Greetings!...just a few things for awareness sake.

1.       The Re-Tests for the Identity, Membership and Community are in the on-line grade book (Gradespeed). If you would like to know more about my re-assessment policy, please refer to the attached file.

2.       The latest quiz (The Language of Geography) is in the grade book. Most students did well, it was very straightforward and came from that day’s in-class activity.

3.       There will be one more of these quizzes administered on either Wednesday or Friday depending on when your student has Geography class.

4.       The Hurricane Tracking Chart & Log are due this Wednesday, the 28th. This is a summative (test) grade. Please make sure your student is ready to turn in this assignment. (You can check the assignment description on the class web site.)

5.       The above two grades will be the last in this six week marking period. The grade for this period represents 25% of a student’s grade for the semester.

6.       We have started a new unit, Geographic Thinking. This is a comprehensive unit designed to diagnose content and skill gaps; bring all students to competency level in preparation for both the end of course (EOC) exam and Advanced Placement courses; and to  offer some assistance in “doing school”. Students who wish to be successful should have put aside (in a place they can find later) the previous unit’s material and started with a fresh pocket folder for this unit’s handouts and notes. (Please see the supply list on the class web site.)

7.       I am not your child’s parent and would not presume to tell you what to do! I would however  like to encourage you from my side of the desk to engage your student in a detailed conversation about what is going on in class when possible. I have noticed that many students are not doing as well as they could simply because they are not focused on what is going on in class. Your interest will help sharpen that edge. Get them to relate something funny that happened, tell on me, explain something they hadn’t thought of before, and the like. Your responses should be along the lines of, “What does that mean?”, “Tell me more about that.” or “Why is that important?” I would be grateful, you can’t overestimate the power of this kind of engagement.

Today or tomorrow, your student will watch and advance copy of the new PBS video, Not In Our Town, the story of a small New York town that comes together and changes attitudes after hate crime shocks them in to action. This is the culmination of our unit on Identity, Membership & Community. You can learn more about the issues your student is considering on the identity page of this site.

I have just a couple of reminders for you.

The re-assessment opportunity for the last test is this Thursday after school. The new (and much higher score) will be averaged with the first. Students must come with, or have turned in, their post test analysis sheets to be eligible.

Beginning today and finishing tomorrow, your student got/will get a exclusive premier viewing of the PBS documentary, Not In Our Town. It’s an inspiring lesson in community that tied directly to our curriculum. Encourage your student to discuss it with you and make a post on the “community” blog on the class web site.

Additionally, I have put up a blog for parents. This can be a quick way for you to check in on the goings –on in Geography and to interact with other parents and myself.

As always, thank you for trusting your child’s education to me, I won’t let you down!

First things first! I wanted to be sure that you knew that your student has a test in Geography this week, the first test grade of the school year. For students that take the class 1st – 5th periods, it is scheduled for Wednesday, for those in 6th – 9th period, it’s on Thursday.

Progress report grades will only reflect the two quizzes we’ve had to date. If the results were less than expected, please remember that your student is making many adjustments along with attending a new school. These include open ended questions and conceptual subjects, so a temporary drop in scores is understandable. I think you will see improving scores as they get this test in the grade book and more quizzes to offset a possibly low score. The Hurricane Tracking chart due on the 28th should be a real grade-builder as well.

I met many of you on parent night, so you probably know the goals of the course and its impact on your student’s academic career. If you missed parent night or want further clarification, feel free to reply to this email.

We’ve had a great start to the year in the classroom. Your student is thinking about wide-ranging themes related to identity, categories, community and society. Hopefully you’ve been able to have some conversations with him or her about these ideas. More information is available on this and all the topics at the class web site (link on the signature line).

If I have your email address, you should have recieved an email from me on Tuesday the 13th. We can really benefit your student through regular updates to you from me, so if you DID NOT recieve that email, please contact me using the contact form on this site. I'll make sure you recieve regular updates and specific information about your student. Thanks!