The Final Post for 2019-2020

It has been  a real joy traveling the world with y’all this year!  Y'all have really stepped up to the plate and dealt with all this like champs! I wish we hadn’t been “homebound” for the last term, but I'm glad I got to know you this year.   I hope to see you all next year as 7th graders!  

We'll have a short "End of Year Zoom" Thursday - details on the ItsLearning calendar.  Wear a "traditional head dress" of your choice if you want! 

Don’t forget to send me postcards as you travel over the coming years! I've already got a fabulous chain to hang them from once we're back in the classroom. 

Finally, if you're getting this in an email, you may want to unsubscribe - unless you just want to keep getting my delightful posts next year. 😉

Niki Connor

12550 Vindon

Houston, TX 77024

May 18-28

Next week, May 18-22,  I will have a lesson about the Korean and Vietnam Wars in ItsLearning.  This is based on your choices in the poll. There is nothing to turn in or graded, just some basic overview and a few interesting details.

I have placed the ISNs that were left in my room in the hall across from the front office - look for a brown paper sign.  You can pick it up during your turn-in time next week. 

On Friday, May 22, we will take a Zoom trip to Antarctica. It will be from 1:00-1:30, optional, and posted in ItsLearning.

The week after, May 25 -28,  I will post lessons on Australia.  Just like the war lessons they are based on your choice and not for a grade.  

On Thursday, May 28, at 1:00, I will  host a final “end of year Zoom”.  Feel free to wear the "traditional head dress" of your choice.  We'll just celebrate the end of the year with a few corny jokes and time to visit.  This is for sure not the 4th Nine Weeks I had envisioned, but I do appreciate all your hard work and flexibility.  I hope I get to see all of you next year for a hug and 7th grade!

May 11-15

When you have kids, people tell you, “The days are long and the years are short.”  That’s what this Crisis Schooling has felt like to me.  I’m still enjoying the inspired art you are submitting!  So many great examples of creatively re-purposing things.  And, I love reading about what inspired you.

Map Review seems to be going well this week.  A lot of you struggled with question 7, so I added +5 to everyone’s Task Three: Maps and Globes and Landforms as I record them in the gradebook.

Next week we will review economic and political systems – and also practice reading and analyzing demographic information and charts and graphs. Those two grades will be the last of the grades for this year! We will not have a Zoom next week because I will be on campus during our scheduled Zoom time.  We will have a Zoom the following week.

The last two weeks of May, I will provide some lessons on the topics YOU chose in our poll. There won’t be any grades or any required work, but there will be opportunities to learn some new stuff and interact.  Of course, I will also be working to help anyone who needs to finish up the graded work.

Check out the poll results below:

May 4-8 and Grades FYI

Grades (Some of this is a repeat, but we’re all getting A LOT of info right now; I won’t judge you if you need it again!):

• I have updated all grades as of what was turned in by 3:30 today, Friday, May 1 for the progress report.
• I put in zeros for any work that is missing from April 6-24 - ALL of those assignments MAY be done for FULL credit, let me know what you need help with.
• If you haven’t turned in this week’s grades, the Travel and Art Reflection Questions and the Art Project, I just left them blank.  It is fine to turn them in next week if you need more time.
• The Silk Road grade was a homework grade BEFORE Spring Break and cannot be made up or changed at this point.
• The ALWTW grade is a “sneaky bonus” – if you completed all the questions thoughtfully, I put it in as an extra 100.  If it was incomplete or undone it won’t hurt your average in any way.

 May 4-8

• We will focus on Geography, Maps and Globes.  
• Look for lots of maps and a few more silly memes (Did y’all appreciate those? Or where they too cheese-y?)
• Look for two graded activities in ItsLearning Monday morning. 
• Look for one scheduled Zoom at 1:00 on Friday, just for check-in and question-answering time. 
• Look for a poll this week.  We just can’t cover everything we would have, so I want to know what y’all are most interested in for May 18-29.

I’m REALLY enjoying all your fabulous art – wish we could all enjoy it together!

April 27 - May 1 Travel and Art

This week is going to be fun! We’re going to take some trips, check out some cool animals and places, then study and create art!

There will be two tasks with several parts, two grades, and an extra-special Zoom on Friday.  I will meet you at the *Zoom International Airport* at 1:00 pm on Friday, May 1.  There will only be one flight, so be sure you leave plenty of time to get through security.  Don’t forget your passport, walking shoes, bug spray, clothes for warm/humid weather, and an international charging cord for your phone – you will want to take lots of pictures! J

Please, please read EVERYTHING carefully this week! I can’t wait to see your art!

In ItsLearning, look for:

• Overview
• Task One: Travel, Eco-Tourism, Animals with reflection questions
• Task Two: Art with creation
• Friday Zoom link to our trip through Southeast Asia

April 20-24 - Religion

Y’all are doing great!  I’m really pleased with many of the thoughtful water reflections and thoughtful questions you have asked.  We’ve seen all year that because water is essential to life, it dictates and controls much of human history.  When people, goods and ideas MOVE from place to place, one of the strong PULL factors is clean water.

Religion has also MOVED around the world and plays a central role in human life and history.  We looked at the big three western religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  We will review those and look at the other two of the top five (by number of practitioners): Buddhism and Hinduism. We’ll also learn a few interesting tidbits about some other Asian or African-originated religions.

This week there are FOUR TASKS, one grade, two Zooms.  If you still need to do the Water Reflection or the Movement Questions, please keep working on those first. Remember, I’m not counting anything as a late grade, so just keep at it.

Task One – Buddhism

Task Two – Hinduism

Task Three – Some other interesting beliefs

Task Four – Religions Quiz 

• Of course it has the same weight as all the grades this Nine Weeks.
• You may use your notes. 
• If you don’t have your ISN at home to review Judaism, Christianity and Islam there is a copy of my chart on the blog http://nikiconnor6thela.blogspot.com/2020/02/  It’s in February 2020.  Title of the post is “Feb. 17-21”

Last, but not least, we’ll have a zoom at 1:00 and 2:00 on Friday.  I will put the details in ItsLearning and also add them to the Itslearning calendar.  They are not mandatory, but I sure enjoy seeing y’all and want to make sure you have any answers you need.

April 13-17

This is going to be long – but not a lot to DO, I just want to give you as much information as I can.

Recap: March 23- April 9 – We were figuring all this out, continuing to learn, and not taking regular grades.

Now: We will continue to figure all this out, continue to learn, and start taking some grades. I have tried to distill the curriculum down to its most essential elements.  Starting this week, we will have due dates for assignments, but if your internet crashes, your Chromebook hates you, your Mom and Dad decide you need a dance party before you do anymore school work – whatever – it’s okay if it takes an extra day or three. I just want to try and keep you on track with the dates so you don’t get a ton of stuff to do all at once.

Going Forward: I’ll keep putting in each week’s work in ItsLearning Sunday night or Monday morning. You will not need to do anything from the Digital Backpack, but of course you may if something intrigues you! I’ve combined Africa and Asia to make us more efficient. We’ll still do a tiny bit with Australia/Oceana/Antarctica and a modified passion project, but no final exam!

Grades: There will be 11 grades in the gradebook by the end of the year. The first grade was the Silk Road questions you did after reading the BrainPop.  This was before Spring Break. If you did ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING at all during the last three weeks, I made the second half of that grade the full 50 points.  If not, I just doubled the percent you got out of 50 for the first half.

The second grade is a bonus grade – if you read A Long Walk to Water and thoughtfully and completely answered the questions for the book, I put an extra 100 in the gradebook for you.  If you didn’t, it will just be blank.  It won’t hurt your average in any way.

Speaking of bonus, if you did the Jordan Royal Tour extra credit, I will add those points to grade 3, The Water Reflection questions.  You will see how many bonus points (up to 10) were added in the notes on Skyward. I put in Tuesday, April 14 as the due date for the Water Reflection Questions, but finish it as you can this week.

Grade four will be 10 multiple choice questions on “Movement” – migration, immigration, Silk Road, push-pull factors. That is our focus for this week.

If you have any questions about any of this – or the grades in the grade book, please reach out.  Zooms at 1:00 and 2:00 on Friday.  If you have any questions, want to talk about anything, or just say hi, please zoom in!

(Zoom links/details in the email and in ItsLearning)