Students use Google Classroom to graph early American Slavery

The addition of Google Classroom and access to Chromebooks helps students master math and computer skills while concurrently studying early American history. Today students and staff utilized the document sharing ability of Google Classroom while discussing slavery in early America. Each student could share his ongoing progress with the teacher, Mr. Eck, in real time from their computer. When Mr. Eck recognized something noteworthy or important in a students work, he could send the images to the projector and allow everyone to see the information.

"The ability to give immediate feedback to students is so important", Mr. Eck explained. "If you can catch a mistake or thinking error right away, you can stop it or correct the thinking error before it becomes ingrained in the students head. The students also get a kick out of having their accomplishments shared with their peers; this technology helps build confidence."

Student Levi A. posted to this blog today, explaining what he learned today in class. He, along with the other students, experienced a multi-discipline lesson, incorporating reading and writing skills, social studies, mathematics, and technology. The inclusion of these new resources - Google Classroom and the Chromebooks - has improved the educational experience for students at the Milton AEP.

Slaves in Colonial America

In Mr. Eck's class we are learning about slaves in early America in the 1700’s.

We have learned that their were about 8 to 10 million enslaved Africans taken to colonies in the Americas. There were about half a million of slaves in British colonies in North America. About four million Slaves were in the British, French, and Dutch colonies of the Caribbean. In the Portuguese colony of Brazil, there were nearly three and a half million enslaved Africans. Other Spanish colonies accounted for 1.5 million additional slaves.

Part of our assignment included creating a bar graph to visually describe the distribution of slaves in the early colonies. (see the graph below)

-- by Levi A.

NYT - What is a Hero?

Students read about three Americans who helped foil an attack on a speeding train in Europe in the New York Times. (NYT Article)

Among the questions they were asked was "What does it mean to be a hero?"

What do you think it means to be a hero? Please comment.

Government Shutdown Reading

Read the following articles about the government shutdown. Be ready to explain the difference between a government shutdown and breaching the debt ceiling. You should also be ready to pick a side in this conflict.


The Government Shutdown Versus the Debt Ceiling - Matthew Yglesias at Slate

Government Shuts Down in Budget Impasse - NYT

After you read the first article and pick through the second article, post a comment explaining which side of the debate you are on. Be sure to use a Structured Response (or even 5 paragraph) format. 

Today's Bookmarks

Presidents speech to the nation.

http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/09/10/us/politics/100000002435965/obama-addresses-the-nation-on-syria.html?emc=edit_tnt_20130910&tntemail0=y

9-11 Timeline by New York State Museum

http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/wtc_timeline/zoomify.html

Erikson's Psych/Social Hierarchy

http://psychology.about.com/library/bl_psychosocial_summary.htm

An article on "Resilience".

http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/bounce.aspx

Today's Bookmarks

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/world/middleeast/aim-of-a-us-attack-on-syria-sharpening-a-blurred-red-line.html?hp

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_slate_quiz/2013/08/the_slate_quiz_with_quizmaster_ken_jennings_play_the_news_quiz_for_the_week_4.html

Philadelphia Fieldtrip

Five Milton AEP students and two teachers trekked to the National Constitution Center to further their studies of our countries founding.

Mr. Eck and Mr. Cromley started the day with a 5:30 AM stop for coffee and Red Bull. Then they spent the next two hours zig zagging across central PA, picking up students in Millville, Sunbury, Selinsgrove, and Mount Pleasant Mills. After all five students were on-board, the group headed south. A breakfast stop outside of Harrisburg resulted in an impromptu "town house" in the parking lot of Hardee's.

The trip into the city was uninterrupted, with no traffic jams or difficulty in getting into the city. After parking three stories underground and climbing their way up the steps, the students emerged onto the center of the Independence Mall.

After picking up tickets for the Independence Hall tour, the class checked into the National Constitution Center. The first activity was a presentation titled “Freedom Rising”, a 17-minute multimedia theater experience with the story of the U.S. Constitution being related through a live actor. The theater-in-the-round incorporates 360° projection, surprise scenic elements, theatrical lighting, and a dynamic surround soundtrack. 

Students Model Constitutional Convention

Social Studies, Literature, and Writing classes combined for a very important cross-curricular unit to start out the school year. After reading numerous pieces of writing dealing with morals and character values, students discussed, debated, and created a meaningful Class Creed.

In Mr. Eck's social studies class, students studied the early history of our countries government. The Articles of Confederation were studied and the flaws of our countries first "constitution" were discussed. Understanding the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, students then learned how Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, John Adams, and other early leaders advocated for a second convention.

Mr. Cromley focused the language arts classes on readings that dealt with the importance of strong character values and a moral foundation. Students read ancient creeds like the Athenian Oath. They reviewed contemporary pieces like the Boy Scout Oath and The American Creed. Other popular pieces - "Everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten", "Law of the Jungle", and "Charge of the Light Brigade" - were compared to the normative system of the PATH Alternative Ed. program.

Ms. Steph introduced the Path of Life Model, discussing the values and healthy traits that are the foundation of the model. As part of the therapeutic group, traits of successful students were also discussed.

Using the knowledge and wisdom acquired in their studies, the students modelled our countries founding fathers and convened a student convention to discuss the creation of a student oath or creed. Mr. Cromley presented "The rules of discussions" and the students debated on what they felt needed to be included in their resolution. By the end of the week, a rough draft had been agreed upon. The students agreed to postpone ratification of the document to allow a time for reflection. If any parts needed to be changed, they would reconvene.