This year-long, required course is an introductory course to history - not just what happened in the world of the recent past, but how to think like an historian. The aim of this class is to give you the skills you need to conduct your own investigations. We will be practicing these skills through a variety of thinking, reflecting and critiquing activities, through problem-solving and project design, and yes, through reading and writing. There is no core text - rather, we will be using on-line resources and a variety of written materials to practice research and close reading skills as we examine major events from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Basic Guidelines:
We will use some basic electronic platforms this year.
Students are expected to bring assigned materials to class every day. As all your resources will be placed on-line, readings should be downloaded the night before and stored in iBooks, iSuite applications, as a pdf, etc (this is due to bandwidth issues that may arise in class.) Mobile technology and laptops will be important for both accessing materials and producing work, so please bring what you have.
I also need you to have the following extra items:
Grading Policy:
Student grades will be based on:
These graded assignments must be posted to Schoology, your blog, emailed to or shared with me. Work not received or seen by me will result in a zero.
You will also be graded on what are called 21st Century Skills - collaboration, work ethic, creativity, communication, etc. We will discuss what all these skills mean and what good rubrics should look like for these skills.
Students missing class should check Schoology for assignments. Students missing class the day an assignment is due are allowed “sick leave” to turn work in after assigned due date. Otherwise, late work is subject to point deductions for each day it is late, and deductions from their “work ethic/timeliness” grade.
Assessment Grading and Grade Reporting:
Because education is based on acquisition and mastery of skills and content (more about that later) I believe that assessments should be considered “in process” until the target level of skill and content is reached. That means that grades for all but pop quizzes will only be given three possible grades: “A” for mastery, “B” for target, and “No Credit.” Rubrics will guide all constructions and assessments, and will indicate which areas need to be focused on to reach at least a “B” grade.
All finished projects/artifacts will be exhibited publicly at the stage of completion.
Basic Guidelines:
We will use some basic electronic platforms this year.
- I will communicate with you through a webservice called Schoology. Go here to set up your account and enroll in the course. Watch this video if you have any questions about signing up. (in case of brojen link, paste this into your browser: http://vimeo.com/46433067) You will use this code (74XMD-5GJCC) to enroll in the class, and it is here that you will receive assignments, turn in work, and see your grades. You will see your first homework assignment once you go to our class.
- You will keep a blog on Tumblr to communicate your ideas - all non-formal writing, that is. In a few days, you will receive a prompt to sign up or if you already have a tumblr, to create a new one for this class, and then send me the URL via Schoology.
- I have created a website on weebly to house all of our resources and occasionally post student work. Here is the link.
Students are expected to bring assigned materials to class every day. As all your resources will be placed on-line, readings should be downloaded the night before and stored in iBooks, iSuite applications, as a pdf, etc (this is due to bandwidth issues that may arise in class.) Mobile technology and laptops will be important for both accessing materials and producing work, so please bring what you have.
I also need you to have the following extra items:
- A folder for writing,
- Writing utensils (pens, pencils)
- Ear buds (for listening quietly to videos and audio files)
- a working email address or phone number for texts provided to me in case I need to communicate with you quickly
Grading Policy:
Student grades will be based on:
- Daily activities (writing, blogging, etc)
- Project benchmarks
- Finished projects/artifacts
- Essays and other formal writing assignments
- Your behaviors as a learner in our community (see 21st century skills below)
These graded assignments must be posted to Schoology, your blog, emailed to or shared with me. Work not received or seen by me will result in a zero.
You will also be graded on what are called 21st Century Skills - collaboration, work ethic, creativity, communication, etc. We will discuss what all these skills mean and what good rubrics should look like for these skills.
Students missing class should check Schoology for assignments. Students missing class the day an assignment is due are allowed “sick leave” to turn work in after assigned due date. Otherwise, late work is subject to point deductions for each day it is late, and deductions from their “work ethic/timeliness” grade.
Assessment Grading and Grade Reporting:
Because education is based on acquisition and mastery of skills and content (more about that later) I believe that assessments should be considered “in process” until the target level of skill and content is reached. That means that grades for all but pop quizzes will only be given three possible grades: “A” for mastery, “B” for target, and “No Credit.” Rubrics will guide all constructions and assessments, and will indicate which areas need to be focused on to reach at least a “B” grade.
All finished projects/artifacts will be exhibited publicly at the stage of completion.