Hi! Welcome to my World Geography Web Log (or “blog”) page. I will be using this as a way to communicate what’s going on in my classroom and on the 7th grade red team. We are now about two weeks into the school year, and I am enjoying getting to know all of the wonderful new 7th graders we have this year! I’ve already been very impressed with their eagerness to learn and positive attitudes. I think this is going to be a great year!
I wanted to share some things about the expectations and procedures of my class. We will do a number of different activities and lessons, including vocabulary, textbook work, studying and creating maps, learning about world cultures and history, exploring economic concepts, learning about international relations, and understanding how all these things tie into the subject of world geography. We will have some fun and engaging projects through the year, such as the “Kashmir Project”, a project where the kids take on the roles of United Nations Peacekeepers, and are given the difficult task of creating a peace proposal for the conflicted Kashmir region between Pakistan and India. Projects like this help keep kids engaged in the lesson, and help them develop their critical thinking skills and understanding of the complicated nature of relationships. I think it is important to not just teach kids the basic facts about the different areas of the world, but also to allow them the chance to apply what they have learned and see how these concepts work in the “real world”.
We will have one large project and one smaller project each quarter. For first quarter, the larger project will be the European Country Report, and the smaller project will be the European Country Travel Brochure. Stay tuned for more information on each of these. In addition to projects, there will be two exams per quarter, one worth 100 points, and one worth 50 points. The rest of your child’s grade will come from classroom and textbook activities, such as maps, simulations, “country of the day”, vocabulary, section reviews, and atlas work.
I try to make my webpage an interactive site where your child can find information, copies of assignments, power points, exam help, and good internet sites for research and world news. I hope that both you and your student take advantage of this resource.
Thank you – I think this is going to be a great year!
