3/31/14 west civ notes

      In the beginning ages of Rome their government consisted of a king and a council of elders called the senate. The elders helped the king make decisions, the king appointed specific people to be in his senate. Usually these people were patricians, men who already belonged to a powerful, leading family. When a king dies the senate would take all the power. Around 500 B.C. this monarchy like system was overthrew and the first Republican government was created, this was a mixed government that was basically a mix between a democracy and an oligarchy. Their were to major sides of the Republic, the patricians who were the rich aristocrats, and the plebeians who were not as wealthy and mad up the rest of the population. There was still a Senate in the Republic and it was usually still being made up of patricians, this gave the patricians more power and they were able to make all the decisions. However decisions were being made very slowly and the senate decided that they needed one dictator to have all the power and make laws for a maximum period of six months. This process worked great but it still gave no power to the plebeians who getting very angry because they thought they deserved power. So as years passed the plebeians grew wealthier and stronger and eventually in 250 B.C. the plebeians and the patricians had no real distinction between them and the plebeians were able to take part in the government along with the patricians. New rules were made so the plebeians could become part of the senate and even marry into patrician families. Around 450 B.C. the plebeians were complaining to the patricians about not having written laws. Normally the laws were passed down orally and interpreted by judges. But the plebeians demanded the Roman law would be set down in writing. So the laws were engraved on 12 slabs of wood or bronze and set in the middle of the Forum, a chief public square, for all to see. These slabs were known to be the "Twelve Tables" and served as the foundation for the elaborate system of Roman law that grew up later in centuries.

3/26/14 west civ class

   Today we took our test on Ancient Greece and I believe I did really well on it. I am actually confident enough to say that I might have gotten 100%. Overall I think the test was really easy, and that is not just because we were able to use our blogs, which I am very grateful for. In fact I didn't use my blog at all because I already knew most of the information, which is why I am so confident. Hopefully I am right and I do very well on this test because it would be an excellent way to start off the 4th quarter.

3/25/14 west civ class

   Today in class we continued to review for our test that will be given tomorrow. I believe I am very well prepared and the video that we watched today in class made me even more ready and confident to take this test. I'm going to review over my notes tonight and make it almost guaranteed that I will get an A on this test. The only part of the test that I am really worried about is having to remember the different heroes of Greece, so I will have to prepare a lot for that part of the test tonight.

3/24/14 west civ class

    Today we reviewed over the vocabulary worksheet again in class and it was actually very helpful. Since Mr. Schick wasn't there for like 4 classes I was having a hard time remembering the different people that were going to be on our test. But today in class while we were going over the sheet      Mr. Schick gave good background knowledge on each person that we had to learn. The stories that he told on each person helped me remember a lot of the names. Hopefully it was enough help to get me a good grade on the test that is now Wednesday.

3/21/14 west civ class

   Today in class Mr. Schick handed back our projects and as a class we voted on the grades that each project should get. Unfortunately my project was not shown and voted on so I wasn't able to fight for the deserved grade I thing I should of gotten. As of right now I do not know what grade I got on it but hopefully I did well, I believe that my project was at least worthy of a high B. There was some mix up though in class because Mr. Schick said that we never gave him storyboards but I remember that I handed them in  the day the projects were due. Hopefully we can set things straight on Monday, unless we get another snow day from the storm that is coming this weekend.

3/19/14 west civ class

   Finally today Mr. Schick was back in class but we still really didn't do anything. But we did go over the worksheet that we did and our cyber day assignment. Going over both these worksheets made me feel very confident in myself because I got a lot of the answers right on both of the assignments. This gives me a lot of hope and reassurance that I will do very well on this upcoming test. Which Mr. Schick has finally announced that it will be on Friday.

3/18/14 west civ class

     Today we had another substitute because Mr. Schick had something else to do. Fortunately I already had all the work done that he assigned which was to complete the handout that he assigned a long time ago and to finish the questions that he assigned for yesterday's cyber day. So basically it was another easy day thankfully, so I spent my time in class looking over my notes and preparing for the upcoming test on Ancient Greece. Even though I have no idea when it is going to be given because Mr. Schick hasn't really been here to tell us.

3/17/14 west civ cyber day

1. Greece was not known for having mostly fertile land
2. 3/4 of Greece was covered by mountains
3. The term barbarian originally meant non-Greek
4. megalithic structures were massive rough-cut stones used to make monuments
5. Tribes were political and social groups tied together by common interest, traditions, and ties of kinship, family-based group, clan based group, and a group of warriors
6. Tribes were governed by chieftains, kings or queens, and tribal leaders
7. Greeks were the first barbarians to make contact with civilization
8. China cannot be considered a member of western civilization
9. Ionian sea is west of Greece
10. Aegean sea is east of Greece
11. Aegean's lived on grains, olives, and vines 
12. Mycenaean's arose on the island of Crete
13. Mycenaean's arose on islands near the southern part of Greece's border  
14. Mycenaean's built massive walls to protect themselves
15. The Dark Ages was a time where population dropped no one sailed and writing fell out of use
16. The Phoenicians controlled the seas and land along with Greece
17. The "c" stands for circa
18. Colonies dotted the coast line around the Mediterranean sea
19. Counties most closely resemble city-states
20. oligarchy was a type of government where a small group of people had all the power
21. democracy was a government where most adult male citizens shared the power
22. Tyranny was a government where there was a self-proclaimed dictator
23. Monarchy was a government where a single ruler had all the power and it was usually passed from father to son
24. Spartans used the oligarchy government system
25. Boys began their Spartan military training at the age of seven
26. Athens was the wealthiest city-state in ancient Greece
27. An acropolis was the religious center and fortified citadel of an ancient Greece town
28. Peloponnesus was the southern peninsula where Sparta was located
29. Triremes were massive ships used by the Athenians to ram other ships
30. Hoplites were heavily armored soldiers of ancient Greece 

Short Answer

1. The Dark Ages lasted from 1100-700 B.C.
2. Homer wrote the Odyssey and the Iliad
3. Mediterranean originally meant middle of the earth
4. Aristocrats were wealthy, land owning Athenians     

3/14/14 west civ class

    Today in class we started to watch part two of the Ancient Greece video. It was  an easy class though because I already finished the worksheet based off my background knowledge on Ancient Greece. I continued to watch the video and learned a couple things but most of the information I already knew. Unfortunately Mr. Schick was not here today again so instead we had Mr. Teter as a sub. Overall it was an enjoyable and relaxing class.

3/12/14 west civ class

        Today in class we continued to present our commercials on ancient Athens and ancient Sparta. I was able to go today but unfortunately my partner wasn't their during the class period so I had to present by myself. I believe I did pretty well and I think I will get a good grade on my project because in my opinion it was as good as everyone else's. It seemed that Mr. Schick liked it to which is a good sign because his opinion counts the most. The only thing I think I would change in the commercial was I probably wouldn't start the video with classical music because that could possibly bore the audience from the start. But other than that I believe that I did a good job on the commercial and represented Athens very well.

3/11/14 west civ class

    Today in class we started our presentations for our commercials but unfortunately I was not able to present today. So far all of the presentations were actually pretty good and very well done. I believe that all of the groups so far deserve an A on their projects because it looked like they all worked very hard on them and tried to do their best. Hopefully my classmates feel the same way about my commercial so that way I can get a good grade on my project and continue to have a good grade overall in western civilization for quarter 3.

3/10/14

       Today in class Mr. Schick is still away so we had another sub and we continued to work on our projects and do the worksheet that he gave us. I was able to get the wrest of my worksheet done which is great and I was able to make my commercial a little more better. The only thing I had a problem with is that I thought that our projects were going to be due today but since Mr. Schick wasn't here I guess they aren't due until he gets back. Because of this I already had my project done so after I finished the worksheet I had nothing to do for the rest of the period.

3/7/14 west civ class

      Today was actually a pretty good class even though Mr. Schick wasn't there to teach since he was on senior retreat. We continued to watch the video individually and took more notes on the handout that we got in the beginning of the week. I worked thoroughly though the double mod that we had in class and I was actually able to get a lot done. I would say I got a little more than half the answers down so now I only have a little bit left to go until I finish the worksheet. Hopefully I can get it all done or almost to being done on Monday and I hope that Mr. Schick is having a fun time on senior retreat.

3/5/14 west civ class

     Today we continued to watch the video on ancient Greece, but since it was a short bell schedule we didn't get very far into it. I have finally started putting in pictures and effects into my video and it is actually turning out to be pretty good. The only problem I am having is trying to download music into my file so I can put it on my video. I will just have to ask Mr. Schick tomorrow so my video can be the best possible commercial I can make. Hopefully no other problems will arise in the future and I can get this commercial done without any more stress or problems.

3/4/14 west civ class

      Luckily today we were able to back to school which means I didn't  have to do a dreaded cyber day. In class we started to watch a video that will last for about 3 days and we took notes on a hand out that Mr. Schick gave us. The hand out was a past test that we are now using as a study guide, it had lots of vocabulary in a box and lots of questions that we had to match the vocab to. Mr. Schick said that we should know only about 20% of the vocab on the page, but luckily for me I remembered lots of stuff that I learned from past grades on ancient Greece. So really I knew almost 50% of the vocab on the page which is also why I believe I am going to do great on the upcoming test about Greece.

3/3/14 west civ class

     Today we did not have class because we had a snow day, which also means I had a terrible time doing all my school work for cyber day. I really wish this winter will pass and spring will just come so I don't have to keep doing school work from home. Its very hard to stay on task when my sister is being loud and actually enjoying her day off from school. Anyway, I did a little research on Athens to help me with the commercial project but all I really found was information that I already knew before hand. Hopefully my work tomorrow will give me a good amount of research so I can start on my story boards and by the end of the week get an A on this long term project.