9/27 Review/HW

Scholars, Artists, Citizens:  This weekend, your challenge is to
A.  Enjoy the long weekend and do something FUN! Whether it be cruising on a mountainbike, reading a great book, programming, or any of the many talents that you have, I hope you take advantage to renew yourself and have fun with friends and family.

You should also, in the midst of that fun,  read "Mexican WhiteBoy" to page 114.  You will get my feedback and assessment of your rough drafts on Tuesday.  I am grading this rough draft only for whether or not your essay was turned in on time.  That will be worth ten points.  If it was turned in late, you will receive five points.  You will receive a rubric with my comments and the grade that you would have received if it were a final draft so you will know how to improve for your next draft.

If you'd like to know more about the rationale behind not giving graded feedback for the first draft, see the quote below.  Many other Animas teachers follow a similar rationale in not giving graded feedback for the rough draft.

"Assessment of any kind should not be overdone. Getting students to become preoccupied with how they are doing can undermine their interest in what they are doing. An excessive concern with performance can erode curiosity -- and, paradoxically, reduce the quality of performance. Performance-obsessed students also tend to avoid difficult tasks so they can escape a negative evaluation. "--Alfie Kohn

See this link to read the full article. While I don't agree with Kohn that grades should be thrown out all-together, I do agree with the concept that drafts should not be graded the first time around.  We want you to be thinking more about doing your best and pushing yourself to risk and try new and innovative methods, rather than trying only for the standard and
"just enough" to get a grade you're happy with.  
Article on grading philosophy


Also, if you have a moment, check out this video about how we are influenced to judge others by their race and gender in this hidden-camera experiment.

Race and Gender Experiment

9/26 HW/Review

Hi everyone,
  Your homework tonight is to
A.  Revise your rough draft according to the comments that your peers gave you from work-time today in class
B.  Tomorrow, bring in a printed copy of your revised rough draft, as well as the original rough draft with the peer review sheets attached.

Tomorrow:  We will begin painting our masks!  Come to class with a creative mindset :)

9/25 HW/Review

Hello scholars!  Your HW for tonight, as you should know, is:
--Finish your Rough Draft of your Mask essay
--Bring a hard copy to class tomorrow.  You and your classmates will be critiquing your rough drafts, so it is critical that you bring a hard copy.  If for some reason you don't have it completely finished by tomorrow, still, bring whatever you have written.

--Check the class handouts page if you need digital copies of the handouts from class these past weeks, including the essay grading rubric and the instructions on how to properly cite your sources.

Review of today:
--We sanded our masks till they were smooth and beautiful :)
--Worked some more on our rough drafts.

See you tomorrow!
-Matt

9/24 HW/Review

Happy Tuesday!  First things first, check out the new additions to the Class Handouts Section to see the  electronic version of
A.  The grading rubric for your essay, both rough draft and final.
B.  The grading rubric for your essay if you choose to do a Challenge Extension Essay (an extra two paragraphs)
C.  A much more simplified version of "How to Cite" for your paper (EVERYONE should take a look at this, as you need to follow these instructions for citation for your final copy.)

HW tonight:  Finish your conclusion of your rough draft.  You will have time tomorrow in class to work on it as well, but our main goal will be to sand and paint our masks :)  Remember...
ROUGH DRAFT DUE THIS THURSDAY.  Everyone has had TONS of class time to work, so there is absolutely no excuse for lateness, unless you speak with me beforehand and explain any extenuating circumstances (illness, travel, etc).

Today in class we had an overview of the grading rubric for the essay, a quick lesson on the three points of an effective conclusion, and independent worktime.

Tomorrow we will be working on our masks for most of class.  Depending on how efficient we work, you might have some time to work on your essay.

9/23 HW/Review

Today we made our masks!  Don't worry, if you missed school today you will have a chance to do so later.
HW due tomorrow:
--Finish your 4th Body Paragraph of your Mask Essay
 --Make sure you have read and annotated Mexican White Boy to page 91 tonight.  We will have a seminar on the book tomorrow.
--If you haven't had a chance, review the due dates for this project posted under "Calendar" in the top right corner.

Fun quote of the day: "Better a witty fool than a foolish wit!" (Who else, but Shakespeare!)

9/20 HW/Review

Check out the Calendar link for the HW and Deadlines for rest of the Project below (these links are also posted under "Calendar" in the top right-hand corner of the homepage).
PDF Version of Calendar
Word Version of Calendar

HW:  This weekend, read Mexican WhiteBoy to page 91 and annotate
          Write the 2nd and 3rd Body Paragraphs of your rough draft.
     
Review:  In class, we:
--Did Friday Fun Day :)  Played RPS in the parking lot to start off
--Did two online surveys to help the Humanities Dept improve
--Saw some pictures from students who completed the Mask project last year
--Did a mask brainstorm activity to come up with symbols to represent the topics in our essay
--Complete a mask rough-draft sheet
--Continued working on our rough drafts.

Have a good weekend everyone :)

9/19 HW/Review

Scholars!  Happy Thursday.  Friday Funday Tomorrow!
HW tonight:
--Bring a plastic waterbottle to class tomorrow that we can cut in half and use as a water container for mask-making day beginning Monday.
--Write your introduction and 1st body paragraph of your Masks essay.  Catch up on reading and annotating Mexican WhiteBoy (up to page 84) if you are behind.

Review:  Today we
--Reviewed plagiarism rules and how to cite sources properly
 --Had writing conferences and had individual work time to work on our outlines and rough draft.  Lots of good ideas going on here; I was very excited about the work and effort that is going on right now :)

9/18 HW/Review

HW: --Your Essay Outline is due tomorrow; hopefully you finished it today in class and were approved by Matt to start your rough draft of your mask essay.
        --Read to page 82 of Mexican WhiteBoy; your annotations will be checked tomorrow by Matt.
         
Review:  Today we went over Challenge Extensions options
               Filled out a SMART Goal worksheet
               Approved our outlines with Matt if we finished them in class and
               Began our rough drafts (due by NEXT THURSDAY 9/26)

9/17 HW/Review

Scholars--good to be back with you all today :)  Your HW tonight is to fill out the survey below;  MAKE SURE THAT IN "NAME OF PROJECT" AREA ON THE SURVEY, YOU WRITE THESE EXACT WORDS:  MASK PROJECT

Fill out the survey TONIGHT:  Click here for link to survey

Your other HW tonight is to continue working on your essay outline, which is due on Thursday.  If you finish your outline before then, awesome!  Make sure you approve it with Matt, and then start working on transforming your outline into a rough draft.  Check the calendar (top right corner of webpage) to see the other due dates.
Check out the Writing Resources Page for electronic versions of the handouts you received in class today.  If you lost any, you can find the copies there.  

Crazy Vocab of the day:  Argy-Bargy (British slang for a 'disagreement').

Review:  Today we went over how to write a good intro (including a 'hook'), how to write a TEA paragraph, and how to fill out the essay outline.  The rest of class was devoted to creating our outline.
             

9/13 HW/Review

Scholars, your HW this weekend is to read to page 73 of "Mexican Whiteboy" and to annotate. We will begin using the text in class next week, so make sure you are up to date.  This Tuesday during lunch is the last chance to reassess your Sociology quiz.   Look at "reassessment policy" under the class handouts to know what is expected.

Review:  Today in class we
--Had an hour-long student-led and organized debate on the legal drinking age in the US.  Both formats worked very well in each class; good job to the groups that created those debate protocols.  We'll try and integrate these debates into our class perhaps once a month as the year unfolds.
 --Had student pictures taken
--Finished the class with independent work-time.

On Monday I will not be in class; Rachael from College Advising will give a presentation to each class, and then she will meet individually with students while everyone works on completing a project that Rachael will hand out to you about the history of social identities in the US.
 Happy Weekend!

Antiquated word of the week:  "Snoutfair", which, strangely enough, means "an exceedingly good-looking person" in old English.

9/12 HW and Review

HW:  Tonight no homework, except to catch up if you are behind by reading to page 50 of Mexican WhiteBoy, and annotating.  Thank you everyone for your feedback today on how the class is going so far, I will do my best to incorporate it as much as possible. We are always looking to improve as students, teachers, and scholars, and this will be very helpful.

Review:  1st Period:
--Journal on the strengths/weakness of our class and giving Matt feedback
 -- Conversation on the video "Princess Boy" 
--Discussion on strengths/weaknesses of the conversation
 --Small group creations of different debate protocols, including classroom layout, norms of behavior, stages of debate, and form of self-governance.

                2nd Period:
--Journal on strengths/weaknesses of our class and giving Matt feedback
--Brief review of yesterday's discussion on "Princess Boy"
--Small group creations of different debate protocols, including classroom layout, norms of behavior, stages of debate, and form of self-governance.
--Viewed sexuality video link
--Note-taking on the different elements of human sexuality
--Independent work-time, including brainstorming on possible Challenge Extensions :)

9/11 HW and Review

HW:  Read to page 50 of "Mexican Whiteboy" and annotate.
Review:
Today we remembered the events of 9/11 by watching a clip of how that tragedy unfolded.  Though most of us were not directly affected by the attack, we remember today those who died on that day, and those who were killed in the violence that followed.
    Our class content was gender; we watched several more clips investigating the harmful effects of gender stereotyping on both males and females, and had a fishbowl seminar for both genders to explain what they enjoy and what they struggle with given today's societal roles.  We also watched a clip about "My Princess Boy", learning about how gender sometimes does not fit into society's clear-cut category of either "male" or "female".
My Princess Boy feature

9/10 HW and Review

Scholars!  Here is your necessary information to complete tonight's mission (Don't forget to reassess your sociology quiz if you are scheduled to, either at 3:30 tomorrow or at the time you arranged with Matt)
HW TONIGHT:  Read to p 30 of Mexican Whiteboy using the annotation method (either a separate page of paper or sticky notes) in which you annotate for:
a.  What are Danny's identities (think gender, race, class, sexuality, able/disabled, etc)
b.  How is he being socialized according to his identities?
  Essentially, find examples that answer these questions.  The point of annotating in this way is to help you have textual references that will describe how Danny is being socialized.

Review:  Today we did grade-checks, played a game, did a starter about gender stereotypes, reviewed how to annotate for MWB (see above) and took notes on the gender stereotypes displayed in popular media.

9/9 HW

HW tonight:  Read to page 18 of Mexican Whiteboy
Tomorrow:  I will do individual grade-checks with everyone.  If you check powerschool tonight and have a question about your grade, tomorrow will be the time to speak with me during our check-in.  If you are missing any work, tonight would be a good time to start catching up.  All assignments have a description you can click on in Powerschool if you need to refresh your memory on what the assignment was.

Review:  In class today we
--Did Starter #4 (Do you think racism exists in Durango?),
-- Had a lesson on what makes a good thesis statement (in a nutshell, claim + reason= good thesis)
--Watched a video about NYPD's stop and frisk policy:
Stop and Frisk Policy Secretly Recorded (strong language)
--Had a discussion about the video and completed the White Privilege checklist.

9/6 HW and Review

Fellow citizens...
   First, make sure you email me your powerpoint or Prezi as soon as possible if that was the option you chose for the mini-project.
   Everyone's homework due Monday is to fill out the "Class Questionnaire" worksheet that you received in class, and to write a one-page journal (typed or handwritten, but hard-copy) answering the question, "How have you been socialized to think about wealth?"
   At the end of the journal entry, use the "How to write a thesis" handout to write a thesis asserting whether, after writing the journal entry, you think you have been positively or negatively socialized in this way (interpret positive or negative as you like).
  Hand the journal into your wall folder first thing Monday morning.  You do not need to turn in the questionnaire.

Review:  Today we reviewed our Functionalist and Conflict Theory notes, did an economic simulation, watched two videos on wealth and inequality in America:

Wealth Inequality in the US


Interview with a homeless American

These videos are not meant to advance a political view, simply to deliver some sociological date (video #1) and to remind us all that no matter someone's economic status, (rich or poor), they are first and foremost a human being and a fellow citizen, and should be spoken of as such.

   Have a good weekend!  See you all Monday :)
-Matt

9/5 HW and Review

Scholars!  You have NO homework tonight (yay!)  However, I am waiting to receive an emailed version of the media powerpoint from the following people.  If you email it to me by tomorrow, it will not be considered late. As I said in class, I am not formally grading these--however, you DO need to turn it in, or points will be taken off of your Process grade. Check the list and email me your presentation if you are on it, or show it to me in class tomorrow.  If you did a poster presentation and your name is on this list, it means your poster is not in your folder; make sure it is in your folder by tomorrow or it also will be considered late.
  Thanks everyone!-Matt
Jake B
Lauren
Anne
Ellie
Allison
Jade
Reed
Tristan
Keiran
Risa
Henry
Grace
Luke S
Kody
Dana
Sean
Eno
Dylan K
Perrin
Jake W
Zach
Isabel
Max
Dylan W
Andrew

9/4 HW and Review

Hi folks,
  Your only HW tonight is to finish the Mean Girls handout.  I'll be back in school tomorrow. You will get your quizzes back and we will begin looking at issues of Class as it affects our country as a whole, by examining the debate over raising the minimum wage.  We will also learn about two predominant sociological theories, Functionalism and Conflict Theory, that will help us learn how to examine both conflict and stability within societies.  See you soon!  -matt

9/3 HWReview and Quiz reassesment option

Fellow scholars,
   Your homework for tonight is to finish your mini-project.  Remember this should be Beautiful Work.  Full disclosure, you will not be assessed on this mini-project; this is meant to help you solidify and ground your understanding of the basic concepts of Sociology that we have covered thus far.  Your motivation to do well on this project is intrinsic (that is, it comes from within).  For what it is worth, you may be drawing on this work in a few weeks once we begin our masks and our essays.  You also would have the option to turn this mini-project into a Challenge Extension to add on to our final project.  Three of you will be randomly chosen tomorrow to present to class, so be ready to go!

Today in class we:
--Did the quiz if we missed school on Friday and got a brief lecture from Matt about the Cycle of Socialization
--Worked on our mini-projects in class
--Matt explained the reassessment policy; you can read it below or see a copy of it in Class Handouts under 9/3

9th Grade Humanities Reassessment Policy

If you are disappointed in your grade on a test or quiz in this class, you may reassess.  Reassessment is a way for us to master the material if we didn't master it the first time; I reassess students because I believe that a student who does poorly on a quiz or test should have an opportunity to make it up partially. However, in order to avoid encouraging a pattern of not studying the first time around and then just making it up later, here is how the reassessments will work.

   1.  All reassessments unless otherwise noted will be held during Matt's office hours and begin Wednesdays at 3:30 pm in the classroom.  You must confirm with Matt in advance that you will be at office hours at 3:30 to reassess.

  2.  A reassessment unless otherwise noted is a verbal interview in which Matt will quiz you on the material you were initially assessed on.  Matt will first go over the quiz or test with you and ask you to explain how and why you misunderstood the material, and then will ask you questions to determine if you now understand the material.

  3.  The best way to prepare for a reassessment is to study the material that you were given to master the first time around.  Ask questions of your classmates who did well on the test or exam.  Review the incorrect answers and figure out how and why you misunderstood the material.  If the answer is, "I just didn't study", be honest in your reassessment and make sure you have studied the material so you can answer the material questions correctly.

4.  Before you reassess, you must print out or handwrite a paragraph that answers the following questions and turn it into Matt at the start of your reassessment.  

    a.  Why do you think you did poorly on this quiz or test? Was it related to your study habits, out-of-school life or issues, or time-management mistakes?

    b.  Are there concrete steps you can take to address the reasons why you did poorly on this exam?  What are they?

   c.  Do you feel that this material could or should have been taught in a way that would better accommodate your learning style?  Do you feel that a learning need (if you are working with ESS) was not addressed in the teaching of this material?  If so, how?  

NOTE:  A reassessment will at most win you back 50% of the points that you lost.  So if you scored a 10/20 on a given quiz, the most your score can go up after a reassessment is to a 15/20.  The best policy is for you to prepare and do well the first time.