VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR ALL CLASSES
Hi All. I began August setting up short Zoom Meetings with every student. I had invited about 30% by last week, and roughly 20% met with me. Now, everyone has an invitation in email, but I am reiterating here that I want to set up a Zoom session with everyone. Soon. The reason for these meetings is simple. Given the pandemic, we will initially spend less time in the classroom on campus. I want to know everyone as much as possible online. Frankly, I am a broadcaster, and I am really good at using Zoom and talking with a camera and a microphone. I want you to also become proficient in this kind of communication. Aside from the pandemic, this will be increasingly the way we connect with people in the 21st century. That does not mean I am talking about years; it is happening now. Take advantage of my availability. Meet with me; find out who I am; and give me a chance to learn more about you.
Next, my classes focus on the world and how it works. In Government we study the Constitution and our country's institutions. In History we study past events and how they were affected by people, institutions and different forms of governance. All of this brings us back to the present world where we will have an enormously important election on November 3. We need to understand how people and institutions drive change domestically and internationally. In Google Classroom I send many messages about our classwork and the goals of our specific assignments. Read these carefully.
Following instructions is a major part of school and being successful in education. I require a lot of reading, and I will provide you with articles and books. One of the things that I want you to learn is how to read these assignments. Every word is not essential; you are looking for themes and understanding. Learning how to read for history and government is every bit as important as understanding the purposes behind our assignments. I will require a good deal of writing. Some of it you will turn in, and some of it you will hold in your files to be used for discussion in class (whether at school or on Zoom). Specifically, you will often hold on to your reflections, but I will tell you explicitly what to do. That is why reading these posts carefully is important. I am hopeful that you will find our work very interesting and connected directly to our current world problems. If you dive into this class with the intention of learning how the entire world works, I believe you will learn a great deal while achieving high grades and the skills necessary for being very successful in college.
As always, if you need me, email me. I am very available and respond quickly. Remember the one on one meetings on Zoom, be sure to take advantage of those. I ask you to write a lot, but I always write much more than my students in response. Take advantage of this, please. Enter your text here...
ALL STUDENTS...GRADES September 20, 2020
Hi everyone. Grades are in the book, and we're on our way to a great year, online or in person. It doesn't really matter from the academic standpoint. Aside from our conversations in class, there are online readings that you must carefully examine. Some of the readings are tough, a struggle for you and sometimes for everyone. You need to consider these difficult readings as a challenge, not something to be avoided. I read two complex articles this weekend, one a law review article related to the sudden focus on a new justice being appointed to the Supreme Court, one from a book on Middle East politics as new states are deciding how to view the legitimacy of Israel. Both required me to think in new ways about ideas which I already understand deeply. So, you should not think of our work as a way to get a grade without problems. You should think about all of our work in the context of new ideas that you need to understand and that you can understand with some real effort. I know it would be simpler if I were just asking you to remember information, but that's not what we're doing. We're trying to develop more complex understandings of politics and history. I know you want good grades, but please focus on your learning and your development of thinking.
