Week Two: Friday, September 9, 2022

 Welcome! 

Week two is in the books and it already feels like we've been here for a few months (and I mean that in a good way)! The students are doing a great job in picking up the routines and procedures in my class and school in general. We watched a great video about the true meaning of life and what we can be striving to achieve by Jay Shetty on Friday--give yourself a few minutes to watch it, I think you'll like it. 

Social Studies Update: 

Tuesday:

Today was another day getting into routines and using new tools. We used Google Autodraw to create icons today to help the students get used to doing quick "Sketch & Tell" activities. We also completed a Frayer Organizer to better help the students understand Mastery-Based Learning since that will be the focus for the year. 

Wednesday: 

Today was the first day the students really directed their own learning. We spent the day working through #006-Unit Zero Mastery Grid. The students worked on the note-taking process, understanding how the Google Classroom is set up, guiding their own work, and keeping track of it. 

Thursday: 

The focus for today was getting the kids used to creating infographics using Google Slides and creating a particular type of presentation called Thick Slides. We'll create both of these things from time to time throughout the year to help tell the story of American history.

Friday: 

It's finally the end of the week and the students spent time submitting their #006-Mastery Grid, reflecting on the work they did, and using Flip (formerly Flipgrid) to explain their work and thinking through the mastery grid. Finally, we finished up by having the students do a "History of Mr. Brilla" by investigating primary sources from my life. 

Next Week in Class 

This upcoming week will be the first Mastery Grid the students will complete that will be history-based and end in a graded assignment. The students will start by watching three videos about historical content and skills that they will use later in the unit. The videos will replace the traditional lecture you might be familiar with when we were in school. Upon the completion of the videos and notes, the students will take a Mastery Check to ensure they got the concepts from the videos. While this mastery check is not graded, the student will need to score at least a 90% before they can move on with their work. Towards the end of the week, the students will begin to look at primary sources in history and finally investigate sources from the Boston Massacre to help them decide which side, the British or the Colonists, deserves more of the blame for the violence. 

Podcast Link: 

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