Britain and the Colonist Perspective

Today when I step in class I could notice that we were going to be in the same group as last time. Mr. Armstrong gave us an handout about the colonies. The handout showed how unstable and un-united the colonies were. We could of notice that by an example the handout showed. It told that if the colonies were attacked by native americans the colonies next to the attacked colony didn't help them at all even if they asked for help. If a colonist came over to another colony the colonist would shoot the other colonist. I think that Samuel Adams said that with out Britain the colonies would be a diasaster. After the handout we were organizing our scripts for the British and the Colonist Perspective. We had to write scripts for our homework so our group was getting a general idea what we were writing. Our group help each other out and I gave Britney a job as an interviewee. We fixed each others work. Our whole class made a google docs for their group. Mr. Armstrong stated that he was nervous because we took so much time just making a google docs but later our class was working efficientally. Today, it was hard to notice who was working hard and stood out because in social studies class it the groups were working independantally but I think that our class was working hard today.




By: Sungmo K.

Joseph K. 10.26.07

Today in Social Studies, the class was a little different. Instead of reviewing something we already learned, Mr. Armstrong gave us the whole class time to learn on our own. We did an activity about five laws(Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Townshed Acts, Tea Act, and Intolerable Acts) where we had to find the date of the laws and how the colonists reacted towards those laws. The laws were to tax the colonists so they could pay for the outcome of the French and Indian war after Great Britain had won. The unfair laws lead to many boycotts, protestings or rebellions, and the forming of the Sons of Liberty and the Daughters of Liberty. In 1764, when the first law to earn money, which was the Sugar Act, people thought it was unfair and refused to buy goods. In 1765, because of the boycott, the new law was passed. The Stamp Act was a law that required people buying any paper goods to buy stamps. The, the Sons of Liberty formed, and they either used violence to scare the tax collectors, or just refused to buy stamps. That caused colonial courts to shut down. After the Parliament got rid of that law, another law called the Townshed Acts was formed on June in 1767. This time, another group called the Daughters of Liberty formed, and they supported protestants. Because people were refusing to buy many British goods, the law was disabled, and the Tea Act, which was taxing tea goods, formed. Irate colonists disguised themselves as Indians, and dumped three hundred fourty chests of tea that were on three ships. Because they had to pay for the loss of so much goods, the Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts and got the colonists angrier.
I think that this type of class could be useful from time to time, but I think that after working on your own, if there was a time where we could ask the teacher about things we didn't understand, just like we do during reviews, it would help to understand the topic better. I also think that the activity helped me because I had to read the whole passage to understand just one part of it.

Joseph K.

French and Indian War

French and Indian War

2007.10.24

Today was one of the days that my ears were naturaly attracted to the words of Mr. Armstrong. As I stepped into the classroom, I found that the desk arrangements were different from any other kinds we were used to. I soon figured that one side of the class was French, the other was Britain, and in the middle the Indians.

The point of doing this was to understand why the Native Americans allied with either France or British. Native Americans liked to trade with British; in exchange for weaponary (such as guns) the British recieved fur that were sold at high price in England. But the main reason the Native Americans were allies is because they needed support; people who can back up when another tribe of Indians attacked. The Indians liked to ally with French people because they did hardly any harm to the Natives, nor take their land. Unlike the French, English colonists took away land to make massive plantations for they brought prophit from growing crops. But as some tribes allied with the French, the other tribes bacame anxious and afraid, so they allied with English colonists.
We also learned of George Washington, a name so famous and friendly felt. I always thought that George Washington was always stern, inteligent, quick, keen, and all those other nice words. But as I learned of mistakes Washington had done I was astonished how human-like he felt because he always seemed so perfect in history books. I think many other students felt like this too, because I overheard some students talk, as well as in their class reflections.
I really enjoyed today's class because the information that was flying around my from taking notes settled down on to a nest that pulled all the information together. Small details that Mr.Armstrong explained to us seemed like a missing piece or puzzle found.

Deborah K 8B

Review of Colonial Government-Soyon J. 8B

The seats were spread out we all sat down and looked at the board and again, there it was, the mother England and the 13 colonies drawing. I wasn't sure why it was up there again and I don't think many people understood either. We finally found out that Mr. Armstrong was going to give an review of the Colonial Government system. Many people seemed like they weren't really sure about what the government system. There was a lot of confusion during the IC/OC seminar also. To clear things up, Mr.Armstrong gave us an review through armstrong art. I think that afterwards, everyone understood and was clear about the Colonial Government. After the review, we had time to do our immersion with the Holt Handbooks. Overall, today's class was mostly spent by doing the review. The review really helped a lot to get rid of the confusion amongst us about the Colonial Government system.

The French & Indian War and Conflicts Among Colonies Dean Lee 8A

We learned about the conflicts in the North America colonies and a great eruption of conflicts, French & Indian War. There were no handouts given for today, and Mr. Armstrong used his board to lecture. We were expected to know key terms and the main ideas for today participation. We also needed to concentrate on the class to write the discussion in the Wikispaces, especially I, responsible for today's scribe.
First of all, our class reviewed our key terms by grouping in 2 or 3 people. I discussed with Hoonho Chung, and I think he deserves commendation. He said that King Philip functioned as Pontiac because they both opposed the moving colonists, and I think Hoonho was successful at making connections.
Amy Kim was the first student to help the others. She said that the fur trading encouraged the British and French to get the Ohio Valley. Jenny Lee asked, "Did French colonized the Ohio Valley?" In my view, I think this question wasn't effective because in our notes, they say that French only traded, while British settled. Therefore, the Ohio Valley wasn't colonized by French, and French just got profits from fur trading. However, it was an interesting question to ask.
The person who used his time wisely was Jenny Lee. She really participated and willing to ask questions to solve all of her confusions. Some of her questions were quite far ahead of topics, but those questions had connections with what we learned so far.
Today was a nice class to refresh our mind about the French & Indian War. Thanks to the teacher and participances, we got the main ideas easily and we now can think deeply about this topic.

The Great Social Studies Enlightenment

The Great Social Studies Enlightenment
Today is October 18th 2007. During Social Studies, we learned various material and did an activity.
The first thing we did, was take out our agendas and write down the homework which was to do Week 9 Immersion, like you know, do the stuff you always do? (key terms and main ideas)
After that was put away, Mr. Armstrong then started to make a graphic organizer of the monarch, privy council, governors, assemblies, town meetings, colonial courts. I finally understood how we were supposed to do it... (Week 8 Immersion Main Ideas Question 1) This is somewhat similar to what we drew:

Monarch
---------------------
Privy Council
(set colonies laws)
---------------------
Governors
+
Advisory Council
---------------------
Colonial Assemblies
(made laws)
---------------------
Town meetings
(discussed local affairs)
---------------------
Colonial Courts

We also did an activity in which we made a timeline of some important dates that we researched in the Holt Social Studies United States History textbook. We had to write a summary of each event. By the time you are done doing the homework, you should have a clear understanding of the French and Indian war. I think that the sparknotes link which you can find immediately after pressing on Week 9 immersion, is meant for extra information or a clear summary of the information. Everybody remember that you have got to watch the video and take notes or you can print out the text version of the video and then take notes.

Class Stars!!
Grace- for creating further discussion in our Inner circle seminar by provoking thought by asking cool questions about the topic. You rock!!
Jay- for letting Amy borrow his pencil case and pencils *^^*

Extra News~~!
Jenny C*0- Happy Birthday!! Don't let those pesky 7th grade boys whom you don't even know, badger you and win cake from you!!! Take control of your cake!!

Everyone have a happy three days off !!! (I know Grace, its heartbreaking it isn't four days><)
HAPPY END OF QUARTER!!!! I COULD DIE WITH HAPPINESS!!!!
(This isn't IM language Mr. Armstrong><, Freedom of Press!!!)

Amy K. (you don't need to know the rest)

The IC/OC Seminar - Jenny J. 8B

We entered the classroom, bewildered about the seating arrangements, and sat at the desk where our name tags were on. Today was when we had our Week 8 Seminar. Usually, our past seminars have been including all of the students in one circle but today, Mr. Armstrong divided us and set our seating arrangements into an outer circle and an inner circle, which is called the IC/OC. Before we started, we wrote on the reflection page like we always do before every seminar. First, the inner circle, placed in the middle, the students would discuss about the main ideas in their circle. While the inner circle students are having a small seminar, the outer circle students were taking notes about the useful information stated and things that were confusing said by the students in the inner circle. After 30 – 40 minutes, the outer circle students got a chance to ask questions or say statements to the inner circle, who were answering these questions. Then, when the inner circle was finished, both, inner and outer circles switched places. So the students, who were in the outer circle, were now the inner circle members, who were answering and discussing the main ideas that weren’t asked or stated before. Overall, I think the new Seminar style was successful and made a fresh experience for us because everyone made a great connection.

Day of Revision - Ryan H. 8B

The first thing I noticed when I entered the class today was that Mr. Armstrong had drawn a simple picture depicting a mother and a child. Without the slightest idea of what the drawing was about, everyone giggled thinking that it was amusing and funny since it was so random.

However, when Mr. Armstrong started class, the drawing was not just a thing to laugh at; rather, we could see that it was a metaphor used to help us better understand the class materials.

Today we learned that the mother in the drawing represents England and that the child represents the 13 colonies. What Mr. Armstrong was trying to convey to us was the fact that the relationship between England and its colonies was similar to that of a mother and a child.

England built an empire in the New World, and established 13 colonies. It governed and took care of its colonies by providing it with essential needs such as food, wealth and protection. However, as the 13 colonies grew and prospered they demanded more independence and freedom from England.

This is similar to a mother and a child relationship in that when a child is young, his or her mother would nourish and protect him at all costs. The child, also young and helpless will be very much dependent on his or her mother. However, as the child grows he/she would want more freedom, and when that freedom is not granted to his/her satisfaction, the child would try to leave his/her mother.

By this comparison, we were able wrap up out thoughts on this week’s lesson.

After that activity, we were to review and discuss our week 8 immersion with the people in our table group. We were expected to be able to know our key terms and resources from which we have gotten the information we used. We researched and went over significant terms such as John Peter Zenger, Navigation Acts, Town Meetings, Mercantilism, and so forth. It is very interesting that the town meetings consisted of local people solving current day issues, which is very similar to today’s democratic governments.

At the end of the class, Billy and I gave a presentation in front of the class on the economic system of the 13 colonies.

Billy and I were chosen to show the whole class how things worked in terms of trade by demonstrating how economic deals were made during the colonial era. We exchanged fake cash for necessity goods such as yarn (clothes) and shoes, while at the same time we showed how colonies could increase or decrease their profit by pretending to purchase some goods and paying for it.

Today was a wrap up review session to make sure we worked diligent and efficient enough to get the accurate information into our heads. I thought it was a good opportunity to refresh and polish our work by discussing it with the rest of the class.

I believe that the class star should go to D.K. because he helped our table group understand things more clearly. He also asked good questions that sparked new conversations which also reminded us of the immersions we did a while ago.

Mother and Child

When we entered the classroom, some were confused by the drawings on the board of a 'Mother' and a 'Child'. As the lesson began, Mr Armstrong explained to us that the mother represented Mother England and the child was the 13 colonies that England had control over. Mr Armstrong explained the relationship between the 13 colonies and England as the relationship between a child and a mother - it starts out as a good strong relationship and the mother provides things, such as money, protection etc. to help the survival of the child. However, as the 'child' i.e. the colonies grow there becomes friction in the relationship as the child wants more independance etc. I think that this helped many people to understand the concept a lot better and gave us something to compare the relationship to.
Then we had a water fountain disscussion and talked about the key terms that we had been taking notes on in immersion. In our group the star was Grace, because she thought of questions and made many links that a lot of people were not able to make and helped us to get a better understanding. She asked questions that helped to analyze the information, such as, 'What was ther problem with the Navigations Acts'.
After this me, Jay and Jorma showed a short presentation on what mercantilism was and why Navigation acts were put in place. I think that the fact that there was a visual made it easier for people to figure out the concept, including me.
Today's class was really about trying to analyze the information given to us and rather than just simply understanding it and trying to take it to another level.

Ashley K 8A

Starting day of the different goverment system study-Junwoo H.

Today was the second day after the test. Everyone was smiling, without the terrfied faces like the day we took the test. Today in class, we got a map of the American colonies that we have studied so far. We labeled the countries on the map and colored the colonies differently to seperate them. Then with our new class textbooks, we colored in the lands where the Spanish and the French had control of. Now, we are getting in to more deeper informations about the colonies' government systems. By next lesson, we need to know about different forms of colonial government.

Test Review-Jiheon K. 8A

When we went into the classro0m, the desks were all lined up. Mr. Armstrong let us choose where we wanted to sit. After the bell rang and Mr. Armstrong took attendance and we received our tests back. Mr. Armstrong gave us a few minutes to look over the test and check some of the questions we got wrong. Then, we all looked at the screen in front of the classroom. The percentage of the students that got the questions correct was on all the questions. We looked over some of the questions that a lot of the students got wrong. The questions seemed to be very confusing and in some of the questions, only about half the students had gotten the answer correct. After we reviewed the questions, we looked at examples of the answer to the short answer problems. After we were finished reviewing the test, Mr. Armstrong took them back. The students seemed to not be familiar to the new type of test we took and they weren't really prepared for this test, so Mr. Armtrong said that he would give us an extra 7% on this test. However, next time, he said that we need to be fully prepared.

A Shock of Reality- Hee Jae C. 8B

(This is the post for Thursday's class.)
The room was dark. Deadly silence and tension filled the air. With our faces molded into a stern, stiff expression, we stared at Mr. Armstrong for a long time. He was firmly holding a pile of papers and an odd wave of anxiety spread across the room as he said that today, we'd be looking over our tests and discussing about the mistakes that many of us had made. Looking at one another, we all gave nervous glances to each other and I bit my lips hard, knowing that this would not be a satisfying moment.
The light from the projector spilled across the room like a flowing fabric of silk and as each of us looked at the countless zeros on the sides of the paper, Mr. Armstrong opened his mouth to say the words that we had all dreaded to hear. Although taking a quiz on Quia was a new experience for us, it was our duty to put forth our best efforts and think carefully on what to choose as an answer. Countless people had gotten many of the questions wrong and it seemed so obvious that studying, more effort, and hardwork was greatly in need.
The heavy burden and disappointments in our stomachs dropped lower and lower as seconds, minutes, and an hour passed. Everyone was murmuring about their grade and the stupid mistakes that they had made, but at that moment, we had no idea of what was coming ahead. Mr. Armstrong slowly said as he looked at us with stern eyes that we'd be recieving extra seven percentage points. The tense moment had broken and everybody was sharing their new grade, some showing a bit of pride and arrogance.
Mr. Armstrong had saved our lives, but it was clear that we were lacking something important. It had somehow leaked from our heads and many people had forgotten the passion for effort and hard work that once existed within us. However, this class was advantageous for us in a way. It shook us with great shock! It reminded us that for the next test, we wouldn't get by easy like this; the amount of effort that we put in will reflect on our test grades.

The day we took The Tormenting Test... - Esther Y. 8A

Unfortunately, most of us entered the social studies class in great agony today. Most of us were dreading this moment, when we would finally take the social studies test. We all shook Mr. Armstrong's hand and took a seat next to the computers that had our numbers on it. Fortunately, Mr. Armstrong gave us an extra five minutes to do some last minutes cramming for the online test. Most of us were quizzing each other on possible subjects that we each thought might come up on the test. Finally, the dreadful moment came and we had to put away our notes and turn on our computers. We first went to this website (http://armstronghistory.edublogs.org/ ) from there we clicked on Quia class page which was a link to the website (http://www.quia.com/pages/armstronghistory.html). We finally typed in our user names and passwords and began to take the test. The questions ranged from true or false to essay questions and even to multiple choice. The test was over everything we learned, starting from the beginning of eighth grade, therefore there were many questions. It all ranged from Roger Williams to Puritans to the Plymouth Colony to the middle colonies. Unfortunately, most of us found a problem in the test, there were two questions that were repeated. For me, the test was very confusing, every time a new question popped up, there would always be two answers that seemed to fit the answer in my opinion. Some students even said, "The social studies test was so hard!" I agree with them, it was very confusing. Luckily, we didn't have any homework for today.

Productive Time of Study and the Blowhard

As what we did everyday, when we entered the room we shook Mr. Armstrong's hand, and assigned in pods. My pod, green, which were consisted of myself, Jenny L., Jorma B., Jenny Ci, and Justin L. When I first came in I wondered why Mr. Campbell came to us to watch. As Mr. Armstrong discussed about Quizlet, that it had problems that only one part could contain only 50 questions. Anyways we kept resuming on the resources that we needed to study like the Moodle Chat/Wikispaces/Podcasts. Then 8A itself started to get ready for podcasts for the entire 8th grade. This really scared me, because if I gave the wrong information to the others, maybe they'll get angry at me so. But we worked in pods to make sure our information is correct. Pod red got recommendations that the people who are listening to the person who's doing the 60 second blowhard should figure out mistakes. As each person went around in the class, finally was the death time: Recording the Podcasts. As one person each went by to the Science Test Room to get theirselves recorded, Mr. Campbell supervised us on studying. As time passed by it was my turn and I went into the horrors of the room. I was very nervous and spoke quite fast. I spoke on the Puritan Dissenters and how each person (Anne Hutchinson/Thomas Hooker/Roger Williams) did. As I finished I went back into the room. It was kind of loud, because we were all studying together and what to do together. I also figured that people who made the vocabularies had wrong definitions or non-specific definitions that made me confusing if this was the right person or not. Anyways today was a working period where we could boost up our skills. I personally think that the slideshows that Mr. Armstrong posted on helped me on tests, and I persuade everyone to see that. Even though today was a working period today, we worked as much as we can studying and recording our 60 second blowhard.
David K. 8A

Contradictions-Scribe

As usual when we entered the room we shook hands with Mr. Armstrong and were assigned pods. Then after everybody was here he showed us a new kind of method for studying and that our homework was to contribute to it. The new page for this was Quizlet. In this useful tool we could make electronic index cards where we could study with it, take tests and play scatter. He told us that our homework was to add two "index cards" for us to study. Also he told us to make our new Moodle accounts and while at that to vote for the time that would be convenient for the online chat on Sunday to ask questions. He showed us that to take the poll we had to go to wikispaces and the test review and in that page at the top was the poll. Then he told us what many got nervous after (especially me) that we would have to talk for a straight one minute about our toondoo topic. I heard some groans but thankfully we were allowed to have an outline. After the explanation of homework we moved on to discussing the immersion in our groups. While at that Mr. Armstrong called us one at a time to see if we used all the immersion sites. He was upset that we didn't see the video but just read the text. Then he had a slide show ready about the whole information. Mr. Armstrong was happy when people like Ashley pointed out that the information was contradictory like no slave use but Penn having slaves. The teacher said that there are many ways to interpret history and that we would have to learn how to trust the many information. Today's class was really great in ways of discussion but still there is need for accurate information that solves the contradictions.
Se June H.

Final Immersion of Unit 1-Yoona C.

Today was the begginning of another chapter of unit 1. This time is was about the "Middle Colonies." It is the last chapter of the first unit. Everyone seemed to be pretty excited about finishing a unit at last. Mr.Armstrong handed out a grpahic organizer which had three different sections; name of colony founded & founder, year and the faliures & succeses of that colony. Together, in the pods that we were assigned, each group worked on filling in the graphic organizer with information and important people. For example, Anne Hutchinson founded Portsmouth in 1638 to ban the idea of must having a church minister telling you what to do, etc. To complete this handout, we were expected to know important information on last week's chapter, which mainly about real religious freedom and the settlement of Rhode Island. Afterwards, the class worked on taking notes for the final immersion of unit 1. After about 30~40 minuets of taking notes the class ended with the homework as finishing taking notes on the "Middle Colonies'" key terms and important people.

Scribe-Sangwoo Song

Scribe - Sangwoo Song (8C)Block D

scribe date Sept. 21, 2007
post date Oct. 2, 2007

Friday

The class was pretty much very wonder at Friday. Everybody concentrated on their toondo work because toondo was due at friday night. Everybody worked on either english group project or social studies. Friday was the last day for english group to work. The class was silent and there were no hand outs given this day. Because there were lot of indivisual work going on such as toondo I was able to see people helping each other using the toondo and how to put the toondo together. Most of the people were using their time wisely and many people finished their toondo during the social studies class.

I believe the friday class was just perfect with everybody concentrated on work.

Review of Colonies Jay G.

It was October 1st. When we came into the classroom after shaking hands with Mr. Armstrong, we were assigned in pods. I was assigned in green pod. When were all seated in our assigned seats, Mr. Armstrong told everyone to write the homework down, which was week 7. Soon after that, we found a paper which looked like some sort of an organizer. Mr. Armstrong soon told us that it was an organizer which we were to organize the colonies we have learned so far. We started, but discovered that Mr. Armstrong forgot to give us our sheet of information. After receiving it from Mr. Armstrong. Soon after, Jeong Ah and Se June discovered that the sheet of information did not contain Roger Williams, the Mayflower Contract, and other information. Like us, Mr. Armstrong had been enjoying the Chusok vacation and was not out of relaxing. He soon told the class that some information was missing. After 20 minutes of talking and jotting down notes we stopped. We went over the organizer to see if we had any missing details. Then, Mr. Armstrong lowered the screen and started to explain about the colonies now known as New York and Pennselvania. We started to learn about them and Mr. Armstrong fed us information. He then said to do our immersion. The immersion had a Holt PDF and ABC CLIO. It also contained 2 videos. While we were doing the immersion, Mr. Armstrong announced to the class that there was a quiz on Tuesday next week. There were a few groans. After some time, Mr. Armstrog told us to turn off our laptops and put them in the laptop cabinet. When most people had gone out, Jeong Ah and Se June recieved two pieces of candies for finding mistakes in the sheet of information.