Welcome to Mr. Eddy's Eighth Grade History Class!

Welcome to Eighth Grade History at Santa Rosa Academy.

I hope you had a great summer and I am excited to be one of your teachers this year. I believe we will have a successful and fun year together. To do that, we need to make sure together that certain expectations are met.

Expectation One: you need to work hard in my class. The first step in working hard is to be prepared. You'll need to make sure your MacBook is charged and ready to go. We might not use it everyday, but you need to be prepared to use it on any day. You will also need a dedicated composition book just for my class and my class alone. Because we will be using the composition book alongside the MacBook, you will need a pen or pencil everyday. I suggest you have more than one. In class, we will also be using whiteboards often. To be prepared, you should always have at least one working dry erase marker. Other than those items, it is the willingness to work hard in my class that you need to bring with you everyday. That leads into the second expectation.

Expectation Two: be respectful. You likely already know that Santa Rosa Academy places an emphasis on the classic traits of good character. I find that respect is a good umbrella term to cover many, if not most, of them at the same time. I expect you to show respect for me and for your other teachers, for the school staff, for your classmates, for school material and the property of others, and for yourself. Our class will run much more smoothly if we can all keep that basic respect in mind.

Eighth Grade History focuses on history in the United States of America from approximately 1700 to the early 1900s. We'll learn about the colonial era, the French and Indian War, the War for American Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, the westward push, the Era of Good Feelings, the Monroe Doctrine, conflict and compromise in the struggle to end slavery, the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, industrialization and changing technologies, and so much more. It will be quite a ride!

Grades will be determined with a weighted point system. Tests and quizzes will be forty percent of the overall grade. Homework will be thirty percent of the overall grade. Projects and presentations will be twenty-five percent of the overall grade, and the final five percent of the overall grade will be participation and effort. I will rarely give opportunities for extra credit; you should put in your best effort with every assignment.

Just as I have expectations of you, you can also expect some things of me. Like you, I will be working hard at my job. I will make myself available to you in class and outside of class (I will post times soon for drop-in discussion and tutoring) to help you. I will keep this blog up-to-date for you and will respond promptly to emails. I will do what I can to help you succeed.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to a great year!