Please note: If you DID NOT receive this email from me, please use the contact form on this site to let me know, I'll update the distribution list.

Dear Geography Family:

It feels great to finally send the first email of the year! After wrestling with MS Office Outlook, dealing with district server issues, updating and revising distibution lists, and finalizing grades for the progress report, we are ready for our first Family Update.

Let me begin by saying how much I admire this group of students. On the whole they are fully engaged in class, asking great questions, respecting each other’s opinions and stepping up to this challenging class.

This BinghamsPlace gmail account will serve as my main outgoing email client throughout the year, it just works so much better than the Outlook interface (sorry Microsoft!). But don't be surprised if you receive an email fromavatarwb@gmail.com in response to any contact form submissions from the class website. I check my school mail often, but many students and parents choose to use the following resource to email my personal email directly:http://www.binghamsplace.com/contact-me.html, after all, the website is designed to be the best tool you and your student have for staying on top of Pre-AP Geography.

I know there is some grade panic out there. I understand, and I am sympathetic and aware that you may be concerned. I am also very proud of this year’s group in the way they have worked to meet the challenge. While you may not see improvement, I certainly do. The adjustments to open ended questions, fast pacing, elevated vocabulary and a college level monograph are not easy, but the rewards are meaningful – and long lasting. This is not a school experience that will fade from memory once the final is taken! My goal as an educator is to help students reflect on the process of learning, not their grade. I want students to learn what study and reading strategies work for them, to identity strengths and weaknesses in their own writing, but mostly, to practice the critical thinking skills that will help them succeed in college.

As for grades, you will soon see a series of fairly straightforward quizzes that engaged and organized students will have little trouble mastering. At the end of this marking period, the hurricane tracking chart is a test grade and frankly, is an easy “A”. These should pull your student’s average up considerably. In addition, there is extra credit available on the website to offer a little insurance. I know it’s tough, but I’d like you to try to take the long view of this semester and the goals we have of improving analytical thinking, success on the End of Course Exam and college readiness. We have made a strong start.

On another note, we’ll be extending our conversation about human identity and group membership to the next level in the coming two weeks. To do that, we will look at the events leading up to, during and after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. I believe students need to be engaged on an emotional and ethical level in addition to an intellectual one. This adds meaning and context to the academic experience. I have taught this unit several times in the past and students find it thought provoking and relevant. If you would like to know more about our readings and the PBS Frontline documentary, Ghosts of Rwanda, you will find them on the website here http://www.binghamsplace.com/identity-membership--community.html including a complete transcript of the film.

As always, thank you for the privilege of guiding your student’s education. I take your trust seriously.

Note: Unfortunately, the district server is down and I was unable to email this to parents. Here it is for now.

Dear Geography Family:

After William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury was published, he was interviewed by a reporter from the New York Times. The reporter asked, “Mr. Faulkner, many of our readers report that they really don’t understand your book, even after reading it two or three times. Do you have any suggestions for them?” Faulkner thought for a moment, and then drily replied, “Read it a fourth time.”

I had hoped to move on by now, but ethically I can’t. The Power of Place is the most highly regarded, contemporary work in the field of Geography.  If it was worth your student’s time at all, it’s worth doing right. If we abandon it now, your student will lose the benefit of the labor they have put in to it so far. I am convinced of its value to your child with regard to the state mandated testing, their college preparation and their citizenship on the planet.

I haven’t abandoned them in their struggle, as Mr. Faulkner did to his readers. There is value in Faulkner’s comment though. When we see a child struggle, it is tempting to ease the burden, to lower the stress, to give it to them. That would be a disservice to a child. Maybe reading it “a fourth time” is just what they need to gain the genuine feeling that comes from mastering a difficult task, a feeling that might motivate them to even greater accomplishments.

If your student is following my directions, they are taking time this weekend to cull from the two tests they have taken so far the key concepts, the topics, from each question. In this way they can learn to separate the “important stuff” from the sea of words. In order to help with that, I’ve done the same thing. My list is posted on the forum “What works” on the class website. If your student is not satisfied by their learning so far, and the grade that reflects it, ask if they have used the resources available on the “Geographic Destiny” page of the website. It’s clear to me that many have not. If your student does this work, I am convinced their learning will improve dramatically. We’ll find out together early next week! I do not have a student email distribution list yet, so please forward this message to your child if possible.

On another note, in the critical realm of staying organized, your child should have three folders intact for the class, they are; “Geographic Destiny” which includes The Power of Place materials; “Identity and Membership”; and “Boot Camp” which will be filling up in the coming weeks, but should include now a copy of Blooms Taxonomy (of cognitive processes). Boot camp is all about learning how to learn, now that he or she knows growth is needed in this area. That folder should also contain his or her hurricane tracking chart and log. This is a summative test grade that should be fairly straightforward and simple to accomplish, provided it’s there!

I’ll keep you posted and we move forward.

Regards,

Dear Geography Family:

As I’m sure you know, this Wednesday and Thursday, your student took a test on chapter one of Harm de Blij’s seminal work, The Power of Place. This challenging read and the open ended assessment was likely a struggle. For that reason, this grade is not weighted in the grade book. As with the policies & procedures quiz, you can see the score in GradeSpeed, but the score will not count as part of your student’s average for the marking period.

This is an opportunity for you, me, and your child to reflect on where they are in the Advanced Placement environment. This transition is a tough one, and nobody, least of all your child, should feel dejected by the result. This grade is simply a measure of where we are and how far we need to go together before the end of this academic year. I can tell students the course is rigorous, I can tell them that the tests are tough and the reading is unlike anything they are likely to have experienced before. But they often don’t believe me. I understand, they’ve heard it before. But now it’s real. Now, my hope is, I have his or her attention and they are open to new strategies, new ways of thinking, new work ethics.

Of course the trick is to separate “can’t” from “won’t”. If your child can’t do the work, but he or she is willing to make the effort to succeed, I’ve got the tools and the experience to get them there. If they won’t do the work, if the pressures of a tough arts program and tough academics is too much for them, that’s okay too. After all, we’re asking a 14 year old to manage a 17 year-old’s work. A child isn’t lazy or “dumb” if they are not ready yet. I need your help in considering these questions, talking with your student about goals and the time and effort they have for academics. Bright or not so bright, Advanced Placement curriculum is about effort.

As I mentioned above, this one is free. No penalty is placed on these grades. Now is the time for you and your student to decide if they are willing to meet me at the high level of rigor that College Board demands. Now may not be the time. If this is the time, I’m ready to meet the challenge together with you and your student.

As always, there is rich support at the class web site, BinghamsPlace.com. And as always, email me with your questions or concerns,