday, 5/13
  • Legacy of Imperialism project

Week 13, 5/3-5/7

May 3, 2010 in Homework, Uncategorized | No comments

I can’t believe that it’s already May!  This is our last full month of the school year, it’s gone by so fast!  While I am excited for the summer (and my trip to Thailand) I’m not quite ready for the year to be over.  I truly do love being here and teaching at Mount.

I got a text at 7:30 on Saturday morning (my first thought was, “who the heck is texting me this early on a SATURDAY morning!?”) from one of the girls I work with at the youth group where I volunteer.  She told me that she was taking the SATs and that she was in my room to take them.  Now this may seem silly, but it honestly made my entire weekend!  My classroom is my happy place, it’s bright and it’s where I feel loved, satisfied, fulfilled, but mostly, it’s where I feel safe.  My potential is reached in this space, the real me is showcased when you all walk through the door and into my classroom.  Most students in the youth group where I volunteer are either in the Acalanes school district, or they go to College Park or Northgate.  So I spend so much time hyping up Mount, telling them how wonderful it is and what a great place it is to be.  So when I found out one of the students was actually in my room, it made me so excited that she was able to experience my happy place.

On top of that message Saturday morning, I got to spend the afternoon with my coworkers, your other teachers, at Ms. Fontanilla’s daughter’s hootenanny.  Not only do I love the place where I work, but I absolutely adore the people I work with!  They are truly some of the most amazing people I have ever known.  Their kindness, passion, and knowledge is astounding and everyday I’m thankful that I get to work with and hang out with such admirable and fun people.

I hope that you all have a place and people in your lives like I have found here at school.  There are certainly sometimes when it can be tough to be here, especially in the face of so many negative (budget cuts, layoff, etc.) but I have learned to focus on the positive aspects of it all, hopefully you are able to do the same!

This week will mostly be focused on STAR test review.  We will break down sample test questions, review academic vocabulary, and review material from earlier on in the year.  The hope is that you will be able to understand the test better and improve your scores from your 8th grade social science test scores.  We will take a review break on Wednesday for current events and then pick up review for the end of the week.

Homework:

  • Current Event due Wednesday, 5/5
  • Workbook page 135 due Thursday, 5/6
  • Legacy of Imperialism drafts due Friday, 5/7

Week 12, 4/26-4/30

April 26, 2010 in Homework, Uncategorized | No comments

A new week is here and away we go!  We are almost to the home stretch, the month of May, and things are picking up quickly.  Remember to take time for yourself as the weeks get busier and the weather gets nicer so that you are able to stay healthy.  I’ve been really busy with obligations the past few weeks and I realized this past Friday that I had too much on my plate.  I had events that I needed to participate in on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning but I put everything aside on Sunday afternoon and enjoyed some time reading in the beautiful sunshine and met up with some of my favorite people (my parents) for dinner and watched a movie on Sunday night.  Usually I spend Sunday afternoons grading and/or planning, but I recognized that I was at my breaking point and I decided to put work aside for a weekend and just enjoy myself.  I realized I felt so much better as soon as I decided to take some time for myself and I woke up this morning feeling better than I have in a long time, more myself.

I encourage you all to check in with yourselves, how are you doing?  How are you feeling?  Obviously we can’t always do what we want, but we do need to make sure that we are taking care of ourselves and spending some time doing whatever it is that we want to do.  Even if it is only one afternoon on a beautiful Sunday!

In world history this week we are going to continue the film we started on Friday, The Manchurian Candidate.  This film highlights the fear of espionage during the Cold War and it discusses a little bit about the effects of the Korean War.  We have three short days in 5th period this week, and one short day and one regular day in 6th period.  This will mess up our schedule a bit, but we will continue our study of the Cold War, looking at how it impacted the world after World War II.

You don’t have any specific history homework this week so that you are able to focus on your STAR tests and your Legacy of Imperialism projects.

Homework

  • Draft 2 of project proposal and draft 1 of the Impact Anaysis is due on Friday, 4/30.
  • Rest for STAR test this week and eat good breakfasts

Week 11, 4/19-4/23

April 19, 2010 in Homework | No comments

You will make it through this!  I know that things are starting to pick up with your Legacy of Imperialism projects and that you’re starting to feel the pressure, but you will get through this and you will all be better individuals for it.  Not only do you have more due for Legacy, it’s also the week of the STAR test!  You will have one testing day this week and three next week.  Do your best to get rest this week and get ready to take a lot of test.  I know it’s not ideal, but as we talked about in class, until someone comes up with a better system, this is what we have.  Do your best and everything will be fine!

This week we will begin our unit on the Cold War.  This is a timer period in history that was defined by competition, paranoia, and massive government spending for many countries.  Keep in mind as we begin our study that this was not an actual war between the Soviet Union and the United States, but rather a series of competitions to see which country would become the single world power.

Homework:

  • Draft 2 of Description of need and Draft 1 of the Project Proposal due Friday, 4/23
  • Notebooks will be collected Monday, 4/26

Week 10, 4/12-4/16

April 13, 2010 in Homework, Uncategorized | No comments

Welcome back from spring break!  I hope that you all had a wonderful break and that you were able to get some rest and enjoy some time off of school.  I know that the week before spring break was a tough one for many of you.  Your DSA teachers were all a bit off and many of you will be feeling grief for a while.  Know that those feelings are ok and your teachers are here if you ever need anyone to talk to.

This week we will be returning to our regular routine in the classroom.  We will wrap up our lecture on World War II and we will finish the book Night as well.  At the end of the week we will have a quiz on World War II and then we will move on to the Cold War.

We will also spend some time this week preparing for the Star test which starts in 2 weeks.  Regardless of how you feel about the test, it has become an important test for our school and our academy as well.  As teachers all we ask is that you do your best.  We know that there will be questions that you don’t know the answer to, but please do your best to read each question and use the historical knowledge that you have in order to answer it to the best of your ability.

Homework:

  • Workbook page 129 & 130 due Wednesday, 4/14

Week 9, 3/29-4/1

March 29, 2010 in Homework | No comments

It’s amazing how life must go on.  While my life has drastically changed, nothing else seems different.  Even in my grief I must wake up, I must take a shower, I must get dressed, and I must teach you all something today. The pain I feel briefly goes away as I see your smiling faces, as I remember why it is that I love what I do so much.

Last night Charlie Walker, my uncle, died. It wasn’t a complete surprise, but even when you are waiting for death, it’s still painful when it becomes a reality.  While there is comfort in the knowledge that he is not suffering any longer, there is still leave pain for those left behind.  I will miss him.  He was always so big to me!  He gave me my first pair of riding boots, he was the first person to teach me how to throw a rope and lasso and gave me my first rope.  He was a great man, and he will be missed.

And now I am here.  Trying to figure out how to serve my family and also keep doing my job well.  I don’t know how well I will do this week, but I promise to try my best.  Please be patient with me as I go through the grief that I must.  Know that I love all of you and I am trying my best to continue providing you with the education you deserve.

So, this week the plan is to wrap up our study of World War II before spring break.  We will finish the WWII lecture as well as the book, Night (I hope).  We will also watch clips from the film Band of Brothers to highlight what we are learning.  You have your second current event of the semester due on Wednesday, be sure that you have an article about your Legacy of Imperialism project, and then there will be another quiz on Friday, 4/2.

You will turn in the first drafts of your country profile today and will get feedback either Tuesday or Wednesday (depends on whether I’m here Tuesday).  You also have the first draft of Part B of your Country Profile due Friday.  This means that the history, timeline, and geography/resource map is due Friday.  The due dates for Legacy are fast approaching now until June, be sure that you stay on task and keep up the wonderful work!

Homework:

  • Current Event #2 due Wednesdy, 3/31
  • Study for quiz which will be on Friday, 4/2
  • Draft 1 of Part B for Legacy of Imperialism due Friday, 4/2

Week 8, 3/22-3/26

March 22, 2010 in Homework | No comments

tulipsWelcome spring!!!  The weather is getting warmer, the trees are blooming, the flowers are flowering, and people are sneezing.  It’s an incredible time of year with beautiful growth and summer is getting closer.  I know that it is sometimes hard to get focused, but do your best to stay on top of your school work so that you don’t get too far behind.  Even I’m having a hard time staying focused and getting all the grading done that I need to do.  One of my high school students at the youth group that I work with said maybe I shouldn’t assign as much work, and while that sounds tempting, the daffodilsreality is that I would be doing you all a disservice.  The reason why I give you the work I do is to enhance your learning.  To give you the best education that I possibly can.  Without assessing what you have learned I cannot figure out how I am doing as a teacher.  You all deserve the absolute BEST, and I am trying to give that to you.  I believe in you and I know that you can all succeed if you want to!

And so we are back in school, attempting to focus as the beautiful weather calls our names and attention.  Things are going to slow down a bit in history as we take a look at World War II the next few weeks.  We will spend the week doing lecture on the topic and we will read the autobiography, Night.  Get ready, there will be a quiz on Friday, 3/26.

Don’t forget that you have your Career Exploration Visit essay due in Ms. Paul’s class on Friday and draft 1 of your country profile due in Multi Media.

Homework:

  • Workbook page 124 due Wednesday, 3/24
  • Study for quiz on Friday, 3/26

Week 7, 3/15-3/19

March 19, 2010 in Uncategorized | No comments

It’s Friday afternoon and I just realized that I didn’t update the blog for this week…man I feel like a jerk!  Sorry folks.  I think that all this time away from you all has rattled my brain.

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