We discussed several current events and issues and spent the remainder of the period going over the corrected quizzes.

Today we discussed some current events.

I told students my plan for spending a few days with pre-Civil War political conflicts, a few days with the Civil War (we'll watch the movie "Glory"), and a few days with Reconstruction. Then we'll move onto a complex mix of industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and major social changes. Students expressed approval.

Then I told them that their were both unifying and disunifying events between north & south previous to the Civil War. I assigned groups to briefly research seven of them on the internet. We went to the computer lab and spent a few minutes researching then sharing the fruits of our research.

Assignment: take notes on the seven events. (due 12/4)

After discussing some current events and reading a couple of Billy Collins poems and sharing what I learned from freewrites, I gave a quiz. The quiz summarized what we've learned about slavery so far. We will be moving on tomorrow to pre Civil War politics.

Slavery projects/papers were due last week. Many still have not done them. They are worth a lot of points. I'll accept them late, up to an undetermined point.
Amistad papers were due today. Many still have not done them. They are also worth a fair amount of points. Turn them in!

I read the Harper's Weekly Update and we talked about a few current events including the US Department of Education's interpretation of the "No Child Left Behind Act" which forces school districts to offer transfers to students in "failing" schools.

Today we did a bit of catching up.
I reminded people that their slavery project/paper was due last week and if they want credit, they must turn them in ASAP.
I warned of a quiz tomorrow which will closely resemble the pop quiz a couple of weeks ago.
I said that I was contemplating two questions for the final. 1)What is the importance of the Amistad case in US history?, and 2)How did race slavery develop in Virginia & why?

We discussed the importance of Bacon's Rebellion by talking about how blacks & whites mingled more freely before it happened. Afterwards many laws were passed which prevented blacks & whites from working together.

I reviewed the many activities and things we have learned in the past 4 weeks. I had students freewrite about what was most valuable for them, what they remember, and what worked the best in terms of their learning.

I had students freewrite for the last 6 minutes of class about what's working for them and why. The feedback is helpful for me and will shape how we do thing in this class.

I reminded people that their Amistad papers are due tomorrow (12/3)

I'm always willing to accept papers via email. matthewplies@hotmail.com