Welcome to My Blog

This is the blog that I will use this year to share what is happening in our American Studies and IB European history classes. Individuals use blogs for various reasons but for me, it is a place to write about the topics, concepts, learning, etc. that goes on in my classes. I will use the Edline online tool mainly to list homework assignments as I feel that it is important for me to model a skill that your students will be performing as they become bloggers writing about their learning, reflecting, understanding of current events, etc for me classes.

I will be introducing myself to my students during class time but for parents here is some information for you before we meet in person. I am married to Margaret Carpenter who is the Lower School librarian. I have two sons- Samuel (grade 8) and Maxwell (grade 6). We are an international family having lived in Central American, Scotland, Europe and Asia. Samuel was born in Saudi Arabia and Maxwell in Panama.

My skills as an educator include teaching social studies/humanities, counseling, instructional technology, and curriculum development. My guiding principle has always been to focus on working with others to develop and facilitate the most meaningful learning possible for my students.

As part of my effort to be a lifelong learner, I have written several articles for magazines as well as being an active blogger at Lessons Learned and U Tech Tips and podcaster as well.

One of the first questions you might have is "what are blogs and why use them?" A blog is an online journal that allows for two way communication. I will write in this blog about what is happening in my classes and you as readers can use the comment tool to share your thoughts, reflections, ideas, etc. We start having a conversation which leads to learning from each other. We begin the process of forming a learning community.

So what is going to happen during our first week of classes? The American Studies and the IB history courses will do similar activities as we get to know each other, set some goals and prepare our technology toolkits for learning.

Questions we will discuss:

Why blog?
Who am I today and who do I want to be in June?
Why study history?
What are skills world citizens and workers need today and in the future?

American Studies:

We will begin our study of the colonization of North America.


IB History:

We will begin our study of the time period between World War I and II. The students read a chapter from Europe 1870 - 1991 over the summer using their analysis and summarization skills to prepare an outline that is due the first week of school.

I look forward to a fantastic year with your children. Please contact me at dcarpenter@cas.ac.ma if you have any questions about my classes.

12th History SL & HL Homework: August 31 - September 4

Note that we will use this blog to post homework until the school starts using Edline in a few weeks. Remember the homework is due the following class meeting date and if digital, it is due by 5:30 am.

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For classes meeting Monday and Tuesday:


1) Learner Profile: Create a profile of you as a Learner today. Create a profile of who you want to be as a learner in June. In other words, what goals do you hope to reach by June: 

You are to create a personal profile of yourself. Draw from the information you present in your Facebook or MySpace pages to create a profile of who you are today. In other words, paint a picture of yourself. The second part of the task is to describe who you would like to be by the end of the school year. Look to use categories like who you are socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually.  You will share your present day and June profiles with the class in a 4 minute or less presentation.
The presentation format is up to you (e.g., PowerPoint, Mind Map, Song, Poem, Art, etc.)


2) Email Mr. Carpenter using your Gmail account so that he can add you as a contact. Make sure to list your full name and class (History HL) in the subject line. Mr. Carpenter will be receiving emails from all his students this week so make sure you follow this protocol.  


3) Chapter 11 outline and primary source analysis summer homework: If possible, copy and paste into two separate Google Docs. Name one “Chapter 11 Outline” and the second “Primary Source Analysis”. Share them with Mr. Carpenter using his Gmail email address (carpenter.cas@gmail.com). Make sure to list your full name and class in the subject line. Mr. Carpenter will be receiving emails from all his students this week. If you hand wrote them, bring them to class. In either case, bring a paper copy of both papers to class for peer editing support. 


4) Mr. Carpenter’s blog: You are to bookmark the URL of Mr. Carpenter’s blog (http://carpenter-cashistory.blogspot.com) on your parent’s computer. Have your parents read the introduction post in Mr. Carpenter’s blog. Explain to your parents that they should check the blog weekly to learn about what is happening in the class. This will be one way to bring your parents into our learning community. Mr. C will be posting the weekly homework assignments to the blog for the first couple of weeks as the school is not ready to start using Edline. In the future, the blog will where a summary of how the week went along with other information for your parents. 




Assessment: Remember that no late work is accepted for this class. If you fail to complete work, you let yourself and your classmates down as you will not be able to participate as well in our classroom learning activities. 




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For classes meeting Wednesday and Thursday:


1) OPVL Analysis: You have been hired by the director of a major museum to analyze several original primary source documents that have been donated to the museum. There is limited space in the display case of the museum. The museum director wants your analysis of the documents so that she can decide which ones best meet the purpose of the display. She is not looking for which one is the “best” or most valid, she simply wants insights as to what the documents provide using the OPVL analysis system.

You are to do your work in Google Documents, save it as “12SL or HL-Museum-Your Name”. Share it with Mr. Carpenter. Bring a paper copy or your laptop with a Word version to class.

Using the OPVL categories, write a description of each document listed below. Mr. Carpenter will email you a document that further describes the OPVL process. Make sure he has your email address!



The League of Nations is Alive   First two paragraphs

Mussolini writes about Fascism   First seven paragraphs

Cartoon  I don’t have where this source was printed but the date is in the 1920s.

Cartoon  I don’t have where this source was printed but the date is in the 1920s.


2) Your Profile Presentations are now due to be shared during our Friday and Monday class meeting times.


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For classes meeting Friday and Monday:

Chapter 11 Outline: Bring in either a paper copy of your outline or your laptop with it in Word. We will divide the topics up by table. Each table group will then share notes in preparation to lead a discussion on their assigned topic.

American Studies Homework: August 31 - September 4

Note that we will use this blog to post homework until the school starts using Edline in a few weeks. Remember the homework is due the following class meeting date and if digital, it is due by 5:30 am.

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For classes meeting Monday and Tuesday:

NOTE: Make the language in your Blogger account ENGLISH.

1) Profile of you as a Learner today and what goals you hope to reach by June:

You are to create a personal profile of yourself. Draw from the information you present in your Facebook or MySpace pages to create a profile of who you are today. In other words, paint a picture of yourself. The second part of the task is to describe who you would like to be by the end of the school year. Look to use categories like who you are socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually.  You will share your present day and June profiles with the class in a 4 minute or less presentation.

2) Email Mr. Carpenter using your Gmail account (carpenter.cas@gmail.com). Include the URL of your blog. Make sure to list your full name and class in the subject line. Mr. Carpenter will be receiving emails from all his students this week.

3) Blog Post: Set up your blog. Remember to include your first name in the blog title. Write your first post about your goals for the school year. Remember to use the Label tool to categorize what your post is about.

4) Mr. Carpenter’s blog: You are to bookmark the URL of Mr. Carpenter’s and your blog on your parent’s computer. Have your parents read the introduction post in Mr. Carpenter’s blog. Explain to your parents that they should check the blog weekly to learn about what is happening in the class. They should also check your blogs to see what you are reflecting upon and learning. Mr. Carpenter will use the blog to post your homework assignments for the next week or so. We will then switch over.

Assessment: Remember that no late work is accepted for this class. If you fail to complete work, you let yourself and your classmates down as you will not be able to participate as well in our classroom learning activities.


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For classes meeting Wednesday and Thursday:

1) Reading: America Pathways book, students are to read pages 4-8. A History of the United States book- Start with section 3 on page 10 and read to page 12. Come to class ready to answer the question “Why were several European nations in a good position to start exploring across the Atlantic ocean?”.
 

2) Blogging: Two parts-

a) Go to the following sites to learn why blogging is such an important and useful endeavor (thing to do). Write a post in your blog about what you feel are the five main reasons why students should blog.


Site 1
Site 2


b) Skills for Life discussion with your parents: You are to talk with your parents to get their opinions on the following questions- “What skills do adults need in their family, work and community lives?” After they share their opinions, share what you learned about the 21st Century Skills we will be using in our learning community. Then write a second blog post sharing the main points about what skills your parents shared with you.

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For classes meeting Friday and Monday:

1) Current Events: Go to one of the following news sites to read up on what is happening in our world. Find a story that interests you. Read it carefully looking to answer the questions of “Who, What, How, When, and Why?”. Write a blog post with a title that describes the story. Then write your post answering the 5 analysis questions where you write full paragraphs like a new reporter does. DO NOT write Who- then write a sentence, etc. It is also helpful if you can add an image as well. But don’t forget to cite the Web page where you get your image. 


Aljazeera
BBC
New York Times Global Edition
CNN Student News in iTunes


2) Review the ESPRAT Web site to help you continue your understanding of this framework for analyzing social studies. Write a blog post describing ESPRAT in your own words.