Amazing Students!

You guys rock!

Check out what Santana has done. She found an awesome website that tells you what important historical events occurred every day of a year. She's also added a gadget on her blog that updates daily with that same information. Awesome! Also, how can you not adore her blog title - "Love This History"?

Sarah has found a super, duper neat-o widget. You can create a quiz (similar to those 10 question quizzes on BrainPop) and embed it on your site. I strongly suggest that you do her quiz. Embarrassingly, I only got an 8/10. See if you can beat my score!

Let me know, in my comments, if you've discovered something super amazing!

African-Canadian Profiles Competition Update

Hello gang,

Scroll all the way to the bottom of this screen and you'll see a list of the top African-Canadian profiles that have been written so far. Next week, the top 20 will begin reading their assignments on the morning announcements. As new postings are added, I will continue to update the list. Stay tuned and check often!

What If I'm Done All My Assignments?

Hello friends,

Some of you have been rocking through all your assignments - keep it up!

There are a few students who rush through assignments in a hurry and forget to follow some important instructions. Please make sure that you read over the requirements carefully. I take the time to write everything out and you all know how to read. Make sure you follow the instructions fully.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - PUH-LEEZE SPEIL CHEKK!

I keep hearing the same question over and over, "What should I do when I'm done all my assignments?" Here is a list of suggestions so I can save my lovely voice for singing Sam, Haron and Mariam Me's theme songs.

If you are done all your assignments:
-Make sure that all assignments have been edited and spell checked
-Make sure you've properly followed all instructions for every assignment
-You can add relevant images or photos to your assignments
-You can add surveys or polls to your blog
-Read over my blog posts for advice and exciting information
-Read and respond to comments you have recieved on your blog
-Read over your peers' blog posts to see what they're up to
-Comment on my blog to ask questions or point me to something really interesting you've done
-Comment on your peers' blogs, noticing things they've done well, and things they can continue to work on
-When you visit other people's blogs, comment to tell them you've been there and what you think of what they're doing. That will encourage them to check out your blog as well

Helena Gives Some Advice, Which Reminds Me...

Hey ladies and germs!

Helena in E7/8 never ceases to amaze me! She has posted an amazing entry giving advice to you, her peers, on how to write even better blog entries. She has outlined the process that she uses in her own writing. This is something helpful for all of you to read.

It's so interesting for me to see the process that you use when you do your work. Remember that you can use your blogs for any History related things. Some of you have embraced this and have written reflective entries, made polls or contests, and commented on things that are going on in Canada today. That is perfect. In addition to the marks that you will get for completing your assignments, you can get bonus marks for using your blogs creatively to share relevant information. Some of you have done creative things, like add video bars, music, personalized templates, etc. That is a good way to personalize your blog, but is not relevant, so will not get you bonus marks.

To get bonus marks, be CREATIVE and RELEVANT. I look forward to seeing all the cool things you come up with. If there is something you want me to check out, simply leave a comment for me.

Assignment #6: Black History Month

Hello habibtis,

February, as most of you know, is Black History Month. One of the things we'll be doing at Fielding to commemorate this month-long celebration is daily announcements after O'Canada. I teach about 110 History students. There are about 20 school days in February. Out of my 110 students, about 20 will win. This assignment is also a competition.

Your job is to:
-Select an influential African-Canadian
-Read about them from at least two sources
-Link to those two sources
-In your own words, write a New Post describing who that person is/was and what important contributions they made to Canadian society and the world
-Your entry should be about two paragraphs long, or take about 1 minute to read aloud (just for your information, when screenwriters or TV writers write a script, one computer page of script takes about one minute to perform)
-Winning: The writers of the top entries will have the priviledge to either read their entries over the morning announcements in February or select a friend to read it for them

***Update: Here are some places to start looking for information: 10 Famous Black Canadians , Famous Black Canadians , Wikipedia's List of Black Candians , A List of Canadian Firsts, African-Canadian Online has information about black artists, African Heritage Newsletter, Profiles of Achievement,

***You get to select who you are profiling, but here are some ideas. You do not have to pick a name off the list. If you choose to use one of the names off the list, please comment here and they will be taken off the list:
.

-Bromley L. Armstrong - Civil Rights Leader
-Dionne Brand - Poet
-Rita Cox - Activist

-John Sullivan Deas - Tinsmith
-Mifflin Gibbs - Author

-Rev. Addie Aylestock - Minister

-Jean Augustine

-George Bancroft

-Lennox Farrell

-The Jamaican Maroons (a group of people)
-Africville (see above!)

-Peter C. Butler III (first black police officer in Canada)

-Richard Preston

.

-Fergie Jenkins (Baseball player) - Bardha, E8C

-Daurene Lewis (first black female mayor in North America) - Claudia

-The Anti-Slavery Society of Canada - Rachel, E7A

-Sophia Burthen Pooley - Nada, E7A

-The Second Construction Battalion (first black battalion in Canada) - Philip, E7A

-Daniel Igali - Wrestler - Jaspreet, E7A
-Emery Barnes - High Jumper - Haron, E7A

-Carrie Best - Activist - Neha, E8C

-Sam Langford (boxer) - Cody, E7A

-Miflin Gibbs - Judge - Hanifa, E7A

-Nathaniel Dett - Educator- Michelle, E7B

-Rosemary Brown - Mariam Me, E7A

-Jarome Iginla - Andi, E7A

-Deborah Cox - Helena, E7/8

-The Underground Railroad (not a person, but an important set of events) - Youssef H., E7B

-Dirk Graham - Aynalem, E7B

-Measha Brueggergosman (singer) - Genny, E7B

-Mark McKoy - James, E7B

-Frederick Douglas - Abolitionist - Mariam Mo, E7B

-Dirk Graham (first NHL captain of African descent) - Damien, E7B
-Mary Matilda Winslow (first black female graduate of UNB) - Janet, E7B

-Rannee Lee - Marsha, E7B

-Viola Desmond (business owner) - Grace, E7B

-Donovan Bailey (Olympian) - Auguste, E8C

-Malcolm Gladwell (journalist) - Andrew, E7/8

-Michaelle Jean - Gofran, E7A

-Marlene Jennings (politician) - Amit, E7/8

-Rose Fortune (first Canadian female police officer) - Lindsay, E7/8

-Shadrach Minkins (slave) - Ry, E7/8

-Marie-Joseph Angelique (slave) - Adria, E7/8

-William Hall - Firas, E7/8
-Josiah Henson (former slave) - Ally, E7/8

-Charmaine Crook - Olympian Runner - Kane, E7/8

-Mathieu Da Costa - Interpreter - Tale, E7/8
-John Alleyne - Dancer - Carly, E7/8
-Lincoln Alexander - Lieutenant Governor of Ontario - Froher, E7/8
-Chloe Cooley - Slave - Chongo, E7/8

-Elijah McCoy - Inventor - Jack, E7/8

-George Dixon - Boxer - Stefan V, E7/8

-George Bonga - Voyageur - Sandra, E7/8
-Dr. Anderson Ruffin-Abott (first Black Canadian physician) - Tim, E7/8
-Olivier Le Jeune - first Black Canadian - Kawal, E7/8
-Mary Anne Shadd - Activist/Teacher - Jessi, E7/8
-John Ware - Cowboy - Hasan, E7/8
-Oscar Peterson - Jazz Pianist - Sabrina, E7/8

-Harry Jerome - Shukria, E7/8

-Portia White - Singer - Santana, E7/8 & Sam, E7A

-Oliver Jones - Sarah, E7/8

***

***Update: (8:25 a.m. Jan 23rd) Biography has a great site about Black History. I haven't explored yet to find a lot of Canadians, but it seems like a very interesting site.***

Tech Experts and Blogger Templates - Important Information

Hello puppies,

I see that many of you have taken Stan's advice and used funky templates. Once you've applied your new template, you will have to re-add any gadgets or widgets you added to your old template (blogger will warn you of this when you download your new template). If you don't know how to do that, talk to one of our Tech Experts: Stan, Jordie, Colton, Sara, Jaspreet, or Philip and they can help you. I will continue to add to a list of Tech Experts on the right hand side of my blog as students get better and better. If you want to be added as a Tech Expert and help out your schoolmates, just comment on this message! You can always leave questions for me in the comment field on posts, or you can visit the Tech Experts blogs (or talk to them at school).

Also, once you have a new template, ask a friend to come to your blog and try to leave a comment. If they cannot, go into your Settings and make sure that the Comment option is activated.

E7B - Some Shout Outs

Way to go, E7B!

Thank you to the wonderful helpers in this magnificent class! I see that Aynalem is helping Mariam K because the two of them had the same problem with people leaving comments. I see that Genny and Michelle are helping one another. Chelsea is helping Ridge set up his account. James has provided support to many of his classmates. Youssef H is helping Mohamed.

I'm so proud of you little monkeys!

Some Ways to Make Your Assignments EVEN Better

Hello friends -

I've been reading over your wonderful assignments and for the most part, I'm totally impressed. You are putting a lot of thought into the things that you are writing. You are making wonderful observations and making connections.

I have noticed a couple of things that most of you can do to make your posts even better for your readers. Remember that your readers can arrive at your site from anywhere on the Internet. Your peers and I will obviously be reading your blogs, but other people can find them as well. If someone who is not taking this course discovers your blog, you want to make sure that they can understand what you are talking about.

Remember to introduce your assignments when you make a post. If you suddenly start writing about the cold with no introduction, readers will be confused. Another way that you can make things even clearer for your readers is to introduce the assignment and link back to my blog with the assignment on it.

If you do those few simple things, your posts can become even more effective.

Keep up the tremendous work.

PS - Pleaze spel cheque.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Martin Luther King, Jr, who one of the most prominent leaders in the United States' Civil Rights Movement, was born on January 15th, 1929. Since 2000, people in all fifty United States have celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on the Monday closest to his birthday. This year, MLK, Jr. Day is being celebrated on Monday, January 19th.

People commemorate the life of this inspirational man annually and it gives us all a chance to take some time to think about civil rights and equality. In the United States, people are encouraged to spend the day volunteering their time to help others.

During class, your job is to watch the two videos. The first video is one made by elementary school students in which several of them perform different parts of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech. The second is a video recording of MLK, Jr. performing that historic speech. ***Please keep your volume set to a level that only you can hear as your peers will all be wanting to hear their own computers as well.***

Please open at least two windows on your computer - one for the videos and another with this blog.

While you watch the videos, I'd like you to think about the following questions:

-How did Martin Luther King, Jr.'s words make you feel?

-Why did they make you feel this way?

-What did you feel about the students' presentation?

-How can you apply some of his ideas to your own life?

As you are watching the videos or once you've finished watching them, you will reflect on what you watched and how you felt. You will be posting your responses as comments on this message and then reading and responding to the things your peers and I have written.

As most of you know, February is Black History Month (or African Heritage Month). To commemorate that, we will be researching important African-Canadians. As in many aspects of our history, we have much to be proud of and much to reflect on in terms of Black History, Civil Rights and Equality. Stay tuned for more information about things we'll be doing in February!

***Update (3 p.m. Jan 21st): To read some excellent examples, scroll through the comments and focus in on: Youssef H, Zaryab, Fatema, Mariam Me and Hanifa's comments.***

Some Praise for Blogging

I hope you all had a good weekend, and are looking forward to heading back to school on Monday!

I was happy to hear from two colleagues this weekend. They checked out your blogs and were very impressed with your work.

Mr. Summers, who is the Secondary Information Technology Consultant with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (our school board) wrote to me and said, "My hat is off to you and your students... a great way to engage the kids. I am right now reading a book that took place in 1909, so the question about 100 years from now really hits home to me... so hard to imagine."

Last week, I was not at school on Monday morning because I was attending a workshop and I was happy to run into one of my favourite former teachers. Heather Mace taught me at the University of Ottawa. She is currently the Vice Principal at Featherston Elementary School. She had a look at our blogs and said, "Nice work on the Blog... it's clearly current, and gives a reason for the students to access it. I also liked how the student's own blogs were at the side, and in checking them out, you'd given them structure to check out each other's blogs (my biggest concern with online stuff is to have learners interacting with each other)."

Lots of you have also expressed your own excitement about this new blogging project, and you continue to impress me with the wonderful things you are producing!

Keep on blogging and rolling!