Chapter 5 Test Complete

Today, students took their exam over Chapter 5 - The Early Spanish Explorers. The test grades for all students who were present and took the test have been posted. Also, all make-up/late work that has been turned in to me to this point has also been grades and posted.

Next week, we will get to work on Chapter 6, which covers Spanish Colonial Texas.

Have a happy and safe Halloween.

Chapter 5 Test Tomorrow

The exam over Chapter 5 - The Early Explorers of Texas is tomorrow. Please make sure your student studies and is as prepared as possible.

Study!

Chapter 5 Test Moved to Friday, Late/Make-up Work Due

Today, we finished up the Chapter 5 - Lesson 3 Notes on the early explorers. They are attached below. This is the final section in the chapter and we will be taking the exam over it this Friday. Tomorrow, I will review the kids and do my best to get them prepared for the test on Friday. Please make sure your student studies and is as prepared as possible for this test.

As mentioned yesterday, failure to turn in work has reached disturbing levels. Please check with your student to see whether or not they are caught up (you can also check the grades online). If they owe work, please stay on them to get it done and turned in ASAP as "0's" kill their average.

*TEST ALERT* - The Chapter 5 Exam over the early explorers has been bumped to this Friday 11/30.

Zeros and Apathy, Chapter 5 Test Thursday

Today the Chapter 5 Vocabulary Builder assignment was due and I was shocked at the sheer number of students that failed to turn it in and received a grade of "0." I must say that I have been fighting the apathetic nature of this group of 7th graders since day 1. It has been like pulling teeth to get them to do and turn in their work. They just do not seem to care about their grade and do not fear any sort of consequences for failing to do their work either here at school or at home.

I need you, the parents/guardians to partner with me and make sure these students are keeping up with and turning in their work. Please grill them DAILY on what is due and when. Check the grades online AT LEAST 2-3 time per week to make sure you know where they stand. Simply put, if they perceive you are not involved or do not care about their grades, then they will not care about them either. Honestly, I have not seen such apathy from a group since I started teaching in 1992.

Let's get this taken care of ASAP.

The final sections of the Chapter 5 Notes from Lesson 2 are below. The Chapter 5 Exam over Early Explorers is scheduled for Thursday. Please do your part to make sure your student is prepared.

The Coronado Expedition, Chapter 5 Vocabulary Builder Due Tomorrow

Today, we opened with a short video on the explorations of the conquistador Coronado. After the video, we took notes and discussed his travels, what he saw, his search for the golden cities of Cibola and Quivera and how the Spanish considered his mission a failure due to his not finding any gold or riches.

Below is a link to the video I showed the class on Coronado and the notes for the day (Chapter 5, Lesson 2)

*HOMEWORK ALERT* - The Chapter 5 Vocabulary Builder assignment is due TOMORROW at the beginning of class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGM6i-1ozPk 

Chapter 5 Notes and the Gallup Poll

I apologize for not updating the blog yesterday. I will spare you the details but it was "one of those days."

The last two days have been spent on reading and taking notes over Chapter 5 - Lesson 1, which is about the early Spanish explorers. The full notes for Lesson 1 are below for any student that was unable to finish them in class.

The other activity we have been involved in is the annual Gallup Poll Survey. With the exception of students whose parents sent back a "do not participate" note, the kids went online and took the brief survey.

The 2nd 9 weeks is now underway and the students have already had two assignments for my class. I am currently in the middle of grading them now and they should be posted soon. If you notice one or both assignments missing from the grade book, you might ask your student about that. We want to make sure everyone gets off to a good start this grading period.

Chapter 5 - The Early Explorers of Texas Introduced, Chapter 5 Vocabulary Due

The first item of business today was to take up the Chapter 5 Vocabulary Assignment that was due. This assignment was originally assigned on Thursday of last week (see previous blog entries). Many students had already turned this assignment in to me but today was the due date.

We are opening the new grading period in Chapter 5, which covers the first Europeans to explore what is now Texas. We reviewed the reading from Chapter 5 - Lesson 1 while also getting a reminder on how to use the various tools available in the online version of the textbook. Students should be familiar with Lesson 1 when they come in to class tomorrow

*HOMEWORK ALERT* -  Assigned reading, Chapter 5, Lesson 1 (boxes 1-3online), pages 122-127 in the hard copy of the textbook.