Class Recap 10/30

I felt like today was a very productive class. Even though it was less structured, I felt like it was a good environment to work on our projects and have fun at the same time. Those who had game boards got to play them with other classmates, and got to test them out which I thought was good. The others could give them constructive criticism so they could make them better. Also, those doing projects other than game boards got to talk to others and get ideas from them to make their project better.

Civic Values in the US VoiceThread

Timetoast

Class Recap 10/23

Today, I thought class was a pretty good one. We split into groups and were told that there were QR codes all around the hallways. With our groups, we had to scan each one with a QR code scanner on a device and write down what each ones message was. These messages happened to be quesitions. The first group to answer all the questions with the correct dates got 5 extra points, because the assignment counted as a test grade. I think the competition aspect of it gave people the drive to work hard and i also think this activity incorperated the whole BYOD thing very nicely.

Class Recap 10/19

Yesterday in class, we had a substitute. She explained to us that we would be reading a document by Thomas Payne. The beginning line was "Thesae are the times to try men's souls." We were asked to write an essay according to the question "Is now (2012) the time to try mens souls?" Today, we expressed our opinions on the subject that we had written about on the day before. We discussed things such as the economy, how we present ourselves, etc. and got to share with the class how we felt about these things. I think this is important because by hearing other classmates ideas, people thought harder about the initial question.

Class Recap 10/17

The past couple days in class we have been learning about the Declaration of Independance. Yesterday, we were put into groups and had to analyze one section of it and figure out the key points that were being put across. We then, by using a fake twitter builder, made a twitter feed. This forced every group to try to summarize their section into 140 characters or less. Today, the class split into two big groups who further discuessed the Declaration of Independance. We shared the information we had gathered within our smaller groups the day before with each other so everyone had a summary of the important document.

Revolutionary Replica VoiceThread

Class Recap 10/12

Today in class we worked in groups. Each group was given a legal document. My group was given "Commen Sense" by Thomas Paine. He was a strong believer in Amercian colonies becoming independent from Britain. Another group was given "Plain Truth" which was a Loyalists response to Paines "Common Sense" in which Paine was called a " political quack." The third group was given the Olive Petition. the Olive Petition was written by the Second Continental Congress  toKing George lll and was the first document pushing the colonies away from Britain. To learn about the other groups documents, we split up so people from each group were brought together in a new group. they shared the information they got. I think this as a good way of learning about the other two documents because since we were on such small groups, we were able to discuss our documents in depth and clear up any confusion by talking to each other and asking ech other questions.

Class Recap 10/10

Today, we spent the class talking about the Battle of Lexington and Concord and the battle at Bunker Hill. I enjoyed the animation because not only was I learning by listening, but I was also learning by looking at a visual representation of the events as well. Without having the animation on the board I think it would have been a lot more difficult to understand the directions were the at and militia were coming from and going to. I didn't realize how many more men the British lost compared to the colonists. Although the colonists didn't necessarily win all of the land they fought for, they still won. They took a stand against the British and held their own. I have a new appreciation for them after today.

Class Recap 10/5

Today in class, we read a poem on Paul Revere. The poem glorified Paul Revere and made it seem like he was the biggest hero at the time. However, after we read the misleading poem, we learned the real story behind what happened that night. It turns out. more people than just PaulRevere were involved and for some reason, they dont get all the credit they should. I think it was important to learn this so as students we know the truth and dont believe false information. After learning the real sotry, we were given the assignment to write a sonnet of our own with a partner about what really happened. I enjoyed this class.

Ed Cafe ll

During class on Wednesday and Thursday, we did another Ed Cafe. On Wednesday, we prepared for it. We were grouped together and told to make google presentation, which was actuallly pretty cool. We all got to work on the same project at once through different computers. However, with google being uncooperative it got very frustrating at times. Then, on Thursday, it was the actual Ed Cafe day. Overall, i think it was a success. However, it did not go over as smoothly as it had the first time. There was so much information that was important from both, it was hard to get it all down in time. Also, all of the events were connected so if you hadnt learned about one of them it was hard to fully understand the one you were being taught. I enjoyed this project and i think we should do more with google presentations so group members can stimutaneously work on the same project even if theyre using different computers.