Recognizing intricacies

ATTENTION ALL 8TH GRADERS: YOUR EDMODO POSTS NEED TO BE UP AND READY FOR CLASS BY MONDAY. YOU WILL BE ASSESSED ON YOUR TWO EDMODO POSTS ON MONDAY. PLEASE BE PREPARED BY WORKING ON YOUR TWO EDMODO POSTS ON SUNDAY, IF THEY ARE NOT DONE ALREADY!
ATTENTION ALL 7TH GRADERS: IF YOU ARE WORKING ON YOUR FLASH CARDS AND WANT TO CHECK OUT AN ONLINE SITE THAT MAKES THEM FOR YOU AND HELPS YOU REVIEW, CLICK ON THE LINK ON THE LEFT SIDE, UNDER THE EDMODO LINK. IT'S A GREAT SITE AND HAS A MOBILE APP SO THAT YOU CAN REVIEW EVERYWHERE. I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THIS IN CLASS THIS WEEK, BUT YOU CAN CHECK IT OUT NOW!
For both groups of scholars, February brings with it greater study of challenging concepts. Greater commitment will be required. This might involve having to sacrifice for academic achievement and ensuring that a plan to succeed in Social Studies is concurrent with planning in other realms, as well.
7th Grade
This week will bring with it the memorization of the Amendments, as well as explanation and detail regarding different elements of the Constitution such as principles, the Articles, as well as ensuring that nightly study of these concepts is present. A three to four question quiz will open class each day. Students will not be graded on these assessments, but rather they will be used for Progress Monitoring where students are and how interventions can be designed to ensure that there is a maximization of effort to ensure that students are successful.

8th Grade
We begin our study of Primary Source material this week in World War I. Starting out with Keller's "Strike Against War," students will have to read Primary Source material from the time period and complete an enrichment sheet on their reading. At the same time, students will have to make consistent and steady contributions to edmodo, our online learning environment about the material. 8th Grade students must also ensure that they are making progress on their work in other classes. Failure to plan is a plan to fail and in order to see our current 8th graders successful at the next level, it will be incumbent that they learn the gift and strategy of long term planning. With a Review of Literature for Science/ LA projects due on the 11th, this is an excellent opportunity to display prowess in this domain.

My hope is to see as many of you as possible for conferences next week. Please continue to encourage your students to continue striving for scholarship.
All best.
Mr. Kannan

Do you hear that, young scholar? That is the sound of inevitability. It is the sound of your own opportunity for triumph.

I will be honest enough to say that I had a fairly horrific student teaching experience. It was bad. I cannot even begin to articulate how many things transpired that convinced me of my own ineffectiveness in the classroom. There were only a few rare rubies that were collected from this quest. One such gem was when I was at on of many low moments:
"February is the best time to teach. With the combination of the cold and the weather, they are just primed to learn. February is the month."

As we look at the calendar, we are moving towards "the month." Both groups are going to experience the upcoming week and month with different senses of trepidation and challenge. The journey will look different for both groups with the only constant being that February being "the month."

7th Grade
This week marks the commencement of the Judicial Branch with "the greatest video of all time." It is almost a rite of passage. If a student learned American History with me, they had to do their time with "the greatest video of all time." Students will be asked to take notes on specific sections of the video, ensuring that information is reviewed on a nightly basis.
In addition to this, students should be spending time reviewing their concepts learned about the goals and principles of the Constitution, as well as the Legislative and the Executive Branches. Flash cards is an excellent way to initiate this process. There is much information to be reviewed in preparation for the Final Exam that will start on February 22. Starting from next week, I will open up my room for study sessions to assist with this process of studying and reviewing.

8th Grade
World War I starts this week. Students will begin the process of understanding the war from the perspective of thematic analysis, historical development, and primary/ secondary source rendering. It will require a great deal of planning to ensure that students COMPLETE WORK ON A NIGHTLY BASIS. ASSESSMENTS WILL BE GEARED TO MAKE SURE THAT STUDENTS ARE KEEPING UP WITH WORK CONSISTENTLY AS WELL AS UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS DISCUSSED IN CLASS. This unit is driven by reading and comprehension, as students will be introduced to some of the finest writers and some of the most heart rendering conditions that humanity has had to face.

With conferences looming large next week, I can only stress the importance of making sure that all steps are taken towards academic success. This starts every night with competent completion of assignments and not falling behind. At the same time, student advocacy where uncertainty is present will also be another formula in ensuring that students are successful.

Happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan
Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/lloydcrew/3264114260/sizes/l/in/photostream/ and http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Basketball Losses and American History

I will not lie in composing this blog. I am writing this after a tough loss in conference finals game, so if my usual witticisms or precision might be lacking, please do forgive.
While heartache and melancholy do present themselves, I am immediately reminded about the Progressivist mantra: "The fight goes on, the cause endures, and the dream shall never die." Indeed, this might cover much of what our students will be working on in history in the upcoming week.

7th Grade Students
Students will be absorbing more of the Constitution this week. Students should be engaging in nightly study of these concepts. Seeing that the Final Exam is coming up in under a month, I would suggest that students invest in studying skills such as the development of note cards to assist them. Creating flash cards on concepts covered, as they are covered, will ensure that students cover all relevant information and will allow for a very strong base of knowledge to increase in strength and fortitude through nightly and incremental steps towards success. Goals, principles, legislative, executive, and judicial branches will have been studied by next Friday. This is ample enough to start the flash card process.

8th Grade Students
Students need to be reading chapter 20 and completing their chapter 20 assessments. These will be due Friday, 1/21. Students will have to ensure that they complete the required work and reading in a timely fashion to complete the assessments on time. This weekend will be very big towards this end.

As students receive progress reports soon, conference sign ups even sooner, and ensure that their focus lies on achieving academic success at this point in the year where the difficulty and toughness increases, one is reminded of the always encouraging mantra of "forming a more perfect union." The Framers understood, perhaps better than anyone else, that the drive for perfection is perfection in its own right. In this light, students have to see how much of what they have been trained to do in this class embodies the very best of our nation and what we profess to believe as part of that creed.

Apparently, I have to link my class to American historical consciousness to feel better after a loss in the Finals.
All best.
Mr. Kannan

Photo Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/gi/3027204/lightbox/#/photos/gi/3027204/ and http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

The Highwaymen and 7.8/3 Social Studies

The Highwaymen might have been talking about the upcoming week in 7.8/3 Social Studies. The "road does go on forever" while the intellectual "party never ends." With what is at stake this week, the traveling troubadours of American consciousness were dead on. My hope is that all of us can help our emerging scholars better understand what this road entails and how progress can be made upon it.
7th Grade
* Monday will be the collection day for the Chapter 7 Assessments- Students were given this assessment on Thursday and my hope is that they are ready to submit it by the end of Monday's class.
* Tuesday will be the collection day for the "Bundle" of Chapter 7 Homework- Assigned last week each night, there are assignments that are to be collected at the start of Tuesday's class.
* Wednesday will start the discussion of the Constitution with the breakdown of the Preamble and the inspirations for the Constitution through Friday and the weekend.

8th Grade
* Monday and Tuesday will be the last days for students to assemble their Chapter 19 assessments and five identifications- One completed assessment and five identifications will be submitted by Wednesday at 5:30 PM.
* Wednesday will be an "exit assessment" on Chapter 19 that will gauge student reading of chapter 19 that was assigned last week and forms the basis of their work in the past ten days.
* Thursday and Friday will be spend working on the Chapter 20 Assessment. This will involve reading the content and completing a choice of assessments to go along with this. All work on Chapter 20 will be due on Friday, 1/21.

With conferences and the midway point of the trimester approaching, I can only hope that students are taking advantages of each step along the intellectual highway. With study of the Constitution and World War I awaiting, the party does indeed never end. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any further assistance.

All best.
Mr. Kannan

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/japokskee/4133415996/ and http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

New beginnings with much at stake

The start of the new year brings with it much to be done. My hopes are that the break was restful for all stakeholders and Monday will be the start of an intense amount of focus and rededicated commitment to the pursuit of scholarship. Each group will have a unique set of challenges that will guide them through the second trimester, starting on Monday.

7th Grade
* Chapter 6 Writing Assessments have been graded- Student work will be submitted back to students on Monday. Revisions of the chapter 6 writing assessments will be due on Monday, 1/10. Each assessment has specific comments written as well as identification of areas of strength and deficiencies on the rubrics attached. For those who composed a digital work sample, comments are included on the student's grade report on the web grade portal.
* Chapter 7 will be finished this week- Students will be required to A) Read a section a night, B) Complete the specified Check Your Progress Questions for each section, and C) Download, print, and complete the online study guide for each section. There is an icon on the left side that will allow students to quickly navigate to the site where this can be done. Students can also download and print online study guides for chapter 7 at school computers. All Check Your Progress Questions and study guides will be collected on Tuesday, 1/11.
* Students will work on their Chapter 7 Assessments on Thursday and Friday during class and these are due on Monday, 1/10. This will lead us to our study of the Constitution that will start next week and culminate in our Final Exam in February.

8th Grade
* Howard Zinn assessments have been graded- Student work will be submitted back to students on Monday. Revisions of the Zinn assessments will be due on Monday, 1/10. Each assessment has specific comments written as well as identification of areas of strength and deficiencies on the rubrics attached. For those who composed a digital work sample, comments are included on the student's grade report on the web grade portal.
* Students will have to read chapter 19 Monday and Tuesday night. It is important that students do not fall behind. In class time will be spent exploring the themes of Progressivism, the topic in chapter 19.
* Students will start the Chapter 19 Assessments on Wednesday- They will commit to a task and map out how they plan on completing it by Wednesday, 1/12. Students will work on this assessment at home and in class.
* Completed Assessments for Chapter 19 will include one completed assessment and five identifications from chapter 19.

Both groups have been given a list of potential extra credit tasks that can be done, if students feel they need to enhance their grades. All students are reminded to advocate for themselves if they feel they are in need of additional guidance and/ or assistance. Lunchtime, the morning, as well as through email or personal conversation are all ways in which advocacy can be accomplished. Please implore your students to keep up with all nightly work as well as ensuring that they are not "lost" in the course of this week and those that follow.

All best.
Mr. Kannan
Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/araswami/2191547357/ and http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

One Week to Go!

With this last week before Winter Break, both groups of Social Studies students on 7.8/3 will be working on submitting their work due Friday. For each group, there are specific requirements that will constitute full submission of work on Friday:
7th Grade Assessments on Chapter 6
2 sets of Check Your Progress Questions from Chapter 6
One completed Chapter 6 Assessment

8th Grade Assessments on Howard Zinn
One completed Enrichment Sheet on Howard Zinn
One completed Assessment on Howard Zinn

In the end, these are the only elements upon which we are placing focus for this week. Work will be collected on Friday or prior to student departure for Winter Break. As per policy, there will not be a late option for these assessments as there is no late work for second trimester. As the bustle of the last week before break takes hold, please keep the talking points for academic success in the forefront of your discussions. Nothing bad can result from asking your emerging scholar questions such as, "Where are you on your assessment?" or "What's your plan for meeting his deadline?" These could open up paths of discussion that could spare some significant heartbreak later on down the trimester's road. Grades will be updated before the end of Winter Recess.

Wish you and your family all the best this holiday season.
Mr. Kannan

Two Weeks before Break: Two Big Assessments

As we approach the holidays, we are now at the point where "band aids" need to be removed and a full embrace of what is there is now needed. With everyone starting at the same two week rush, work seems to be inevitable:
8th Grade
Students should finish their reading in Howard Zinn's "Robber Barons and Rebels" by Wednesday or Thursday of this week. Students will receive their Assessments for the Howard Zinn Unit on Wednesday. Students will need to complete an Enrichment sheet on a portion of the reading. Both the completed Enrichment Sheet and the Assessments are due on Friday, December 17 or before students leave for Winter Break. All stakeholders should strongly encourage students to keep up with the reading and make sure that nightly progress is made to ensure timely completion of tasks.

7th Grade
Students should be working on their Chapter 6 Assessments. Rough drafts can be submitted by Friday of this week. Students must ensure that they have a completed writing task as well as two sets of Check Your Progress Questions from Chapter 6 to be submitted on Friday, December 17 or before students leave for Winter Break. All stakeholders should strongly encourage students to keep up with the reading and make sure that nightly progress is made to ensure timely completion of tasks.

As report cards are sent home with students on Friday of this week, all students are reminded that the past is prologue and that what is done in the next two weeks can have a profound impact on is to lie ahead.

All best and happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan