Spring Break Coming

I looked at the calendar today and noticed that it is only about a month until Spring Break arrives.  I’m looking forward to using the time to get caught up on my writing– and you know… my sanity.

My paper work has just gotten crazy in the past two years.  There are lesson plans, IEPs (Individual Education Plans), 504 plans (for students with medical issues), weekly writing prompts that must be turned in, writing samples that must be turned in, primary sources that must be turned in… and don’t forget that good old stand-by: Attendance, which despite the fact that it is taken on computer has to be replicated on paper to meet Nevada State law, which is stuck in the Dark Ages.

For those of you who haven’t been in school for a while and who may have never seen a lesson plan, here are a couple of mine.

 

Lesson One

U.S. History – 9.1 – Students will describe the annexation of Alaska and Hawaii by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills.

Introduction:  Today we continue our unit on American Imperialism.

Warm Up: Examine the maps on page 651.  According to the two maps, in which area did more fighting take place.  What evidence did you find to support your answer?

Daily Review: Review Beveridge’s speech.

Daily Objectives: See Below.

Student Friendly Objective: Describe expansion of US power overseas at the turn of the twentieth century.

Essential Question: How did the closing of the American Frontier impact U.S. oversees policies?

School-wide vocabulary: consistent, deduce, event, exhibit, prove

Define each of the terms students will encounter (whole class):  annexatiion, sphere’s of influence, Open Door Policy

Concept and Skill Development Application

The teacher will guide the students through a Think/Write/Discuss interactive lecture using the Smartboard.

A. Introductory/Motivational Question: Why do some countries try to rule and control other countries?  Students will write a 2-minute response.

B. After slide three (of five): Clarifying Question: Was American expansion fair to Japan?  Hawaii?  China?  Students will write a short response; sharing some questions aloud.

C. After slide 5: Reflective Question: How does American expansion at the beginning of the twentieth century compare with America’s role in the world today?  Students will write a two minute response.

Guided / Independent Practice

See above.

Homework: None.

Closure: Compare and contrast Beveridge’s imperialism of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Ticket out the door: What was one important issue addressed by reformers of the Progressive Era?  (From the review.)

Long Term Review: Students will review their notebooks, including their two foldable study guides.

Related Standards/Objectives:

  • 9.1 – Students will describe the annexation of Alaska and Hawaii by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills. [H4]
  • 9.2 – Students will analyze the political and social impact of the Panama Canal by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills. [H3.[6-8].14]
  • 9.3 – Students will identify Latin American nations that play a significant role in United States foreign policy and examine how we interacted including the Spanish American War by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills. [C16.[6-8].3, C16.[6-8].4]
  • 9.4 – Students will critique the influence of the media in forming public opinion through yellow journalism by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills. [C15.[6-8].4]

 

Lesson Two

U.S. History – 9.1 – Students will describe the annexation of Alaska and Hawaii by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills.

Introduction:  Today we complete our unit on American Imperialism.

Warm Up: Read the profile of Jovita Idar on page 660.  Write a summary of what you’ve read and answer the question “Who benefited most of Jovita Ivar’s efforts?  What evidence did you find to support your answer?

Daily Review: Review notes from the interactive lecture.

Daily Objectives: See Below.

Student Friendly Objective: Describe expansion of US power overseas at the turn of the twentieth century.

Essential Question: How did the closing of the American Frontier impact U.S. oversees policies?

School-wide vocabulary: consistent, deduce, event, exhibit, prove

Define each of the terms students will encounter (whole class):  isthmus, anarchy, dollar diplomacy

Concept and Skill Development Application

Students will view “Bring Me the Pictures and I’ll Bring You the War” video clip (10 mins).  They will answer the following study questions from the video: What two newspaper owners were in competition?  Why did Frederick Remington not want to stay in Cuba?  Who were the Rough Riders?

Students will work in groups to find information from their textbooks on the following topics: The Maine, The Rough Riders, The Panama Canal, The Roosevelt Corollary, Dollar Diplomacy, Moral Diplomacy, Francisco Pancho Villa.  Groups will orally present their finding to the class.

Guided / Independent Practice

See above.

Homework: None.

Closure: Summarize the Spanish American War.

Ticket out the door: What is Yellow Journalism.

Long Term Review: Students will review their notebooks, including their two foldable study guides.

Related Standards/Objectives:

  • 9.1 – Students will describe the annexation of Alaska and Hawaii by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills. [H4]
  • 9.2 – Students will analyze the political and social impact of the Panama Canal by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills. [H3.[6-8].14]
  • 9.3 – Students will identify Latin American nations that play a significant role in United States foreign policy and examine how we interacted including the Spanish American War by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills. [C16.[6-8].3, C16.[6-8].4]
  • 9.4 – Students will critique the influence of the media in forming public opinion through yellow journalism by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills. [C15.[6-8].4]

 

Indie Book Lounge

Indie Book Lounge has received a facelift.  I thought it was pretty cool before, with nifty little artwork, but it has been redesigned to make it even easier to find interesting books by new and unknown authors.  The books are broken down by genre and you can find many bargain and free books among them.  Check it out here: http://www.indiebooklounge.com.

A New Chair

I went down to Staples this morning and got a new chair.  My old chair just wouldn’t hold me up anymore.  I decided to get a really nice chair in which to sit in front of my really nice computer.  Thankfully it was on sale, but even so, it’s more than I ever paid for a chair before.  It was only an hour or so later that my wife let me know I had no more money.  Go figure.

Facebook is a Bummer

I’ve already reduced my time and efforts on Facebook, but I think I’m going to reduce my presence there further.  Facebook is annoying.  They have no problem spamming me with crappy game invitations and using my pictures to sell their ads, but I try to upload more than 10 links to my own page and I get denied the ability to upload for two days, because I’m abusing the feature.

There are a few people that I am glad that I can connect with via Facebook– people I otherwise wouldn’t be able to connect with.  Mostly the messages I see on my “news feed” though are from people I see everyday.  The people I don’t see often that I really would like to send messages to, aren’t on Facebook or don’t use it that much.

The web is always evolving.  I think Facebook has probably reached its peak and has begun its inevitable decline.  Anyone remember MySpace…. AOL…?  I wonder what the next great innovation of telecommunication will be.  Twitter is still on the rise, but I think there is room for something that offers users something new and cool.  I just don’t know what the new and cool is going to be.

Spam

One interesting thing I noticed when I switched from Blogspot to WordPress is the amount of spam comments posted.  I usually see four or five a week, and dutifully clean them off.  Today, I looked and there were 74.  I don’t remember how long it’s been since I last checked, what with my computer switch-over and all.

I don’t know what the point is of all the spam.  I assume it’s to lure people to some disreputable sites and infect their systems with spyware, but having never followed one of those links, I don’t know for certain.  In any case, nobody should be searching around the web without some good anti-malware protection.  I’ve used Norton and McAfee in the past, but currently I’m using Kaspersky.  When I switched over to my iMac, one of the first things I did was to download the new version of Kaspersky Internet Security.  They say Macs are less a target than PCs, but I’m not taking any chances.

You shouldn’t either.  There are several good Internet Security programs available online for free or nearly free.  Google AVG or Avast, if you have nothing else already.  Stay safe!

Time Machine

One of the coolest things about the iMac is Time Machine, built right in.  It’s just way cool.  I’ve got a new external hard drive that I’m designating as my time machine drive.

In the past, I have obsessively backed-stuff up all over the place.  Now I can take a bit of a breather.

All Set

IMG_1131

Well, she is all set up and in her place, ready to help me get started writing and doing whatever else I do on my computer.

It didn’t take me as long to migrate everything over as I thought it would, but I’m still learning some new tricks.

As misfortune would have it, my daughter dropped her laptop the other day and killed it, so she is inheriting my HP.

The New Lady

Here is a picture of the new computer.  She’s sitting in front of the old one.   As you can see, she is still getting settled and I am still getting used to her.IMG_1129

Working on the new computer.

I’m sitting here trying to get my new computer set up.  This is the first thing I’ve typed on it.  Feels pretty good so far.  Looks awesome… so sexy.  Pics in the next few days.  On the other hand, I’ve been sick for 21 days now and I’m about sick of being sick.

Jeopardy

I took the Jeopardy test the other night.  I always do well when I watch it on TV, but I think I may have blown my chance this time.  I took the test one time in the old days when they had the tour bus that came around, and I got to the second round.  We’ll see if they call.