2012 Back to School Night

1. 2012 Back to School Night Kim Barben Ninth Grade Eastern World

2. Homework: FAQ • Homework: • Students will have something to work on every night for at least TWENTY MINUTES a night. • It may be part of an on-going reading, homework, or group project. • This work is always an extension of the classroom learning and targets specific content and skill objectives. • I will always chunk the homework into smaller parts within my Lesson Plan Instructional Powerpoint for the students.

3. Late Work Policy: FAQ • Late Work Policy: • GVHS does not follow Qualities of a Learner. • Students are held accountable for due dates, and there are academic consequences. • This is to prepare them for the expectations of post-Great Valley education. • Mr. Hess and I, the two ninth grade Easter World History teachers, have the same late policy • . Ten percent late points are taken off for every school day late up until FIVE DAYS LATE. • That is FIVE SCHOOL DAYS not CALENDAR DAYS! • After that, it cannot be turned in for any points.

4. Skyward: FAQ • Skyward: • I will post the homework assignments the day they are assigned, and if possible, post any upcoming assignments and tests ahead of time, so parents can monitor their child’s work. • However, once an assignment is due, in Skyward it will say MISSING. • This can be misleading. MISSING MEANS BEING GRADED. • If your child did not turn in the assignment, it will say in the comments column LATE and a 0 will be in the grade column. • If you remember this, it will prevent unnecessary disagreements with your child at home and emails to me inquiring about the assignment.

5. Posting Grades: FAQ • Posting Grades: • My homework assignments, projects, etc…are designed to be done over multiple days. They are not read and worksheet assignments. • Given that they require quality time for your child to complete, it will also take me the same quality time to grade them once collected. • Please remember that when a homework assignment, test, or notebook is collected, there are 125 of them coming in for me to grade. • So it will take between one to two weeks for me to grade them and then post them on Skyward.

6. Technology Access: FAQ • Technology Access: • At the high school, we utilize computer technology regularly. • For this class, the students are to use the online textbook. We have enough textbooks for class sets only. • All writing assignments outside of class are to be typed. • We will be using the internet to download materials from my Great Valley High School Teacher Page, online newspapers for current events, using SchoolWires for posting of digital learning stations, etc….

7. Online Textbook: FAQ • Online Textbook Information: • Website:www.glencoe.com/ose • Student Log In Access Code Number: D917986116 • This is on the first page of the blue Course Overview the students were given the first day of school. • It is also posted on my teacher page.

8. Printing: FAQ • This is an addition to my Back to School Handout. • At the GVHS, each student is allotted 400 pages to be printed up from any of our school printers. • Teachers at the high school also have limits on how much we can print up and copy for our classes. • Because of this, I CANNOT PRINT UP your child’s work that is to be collected. • The Library opens up at 7:15AM. • Students should save their work on a flashdrive or email it to themselves, and then go to the Library before school to print up their work.

9. Teacher Page: FAQ • Teacher Page: • For each lesson, all materials are posted on my Teacher Page. • Students and parents should use the resources there to monitor work and progress. For example: • Instructional Powerpoints: • Each lesson has a day by day powerpoint that goes over the lesson and what was completed each day. • This is uploaded on the first day of the lesson. • If a student is absent, he should go to my teacher page to view what he missed and make it up. • Assigned projects and homework are chunked into smaller parts day by day within these powerpoints.

10. Teacher Page: FAQ • Lesson Plans: • The photocopied lesson plans that the students receive in class are also uploaded. • If a student is absent the first day of a lesson, he should download the word document. • If a student loses the lesson, he should download the word document. • Graphic Organizers: • When we take notes in class, it is either done in a provided graphic organizer or Interactive Notes. • These are also posted on my Teacher Page. • If a student is absent or lost their graphic organizer or Interactive Notes, he should print them up from my Teacher Page.

11. Teacher Page: FAQ • Supplemental Readings: • Any readings we use in class outside the textbook are uploaded to my Teacher Page. • This is for students to print up, read, take notes from or Talk to the Text to. • This is because of the limits on how much teachers can copy at the high school. • They are either in word document or pdf format. • If a student is absent, needs to review a class copy of a source, or is assigned a reading for Talking to the Text, it should be printed from my Teacher Page.

12. Teacher Page: FAQ • Powerpoint Notes: • All powerpoints used for instruction and require students to take notes are uploaded onto my Teacher Page. • If the student was absent, missed some of the notes, or needs to review the notes, he can download or print the powerpoints. • For students who require skeletal notes or copies of teacher notes, the students should print up at home handouts of the slides to use in class. • Students are encouraged to go back and review the powerpoints, add to their notes, print up visuals to include in their notes, etc…

13. Teacher Page: FAQ • Grade Sheets: • For all group work and homework, grade sheets are provided the day they are assigned. • Students should use them as their editing checklist. • And they are to be attached to the completed work when collected. • If a student loses the provided grade sheet, he should print up another copy from my Teacher Page.

14. Teacher Page: FAQ • Film Clips: • For each unit, I will upload film clips from United Streaming that cover the material we are studying. • Students can view them from my Teacher Page to use as review of a lesson or as a studying tool for the tests. • For some group work, viewing the film clips and taking notes is required. • If we watch a film from PBS or the History Channel, I will try to find the You Tube Link for it, so if a student is absent, he can go watch the film he missed and get the notes he missed.

15. Teacher Page: FAQ • Examples of Work or Student Models: • On my Teacher Page, I will have uploaded as pdfs example of the different activities we do in and outside of class. • This will usually be under the lesson plan with other materials. • There is also a folder on my teacher page of examples of the different activities from previous years that should be viewed as well. • If your child is still unclear of my expectations, he should view the examples.

16. Unit Tests: FAQ • Unit Tests: • Students will be given a Study Guide for each unit on the FIRST DAY of the unit. • The study guide should be worked on each week answering the questions covered by that week’s lessons. • Students will be given between ONE WEEK to TWO WEEKS notice of the upcoming unit test, so they can plan according for studying. • For the first unit, we are not having a unit test as we are doing the cumulative library project. • However, before we begin the library project I will give the students a study guide for the first unit to use in preparing for the midterm in January. • Mr. Hess and I are currently working on creating a Common Questions Database for each of the ninth grade units that will guide the study guides and lesson plan development.

17. Unit Tests: FAQ • For the Accelerated/High Level (Period Six), the students may answer the study guide questions as detailed as they would like to use on the OBJECTIVE section of the unit test and to earn extra credit points added to that test score. • For the Academic A /Standard Level, the students may answer the study guide questions as detailed as they would like to use on BOTH the OBJECTIVE and WRITING sections of the unit test and to earn extra credit points added to the OBJECTIVE test score.

18. Unit Tests: FAQ • My tests are usually done in two parts over two days. • The first part and day is the Objective Portion of the test. • This is the multiple choice, matching, and true/false. • I only use scantrons for the midterm and final. • So the students can write and mark up the tests and the tests are graded by hand. • This also take longer, but it allows the students to use their corrected tests to prepare for the midterm and final.

19. Unit Tests: FAQ • The second part of the unit test is the writing portion. • This may be an in-class test done on the second day of the testing. • It may also be a Take-Home Essay that is due the day of the Objective Portion of the test. • On the study guides, I will outline the possible short answer and essay prompts to guide the students in studying. • On the writing portion of the test, the students will usually do it in chart form to save on time and make it easier to grade.

20. Notebooks: FAQ • Interactive Notebook Instructions: • Everyone is required to have a separate notebook for Eastern World History. And this notebook is to be brought to class every day. Your notebook will be a summary of your efforts and participation in this class. • You are expected to keep your notebook neat, dated, and in chronological order. It is not to be organized into sections. • You are responsible for getting and making up any work, notes, and tests missed due to illness, fieldtrips, early dismissals, or band/chorus rehearsals. I will not chase after you to make them up. There are class folders in the front of the room with the work you missed labeled and waiting for you. • You may revise any of the Quiet Questions or notes in the notebook. And I will grade the revised version, but you must keep the original in the notebook attached to the revision.

21. Notebooks: FAQ • Your notebook will contain in chronological order: • Daily Lesson Plans • All Class Work • All Class Notes • All Class Handouts and Readings----Many of the class readings you will have to download from Ms. Barben’s teacher page due to budgetary issues that have limited the amount of copying teachers can do. • All Returned Graded Homework • Extra Credit

22. Notebooks: FAQ • I collect and grade the notebooks at the end of each unit on the last test day. • It will take me about two weeks to grade and return them back to the students. • In the meantime, we will have started a new unit and the students should have another binder for the new unit to keep the papers and work organized.

23. Extra Credit: FAQ • Extra Credit: • You may do extra credit in your notebook. • The extra credit is due when the notebook is due. • Unless the unit does not end with the marking period, then a separate due date for the extra credit will be given. • The extra credit options will be listed on the unit study guide and will also be given when we do some of the group projects. • The extra credit activities will be the different creative writing activities, art activities, and current events. • You will not be allowed to turn in last minute extra credit to pull up your marking period grade. • The value of each extra credit activity ranges from 1 to a maximum of 10 points. • The activities that are more difficult in skill and reflect greater critical thinking are worth more points.

24. Curriculum: FAQ • Curriculum: • Mr. Hess and I have been and will continue to meet regularly to go over the course concepts, set up timelines, develop common assessments, create common resources, etc… • This is Mr. Hess’s second time teaching the course, and I have not taught this content in over ten years. • We are also in the process of curriculum revision. • So as we approach each unit, we are also updating, changing, and creating new materials and assessments. • As we do this, we are also consulting with the upper classmen Social Studies teachers to see what skills and content need to be addressed or focused upon more. • This is being done to prepare our GVHS students for the research paper process, the Keystone Exams, and for college.

25. Units: FAQ • Units: • Introduction to Culture: A study of the elements of culture, defining and examining developing versus developed nations, developing an understanding of the poverty cycle, and an introduction to the library resources for a Required Core Assessment Project • Middle East and North Africa: A study of the world religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the history of the region from ancient times to the present, political and physical geography of the region, the cultural institutions of the regions, and current events and issues with an emphasis on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Egypt

26. Units: FAQ • Africa: A study of the history of the region from ancient times to the present, political and physical geography of the region, and current events and issues with an emphasis on the development and end of Apartheid in South Africa, the environmental crisis of famine, civil war and genocide with a focus on Darfur and Rwanda, and other current event issues like child labor, blood diamonds, and AIDS. • India: A study of the world religions of Hinduism, Sikkhism, Buddhism, and Islam, the history of the region from ancient times to the present, political and physical geography of the region, the cultural institutions of the region, and current events and issues with an emphasis on environmental issues like overpopulation, flooding, earthquakes, the hostile relationship between Pakistan and India and the issues of nuclear weapons, and the growing role of India in the world’s economy.

27. Units: FAQ • China: A study of the world religions of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism, the history of the region from ancient times to the present, a focus on the Communist Revolution and development of Communism within China, political and physical geography of the region, the cultural institutions of the region, and current events and issues with an emphasis on environmental issues like overpopulation, flooding, pollution, violation of human rights, nuclear weapons, and the dominant role of China in the world’s economy. • Japan: a study of the world religions of Buddhism and Shintoism, the history of the region from ancient times to the present, a focus on the role of Japanese Imperialism and World War Two, political and physical geography of the region, the cultural institutions of the region, current events and recent issues like the tsunami and the decline of Japan as an economic power.

28. Midterm: FAQ • The midterm will cover the first three units. • They are Geography, Culture, and Developing Nations, Middle East and North Africa, and Africa. • Accelerated/High: Period Six---It will be 125 multiple choice/matching questions and have a writing section. • Academic A/Standard: It will be 100 multiple choice/matching questions and have a writing section. • The midterm counts as 10% of the grade for the year.

29. Finals: FAQ • The final will cover the last three units. • They are India, China, and Japan. • Accelerated/High: Period Six---It will be 125 multiple choice/matching questions and have a writing section. • Academic A/Standard: It will be 100 multiple choice/matching questions and have a writing section. • The final counts as 10% of the grade for the year.