3 Maps Analysis - Mini-Debate on Time Article

Today we:
1. Followed up on the 3 Maps from Memory activity from Friday.

• Students compared and contrasted the 9 different maps of Texas they had made. (BTW, I know you're supposed to spell out numbers when writing sentences and essays and such, but these blog posts aren't formal essays and are mainly for conveying instructions, information, summaries of daily activities, giving assignments, etc. Numerals are easier to spot and deal with than worded numbers; sorry, just had to get that out of my system. Thanks.)
• Identified common elements among the maps and why they are more easily remembered
• Inserted the revised photo of the wall display
• Wrote blog posts analyzing the 9 maps

2. Continued our discussion of the Time article, "Why Texas is the Future"

• Students had been asked to write 5 discussion questions over the map
• Several of their questions were raised and discussed, including what are"per capita income" and "globalization." Students were shown how to use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-F to search/find the words in a Word doc or on a webpage. By using the feature, students figured out answers to the two questions and applied them to Texas as presented in the article

3. Held a Mini-Debate over the question, "Will it be good or bad if the rest of the United States becomes more like Texas?"

• As time was running short, students spent 5 or 6 minutes planning and then debated for approximately 10 minutes. 
• Both sides made cogent arguments and defended them effectively.

Assignment - Due Tomorrow - In a blogpost:

1. Write and illustrate the 5 most important things you learned about Texas in the article. Illustrate with an appropriate picture.
2. Write a one-paragraph (okay, sometimes I'll write it in words, if it somehow feels right) answering the questions, "Will it be good or bad if the rest of the United States becomes more like Texas?" Be sure to offer convincing evidence to support your thesis (main argument). You don't have to illustrate your paragraph.

My Historical Interests, cont'd - Pre-Time Mag Padlet

Your GooDoc from Yesterday

1. First we're going to get the URL to the GooDoc you made yesterday, "Student Survey: What Interests You Most About History?" (I'm going to walk you through this, but if you get lost, click for the instructions at Google.)
2. Go to that doc and click on Share (upper right-hand corner).
3. Copy the URL under "Link to share." It should already be selected (highlighted) in blue.
4. Find "Private - Only you can access." Click Change.
5. Click "Anyone with the link " - Save - Done

Back to the Blog

1. Now go to your first blog post on what interests you most about history (the one where you inserted an image & a link).
2. Skip a line or two under your last sentence and add something like: "Please click here to see the rest of my ranking of history topic preferences."
3. Select "click here" and add the link you copied for the GooDoc.
4. Voila! Now visitors to your blog can see your ranking from yesterday.

Visit & Comment

1. Visit one another's blog posts, read their ranking, and write a Comment of at least three good sentences. 
2. Please compliment them on something(s) in their ranking and politely criticize something else.

Now we'll shift gears and do some preparation for the Time Magazine article we're going to read.

Padding Over to Padlet

1. Open any kind of document (GooDoc, Word, etc.) and list "5 Things I Really Like About Texas."
2. Then list "3 Reasons People in the USA Might Want to Move to Texas."
3. Now go to Padlet, double-click under the appropriate box, and copy and paste your lists on the "wall."
4. Beside your classmates' boxes (called "posts" at Padlet) write comments.
5. Embed the Padlet in your blog.

Be sure to drop down below this Padlet widget to see instructions for reading and analyzing the Time magazine article.

Created with Padlet

Assignment for Tomorrow: Begin reading & color coding Time Magazine Article - Click here to download the Word document..

1. By tomorrow, read and come prepared to discuss the first textual (words) page of the article.
2. As Comments, write down questions about anything you didn't understand in the article and/or anything you found interesting and would like to discuss. You could do this in the Word document by highlighting the word(s), clicking Review--Insert New Comment, and writing your question or insight into the Comment box.
3. Color code the Good Things about Texas & the Bad Things about Texas (according to the libertarian economist who wrote the article).
4. If you don't understand certain words, right click and click Look Up or Synonyms.
5. I'm looking forward to an interesting discussion tomorrow.
6. Oh, and BRAVO for finding the online lists of reasons why U.S. citizens might want to move to Texas!