Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.

1. Why do we need history?
2. Why do you have all those questions on your wall?
3. Will we have to answer all these questions?
4. Why do we have to write all of our homework assignments in our Agenda?
5. Why do we write so much, it's not an English class?
6. How come we start (almost) every class with an opener?
7. Will we have to write an essay every week?
8. Why do we have to get a Progress Report signed every three weeks?
9. How come we can't retake our tests or do test corrections to raise our grade?
10. Do I have to bring my signed Progress Reports back?
11. How come we don't use the textbook very much?
12. How will we study for our Semester & Year End Final?
13. Why do are we given a detention if we are missing ANY assignments?

Why do we need history?

In my opinion, history is one of the most important subjects that you will
take in school. Without an understanding of your past it is much more
difficult to make sense of the present or make sound decisions for the future.
U.S. History is even more important because of the fact that it is the one 
thing that everyone in America has in common. America is made up of so many
different cultures that our history is our common ancestry.

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Why do you have all those questions on your wall?

The posters on my walls are the guiding questions that make up my curriculum.
These questions which are on the handouts, lecture notes & homework
assignments that you receive in class contain the "Big Ideas" that will help
you gain a better understanding of the themes that run through our country's
history. Being able to answer these questions will give you "an enduring
understanding" of American History from the Revolutionary War through the 19th
century.

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Will we have to answer all these questions?

Not all of them (Whew!). However, you will answer many of them as "History
Openers", on homework assignments & they will often appear on Unit Exams. All
of these "Big Idea" questions are designed to make you think deeper about the
issues we are studying & will help you make connections between historical
events & eras.

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Why do we have to write all of our homework assignments in our Agenda?

One of the keys to being successful in anything is being organized. The sooner
you learn some of these organizational skills the quicker you will be able to
move on to more important things. In addition, it is a way for me to keep your
parents informed. They can check your "Agenda" or my website to see when you
have (& don't have) History homework.

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Why do we write so much, it's not an English class?

In order to truly understand history you must be able to express yourself on
paper. To attain an "essential understanding" of U.S. History you have to be
able to make connections with other things, to explain why a person or event
is historically significant etc. It is not enough to know that the 
Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, you need to be able to
show how this document changed the history of the world. Answering a fill in
the blank, matching or multiple choice question will not show that you truly
understand its' significance.
     Developing your writing skills will also go a long way to ensuring your
success in college.

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How come we start (almost) every class with an opener?

Openers are designed to make your brain start thinking in its' historical
mode. You are coming from other classes & the openers get you in the frame of
mind that you will need to succeed in this class. Plus they are always
something we did the day before or an introduction of what we are going to 
do that day.

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Will we have to write an essay every week?

No. I assign the "Is History Useless" Essay to assess how well you write. We then spend the first 
month of school learning (& practicing) all the things that make up good historical
writing (topic sentences, concrete details,transition sentences, etc.). After the first 2 weeks you will 
usually have an essay every 2-3 weeks.

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Why do we have to get a Progress Report signed every three weeks?

It's important that you & your parents are always aware of your grade in
history. They want to know how you are doing & you can make sure that you stay
on top of things in my class. That way when report cards are sent home it will
not be a surprise.

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How come we can't retake our tests or do test corrections to raise our grade?

I have found in my 20 years of teaching that allowing retakes is used as a
crutch by many students. They will often not study very hard because they know
that they will have another shot at a better grade. In addition, Mr. Battle &
I evaluate every test we give immediately after we finish grading them. We
identify trouble spots, poorly written questions & areas where our teaching
methods weren't sufficient. We then fix those problems for the next
year's students. Because of this constant review process we feel that our
tests are a fair measure of what you should learn in 8th grade History. You
are allowed to retake the "Quarterly Benchmark Exams" because that covers a 10
Week period & is sometimes not a fair evaluation of what you learned.

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Do I have to bring my signed Progress Reports back?

No, not if you have your parents send me an e-mail confirming that they are
aware of your current grade. (Remember if you lose your Progress Report they
can check your grade on my website)

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How come we don't use the textbook very much?

History Alive! is used mainly used as a reference in my class. I have found
other materials & readings that are more interesting & relevant to the topics
that we study in this class. It's very difficult for one source to provide all
of the necessary information, so we use many different authors, books &
articles to get to where we need to go.

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How will we study for our Semester & Year End Final?

     You will be given a Review Sheet that covers each quarter's major
historical topics. Everything that you need to know will be covered in these
handouts.

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Why do are we given a detention if we are missing ANY assignments?

     It is very easy to fall behind when you have (at least) six classes. To
keep you on track AND to make sure that you are prepared for all test &
quizzes I assign detention even if you are missing only one assignment. I have
found that this helps make me a more effective teacher and you a more
knowledgeable student.

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