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toc ** //Welcome to Mr. Veliz's Homepage// **

=Announcements=

Ever feel like a failure? Watch this: media type="youtube" key="Y6hz_s2XIAU" height="344" width="425"

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//** 6th Graders Click Here

7th Graders Click Here

Sunday, August 17, 2008**// Both 6th Grade World Cultures and 7th Grade U.S. History students must have the online student survey completed by Wednesday morning at 9:30. We will discuss how to access this survey on day one, so pay attention and ask questions right away. Do not wait until Wednesday morning to do this!!

=Welcome=

Welcome back to school!! I hope that you are as excited about the 2008-2009 school year as I am. I've spent all summer looking forward to – and preparing for – my second year at Swift Creek.

I'm especially excited about getting the opportunity to teach history this year - both American History and World History. Students often come into a history class with some preconceived ideas about what the class will be like, most of them negative. One of my goals this year is to shatter most of those ideas. We will obviously spend time learning history, but most of our time will be spent // **doing** // history. Memorization – while sometimes necessary – will take a backseat to exploring, researching, analyzing, and, in a word, //**doing**// history.

Another one of my goals this year is to help my students begin to acquire the 21st century skills that will be essential as they move into our increasingly globalized economy. Both in the normal course of business in our class, and for the various projects that we will undertake, students should become comfortable working and communicating in an online environment. Be assured that I am sensitive to concerns about online safety, and will make Internet safety a priority throughout the year. Parents, to help ease any concerns that you may have, I encourage you to remain actively engaged in your child's progression in our class. I will work hard to keep you informed through email and website communication.

Each student will be required to register for a [|Gmail] account. This will make navigating through our technology-based projects easier, and will also gives students a great avenue of communication with classmates and myself. This will allow also students to turn-in work through [|Google Docs], which is a method of assignment submission that I will make available (and sometimes require) this year. A [|Google] account will also allow students to easily login to the service that we will use for blogging assignments. If you need any help signing up for a [|Google] account, I'd be happy to assist you.

As I stated above, I'm excited about getting started. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at velizhistory@gmail.com.

For course-specific information, please follow the appropriate link from the menu on the left side of this page.

=About Me= Section under development.

=How to use this site=

Mr. Veliz's online classroom is really several separate websites linked together. This Homepage is the central hub from which all of the other important sites can be reached. For information pertaining to your class, you should follow the appropriate link from the menu on the left side of this page. Once in the online classroom for your class, you can click on the Mr. Veliz's Homepage link from the menu on the left.

I urge you to explore all of the resources that can be found on and from this Homepage. Becoming familiar with these resources will put you on the road to success.

If you become confused using this website, or if you feel something is missing or can be improved, please do not hesitate to talk with me about your concern.