Hope everyone had a wonderful break.  Today we reviewed the history of Greece, connecting all of our themes; geography, government, economics and war.  Tomorrow students will get a study guide for next Wednesday's test (not this week, but next week).  Students can work on their study guides tomorrow during class and we will review the information on Wednesday.  Only 3 short weeks until Winter Break!!  Lots to learn and do before Break; but we can do it!!

As I'm writing this, my wife is giving me that look that says, "put the computer away for at least one day!".  So I will be brief.  Be thankful for all the joy, love, accomplishments, friends and family in your lives.  Forget school, Facebook, Twitter, Call of Duty, cell phones, iPods and everything else that may distract you from seeing the truly important things around you.  Have a great break and see everyone on Monday.  I would like to take a moment to thank my dad, Mr. Whapham, Mrs. Harman and Mr. Polzer for inspiring me to become a teacher.  Hopefully I will be as good as them someday!!

Yesterday and today students built connections between war in ancient Greece and economic success.  We discussed the positives and negatives of war for the ancient Greeks and their neighbors.  Tomorrow and Thursday students will look at the Persian War and its causes/effects on Greek civilization.

Homework tonight for mods 3-4 and 5-6 is to complete their Persian War web.  Using the textbook (Starting on page 134) students need to examine the causes, specific battles and effects of the Persian Wars.

For the last several days students have been learning some basics about economics.  This includes the FOP's, or the Factors of Production.  Students are beginning to see the importance of understanding how manufacturing works.  All strong economies of the ancient world relied on a civilization's ability to produce goods.

We will slowly start to build the connection between culture, government, economy and social structure.  Below are some examples of FOP's that students were able to pick out of a time-lapse film of a motorcycle being build. 

Andrew O'Brien is in my 17-18 mod class and has spent the majority of the school year telling me that he can beat a Rubik's Cube.  He brought in a Rubik's Cube and I spent nearly 30 minutes mixing up the colors.  Mr. O'Brien spent just over 2 minutes solving it!!!  Below is the amazing video.  It takes some very impressive analytical skill to solve a Rubik's Cube.

Today we are taking our second test of the year.  I am having students take the test using GoogleDocs.  They complete their test via the computer lab and their answers are electronically (And securely) stored on my Goggle account.  Students were allowed to use their Bubbl.us concept maps on the test. 

Bubbl.us is a great website that allows students to create visual notes and save, share and collaborate with other students.  I can even view students' work from my computer.  Students can work on this program from any computer with a internet connection.

More technology than you can shake a mouse at!  Rachel Perry created some awesome posters online using artskills.com for the wrestling match during last week's assembly.  My big thanks to Rachel for her creativity and effort.

Below are several pictures of students learning, collaborating, and engaging in their education using technology.

Test Thursday on Government.  The study guide is available for download on the "CMS download" page (link to the left).  Then we are on to economics and social structure.  The test will be online, using GoogleDocs.  Students are

Homework is to study for your test.