My Presentation Day!

           My group presented today and it honestly went better than I would have ever expected. I thought that Mr. Schick was just going to laugh and be so disappointed but, I don't think he was. For the most part, we thought the differences between Athenian and Spartan children in a funny way. I believe that everyone could very clearly see the differences between the genders and the location of the children. This project was actually kinda fun and not that much work.

First Day of Presentations

           In class today, Caitlyn, Miel, Gia, Olivia and Lily all presented. Given that this was the first project, it was pretty good. They essentially did a day in the life of a Greek woman and had to improvise a lot. My group presents tomorrow and I'm honestly not nervous at all for it. Hopefully we get a decent grade because it honestly took us awhile.

No Mr. Schick

           Today, there was no Mr. Schick and we were told to work on our project. My group had nothing to do because we got our video done over the weekend and the paper done during Monday's class time. I'm really bored because I'm not doing anything but I guess it's better than having to read a textbook. I hope that next unit is more enjoyable because I'm really not enjoying learning about civilizations from 2000 years ago.

Wrapping Up the Project

            Today in class, we worked on our project essay and I believe that we finished it. Everyone typed their own paragraph for the place and gender they performed in the video. So far, we have all done equal work which makes me happy because I feel like that NEVER happens during group projects. This past weekend we all met at my house and recorded the actual video and it is the funniest thing ever. I think we'll get an okay grade on this project but I'll just have to wait and see.

Ancient Greece Test

           After what felt like moths of learning about Ancient Greece, today was finally test day. Now, if we read my past blogs it would be very clear that I am an awful student when it comes to Western Civ and cannot seem to pay attention at all. Most people would naturally assume that I would fail a test but, I don't think that this happened today! I am feeling so confident in the test that we took today. I feel like there might be one or two questions that I got wrong but, other than that, I have never felt better about a test in this class!

All The Notes On Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece Geography

• Surrounded by mountains, covered 3/4 of land.
• Fertile valleys covered only 1/4 of land: very hard to make a living off of farming. Only 20% is suitable for farming ARABLE
• Peninsula that juts into Mediterranean Sea.
• 2000 islands within the surrounding seas.
• Three major seas: Aegean, Ionian and Adriatic.
• A major island called Crete in the south/southeast.
• Poor and very limited natural resources.
• Faster to get to the other side of Greece in the sea rather than the land due to mountains.
• Geography allowed for skilled sailors, shipbuilders, farmers, metalworkers, weavers, and potters.
• Developed small, independent communities called city-states to attempt to sustain a community.
• Most valuable crop is olives.

Powerpoint (Again)

          In class today, we continued to discuss the powerpoint and this time...I actually took notes! I wrote majority of my notes about the Greece and Persian War and that wasn't too bad. I also started to look back at my notes from this whole unit and realized we have taken so many notes. The test we take on Friday is going to be extremely long just because of how many notes we have. I am kind of scared for this test because it could very well determine if I get an A in the class so, I am really going to have to study.

Project

           We continued to work on our project and I cannot wait to work on it this weekend. We're all gonna meet at my house and work on the Ma&Pa trail. We figured the trail would be a good background because it very earthy and most likely something that would have been found in Ancient Greece.

Project

           We are FINALLY doing something that isn't book work or a power point and I'm so excited. I've wanted to do something hands on in Western Civ this entire year and my time is finally here. My group is Syd, Belle and Soph and I know we're gonna get a 100. Sophia is FULLY Greek, so we already have the power of the Greeks on our side. I can't wait to get a break from writing notes for an hour!

YAY!

             Mr. Schick wasn't here today and honestly, class didn't feel the same. Instead of taking notes or listening to a powerpoint (or taking a nap) we watched a video. Out of all of the things we've done, the video is definitely my favorite. During videos I am learning, but I also am distracted by what is going on during the movie. I'd prefer to watch videos more often but I HIGHLY doubt that this will happen.

Another Class

          In class today I couldn't keep my eyes open. I fell asleep for a solid 10 minutes and it was the best nap I've taken. Those 10 minutes gave me so much energy and I feel recharged now. I would like to say thank you to Mr. Schick for allowing me to take this nap- it is very, very greatly appreciated. The few notes that I took before my nap were...

-Hippias was a tyrant that ruled from 527BC-510BC
-Isagoras and Cleithenes were both aristocrats
-508BC was birth of democracy and people rose against their leader
-Citizens could participate in elections (citizens were adult, male, property owners, born in Athens)

I Don't Know What We Did in Class

           If I am being entirely honest, I do not recall anything that happened in class today and it is all one giant blur. I know I was there today and I think I was on pretty good behavior so I don't know why I can't recall what we did. I believe we discussed who and what the aristocrats were and they were members of the ruling class. This is the only thing I remember so I hope we didn't learn anything too important.

Class Was NOT Boring!!

            Class today was definitely and interesting one but, it honestly wasn't boring. Greece is starting to become interesting unlike Mesopotamia and Egypt so I'm actually enjoying it!! I took lots of notes from the book today and below will consist of the highlights.

VOCABULARY

Polis- Fundamental politic unit, made of city and countryside.

Monarchy- Rule by single person.

Aristocracy- Rule by a small group of noble, rich people.

Oligarchy- Wealthy groups, dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, seized power.

Tyrant- Powerful individual who gained control by gaining support from the common person, NOT aggressive like modern day tyrants.

Acropolis- Agora, marketplace on a fortified hilltop.

Democracy- Rule by the people.

RULERS

Draco (621BC)

-Rich or poor, Athenians were equal.

-Established a death punishment for nearly every crime.

-Debt slavery to repay the debts you could have from wrong doing.

Solan (594BC)

-Outlawed slavery.

-Established social classes.

-Allowed people to press charges on a wrongdoer.

Cleisthenes (500BC)

-Redid social class and based it off of geographical location and not wealth.

-Allowed citizens to submit laws that they wanted added (increased power of assembly).

-Ultimately allowed for a limited democracy.

I also took lots of notes on education in Sparta, the Spartan military state and the Spartan government but, this is a good place to stop. I learned so much today!

Geography CONTINUED

           We learned and discussed even more of the geography and the Mycenaeans in Ancient Greece and it was boring. I'm getting tired of learned so so so much stuff that is honestly useless and I will never need to know. With this being said, here are the notes from today.

• Greek diet consisted of grains, grapes, olives and fish.
• Lack of resources most likely lead to colonization.
• 1400BC they invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture.
• 20 foot thick wall bordered some of the city-states. 

Geography of Greece

            For most of class today we were focusing on the special things about Ancient Greece's geography. Greece did not have geography that worked in their favor and for the most part, they were very limited in what they could do to sustain community. Greece definitely struggled to get started but, in the end they ended up coming out on top.

      Ancient Greece Geography

• Surrounded by mountains, covered 3/4 of land.
• Fertile valleys covered only 1/4 of land: very hard to make a living off of farming.
• Peninsula that juts into Mediterranean Sea.
• 2000 islands within the surrounding seas.
• Three major seas: Aegean, Ionian and Adriatic.
• A major island called Crete in the south/southeast.
• Poor and very limited natural resources.
• Faster to get to the other side of Greece in the sea rather than the land due to mountains.
• Geography allowed for skilled sailors, shipbuilders, farmers, metalworkers, weavers, and potters.
• Developed small, independent communities called city-states to attempt to sustain a community.

Quiz Day!!!!

           We took a quiz today on Ancient Egypt and I have good news! I actually didn't fail this one!! I got a 74/75. I think the one point I got off on the quiz came from me trying to spell "mediterranean" which I definitely got wrong. Getting such a good grade on this brought me from my 86% up to an 89.86%. I finally have the A that I wanted in Western Civ and now I just have to keep it this way!