Survey Results and Plan for April 23/24, 2020

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Well, here's the tentative final results from our poll on which hairstyle I should rock today:

With an overwhelming 80% of the vote, the MOHAWK wins!!! I'll be sporting my new look for a walk later this morning by the High School and Vets Park. I will also try my new hair style for our Professional Development Zoom today.

Remember, If you have not taken your Quiz from last week, today's the last day to take it! Also, you can use your time today to finish the Africa Map assignment from yesterday.

Tomorrow: Period 1 zoom class at 10 AM and Period 3 zoom class at 11:15AM. Link to be sent tomorrow morning.

Friday: Period 2 zoom class at 10AM and Period 4 zoom class at 11:15AM. Link to be sent Friday morning.

Looking forward to seeing all tomorrow and/or Friday!!!

Welcome to our Africa Unit!!! April 20, 2020

Welcome to our Africa Unit! As always, we will start with a little Map work for Africa. Since we are not in the classroom for you to label and make a standard Political map, we're going to do it a little differently.

Attached to your email from this morning, you will find a map of Africa (in PDF and JPEG form for your ease of use) with numbers and letters used to label some of the countries and physical features. Use the map to answer the questions in the Google Form (link provided in email).

Please complete the Africa Map questions by your next Block period class this week (April 23rd/ April 24th).

You may still Rock Out to the Top Hits of the 90's, 2000's and Today's Hits on Pandora, if you want to feel like you're back in my classroom:-) I just won't be able to walk around and strike up random conversations with you:-(

Let's Plan to ZOOM as a class on Thursday April 23rd for Period 1 at 10AM and Period 3 at 11:15AM and Friday April 24th for Period 2 at 10AM and Period 4 at 11:15AM. Zoom invite will be sent out to students on the morning of their block period on Thursday or Friday.

We will be doing an activity relating to our introduction to Africa as an entire class!!! Zoom will only last 30 minutes and the Zoom link will be emailed out to you on Thursday morning by 8AM.

If you haven't completed your Middle East quiz from last week, please do so by this Wednesday.

Hope you guys are hanging in there and finding things to make you smile each day. I'm here if you need anything and don't hesitate to reach out If you have any questions or need to talk and I will respond during normal school hours.

Office Hours Today 4-15-2020 via Live Zoom

For those of you who would like to stop by my Zoom from 10:30AM to 11:30AM this morning, the link was included in this morning's email.

Remember, it's not mandatory but open to all if you have any questions or just want to say "Hi" :-) You don't need to stay the whole time, just giving people an opportunity to ask questions or shoot the breeze for a few minutes! Stop by, ask your questions or catch up on life and sign off at your own pace:-)

AS for the QUIZ: The quiz will be on Thursday for Periods 1&3 and on Friday for Periods 2&4. You will get a link to your class's version of the quiz in your email on the morning of your Block period. I know you are all going to use your notes, so have at it!

One catch, you will only have 32 minutes to complete the 15 question short answer/fill-in-the-blank quiz.

Here are the much anticipated results of Monday/Tuesday's poll on Pop: The clear winner is Coke... Too bad, cause Pepsi's better!

I miss you all and look forward to hopefully seeing you again soon. I've enjoyed bumping into some of you on my walks around Culver City, maybe I'll bump into you soon:-)

Work for April 12+1 (Periods 1&3) and April 14 (Periods 2&4)

Please use your Monday/Tuesday Block period to review your Middle East Study Guide and take the Kahoot Review.

The link and/or code for the Middle East Kahoot review can be found in your email this morning.

Please use your first and last name as your user name.

Please take the kahoot, either during your Block schedule period on Monday (Period 1&3) or Tuesday (Period 2&4), or whenever you wish before Wednesday night at 11PM.

After taking the Kahoot, please complete the Google Check-in Form by Wednesday night, April 15th at the following link: Link provided in email this morning.

I will plan to be live on Zoom, Wednesday April 15, if you have any questions. There is no obligation to be on Zoom Wednesday, but you are more than welcome to pop by and ask any questions you may have about the Middle East or just stop by to say Hi. I will send out an email on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning with a Zoom invite link.

I will also include more details about the Middle East Quiz scheduled for Thursday/Friday (April 16/17) in the email Tuesday night/Wednesday morning with regards to what to expect. I will say, if you study your notes and complete the Middle East kahoot, then you should be good.

Work for 4-9-2020 and 4-10-2020

Hey guys, You will receive an email in the morning on your scheduled Block Period day with details for the quick Zoom check in.

After our Zoom meeting I would like you to watch the short video contained in your email. (You will have to click Download after you try to open the shared file in order to view the video)

Then, review your notes from the Middle East and complete the 2 parted (ISIS video & 4 Middle East Review questions) Google Form (link in your email)

That's it for this week! We survived the first week back of Online education. You guys are doing great and I hope you are all safe and healthy!!!

Plan for next week is to have you complete the Kahoot review again during your Block Period next Monday or Tuesday and then take a Middle East Quiz on Thursday. You will receive an emails next week with all the details and I will hold virtual office hours on Wednesday and send a zoom link next week as well.

Student Independent Work Day 4-8-2020

There is NO ASSIGNMENT today! Use this time to catch up or complete any outstanding work you may have for other classes.

I will email out the invite link for the zoom meetings for Periods 1 and 3 tomorrow morning. Periods 2 and 4 will receive an email Friday morning with the Zoom invite link.

Have a great day and remember to smile at least 5 times today!

Welcome Back Check-In with ALL classes

Welcome Back from Spring Break!!! I know this is not the format that many of you would like to be participating in, but it's the best we got since we can't be in the classroom.

For this week, I really just want to ease back into some form of a routine and not bog you down with assignments. So, here's what I have envisioned for this week:

TODAY is just a check-in with ALL classes. I would like each of you to complete the following Google Form by 11:59PM Wednesday. Link sent in the email you should have received this morning.

For THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, I would like to try out a Zoom session with each class. I will stick to the new Block Schedule and hold a meeting with Periods 1 and 3 on Thursday and Periods 2 and 4 on Friday. We will meet during our regular scheduled block time for only about 20 minutes or so, as this is merely a check-in with you and to see if we can use Zoom later on down the road to do some "face-to-face" learning. I will send an email out to each class period with an exact time for Thursday or Friday and also provide you with the invite link for the Zoom, so please check your emails on Thursday morning (Period 1 and 3) and Friday morning (Period 2 and 4).

As we move forward, things may get a little bumpy but we will adjust as needed to figure it out. This is all new to EVERYONE, so we have to remain flexible!

For those of you wondering, we are not taking the Middle East test as originally scheduled. I may have you do some form of open note quiz later next week, but we'll talk about it later.

I hope you are all doing well and I miss you guys! Looking forward to seeing you guys on Zoom later this week.

Welcome Back to School!!!

Parents and Students,

Welcome back to School!!!

First and Foremost, I hope you and your families are all in good health and doing well. Hopefully, you were able to get a little rest and relaxation over the past few weeks since the "Stay-at-Home" order closed pretty much all of the fun stuff and caused many to cancel their original plans. While these times have forced us to change our daily routines and adjust to a "new normal," we will try to get back into a rhythm with school as we shift to online learning. I'm sure many of you (to include myself) are stressed about what lies ahead, but we will take it one day at a time and figure it out together. I am here for each and every one of you and will help in any way possible.

While these times have been challenging, I recognize everyone is doing the best they can to adapt and overcome all of the changes:

Parents, you have done an amazing job stepping in and becoming your child's teacher! And, you are doing this while trying to balance your own work, taking care of everyone under your roof, and trying to put a smile on your face and your family's face. From the bottom of my heart, I applaud you and all your efforts and we will get through this together.

Students, you are having to adapt to a new style of learning that can feel cold and isolating at times. Your schedule is off and many of you have had to sacrifice and miss out on many very important after school activities like sports, band, AVPA and more. This has not been an easy time for you as you are helping your family in many ways to take care of essential tasks around the house all the while as you are trying to figure out a new style of learning. Keep your heads up and don't forget to smile from time to time!

Moving forward, here's what we have on the agenda: We will be shifting to a Block Schedule with Periods 1,3,5 on Monday/Thursday and Periods 2,4,6 on Tuesday/Friday. Wednesday will be student independent work time.

Monday April 6, 2020 (Today): Pupil free day. No classes or assignments. There is another Technology Check-out from 10:30am-12:00pm at Culver City High School Library Today.

Work for Friday 3-20-2020

We made it!!!! You've successfully accomplished your first week of distance learning. I know there have been some bumps along the way, but we're working hard to smooth them out. I'm not sure what the future holds for us at this point, but as soon as I know more, you will know more.

For today, you will be doing a Kahoot review for the Middle East test. Please use YOUR First and Last Name as your user name in the game.

Go to kahoot.it and use the game code you received in your email this morning.

Again, please use your first and last name as your user name so I can see who's taken the kahoot. You have until 9 PM on SUNDAY March 22 to take the Kahoot.

You will record your score in our daily check in Google Form. The link is included in your email this morning.

That's it for today! Once you have completed the Kahoot, your Spring Break starts for my class. Hope you guys have an enjoyable and relaxing two weeks off ( I know most stuff is closed now, so that is not good for our break) and I'll talk or type with you in the near future!!!!

Have a great break and I hope to actually see you all again soon in my classroom!!! I miss seeing your smiling faces come through my door each day, but we will get through this in no time:-)

Work for Thursday 3-19

I hope each of you are doing well and finding ways to keep your mind off all the coronavirus talk you hear. Try to find a way to get your mind off the scariness going on around you and laugh/smile for a few minutes each day.

For today, I've attached an assignment asking you to analyze a few political cartoons. You are going to choose ONE of them and write a short response about what you think it means in the Google Form today.

Google Form link can be found in your email.

Once you've completed the political cartoon analysis, I would like you to review your study guide (attached to email and also handed out in class last week) as if the test were tomorrow! We will be doing the Kahoot Review as your assignment tomorrow and I will send you a code and further instructions in tomorrow's email.

Just so you know, I'm planning to put each of these assignments in the gradebook so I can keep track of who has completed their work, so please complete the Google Forms I've sent each day!

As always, I'm here if you need anything and will respond to your emails during normal school hours. I hope you are all doing well and I miss seeing your smiling faces come through my door each period! Keep pushing forward and we will put all of this behind us in no time!

Work for Wednesday 3-18-2020

The best part about being a teacher is seeing your personalities in the classroom and getting to know you all. Having virtual classes is challenging in a sense, but I'm glad we had 15 weeks together before we went to this model. Hang in there everyone and we will get through this together!!!

I know we did one yesterday, but here is the link to a daily check-in Google Form. I will be doing this each day until Friday: https://forms.gle/B9mbymJE1p1SJkFi7

Since today is a minimum day, I'm only giving you a ~40 minute assignment. There is a video in the email I sent you this morning that I would like you to watch and jot down 10 facts you learn and write a 2-3 sentence opinion of the video. You will ONLY watch from 0:00- 31:28 of the video and then complete your opinion. There is no need to watch the entire video. Also, you will write your 2-3 sentence response in the Google Form above.

I hope you are all continuing to do well and finding ways to keep yourself busy and your mind off the coronavirus. The news continues to solely focus on the virus and this can be alarming and scary for some, but we'll all get through this. As always, I am here if you need anything and please don't hesitate to ask.

Student Survey. Please complete by 3PM March 18,2020.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Please click on the link and answer these few questions: https://forms.gle/ANtnCteqie9hHwuq6

Also, if you or anyone you know needs to check out a chromebook and charger for school purposes, Our AWESOME library staff and technology staff will be checking out chromebooks tomorrow, Wednesday 3/18 from 10:30-noon. These times correspond with Food Services Free lunch program.

Hope you guys are doing well!
S/F, Mr. Murchison

Work for Tuesday 3-17-2020

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Please check your email account for today's assignment. I have sent you an article called, "The Middle East Mess" and some questions which go along with the reading. Please use complete sentences when responding to the questions.

I hope you are all doing well and know that I am here if you need anything. If you have any questions along the way, please email me and I will respond during normal school hours.

Hang in there and we'll get through this together.

S/F,

Mr. Murchison

The War in Iraq v2

Since many of you were absent from school on Friday, March 1_, 2020, I'm attaching the notes so you have what you need. We covered all the material on slide 3 and then I talked about my time there and showed some pictures of what it looked like from my perspective.

Global Issues (Period 1-4)

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