Q1 Week 2

 We begin "regular" instruction this week, with modifications, of course. I periodically have to lecture & accept that doing it via GMeet is not optimum as I have neither the technical skills, nor the time to produce a video with pizazz. So bear with it and absorb the info as best you can. I have decided that, while we are required to adhere to synchronous teaching&learning, I will NOT be recording & sharing my lessons. We are expected to be "in class" at scheduled times, so be there!

Please make sure you complete the survey & share a link to your IB History Journal via GooClass and SUBMIT WIL 1.1 by tonight. I will be reading them tomorrow afternoon and I DO NOT accept, nor read them late (especially since they are "due" on Fridays). Also make sure you read&annotate BOTH Zinn articles for Seminar 2 this week. You will have to read "Why Latin America?" by Skidmore for NEXT Week's Seminar 3.

For this week, we begin with an overview of the Renaissance & Reformation in the form of a lecture on M/T, with W now set aside for another lecture on Aztec Sacrifice. Th/F is when we will discuss the Zinn readings & a brief look at the Treaty of Tordesillas. 

The Renaissance&Reformation slides are VERY basic - simple text & no images. I usually add some fun stuff, but I do not have the time and I also cannot have the same "interplay" with you that I normally apply when lecturing. For this one, I usually just post a single image on big screen and tell a story from my notes - but this DL thing just doesn't work well for that method, so I simply adapted my notes into a slide show we'll run through as I ramble and explain links & provide additional context.

For NEXT week (9/21-9/25), you'll have M/T to watch a 90-min video (When Worlds Collide, 2010 PBS)at your leisure. Please find some time to download it from the Media Archive. Weds is my "All About Romo" presentation, when I give you a brief account of who is teaching you. Th/F is set aside for Seminar 3: Why Latin America? (Skidmore).

I will NOT be available at Pearl on Tuesday for IBA Booklets pick-up. I WILL be placing what is currently available (Units 03-06) in your pickup pile for WHS distributions/pickup at school during the following dates&times:

• Tuesday, September 15: 10-4 pm
• Wednesday, September 16: 12-6 pm
• Thursday, September 17: 10-4 pm

If the Unit 01/02 Booklet is NOT included in this pickup, we'll figure out a time & place for you to get them. Remember that ALL MATERIALS are ALWAYS available via the GooClass.

Remember that missing a M/T or Th/F is the equivalent of missing 2 regular class days. While there are no "points" for attendance, it does affect your takeaway, participation, and ability to provide insight into your WILs. 

Please check your video & audio settings before joining the GMeet (or Zoom) ON TIME, of course. Your image must be complete and visible with light. You cannot hide in the shadows, nor display a wall or a fraction of your face. These are norms & expectations for ALL classes. I will have to remove you from the GMeet (& eventually the course) if you are not complying with our norms - neither of which I want to do. Simply pretend you are sitting in your seat in my classroom. So please check your camera (& microphone - so we can understand you!). If you have a camera issue, please check with MPS IT support or I can recommend a USB option via eBay that serve me well, are relatively cheap (under $20) and arrive pretty quickly. For sound, I picked up a Guitar Hero USB mic for $5 from Goodwill that sounds MUCH better than my laptop or earbud mics.

Regarding video playback, I highly recommend VLC as your media player. It plays EVERYTHING and you can adjust speed, audio sync and even search for subtitles (which I usually add as a separate .srt file). Speeding things up to %125 is usually fine & cuts your overall time use! However, I do NOT recommend speeding up ANY Crash Course videos by John Green. He seems to already pop some amphetamines with cocaine and a double shot of espresso with a Red Bull chaser before filming each episode. I tend to SLOW his down to 80ish% of regular speed.

That is all I have for now. Remember that you can email/text me (I'm working on adding everyone to my GVoice Contacts list, but it has become more complicated & time-consuming than I had anticipated (importing a GSheet is NOT working correctly). The week's weather should be nicer than last week and expect some air quality issues as NoCal & Oregon continue to burn. Hey - at least we can be safe in believing that Climate Change is a Chinese & Democrat hoax, never to seriously affect us. 

Stay Safe & Healthy (and get your flu shot)!