Thanks For Coming Out to Super Thursday!

Thanks to all that came out tonight! Everything seemed to go smoothly, and, as always, I apologize for the long line. It was almost like standing in line for a ride at Six Flags, except you saw me at the end of the line and I interrogated you about movies and The Human Web. AP World requires quite a bit of work (the class is seriously intense) and motivation, and I could see that many of you have the right attitude, even on first impression. The important thing is to not fall behind because catching up is difficult. This blog is going to be a major component of the class this year. Let me tell you a little bit about the purpose. Every year I find myself disillusioned about not being able to have all of the discussions that I want to have in class on various topics because there simply isn't the time in class. This blog will be the perfect outlet to continue those discussions in an open, yet always professional and scholarly, forum. Additionally, I have so many students that are brilliant but are afraid to speak up in class due to shyness or other reasons. While our communication in the actual classroom environment will always and forever remain our first priority, the blog is a good opportunity for all to freely express themselves. I firmly believe that we are here to learn from each other, and so with this format, you will not only see my thoughts, but the thoughts of your fellow collegues. Finally, I really believe in the idea of community, especially between myself and my 120 students any given year. Look at this blog as our community sounding board. I will remind you all of important dates on here, but more importantly, this is where we will continue respectful debates and discussions from the class that day. Participation is part of your grade in this class, and my expectation is for you to be an open participator in class and post to the blog at least twice a week (you are free to post as much as you want, but at least twice a week) in order to receive full credit for participation. Parents may be a bit apprensive about this format for this year, so let me set your mind at ease. All comments that are posted on this blog are posted at MY discretion. I am the censor, and any inappropriate or disrespectful posts of any kind will never make it onto the blog. All posts are sent to my email first, and once I approve the comment, then it will be posted to the blog. To maintain the integrity of this site however, comments will only be censored if they are inappropriate, not if they present a point of view that is different from the majority. Part of the beauty of this class is to come to an understanding of a vast variety of points of view. All comments, as long as they are appropriate and respectful, are valid and important. Finally, this is not a publically advertised blog. In other words, you can't google AP world history and this blog will come up on a search. Therefore, this blog is just for us and this class. I will look forward to reading your discussion on the films you have watched (if you don't see the film you watched on this page, just click on the link at the bottom that says "older posts"). I also, of course, am very much looking forward to Monday morning. Happy blogging!