I meant to do this a while ago, but I don't know about you, but the connection between, "I should do this" and getting it done is a little sketchy these days.  But better late than never.

We were camping the day that exam scores came out.  We camp in an area where every once and a while you might pick up 5 minutes of LTE, but for the most part, we don't get internet service (which is sort of the point of camping).  So the morning scores were posted, I got up and tried unsuccessfully for 5 minutes or so to pick up some signal.  After that, I drove around 25 minutes into the Luddington Meijer and sat in the in the parking lot to get the scores.

Let me tell you that I feel just as nervous in those moments as I did getting my first AP exam results back in 2006.  I really didn't know what to expect this year.  I looked at a few essays and liked what I saw, but with such a strange exam, who knows.  

First off, I want to be respectful of those who didn't get the score they wanted.  As I said in one of our last classes, don't be too hard on yourself, it's not fair that the entire exam came down to 45 minutes.  I'm proud of every single one of you regardless of what you got on the exam.  

That being said, I was blown away by the scores, APUSH fam came with a hard flex.  I don't want to get into too specific numbers out of respect to everyone, but we crushed the national average with our overall 3 and above rate.  I have a doc where I rank group performance by my students by 3 criteria - overall average score, total number of students that got a 3 and above, and overall 3 and above rate.  Going back to 2006, the 2020 squad was #3, #3, and #2 respectively. The classes that were ahead of you on overall average and pass rate were much smaller groups (one section) and the classes ahead on overall number were much larger to start as I had 3 sections those years. That adds up these scores being the best overall group performance that I've had by a wide margin. And while it does have a different feel because of the abbreviated exam, the national pass rate was only a little higher than it was last year.  It's not like the readers were just tossing out good scores because they felt sorry for you.  You earned it fair and square. Be as proud of your accomplishment as you would if it was a normal exam.

Looking back, the first two weeks off were such a weird time for me, and all your teachers, as we were unsure of what we were supposed to do.  But two weeks after our final class at Norrix, on March 27th, we started our online adventure together, weeks before actual online classes formally started.  Quite simply, we went on attack mode.  And while it was such a weird change, I can't tell you how much I appreciated your willingness to come to those classes even when you didn't have to as we tried to figure things out together.

So what's next?  In a phrase I find myself using a lot, who knows? It's clear this will once again be a very different school year, this time from the start.  It seems the two options at this point are a hybrid schedule (part online/part in person) or all online to start the year.  Recognize that whatever it is, it will not be like anything we experienced last year.  If there is some in person school, it will be very different, if it's all remote, it will likely be much more than 2 or 3 classes a week where all you have to do is try.  So we need to be ready to adapt once again.  Push yourself to do what you can academically as you enter your junior year of high school.  But also take time for your mental health and know that, for what it's worth, I'm here to help you out in any way that I can.  Have a great rest of your summer and I'd love to see you in stinky old D-9 your senior year for AP Euro.  Take care.  Over and out.

​

Today, we take our first steps together in online teaching/learning.  In each Google Classroom is a link that you will need to click on to join the class.  I'll get on around 5 minutes before class starts.  When we start class, it will be important that everyone mutes their microphone.

A simple agenda is posted in each classroom as well.  I would think each class will be around half an hour, give or take.  Euro is at 1, APUSH at 2.

Like I've said, let's have simple and realistic goals for today.  Yesterday during the practice session, it was fun to see and hear from people.  I look forward to this afternoon.  See you soon!

If you signed up to participate in the Google Hangouts Meet practice, it will be at 3pm this afternoon.  In the Google Classroom, you will see it in the stream as an assignment.  When you click on the assignment, there will be a link to join the hangout.  I've also posted a Google Doc of my basic goals for today.

Tonight, I will post an overview in each Google Classroom of what I want to get accomplished for each class tomorrow.  Our first meeting will largely be about checking in, getting used to the technology, and developing a plan for next week and beyond. 

Let's plan on Euro meeting at 1:00 tomorrow and APUSH at 2:00.  See you then!

Today I started the process of learning about distance learning, which is where we are headed for the foreseeable future.  Basically, we all need to figure out how to do school in a way that is very different from what we're used to.  There will be a learning curve for us all on this but let's jump in.

So today I watched an hour long video from Google on Google Hangouts (it was a banger).  Since we are a Google school, this is what we are going to go with.  Tomorrow I'm going to play around with it with the one current student that I am not socially distanced from.  Then on Saturday, I'd like to connect with 5-10 APUSH students on Hangout.  This will not be a lesson, just a chance for me to play around with the features before actually trying to do a lesson.  Shoot me a message on Remind if you are interested and I'll contact you about it.  Then let's plan on both classes (APUSH/EURO) having a class on hangout on Monday.

I think for me, and probably all of us, this week has been about dealing with the shock of this whole situation.  It's going to be a challenge to establish new routines and a new normal.  If you've been doing some reading this week and working on your respective guided reading, let's call that an educational win for the week.  Next week, we'll kick off the distance learning and go from there.  Hang in there.

​

After we officially canceled our spring break trip today, I spent most of the day moping and watching CNN.  When you find yourself wondering if Sanja Gupta got a haircut, you know you've been watching a lot of TV.  However, two things have happened in the past hour or two that have given me a little bit of a boost.  First of all, KPS sent out a robocall that you should have received taking a survey about what technology people have in their home.  My guess is that administration is preparing us for the possibility that school will officially be done remotely after spring break.
While there still is a possibility we come back in person (who knows anything these days?), it seems more likely at this point that we move things online.  But I don't think this trimester is lost.

Secondly, the College Board has announced that they are making preparations to administer AP exams that you can take at home.  How will that work?  I have no idea.  But we can still finish this APUSH grind up, it is not over.  We are obviously facing historical, unprecedented changes in our education but let's roll up our sleeves and figure out how to make it work.

I started a Google Classroom for APUSH today.  It's easier for me to put us all in one APUSH fam.  The join code is - f4r3ynz.  Get in there so you can turn stuff in and it can obviously be a more interactive experience than this website, which I will still use for certain things.

I went through the Remind today and emailed everyone who is not in it.  But I don't know if they will check their school email.  So if you have contact with any of the following people, please have them join the Remind, the join code is @24dfka.

Bailey Bennett
Justine Blackwood
Justin Boy
Lincoln Courtney
Gavin Gardner
Chris Hildon
Saide Muchmore
Emma Borden
Jordyn Guthrie
Christian Huerta
Amonte Irizarry
Jeremiah Kagumba
Delaney Schultheiss
Kendall Sloan

So today is the first of many steps in this weird journey.  I don't know about you, but the Porco social distancing grind has been serious.  I haven't seen anyone in person (except people that work at Meijer) besides my wife, daughter and Anthony since I left Norrix on Friday.  I hope you all are taking this seriously.  The federal government clearly stated that for the next 15 days, we are basically supposed to stay in our homes except for trips to the store or doctor's appointments.  

These will be trying times over the next couple of weeks and beyond.  But I am down for anything we can work out online together and excited for something to spend part of my day on.  I plan on videotaping/posting various things that I want to communicate with you either about content or process over the coming weeks.  I also will be looking to set up a couple of virtual classes a week through Zoom,  I'll let you know more about that later on this week. We will see what works best for us and go from there.

So step one for you is to  make sure you are in the Remind and in the Google Classroom.  Step two is to read Chapter 35 this week and turn in the guided reading through the Google Classroom.  We have nothing but time on our hands right now, let's make the most of this crazy moment in history.  I genuinely do miss you all and it is absolutely surreal what's going on.  But we must press on.  Let's go to work.

First, some end of the trimester business.  Grades are in and done.  Let me know if you have any questions.

So now what?  There are a ton of questions right now but not really any good answers.  No one really knows when we'll come back and what that will look like.  So I think the best thing to do is proceed like we will be back the week after our scheduled spring break.  There is a possibility that our spring break gets moved to the last of these next three weeks but my opinion is that is unlikely and the earliest we will be back is Monday, 4/13.

On the website calendar, I've posted when I had us done with the remaining chapters.  My attitude about what I want you to do over this time off is the same as it was last year when we had two weeks of snow days - keep up with the reading.  If we are back on 4/13, Chapters 35, 36 and 37 will be due.  If we are off more time, you can look at the calendar and see where you should be when we get back.  

I'm sure the first couple of days off might have a snow day vibe for you, but these next couple of weeks are not going to be easy.  We really all should be staying home and exercising the social distancing we've been hearing about so much about lately.  But if we look at this through a historical perspective, every generation lives through something crazy at some point.  It's just how things go.  So for what it's worth, I encourage you to take things seriously but don't panic. Obviously, your parents/guardians will be the ones to listen to throughout all of this and try not to drive them crazy as we are going to be homebound for a while.  Try to do something productive with your time. Hopefully, we don't experience something like this again. 

I'll be checking my email, don't hesitate to contact me about any questions or concerns you might have. I also will  periodically post things over break to help you through the content. Also plan on some AP Classroom practice to make up for what we are going to miss.  We'll get through this and I look forward to  hopefully seeing you soon on the other side. 

Today we discussed the first half of Chapter 34 and started our review.  The chapter should be finished by Monday and we will continue review for the exam.  Have a great weekend!

Today's class started with a Type 2 and Chapter 33 Notebook Check.  We then discussed the chapter and started a WWII video which we will finish tomorrow.  The reading assignment for Chapter 34 is 789-799 by Friday, the chapter needs to be finished by Monday.

We started class with a 20 minute video that put the deaths of WWII in an interesting historical perspective.  Students then got into groups to discuss of American foreign policy of the interwar years represented continuity and change.

​Remember that the chapter should be finished by Wednesday.

Class time was spent on the New Deal debate.  Remember that Chapter 32 should be finished by tomorrow.  Also tomorrow there is an opportunity to earn 5 points extra credit if you stay after until 3:20 for Office Hours.