Teacher:
Debi Robertson, 10625 Red Bud Trail, Berrien Springs, MI 49103
Phone: 616-471-7150,
Fax: 616-471-7130, E-Mail: debirob@earthlink.net
Office Hours: 12:00-12:30, 2:30-3:00, other times by appointment
Textbook: World History Connections to Today: The Modern Era, by Prentice Hall publishers, copyright 1999
Supplies
Needed: An atlas and/or globe
A computer
that will run internet assignments (may need to download some free plug-ins)
Access to
and ability to use MSN Instant Messenger
A notebook
in which to keep all assignments completed
Access to
internet, email, a printer, and a fax machine
Important
for Parents:
Parents
must supply a separate email account from the student.
Admission to World History: Students must be enrolled in the 9th or 10th grade of the Central Connecticut Adventist School.
Attendance:
A student
will be marked present as follows:
1. A day
that does not have an on-line class: if daily assignment is received sometime
during the day it is assigned. An email should always be sent whether the
assignment is complete or not, indicating what has been done and how much
time has been spent.
2. A day
that DOES have on-line class: if student is present for entire class time
and participates appropriately.
3. An excessive
number of absences will put student's enrollment in the class in jeopardy.
Grading:
Grades will
consist of:
1/2 Daily
work/bonus points
1/4 Projects
1/4 Quizzes
and Tests
Grades are based on the following scale:
92 to 100
= A 72 to 77 = C
90 to 91
= A- 70 to 71 = C-
88 to 89
= B+ 68 to 69 = D+
82 to 87
= B 62 to 67 = D
80 to 81
= B- 60 to 61 = D-
78 to 79
= C+ 0 to 59 = F
How Points
are Assigned:
Students
receive points as follows:
1. Daily written work: be sure to note how many points are possible for each assignment. For example, if the assignment has 2 questions but is worth 8 points, be sure to note where several questions or answers may be required for any one question. In other words, if you quickly read a question and submit an answer of "yes" or "no", but the question is worth 3 points, you'd best expect to give a reasonable and thorough explanation to accompany the "yes" or "no" answers. Following these suggestions can make a BIG difference in your grade.
2. Points are often given for reading and submitting work on time, and for reporting time spent on internet activities. If you are keeping up-to-date in your work, meeting class appointments punchtually, and doing your best to pay attention, you should find these bonus (and often free points) to help your grade noticeably. The reason for these points is to help students see how the skills of punctuality, responsibility, persistence, and effort will make a difference throughout high school and college.
3. Points are given for tests and quizzes.
4. Points are given for projects. See section on projects for more details.
Amount of Time Needed for Class: Students should expect to spend an average of 1-2 hours a day on this class (plus some additional study time).
Corrections: Work may be corrected and resent for more credit, provided the answers are not given on the returned work and it is resubmitted before the grades are calculated.
On-line
Class
On-line
Class Sessions will generally be held 3 days a week and are tentatively
scheduled for Monday 3:00 pm, Wednesday 7:30 am, Friday 10:00 am, starting
the last week of September. All students need access to MSN Instant Messenger
and should have it set up with the teacher's email address on the buddy
list.
Students should sign into class 5-10 minutes early so that any technical problems can be taken care of BEFORE class starts.
Students are expected to have their book, assignment sheet, and any assignments or questions readily available during class sessions.
Students are not to hold private chats with each other without permission during class time.
Most daily assignments indicate items to be discussed, but since on-line class sessions wil generally occur 3 times a week, plan to discuss all items listed since the last class session. Any student missing a discussion or refusing to participate will be expected to answer these items in writing and submit them within 24 hours.
Assignment
Submission Requirements:
Assignments
must be submitted by email with PROPER identification information. Projects
that cannot be sent by email should be scanned and emailed or sent by snail
mail Priority Mail. Your name, what project, page number, date should be
on every page that is emailed or sent.
Sample Email format
Please use
the following format in the subject line:
p 3 Maps
9/15 History
p 9 Charts
9/16 History
p 30 Chapter
Review 9/30 History
Reporting Use of Study Aids
Students
should send a quick email each day reporting time spent studying these
games. For example, send an email to Mrs. R. that says "I spent 15 minutes
on this chapter's study games today."
Label the
email "Study report for _____(give the date)"
Responsibility
of Student and Parent
It is the
student's responsibility to find a way to accomplish the assignments and
get the help needed. Do not try something once and then give up and say
you can't do it. Persistence and creativity are rewarded in this class.
It is the parent's responsibility to supervise the student's work time, to be aware of what the student is assigned, and to see that the work is submitted in a timely manner.
Requesting
help
Mrs. R.
will be on the road during the first 3 weeks of September. The best way
to request help is by email. If you need a phone call, send an email with
your request and phone number. Email will be checked regularly. After that,
you may phone Mrs R at the home number listed above, or continue to email.
Quality
of Work
Be thorough
in work submitted. If you are writing an essay or answering an essay question,
don't expect an A if you write a one or two line answer. Don't expect an
A if the work you submit is full of grammar and punctuation errors and
the sentences are not complete and don't "hang together." Something that
is sloppily thrown together and submitted will show as such and will be
graded down.
Do expect the possibility of an A if your work was done carefully and thoughtfully. Do expect the possibility of an A if you have taken the time to proofread, to make sure that all questions have been covered or if you have asked for help if needed rather than leaving out parts or incorrectly answering.
Study
Aids: Vocabulary and Important People and Events
Each section
of the book generally points out special words: people and events that
should be learned and remembered. Rather than asign these as busy work
for students to define and submit as written work, the information has
been prepared in a study aid format on the internet. This information from
each chapter is available. (links will be provided in the daily assignment
list) and may be reviewed as flashcards, matching, concentration, or seek
and find.
Since each chapter is generally covered in 4-6 days, students should begin reviewing these study games the first day of the chapter and spend about 15 minutes each day of the chapter learning this information.
Assignments
1st Quarter
Assignments
The first
7 days will consist of a general geography study and review with assignments
and activities on the internet. On-line class sessions will not be held.
Students are expected to follow the daily instructions for activities to
do and how to report work for credit. A daily report is expected by the
teacher for full credit to be achieved. Plan to spend 1-2 hours a day on
the average.
Assignments
for Day 7-23 of 1st Quarter
We will
begin using the book during this Ancient History overview, but will rely
most heavily on the internet. As we spend a little time in many areas of
ancient history, students should be making a decision of his or her three
top areas of interest for further in-depth study later in the quarter.
We will also begin having on-line class meetings. You will receive more
details on this as we get started.
Day 24-25 will be a review and test over the Review Unit (p 2-35) of the book. You will be given many on-line quiz games throughout the month leading up to this, which, if wisely used over and over (some time spend each day) will greatly assist you on the test.
Day 26-36 will be focused totally on the web page building projects. Each student will submit 3 choices of areas for further study. A partner will be assigned and instructions will be given on how to proceed. Topic areas will include: Ancient Egypt, India, China, Greek Empire, Roman Empire, the Americas, and Middle Ages in Europe.
Daily Assignment
Format beginning with Day 37 through most of the year
The last
7 days of the quarter will cover Chapter 1 in the book. We will begin the
format of class assignments that will be used throughout the majority of
the school year.
Daily Reading assignments will be given and are to be completed BEFORE class discussion sessions. For example, if Monday's assignment is to read p 5-10, the student is to read those pages BEFORE class time on that Monday.
Each regular assignment will have 3 parts: 1) pages to read, 2) items to discuss in class on-line, 3) written work to turn in.
Chapter Review assignments will have 2 parts: 1) items to discuss in class on-line, and 2) written work to turn in. The written work on Chapter Reviews generally counts as a take-home test for that chapter. On-line tests are generally given at the end of units. Students will be informed of any exceptions.
In addition, study aids in the form of on-line games are provided throughout each unit and chapter. Though these activities do not generally count greatly on your grade, you are expected to spend time on them. They are important learning tools as well as good preparation for tests. The more faithfully these study helps are used, the better grade students will generally have. (see section on study aids)
Major
Projects
Three major
projects are assigned during the year: 1) Ancient History Web-Building
Project (1st quarter), 2) Holocaust Project (3rd quarter), and 3) Case
Study Project (4th quarter). Time is set aside in the dialy schedule specifically
for these projects, usually around a week or so.
Minor
Projects
Smaller
projects are assigned for each of the 4 units. The Unit 1 and 2 projects
will fall during the second quarter, Unit 3 during 3rd quarter, and Unit
4 during 4th quarter.
These projects are to be selected at the beginning of the unit so they can be worked on throughout the quarter. It is not recommended that these projects be left until the last week before they are due because the rushed jobs will usually be evident in the quality of the project, points may be lost if it is late, and time needed for test preparation may be used--all of which result in a lower grade in the class.
Projects offer an opportunity for students to "shine" in areas of particular talent. If care is taken to research and do a good job, it can be a most rewarding experience. Students can choose from several project packages: political cartooning, journalist/author/poet, public relations, or a variety pack.
Video
Viewing
Two or three
times during the year a video will be passed by mail from student to student.
When received, the student should get the reviewing worksheet off Mrs.
R's web page, view the video, submit the worksheet, and quickly mail to
the next student. One day's assignment is set aside for this (obviously
it will be a different day for each person)
The videos are not finalized but may include Dickens "Tale of Two Cities" describing France during the French Revolution (2nd quarter), Alexandria and Resputin of Russia just before World War I (beginning of 3rd quarter), and the Nuremburg Trials (near the end of 3rd quarter).
Here's
an overview of what we will cover this year:
1st
Quarter: General Geography Review, Ancient History Overview, Web page
Building Projects
2nd
Quarter: French Revolution, Industrial Revolution, Life in the 1800s,
Imperialism, Pre-World War I Era
3rd
Quarter: World War I and II, Holocaust Study and Project
4th
Quarter: World Events from 1945 to the Present, Case Study Projects