Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Welcome to AP Psychology 2008-2009

I am extremely excited to have you all in AP Psychology. This course is challenging, but also intriguing and relevant to us all.

This blog will be utilized to introduce topics we will talk about in the coming months, continue class discussion, and provide additional relevant materials. At times I may take a position I believe the class will disagree with simply for the sake of discussion (devil's advocate). You may also utilize the blog to receive answers to questions you were uncomfortable asking in class or did not get a chance to ask.

You are expected to read and respond to EVERY blog post unless otherwise indicated within the posting. It is imperative that you take extra strides to ensure your posts are free of grammatical errors.

Also, make sure that your posts are spread out over the Nine Week period. I will not accept last minute posts. Feel free to post as often as you want and respond to your classmates. However, posts such as "I agree," will not count towards your grade. You should either make an argument, pose a question, a general comment/answer on a topic, or elaborate on another student's comment.

I encourage you to be honest in your responses to the blogs. You are not required to use your government name (real name), but I also expect you will not abuse/misuse this forum. Inappropriate comments will not be tolerated. You are all wonderful, mature, Red Raiders, and I am confident we will have no issues. This is a Hate-Free community :)

With that said, I would like you to respond to the following questions:

What are your strengths and weaknesses academically?
What circumstances may prevent you from keeping up with home learning assignments?
How can I best support you throughout this school year?

I certainly look forward to receiving and reading your responses, and I am looking forward to an eventful year of Psychology.

15 comments:

Emmanuel Demosthene said...

I am incredibly strong and capable academically, but I often obstruct that with laziness. I am a great listener and a creative thinker.

Minor difficulties with access to a computer and a possible lack of materials may prevent me from keeping up with home learning assignments.

You can best support be by being patient, strict, fair, and understanding with me.

Ethel V. said...

I'm quite a decent student, with the typical faults(no need for elaboration). My goal is to complete the assignments. I have a tendency to be lazy, however I am determined and attentive.

Sad to say life does get in the way of my school work at times. I do have a demanding family and only one functinal laptop which belongs to my territorial brother suffering from paranoia(go figure). Getting time with the laptop is quite a battle, so [yes] that might be a minor problem.

The best of help you could ever render to me is be patient,understanding, yet uncompromising, and reasonable.

Strawbray said...

My strengths are staying positive, taking notes, and good memory. My weaknesses are not using that memory and i think staying motivated.

Things such as understanding an assignment or illness in my family would prevent me from keeping up with home learning assignments.

You can best support me by helping and breaking things down cause sometimes i have "dumb blonde" moments.

Patreesia D. said...

I'm quite capable of accomplishing almost anything when i set my mind to it and stay focused, but i often have a difficult time staying focused.

From time to time my house is a little caotic. The fights that my mom and dad have may prevent me from accomplishing my homework assignments(it's kinda difficult to focus).

You can best support me by being patient,helping me to stay focused, and possibly be a little understanding.

Nera said...

One of my strengths is reading. I love to read and usually I have no difficulty in comprehending what I've just read. I am able to read something and if it was of intrest to me, I can easily remember it. On the other hand, I seriously suck at math. There's no other way to say it. Too many numbers give me a headache (literally). I don't know why I don't get it, I just don't. I don't need to say how bad I am but let's just say that a fourth grader is probably better than me.

I try my best to get all of my homework done. The only problem that I encounter is when I'm given an online assignment. I don't have internet at home and basically I could say I don't even have a computer. And when I come home from school I'm usually too tired to walk to the library and I can't always depend on my friends to come pick me up. So it might take me a while to respond to the blogs.

The best way I could recieve support from you is to give us reasonable deadlines. Sometimes I can't reply to a blog the same day it's been posted. Thank You!

Mark Charles said...

My strengths are reading, writing, and some other electives like physical education, and computer science. My weaknesses are math, amd science.

Sometimes when I get home I would sleep untill nighttime and when I finally wake up I would forget to do it, or I would prolong it untill it was to late into the night.

The best way to support me is to continue to do what you are doing. For example you make the class fun because you aren't afraid to say what you me, or to make jokes.

sophomore status said...

THIS IS THE YUNG ONE U KNOW I'M ONE THAT SOPHOMORE STATUS.

MY STRENGTHS ACADEMICALLY ARE I'M ORGANIZED,DEDICATED,DETERMINED,AND I PUT MY BEST EFFORTS FORTH WHEN TRYING TO COMPLETE AN ASSIGNMENT. I'M ALSO CAPABLE OF WORKING ON MY OWN. HOWEVER, MY WEAKNESSES ARE THAT I TEND TO LOSE FOCUS WHEN THE CLASS BORES ME(WHICH I KNOW WON'T HAPPEN AS LONG AS MS.VALDEZ IS TEACHING THE CLASS). I ALSO DON'T WORK TO WELL IN GROUPS BECAUSE I'M USED TO WORKING INDEPENDENTLY.

THE ONLY CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MAY PREVENT THE FROM COMPLETING HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS IS THE MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF HOMEWORK I RECEIVE FROM MY OTHER CLASSES. ANOTHER FACTOR THAT MAY PREVENT ME FROM DOING MY ASSIGNMENTS IS IF THERE'S A FAMILY EMERGENCY WHICH IS VERY RARE IN MY FAMILY SO I SHOULD BE ABLE TO COMPLETE HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS.

TO BEST SUPPORT ME THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL YEAR ALL U NEED TO DO MS.VALDEZ IS CONTINUE YOU TO BE THE BEST TEACHER IN THE WORLD.

SP said...

My best strength is writing, definitely...there is just something about it. However, I'm only into non-fiction writing, which may cause a problem for me later on but Ms. Smith is helping m with that this year. I absolutely HATE math, but I'm hoping to gain a sense of it more this year since it is my final year. For all other subjects, I'm pretty average. And I'm also a great TV/Film student...I love the subject.

The only thing that would stop me is myself, nothing else to blame unless I had something to do that day, which is rare. The responsibility is fully on me and I have to learn to go with that.

If you just keep me focused and dedicated to the work, then we'll be strait! lol

Jimmy_Dean18 said...

I am also a decent student who at times can be very lazy.
Psychology for me is an interest not a strongsuit.
So if I don't perform very it's not my fault. I do try my best sometimes to keep up with everybody else.

Some minor difficulties I may have are accessing online assignments, because my mother has my laptop a lot for her online school and she takes it to work with her.

The way you can help is to try to make things somewhat simpler of offer tutoring because like I said before Psychology isn't a strongsuit of mine especially not AP Psychology. I've already tried to drop the class several times but it hasn't seem to work maybe it's because of a good reason. I am looking forward to actually learning something and passing off of pure knowledge and not luck.

Camille said...

Iam capable of diong what i need to do academically, except math i haven't been learning in math since 8th grade. I think i'm way more focused this year in getting better grades and moving my GPA up.

Computers may be a problem with homework being i don't have one. Besides that it may be a tiring day at practice that'll make me forget or just don't want to do it.

What You can do for me ms.valdez is make these blogs a bigger percentage of our grades because they are the easiest gardes in the class.

Naomie said...

My strengths are my ability to learn quickly and my persistance to finish all my work.

My weaknesses however are that I need to find something that will capture my attention and keep it.

You can best support me by being patient but strict.

cha-chy said...

Well to introduce myself im a very out spoken person the sometimes like to play and goof around but i have prove the i can get down with my class work when i focused and really want to accomplish something...

Wesly said...

well i am a student who loves to learn new things everyday. i can sometimes be lazy and lose focus, but i try. You said that psychology have some science in it that is not a subject that i am strong in, but looking forward to learning to a lot this year.

Zaraki Kenpachi said...

iam a jerk and iam strong at thinking on my feet,but dont try testing what i just said out.

TOYA said...

To be honest at first i wasn't focused on school but since i talked to my counselor she helped me realize that i dont have no time to waist i have to be focused my GPA is not were it needs to be.

the #1 thing that gots me not focus is he say she say goin on in the school right now and that makes me not focused on whats really important.... im education drama is my weakness

About Me

Miami, FL, United States
I teach AP Psychology, American Government, Economics, American History, World History, and Inquiry Skills at Miami Edison Senior High, where we are "Rising to the Challenge!"