New Phone

I have a new phone number!  You can reach me at (503) 893-5788 schooldays from 9am-4pm.

Back to School: Updates, here and theres.

Welcome back from (what I hope was) a refreshing break to the Web Academy.  A friend and I got to visit some of our oldest North American Residents on Vancouver Island in BC, Canada.
Make sure that you set up an appointment for your mentor meeting for the month of April with your Mentor this week!  It is critical that you, your parent and your mentor are all on the same page and understand your current academic plan.
Economics Students should have begun their monitoring of stocks in the Research project.
History Students should be starting their Writing Narrative Essential Skill Work Sample.
Government Students should be thinking about their Writing Persuasive Essential Skill Work Sample.
And 7th Grade students should be starting their Community Service Assignment.
This weeks Documentary Club will look at the lives and art of B-Boy's in Planet B-Boy.  Click here for your Parent Permission Form.
Please get in contact with your teachers or your Mentor if you have any questions, issues or concerns.  There are no insignificant questions!

Nuclear Threat

As the Crisis worsens at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan may are reflecting on our own use of Nuclear Power and the viability of future reliance on this power source.  I found this very interesting infographic which looks at the cost of human life and energy sources worldwide.
Something to ponder over the break.

Spring Break!

Our Spring Break will start tomorrow at 4pm, SWEET!  For many of you this means a break from studies, for others a time to catch up, others still a time to get ahead.  I will be available sparringly as I will be "conquering the usless" from here to Canada and back again.  Please refer to the previous posts for information about classes and assignments.  Big things on the horizon at the Web Academy:

State Testing

High School Essential Skills Work Samples

7th grade Community Service Project (Social Studies)

Admissions and Campus Tours at some of our Finest State Universities.

Please get in contact with me if you have any time sensitive questions that the website cannot answer!
Have a wonderful week!
Mr. Ellsberg

Grades and Reports

Your progress reports were sent out last night.  Hopefully you noticed that all due assignments were allotted a 0 in "My Grades" if they were not submitted before Monday. Unless you contacted me with your individual education plan that you set up with your mentor.   
This does not mean that your final grade for this assignment is a 0, in fact you can still submit that assignment, quiz or test.  The rub is that you have to contact me after you completed ALL post-deadline assignments to remove the 0 for those assignments.  Until that time the grade will stay as is in your grade book.

Two noticeable worrisome trends that I saw were:
-Students waiting until the deadline (Friday) to contact me.
-Students and Parents failing to check their email (or class announcements) on a daily basis, or using their email at all.

A few ways to prevent falling victim to these are:
Parents and Students; Get an email that you can use only for school then send us that address Click Here For Survey.  Then check that every school day, and contact each teacher once a week to check in.
Check your announcements on a daily basis.
Send your teachers a message if you have a question about any query that you may have.
Finally, but most importantly!
Finish your work when it is due in the schedule and if you can't do that let us know.

This may be confusing for some of you, but lets be happy you get another change and that it did not occur at the end of the semester ~ 6/11.
Some more good advice.

Extra Credit: Documentary Club! (Download Permission Slip)

DOWNLOAD PERMISSION SLIP HERE
180 South will be shown Thursday March 17th at 11am for Extra Credit. Big waves, Big rocks, and one Big adventure describes this cross continental trip filmed in 2006. In an effort to promote attendance we will be diverging from the usual less glamorous subjects of Union plight, Deaf culture, and Women suffrage etc. to a more palatable subject: travel. Check out the description and amazing website:
Inspired by Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins' 1968 excursion into Patagonia, adventurer Jeff Johnson sets out to retrace the footsteps of his heroes' arduous trek as filmmaker Chris Malloy follows with camera in hand. But despite the thrill of surfing the biggest wave he's ever encountered, Johnson quickly discovers just how treacherous things can get when you decide to challenge Mother Nature's majesty; in addition to enduring some particularly rough waters just off the coast of Easter Island, he quickly discovers that conquering Cerro Corcovado is no simple task. Later, during a face-to-face meeting with Chouinard and Tompkins, Johnson learns how their lifelong quest to explore everything that nature has to offer eventually lead them on a drive to ensure that the places they visited over the years will be preserved for future generations of explorers to discover.

7th Grade Social Studies, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Student will need to check out from the local library, or purchase Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.  Let me know if you need any help finding this resource!  We do have some at the Academy, but our resources are very limited!
-Mr. Ellsberg

Companies giving taxes an Irish goodbye?

Here is an interesting infographic showing how companies are evading our High Income Tax which is costing the American people billions and likely trillions. Click here for full transparency.

Upcoming Deadlines

All students should be completed with work up to week 6, Friday the 11th in all classes with Mr. Ellsberg as a teacher. As per beginning of the semester:
Deadlines will be implemented in all of my classes after every 6 week interval. So all work has to be completed up to that date to get credit. Students who have not completed work will receive a "0" for those assignments. If there is a conflicting issue please get in contact with me ASAP. ellsberg@gbwebacademy.org

Extra Credit: Documentary (Sound and Fury)

We will be continuing the ever popular Documentary Club Featuring Sound and Fury this week Thursday the 10th at 11am.  If you would like to attend (and I hope you do) you need to bring with you this Parent Permission Slip.
Description:
Josh Aronson's documentary takes an unexpected approach to the "medical miracle" film by examining the political and emotional turmoil that erupts between brothers over the cochlear implant that might allow their deaf children to hear. The ways in which a so-called miracle cure can divide as well as heal families and communities is the focus of Sound and Fury, which received an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature.