Last two days of class 12/19 and 12/20

Yesterday in class we took a lot of notes on the Civil War. The notes were long, and filled with a bunch of info on events leading up to 1862. Towards the end of class we started to talk about the Emancipation Proclamation proclaimed by Lincoln. This freed all slaves that were in the "rebelling" states of the Union. Today in class we worked on making a billboard that dealt with the war of Vicksburg. I'd say it was a pretty good way to end our last class before vacation!

Last two days of class 12/14 and 12/17

On Friday in class we talked about the secessionist states and how Abe Lincoln wanted the U.S. to be together and not separated, because a successful nation needs to be together. Today in class we did a QR code scavenger hunt on major battles during the Civil War. I always like doing these activities because it's a good change to get up and moving every once and a while.

Last two days of class 12/12 and 12/13

On Thursday, 12/12 we dropped and didn't have class. Today in class though we talked about the President's duties her had to execute and the big main job he had was to protect and promote the Constitution. We also read Abe Lincoln's first inaugural speech where he talked about the Confederate states(though he never uses the term "confederate states") and how they country needs to be as one. He needs the South back in the picture because without them he can't give "liberty to all".  

Past two days of class 12/10 and 12/11

On Monday in class to be honest I'm having trouble actually remembering what we really did. I think we talked about Abe Lincoln and his inauguration as president. Then we talked about how the South was left was close to nothing because Lincoln was just elected, who didn't want the expansion of slavery west. Today in class we talked about South Carolina and how they succeeded from the U.S. South Carolina didn't have much of any other choice other than to just accept defeat but instead they succeeded.

Last two days of class 12/5 and 12/6

On Wednesday in class we had an Ed Cafe and talked about the people we were assigned for the Voice thread. My person was Dred Scott and i just gave the basics on him in my group. We eventually started talking about whether or not slaves were considered people or property and it became a good overall discussion. And today in class we had our chapter test. Besides the amount of writing we had to do I'd say it went just fine.

30 day challenge completion

Today was the official ending of my 30 day challenge; to not go on Facebook for 30 days. One thing i was totally oblivious to was the fact we had to blog everyday about our progress and it's a little to late to do so now, but i just wanted to say if I knew we had to blog i would've, even if they would've been really boring posts. Back to the challenge i successfully made it through and to be honest it wasn't all that bad. Most of the time i forgot about Facebook and it was definitely a good feeling not being on it, wasting my time. The only down side is I wish i chose maybe another challenge cause Facebook was the main source for updates on homecoming and spirit week and i never really was up to date on how we were doing. Besides that dilemma though it was overall i think a good break and after taking 30 days off I feel like I've just been accustom to not even having a Facebook and to be honest, it doesn't feel all that bad.

Last two days of class 11/28 and 11/29

On Wednesday, 11/28, we talked about the election between Abe Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. We watched a short video on a reenactment of the election and it showed how the elections had each candidate give a speech before dinner, then allowed all families to go home and discuss the different candidates, then come back at night and have each man make counter points to the earlier delivered speeches. After watching and talking about the video i learned that Douglas was pretty much all for slavery, and the expansion of it West. I also learned something that i had never known before, and that was that Lincoln didn't necessarily believe all slaves should be free and equal to whites, he supported more of the idea that they should be given natural rights; life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Lincoln thought they should be given those rights but still shouldn't be allowed to be as socially high as the whites were. And today in class we watched a video on the Raid at Harper's Ferry. This was about a man, John Brown, who basically led 21 men into Harper's Ferry in Virginia and eventually his men got either killed, captured, or escaped and he ended up getting hanged. From today's class I learned that one of John Brown's men, an old slave had his ears chopped off and kept as souvenirs by one of the citizens! For somebody to have the hatred to actually do something like that really does amaze me and it goes to show how different times really were back then.  

Last two days of class 11/26 and 11/27

Yesterday, on Monday November 26 we talked about Bloody Kansas and how Kansas developed the nickname. Kansas was a huge state when deciding whether it would be a slave state or not because with that state being either one, it would break the even amount between the two different types of states. It became a popular sovereignty state and both sides basically broke out in violence between each other, eventually causing Kansas to become "Bloody Kansas." And today in class we discussed whether a slave really was a person or not. Of course physically they are obviously a person but society wise they really came down to only being property. people are granted the rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. A slave really doesn't have much of those rights at all. So the conclusion really was that back then slaves couldn't be considered people.

Past two days of class 11/16 and 11/19

On Friday the 16th, we talked about the Slave Law of 1850, and how it basically said that anyone who helped runaway slaves would have to either pay a $1,000 fine or around 6 moths of jail. We then started to read a story that talked about a runaway and a man hiring these people to find the slave. Today in class we talked about the story and the specifics. Then talked about the consequences of the slave law and different scenarios.    

Dred Scott Voicethread

Past two days of class 11/9 and 11/13

On Friday in class we were given a few different handouts on the underground railroad. We read sections of all different textbooks and then wrote about the main points of each, and how they compared to each other. One interesting thing I learned is that the Underground railroad wasn't really an underground railroad at all. It really was just a secretive form of transporting the slaves to the north. And today in class we did a few worksheets dealing with the north and the south, and how they related to each other. We also worked on the the affects of the Missouri Compromise and how that split up the land that both prohibited, and allowed slavery.

30 Day Challenge

For my 30 day challenge, I will give up Facebook and from now until December. I won't check Facebook or even open up my profile for the next 30 days. Facebook isn't a necessity, just something for entertainment and it'll be both interesting and good for me to see if i can avoid it for the next 30 days.

Past two days of class 10/23 and 10/24

Yesterday in class we did QR activity where codes were hung up all around the halls and we had to go around and scan the codes, read the clue, and figure out what event it was. There was 10 different events and we just had to write down the clue, the event, and the date. I thought it was a much more interesting way of testing our knowledge of the battles rather than taking a practice test or worksheet. And today in class we watched a slide show on American Revolution related art and took notes on the pieces and artists.

Krunchd Declaration of Independence fake twitter

Krunchd Declaration of Independence fake twitter

Civic Values VoiceThread

Ethan Allen VoiceThread

Past two days of class 10/1 and 10/2

On Monday, 10/1 we went over the Colonies DBQ worksheet and mainly talked about the similarities and differences between the northern colonies, middle colonies, and southern colonies. Mostly went over religion, agricultural involvement, nationality, and business'. We then made a recording of each member of our group talking about how we though each type of colonist dressed. Using what we knew from the involvement of each colony we were able to create a picture of what each colonist looked like. And today in class, on 10/2 we started on the French and Indian War. THe french had land which was wanted, on the ohio river and after asking they didn't give it up. George Washington and the Indians eventually kicked out the French in a long war back in forth not only involving the colonies but world alliances as well. They only problem was that after taking over the land which was west of the Appalachian Mountains, there were too many indian settlers and King George III ruled that the land was not to be touched, which made a lot of colonists and soldiers mad, giving them a sense of what type of ruler King George III really was.

Comic Strip

Civic Value Comic Strip

Past two days of class 9/26 and 9/27

Yesterday in class on 9/26 we had our first EdCafe. My topic for the class discussions was freedom of religion. We all agreed that freedom of religion was not only right but important too. My group and I agreed that you shouldn't be forced to believe in a certain religion, and you also should be aloud to change religions if you really want too. And freedom of religion covers both of those aspects. Overall I'd say that the activity ran pretty smoothly and it was a unique take on learning about the 1st Amendment in a different way. And today in class on 9/27 we took our Quest on the Constitution and events leading up towards it.

History of our Government and Constitution Timeline

Day of Class 9/20

Today in class we talked about the two sides that were called the Federalists, who supported the Constitution and the non-Federalists who thought that the Constitution wasn't right for our country. We were assigned a paper with different quotes to back up either side and i was assigned the Non-Federalists. We translated the quotes into our own words and then ended up pairing up with somebody else and creating a large pop culture magazine like cover supporting whatever side we were assigned. It worked out well and my partner and I were able to finish the assignment on time.

Civic Value Podcast

Infographic on three branches of Gov.

Infographic on three branches of Government.

Past two days of class 9/17 and 9/18

over the past two days of class we have first started of talking about the plans for the executive branch, including the Virginia Plan, New Jersey Plan, and the Hamilton Plan. These were ideas on how to elect, and run the country, giving details about how each member would be selected, how many, term length, eligibly for re-election, general powers, possibility of impeachment, veto power, and appointment power. Today we worked on making our own info graphic on each of the three branches of government. Even though it didn't work on the iPad, we ended up drawing one out, with a picture to represent each branch and a little description underneath. Even with the technical difficulties we still were able to create and finish the hand-written info graphic.

Past two days of class

Over the past two days in class, we have mostly spent our time talking about the Articles of Confederation and  the Preamble. The Articles of Confederation were a set of laws that served as the 13 new states first ever constitution. But after a while representatives and citizens realized that the Articles of Confederation weren't working, so they decided to come up with the Preamble, a short brief statement that explained what was to come in the U.S Constitution, the new guidelines for the 13 states. The preamble was discussed over and over and after finally coming to reason, it officially stated "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Fake Twitter

Fake Twitter Convo

Civic Values "Rewindy"

Civic values project created by Rewindy

Three artifacts that represent me

If a archaeologist were to uncover three artifacts that would represent me in the future, they would be my favorite pair of basketball shoes, my iPhone, and my longboard.

My basketball shoes are definitely something that represents me the best because my favorite sport is basketball and yeah, if i wanted to represent that i'd just use a basketball but i also really enjoy all different types of sneakers. Ever since i was little i always have and its fun for me to collect and look at all different types of shoes. I guess it could be considered a hobby in a way but overall i just have always enjoyed sneakers and especially pairs for basketball.

My iPhone also best represents me because i am huge into music and seem to always be on the internet. It is one of the easiest devices to use and can literally do anything i need. Whether i'm researching something for school, or just need to find out the artist of a certain song. Im into all different types of music but my favorite is hip-hop/rap. I enjoy finding new songs and artists all the time and no matter where i am, i'll usually have my headphones plugged in at one time or another. My iPhone is a great resource for me and i use it daily for anything and everything. it's not the device itself that represents me best, it's what i put on it and what it contains is the real representation.

My longboard represents me as well because since i'm only 15, a car and license doesn't come into the picture for another year, so for now my longboard is my only means of transportation. It is basically a longer skateboard with bigger wheels, mainly for just riding longer distances rather than doing tricks and what not. My longboard has been with me forever and until i get my first car it will be my only way of getting around town. at this point it has dents, scratches, stickers, and many other worn down attributes but in a way i don't mind it because i was the one that did it all, making it my board, and a good representation of me.