Class Recap 12/19, 12/20

Yesterday in class, we took a ton of notes on the Civil War up to 1862. It was tedious, but it is always a good thing to get all the information down on paper to study and go over when in need for a reference. The class was drawing to a close by the time we approached the subject of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was an attempt by Abraham Lincoln to really keep the "states in rebellion" in reign. Instead, it started a fire that could only be solved by war. It was strange that he only abolished slavery in the states in rebellion, while there were still some states that were part of the United States who still allowed slavery. It would make sense to abolish slavery once and for all in all parts of the nation. By the time we were done talking about the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War up to 1862, Mr. Boyle passed out a couple of sheets to read and answer questions about for homework.
Today, the objective was to create a sort of billboard that displays information about a certain battle. My group was assigned the Battle of Gettysburg. We used our notes, iPhones, and the textbook to get our various facts and organize our thoughts. Letting the boys try to do anything was a bit of a force, especially when Andrew misspelled "the" among other words of similar difficulty, but we ended up finishing a great deal of time before the other group, which, I suppose, makes us the winners. It was the last history class of 2012, and I felt like it went by relatively smoothly.

Class Recap 12/17, 12/18

Yesterday in class, we had another QR code scavenger hunt. This is one of my favorite days because it incorporates the technology with everything that we need to be learning about, making the class period considerably enjoyable. Yesterday was a little different than when we went on a scavenger hunt the first time. We got into groups of 4, so it was easier to "divide and conquer," as Mr. Boyle put it. Now that I have an iPhone, it was even better because I was more involved in the search and also the obtaining of answers. Even though we did not recognize any of the battles that we had to find out about, my group ended up coming in second or third I believe.
Today in class, we read an article about Habeas Corpus. It was interesting because the topic is obviously quite controversial. To put people in jail without real reason or just evidence, or not to? The writ of habeas corpus was a big deal during the Civil War because it meant that Lincoln would have to decide whether or not to be safer than sorry. We had a discussion about if we agreed with it or not based on certain real life situations presented on another paper. It was interesting because it was a question of morality, which is always the best kind of debate.

Class Recap 12/13, 12/14

Yesterday in class we attempted to finish our discussion on Lincoln and how he dealt with the secession of the lower south. We were given a document to read and answer questions on, which was challenging, and then was followed by a discussion. Lincoln refused to allow himself to call the seceded states a Confederacy because it meant that they would now have permission to be their own country. I am not sure how I feel about this. It could be seen as though Lincoln was tragically naive, or it could be seen as a sort of tactic. Today, class was relatively easy and fun. We all met in the computer lab and opened up a Google document that we could all work on together and create a sort of study guide to use later in the week. It was cool to work on something all together as a class at once, and I hope that we get to do something like that again.

Class Recap 12/10, 12/11

On Monday, the class was not surprised to see Mr. Boyle standing outside his door with a stack of papers. We walked in, sat down, and read parts of Lincoln's speech and answered questions. They were a little tricky this time around. Lately, the documents have been really hard to figure out, and it is disappointing because we do not really go over them or learn why they were significant besides the obvious reason of them being excerpts from Lincoln's speeches. The speech was talking about the government and preserving it, the government being an golden apple and the Constitution being a frame around it, protecting it from ever being harmed.
Today in class, we focused mainly on South Carolina seceding from the United States and why they did it. We read some dense documents and tried to answer the questions following the reading, but it was hard and the discussion after we were supposed to figure out the documents was a little bit strained. We also talked about how the rest of the lower south followed suit and left the United States to form a Confederacy.

Class Recap 12/8, 12/9

Yesterday in class, we had a test on the 1850s. It was the first one with an essay, so I made sure to balance my time. I really, really hope that I did well on it. I studied hard and did all of the work leading up to the test, so I am crossing my fingers for a good score.
Today, we had a half day so we did not have class even though we should have. There is obviously nothing to report because of the situation.

Class Recap 12/4, 12/5

Yesterday in class, we looked at a political comic regarding the election of 1860. It was cool because political comics have always interested me. I love the fact that with just a small picture with a limited amount of words, a comic can say so much about the culture, society, the economy, different people, and a whole host of other subjects. Usually political comics are extremely controversial, and it is always conveying a message that wants to raise questions and controversial thoughts. Today, the comic showed how each presidential candidate is dealing with America and how they are acting towards slavery. The four people depicted each were doing different things and interacting. It gave the election a new perspective for me. I really liked looking at it.
Today in class, we had an edCafe. EdCafes are my favorite! I love debating and talking to students about the given topic because it sheds light on new ideas as well as being able to see how kids work together or against each other to solve debates and problems. I like the way that they make me think. It was a good class.

Class Recap 11/29, 11/30

On Thursday in class, I feel like all we did was receive paper after paper after paper (8, in fact, plus a piece of loose leaf to write notes on) regarding John Brown and his raid at Harper's Ferry. We read a document that explains everything that happened, straightforward, and then after we looked it over, the entire class had a discussion and we took notes on what we know to be facts about the day of the raid. After we wrapped up the talk, Mr. Boyle handed out many different views on the occurrings of October 16th and we were told to fill out a chart with certain findings. It was a relatively stressful class considering all of the papers we had to sort through, decipher and respond to.
Today was a day 4, but we did not have class because we were preparing for the ACT test.
My dream journal is going considerably well. I am having an easier time remembering my dreams lately, which is always a good thing and something interesting to think about in the mornings and sometimes even throughout the day. I am almost done with my challenge, but I am not so sure it is helping me in my life.

Timeline 1850s

Class Recap, 11/27, 11/28

Yesterday in class, we focused mainly on the Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857. It was interesting to look at because it shows how much and how quickly slavery evolved in America around the 1850s. Dred Scott sued his master because he tried to enslave Scott again after being freed. After reading about the case and answering questions, our class discussed whether or not slaves are property, and if they were even considered people. It was interesting, because everybody's first answer was yes, because today, the average American has some sense of humanity. Back then, though, it was different. Slaves were not seen as people with rights or things with any similarities to the white Americans. It was a strange conversation, mostly because it was scary to think that slaves were grouped with a pig or a chair or a lamp that was owned by another human.
Today, we looked at the Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858. The debates at that time were different than the debates this year. They were more focused on an actual debate, instead of incessant blathering about on subjects that they do not believe in, like the debates today in politics. Lincoln and Douglas had views that were on opposite ends of the spectrum, which is to be expected if they are from different parties. We watched an exerpt from a movie depicting what the debates would have looked like at the time. Then we read crucial parts of each speech and filled out a graph that compared and contrasted the two men and their views. It was a beneficial class.
My 30 day challenge has been going well, except the mornings that I wake up and find it impossible to remember my dream. I try to write something down every day regardless.

Class Recap 11/26

Today in class, we learned about the Kansas- Nebraska Act of 1854. It was funny because I went to work on my timeline yesterday and one of the events that I added to the timeline was the Kansas- Nebraska Act. It really helped to have a little bit of background information on it before we got to learn about it in class. It almost felt like review today just because I spent 10 minutes on the act for my timeline. I guess that's why we do these timelines, to help us learn history! We learned about the controversy between the two territories, and how the North and the South both wanted to claim them as either pro slavery or anti slavery. It caused so much hatred and tension between the two groups that lives began to end because of it. We spent quite a bit of time reading blurbs about different topics and then answering a few questions about them, following it with a class discussion. It was a beneficial class. I learned a lot
I am excited to report my progress in my dream journal. It is hard most mornings because I simply cannot remember my dreams, so I figure that I will continue to enter in the journal each time that I can until there are 30 entries. This morning I had a dream and I woke up at 3:30 in the morning and I was excited to write it down, and then go back to bed for a few more hours.

Class Recap 11/16, 11/17

On Friday in class, we focused on Chapter 8 of Uncle Toms's Cabin. We took nearly the entire class to read the excerpt and try to understand it. The language in the story is nearly impossible to comprehend because it is written with the slang words, and also in old time English, certainly not the easiest thing to do. Friday's class was relaxing and different because I have never spent an entire history class reading before.
Today in class, we turned in our sources sheet for our papers due. We talked about what source sheet is acceptable and which source sheet is not. After the sources were passed in, we talked about Eliza from Uncle Tom's Cabin. We talked about the different ways that people tried to catch slaves and the fugitive laws. It was interesting to know that even though those laws were passed, slaves were still successfully escaping every day. Today's class was dedicated to Eliza.

Class Recap 11/9, 11/13

On Friday in class, we focused on the Underground Railroad and how different textbooks can describe the events that took place in different ways. We took notes from a powerpoint first, though. It was funny because a couple of kids thought that the Underground Railroad was actually underground and on a rail. It could not be farther from the truth, which is what they came to learn after we took the notes. Following the slideshow, we recieved different textbooks' descriptions of the Underground Railroad and we were told to answer questions regarding the different entries.
Today in class, we went directly to the library where we sat down at computers and opened up a link which we used to fill out two charts regarding population and land area. It was a relatively easy excercise, and a great way to end the day after donating blood.
My 30 day challenge is going pretty well. My plan is to continue writing entries until the thirty days are up, and then I will read them all and try to look for similarities and hopefully try to draw a conclusion. When I wake up in the morning and I forget my dream, it is extremely disappointing because then I have nothing to write about and I want to complete my challenge. What I usually end up doing is laying in bed for a few minutes and try to think really really hard and drag up some sort of thought or feeling I had during the sleep the night before. It is successfull most of the time. I am excited to see where this challenge goes.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Voicethread

30 Day Challenge Rerouted

Instead of trying to go to bed early every night, which could prove to be a force, I decided to approach it with a new tactic. I changed my 30 day challenge activity to when I wake up each morning. As soon as I rise from bed, I plan to keep a dream journal for the next 30 days. I will try my best to remember everything I can from my dream the night before, and write it down. I was having a conversation with one of my good friends, and she said that keeping a dream journal will help you figure out what you are really thinking, and to decipher your personality, so I am excited to see what I find out next month as I go through my previous journal entries. Maybe I will even continue it for more than just the 30 days. We will have to see what happens...

Class Recap 11/6, 11/7

Yesterday in class, we were focused on the Constitution. We had to try and figure out whether or not the Constitution supported slavery or opposed it. It was very difficult to differentiate, and to mentally switch arguments quickly. The arguments for and against slavery in the Constitution got me confused, and my group was not of very much help when it came to coming up with valid ideas why the Constitution supported it or why it did not. We were then given each part of the Constitution we were looking at, and it had different arguments to be made supporting each side. It will be a very handy tool when writing the essay at hand that is due next Friday.
Today in class, Mr. Boyle presented a slide show with notes on slavery in early America. We talked about how slavery involved as time went on. When the cotton gin came out, it was supposedly made to help the slaves and to reduce the amount of work. Instead of this, the opposite occurred. It created a higher demand for cotton in America, which pushed the slaves even harder. After we took notes, Mr. Boyle handed each student one of two documents that talked about slavery in different points of view. I read part of Abraham Lincoln's speech, "Address Before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society" in 1859. It talked about work and the difference between owning, being owned, and working on your own terms. It was interesting. At first, it was a bit hard to understand, but the questions at the end targeted what parts I should be focusing on in the document, and it was extremely beneficial. After reading and filling out the questions at the end, we shared our answers with someone who had the opposite document. We ended class that way.
This morning, I started my new 30 day challenge. Since going to bed early proved to be much too difficult (especially if I wanted to stay up late on the weekends), I decided to change tactics and create a dream journal for the next 30 days. This morning, I was almost excited to wake up to record the dream I had last night. I hope that this journal will make getting up a little easier in the mornings.

Class Recap 11/3, 11/5

On Friday in class, we were talking about slavery, and we made a lot of connections to Frederick Douglass. After a short class discussion, Mr. Boyle handed out 3 different narratives that explain different views of slavery. My group was assigned the longest reading, so it took a much longer time to read it than normal. It absolutely broke my heart. The hard life that the woman had aboard the ship was so terrible that it hurt my heart. It made me feel like humanity is most definitely not restored, and that treating people like that is so unnecessary that we need to have a serious intervention on how we are leading out lives. Treating real people like the way we treated the slaves gives me great pain. We were to create a storyboard following the reading, which showed in pictures what happened to the slaves. It kind of solidified our understanding for what happened during the horrible slave trade.
Today in class, we simply finished up what we were going over with the storyboards. Mr. Boyle put each on up on the board and then gave each of us a 3 way Venn diagram, which we filled in with the 3 different stories of the slaves. It was interesting to see how slaves were treated in different ways at that time. After we discussed what we had put down for each experience, we got more papers and read about people in history that were either for or against slavery. We filled out a corresponding column in a sheet and then split up into different groups to share our information. We ended class talking about a project due in January.

30 Day Challenge

For 30 days, I will go to bed as early as possible. Lately, I have been staying up too late for my own good and it leaves me tired and desperately wanting sleep during school. Hopefully, early bed means around 10:00, but it depends on what time I finish my homework at night. Since I am in between sports seasons, it should not be too much of a problem. If I can go to bed at 10, I feel as though I will be energized with enough sleep to last me the day. This 30 day challenge will probably help me to get into a healthy sleeping habit. We will have to see how it goes.

Class Recap 10/31, 11/1

Wednesday in class was dedicated solely to working on our integrated projects. In E Period, there are two out of the three girls working in our group, so we just edited our newspaper. We made some changes, and Laurel said that she would fix it when she got home. I am glad that we had the great majority of the project already done, because Wednesday was Halloween. The other girl in our group, Jeanne, has Mr. Richard as a teacher, so she did not have much to work on.
Thursday was when the project was due, so before school, our group put the newspaper on a table in the library. When E Period came, we filled out a questionnaire about how the project went and what improvements could be made, etc. Then we went as a class to the library and spent the class looking at other people's projects and playing the games. There were videos set up on the computers and games, newspapers and scripts on the tables. It was a fun class. I loved seeing all the different variations of the assignment there were. Even though each project was vastly different than all the others, they all presented knowledge of Julius Caesar and the American Revolution, which I thought was really cool.

Class Recap 10/24, 10/25

Yesterday in class was a combination of tedious and informative. As we walked in, we were handed a worksheet on which we were told to take notes because there might be a question on the test about whatever we were going to do. Soon, I found out we were going to look at artists of the Revolution and their paintings. We watched a slide show with an accompanying narration for the entire class. It was beneficial, but it was also a very very long class period.
Today was a more laidback day. We walked in first thing, sat down and wrote word for word the section of the Declaration of Independence we were told to memorize. As soon as we were done, we were given time to study while Mr. Boyle graded what we had written down. At the end of class, we recieved our grades. I got a 95. Today was a relaxing day in class.

Class Recap 10/17, 10/18

Yesterday in class, we focused entirely on the Declaration of Independence. We were divided into two large groups and we shared with each other what we had analyzed the day before. Each partnership was assigned a small section of the Declaration, and we took notes on it, which we shared with the rest of the class yesterday. After our sharing of information with the group, we held a class discussion on the similarities and difference between Brutus and the conspirators, and the Continental Congress. We also talked about what our word meant, and how important a promise is and whether or not we should trust promises. It was an interesting discussion.
Today in class, Mr. Boyle was not here, and in his place was Ms. Buswell. She handed us a document when we came in called "The Crisis No. 1" by Thomas Paine. We were told to read it and then write an essay on whether or not 2012 was times that "try men's souls" like the American Revolution was. It would have been a rather simple exercice if Ms. Buswell would have stopped talking about it and let us write. Reading the document took a lot of time in itself, so we had even less time to write, which was extremely frustrating.

Who Fired the First Shot?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kBxqDSmgJ_11A1rFxPBMJMUTfl4y_8XgSCLr625RgNQ/edit

American Revolution Timeline, 10/25

Civic Values in the Nation

Class Recap 10/17, 10/18

Yesterday in class, we learned more about the Declaration. We split into two groups, each partnership divided one into one group, one into another. In the groups, we shared the summary of each section that we had to read and shorten. Things like that have a good side and a bad side. Ont he one hand, it saves a pretty good amount of time by eliminating the necessity of reading the entire Declaration of Independence, or any other document that we do the same thing with, and it also enforces discussion and interaction with peers. On the other hand, it makes it so that you never really read the entire document, which could have significance. If you only read a small part of the document, how can you know that the people who read the other parts put down an accurate summary? It might be better to summarize the entire document in some cases. Towards the end of class, Mr. Boyle put out a question- What is your word worth? What is a promise worth these days? Can you trust someone to keep a promise? We made connections to Julius Caesar. Was Brutus right to trust everyone involved in the conspiracy with just their word, or was it better for the writers of the Declaration to make everyone who agreed with the cause to sign the page in their hand?  It was an interesting discussion.
Today, Mr. Boyle was absent. In his place was an essay assignment to go along with Thomas Paine's "These are times that try men's souls" paper. It was pretty cool to read, but I did not have very much time to write a full essay. It was rather stressful because by the time the substitute finished talking and because she made us read the entire, dense document, I was only left with about 25 minutes to write an entire essay. I did not finish, but I came pretty close. I hope that I have some time to finish it in another class period.

Class Recap 10/15, 10/16

Yesterday was dedicated to our lovely guests from the American Revolution. I actually really enjoyed it! I liked learning about significant people that way. It was interesting to see how people interpreted the assignment, and how they problem-solved. Some people preferred paint, while others used magic marker or colored pencil. Each guest was so unique. I loved seeing the personality of each project reflecting onto the maker of the guest. Some presentations were really good and informative. Yesterday was a great class.

Today, we picked apart the Declaration of Independence. I don't think that it was the best way to go about it, becuase we only looked at one tiny part of the Declaration and we didn't share the information to the other kids in class. It was hard because I don't know any other part of the Declaration except for the conclusion,which does not do very much for me. I hope that we go more in depth with it. Then, we made a twitter post which does not seem to be very beneficial to us, and we spent a lot of time on that instead of sharing information on the rest of the Declaration.  twitter

Class Recap 10/11, 10/12

On Thursday in class, we learned all about the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and also the Battle of Bunker Hill. We watched the animated map that told the story of what happened. It was a dry class, but educational. It was neat to see the actual movement of the groups involved and how they interacted with each other and to see in motion what went down in Lexington and Concord and on Bunker Hill. On Friday, we were handed a document and told to get into groups with the same document. There were 3 documents, and each supported a different view of the Americans and how they wanted to deak with the British. I got the document written by the Second Congregational Congress. It was mainly about trying to keep the peace. Then, we were put into new groups and were assigned to discuss, compare and contrast. I liked seeing the different views of each party in America, because the immediate reaction of the average person is that all of the Americans wanted independence from Britain, but that was not necessarily the case. The past few days in class were beneficial to our education.

Revolutionary Replica VoiceThread Project

Class Recap, 10/5, 10/9

On Friday in class, we learned about Paul Revere and his night ride from Lexington to Concord. We read the famous poem and then we talked about the actual events of the ride. It was, in reality, much different than the poem depicted. That was pretty shocking because I kind of felt like we have all been lied to. I guess that that is just how poetry and creative writing works, though. Comparing the poem and the actual events was interesting because it just goes to show how easy we are to believe things, and also how easy it is to alter story. Going through the differences made me start to think about what is actually true with a lot of things in history and even today. How do we know what is the truth and what is mere fiction?

Today in class, we focused on the brain and points of view combined with memory and the way that the brain completes our thoughts. We listened to a lecture on ted.com about a man convicted during a drive-by shooting. He was convicted based entirely off of eye witnesses, not hard evidence. Not even a car was identified in the investigation. It was strange because the lecturer was talking all about how the brain completes thoughts for us, and combines memories to make everything make more sense to us. This applies to the "shot heard round the world." Today, it is easy to find tons of documents recounting the events of that April night, and they all contradict each other. This makes it almost impossible to find the truth. If all the American colonists are insisting that a British soldier fired the first shot while at the same time every British soldier takes it to their graves that the Americans were the ones that started it, how are we supposed to know the truth? I think that it's cool that today, we get to take in all of the information we are given and are able to form our own opinions and versions of what happened in history, even if it might not necessarily be true.

Class Recap, 10/3, 10/4

For the last few days in class, we focused on edCafe. Yesterday, we ventured to the computer lab where we sat with our edCafe groups and did our best to compile a presentation on google. The concept was really cool, the power point was shared with every person in our group and we were all able to work on it together. The purpose of the presentation was to summarize each topic. Our topic were the Intolerable Acts.  The topic was confusing and the article made it hard to piece the information together as one event, so I had a hard time that night trying to come up with a discussion I wanted to lead the next day at edCafe. EdCafe is always really fun for me. I love talking to people with different views, and I also like to try and change sides and argue against my original point, and edCafe is a great place to do that. I am always a little disappointed when the 8 minutes are up, because usually we are deeply engaged in a certain topic. EdCafe always gets my mind working, and that's what I like about it.

Presentation edCafe, 10/3

Slide Show Intolerable Acts

Class Recap 10/1, 10/2

Yesterday in class, our main discussion featured the original colonies and what they were good for. The colonies were split into three different regions, and each region was known for a different reason. New England was known specifically for being established for religious freedom. It is strange that the reason America was established in the very first place was to get away from the controlling religion of Great Britain. From that sole reason, a world-dominant nation was born. The other regions were developed for slavery and     for land of the friends of the king. It was interesting to think about the different ways that the regions were known as, and how they are distinguished by today. Today, we learned about the story of George Washington and what he did for our country and why he is important to our country. It was cool to go into depth with his life and go beyond the basics. At the end of class, we were assigned a topic for edCafe. All in all, the past two days were overall successful.

Justice and Honor comic strip

http://www.pixton.com/comic/731t1xow  justice

http://www.pixton.com/comic/5qz8bsyv  honor

Class Recap, 9/26, 9/27

Today in class, we did EdCafe for the first time. It was extremely interesting and also benefited the entire class as a whole. The idea of EdCafe is to research a topic a bit and figure out a way to hold a conversation about it for 8 minutes with up to 4 other kids from the class. Each student has a different topic, but we all have to bounce ideas off each other and make everyone else think. My topic was the freedom to peaceably assemble. I had an easy time thinking of things I wanted to talk about during my discussion, but when it got to my turn, I failed at interesting my group and our conversation could have gone a lot better. Assembly is a hard thing to discuss in the first place. Overall, I was part of some really engaged groups. Our conversation on the freedom of religion was great, it seriously got me thinking about how strange religion is, and I think that was the point of EdCafe. I definitely look forward to doing it again.

Class Recap 9/24

Today in class, we talked a lot about the Bill of Rights and how it sets guidelines and helps the citizens of America lead the best lives possible. The Bill of Rights protects us in many ways, and we looked at a situation in which many of the amendments were violated. We read about Madonna and a party on a farm. As a class, we had to figure out which amendment applied to each group involved in the scenario. It was interesting to apply the Bill of Rights to an actual situation and see how they relate to each other. I liked thinking about how lucky America is to have such freedoms, even if we committed a crime. America is a place where anyone has rights that they can apply to their lives and benefit from them. I like learning about the Bill of Rights in class.

Timeline 9/25

Class Recap 9/20

As we walked into the classroom, Mr. Boyle handed each of us a paper labeled either "Federalist" or "Anti-Federalist" and told us to partner up with someone who had the same paper. In our partnerships, we read over the paper and tried to analyze the arguments involved in creating a Bill of Rights to the Constitution and then write down each of the points that various people who were directly involved in the making of the Constitution. After we took down the necessary points, we were later assigned a different partner who had the other paper and we exchanged notes and discussed what each person meant in their quotes. It was interesting to see the different opinions of the men involved, and it is also interesting to know the outcome even though the men did not know at the time. After we exchanged notes on Federalists and Anti-Federalists, each partnership was assigned to make a tabloid cover on the Constitution and include several articles that would be inside. I wish we had a little more time to finish, because we had to rush to finish and our paper could have looked much better. It was a productive class, in my opinion.

Letter to Elizabeth Warren

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zfGp7NZE451vhIaIeLECRBb9WhPFYUDOgmGKizx6cWc/edit

Class Recap 9/17, 9/18

Yesterday in class, we looked at the different opinions of men who had to decide whether America should be governed with one sole president or three. Two out of the three men that we looked at wanted one president, while one man wanted more than on president. I think more than one president would have its perks, but also could cause a lot of trouble. Three presidents would be good to bounce ideas off of, it would be beneficial to work as a whole team instead of putting all of the decisions on one person. I think that it would also cause problems in power possession. There would be some imbalance in power, and if that happens then things could get pretty messy.
       Today, our class attempted to create infographs on various devices. I did not want to bring my laptop into Triton because I didn't want anything to happen to it. Our group was having a terrible time trying to make an info'graph on Rachel's iPad, so we ended up just drawing one describing the three different branches on a piece of printer paper. I think it was just as beneficial as making one on the computer. I still learned from it equally.

Spreaker

http://www.spreaker.com/user/4856325/my_audio_presentation

Info-graph, 9/18/12

The Three Branches of Government

Class Recap

On the 13th of September, Mr. Boyle's E Period class shared notes with each other on the people who had a say in the Constitution and how it was set up. It was interesting to read the opinions of the people who wanted to have their opinions heard. To have a say in what goes in the Constitution is a big deal. It would have been cool to be a part of that debate. It was also interesting to bring the discussion into our class and see what kids of today have to say about dividing the house, and proportional voting. The next day, (today) E Period spent the entire class clearing up any and all confusion concerning homework and projects. It was extremely helpful and also relaxing. History is always a pretty good way to end a Friday.

Class Reflection on 9/10, 9/12

WHAT DID WE TALK ABOUT FOR THE PAST TWO CLASSES?

           In History class, we have been talking about the construction of the brand-new government and the constitution. On Monday, we mostly discussed how the government came to be, and the troubles of starting a new country. It was interesting to see the different opinions of all of my classmates about what is most important in starting a government and what the most troubling problems would be for a new union. The articles of confederation was the backbone of the America we know today. Even though it had a huge amount of problems that came with it, it was a start. It was extremely important because it is the basis of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the government. We also did quite a bit on the Preamble to the Constitution. The class split up into groups of 3 or 4, and we had to discuss the meaning of each part of the Preamble. It was helpful to work in groups because I thought it would have been pretty hard to figure out what each part meant if you did not have any input from the others in the group. I liked trying to connect the individual parts to the country's policies today. The Preamble is a goal that every citizen in America should work to make come true. It is a layout of a perfect country, and since perfection is unattainable, the Preamble is a way to remind us of what we need to try to reach if we as a people want to be happy.

Fake Twitter conversation

One house or two?

http://cheezburger.com/6580459008

Civic Values in the Family

Moderation and Perseverance

http://private.rewindy.com/story/XF2NSns7/view/1

Artifacts of Jessi Savage

1. The first artifact someone would find if they wanted to learn about me would be my softball glove. Softball has been a part of my life for a long time. I started playing T-ball when I was 6 years old, and then baseball, and finally softball started in 3rd grade and I have been playing every year since. My dad has even coached some of my teams throughout the years. Softball is a way that my dad and I can bond. Very often in the spring, summer and even the fall, my dad and I will go outside and throw the ball around until dinner time. Last spring, I played for the high school. Our team had a great season and I grew close with all of the girls. Softball is a huge part of my life, and my glove would be something that someone would find.

2. The second artifact someone would find if they wanted to learn some more about me would be a picture of my younger sister and I. My sister's name is Erin. She is 13 years old, but she seems much older. Erin is taller than me and she is very funny and kind. We are as close as two people can be. Whenever my mom takes out her camera, Erin and I love to take about a million pictures together. We make silly faces and poses, and then we look through them all and laugh. Erin knows exactly how to make me smile, and she is definitely one of the people that I am closest to in this world.

3. The third and final artifact someone would find if they wanted to learn some more about me would probably be my copy of The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. It is my favorite book for many reasons. I love everything about this book. I bought the copy at a book sale at my church for less than a dollar. I had no idea how much I would enjoy it. The book changed the way I look at everything, and it helped me realize that nobody is perfect. The Catcher in the Rye taught me lots of different things, and it would be something that somebody would find.

Jessica Savage