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Slide Notes

My name is Catherine Atkinson. I'm a world history teacher with 24 years of teaching under my belt. My focus is to create a learning environment for your child that focuses on collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking.

The presentation tool I'm using tonight is called Haiku Deck. Haiku Deck is a free iPad app that your child will be using this year in world history. If you have an iPad, please feel free to download this app so that your child can play around with it.
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Back to School Night Presentation

Published on Nov 20, 2015

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

World History 7

Think, Create, Collaborate, Share
My name is Catherine Atkinson. I'm a world history teacher with 24 years of teaching under my belt. My focus is to create a learning environment for your child that focuses on collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking.

The presentation tool I'm using tonight is called Haiku Deck. Haiku Deck is a free iPad app that your child will be using this year in world history. If you have an iPad, please feel free to download this app so that your child can play around with it.
Photo by Daniel Cheung

Medieval World History

  • Time Period: 500-1500 A.D.
  • Arabia, Africa, China, Japan, Europe, Americas
  • CA History/Social Science Standards
  • Historical Analysis Skills
  • CCSS Reading, Writing, Digital Literacy
Medieval World History at the 7th grade level spans 500-1500 A.D. This means that your child will learn 1000 years of history in 20 weeks. It's basically a crash course.

Course based on GGUSD focus standards as well as the California History/Social Science standards for 7th grade. In addition, CA Common Core State Standards are embedded in our lessons. Common Core standards focus on reading, writing, and digital literacy. Students will also be utilizing the tools of a historian by practicing historical analysis skills - essentially looking at historical events through the eyes of a historian.
Photo by Djof

History Alive!

Interactive
I believe in creating a learning environment that brings history alive. My history class is not passive. Students will not be sitting in my class taking in the information. They are expected to jump in with both feet.

Your child will be working with their peers both in class and online. Additionally, your child will participate in debates (where they argue against each other) and simulations (where they recreate historical events).
Photo by Documentally

1:1 iPad

Student-centered learning
My goal is to create a technology-rich learning environment. Your child will be working with laptops and mobile technology tools such as iPads and iPad minis. You might have heard your child mention that he/she has used their cell phone in class. And that is true. Your child has been given permission to use their cell phone to scan QR codes or access Edmodo our social networking site.

You may have noticed that your child has been watching videos at home and taking notes. This is called flipped lessons. I record the notes and your child watches the video at home. Then they bring the notes back to class and we apply the concepts together. This type of lesson allows us to use instructional time more effectively.
Photo by Daniel Korpai

Reading & Writing Literacy

Primary & Secondary Sources
Being a core content course, your child will have plenty of practice demonstrating reading and writing literacy as they analyze primary and secondary sources. Though your child will be working with peers in class, they will also be expected to work with peers outside of class. Your child will be using collaborative learning tools such as GoogleDocs and wikis to work with peers as they examine historical events.

Assessments

Formative & Summative Assessments, District Benchmark Exams
In the classroom expectations that you read in your child's agenda book, I outlined how your child will be assessed.

Formative assessments are 30% of the overall grade. Summative assessments are 60% of the overall grade. Your child will be taking the Level 3 multiple choice portions of these assessments in our online Power School Learning site. Levels 4 & 5 are written assessments.

Your child was introduced to using the Senteos for our Checks for Understanding. The Senteos are a powerful technology tool because students can receive immediate feedback on their answers. In fact, your child left class today knowing exactly how much he/she has to study for next Wednesday's quiz.
Photo by Matthew Henry

Dr. Catherine Atkinson

catkinson@ggusd.us (714) 663-6551 @Ms_Cabiness
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me. I am an active user of social media, so I've given you my Twitter handle. In fact, yesterday I tweeted to the whole world about what your child was doing in my class. I tweeted that your child was "tweeting" on Edmodo. I like to share with the public the great things that your child is doing and creating in my class. NOTE: You may notice that my Twitter handle has a different name. It's actually my maiden name as I have been using Twitter long before I got married.

Other ways to contact me include leaving me a phone message or writing a message in the agenda book. However, the quickest way to get a response from me is to simply email me.

Lastly, please bookmark my class website. This is a valuable tool for you and your child.
Photo by Quino Al