on to Egypt!

Read LO-3 Land of the Pharaohs: Egypt, found on p.20-29 in the text.  Take notes onthe material.  Brief notes will be fine - don't rewrite the text!  

Special message to Harry, Robert, and William:  your essay will compare life before the Agricultural Revolution (during the time of hunter/gatherers) with life after the Revolution (when people began to domesticate animals and plants, and live in villages).  Please post the essay to your blog when you are finished.

Attention Section One

I will not be in class with you today, as our Academic Team is competing at Maryvale.

Mrs. Fisher will sub for me today.  Treat her nicely, as she is one of my favorite people.

Your in-class assignment:  Read LO-3 Land of the Pharaohs: Egypt, found on p.20-29 in the text.  Take notes in your Composition Book.  Brief notes will be fine - don't rewrite the text. Work by yourself, and work quietly.  No need to use the computers.  This will take you all period, especially since it is a short class today.  Whatever you don't finish in class is homework.

Don't forget to blog tonight!

Good call.

It's a bad idea to put school buses and teenage drivers on the road in weather like this.  

Good work by the HCPS for deciding to cancel school for today.  

Doppler radar image, 8:15 am, 1/28/13

In the meantime, many of you may have noticed that grades are being posted for your blogs and your essay assignment.  If you received a zero for your essay, it's because you never posted it to your blog.  This time, I will allow you to turn it in late and still receive credit.  See my blog posting for Friday, January 18, for details on the assignment.  If you have questions, please email me at rschick@johncarroll.org.

Also, please note that you have received comments right on your blog, explaining why you got the grade you did on your essay.  Please take a moment to look them over.

Good day to read about Egypt (p. 20-29) if you're going to be stuck inside anyway!

fear of flurries

Okay, so Harford County sent us all home two hours early due to impending snow.  Of course, I missed out on seeing Section 2 and 3, since those classes were cancelled, and I'm sure you are as disappointed as I am.    Life goes on, and here's what will be going on when we come back Monday.

Section 1:  In Friday's class, we assessed what you know about Prehistory (LO-1), and finished the PowerPoint on Mesopotamia (LO-2).  Over the weekend you should read LO-3 Land of the Pharaohs: Egypt, found on p. 20-29.  Feel free to take notes in your blog.

Section 2 and 3: On Monday we will finish up Prehistory (LO-1), and look at the PowerPoint on Mesopotamia (LO-2).  On Wednesday we will start our studies of Egypt, so if you want to get a head start on reading LO-3 Land of the Pharaohs: Egypt, found on p. 20-29, that would be a good idea.

All Sections:  I have posted the PowerPoint for this chapter, plus an outline of this chapter, as well as a link to the John Green video, in the sidebar called Links, Inc. on the right-hand side of this blog.  You might want to use these for reference.

Next week is a four-day week for students, with no classes on Friday, February 1.  We will spend the rest of our week covering Mesopotamia and Egypt.  I have scheduled the test on Chapter One for Monday, February 4.

from Paleolithic to Neolithic

Section 2 and 3:  Both sections took another look at the John Green video, adding to our discussion of LO-1.  Tonight's homework is to read the first part of LO-2, found on p. 11-16.  This should provide a nice introduction to Mesopotamia.had good discussions about repercussions of the Agricultural Revolution.  Tomorrow we see the video that provides a fresh perspective on this material.

Section 1 had the day off.

Everyone:   Don't forget to blog!

Ag Rev

Section 1:  We took another look at the John Green video, completing our discussion of LO-1.  Tonight's homework is to read the first part of LO-2, found on p. 11-16.  This should provide a nice introduction to Mesopotamia.

Section 2 and 3:  Both sections had good discussions about repercussions of the Agricultural Revolution.  Tomorrow we see the video that provides a fresh perspective on this material.

Everyone:   Don't forget to blog!

You say you want an Agricultural Revolution

We're learning about the Agricultural Revolution through our text, by viewing a PowerPoint, and by studying an unusual and high-energy video.

So far, so good!

A slight diversion

Every so often I like to post something that isn't exactly part of the curriculum, but some of you might find interesting.  If you click here, you will find an short interview with our friend Jared Diamond, where he talks about books -  the books he read as a child, what book he would make the President read, even the last book to make him cry.  Warning: Mr. Diamond is, seriously, a total nerd.  Check this out and leave a comment on this blog if you want to.  See you tomorrow!

reminder

 

Don't forget!  This weekend, pick up a Compositions book, like the one pictured here (only smaller).

Also, if you haven't set up your blog and sent me the URL, do that right away.  There are still seven of you who haven't sent me your URL.  Get on it!

Plus, many of you who set up your blog still haven't posted to it.  Sections 2 and 3 needed to post Thursday and Friday; Section 1 should have posted about Friday's class.

Finally, don't let the 50-point writing assignment get away from you.  Write, then rewrite, and write well.  Read all about it on my Friday posting for details; email me if you have questions or problems. 

from prehistory to civilization

Your blog for tonight should cover the notes you take in class today.  It must be posted by 11:59 pm Saturday night - in other words, just before midnight, as Saturday turns to Sunday.

Your other assignment is to read the LO-1 section in the text, found on p 6-11.  ("LO" stands for Learning Objective.  In this case, the Learning Objective for this part of the chapter is to trace the key developments of prehistory, from the emergence of our human ancestors to the beginnings of village life.)

Your other assignment for this three-day weekend is to take notes on LO-1, and then apply these notes to your study of Guns, Germs & Steel.  In other words, you should answer this question:  Was Jared Diamond on track with his theory of "geographic luck"?  Write at least a few hundred words answering this question, offering evidence that you find in the text.  This 50-point assignment must be posted before your section meets again (before mod 10 Tuesday for Section 1; before mod 3 Wednesday for Section 2; before mod 8 Wednesday for Section 3). 

Let's get this party started.

Here are some suggestions to get off on the right foot in Western Civ.  Start out by establishing the necessary blogular communications between us.

• Switch your browser to Google Chrome.
• Bookmark my blog, and put it in your Bookmarks bar.
• If you don't have one already, create your own Gmail account.  Make note of your username and password.
• Create your own blog for Western Civilization through blogger.com.
• Bookmark your blog, and put it in your Bookmarks bar.
• Very important: Email me the web address for your blog (to rschick@johncarroll.org). 
• Make sure your postings will be in Eastern Time (Design -> Settings -> Language and formatting).

A crucial component of this course is your written contributions.  You are expected to post to your blog whenever we have class - usually four times a week.  Your posting is due before midnight on that same night, except on Fridays, when the blog is due midnight Saturday night.  You need to complete all the above steps so you don't fall behind right off the bat.  See me after school in Room 121 (the TV Studio) if you need help.