johnstonsevens

Friday, February 24th

2012-02-24T18:04:00.000-08:00

So sorry I broke my promise last night to post after my meeting. I could not trust myself to be rational last night after I heard G. Abbot speak on CBC and it took all my resolve not to make political comment. I need to take the 'high road' because this Blog is for you (my students and their parents). I will keep it relevant to learning and as professional as I can.

Thursday learning that I missed in yesterday's post

Spelling test(s) list 10 and List #9 for those who missed last Friday
SRA reading program- I am rallying the students for the last four sessions before spring break (the program will only continue for those who are not at their grade reading level. More students are reaching beyond their grade level reading. So encouraging!
Math 7 : more practice of the 'middle step' as I call it for finding the solution to one and two step equations. The students are getting more confidence and those who were 'fighting' the patterns are beginning to see and understand them. As adults we do have to realize that some adolescent brains are still pre-symbolic (check Piaget's work) and that what we see easily is more difficult for the developing brain. That is why the text uses visuals (models) and a variety of methods including manipulation of balances. The method that I find is one that will be useful in future grades is solving by using the opposite operation- balancing one side and applying the same operation to both sides of the equation.

My suggested steps are
1. isolate the variable by using the opposite operation
2. rewrite the equation (keep the equals signs parallel) in each step
3. solve it by applying the arithmetic operation
4. check if the answer is a reasonable one (that it works in the original equation)

y+28=50
y+28-28=50-28
y=22
check 22+28=50
Students are on notice that the unit review will be split into three separate parts. The first on pre-algebra patterns next Tuesday- this is by student request as our last (not FSA) unit test was TOO long and TOO much all at once for their brains to handle. So we have negotiated a solution (WOW- imagine that! My student and I can negotiate solutions. I'll stop there just incase I get unprofessional!

we had a practice of our 'lock down' procedure in the afternoon which we all survived unscathed and our visiting guest speaker from the Sustainable Energy Association had to hunker down with us!!
Climate Change workshop. It was okay; however I find more and more that the methods that we have used in the past to engage (or try to engage) students are no longer as effective as they might have been. The students were polite and participated well but it was a little slow for them I think.
We are taking part in a challenge to bring down our class 'thermometer' (carbon footprint) over the next month. It should be fun but I have to rally their commitment and imaginations.
Group Project work on our new video games (or candy bar ) creations. The students were great and I am never disappointed with their creative ideas- some just need 'honing' (is that a word?) shaping perhaps is a better word!
Dismissal

Weekend Homework
some have some math to practice
some have a few more novel chapters to read
nothing new
Reminders
new seating plan Monday
Wednesday next week is our Pink Day anti-bullying Feb 29th

Friday- our general day
Science- Chemistry
calculating Density using the formula D=m/v or density equals mass divided by volume
Textual work today included practice finding the density of glycerin, whether chloroform (no, we did not have any of the real stuff in class! Can you imagine?) was denser than water (it is) and identifying metals by density today we were able to identify using a density chart that the metal that we found the density of in one sample approximated closely to the chart specification for lead. We looked at a great interactive version of the Periodic Table of the Elements and completed five questions for Checking general Understanding.
We worked hard so when it came time for computers this morning there was only half of our scheduled time left...

Computers 15 minutes free time- many (not all) are playing the chemistry game called Dan-ball- the boys really like creating explosions by virtually mixing different chemicals!

Math 7 More of the same (see yesterday) we worked in the text p.400 apply questions #13-18 and I distributed a worksheet of sample or practice equations for more time practicing the steps I shared above from Thursday's class. We are winning I think!! Some student who were throwing me dirty looks on Monday are excited that they are 'getting it' now but the hilarious thing is that it really had very little to do with me. It is that they are now really making an effort :) I'll take credit for nagging them to make the effort!

11:30-noon games half hour in math today the big draw was Monopoly (short version), chess, checkers, a card game called 'spoons' and a few asked for more time to practice or complete their algebra. I'll repeat that again students actually wanted MORE TIME for their ALGEBRA. woohoo
I'm a happy camper.

Did you see the snow? We noticed too!

Silent reading
Honour band practice

Art

Creative Project work

To end the day, I wanted to have a chance to show the students a TED Talks video (18 minutes) by a British chef called Jamie Oliver-I have mentioned this presentation before but hadn't had the opportunity to show it to students. It is about educating children about food. The students were so into it that they acted like they were part of the TED audience and clapped politely along with the people who attended the presentation. It was priceless. You should check it out if you have 20 minutes as it has a sobering message for parents and children alike.

Dismissal

New seating plan in effect Monday- that's why I'm still at school at nearly 6pm on a Friday. Please don't tell George because it might confuse him as he thinks everything teachers do is hurting children! As I said - don't get me started.
Have a good weekend.
Mrs. J.

Thursday, February 23rd

2012-02-23T15:34:00.002-08:00

I will make a promise to post more thoroughly about today's classes after I get back from yet another meeting. Of course it is at the other side of town in15 minutes. So, it will be later tonight-

Homework
Nothing for tonight
spelling tests are over
I have given a 'breather' for math 7 as sometinmes I think too much of a concept can tire the brain beyond caring!! Tonight is a brain break!
Reminder
to breath deeply and floss everyday

Wednesday, Feb 22nd

2012-02-22T17:38:00.003-08:00

Posting a bit later than usual.
I had a fitness class after school and I have to be speedygonzales as I also have a curling game tonight- the last league game of the season!

Homework
List 9 and list 10 spelling tests tomorrow
Math 7 show the 'middle steps' for p.20 #15- #22
Read novels to chapter 10 or more if you are really into the story :)
Reminder
Climate workshop tomorrow afternoon after a safety drill

General Day
Daily French was on the board but I didn't get around to it (I wonder if you can buy a round tuit? )

We did a bit of housekeeping this morning regarding the use of cell phones at school and in class. I also asked for some help and support with the four or five personalities that constantly hold our class and time hostage by being silly. We are considering another desk switch before spring break.

Spelling practice time

Language - we had some fun with dangling participles (no, dangling participles do not hang low) or defining and specifying the reference of a sentence noun or antecedent.
Do you remember the old : I bought a piano from a lady with wooden legs or I watched my father bring home the horses dressed in cowboy attire?
Today we did our best to clarify and reconfigure what actually had the wooden legs and who was dressed in cowboy attire. It was kind of fun for grammar...
That reminded me of a book called Anguished English by former professor Richard Lederer. It had some 'howlers' from students exam answers...
Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak
The leader of the Bolsheviks was John Lennon
Pompeii was destroyed by an overflow of saliva from the Vatican
The two main religions of Ireland are Catholic and Prostitute
Shakespeare wrote in Islamic Pentameter (should be Iambic)

We had a good laugh. I remember once one of my senior students when answering a question about Macbeth wrote that the king exposed himself to his banquet guests and I thought it was so funny that I couldn't mark another question about Act III without giggling and conjuring up this image of the King of Scotland in a dirty raincoat!
Then there was the mood question about the atmosphere of the novel (meaning how the author created feeling in readers) which one student answered in great detail about how the rainstorm in chapter 9 must have had an affect on the atmosphere!
It is bloopers like this that keep me laughing and looking forward to reading my students' papers.

Band

Math 7 better return of trials for homework and also a bit of confusion which we were able to address in class. Today we finally did the word problems #13 and #14. I ask that students copy the class examples from the board for two reasons 1. they are getting some practice taking accurate notes (brain-eye-hand coordination and focus) and 2. they have some reference for studying the examples for the upcoming quiz on the skills.
For homework I have asked the students to find the 'middles steps of the remaining eight examples on page 20. We will have spent three days on this page by tomorrow.
11:30-noon computers for Math practice IXL and MathLinks 7 practice solving one step equations on-line.

Silent Reading (we had a bit longer today by 5 minutes)
provided some catch up and I did a check on math for a few students

desk clean out- much needed or some
new seating group preferences (student wrote down their preference for a group and I will work from those to determine a new plan)
Great Mail Race - another letter from Nova Scotia

Physical Education
basketball/ half gym class game- it was just okay- some drama and some overly competitive antics on the class game side of the gym. Appreciation goes out to Jack who asked me in all sincerity after today's class how I managed to stay calm. Thanks for the compliment, Jack- thanks for noticing. Gotta love that!
I told him it was students like him who kept me sane!

Group Creative time on the chocolate bars and the video games. Good use of time to the end of the day.
Nice Wednesday all in all. Thanks everyone, see you Thursday.
Have a great evening.
Mrs. J.
I'll leave you with this doozy
Hitler spread his testicles all over Europe like an octopus hungry for power. OMG

Tuesday, February 21st

2012-02-21T16:33:00.000-08:00

"Another one bites the dust..."

Il pleut aujourd'hui. In day at lunch due to inclement weather- two Advil day!

Homework
Spelling (5 students missed the list 9 test last Friday- study for List ( and anyone who wants a redo)
List # 10 for Thursday this week
Reading- novel make a big effort to get to end of chapter 10 (quite a few have completed their novels :))
Math 7 # 13 and # 14 on worksheet p 20- solving equations- show the middle steps of the formula provided- show HOW to get the answer!
Reminders
Climate change workshop Thursday after safety drill
Pink Day anti-bullying campaign Feb 29th
Book recommendations for the school challenge Feb 29th (this day only comes around every four years so it's a special one!)

General Day
Daily French- regular 'whine' about the weather and today's day, date, month. I try to put up something that might introduce a new word or review a concept. Today it was a review of time.

Spelling practice on your own (list # 10)

SRA reading Lab we have after today's session 5 SRA sessions left. A couple have completed their SRA 'obligations' by completing successfully 6 activities at the Grade Nine level. Once complete those students will have the chance to read a novel suggested (or of their own choice) while we are working on SRA.
The good news is that all students have moved up at least one or two reading levels.

Introduction to a creative and artistic mini-project. I have always had fun with my student's creativity and ideas. They are to work independently or with a partner or in a group (not more than four) on the creation of a new candy bar OR a new video games concept. I was able to share some examples from previous years and, thanks to Nick Paxton, I could show the videos that he filmed for us last year and posted to You-Tube.
The students were inspired and immediately the class was a buzz with ideas and laughter (some a little OTT)
This afternoon there will be time to get started but this morning was time to select a group size and project.
I got myself out of their way and by morning recess there were individuals, partners and groups of three and four who had managed to agree to work on their own or together with a concept :)

Math p 20 - yesterday I gave the solutions to the p20 equations. Homework was to write the 'middle step' to prove the solutions were the correct solutions.
Two students did it a couple more said they 'tried' but...two of twenty eight!?
What to do? Quick homework lecture and move on?
Today we took 11-11:30 to review and specifically show the middle steps of p.20 # 6-12. We did them on the board and the students were asked to copy them into their math journals.
I have tried again. This time I asked for the students to complete the 'middle steps for the TWO that we didn't get done in class for tomorrow (#13 1nd 14). They now have lots of examples to draw on so, hopefully, two examples will not be overwhelming.
Hopefully, they'll learn the importance of making their own effort before they hit the hallowed halls of Junior High (or not). However, I don't think I seem to be making any impact on the homework front.
I really struggle with this...I have an hour to teach a class on a daily basis Monday to Friday (I see the students for math 5 hours in a week). I have a curriculum to follow and learning outcomes to cover. This is one subject of many.
I can get side tracked trying to get 'blood out of a stone' or I can 'suck it up' and provide practice time in class. It is important they try the work on their own - is it important that they try it at home? I'm 'old school' and I'd say yes; others would disagree (Alfie Kohn among them) but I can only control (and not always) what goes on in my classroom and the learning opportunities that I provide.
What to do with students who won't not because they can't but because they don't?

11:30-12 Physical Education was moved to the morning due to a presentation in the gym this afternoon.
Split gym. All grade sevens together today for either floor hockey or basketball. I was VERY impressed with the teamwork and fast play. Great job.

in day @ lunch

Silent reading took a bit to settle but they managed :)

French
Les sports and a look at reviewing les questions francais using the resource Aventures C
I am embarrassed to confess that the vocabulary that I was displaying for sports had an unusual phrase that I did not remember or recognize (taches de rousseur). It didn't belong with my sports vocabulaire but, oh, I made it fit, I said it was roller skates (FAIL!). Taches de rousseur is 'freckles' NOT roller skates. I have asked the students to find out roller skates en francais (patins a roulettes).
Gaelic anyone?

Group creative time: see morning concept and project. This afternoon student had 35-40 minutes to brainstorm and get their creative concepts underway. Some interesting ideas... more later when they have been fully formed. So far...radioactive muffins, bounty hunters (animals with special powers), candy bar for seniors that will be perfect for bingo nights, Greek wars, animee (Sonic) and let us not forget the Hunger Games on X-box. Methinks there might even be a market for some of these concepts... if only I had some contacts with the people who makes these kinds of things happen...

End of day, back together, share and clean up.
Shared some letters we have received for the Great Canadian Mail Race and had takers for writing back to Ontario and Mamquam Elementary. :)
Dismissal
Have a good evening.
Mrs. J.

Monday, February 20th

2012-02-20T16:28:00.000-08:00

Monday again...actually as Mondays can go, this one was pretty smooth sailing which is very nice for all of us :)

Homework
Spelling List # 10 for Thursday test
Math 7 Algebra: the 'middle step' for the equations and examples we were analysing today (the students have the solutions but they have to try to figure out the middle - how did we arrive at those solutions?)
Math 6 coordinate grid worksheet (multiplication x8)
Novel (class novels: The Giver, Woodsong, The Applewhites and Milkweed) Read first third of the novel (chapters 1-5 last week- this week 5-10 +)
Reminders
Climate Change workshop Thursday PM
Phys Ed. switch Tuesday due to the a school reading venture in the gym tomorrow afternoon (I forgot to tell them today - oops!)

General Day
Daily French

return spelling list #9 two thirds of which were excellent (13-15 out of a possible 15) the other third were not so good (averaging at 5 or 6 of a possible 15). So they were either very good or not (no middle class!)
I did my usual spiel about how some students can spell easily and how others must work much harder but that the defining qualifier was how much effort was put into studying. They are responsible for that.

We prepped List #10 for Thursday

I had prepared a grammar worksheet but when I distributed it, it was one they had completed last week!!
So happy news for the students - no grammar worksheet today! Yeah!

Instead we had a discussion about the The Hunger Games (THG) and Harry Potter (HP) and from it we formed a journal question that had actually been a question that Ashley (a HUGE THG fan) had asked me to answer (last week) regarding which series I thought was the better story/series. I thought about it all weekend. I came up with a rambling reply which seemed to satisfy her although she didn't agree, of course.

The questions:
Had they read THG? Why? Was it because every one else was reading THG? Did they like it? Why? How did they think it compared to HP?

I guess I was shocked to find out that the vast majority of the grade sixes and sevens had NOT read the Harry Potter books and only some had seen the movies! I guess they were toddlers when the Philosopher's Stone was published and the series was written and filmed over the next 10 years. But it was passe when they were of reading age. Still, I was in shock.
So Twilight and THG are the 'in' theme for young adolescent readers and they can't compare the stories to HP because they haven't read them. Wow- I think I have an idea for the next read aloud!
Anyway, if you are interested in what I shared with Ashley, I suggested that both stories were different genre and worthy in their own right but as a series I had to go with HP because my interest was sustained for seven volumes and I was beginning to tire of THG by the third book in the series, Mockingjay.
It was very interesting for me to hear how they were not interested in the Harry Potter stories and some not even in THG but how they 'might' watch a movie (if it's not too boring!) That brings me to another question about what 'too boring' means to teenagers today!!

Band

Math: Algebra
Today we practiced working on solving one-step and two-step equations using the 'middle step' (the procedure for cancelling out the numerical coefficient(s) before solving). As usual some were getting it, some need a lot more time, practice and assistance and a few were pretending to try! I guess pretending is better than 'sleeping'!!
I shared an article on the overhead about the importance of algebra as a 'bridge' into understanding higher/symbolic math but even reading it sounded too lecture like. I meant it to help them understand that this is only an introduction to be developed in the coming years of their education- see it sounds like a threat!
I'll stop now!

Silent Reading

Personal Planning
Our theme is still on Youth Culture and Media
We used the teenage survival guide to delve into the 'awkward' stage of puberty when they seem to be clumsy and careless but really they are developing spatial awareness skills. Honestly. There has to be a lot of spills and 'accidents' before they realize those feet and hands actually do belong to them.

We are still in the midst of safety awareness and making good decisions on-line and with cell phones. Decision making is difficult for those who are still developing their cognitive skills. The intent is to at least bring more awareness to the issues and concerns that digital technology can bring to their lives. I have found that there really is a lack of literature on appropriate etiquette for teenagers (or youngsters) with cell phones- technology is moving so fast that the problems are upon us before we have had a chance to think about repercussions.
On Thursday evening 9pm on CBC's Doc Zone (for parents only) there is a documentary which will disturb you but also provide parents with an insight into the digital world of today's teenagers. I encourage you to watch it but would suggest NOT with your children. Maybe PVR it and watch it at another time but if you are at all interested in the issues and media influences on our teenage boys and girls (your children) please book an hour to see this documentary.

Library exchange with Mrs. H.

Computers
I allowed the students some time to 'surf'
kidshealth.org
this is an award winning web site that provides clear and healthy answers to questions and concerns about all sorts of health issues including body image, development, mind and social issues. There is a portal for parents too. You should check it out if you can and see the kind of information that is available. It might even help start a conversation about "Awkward" issues with your teens.

We finished the day with 15 minutes free time at computers.

Back in class (last 10 minutes of the day), we cleaned up and did a claim time which I have been meaning to do before now- clothes, jackets, hats, gloves, lunches (no, you really do not want to know!), containers (not to be opened in class so the mould spores stay intact), music papers, math, odd bits and bobs which have been lost and forgotten were claimed today (or not). Some items unclaimed went to the lost and found and others (sorry) some had to go directly into the garbage. But I did hang onto a Tupperware container (white, plastic with a lid with an attached 'handle') if you are missing it please tell me.

Dismissal
Have a good evening.
Mrs. J.

Friday Feb. 17th

2012-02-17T16:17:00.000-08:00

Sorry there was no post Thursday- I was away from school and would like to thank Mr. Day who was my TOC for the great job he did in class Thursday.
Thursday's learning
Spelling practice
Two grammar worksheets- nouns made plural and verbs crossword puzzle
SRA reading Lab
Math p.16 of booklet and text work on patterns and pre-algebra recognition of expressions
Silent Reading
French
Physical Education: Lacrosse introduction by a guest coach
Art Dragon s and a few pages of the read aloud, Dragon Keeper

Homework
nothing new for the weekend
Reminders
Next Thursday we have a Climate Change Workshop (after a safety drill)

General Day
Spelling Test for List #9

Science:
I was not sure whether or not I should try to go ahead with the PVA "slime" lab as I had not taken the time to properly mix the Sodium Borate solution prior to the class. However, I made the decision to go ahead with it and not unexpectedly, there were mixed results and a few disappointed students as the solution I did mix (too quickly) did not create the expected coagulation. The slime was too runny to play with - it worked for a few but the majority of students were not successful.
I guess that's science but the students were very keen to try again although now I'll have to order another bottle of PVA (polyvinyl alcohol).
I will do the lab more successfully another day. Today's word for science was coagulation (which didn't happen!!)

We will follow up the lab with a group report on the teacher (proper measurement and dissolution of the 4% Sodium Borate) and student errors (using way too much food colouring and changing the chemical content further) that led to the lack of success of the lab so that when we do it right we can see and enjoy the difference.
That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!! lol

Math Introduction to solving multi step equations- today we simply copied some examples from the board into our math journals for future reference
One example:
4y+(2-3)x5=75
4y+(-1)x5=75
4y+(-1)x5/5=75/5
       4y+(-1)=15
        4y+1-1= 15+1
                4/4y= 16/4
                  y=4
check solution: 4x4+(-1)x5= 75
                                 15x5= 75
This was a copy example only- the students are not yet ready for solving these kind of multi-step equations yet. They dutifully (I think copied the steps)

Game time/ help with the primary music class. 11:30-noon

Silent Reading/
honour band

Art: have few projects on the go some being completed others 'filling in' with some smaller artistic activities

Eyewitness DVD Natural Disasters (25 minutes)
This showed how our world doesn't need any help creating weather and internal disasters. We looked at the history of devastating volcanoes, earthquakes, wind related storms (hurricane, typhoon and monsoon) and the resulting flooding, Tornado Alley, water related disasters like Tsunamis and water causing landslides, drought, blizzards and avalanches. The video was made using old technology and it was a bit cheesy but it did manage to cover enough Natural Disasters to parallel the man- made help we are giving the natural world. It is a pre-cursor to next week's Climate Change workshop from the Ministry of the Environment (that sound like a Harry Potter special!).
I was also able to show the students some pictures from the Icelandic volcano eruption in April 2010

Ashley and Chloe (former students) showed up to answer some questions about high school.

Dismissal
Have a good weekend
Mrs. J.
P.S. I would like to thank all the students and colleagues who have been very kind and generous to me. Your birthday wishes and gifts, hugs and stories have all been very appreciated and special. I look forward to having some time to relax and unwind a little with the spa kit and the lovely aromatic oil sticks.
To AJ who gave me a lesson in resilience and helped me understand true compassion, to Teresa for the 'shaving kit' (I knew it wasn't but the boys teased us that I had my first shaving kit (it was a spa package :)), to Tesla for the Lotus Flower oil sticks, to Margaret, our principal, whose card brought a tear to my eye and whose gift brought a smile to my face and my coffee, to Anita who brought me a scratch and win (I haven't scratched it yet) If I'm off Monday- I won!!! Kidding! To Char for the cake and the story that went with it- priceless (sorry, Henry I guess half of the cake that came to school for me (us) was actually yours. I owe you one). To Simi for a simple hug- no words needed - for everything else there is Mastercard. To my boys who did what boys do best - birthday bumps! 51 and a couple for good luck- they were gentle bumps or I'd not be typing this right now!
I know I am loved and that makes me feel very fortunate and humble. Thank-you all so very much. My father is making a slow but steady recovery and has turned the corner after his stroke last week.
Your love and support means everything to me. xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Wednesday, Feb 15th

2012-02-15T22:42:00.000-08:00

Sorry so late tonight- I had some family business to take care of first. Thanks for understanding.

Homework
Math 7 p16 the last page of the pre-algebra booklet
List # 9 for Friday test
Reminders
For everyone to have a good night's sleep! No kidding- there have been some frayed nerves and testy responses in our general behaviour. We need to work together a bit better and be kinder to each other.

General Day
daily French

Spelling practice list #9

Language/grammar: eight parts of speech review in crossword format and a noun worksheet recognizing a noun from a bank of words when given a definition.

Novel Idol
Possible new read aloud, Dragon Keeper, I managed to read to p8 of chapter 1 today. Its success as our new read aloud will depend on the students' reviews of the first two chapters- if it doesn't make the cut, I must find another possible Novel Idol contestant.

Band

Math 7
Pre-algebra: recognizing algebraic expressions from English wording.
i.e. one number added to another number = x+y
Learning to gather like terms.
i.e. 3x + 6y+ 2y = 3x+8y
Evaluating expressions when value of variable is given.
i.e. 2x+y when x=3 and y=7
2(3)+7 = 6+7 = 13
I think some parents would be surprised to see how students can shut down in class and make the decision ,without really making any effort, that they can not/will not be successful because it is algebra! It is all about fear and lack of confidence. My challenge is how to build the confidence of students who are not trying very hard without becoming frustrated and growly. Like algebra it is an equation worth balancing but it is a difficult balance to find. I like to old adage that, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. Hopefully, if I can introduce the basics, they will remember enough when their brains are ready to kick in (or not).

Silent reading
I have been quietly impressed by how the students have taken to the novels of their own choosing- I haven't assigned any work for them and guess what? Nearly a third of the class have completed the novels- in a week!! How do you like them apples?
The Giver seems to be the run away favourite for completion.

Next we did a group observation activity and I was impressed how many things (items) they discovered (found) in the picture. It was a picture which used everyday items and disguised them as other objects. For example the roof of the room in the picture was made of the patterned backs of playing cards, the back of the chair was a hair comb, a sink plug stood in for a light hanging from the ceiling etc.
Most (not all) students were engaged as a team and of the five groups, two found over 75 of 150 items which is pretty impressive for 20 minutes work :)

Phys Ed.
Basketball 4 teams 5 minute games (20 minutes total)
Elimination Dodgeball 10 minutes
Good fast play today. Some nice teamwork and PASSING- what a difference from the beginning of the unit! Dodgeball still makes me nervous!

To finish the day, I did a terrible job of a brain worksheet- how ironic- I was using a borrowed worksheet from the community Drug and Alcohol Program and misplaced the answer key. I managed to mix up the limbic system and the cerebellum (How could I?) and from there I caused confusion among the students which upset some who wanted new worksheets because I had made them mess up their answers.
So I did the best I could to distract them from my mistake(s) by trying to get them to discuss the death of Whitney Houston and the students said they had heard but didn't know who she was! I gave up at 2:55pm
Honestly I would have been better to read them the rest of the chapter 1 of the Dragon Keeper!!
Live and learn. Live to learn. Learning helps you live better :)

Dismissal
Have a good what's left of the evening.
Mrs. J.

Happy Heart's Day- La saint Valentin Feb 14th

2012-02-14T15:36:00.001-08:00

Well, after a Monday off for a Pro-d day the students came in this morning with lots of pent up energy and lots of goodies as well as good wishes for Valentine's Day- I just knew NOT to try to have a Monday on a Tuesday and that I would have to be flexible to a certain degree!!

We all survived- if you can't beat 'em join 'em!!

Homework
Spelling list #9 for Friday this week

Reminders
Grad hoodie letter coming soon
Camp letter went home last week but I found a few in the recycling and others not taken home. Maybe this year will be the year in which student disinterest will see a cancellation of the 6/7 camp at Evan's Lake- please ask for it of you haven't seen it yet!

General Day
Daily French

Spelling List 9 analysis

SRA reading program

Poetry
Today we read Phyllis Gottileb's poem, First Person Demonstrative, in honour of Valentine's Day.
Partly I chose it because I noticed that when some of the girl's handed out class wide cards to classmates some of the boys in particular were embarrassed and were trying to outdo one another by ripping the sentiments and recycling them!! They weren't trying to be mean, they were protecting their 'man-pride' if you'll forgive the sexist remark- I tried to make them aware of it gently with the poem. The first stanza goes...

"I'd rather
heave a brick than say
I love you, though I do
I'd rather crawl in a hole than call you
darling though you are
I'd rather
wrench off an arm than hug you though
it's what I long to do
I'd rather
gather a posy of poison ivy than
ask if you love me"

So there you have it folks, the age old conundrum- dare I let my feeling be known just in case they are not returned- do I risk rejection or do I go with my heart? The students did a great job making sense of the rest of the poem too. The last line is a kicker...
"and if you
miss the message better get new
glasses and read it twice"

Are men from Mars? Are women from Venus? Aren't we all here on Earth?

Math 7
(I made the decision to abandon my algebra lesson today for safety and sanity!!!) We did a lesson on line geometry instead and we looked at the unique feature that straight lines produce curves in line drawings that join up the sides of geometric shapes. It took some students a few tries although others took to it immediately and we soon had some great examples and colouring too. I believe I made the right decision for today! Algebra returns tomorrow.

Silent Reading

French Cherchez les mots (saint Valentin)
we had a bit of a challenge finding the words in a word search (the students managed it faster than my ailing eyes!!) We filled in the blanks in a romantic letter to mon petit ami formidable!

Gym session slpit gym- students had a lot of energy to run off and did a great job with a split gym of floor hockey and basketball :)

Art
logo letters and a stop gap for those complete in some free hand drawing exercises. I tired to read a chapter of a book that I think will make our next read aloud (Dragon Keeper) but the dismissal bell rang before I got to it!!!

The students were cheeky and said they loved the new book and that confused a few others who were asking if I actually read and they had missed it!! It was quite funny... I love their sense of humour!

Have a good night everyone.
Mrs. J.

TGIF February 10th

2012-02-10T16:45:00.000-08:00

Mid-week I broke a tooth on an oatmeal cookie! I have not had a chance before today to call a dentist- I have a Sunday appointment! Emergency!
I have a sore mouth! The last couple of days have been difficult so I am extra happy that it is Friday!

Homework
None
some students asked if they could take home their novels that they received this week and I was happy to oblige :)
a couple of students took home binders intending to get their papers organized and one was intending to review a math skill
Reminders
No school Monday
Grade seven FSA was completed today

General Day
Daily French

Science investigation: measuring volume of irregular objects by water displacement
Word of the day: meniscus
Students discovered today that even the simple process of adding food colouring to water, and measuring EXACTLY 50ml or 100ml is tricky and needs patience and focus!!
We measured the volume of plastic creatures (bugs, lizards and snakes) using the beaker and the graduated cylinder to subtract water volume from displaced water.
Math skill subtraction of water displaced from original volume to find the object's volume.
Today's learning?
importance of accurate measuring
importance of following the directions as given and not creating your own version!! (don't ask)
importance of working together to record observations accurately
importance of safety at the sink (one glass graduated cylinder was broken today)

Our next step is to use mass and volume to measure density

Grade seven FSA last section today Numeracy
The grade sevens are relieved that they are finally completed as it has been a very disruptive week.

Grade sixes worked on their novels and some art and having a small group allowed me to work one-one with some students who needed a bit of assistance with their reading work in SRA

Math 7 after the last section of the assessments, neither the students nor I wanted to do any more math today so we discussed the meeting last night with the DRSS counsellor and we went to the DRSS website and looked at the linear schedule, the types of applied skills classes, the teacher websites and marks charts, the bell schedule and we talked about bussing etc
The students had some really great questions about lockers, busses and classes which I did my best to answer. I thought it was a very worthwhile half hour+
For the last 20 minutes of the morning, we did our usual Friday games time (cards, chess, dominoes etc)

Silent reading/
Honour band

Again, having the students at Honour band allowed me to work one-one with some students in need of extra help and or assistance getting organized :)

Art
Logo Letters majority of the class has completed them 17 of 27
so, today we started a new Pop Art activity looking at the work of Andy Warhol
the students have started close ups of wrappers and the design on their favourite snacks and candies.

At the end of our day we viewed a slide show taken from space by astronaut Sunita Williams which shows our beautiful blue planet and what a sand storm looks like as it leaves the Sahara and crosses the Atlantic Ocean, what night looks like on one side of the earth as the other is in the light of day, it showed nighttime light consumption from continent to continent and the shrinking ice of Iceland. It is an amazing short slide show and makes us realize the fragility of the planet we call home. I think the students enjoyed it.

We packed up and cleaned up our art and general 'mess' and listened to Rebecca Black sing, Friday, before Dismissal

This week has been a long one it seems and we are tired. Rest up everyone...Monday you are off, FSA is now completed and I promise to return the rest of the socials projects.
Have a great weekend. I'm going to the dentist! Wahhhhhhhh!
Mrs. J.

Thursday Feb 9th

2012-02-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

Late Post
Another after school meeting this time for the grade sevens' transition information to the DRSS counselor. Mr. Parker and I met with Mrs. Riley to discuss the grade eight schedule and support system.

Anyway- American Idol is on tonight and I'd like to catch some of the drama so I will be double quick with this post!

Homework
nothing new
Reminder
a letter went home today regarding Evans Lake Camp May 28/29th
Monday is a Pro-D day - take the day off- No school in session (lucky you!)
tomorrow is the last section of the 2012 FSA assessment for grade seven

General Day
Spelling Test List #8

FSA long write session in the computer lab for the grade sevens. Topic: Creating a healthy community. Really? They are 12 and 13 years old. A new KFC outlet won't be appreciated! LOL
Wonder who came up with the topic. Just saying!

SRA reading program for the grade sixes

Math 7 worked today on general review of math skills including problems involving skills as diverse as:
LCM, GCF, prime factors, circumference of a circle, ratio, reading tables, algebra expressions and perimeter of quadrilaterals which are irregular. We covered a lot of ground (and circles!) in an hour.

Silent Reading
returned the spelling tests- the general class average was much improved over last week's slump and the students rose to the challenge. It improved from 50% to 73% great effort-see just a little bit of effort and study and they can 'move mountains'. They just have to believe it (and in themselves that the effort is worth it).

French- la recette pour faire la poutine
How to make Poutine Quebec style- cheese curds not Mozzarella!

Phys. Ed. tried a fitness circuit today- hoo, boy and I thought my core was weak. Interesting some enjoyed it others not so much- think I'll be making it a regular session and see if we can improve our general fitness. First I need to get commitment from as many students as possible to do the exercises correctly otherwise we might be doing more harm than good. Had to explain that medicine balls are not meant to be thrown like a game of catch!

Back in class we cleaned up and packed up out gear a little earlier than usual and we played a personal planning themed game of 'freeze' which encouraged role play about Internet safety, having an awkward conversation about body odour, intercepting gossip and finally trying to tell someone that you really 'like' them!! I used volunteer actors today and I think the students were just beginning to get a feel for the activity
by Dismissal time!

I think the students enjoyed being entertained by their peers and it gave me a great insight into how the students deal with situations and, while it is a different thing when they are 'acting' in front of their classmates, I can see lots of areas for improvement in how they are handling (or not) the everyday social interactions that occur.

Have a good what's left of the evening.
American Idol was very disappointing! I have more drama in class every day and while my students don't sing quite as well, they have drama down to perfection! And anyway there really wasn't a lot of singing tonight was there?
Mrs. J.

Wednesday Feb 8th

2012-02-08T15:31:00.000-08:00

Another busy evening coming up for me!!

Need to be double quick tonight.

Homework
Spelling List 8 test tomorrow
Math7 review problem solving methods
Think about the writing topic for tomorrow's session
Math 6 Area and Perimeter worksheet (many completed in class apparently)
Reminders
popcorn tomorrow $1 if interested

General Day
Spelling practice

Journal writing topic about Internet stalking and a story about the importance of keeping safe on the Internet

Band

Math 7 FSA section on numeracy problem solving today

Silent reading

Redo spelling list #7- I was disappointed that of the 9 students who had to re-write only 2 of them improved their achievement. Two students did worse on the redo which tells me they are not studying or taking the opportunity to redo it as seriously as I would have hoped. It's too bad. I can only provide opportunity and guidance- I can't MAKE them study. It is frustrating as a parent and a teacher but our children have to learn to do it for themsleves at a certain point.
I'm not sure that I will continue with redo tests unless requested!?
What do you think?

Science Chapter 4 reading from p111 regarding the quantitative methods of describing matter. Mass, volume and density. Before we do the next science investigation, I wanted to ensure that students were aware that at this level we are now introducing math skills and measurement into science. The metric system and knowledge of it is very important as that is the International language of scientists. SI units

Phys Ed.
Well, I tried the games and various versions of tag and Duck, Duck Goose as well as some ball games- we have a long way to go- I'm not sure what has happened to our well-oiled Phys. Ed. machine! I need to 'take it back'. I had to sit some students out who couldn't be quiet for 10 minutes of 'silent ball'.
I have some work to do on this myself. It was okay but still lots of time wasting and social interaction rather than game play however- a step in the right direction was that no one was hurt, needed ice or was in tears by the end of the session so I think it is looking up!!

Back in class we completed the day with a brief session of Personal Planning about the writing topic for the day to do with Internet stalking and how many different social networks our students are on. We revisited how to be safe on the internet and ecouraged everyone to be aware of their own internet/socail media habits.

Dismissal.
Have a good evening.
Mrs. J.

Tuesday February 7th

2012-02-07T15:32:00.000-08:00

Stay tuned- I have to run to a meeting at the other end of town by 3:45pm

our boys' and girls' teams both have basketball games after school. Bonne Chance. Play as a team!

I'll post later which is probably a good thing as it will give me some time and space to reflect on our day.
Meanwhile, I have returned 8 socials reports (the eight that were handed in on Jan 16th and 17th) the rest are 'in progress' and I intend to deliver a few more assessed projects every day. I am enjoying them thus far!

Homework (SFH stuff for home)
there is a List 7 spelling redo tomorrow- study
List 8 test Thursday
No math homework grade 6 or 7

Reminders
Grade sevens are doing sections of FSA all week with Mrs. Paxton supervising
today was the reading section
popcorn Thursday if interested
pizza with the principal slips due back this week

General Day... more later (gotta go!)
It has taken until 8:30pm before I found the time to get to the computer at home! What can I say, life is busy...

Daily French

Spelling practice (redo Wed) List 8 test Thursday-n I am expecting a better success rate!

Literature Circle novels were distributed today and everyone was requested to read the first couple of chapters in class to figure out if they felt that they had chosen the correct novel for them- after chapter 5 there will be no trade ins!

SRA grade six- reading program time
the students seems to be having difficulty with long written directions which is interesting but not completely unexpected. If they have the patience to read thoroughly the reason the instructions/directions are lengthy is because within them examples of the correct solutions and answers to grammatical questions about nouns and verbs and adjectives are offered.
I believe it is a good thing to have students slow down and really read, look at and think about the meaning. In some cases the Word Study section is being completed at a better success rate than the comprehension questions which are offered in multiple choice or True/False format. Sometimes multiple choice questions can be misleading especially if a reader allows the purposely misleading choices to confuse initial thinking.

Random memory: I vaguely recall some research completed that proved that many test takers tend to chose the correct answer initially in a multiple choice test but then they second-guess themselves and go back and change the initial answer. Then they allow themselves to think too much about it and end up with the wrong answer whereas first instincts were correct. I think multiple choice tests are unfair and should be outlawed but what do I know I am only a teacher with 30 years experience on how students learn and test best!!!

Now, where was I? Ah, yes...
Grade 7 students did another section of the FSA at the computer lab. complete with multiple choice comprehension answers!

Math 7 math problem solving and 'discussion' (with the occasional teacher rant!!)
using different units to measure or to count can be confusing - take for example the 24 hour clock and remember that many of our students have digital minds and digital watches. They did not learn to tell time the same way we did back in the day! So something as simple to me as adding an hour and a half to 16:15pm has a whole bunch of implications for students who aren't sure what 16:15 means.
Breaking problems down in to several steps engages some but not all! It is easy to lose attention when some students pick up quickly, some need a bit more explanation and maybe another example and then there are those who just 'don't pick up' maybe they can't or maybe they don't 'feel like it'!! I am interrupting their social time. Excuuuuuuse me!
What about how many slices to cut a pizza up into of you want to be able to sell it as a whole, a half, a quarter or a sixth?
Or how about the 56 choir members that are to be arranged in increasing numbers on four stage steps. Four more on each step. How many are standing on each step?
x + x+4 + x+4+4+ x+4+4+4= 56
4x+4+8+12=56
4x+24=56
4x+24-24=56-24
4x=32
4/4x=32/4
x=8
There will be 8 choir members on step one, 12 on step two, 16 on step three and 20 on step four
8+12+16+20=56

Here's an idea. What about our children come up with a test for their hapless parents and teachers which concerns the use of technology (multiple choice, of course) and which asks such simple procedures as hooking up a DVD player, running a video game console and recognizing which buttons on the hand held controller do which operations, how to download a movie, make a music list on i-tunes and order and read a book on an i-pad. Yes, folks our testing methods are out of sync with the world out kids live in. We've got a lot of catching up to do.

Silent Reading
suggested using today to get 'into' the new novels. Some students did some catch up on missed activities

French
Vivent les Sports: comic book story focusing on the vocabulary of sports en francais. I was pleasantly surprised by the competence of the students generally with this activity.

Phys. Ed.
Things fell apart today...basketball season is in full swing- both boys' and girls' teams had games after school what better than to provide some friendly class competition? Not! Maybe Duck Duck Goose would have been a better choice. Blame it on the full moon and the budding hormones if you want but I had to shut it all down after some accidents and incidents that had me seriously concerned for our general safety. Honestly, it is not the NBA but some among us want to be heroes at all costs and are not being either sportsmanlike or team oriented in play. Tomorrow- no kidding- Duck Duck Goose. I can't wait to hear their reaction
come join us if you dare!

I had some extra time in the gym to have a class meeting (sitting in our Duck Duck Goose circle) and discuss my observations of the last couple of days. I don't know what the students are hearing- maybe just Charlie Brown's teacher going "Blah, Blah, Blah" But I appealed to their better judgement and asked for some assistance and sanity. I can't do a good job without a class of willing students
blah, blah, blah....you get the picture.

Back in class we calmed it right down and a few a few apologies were shared. Awwww, don't you love them when they are sleeping? Kidding! Well...

I wished everyone playing basketball after school a good game and everyone a pleasant evening.
Dismissal was zen-like.
Now, about tomorrow......
Mrs. J.

Monday, February 6th

2012-02-06T14:49:00.000-08:00

Mondays are funny-weird days some students are full of beans and others are dragging themselves around!
Monday is the day you find you are not as organized as you thought you were and remember all the things you forgot about when you left the building on Friday (and that goes equally for me)!

Homework (stuff for Home)
there are 10 redo spelling tests for the last spelling list (#7)!! some student needs to study for both a redo on Wednesday this week and ...
the new List #8 is being tested this Thursday
Ajay and Keanan have until tomorrow to hand in the socials project!!
Math 6 complete worksheet from class today if you didn't already do it- polygons (geometry)
Math 7 no homework (class will resume tomorrow)
Reminders
FSA testing for grade 7 is taking place throughout the week- today the students completed a reading and writing section (Mrs. Paxton is supervising)
reading comprehension is scheduled for tomorrow
Thursday is Popcorn for $1 if interested
Pizza with the principal sections from the recent newsletter are due this week

General Day
Daily French

Spelling- return List 7 results prep list # 8

Communication book writing persuasively p62- the how to which will be followed up this afternoon at computers- hand out on Scintillating Sentences- how to vary sentence structure to develop more interesting structures using compound and complex sentences

Band

Math 6 assessment of the geometry and angle work in class

Math7 was replaced today by the first of five FSA sessions

Silent Reading

Confirmation of book choices voted for on Friday for text distribution tomorrow
new numbers
8 Woodsong
8 Applewhites
7 The Giver
4 Milkweed

Library exchange with Mrs. Hoyrup

Computer session
Reading/writing practice

Free time - games and personal interest site for students - it always surprises me how social they can be during this time!!
Clean up. Review day/week's upcoming activities/prep for Dismissal

I tried some mime/ Drama warm-up activities to end the day but 'mime' is a lost art and we need to spend some more time to explain just what mime is meant to look like, 'sound' like and re-create.

Hope everyone has a chance to enjoy the sunshine! Isn't it glorious?
Mrs. J.

Beautiful Friday Feb 3rd

2012-02-03T16:26:00.000-08:00

What a difference a little sun makes on everybody's well-being :)

We had a day that just sailed by and before we knew it it was time to pack up for another week.

Homework (stuff for home)
nothing new
Eric, Keanan and Ajay- I am not going away and there is the little matter of a socials project you all need to deal with this weekend!!!!
Reminders
Feb 13th (not this coming but next Monday) is a Pro-D day

General Day
Daily French

New seating Plan went over well but as usual there is no pleasing everyone (a couple of weeks and there'll be another)

Science Experiment #1 Three phases of Matter
solid-liquid-gas
Question: Can the temperature of water create a different reaction when gas is trapped?
Using an Efferdent tablet (baking soda) dissolved in water, we timed the reaction when the gas given off is trapped in a small container. We had half the class use cold water and the other half use warm (not boiling hot but definitely warmer).
In the under cover area we timed our reactionary gas 'explosions' the first one blew at 44 seconds- the last one at 7 minutes. So, why the time difference and were the reactions different?

Results: cold water took longer to react (up to 7 minutes) but had 'explosions' that ranged from 6-10 feet (except one that fizzled twice probably due to an ill fitting lid) on the other hand warm water explosions went off as soon as 44 seconds but did not have such spectacular height ranges (from 2-5 feet)

Back in class we discussed how we could adjust the experiment by controlling the variables like the amount of water and the space left at the top of the container to allow the gas to build pressure. We discussed the need to be accurate with quantitative methods. Was timing really accurate? How did we measure the height of the 'explosion"?
LO to determine the importance of independent, dependent and controlled variables in the outcomes of designed experiments

[ Hey, is it just me or does this sound like math?]

How much water?
How much space was left at the top of the container?
Were the containers all the same size?
Were the tablets all the same size?
How long did we shake the container?
How high did the cap of the container go? How do you know?
What difference will these varaibles have on the experiment?

I love science it is never finished or complete - it's kind of like a dissertation or research paper that you can always find weakenesses in but can never really 'perfect'.

We have decided we would like to redo the experiment. Students were also interested in the old Mentos and pop explosion which we will definitely have to be outside to do. Today's new word for scientific purposes was: effervescence

The students were excited and seemed to be engaged throughout even if it was difficult to get their attention so we all added the water and shook the containers at the same time. Simultaneously isn't in my studnets vocabulary but clean up went smoothly and everyone wore their safety glasses :)
They looked like pro's.

It took us most of our morning before recess and we haven't even written it up yet. We were supposed to do that at our computer session at 10-10:30am but we were too busy with the discussion about what we could change and control and redo next time.

That's a first- my students forgot we were booked for a computer session. LOL

Math 7
more problem solving using various methods to recognize the patterns and the math skills involved in finding reasonable solutions. We managed to get through three different styles today. One was a visual pattern, the second was a perimeter problem and the third was a description of geometric dimensions. It is so funny that sometimes when students are asked to 'explain' or describe what they would do in a math problem instead of actually doing arithmetic, it throws them for a loop!

Silent Reading/ Honour band

Friday catch up- any student behind on work can use the time in class to get finished and up to date
Organization for the organizationally-challenged also happens here (thanks for playing, Teresa) :)

Art
Logo Letters
You might be surprised to see how many logos and corporate symbols our children are 'affected' by. This project has been a big eye opener for me.

Novel vote for Lit Circle groups
From a selection of 7 different novels the winners are
7 Surviving the Applewhites, Stephanie S. Tolan
7 The Giver, Lois Lowry
6 Milkweed, Jerry Spinelli
5 Woodsong, Gary Paulsen
There will be four lit circles instead of three (I just couldn't force the 5 boys interested in Gary Paulsen's true account of his experience in the Ididerod, Woodsong, to read one of the other novels)

Clean up, pack up and have a great weekend. See you all for more fun and excitement on Monday.
Mrs. J.

Thursday, Feb. 2nd

2012-02-02T15:24:00.000-08:00

I am intent on getting the blog completed tonight right after school!!
The girl's have a home basketball game against Brackendale and I can't go to see the boys' game and not show up to support the girls' or my name will be 'mud'!!

Homework
Nothing new
Three reports to get Keanan, Eric and Ajay

General Day
Daily French

Spelling Test List #7 (after a brief independent review of the words)

SRA reading lab
I am happy to report that over two thirds of the class is onto book number two (which means 8 cards have been completed. When they have successfully (100% comprehension) completed at least four levelled cards, we increase the reading level and the challenge

Writing follow up- Persuasive style
backing up reasons and providing a convincing argument
Today we chose the Kindle and used the overhead to look for the pros and cons of reading books digitally

Math 7
follow up on the problem solving using the chapter 12 quiz on line for math Links 7. As a class we managed a 9/10 which was very encouraging- our one error was in choosing the incorrect expression from a multiple choice list!
We have been working independently and together on various types of numeracy problems that we can use our 'bag of tricks' to solve: charts, graphs, equations, drawings, patterns and a variety of arithmetic skills.

Silent Reading
Congratulations to Tesla who won this month's free draw from the reading records- she won a Hunger Games journal :)

Personal Planning
What's the Risk? Today we followed up with a personal risk assessment using 8 of the situations we discussed during Monday's class.

Phys Ed.
Basketball mini-games
good fast and sportsmanlike play- just rather noisy with everyone calling to each other. I tried it as a silent activity and they did very well for five minutes!! I'll try that again as they must use different techniques for communicating as a team.

Art
Logo Letters design and colour
Novel presentation: 5 different novels were briefly presented and tomorrow there will be a vote. I have decided I can handle about three literature circles. The students will get the chance to read a class novel of their choice.

dismissal
Have to run to see the girls' basketball game
have a good night
Mrs. J.

First day of February

2012-02-01T21:12:00.000-08:00

Sorry folks for the late post - I had a fitness class after school and was busy when I got home. Sometimes if I don't have the chance to do the blog right after school, I forget it!

Homework
Spelling list #7- test tomorrow
There are still four socials reports to be completed! Keanan, Ajay, George and Eric
Reminders
A school newsletter went home this afternoon

General Day
Daily French

Spelling practice

Persuasive writing style and structure
today was more of a discussion about how we convince people to agree with us. I found it interesting that when I was looking for words like 'appeal' and focus on the 'positive aspects' of your reasoning; the students were disagreeing with me and suggesting such teenage winning ways as being annoyingly persistent, whining and trying to play the guilt factor!! Wow!
We discussed the difference between a written 'persuasion' and a physical, verbal, body language persuasion but I don't think they're buying it! Very interesting- I have my work cur out for me apparently!

last couple of pages of our now completed class novel, Word Nerd. I always find it anti-climactic when we complete a story. However, the students were interested to know if the author had any more books (she does) and we used a Chapters search to find out what they were.

Band

Math 7
Pre-algebra (finding algebraic expressions in the language of problem solving)
The students told me I was over-explaining and asked me to 'settle down' (LOL out of the mouths of babes)
apparently they felt that I was making it confusing. So I listened and tried my best to not be an 'over explainer'- I appreciated the feedback and they agreed that today they found it much easier to follow YEAH!
We have been focusing on finding and solving expressions.

Silent reading
we were visited during out reading time by Mrs. McCullough, our new Superintendent, and Mrs. Beaubien, our re-elected trustee. I tired to show them the new digital overhead and was asked a few questions about it . I am embarrassed to say that they found out first hand much I still have to learn about using it!!

This afternoon some of our students made a presentation to the Board with Mrs. Paxton to describe and showcase Squamish Elementary. Mrs. Paxton reported that she was proud of them and the job they did and, even though she might be a little biased, she said our presentation was the BEST :)

French
L'histiore de Poutine: en francais a story about who and how the cultural 'dish' called poutine came to be nearly 60 years ago!! We reviewed the French questions to help us complete the activity after P. Ed.

Phys. Ed. Split gym- basketball fun games and a smaller game of floor hockey.

Back in class we used the time to complete the French activity answering questions about the story of the creation of "fries with an attitude": poutine.

The day disappeared fast.
Dismissal after a reminder about the spelling test tomorrow.
have a good what's left of the night!!
Mrs. J.

Tuesday Jan 31st

2012-01-31T16:11:00.000-08:00

Last day of January- when did that happen?

Stuff for Home
Spelling list #7 for test Thursday
Brainstorm a list of words (use a dictionary if you are stuck) that begin with the same letter for the "letter paragraphs"
Math 6 worksheet on polygons
Math 7 no homework but have suggested instead that students go on-line and try some of the on line sample problems from IXL or the Min Ed for BC website for practice

General Day
We had a productive day if I say so myself...

Daily French

spelling practice

Science Lab
Mystery Materials: group work lab to showcase how our senses are not as reliable as we might think and it worked perfectly. The students are given five small containers filled with various everyday forms of matter and they have to infer from the weight and the sound what the mystery contents might be. There has to be consensus and they have to complete a ranking chart from lightest to heaviest and record correctly inferred materials versus those incorrect.

We split into 5 groups and two groups had a 1:5 ratio of correct inferences and the other three had a 2:5 ratio. We learned today that
1. we need to be able to use quantitative methods to determine the difference between the middle (medium) weights and create a parameter for weight to be considered lighter or 'medium' [the lightest and the heaviest were easier to determine]
2. our inferences by weight and sound alone are not 100% reliable (we need to be able to observe with our sense of sight)
3. importance of working as a team to consensus and creating a record of the results
It was a good first lab. for the unit and I was impressed at how well the groups all followed the procedure. I would like to think that they enjoyed the activity. It was fun watching them try to decide and reach an agreement.

SRA reading lab (took us a bit longer than usual to settle to quiet reading.

Math 7
Today we reviewed the problem that I posed at the end of yesterday's class- a problem about how many ways there were to make 50cents from a dime, a nickel, and a quarter (no pennies).
We reviewed the method of making a chart of combinations to ensure that the work was both easy to follow (read) and no possible combinations were repeated or forgotten. We determined 10 different ways to make 50cents.
The we began an activity which seemed to pose a bit more difficulty in taking a work problem and creating an algebraic equation to find the solution. I thought they were ready to try this but it seemed to cause a bit of stress. Here is an example:
If the temperature drops by 5 degrees throughout the day and the current temperature is -2, what was the original temperature before the drop?
let t= original temperature
t-5=-2
t-5+5=-2+5
t=3 or +3
the original temperature was +3
In algebra we create a balance so whatever we do to one side using the zero principal to leave the variable (-5+5) we need to ensure we do the same to the other side of the equation so we need to +5 to the other side to balance the equation.
We need more practise- some students are having a difficult time with their focus!!

Silent Reading
more reading today less "shushing"

French
The cultural dish called Poutine: who invented it?, what is it?, how long has it been around?
I had a silly song today to introduce the French 'histoire' (tomorrow we will continue with it)

Library session Mrs. H. reminded us to visit the library today as we missed our time Monday. Thanks.
We have over 1200 books in our library about all sorts of topics so I don't 'buy' the excuse that they can't find something. I am trying my best to wean some of my students off books like, Clifford, the Big Red Dog!

Phys Ed. Basketball drills and 2 mini games cross gym 5on 5
the boys are playing a game at home and one in the Highlands tonight- good luck- play well and remember good sportsmanship is key!

Art: Logo Letters while I read the last two chapters of Word Nerd
We have just two pages of the story left- we are at the epilogue

The boys were excited. We packed up and after a reminder or two, the dismissal bell rounded out the afternoon.
Have a great evening.
Mrs. J.

Monday January 30th

2012-01-30T20:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my sister in Ontario (she's catching up to me now!)

Thank-you for your patience if you checked the blog for Friday Jan. 27th- I was not at school on Friday and would like to thank my TOC, JM. for being there in my stead. I have been battling the nasty head cold and sinus virus that seems to be doing its rounds. It seems to hold on and recycle itself in my head and throat. I think it is gone and then it pops back up and says"kidding, I'm hanging on. Get more Fisherman's Friends!" (throat lozenges for those who may be wondering).

Anyway, she's baaaack.... and so are our tenacious head visitors. Please be aware that everyone needs to take some important precautions in order that the head lice do not spread. I mentioned it a few weeks ago and it is worth mentioning again

do not share combs, brushes or headbands
do not wear others peoples hats, scarves, hoods, jackets or toques
keep your jacket on your chair or in a plastic bag in the cloakroom
be aware of how you interact with your peers especially if you are close enough to have heads together in group work
get your head checked if you are feeling itchy (I am now seriously itchy just writing about it!)
get proper treatment for their removal

It is so much work to eradicate them (I know, I had to do it for my son and myself a couple of years ago)- remember bedding, pillows cases, pj's, hats, scarves and jackets that have been worn. I think I'll get the school form letter and send it home tomorrow. Thank you in advance for checking your child's head. Sorry- it is that time of year. I used the R&C (hair treatment and there is also a 'house spray)' product with good results and tea tree oil has also been effective for maintenance.

Stuff for Home

Except for the week's new spelling list #7, there is nothing new

I'm patiently tapping my foot for some overdue activities [I am not going to go away]

I'm sorry we forgot to check with Mr.Parker about Math 6 (I'll get back on track asap)

FYI (a day late and a dollar short!)Friday Jan 27th

Science Ch 4 Chemistry (Three phases of matter and qualitative descriptors)

Computers Ch 4 on-line Science quiz (free time for those complete)

Math problem solving follow up and practice

Silent reading/ extra Band practice

Catch-up: work time for those who need some extra class time

Art: complete profiles (Egyptian) start Logo Letters

4 chapters of Word Nerd- they were into it!!

Hope you had a good weekend

Today's general day (Monday)

Spelling analysis of the spelling tricks and demons for this week's set (List 7) some words are four syllables and today we looked at breaking down the sounds and 'sections' of the longer words like 'conscientiously' to help with the word-letter study. The most common errors are usually a mix up of an 'a' or an 'e' or a double letter combination.

The list 5 redo went well and all raised their initial achievement. The students raised their general average on the last test list (list 6) after we brought the importance of study back to the forefront. I thought it was a challenging list but a little bit of coaching and a little bit of 'elbow grease' seems to have done the trick. Good job everyone.

Time to complete the science work incomplete on Friday. If students had completed it, they worked on their Letter paragraphs- they are pretty good- I guess a little contrived but all in all a decent attempt at something a little unorthodox (that is creating a paragraph that repeats words initial letter to create a sound/image backdrop to the words.

" Belinda was the most beautiful ballerina I had ever seen. She was able to balance on her blocked toes and bound like a deer across the stage..."

Band

Math 7

Follow up to the work on Thursday last week with pre-algebra patterns and t-charts and today we started to exchange variables for numbers and evaluating expressions using variables.

Silent reading

I interrupted silent reading to bring a taster of haggis around to 16 very brave students. Most said it was "Okay" a couple really liked it and asked for a spoonful more and a few tried but didn't finish it but, still, I am impressed that 16 students were brave enough to put a spoonful in their mouths :)

I need to create some memorable certificates now!!

Personal Planning

A look at peer pressure and the role it plays in decisions young people make. Resaercg shows that some of the risks that are taken are driven more by the need to impress one's peers so it really does make a difference who our children 'hang out' with.

Computers

I had the students go to a kidshealth.com website which comes highly recommended for on-line information and advice for teenagers, parents and teachers. Some free time finished the session.

Back in class- we cleared off desks and cleaned up before going over the homework which wasn't much.

Hope you have a nice evening.

Apologies things have been a bit delayed and later than usual.

Mrs. J.

January 26th (Thursday)

2012-01-26T15:40:00.000-08:00

No haggis last night- they were frozen solid so we will do them this weekend and I'll bring a sample taste for the brave to try on Monday!!

I think I'll try having a certificate that says something like: I tried haggis and I lived to tell about it!!

Homework
Math 7 finding the expressions for patterns of numbers
Math 6 Measuring and Classifying Triangles review

General day
Spelling Test List 6

SRA reading program

Writing- still on single paragraphs
complete the literary paragraph, start brainstorming for the 'repeated letter' paragraph

Math 7 pre-algebra: recognizing the rules and creating algebraic expression for a given number pattern
Today we also had a class vote for the 'Grad' hoodie colours and font

Silent Reading

Personal Planning - continuation of the decision making 'game'
today the students had a chance to discuss among themselves some of the issues that they would like to be able to include and place in the 4 column risk chart. Sometimes we adults don't know the kins of things that our children are exposed to or the kinds of issues that they worry about.

Physical Education- continue basketball skills and drills and mini-games.

Fire Drill 2:30pm
scheduled practice

Next Chapter of Word Nerd students wanted more but it was too close to dismissal

Have a good evening. I have to run tonight.
Mrs. J.

Wednesday, January 25th

2012-01-25T16:55:00.000-08:00

Happy Robert (Rabbie) Burn's Day
The Scottish farmer turned poet whose life we still celebrate today in Scotland and around the world where Scots may congregate to eat and haggis and drink a 'neat' malt Scotch (21 year old, of course). Yes, Scotch is the 'tipple' and Scottish people do not usually respond to being called Scotch although I understand the easy mistake!! :) My husband's long standing joke is that all Scottish 'cooking' is based on a 'dare'! Hardy har, har!
Good haggis can be very tasty. I have it once a year in kinship and celebration and I am happy to share but , we Scots are, just as happy to keep it to ourselves. lol

Today was a better day together in class but there is still a lot of pent up energy and some concerning behaviour. As a class community we are making an effort to draw attention to it and address the issues altogether.

Homework
Spelling List #6 for tomorrow
Math 6 complete the Unit 6 worksheet from class today Drawing triangles
Math 7 no homework from today's class

General Day
Did a Rabbie Burns introduction today instead of daily French (we did do the date and the day en francais)

Spelling study

complete ch 23 Word Nerd

Writing: complete the literary paragraph for The River

Math 7
Grad Hoodie decisions (font, colour and whether they want to purchase this year)- vote tomorrow
Finding the nth (variable) value of a number pattern- pre- algebra
Computer practice 11:30-noon

silent reading
Spelling list #5 redo

Personal Planning
Introduction to 'risk' assessment and making safe personal decisions in various situations.
The 'game' we played is called How's the weather?
Use the word 'risk and my students' ears perk up for all the wrong reasons so this game uses the weather as a metaphor for their feelings (sunny= comfortable and warm/cloudy periods=possible discomfort/ stormy= definitely discomfortable/tornado= extremely uncomfortable)
The students receive 'clouds' with situations that they have to place in what they consider the appropriate weather or comfort/discomfort rating in their opinion.
For example "lying to your parents" which category of weather does that belong and why? What might the potential risks of lying to your parents be?
What about, "getting into a car with someone you don't know"? This one is interesting because if I call it 'hitchhiking' the students don't bat an eye but when we look at what they are actually risking, I can actually see the connections and synapses being made. Their brains do work :)

This activity forces students to discuss and face their thinking head on and once we get over the bravado of "I'm so bad" silliness, the students can see or at least think about some situations and how they might be able to handle them and make the best decision for themselves.
We just managed to get it started today. I think they were engaged- maybe ask them what they thought as some of the situations are a little beyond their experience currently but I believe when it comes to safety and good decisions just a little push out of their comfort zone might be beneficial. If you have any concerns or questions regarding this activity please don't hesitate to ask or call :)

Physical education- much better
Basketball- no YELLING today :) Just a lot of running and team work as it should be. Great job and I must say I am seeing less running away from the ball and more participation. YEAH!
Sarah, you go girl :)

back in class we finished up the Personal Planning activity placing the leftover 'clouds' that I had and trying to reason what the best placement would be. The students have now placed their 'clouds' where they think they belong and in the following days we will look at a few a day and decide if we have the right 'risk assessment for the situations.

Ch 24 Word Nerd- finished the day in the middle of the chapter.
Ambrose has just won the Best Newcomer Award at the scrabble tournament winning 6 of his 8 games.
Things are about to turn ugly though- stay tuned!

Dismissal after reminder about tomorrow's spelling test

Have a good night. I am embarrassed to tell you I completely forgot it was Wednesday night and I missed the staff fitness class in the gym!! I am feeling the burn and it's not my muscles- mea culpa
Hope you have a memorable evening.
I am going home to a haggis dinner and if there's any left over I will dare my students to try it tomorrow!! I'll keep you posted.
Mrs. J.

Jan 24th

2012-01-24T16:33:00.000-08:00

Some days are best left alone and this was definitely a day to forget and move on with the rest of the week! :0
In-days are gnarly and definitely make the afternoon challenging- more challenging!

I'll try to be brief and then get my desk organized- I gave the students clean up and organization time today but I have fallen behind in putting my files and units away and they are piling up as I spend my time playing with our new technology!!

Homework
except for the 6 socials reports the only other homework is to study for tomorrow's redo of last week's spelling test List 5 (approx. 6 students) and for Thursday List 6 (everyone)
That's all folks- there was no math today

General Day
I put daily French up but actually didn't go over it as we got carried away looking for where the rotting orange smell might be emanating from!! Never did find it but it is probably one of those tiny oranges which has rolled somewhere out of sight and reach!!

spelling study time (very chatty today :(

School Library visit
(some students were unable to contain themselves and started picking up the stuffies for the primary students, sat themselves on the carpet and begged a classmate to read them a story- reliving their primary memories?! It could have been a sweet moment but unfortunately it became too silly and difficult to control too fast. I had to be the harbinger of responsibility in their library etiquette!!
"Partypooper"

Writing a literary response- review structure and begin the actual writing- we need more time for this activity which is a challenging one.

SRA reading program

As we had a full house today, I was able to do the obligatory Safety Lab session for the upcoming Science unit (Chemistry). We went over the main procedural safety expectations and the WHMIS icons, the chemical icons and their meanings as well as the text book reading for this important topic. Each group member will rotate roles and responsibilities: first aid assistance, glassware organizer, safety manager (glasses, gloves and desk top covers), clean up organizer and team manager (timing, encouraging, ensuring everyone is doing what they need to etc.)
I personally feel the need to switch up the groups for the Chemistry unit and I will work on this idea in the next few days until I feel 100% comfortable that I have a more balanced reliable group membership especially now that we are back to 27 students.

Silent Reading

Desk and Bin organization time

Physical Education: Basketball 5vs5 half court 5 minute games
fast and fun- with the basketball team coaching after school I see lots of improvement from when we first started this unit.

Word Nerd and Art
It has been a while since I read our class novel because we just keep running out of time every day and this one (Chapter 23) is a long chapter. Ambrose finds that his self defence lessons with Cosmo pay off when he is approached by his former school bullies on a Saturday at the park.

I read to 3 minutes before the bell for Dismissal but we had already cleaned up during the afternoon and there is only spelling for homework which they were reminded about.

Have a good night. I have a curling game to look forward to.
Mrs. J.

after school tonight (we had had a bit of a weird and unpredictable day be it because of the weather, lack of good sleep, jet lag, lack of fresh air, puberty....yadda, yadda)
some of the girls shared with me random sayings that they had written down throughout the day and we had a good laugh. I can't (don't have time and shouldn't) share all of them but here are a few that will give you a taste of our day and if you don't find them as hilarious as we did I guess you just had to be here!!!

"I think the 50 year old has gone crazy" Autumn
"Whow, it's raining like heck out there" Roshni
"Have you had a Snickers?" Keanan to Mrs. J
"No, but do you think a banana might help?" Mrs. J. to Keanan
"Potassium input, absolutely" Harjot to Mrs. J.
" I can't talk to any of you until I have had a banana apparently" Mrs. J. to class
" My life wouldn't be the same at Squamish Elementary if I didn't have you in my class" Mrs. J. to Gurpreet
"Sorry Gurpreet I don't want to listen to you any more" Mrs. J.
"Poor fishy crackers getting killed by Manisha" Simi as fish crackers crunch on the classroom floor
"You mean get a cloth to clean it?" Eric after spilling his yogurt at snack time
"Will we be using poisons? Yes, we will!" Mrs J. during the Chemistry safety presentation
"Hey, that's my mom's name" Gurpreet when a character in the class novel was called Kamal
"No more Punjabi. Do I teach in Gaelic?" Mrs. J. to Arsh
"STOP TALKING THIS IS WHERE OUR GYM TIME GETS WASTED IT'S BEEN ALL DAY GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!" Mrs. J during team set up for basketball

Need I say anymore? I don't think I should. I love my job, really....usually....most days....honestly! My students make it well, um, interesting and fun. Some days we're a well oiled learning machine; today we we were in the shop for repair!

Manic Monday

2012-01-23T17:20:00.000-08:00

Jan 23rd
Welcome back, Geozua.

Either Mondays are 'flat' and kind of non-events or Mondays are energetic and crazy fun. Today was the latter :)

We had a First Nations workshop from 2-3pm led by Deanna Lewis - she taught us how to play the traditional game called Bones or Slahal (a betting game). The students were easily excited about taunting each other with the song that is intended to bring your team luck, "We've got the Bones and you can't take them away", while the other team makes a scooping gesture with the hands which is intended to bring the other team's luck and the bones back to them. It was fun, loud and competitive. We were amazed to discover some of the old stories about what individuals and sometimes villages lost playing this game in the past: weaved baskets, their shoes, canoes, longhouses and (believe it or not) children!!! I suggested that I could barter with a few students but my students didn't appreciate it much (it was a joke, people!).

Homework
The new spelling list was analyzed today List # 6 for testing Jan 26th
some students will be redoing List #5 on Wednesday afternoon (need to separate the word study)
6 students have socials projects now a week overdue- they know who they are and so do I :)
Math 7 nothing new
Math 6 (thank you Tesla) Geometry worksheets 1 and 2 for Unit 6 on Classifying triangles- according to Mr. Parker most students completed this in class and had no homework :)
Reminders
No math class tomorrow
Spelling Redo Wed
Spell test Thurs

General Day
Daily French: Chinese New Year

Spelling return Unit 5 and analyze Unit 6 words for study
study time in class

We used the overhead to find a website that provided Chinese horoscopes for the Dragons (our grade 6's were born in the Year of the Dragon. It was interestingly accurate and explains a few things about their flamboyancy and free spirits!! Of course, that sent the grade sevens (Rabbits) into a frenzy of need to know their horoscope. I told them I was a Cow and got a good laugh but it is referred to usually as the Ox. Again it was surprisingly accurate. You should take a few minutes to look up your Chinese sign- you might learn something about your personality. It was fun to read, share and consider the accuracy (or lack thereof)!

Band

Math 7
I returned the Math 7 reviews for the Integers Unit and was very encouraged by the general results. There a re a few (handful of) students who need more practice subtracting but generally the averages were good
L.O. recognizing, ordering and adding integers: class average 88%
L.O.subtracting integers and finding missing integer : class average 65%
L.O. using add and subtract skills together 68%
L.O. problem solving with integers 78%
We did two samples from each page in class today as well as allow students to individually find out their own averages and compare them to the general class.
The usefulness of the statistics is in seeing where the need for more work is and it is clear from these results that the students' self assessments were spot on because the general confidence for the skill of subtracting was lower.
So I get to see that the students understand where the weaknesses are and now our job together is to encourage more work and study BUT I can't do that for them- they need to see the importance of improving their performance. Approx. 6 students of 28 need more assistance and practice.
Wednesday we will start into an algebra (really pre-algebra) unit as we need a scenery change.

Silent Reading

Between Silent Reading and our 2-3pm workshop, we used about 20 minutes to do some organization and looking to the week's plans for class. I would like the students to begin presenting their power point presentations for science (virtual pet project) using the classroom overhead.

We will be beginning a personal planning unit on making decisions about personal safety and boundaries for peers pressure including drugs and alcohol. With the tragic loss of life to street drugs of recent weeks it seems timely that this age group who still think that 'it won't happen to me' have some idea about the kind of decisions they will be challenged with in the near future and how to navigate the social waters of adolescence (coming to a classroom near me!!).
[I recently read the National Geographic (October 2011) he new understanding of the teenage brain and it was interesting (and scary) to have confirmed by experts that their (young people's) sense of risk is completely different from adults so they really don't 'get' us at all when we suggest 'danger' because for them the 'danger' or thrill is what it's all about!
Consider these passages:

"These studies help explain why teens behave with such vexing inconsistency: beguiling at breakfast,disgusting at dinner; masterful on Monday, sleepwalking on Saturday. Along with lacking experience generally, they're still learning to use their brain's new networks. Stress, fatigue, or challenges can cause a misfire."
page 48

" Teens take more risks not because they don't understand the dangers but because they weigh risk versus reward differently....In situations where risk can get them something they want, they value the reward more heavily than adults do"
page 54]

"Excellent Smithers"
Who wants to try guiding and nurturing 28 of them on a daily basis for 6 hours a day? Oh, come on now it can be fun as long as you are prepared!

2-3pm First nations workshop- game Slahal
It was good fun.

Dismissal after review of homework and clean up :)
Have a good evening
Mrs. J.

Whacky Hair Day

2012-01-20T16:44:00.000-08:00

Jan 20th

It is hard to be taken seriously when you have a grey Nutty Professor wig and fake glasses on (flasses)!!
The students did better than I thought at trying to listen to me.

Today was a little crazy- but it was a day that seemed to disappear fast. TGIF

Homework
Nothing new BUT
a couple of students have the Toronto paragraph to complete at home
a couple of Math 7 students did not hand in their practice booklet- please bring it on Monday completed
8 have a socials project that is overdue
Math 6 no homework

Reminders
a letter went home with the grade sevens today- ask for it :)
Monday afternoon we have a Native workshop scheduled from 2-3pm
Tuesday Math6 and Math7 classes are cancelled as Mr.Parker's class has a Native workshop scheduled for that time. Classes will resume Wednesday.

General Day
Science
Introduction to the Science Chemistry unit- as I had 4 absent, I had to postpone the safety lab. but we were able to do a show and tell about what is entailed in the 'experiments' that we do during the unit and generally how important it is to have lab partners and a group who have a role each to play from first aid to glassware handling. I enjoy this unit because even when the students' experiments flop they learn the importance of following directions, precise measurement, specific timing and ,as it is hands on, they seem to enjoy the outcome whatever it might be.
They seem interested and keen to get started. Wish me luck- I have a cartoon of a science lab teacher looking at his charred students around the Bunsen Burner saying "That wasn't supposed to happen". I will show it to the students before the first experiment as a deterrent. Don't worry that was meant to be funny (we don't have a fully equipped science lab or any Bunsen burners)

Reading - we are missing it this afternoon (performance) and we missed it yesterday (spelling bee). My students demanded silent reading time be incorporated into the morning and They kept a close eye on the time (as I sometimes go over)!!

Computers
Today's session was to allow students to create a Wordle (word cloud) for the Squamish Elementary contest run by Mrs. Paxton. They were very effective I thought (better in colour) but some forget to save and need more time to re-create. Others printed but at a screen size so we have some bugs to iron out.

Math 7
7 students to complete their math test today
Problem solving Fridays
Bar Graph example today: all graphs need a title, ruler drawn lines and an accurate scale, need to show the information asked for clearly and accurately.
11:30-12 we had math games and some student went to assist with the primary music class.

1-2pm Buzz Brass performance
A retrospective of music throughout the ages

2-3pm Honour Band practice

Art Egyptian profiles and hieroglyphics

Dismissal
have a good weekend.
Mrs. J.

Thursday Jan 19th

2012-01-19T15:47:00.001-08:00

I am so upset- I just spent nearly 40 inutes in tonight's post and I hit a button and it all disappeared somewhere in cyber space!
Screeeeaaammmm! I love to hate technology. User error---User error---I hit the 'check spelling' button and it said Are you Sure? Of course, I said YES!! My mistake.

So it will be an abridged version of the first post and if I have time later I'll give further details for those who care!

Congratulations to the spelling stars of Squamish Elementary Nic and Eric. Eric prevailed and will be trying the next level. Good luck. It was a very impressive Spelling Bee- such talent. The last two words were incandescent and auxiliary (hope I spelled them correctly because I dare not hit the check spelling button again!

Homework
Nothing new
8 students at various stages of completing their socials project (gitt'er done)

Reminders
Whacky/crazy hair day
1pm Buzz Brass performance
IEP meetings throughout the day

General Day

Daily French

Spelling test List #5

SRA Reading program

MATH 7 review test on adding and subtracting integers

1-2:15pm Annual Spelling Bee in the gym
We are very proud of all 25 participants.

silent reading session

computer session

Dismissal

Have a good night
Mrs. J.

Jan 18th, Wednesday

2012-01-18T18:07:00.000-08:00

Need to be quick tonight. I have a curling game and had to run out of school to keep another appointment!!
At home now...

Homework (stuff to do at home)
Spelling test List #5 tomorrow
Math 7 study for adding and subtracting integers unit test tomorrow
If you are one of the eight students who are still plugging away at your socials project- you know what is expected

Reminders
Tomorrow afternoon Teresa, Nic and Harjot represent our class and themselves at the 6th Annual School Spelling Bee 1pm in the gym- please come if you can :)
Hot lunch $$ due Friday
Popcorn tomorrow
Crazy Hair Day, 1pm musical Buzz Brass- presentation and IEP meetings throughout the day (thank you for returning the confirmations :))

General Day
Class meeting about our recent issues to do with general behaviour toward each other and the classroom space. It was interesting that the students were of the opinion that the custodian's job was to clean up after them!!
Let me just say that I put that right rather quickly. I'll let you know how we roll over the next couple of weeks.

Daily French- a review of the clothing words (especially those needed for cold weather)
Il fait froid- n'est ce pas?

Reading selection form Gary Paulsen's, The River
We read the story together in class and after trying a few comprehension questions, we discussed the setting of the 'adventure'. Students seem to enjoy his tales of teenage survival in the North and the weather seemed suitable for this story set in the far North.
The wind whipped up the snow on the school roof and outside our classroom window it looked like whiteout conditions! Cool- very cool -20 in the windchill apparently- ouch.

Band

Math 7
We completed the on-line quiz together on the overhead and submitted our selections complete with errors (my intention was to let them see where some weakness in thinking the processes through). The students were so convinced they had 100% they were a bit non-plussed when the group score was 7/10. It was interesting for me to see where the errors were made and I was able to tailor some review.
We finally opened the text book to the chapter 9 application sample and students worked today on more practice. I showed them the review test (25% of it had already been written in the mid-point review last week) and suggested what they needed to study. The rest is up to them!!
Peace out!

silent reading

We tried a couple of experiments with the overhead and used it to see how digital media played on it. We went to the School District website and used some of their links to play some National Geographic shorts- the resolution needs a bit of a tweak but it is a very amazing teaching and learning tool that we have the privilege of working on together.

physical education
Team basketball and a class game (the grade threes were swimming so we took advantage (as we miss our Phys. Ed. on Thursday due to the Spelling Bee) and had a double block. For the most part it was good teamwork and sportsmanship.

Back in class we did a bit of a more thorough clean up of the desk tops and floors and reviewed the homework for tomorrow. My new Mantra is that just because the Dismissal bell rings, it does not automatically mean they are free to go. I'll see how that works for us. Today the end of the day was more 'civilized'.
Have a warm evening. I think it is going to be pretty cold at the curling club- well, duh...I mean colder than usual.
Mrs. J.

Tuesday, Jan 17th

2012-01-17T16:59:00.000-08:00

Our morning went well and was productive but somehow the afternoon just got away on us and I felt like I spent more time asking for the students attention than actually getting it (their attention that is!).

It is funny how little things, even positive things, have a way of throwing my (our) plans off balance just a little. I am one of those people who need a sense of where I am trying to end up to be able to navigate through my days!!

We had some grade four student visitors for the last ten minutes of the day- they were good participants in the game we played but I am afraid that I can't say the same for some of my students- competitiveness has a place and a time and playing a friendly classroom word game isn't the place or time to be competitive!!

Stuff for Home
students still have socials reports to be working on for the extended due date tomorrow- there are 16 yet to be turned in for assessment (see the body of the Blog for my musings about the process of this project!)

Participants: Nic, Harjot and Teresa study for the Thursday School Spelling Bee
Spelling List # 5 for our class (everyone is participating) Thursday

Math7 Review Test on addition and subtraction of integers Thursday (by popular demand!)

Reminders

Students were reminded today that they must be dressed for the cold weather- many students were not suitably attired for the cold elements (jackets, hats, gloves, pants and footwear are needed)
By the way...it is cold!
Hot lunch forms home today due back by Friday Jan 20thSpelling certificates for the class spelling bee were issued to participants
6th annual spelling bee 1pm gym on Thursday Jan 19th
Friday is Crazy Hair Day and there is a 1pm performance by Buzz Brass
Friday there are IEP meetings please remember to return the forms to confirm

General Day
Well wouldn't you know it, today I did Daily French and the students seemed a little 'rusty'!! My fault I guess- I used some winter words to comment about the weather and the fact that today in Prince George it was -46!!! Daily French took a bit longer than usual.

Spelling study (the students were more interested in the falling snow because they've never seen any two snowflakes the same!!)

SRA reading program- it took a while to settle to the expected quiet reading environment. Students cannot talk and think about their reading. Reading thinking and responding demand a quiet time for brains at work.
Some students have finished four cards already and have been promoted to the next reading level. It is an independent program but I request that students finish one reading and language activity each session.

During this time I visited each student to get an ETA on the socials projects. Four more were handed in complete today (that makes 9). Most are close to completing and will be ready for tomorrow but a few are not close at all.
FYI
What's more important: the project itself or the process and the learning curve? For me, it is the process and students who do not manage to hand in the project within the week's deadline will be giving up some of their own time (not class lesson time). They just don't all know this yet. I have met with a couple of parents regarding this project and I have assured them that this is not their project and just to let the 'cards fall' where they may because I have been monitoring the work (or lack thereof) and will be providing the natural consequences fairly and consistently. The due date was extended until tomorrow morning. I'll let you know how many students need some time management tutorials. It should be fun (not!).

Writing- student had some time to complete the Toronto paragraph activity (which we started writing out yesterday). I also took advantage of the digital overhead to show the students a worksheet that I had been preparing for a creative paragraph activity. Once I learn how to post the worksheets to my Blog I can share with you too. But I don't know where the saved page went to!! I saved it a s a web page so I could add it here but I have no idea where it is now (web world).
Anyway, the activity is to choose a letter of the alphabet and use words using that letter in a paragraph to describe either a situation or a person.
There is great paragraph which used the letter B from a novel called the Art of Racing in the Rain which I used as my inspiration. My paragraph used the letter D.
This was just introduced today- students haven't started to write it but were asked to think about which letter they would chose for this activity.

Math 7
completion and review of subtraction of integers

I used the overhead to find a colourful website that used the integer chips to show the 'chip' method of subtracting integers. We worked on the extra practice worksheet 9.4 in class.
I still find that there is a bit of confusion in the subtracting of integers but I can only address it well when I find out who needs a bit more practice so a review test for adding and subtracting integers on Thursday this week will help with that.
Students decided that Thursday was the best day for a review! Gives another night for studying their worksheets because everything on the review test is in their class work. To study efficiently, a review of the last two week's class work is the easiest method.
Tomorrow we will study and use the text book Chapter 9 for more practice and examples.

Silent Reading

French game
les professions: students have a card with a variety of different jobs on it, they try to mime the action for that job while the rest of the students try to guess (first in English) then in French (they look up the reference and try to pronounce the job en français.
Focus and participation skills were not good during this activity- too much disruptive chatter and silliness (welcome puberty- right on time for the New Year!!)

Physical Education
Split gym: floor hockey/ basketball game
Again some poor choices and lack of sportsmanship which will jeopardize further split gym situations as I find that I cannot referee (or monitor) two different sports at the same time.
Can you tell I was getting frustrated?

back in class at 20 minutes to 3pm, we decided to play a word game (bad choice perhaps on my part given the afternoon's slow decline. However, I decided not to read the class novel as it is a bit risqué for grade four ears (remember we had a few visitors for ten minutes). So what to do?

We played a game of hangman using movies and TV program titles. It was okay but it did get a little noisy and boisterous again.
What was I thinking. Ah, got it- I seriously wasn't thinking clearly!!

Before dismissal Hot lunch forms were distributed, spelling certificates were given to participants, reminders on the board were read and the dismissal bell rang before we had time to do a proper clean up (I'll whine about that tomorrow). I need to address the clothing, cloakroom and lunch container issues - as I said the afternoon got away on me! I wasn't able to detain 'el messy sombreros' as I had some parents that I needed to talk to - never a dull moment in the land of elementary school. lol

Have a relaxing evening.
I intend to plan a class meeting to address some of my concerns in the next couple of days as things are feeling a little 'frenetic' (it might be the snow, or puberty, or (insert excuse here)- now this sounds like that song, Wasn't that a Party!!) However excuses do not address behaviour and unaddressed behaviour will only spiral further until we decide together what we can do differently.
Wish me luck- "I'm going in"!

Mrs. J.

Monday, January 16th

2012-01-16T17:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry- I was playing with the new technology (loading software) and visiting (my dad came by to say hello and I was able to give him a brief ('cos that's all I know so far) 'tour' of the new digital overhead)- my father went to school in Scotland in the 1930's so as you can imagine how it's all very new and amazing to him. I'm amazed enough!

Welcome back to TJ. It was good to have him back in class. His friends were 'TJ deprived' and enjoyed time to chat with him.

Homework /stuff for Home (some habits die hard!)
I received 5 complete socials projects today (Thank-you)
For those still piecing their projects together (some needed to print and organize today) I have extended the 'delivery' until Wednesday morning SO main focus tonight is getting it completed and organized for 'delivery'
[I nearly wrote deliverance! but that would be the assessment lol]

Reminders- busy week
hot lunch forms home tomorrow (I forgot tonight!)
socials project due
spelling test list 5 words for Thursday morning
Honour Band Thursday lunch
6th annual spelling bee Thursday 1pm Canspell
Friday Crazy Hair Day and a 1pm performance in the gym from Buzz Brass - a history of music
IEP meetings will also be taking place on Friday- envelopes and invitations to those meetings have been sent home with the students in question

General Day
didn't do daily French as we were messing around with the overhead!!

Spelling analysis of the week's list 5 words and what makes them spelling 'demons'
return List 4 words - class average improved from 9/15 last week to 12/15 this week. Good job, everyone- you met the challenge.

Writing/ language
returned the 'Unified' paragraph activity and started writing out the paragraph we started (discussed) on Thursday last week (about Toronto)

Band

Math 7
We used the majority of class to go over the 4 point problem solve sample. It was a chart kind of question that needed to keep track of 'free' CD purchases. The question asked for the best combinations to take advantage of a Buy 2 get 1 free offer spending $40. In a question like that the solver needs to keep track of combinations of the spending of $40 and the number of free Cds.
The CD's were priced at either $5, $10 or $20 so creating a chart that begins with 8x $5 Cd's would provide the buyer with 4 free (good deal!). Using a pattern of 'diminishing returns' there are nine different combinations that allow the buyer to receive anywhere from 1 free to 4 free Cd's.
For a few it was all too much!! One of the frustrating things about teaching this age group (or any) is keeping them 'caring' about the method and the outcome or answer. I know there were a couple of students who really didn't make any effort to even pretend to try (care) and I wonder if a similar question was to be introduced to them if they would retain any of the solving method!! Sometimes it is not the answer that is the most important thing but the 'getting there' or the 'how to'.
I have asked students to complete the last page of the subtracting integers booklet and those who either had it completed or managed today, have some 'Extra Practice'.
There will be a review test on adding and subtracting integers either Wed or Thurs this week (students have to decide!) I'll let you know when I do :)
We were able to use our digital overhead to bring up some numeracy sample of the white board. It is very neat to be able to do this in the classroom and not wait for a computer session :) Love it.

Shortened Silent Reading today due to the classroom version of the Canspell Spelling Bee

Spelling Bee
10 students participated in our class Bee: Congratulations to students who had the confidence and skills to take part: Brody, Jack, Roshni, Nic, Teresa, Harjot, Manpreet, George, Keanan and Gurpreet :)

Our top three going through to the Thursday afternoon Spelling Bee are Nic, Harjot and Teresa congratulations. The class winner today was Nic who gets bragging rights as the Grand Master Speller for our Division. Good luck to all three on Thursday. STUDY

Computers: Well, I said no more time for socials but some students needed the computers to print and get their work organized- how can I refuse?
So at our computer session today, students completed socials, science power points and familiarized themselves with the animation program recently acquired in the lab 'Sticky'.

Back in class I read the continuation of one of the longest chapters in our class novel, Word Nerd.
Ambrose has found a way to participate in the Scrabble Tournament with Cosmo and Amanda because his mother is preoccupied with a cooking class (a kind of date). However, his mom has not given her permission and Ambrose forged her signature on the permission. Stay tuned for the unravelling of this drama!
The students are already predicting the trouble that might be coming!

Clean up, homework review, prep for Dismissal.
Have a warm evening.
Mrs. J.

Friday the thirteeneth

2012-01-13T16:48:00.000-08:00

We didn't make a big deal of it actually! Happy belated birthday, Manisha, enjoy your Friday dinner at Boston Pizza.

Homework
Every student has the weekend to tidy up and complete the socials project which is due next week

Approximately 14 students were interested in being the class spelling bee for determining the top three spellers for Thursday next week- those participating have a Can spell booklet of words to practice this weekend . Class Bee is Monday afternoon

Math 7 one sample numeracy problem to solve for Monday's class

General Day
Daily French

Bibliography instruction and sample handout to assist with the organization of citation of sources

Socials time in class
socials (or science) time at computer lab

Math 7 corrected last page examples from the subtraction of integers booklet
TPS we completed 6 sample multiple choice numeracy problems independently, with a partner and together in class going over the different methods for solving them.
I am not recording the results on the problem solving but the 'achievement' on them is all over the map from 0/6 - 6/6!! A handful of students are having difficulty recognizing what arithmetic functions need to be undertaken to solve the samples and the frustrating thing is that those tend to be the same students that could be more attentive in class and during instruction!

1-2pm honour band session with Ms. Sorban

In class we used this afternoon to work on the Egyptian profiles (sketch, design and colour) and analyse the hieroglyphic Egyptian alphabet to create our names in a cartouche which we then attached to the profile- only a handful need a bit more work. Many students managed to complete them this afternoon.

Lucas a former student visited at the end of the school day and I used the opportunity to have the grade sevens ask him any questions about grade eight. The questions were interesting (and reasonable) and Lucas answered them seriously and with respect. I didn't coach him and I was pleasantly surprised by his answers
which were similar to what I have been telling them about organization, homework habits and studying for tests, reviews and , of course, year end exams. Thank Lucas, you can visit any time (okay maybe not any time but you know what I mean!).

The afternoon just disappeared and dismissal was upon us before I knew it. manged to keep their attention long enough to review next week's busy schedule and go over the homework.

Have a good weekend and get busy completing those socials projects :)
Mrs. J.

Thursday Jan. 12th (Techno Thursday!)

2012-01-12T17:47:00.000-08:00

You would probably have a chuckle if you could see me at the classroom computer this evening! The Epson technical guys arrived today to hook up the digital overhead and have hooked up the computer to the new overhead which means until I get a splitter that I am seeing the blog on my 7 foot white board and not on my blank screen- now there is a bonus to this!!! Gotta look on the bright side- as we have a system which shuts down the classroom lights when there is no movement, the light from the whiteboard screen is allowing me to continue to type in the light instead of the dark. When the lights go off I have to jump up and wave my arms to get the lights to come back on!!
I'm sure the custodian thinks I am a little weird when she finds me sitting in a dark classroom but after five lights-back-on jumps up in class, I just give up and have been known to use a flashlight!! I wonder how much electricity such a measure saves the District and maybe then I could stop whining about it!

Never a dull moment- it is exciting to have a new teaching gadget and to know that I have a bit of a learning curve ahead of me (us actually, as many teachers at our school are venturing forth with new teaching technology. Well it's not exactly 'brand new' but new to us) I have homework and will need some specialized professional development time with colleagues who are learning and from those who have gone before (or sold it to us!) I'll keep you updated.

The first thing we will be doing is getting the students to show their power point presentations to the class using the overhead- I am looking forward to that as are the students.

Stuff for Home
Socials project work- tomorrow is the last classroom and computer day available (the project is due early next week)
Spelling Bee (class version Monday) study over the weekend for those serious about the annual spelling bee on Thursday January 19th. The winner will be entered into the next level.
Math7 try the first 15 examples for practice subtracting integers for tomorrow's class
Reminders
Friday 13th tomorrow bring a good luck charm :) Kidding!

Students have been asked to take home their 'stuff' that has been living in the cloakroom (it is so funny to me to still be calling it the cloakroom as we don't wear cloaks anymore! When I went to high school in Scotland, the teachers still wore black cloaks - no, it wasn't medieval times, Keanan- sheesh!)

Check head , clean combs and brushes, bring a plastic bag to keep your coat in it (cloak) and tie hair back :) Eat lunch and snack sitting at you own desk and not on top of a schoolmate. lol

General Day
forgot to do daily French and no one apparently missed it !!

Spelling list #4 and redo for List #3

SRA reading program 30 minutes

Writing paragraphs with unity
Our activity today had the students making decisions about which details supported the topic sentence about the city of Toronto. It was more challenging than the one we did on Tuesday because it asked for details that proved Toronto was a city that embraces both old and modern architecture. We finally managed to bring the 15 statements to a 7-8 sentence paragraph by combining a couple of the sentences and editing the points that could be considered frivolous (like shopping in the Eaton Centre Mall!)

Math 7 today I did my best to instruct the students how to subtract integers with integer chips and we completed and marked pages two and three of the booklet. It was difficult to keep their attention and I was getting a little flustered when the technology for the digital overhead arrived mid-lesson. I missed a number on the number line and they (thanks, Autumn!) got me again (Busted points at 66)
Using integer chips can sometimes be a bit confusing because you have to add enough to subtract using the zero principle (not principal, that's Mrs. Paxton who was able to see first hand today how smug my students can be when they 'bust' me!)

so, if I have -7-(+9)
students can use yesterday's method and alter it to -7+(-9)= -16
Or students can use the zero principle and -------= -7 but I don't have 9 positive chips to subtract so I have to add +++++++++ and --------- using the zero principle. Now I have 9 positive chips to subtract and once they are subtracted I have 16 negative chips left.
Then there is the number line which gives a placement visual (if you remember all the numbers, of course!)
My concern, as always, when I teach different methods to master a concept is that there might be confusion. The intention in suggesting different methods is for the individual student to find a way that their mind (brain) can understand and use that as their 'go to' method because it works for them.
We still haven't opened the text to chapter 9 yet.
Homework was for the students to complete the first 15 example on the last page of the sample/practice booklet.

Silent reading was far from silent as we took advantage of the nice afternoon and the fact that the guys were still connecting the digital overhead to go for a walk and talk. I tried a camp game which asks students to pair up and very 30 seconds during the walk a new question is asked and they have to walk and talk and listen to each other (I actually tried this earlier this school year but had to abandon it as the students were not ready for such a venture- we didn't get out of the parking lot.) Today, while I'm not sure if it was 100% successful, we did manage a half hour walk and some did talk but I'm not sure how much they 'heard' (really heard) or listened to each other. I am tempted to 'test' it in a journal entry tomorrow but maybe I should have thought about that immediately after the walk. I'll sleep on that thought and see what the students think. Some just like to be heard over everybody and others were not used to listening to the people they had to partner with even for half a minute. Questions were meant to encourage sharing:
If you were an animal what would you be and why?,
What's your all time favourite pizza topping,
Defend your favourite band (or music genre) from its critics
If money is no object where would you like to go for spring break etc.

We tried a bit of reading on our return to class but there was some excitement about the new techno toy- that's okay, it's not everyday we get new gadgets to learn with and I think the students might be able to figure it out more quickly than I can so I look forward to learning from their tinkering. This summer I watched a video about learning from technology and it basically said teachers must learn to be or be willing to be in the passenger's seat as we watch our children learn to drive the technology. I like that metaphor but it doesn't make it less scary for us old school educators. What if they drive us off the cliff? Ha Ha

Phys. Ed. Class game line number basketball 5 vs 5
Mainly played girls vs boys today to encourage the girls to pass to each other and to go in for the ball instead of waiting for it to show up in their hands!
Once the ball hogs were dealt with we managed to have some fair play for the most part. What's with the running lay ups? We are not in the NBA! Slow it down under the basket (in the key) because many baskets are being missed due to 'heroic' impatience.
We also had a chance to use our new basketball hoop which is regulation height. It seems higher but it has a smaller backboard according to Mr. Parker. We had a good basket making drill today using the new hoop- nice 'swish' sound too :)

back in class I read another chapter of our class novel and the students worked diligently on their Egyptian profiles (well most did- a couple sat in a trance and listened to the story- I'm glad they didn't drool!)

Clean up, homework review and prep for home.
Have a nice evening
Mrs. J.

whacky Wednesday

2012-01-11T17:47:00.000-08:00

January 11th
(Do you ever say a date and wonder what it is about that date that is significant? For some reason I feel that I should be remembering something about January 11th!! I'll let you know as for the life of me I can't remember if it is all in my head or if someone is going to call and be upset that I forgot!)

Posting a bit after school tonight as I reluctantly attended a fitness class after school- I feel like a big marshmallow but I am glad I went as I was trying to talk myself out of it.

Stuff for Home
Spell test for List #4 (and redo for list #3)
Math 7 2nd page of the subtraction of integers booklet
Socials project (the end is nigh) make like an egg and get cracking

Reminders
Please be advised that this is the time of the year for the itchy and scratchy scalp- we have had some cases of the 'scalp visitors' and (as a mom myself, I know) a quick check might offset a lot of work later. Tomorrow I will remind the students about how not to be 'visited'
- not sharing or wearing each others hats, hoodies, coats and scarves
- not sharing or using each others hair bands, earphones, combs etc.
- not sitting on top of each other during snack and lunch or class activities and getting yourself entwined in your friends (yes, they do!) etc.

Oh, oh, I think my head is itchy now. I hate that. It's like yawning and setting everyone else off yawning too. Talk about these scalp visitors and instantly your mind start playing tricks - still I'd check!

Class spelling bee Monday for the top three spellers to go forward to the annual spelling bee Thursday Jan 19th@ 1pm

This is the last week for social studies project time in class and at the lab (computers)

General Day
daily French

writing planning longer structures ( a pep rally class for teaching extended writing)
soon our writing has to become extended from 1-2 paragraphs to 4-5 paragraphs in length. Students tend to 'freak out' when asked to write longer pieces so I thought about how to show them that it really isn't a BIG deal.
We looked at how having a plan helps with the unity and flow of a writing piece. We discussed structures for different writing (narrative, expository, persuasive and descriptive).
Yesterday everyone wrote a paragraph with specific details which were designed to focus on unity (and we will be doing more of those; the results were very encouraging.)
Today, I shared a biography of J.K. Rowling which alluded to how she managed to create sequel after sequel for the Harry Potter series. In her head she maintained that she always had another story plot on the go and she would take notes that she would store until she could use them somewhere. The story originated on a train journey (in the UK train travel is much more common and everyday- a chore almost - than here in Canada).
Harry Potter had many 'maps' and plans and scenarios that didn't all work. She even thought about killing his character off but couldn't do it when the time in the story came so Dumbledore was chosen instead. Characters, she said, take on a 'life' of their own. She was initially rejected as a writer for publication (I bet those publishing housed are kicking themselves now!) but Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. agreed to 'take a chance' given that there might be 'more to come'. I don't think anyone had any clue of how much of a worldwide phenomenon that the Harry Potter sereis would become back in 1997 and, now that the books have been forever captured on film, they are very likey to stand the 'test of time' like J.R. Tokein and R. Dhal.

So from our class this morning we decided to write anything BIG we needed
imagination ans creativity
perseverance
writing skills and knowledge
a good word processing program AND
a plan\

This made the process of the thought of us advancing from one or two paragraph to 4 or 5 look like it was child's play- no big deal (and it isn't). However, plan and structural knowledge of how a story hangs together and what keeps readers interested are our next hurdles.
I have always had a fear of student stories that are 20-30 pages in length and have no logical plot turns and no ending or conclusion in sight (they do exist). We will be using some short stories to analyze how authors manage it.

Band

Socials time and time at the computer lab for same (socials and science)

silent reading

Art:
Egyptian profiles. I had a ton of posters for ancient Egypt which we analysed for dress, make up use, hairstyles and jewelery and each student was provided with a profile for creating an Egyptian profile- we will be scribing our names in Egyptian Hieroglyphics and adding a cartouche to the profile so we can all play the song "Walk like an Egyptian" and show off our creative skills to each other (by the way they already look fabulous)
While the students sketched and coloured, and did their creative best, I read the next couple of chapters of our class novel, Word Nerd. When I finished one chapter they simply requested the next :) I couldn't help myself and now we are at Ch 22.
Ambrose is defying his mom about the scrabble club he is attending. The students are wondering when that is going to come back and bite him just like Cosmo's 'white lies' to Amanda did. I love it when the students start to second guess and predict the plot.

Phys Ed: split gym: basketball and floor hockey
everyone seemed to be involved and participating- what's not to like?

Back in class (we had about 10 extra gym minutes :))
more time on the Egyptian profiles because most students are on a roll and one thing that does drive me to distraction in our school day is that there never seems to be enough time to complete things as well as we can - sometimes I instruct and the students get started and are doing a great job and there is interruption to the work process sometimes unavoidable. C'est la vie.

Clean up, prep for dismissal and overview of stuff going home.
STUDY for Spelling people. I challenge you all to a better average than last week.

Have a great evening. I think I need an early night :)
Mrs. J.

Hello to TJ and family in the Philippines

2012-01-10T16:42:00.000-08:00

I just noticed some readers from the Philippines - if it is TJ, leave me a comment. I heard from Nic today(Facebook) an update but perhaps you can let me know on the Blog. I'm keeping evrything warm for you :) And don't worry about the project either. Shhhh.
Or Geozua- so sorry to hear about your grandfather. Missing you too- no one holds the door open like you do :)
Mrs. J and your classmates too. Missing you.

Terrific Tuesday (sunny and bright!)

2012-01-10T16:35:00.000-08:00

Tuesday Jan. 10th

If you had popped into the class last night you would be forgiven for mistaking me for the custodian- no one prepares you at university for the job that moving students' desks into a new seating plan can become. The desks we have tend to have the leg screws come loose (Oh, I can think of so many plays on that phrase!!) and I was busy locating the desks in their new homes while using my Robertson screwdriver to even up and secure the desk legs!! Sheesh
The good news is that the time I spent last night meant absolutely NO whining or upset today and everyone settled very nicely into their new locations and seemed to get along fine with their new neighbours. YES!

We had a very busy and productive day in my humble opinion- we worked hard and I was a bit grumpier than usual with my ducks that wouldn't get in a row!! lol

Homework or Stuff for Home
apparently the students prefer me to use the 'stuff for home' phrase- they think they'll be more likely to do it if it wasn't called 'homework' (I haven't studied that phenomenon yet!)
Spelling List #4 for test Thursday (anyone who missed or wishes to redo List #3 obviously needs to be studying last week's list as well)
Math 7 (actually due Thursday) page 2 of the subtracting integers workbook from today's class
Social studies project work

Also:
Have you handed in your French fridge?
How close are you to completing your PPP for the Virtual Pet Project?

Reminders
Class spelling bee Monday Jan 16th to determine the top three for next Thursday's 6th annual school spelling bee (using the words from the Canspell spelling booklet)

General Day
Introduction to the procedures for and work on the SRA independent reading program.
Features:

Each student was placed on an independent reading level from a timed reading test and has a record book to note and record activities and achievement
each book has a graphing record mid way through and a statistics page at the back to determine their individual achievement (percentages) on each reading selection
each book requires students to determine how long each book takes for them to complete and asks them to reflect on the successes and difficulties that they may encounter in a given selection
There is a comprehension (multiple choice) section and a word recognition/language section that requires students to work also following directions for reading, vocabulary and language for the selections.
Once a student has mastered the colour level they started at (minimum 3 cards at 100%) he/she will move up to the next reading level. This program SRA 2c has a top level of grade nine reading selections.

Today we started the work for the independent reading program which we will work on until spring break in March. At that time I can report on individual student progress focusing more on the level of reading they complete the program at instead of worrying about where they start in the program. I never tell students what grade level they are starting at although I know they can use their noodles to figure out who is reading more challenging material.
Any hoo...to start, this class are spread out across the spectrum from a starting point of grade four 4 readability to grade seven 7 readability. We will be adding this program to our other reading endeavours and will be working on it every Tuesday and Thursday for a half hour. Students are expected to complete one card per session and will use that day's afternoon reading time to complete the reading selection if necessary.

Writing: Paragraph writing (follow up from Monday)
Today we used a topic sentence and specific details to create a unified written sample paragraph from a program called, How to Write a Paragraph.
It required students to dig through and edit any details that were not supporting the topic sentence. We managed to bring a wordy set of supporting details from 15 to 8 (which is much more workable). We cut 7 details that did not tell more about the topic. From there we reviewed the acronym CARE:
Change, Add Re-arrange and Edit for sentence combining and the students wrote unified paragraphs before recess. Average time for a good (unified) 8-9 sentence paragraph using this method= 12-15 minutes.
That's impressive.

Math 7
Today we corrected or reviewed the methods for the problem solving samples that needed multiple steps to be completed. I had to give a little pep talk (okay I didn't NEED to but I felt I had to because I was struggling to get the class' undivided attention for review of these steps and I know there are a few who will continue to struggle with these types of problems despite how many times I go over the procedure!)
From there, we started the booklet for subtraction of integers using the concept of changing the subtraction sign to addition and switching the second numeral so...
-3-(-9)= -3+ (+9)= +6
4-(7)= 4+(-7)= -3
-10-(4)= -10+(+4)= -6
-10-(+4)= -10+(-4)=-14
Two concepts to remember: two negatives make a positive and the zero principal.
The zero principle is important if you are using the integer chips method of subtracting integers because if you do not have enough 'chips' to subtract we need to add 'zero' in the manner of a positive and a negative chip (+1-1=0) until we have enough that we can subtract.
Just the concept of separating the subtraction symbol from the integer sign was a lot of thinking for some students but I must say, despite some minor setbacks, we are all handling the subtracting skills with confidence. Another two busted points for me! I have asked that the students try page 2 of the booklet for Thursday as Mr. P's class are going skiing tomorrow so Math 6 and Math 7 will resume Thursday.
Enjoy your skiing :)

Silent Reading- lots of time for socials text related work during this time too!

Socials time (projects) many are starting to make excuses about why they haven't managed to progress very far. I did a very grown up thing, I stuck my fingers in my ears and said "la,la,la. I can't hear you"! Very professional-like, huh? The students have had LOTS of time, assistance and guidance and some may be spending the weekend completing the project. C'est la vie. This is really good practice for them and a good using time wisely learning experience! Nuff said.

Phys Ed.
Basketball drills and 5 on 5 games today
Good news today we were MUCH better at following the rules of the ball passing drill and we actually got through it.
Good solid passing and playing today- I enjoyed it and I think they did too. Having an issue with footwear however and must remind students for safety to have proper gymnasium footwear. We have had a very kind donation of running shoes to the school so if finding $$$ for shoes is not an option right now, there is an opportunity to find a pair from our donated running shoes.

Back in class I read one and a half chapters of Word Nerd - will finish the incomplete chapter tomorrow. It was a funny chapter about Ambrose hiding in the back of Cosmos's car as he drove to a seedy part of the city and how he (Ambrose) inadvertently stopped him (Cosmo) from setting back his personal progress by getting mixed up in drugs again.

Clean up, prep for Dismissal after a run through the homework section on the board.
Have a great night everyone. I have to get to the curling club.
Mrs. J.

Monday dark and dreary January 9th

2012-01-09T15:48:00.000-08:00

I intend to keep the post quick tonight as I want to set up a new seating plan for tomorrow morning and find that it is easier to do it NOW!

Homework
List #4 spelling for study (test Thursday this week)
Advance on your socials project work- students are generally at the writing up their notes into paragraph stage and class time will be available but I want to see progress each day
Math 7 problem #6 to solve (majority managed to do it in class but if you didn't please try to complete it) for tomorrow's class
French fridge and Science power points are due this week preferable Tuesday/Wednesday
Reminders
If you were at Ski school today please know that you are responsible (as per any absence) to find out and catch up with what you missed in class today
A school newsletter was sent home today- please read and sign and return the bottom section if you would like an entry to 'pizza with the principal'

General Day
daily French (very basic) day, date and weather

spelling return spell test #3 (average mark 60% or 9 out of 15) this is not as good as usual and I have challenged the students to set aside specific study time for their spelling- these words may seem 'easy' relatively BUT they are on a spelling 'demons' list for a reason!
Analysis of the spelling rules for this week's list #4

Writing a good unified paragraph
instruction and activity (follow up tomorrow)

Band

Math 7

corrected the second column of sample integer addition on w/s 4.2 started last Thursday
went back to the first booklet to complete the 'magic' integer squares
we then undertook a mid-unit review (want to ensure mastery of addition before I introduce subtraction of integers tomorrow)
Once completed, we switched our papers and reviewed the correct answers. It seems (while informal) that most of the students achieved 20 marks or higher from a possible 25. I'm good with that :)
finally we worked on sample problem #6 from Friday which is one of those which requires a chart to be made and ticket totals to be added. Follow up Tuesday.

Silent Reading

Housekeeping
New Seating verified and agreed to (kind of...)
Date set for Class spelling Bee Monday Jan 16th in the afternoon to determine top three students for the competition in the gym on Thursday January 19th
Socials studies progress check

Computer and Library time 2:50-3:50 a double block today for research and independent work time. believe most used the time provided (and the resources) wisely but honestly there are always a few who think that if I am not standing right over them that they can have carte blanche to do whatever they want (or simply just waste the time) Just saying...

Back in class review of homework, clean up desks, prep for dismissal
distribute newsletters- thanks, Brody.

Que tempus fugit!
Have a dry , warm evening.
Mrs. J.

Friday Jan 6th TGIF

2012-01-06T16:34:00.000-08:00

Friday's are a bit different from the rest of the week's daily structure and while I think the students enjoy the structural 'shake up', I know that I find it a bit more work whether to plan, prep or manage! I'm tired, so TGIF.
I was less distracted and distractible today you'll be happy to know.

Homework
Main area of focus is on advancing the work for the socials project- by early next week the research note taking sessions should give way to formulating the notes gathered into draft and then 'good' paragraphs.

I'd like to have the French activity (Mon Refrigerateur) completed early next week Monday/Tuesday -many have already completed it but a few have lost momentum and need a bit of a virtual 'kick'

That's all folks JUST DO IT :)

General Day

Spelling Test list #3

A&E presentation documentary about the Pyramids of Ancient Egypt and their remains to date which was interesting to start but did get a bit dry after 30 minutes. However, it did break the mummification process (and industry of Ancient Egypt) down into a step by step process. It also showed the engineering marvel that the Pyramids of Giza (and King Khufu's specifically) were and offered suggestions about how it was done in the days before heavy lifting cranes and equipment.

Computer Lab time to work on the Science activity "Virtual Pet" power point presentations- students who are completed had the chance to have a bit more time (30 minutes) for their socials work. Time was used wisely.

Math 7
corrected the worksheet that I had so much trouble with yesterday!! The way the boys expalined it to me yesterday was correct according to the teacher's manual so good job on their part :) Students seem to be confident with the addition process for Integers. YEAH! Nothing, appraently, to do with me! lol
Problem Solving Friday
Did a Think (on your own), Pair (with a partner), Share (class discussion about the correct answers in general) session with some sample multiple choice numeracy problems. We corrected them in class but I want to go over a few in more depth on Monday (# 3, 5 and 6)
It was neat to hear the students discuss all the different ideas that they had for solving the sample problems when the had the chance to discuss with a partner. The average is 3 correct out of 5 possible on these practices which FYI I do not count towards any 'grade'. They are simply for practice and discussion of how to solve and what skills are featured or needed for different samples.
Always on Fridays we switch to math games for the last 20-25 minutes (some students helped Ms. Sorban with a primary music class).

Silent Reading- How tired am I ? I managed to get mixed up when telling one of my students that the Hunger Games' novels were non-fiction!!! Oh good lord. Don't worry we got it sorted out thanks to Manisha and Roshni who had been teasing said student in the first place!

Complete the Egyptian Pyramids presentation (15 minutes)

French- fridges, art, science pamphlets and some note taking were all being worked on as I read a couple of chapters from our read aloud class novel , Word Nerd
We are now at chapter 19. (one student is getting so frustrated waiting for me to get through the story she 'borrowed it for the weekend'. I could have said "No" but why? I can't share it over the weekend and if a student is going to read it this weekend - why not?) Sarah- don't forget to bring it back on Monday
:)

Finally, we did some negotiating and bartering with a new seating plan for next week (we decided not to do it tonight but on Monday instead- at least I did) The student have been very involved in creating these plans and while it is very difficult to please everyone, we are doing our best to be both inclusive and mindful of the working environment that we need to 'beef up' in the coming weeks.

Clean up and prep for Dismissal

Have a good weekend
Mrs. J.

Thursday January 5th

2012-01-05T17:17:00.000-08:00

I don't know what to say about today without incriminating myself!!
I had one of those days which saw me being more disruptive to learning than any of my students! I haven't been feeling the greatest but today it was me that had ADD!!

We started the morning reading a really neat article about a young man (now 15 or 16) who climbed Mt. Everest when he was 13. Actually he had a goal to be the youngest person to climb the highest peaks in the seven continents. It is an amazing story and he has managed to meet this goal since 2008.

Anyway, as I was reading I happened to look out the window and there was the cutest picture you ever saw (okay maybe not) a toddler in a lovely red coat carrying one of those big plastic candy canes she and her mom were probably headed for the Strongstart program. I blurted out that there was the cutest elf coming to school and my whole class went to the windows to see what I was 'seeing'. It was then I realized I had just interrupted my morning class and I found it funny (sorry if you don't - I guess you had to be there- or maybe your glad you weren't!). I couldn't stop laughing about the silliness that I had been the cause of- I think the students thought I was losing my mind. They humoured me and were very patient.
I finally got myself together and back on track. However, after the usual comprehension and vocabulary activities, we had an interesting time trying to find and name the highest peaks in the 7 continents. I only knew three (Everest, Kilimanjaro and Mt McKinley (Denali)). Ask your darling children if they can tell you the other four and then you'll know if the 'lesson' worthwhile. I mean you never know when someone wants to know the highest peaks in the world- it might win a prize in an obscure competition!

Stuff for home
Study words for Spelling Test #3
research/writing for socials projects

General Day
I was on duty this morning and didn't have time to prepare the Daily French activity (my mind was 'mush' and I couldn't think in French this morning)

spelling test tomorrow

Reading activity Jordan Romano's fascinating tale of being the youngest climber to successfully climb the highest peaks in the 7 continents. There is a web page for tracking his accomplishments. For details see the sorry tale above!

Computers
The students were happy with the speed of the service from our new hard drives that have been installed in our lab over the holiday. Thank-you Mr. Elliot. There is some neat new software too.
Today students had time to complete their Power Point Presentations for the Science activity (Virtual Pet Project). Others who were already completed that activity had time to work on research or word processing their notes for socials studies projects. Most used time wisely and were productive. I think you would be impressed to see the power points. I think it might be a great exercise to have the students present them to the class once I have the digital overhead installed :)

Back in class time for socials (25 minutes)

Math 7
Another strange episode! We started a new worksheet on addition of integers after reviewing, correcting and completing the work we did yesterday. No word of a lie, when I started to go over some of the sample activities with the students I lost the place and managed to confuse myself (they got me for 5 'busted points today- that's a whole lot!). Then the students were trying to explain it back to me and they did a great job too but by that time I had some doing the activity one way and the rest doing it another.
When I checked it later the students were CORRECT. Score +1 for the Students -5 for Mrs. J. I love integers!
I decided NO homework and we abandoned class and went to the computer lab to log onto the BC Ministry of Education website to try some sample numeracy questions. By the way, that is available on-line from home computers so it can be accessed any time for practice on sample questions.

Silent Reading
encouraging reading OR research reading/note taking for socials as it is a text-based activity.

French
follow up to the program Aventures C introduced yesterday. New vocabulary and an aural activity to identify the monsters in the comic 'story' that starts Tour A

Phys Ed
Split gym today
floor hockey 4 on 4 + two goalies
basketball game 5 on 5
and some independent exercise on the stage area

Back in class I introduced an art idea for creating Egyptian profiles using hieroglyphics to create names and using information about make-up (used by both men and women in ancient Egypt) and different dress styles (based on one's class in Egyptian society).

I tried to do a chapter from our class novel but didn't get far as one of my students was upset about a missing shoe that had been 'taken' from his bag and flung up high on the cupboard 's top shelf (very high- not an accident) So we ended the day with a bit of drama.
I have my suspicions as to who might be the culprit so I may have to do a bit of a follow up tomorrow. Wish me luck as I don't want to turn it into an episode of CSI but can't let it 'go' without discussing actions and equal and opposite reactions! Pranks have a time and place but when they are not 'shared' by the group and are not funny they tend to cause upset which is more leaning toward bullying! Gotta nip that in the bud immediately.

Dismissal after the shoe was located - thank-you Brody for your fabulous observational skills; I guess everyone wanted to get home.
Rest up for Friday people. See you all tomorrow after I get a good night's sleep!
Mrs. J.

Wednesday Day 2 back at it :)

2012-01-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

January 4th
Welcome to two new students today Kayla and Cristian :)

We had a bit of a silly day today as I spluttered and coughed (I am not contagious!) through Math and one of my loyal students tried to put me out of my misery during Phys. Ed. Want to learn more? Then read on for a day in the life of an intermediate teacher. LOL

Homework or "stuff to finish at home"
Math 7 complete activities # 6,8 and 9 for tomorrow on adding integers
Spelling List #3 students voted for a Friday test
Socials projects anything that advances the research/note taking for your project would be helpful but please remember to bring it to school for class time (and show and tell for Mrs. J.) tomorrow
Also, if you missed the language worksheets on Monday take a few minutes to 'fill in the blanks' :)
Reminders
remember to bring instruments for Band
Honour Band practice Thursdays (and 1-2pm Friday afternoon starting next week)
Boy's Basketball meet tomorrow at lunch

General Day

Daily French- I was impressed at the recall of the French phrases the students have become familiar with. First Ashley did a fabulous job of pronouncing her French phrases while doing the morning announcements and then my students managed to translate the following into English

Ce matin il y a une classe de la musique avec mademoiselle Sorban. Parce qu'il y a un orage, il pleut tres fort aujourd'hui. C'est mercerdi, le quatrieme janvier.
C'est magnifique, n'est ce pas?

Spelling Test # 3 (list # 3) again impressed with the quiet study time. Voted for one more day- test Friday instead of tomorrow

Socials research time for working towards the project

Band

Math 7
Introduction to integers continued- checked and corrected the last page of the booklet in which students were to compare and order integers. Some did the compare activity backwards and had the correct greater than/less than signs but forgot to compare using the FIRST number in the pair so they had it incorrect (but not because they didn't understand the greater//less than sign) due to misreading the number pair. No biggie just reviewed the correct procedure for comparing- ordering results were great.
Today we started the concept of ADDing integers and using a reference sheet which provides samples and a booklet form the Math Makes Sense series which shows very clearly the connection between math and science using atoms: using electrons and protons to determine the net charge (ions) of atoms for Sodium, Chlorine, Oxygen etc.
Some students are always amazed to discover the connections between math and science!
I had a bit of a coughing fit during one of my class presentations- thank goodness for a water bottle. I had to assure the students that it was water I was drinking! Inquiring minds need to know...
The students found it quite amusing that I had not much of a voice left after so no more explanations and they were grateful just to get the work on the booklet started!!

Silent Reading- pretty good.

I distributed the Canspell booklets to every student thanks to Mrs. Sotham who prepared a class set.
Our annual Spelling Bee will be held Thursday, January 19th at 1pm. This year because we have so many students at the school, our procedure will be to hold a class spelling bee first to determine the top 3 spellers who will then be entered into the school bee. We have to register the winner January 20th for the next level of competition. This will be the sixth year that we have participated in the Canspell spelling bee. We will decide when we are holding our class spelling bee in the coming days.

December reading record draw was won by Autumn who will have a free pick from this month's TRC Scholastic book flyer. Our Jan Scholastic orders are due mid January for those who may be interested.

French Aventures C
today I distributed the textbook for this program and explained to the students how each 'tour' works. I am confident that the students have enough of a working vocabulary that I can introduce aural and oral French activities. Some of the work for this series of French books is on tape and has to be carefullyy listened to. It will introduce a new level of second language skills. They seemed to be interested and excited about the songs (Oh no, what was I thinking?)

Phys Ed
Passing drills first- students in a circle- 2 basketballs- interesting how difficult some students found this ball passing activity. We will continue to work at it until we get better. The idea is that we practice passes with a basketball- today we featured the chest pass- students follow the same pattern of whom they throw the ball to from one side of the circle to the other so that another basketball can be introduced. When it works, it looks like a class game of 'keep up' (juggling almost). It demands student use passing skills, catching skills and attention skills. Guess what- we weren't so good today!! Practice....practice....practice
Game of Bench ball- a whole class game finished our session. The students seemed to enjoy it.
One student managed to nail me on the side of the head with a ball (I think it was accidentally :)) but after that I thought that I'd be better to join in than stand by being a 'dummy'. Then I started to become a real target!! Sheesh...I feel like Rodney Dangerfield (no respect)

Personal Planning
We used our Teenage Survival booklets to introduce the upcoming Drug and Alcohol program lessons that we will be undertaking. I told the students about a CBC story I had heard on the radio today about a young woman (Vancouver) who has had a difficult time coping with addiction. She was speaking out to other young people about her experiences which started with someone offering her a party pill.

Novel tried to finish the day with a chapter of Word Nerd but I lost my voice (it went all weird) and even the microphone couldn't help so the students basically told me to be quirt and let one of them go over the work for tomorrow- gotta love that :)

More fun and excitement tomorrow. Have a good night.'Mrs. J.

We're Back at it :) Happy New Year, 2012

2012-01-03T15:59:00.000-08:00

January 3rd, 2012

I have been looking forward to updating the Blog because it is so easy to get out of the habit.
Unfortunately I have some not so happy news to share. Mrs. Paxton and I spoke with the students this morning to let them know that over the holiday their classmate T.J. lost his father to an accident at work. Sometimes there are no comforting words to say when a loss like this is so sudden, so devastating and so final. If you are reading this post T.J. please know that we are thinking of you and your family and we send you our love and our support..
G.A. another classmate lost his grandpa and is travelling to be with family. If you are reading the post G. know that we send our heartfelt empathy to you and your family too.
Sometimes life and death have a way of putting things into perspective. It makes me mindful of how careful we need to be as teachers when we make assumptions about happy holiday time- it has been a difficult season for many of my students and I need to be thoughtful about how we share our personal information.

I was very encouraged by the general student response to the information. Some did not know about it and it was timely to allow them to ask some questions. Mrs Paxton reminded us about the different stages of grief and we suggested some appropriate things to say and do for our grieving classmates.It was a rather sombre start to the new year but they handled it very well.

We had a good first day back.

Homework
Math 7 finish the last page of the Integer booklet
Socials reminder that there are two weeks and two weekends left to complete the project (due Jan. 16/17th) Grade six- Modern day country/Grade seven- Ancient civilization
Please bring all work back to class tomorrow!

Reminder
Our digital children are sporting lots of technological gadgets many which they have just received for Christmas. Please remember that we cannot be responsible for loss or misplacement of these expensive (and useful) devices. Our current guidelines for elementary school ask that these devices are off during the school day and kept out of sight in a safe place both for safety and for lessening the distraction they can cause in the classroom.
They must understand that they bring their new techno toys at their own risk.

General Day
Daily French

Spelling Test #3
Due to the cancellation of the Dec 15th spelling test, we updated all the dates for spelling tests until mid March. We analyzed the words on the test for this Thursday and I promised if they felt that we needed one more day we could always do the test Friday this week.

Language
Completed a couple of activities which required students to sort out and complete sentences with the correct form of a few easily confused words: are and our, your and you're, there and their and hear and here.
We reviewed the usage of nouns, verbs and pronouns, We completed, switched and corrected both activities in class today.

Novel: Word Nerd Chapter 16 in which Ambrose gets some self defence lessons from Cosmo. While I read, students set up their socials research for later in the day and ate their snacks.

Math 7
We reviewed where we had been (learning Outcomes for Term 1), what we managed to complete in December and I distributed an update on the learning outcomes for Term 2. Just let me know if you would like a copy for home- all the students have their own copy but if you are interested and would like your own I am happy to send one out.
Today we started an introduction to Integers starting with the ZERO principle - that opposite numerals value zero +2- 2=0, +3-3=0, +10-10=0
This is a simple but VERY important concept in adding and subtracting integers. The students seemed to think it was very easy which it is. However, sometimes when they see the math symbols on a page they tend to freeze up and forget that they really know how to do it already!
Today's work was in the form of a booklet that addressed the learning outcome of being able to recognize and represent integers in everyday uses concretely, pictorially and symbolically. We used weather charts, hockey stats, stock reports and golf scores. The last page which was about comparing and ordering integer values is for completion at home.

Silent Reading

Socials Research- time for continuing the note-taking and research work on the socials projects. I was able to monitor (and help) some students who have questions and/or need direction or assistance with different sections. We need to work on having a more 'library like' research time. I find that if I don't monitor the social chatting can take over the research chatter. I don't expect SILENCE but I do want to encourage a 'working atmosphere' in class.

Physical Education
10 minutes baskets and lay ups- game of 21 or Donkey
20 minutes 4 teams, split gym, two games and rotate games.

Finished up the day with more time for Social Studies (I can't do this every day but today everything was set
up today so it was an easy way to finish out the first day back.)

Before dismissal we reviewed the day, the technology guidelines and went over the work that students are expected to finish at home.
Have a decent Tuesday evening. See everyone (well most everyone) tomorrow.
Mrs. J.

'Tis the last day of school before the Christmas hol's

2011-12-16T15:08:00.000-08:00

December 16th (Friday)

...and students are vibrating and bouncing off the walls
Teachers are counting the hours with glee and
are ready for the Dismissal bell
so their students can go free!!

God bless us, everyone! :)

I would like to take the opportunity to wish my students and their families a happy and safe Christmas vacation. A Merry Christmas and a prosperous Happy New Year.
In Scotland we say, "Lang may yer lum reek" which loosely translated means may you always have wood (coal in Scotland) fuel for your home fire. I think it is a lovely sentiment that you will always have a home that is warm and cosy but I have to be careful where and to whom I say it because I get the weirdest stink-eye as people may think I am swearing at them in Scottish.

I was most definitely overcome by the generosity of my students and their families and was so spoiled today with thoughts and gifts and cards and group hugs. Thank-you so much.
I received so many neat and unique items like the Christmas present earrings and a pipe cleaner silver sparkle ring (Thanks Brody and Arsh) and homemade cookies (thanks Manisha and Tesla), mugs and tea, some lovely juice, boxes of chocolates, ornaments, costume jewelery, an alligator stapler (much needed) and even a very stylish t-shirt (thanks to Teresa, Hannah, Ashley, Sarah, Gurpreet, Eric, Autumn, Rowan, Amrit, Kasper, Simi, Roshni and TJ). I will be sure to have a proper thank-you for you in the New Year.

I 'kissed' them all with Hershey's Kisses of course. The group hug was fun to for the first little bit!!

This morning the Band rehearsal was very good and I was impressed with the sound of the students playing together. We were grateful to be able to hear our students play for us before the parent's concert.I was at the DRSS (junior high) concert on Tuesday evening and I am proud to say that I think our students played every bit as well as the beginner high school band (if not better if I do say so myself although I am a little biased!). Congratulations. Next time we should perhaps video the performance for parents who weren't able to make it.
I am sure the parent's session went as well if not better. We are so lucky to have this opportunity and the talent of Ms. Sorban at Squamish Elementary. It is also neat to see how the high school band students come and assist too- great role models. Thank-you for taking the time to come and enjoy our students' musical work.

After lunch we read 2 Chapters of Word Nerd.
We are now at chapter 16 to start off the New Year.
The students requested that I open their gifts and we made a bit of a game of it. Again, thank-you. I think the students had a bit of silly fun during this time but it was all in good spirits. I noticed that the students really enjoyed being acknowledged publicly. In the past I have stayed away from that because I didn't want anyone to feel bad or left out but this group had lots of fun with it.

Next we cleaned up desks and gathered our belongings to head down to the computer lab when Mr Elliot dropped in to ask for some muscle assistance and the students were only too happy to oblige. So, our class moved our 'new' (new to us) computer lab equipment and unpacked the hard drives. Then they had some free computer time. A big game favourite seems to be Dan-Ball I need to check out how I can use it for chemistry because it seems to have a connection to 'powders' and explosions. I'll let you know.

Honestly by 2:55pm my students were visibly tired and ready to go home. They sure disappeared quickly at the Dismissal bell (actually some managed to trickle out just before the bell sounded).
I have encouraged them to do some research over the Holiday when they have nothing better to do but there is no 'official' work to be done at home.
Rest up and come back ready to work hard in the New Year.

We will be having Cristian H. joining our class in January. A new student, a new year and a new commitment to our learning. Enjoy your two weeks. See everyone January 3rd (Tuesday)
Mrs. J.

Thursday December 15th

2011-12-15T15:27:00.000-08:00

One more sleep until the big band concert :)

We have a dress rehearsal first thing in the morning. Students will be helping to set up the gym from 8:30am. The morning session is a chance for the students to hear each other play and after recess we have the Winter Band Concert for all and any parents who can attend.

General Day
I had forgotten about popcorn day and students said they would have been interested if they had known so Merry Christmas class I bought the popcorn today for anyone who wanted a bag of popcorn. 21 bags of popcorn arrived at noon. Our thanks to the corn popping parents :)

After daily French we discussed the highlights of the ski trip and we took some time to complete Tuesday's journal entry (in which students had to decide which organizations to award a $$ gift) to that we added a brief account of their day skiing.

Before Band we had some time to get the French fridges completed

Band Grade 6/7

Math Jeopardy
Today we played a jeopardy game with questions from 5 different categories of our term 1 learning outcomes. The students were in teams of 4 and had interesting teams names such as the Equation Kings and the Simpsonz. Anyway by $50 with $1400 the GTL team won- congratulations. Closely followed by the JBL (don't ask about Justin Beiber) girls who scored $1350. I have never seen such competitive spirit in my girls. Yeah, you go girls.
It is a neat way to review. The students all answered questions today on BEDMAS, Exponents, everyday math, fractions, estimation and scientific notation.

Silent Reading- the rest of the Scholastic books arrived on time for the end of the school week :)

Chapter 13 of Word Nerd was read while we did some 'Christmassy' art.
I feel a bit behind on the class Xmas decor this year but no one has complained as a matter of fact the students were suggesting that we have a New Year celebration instead of a Christmas party and given how rushed everything is for me right now I think that is a neat idea. We still haven't even been able to squeeze in a half hour to watch the end of the movie we started last Friday!!

Phys Ed. was sweet in that instead of a half hour the students and I were able to stay in the gym for a whole hour. They throroughly enjoyed it too. We split the gym and had a game of floor hockey and a game of Basketball on the other side. The basket ball shots are getting much better and more accurate.I BANNED dribbling to encourage more passing to team members. They did a good job remembering to include all players.

Back in class, I finished the chapter of Word Nerd while students cleaned up and spent the last ten minutes seriously colouring the Xmas baubles.
Have a great evening. Remember black and white and red and green santa hats and looking smart for Band concert tomorrow.
Mrs. J.

P.S. To my #1 Blog reader: many, many thanks for the Scottie dog mug and my absolutely all time favourite shortbread. I am delighted and very much appreciative of your thoughtful gift. Thank you. :)(((hug)))

Wednesday December 14th

2011-12-14T18:42:00.000-08:00

Well, we all survived and I think we even had a lot of fun up in the Callaghan Valley skiing our little hearts out.
Our class joined Madame Gregoires's and we headed up to the Callaghan after 9am. Thank you to Krista (our volunteer mom) for being so accommodating and braving a day on the slopes :) Know we all appreciate it and we hope you enjoyed your day.

I have confirmed one fact. I am not one of those cute-in-a toque women. Some people can look so cool and fabulous in any number of hats- not me. Once a toque is on my head it has to stay due to the crazy hat hair that happens BUT the worst thing is I think I look a little crazy when it is on too! Enough about my hang ups.

It was snowing lightly when we arrived and it snowed all afternoon. It was very pretty in the area of the lodge and trails with the snow coming down and being in the outdoors enjoying the fresh air and the activity was very special. Actually, being with these students is very special too. We are so lucky to have these Olympic level facilities in our backyard.

I assisted (followed up at the back of the group) with a group of 11 beginner cross country (classic style) skiing which means different skis and boots than the skate skiers. We all started out very well. We were balanced and keen. Mid morning after putting us through our paces, our instructor headed us out onto a loop trail and that was when we had all sorts of frustrations, falls and equipment malfunctions.
We had lost gloves, wayward skis, boot laces that wouldn't stay done up, many students couldn't stay up and had difficulty getting up from a fall in the deep snow to list but a few of our mishaps!
However, after a break and some healthy food I was encouraged (and amazed) by the students who decided they wanted to get back out there and ski another loop in the afternoon. And even more amazing is the fact that those who were having so much difficulty staying up in the morning hours were looking like professionals in the afternoon. I decided to stay with the skiers- the other group played some group games in the teaching areas by the lodge.
I am now beginning to feel some muscle sets a little crunchier than they were yesterday. Oh dear!

I spent most of the morning waiting for and helping students up. Trying to reach them had me take a couple of falls too (especially the one that took a student down a small embankment into deep fresh snow in which both poles and a ski came off). Perseverance is the word of the day and we did more than just learn to spell it!! We lived it and, by the excellent skiing in the afternoon, I would say we learned and understood perseverance.
That's what makes field trips like these so important. N'est ce pas?

We returned just before 3pm to the Squamish rain with rosy faces and tired bodies but still very full of energy. Thank-you for entrusting your children to us for the day. We had fun. Hope everyone sleeps well tonight- I plan a bath with some Epsom salts just so I can get up tomorrow morning!

See everyone tomorrow. Remember your instruments for band practice.
Mrs. J.

Tuesday, December 13th

2011-12-13T16:34:00.000-08:00

Is it true as we get older, the days and months (years, perhaps) seems to go faster? I have sat myself down to post this Blog and I don't know where the day disappeared to and yet every minute seems so busy. Maybe keeping busy is the reason why the time seems to disappear so fast but I'll bet it's dragging for my students.
I enjoyed my day despite its 'speed'!

Homework
Nothing new (no spelling this week by popular demand!)
Some students have taken home their fridges and some books to research from
Reminders
Ski Day tomorrow- leaving after attendance and morning announcements- please come prepared for a day in the outdoors :)
Looking forward to it :)
Band concert Friday morning

General Day
daily French- making great strides in the ability of the students to recognize feature (and basic) vocabulary and translate the meaning. My goal for 2012 is to work on their daily pronunciation of the French words and phrases.

Journal write: I haven't asked for a journal write in a while and I thought that this would be a 10-15minute effort in the peaceful quiet of a classroom full of students writing. NOT!
I was WRONG! However, we had so much fun with the topic that we ended up taking a whole 40 minutes including going onto Google to get some facts and information about the costs of things.
The topic?
You have been awarded $100,000 with a catch. You can only spend $1000 for yourself and your own 'wants' and MUST give away the rest of the money to at least five different deserving people or charities or organizations (local, provincial. national and/or international. Say briefly why these people and places are in your opinion deserving.
The students 'went to town' and I must say it was interesting and enlightening to read and hear the conversations that took place. No Grinches here. I know you would have been proud of who and what the students decided were deserving of a gift of money. I don't have time to do all the responses justice. There were students with calculators out down to the last penny and others who approximated costs. Some of their ideas

Tim Horton's cards to Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan (apparently they have a Tim Horton's in Kabul)
goats and chickens to African villages
food bank because there so many struggling with $$$
animal shelters because the animals need Christmas too
UNICEF for children around the world
Red Cross for disaster relief
local hospital for staff to work the machines so folks don't have to travel to the city!
our school for a boost in technology and books (our class- they wanted a flat screen 3D TV)
my family for helping with our tight budget
Providing shelter for the homeless because it is getting so cold out
To my brother to help him get through university without any debt! WOW
a spa day for my mom

See, aren't they thoughtful? Of course, there were the Porsche-for-my-dad buyers and the $20,000 for my friend(!) and we all laughed when three amigos decided to buy a KFC Franchise for our local community. KFC seems to be a favourite with these students.
It was one of those moments when I decided a quiet class of writers was not necessary and the students laughed and shared their ideas and got other ideas from each other. They had me on the class computer looking up costs of things they thought about. It was a blast. I look forward to reading the entries when they are completed.

Band

Math
We started class with a trial problem solver 'on your own'. This was the one that we did together last Friday about the % of profit from the Fair. Students did their best to work through the steps and handed it in for assessment. I hope it will give me a heads up about who needs a bit more instruction on completing the expected steps of a story problem.
Then, we completed the practice and review of the Transformation called Rotation (turn). We corrected together the worksheet we were working on yesterday and, using the overhead and visual examples, the students all managed to complete the three different transformations on the graph.
Together we tried a LOGIC type puzzle which gave clues to the creation of geometric figures plotted in a Cartesian Graph- I am finding that there is much more acceptance (less panic) of the new activities and skill practice that I provide. It is encouraging and we have productive classes.

Silent Reading

Chapter of our class read aloud while the students work on those fridges :)
There were a few interruptions- they were silly!

Physical Education was outdoors today- the students wanted to go OUT and I obliged. They really did need to run off some energy and everyone was 'game' So we had two groups - one went to the outdoor basketball nets and played '21' and the other group of 14 played a couple of different tag games with varying degrees of success! But after the half hour they all had rosy cheeks and said they had enjoyed being out in the fresh air. What's not to like? The weather has been so pleasant to date (hope I didn't jinx it)

More filling of fridges- actually many are now at the labelling stage and using resources available to find the French for various foods. One great resource I nearly overlooked (thanks, Simi) is your fridge at home. How many items are packaged and have both French and English? In Canada everything has to be bilingual.

We reviewed the expectations for our ski day tomorrow and went over the clothing and the different groups. Clean up and pack up- time for the bell
Dismissal
Have a good night
I get to hear my son play saxophone tonight in the Junior High Band concert :)

Monday, December 12th

2011-12-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our last week of school before the winter (Christmas) vacation. I can hardly believe that we are nearly finished the 2011 part of the school year!
We had a decent and productive Monday even if some of us are feeling a little 'heady' and hyper and I had to repeat myself several times!!
We had a bit of a different morning ...

Homework
Math 7 I have asked students to make an effort to complete the worksheet which we distributed in class regarding transformations in a graph (a slide, a reflection AND a translation). A handful managed to get it done in class
Research for socials projects (modern day country Gr 6 and ancient civilization grade 7)
Reminders
Band instruments for tomorrow- both classes are practicing together Gr 6/7
Wednesday skiing in the Callaghan Valley please be prepared for a day outdoors (see the list sent home for specific gear needed)

General Day

We started today with a whole school assembly which was a nice way to begin this week. The Gr 2 song was so sweet, "Don't laugh at me", that it brought a tear to my eye.

Back in class I returned the Spelling Test #2 to students and I am happy to report that the results were much better than last week's list #1. I have also realized that the redone tests MUST be on a different day because of the 10 redone tests only 3 improved which means that the redo needs a specific time to itself NOT on the same day as the weekly test (conflict of study?). I live and learn a little every day!
The students also opted NOT to have a spelling test this week and I agreed that we will pick up the testing of the word sets in the new year. No test this Thursday.

Next we had a bit of fun with the return of our letters to Santa which were replied to by the students at the High School (hope we haven't ruined anyone's illusions of Christmas!). The high school students did a great job answering all the teen aged requests for unicorns and Ferraris not to forget the KFC- one of the elves is going to forward a note on my students' behalf to the new mayor of Squamish for a new KFC outlet (like we need it back!). :) They (the high school elves) even sent seasons greetings to me from the North Pole of the high school. Many thanks- I miss you too, Sparkle Fluffy Paws. lol

We completed a 'test' run for the reading program we are undertaking in the new year. I shared the starting sets (groups) and ensured the 'levels' were 'mixed' up so that students have a more difficult time trying to figure out who starts where (which inevitably happens despite all my efforts). We read, completed a set of comprehension questions, a vocabulary section and a language (grammatical) set of questions about the reading selection. Questions are all in the context of the reading selection and are very thorough.

Math 7 Transformations in the Cartesian Graph
completed and reviewed (correct) together the worksheet on Rotations 10.3
Once completed we moved onto an activity that put the skills we have been working on all together and asks the students to plot points of an original quadrilateral, complete a slide (translation),a mirror image in the x-axis (reflection) and finally to plot the new point of a rotation (turn) of the original figure around the turn point of the graph's origin.
Being rotationally impaired, I relied heavily on my tracing paper manipulatives and my talented mind's eye students to help keep me on the correct side of the graph. Thank you for realizing that the rotation was of the original image (my bad, I had the points of the reflection and not the original, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!).
Thank-you to all the brave students who took the chalk and came to the front to mark the board with your ideas of the correct rotations. I love that you are willing to "move it, move it" in Math class :)
Try to complete the worksheet BUT don't let it frustrate you- we will go over it tomorrow. Remember it is okay to try it and get it 'all messed up' that was we can see when we go over it where we are losing perspective!!

Silent Reading- mostly silent- mostly reading!

Social Studies
Class was far too noisy for brain work to be effective. I found myself having to re-focus everyone and get them back to the productive use of time. I have been able to check that all students have textual access to the resources they need. However, it is a bit like 'spinning plates' as I do my 'rounds' and try to keep the 'usual suspects' on-task. I am encouraged to see the use of the mini-note taking sheets as they allow me to quickly assess if the student is on the right track with the information that is being noted! So far so good- we are still mainly at the gathering research information stage.

Computer session was next to complement the research for either socials or science- power point presentations for the science activity and research information for the socials project. Most students are using this time wisely and productively but there are always a few who could be smarter about the use of time!!

Back in class we reviewed our last week work, activities and work for home. We cleaned off our desks and I tried very hard to read a chapter of the novel, Word Nerd, but I didn't get very far before the bell for the end of our day.
Dismissal
Have a great night. More fun at school tomorrow.
Mrs.J.

Friday December 9th

2011-12-09T14:39:00.001-08:00

It was a bit of an anomaly today that I ended up with only 10 students in class from 1pm until 2:30pm. They were all amazingly busy and productive of course for everybody else :)

I enjoy having a group of students this year who are reliable and 'wanted' by everyone else but sometimes it can be a bit much. However, Fridays are one of those days that (especially at this time of year) the older students are in demand for general assistance and some one-to-one with the younger students. There are an amazing number of activities going on and the great thing is that my students are willing and able to assist and provide the support requested. It is not like it happens every day so please don't think I am complaining about having 10 students for the majority of the afternoon:) !!!
Be careful what you wish for, right?

This morning, students in my class assisted the grade fours with Gingerbread houses, Mr. Elliot with hardware for the computer lab and Ms. Sorban with a primary class for music. This afternoon 14 went out to perform for the seniors and two were out with mentors. One left early to catch a ferry and that left me 9 or 10!!
The ten of us left in class, chose to watch a movie which had a bit of a fictional take on the science issues we have been considering. It is called The Day After Tomorrow. The premise is about the effects of global warming and although the science and Global Warming theories are all squeezed into one big 'storm cell' and the science is OTT (over the top) the students still seemed interested enough to enjoy it (bad acting and all!). They especially 'guffawed' at the surge of people (in the movie) moving out of North America and asking permission to enter and reside in Mexico- now there's a 'vive la difference' for you !

Luckily the students returning at 2:30pm from their band performance managed to settle down to either some reading, colouring or watching the end of the movie. It was a different afternoon to say the least. Apparently all, went well with the afternoon band visit and the seniors enjoyed the performance.

I am taking the opportunity to begin this post as it creeps closer to the end of the school afternoon. Of course whenever I do that, there is always the chance that students think I am not quite not as vigilant as I ought to be and then things get more unsettled so I have to be careful to keep one eye here and the other roaming the room. Have you seen the commercial where the dad is only using one eye to see his son's picture of the dinosaur? Yep, that's me!

Homework
Nothing new
Reminders
Skiing Wednesday next week (Dec 14th)
Band Concert Friday Dec 16th

General Day
Began the morning with a reading placement test which lasted a whole six minutes. In the new year we will be undertaking a personal reading program to track and improve personal reading levels. The results were very interesting. I have six different level placements (very informal).
I try to encourage students to focus on the level which they complete the program and not the starting level. I do not share grade level equivalents with them until they actually have shown improvement and can be proud of their progress.

Next we took time for a group Jeopardy quiz- students who create Frances Rain (Term 1 novel) jeopardy games had the opportunity today to run their questions with their peers and I. The questions were very different and really observant of the book down to small details that I flunked and lost $$$ on- like who the novel was dedicated to and what chapter the father left etc. I was duly impressed. One interesting twist on the game was the Mystery Jeopardy- the topic was a mystery as was how much money the question was worth. Good stuff,

At 10 am we spent 30 minutes science time at the computer lab working on those power point presentations for the virtual pet project.

Math
Today is our problem solving session.
Today's problem was based on the skill of finding percentages and graphing them into a circle graph (pie). Some problems have multiple steps and this was one that required students to

determine the percentage of profit from four different activites at a fun fair by adding the total and calculating what (fraction) part of the activity (say the Bake Sale) was of the total
once the percentage is determined, accurately splitting the pie graph into sections to visually show the percentage of profit
ensuring the total added up top 100%
adding, dividing, multiplying, changing fractions into percent, graphing and checking

I also did a brief vocabulary check with them about the vocabulary of Algebra just to see what general knowledge there is about the main parts of an expression: varaibles, numerical coefficients, equations, like terms and solutions. Just let's say that it was the wrong day to try it- they kind of sort of recognized the words but we have some work to do!!
Grade 7 assistance half hour! 11:30-12
Geozua helped Mr Elliot
Auntumn, Manisha , Simi and Roshni assisted the grade fours
Isaac, Nicole, Gabriel, Marrissa, Gurpreet, Amrit, Cassidy and Jarod
13 out left me with 12 (some were absent) and we played some card games, checkers, dominoes and a dice game called Stratedice.

The band performance students left the school at about 1:05pm after attendance

Movie vote either, Eight Below or, the Day after Tomorrow. The latter won the vote. Some students who said they weren't interested in watching it quietly were 'sucked' in by the action! :) and watched it anyway.

Silent reading for about ten minutes although some took more time while we were setting up the movie. Some worked on their French food activity filling their fridges (they are looking rather good and full).

Band students returned about 2:30pm
We didn't quite complete the movie (probably half an hour left) I'll see if they are into it on Monday afternoon. Sometimes the weekend in the middle is too long a hiatus and they don't really care but I booked it anyway just in case!

Have a great weekend everyone. It is really hard to believe that next week is the last before the Christmas vacation.
See you Monday.
Mrs. J.

Thhursday Dec. 8th

2011-12-08T16:02:00.001-08:00

Yikes...it's already 4pm

It was a happy birthday to Kelli and George today- we even sang- not such a great present! Had to stop a few who got themselves a little carried away with their harmonization of the birthday ditty!! The Bhangra dancing was a nice touch too.
Kelli and her mom baked cup cakes and we all shared a yummy treat at snack time- thank-you so much they were delicious.

Homework
nothing new
Some Science pending and research is on-going for the virtual pet activity and the socials project
Reminders
Tonight- PAC Xmas Craft Sale
Manisha, Simi and Roshni will be raffling off their Gingerbread houses for $1 - all proceeds will go to our local Food bank
Friday afternoon - honour band students will be 1-3pm at the local seniors centre
Any dry or canned food items will be gladly accepted and on the 16th December (next Friday) we will take them to our local food bank
Next Wednesday our class will be X-country skiing in the Callahan Valley

General Day
Spelling redo #1 and complete #2 lists for spelling

I read chapter 10 of the class read aloud, Word Nerd, while the students worked on various activities that needed to be completed

Band- both band classes Gr 6/7 practiced together today so they can get that unified sound for the upcoming performances. The students also are committed to the honour band at lunch and really are enjoying the challenge and the camaraderie that comes from these types of experiences.

Math 7
Today I tried to do a class instruction for the Transformation called Rotation (turn) but it was so bright with the sunny day (:)) [can't complain about the sun!!] that it rendered the overhead almost useless. We persevered and managed to do a visual and hands-on (manipulative was tracing paper) instruction using the paper which actually worked well. From the class practice, once mastered, students moved to the worksheet asking for different turns going both clockwise CW and counterclockwise CCW. They discovered that a 270 degree turn CCW is actually the same move as a 90 degree turn CW. The turns asked for are usually a quarter turn either left or right. Students need to establish one of the points before they turn the geometric figure. 180 degree turn is an upside down version of the original. Like I have been saying, the skills for this math unit are based in a good hand-eye coordination and some can 'see' what they need to do in their mind's eye while others need the visual or manipulative. Practice is the difference- see the IXL website or MathLinks7 for some practice samples.
Have we lost you yet? You should check it out for yourself.
They did well and I am grateful (as are your classmates) for the assistance of those students who managed to complete the activities earlier than others. Merci beaucoup.
I think as parents you would be very proud to see us in action during our math classes this year and if ever you are in the neighbourhood between 11-12 feel free to pop by and see for yourself.

Silent Reading
the Scholastic orders arrived today- students have been anticipating the arrival for the last couple of weeks. Still waiting for one more delivery before the holiday.

French- fridges are in the process of being filled and labelled en francais
They are beginning to look like the students eat good, healthy food :)
I had to encourage some to put more than a bucket of KFC poulet and soda in their fridges!! The healthier the food the healthier the assessment :) Yes, I did! (bribe that is)

Phys Ed
Have some great ideas for encouraging passing using 5on 5 games with 4 on sidelines and asking them to play a whole three minutes only using a certain throw (i.e. only overhand or bounce pass, no dribbling etc) We went over the Elementary rules once back in class (I copied them from District #57) and I will also check the Premier booklets. Students took a bit to get used to the different expectations but once they embraced it, it worked well and there was less bunching and more spreading out of players because they had to pass to each other :)

Back in class- basketball rules and fridges were continued as I read another chapter of Word Nerd. We are at Chapter 11 now and Ambrose has discovered that Cosmo plays Scrabble- a game that he is proud of being pretty good at playing himself. The game of Scrabble becomes the 'connection' now for more than just Cosmo and Ambrose. Spoiler alert- I'll say no more.

Dismissal- lots of energy at 3+pm- could be the craft fair tonight or the band visit tomorrow or the rep soccer practice the boys were looking forward to tonight...then again maybe it is just that they are going home and Christmas is around the corner!!
Have a great evening whatever you are doing.
Mrs. J.

Wednesday December 7th

2011-12-07T19:23:00.001-08:00

I had an appointment after school so I am posting from home tonight. I'll try to be quick...

Homework
no new homework
Spelling redo spelling List #1 and # list #2 test tomorrow
Reminders
Please be advised that the fundraiser items ordered earlier this year came in and were distributed to your children at the end of the day, today. Ask and you should receive them :)
Food donations for the CCC
Tomorrow evening Xmas Craft Fair in our Gym
Honour Band visit to Seniors Centre Friday afternoon
Skiing in the Callaghan Wed. Dec. 14th
Band class tomorrow morning

General Day
I booked an extra half hour for research in the computer lab for students this morning- most used it very wisely and seemed to be very engaged (if I say so myself) in their power point presentations for science. It made my day when one of my students was so amazed at the amount of money it would take, not to mention the upkeep of a salt-water aquarium, for his virtual 'pet' (Clownfish) that he has decided it is not worth all the trouble. YES, my work here is done! lol

spelling study

Socials research from text- note taking - students working on the same civilizations/countries have been encouraged to share resources- not their notes!

chapter from Word Nerd in which Ambrose tries to befriend Cosmo but is not as successful as he would have liked to be (Cosmo soaks him in water from the hose he was washing his car with!)

Math
Review of skills for transformation- reflection (flip) Corrected together using visual examples from the overhead worksheet 10.3 and compared our class progress to the text book examples in Chapter 1. We are making great progress. Tomorrow we are going to study the skill of the transformation called a rotation (turn). Tok the opportunity to empty the math binders from Term 1 to make way for the new Learning Outcomes for Term 2. List to come for your information as soon as I get it organized :)

11:30-noon on-line Math examples, games and examples from Mathlinks 7 Ch 1 and IXL grade 7

silent reading

French- still at the design and draw stage of our refrigerateur francais

Phys Ed. Basketball drill and 4 teams play cross gym incorporating the drill shots. Still a little wild west- really have to review (or teach) the rules of the game before I need a class medic/physio! Manged to have an extra 10-15 minutes

Back in class worked more on the fridges while I distributed the items from the fundraiser to students (there were quite a few) Thank-you for all that support. All I need now are the books to arrive from Scholastic and the students will be happy!

We packed up activities and I gathered the 'fridges' to ensure no one's fridge gets emptied in the night(!!)- cleaned desks, tidied up (well some did) and before we knew it the Dismissal bell was upon us.

It is rather cold tonight- stay warm. See everyone tomorrow.
Get well soon Sarah- we miss you
Mrs. J.

Tuesday December 6th

2011-12-06T16:06:00.001-08:00

I'm not quite sure how to lead into today's post so maybe I'll just cut to the chase and it will either come to me or not...
(P.S. it didn't!)

Homework
Spelling List #1 redo and Spelling list #2 test Thursday morning
Novel work needs to be completed now at home or handed in as is (or not at all) there is no more class time
Science booklets (and/or worksheets that are MIA) take text home and complete
Math 7 Reflections worksheet finish (many did in class)

Reminders
Geozua and TJ you have until tomorrow if you wish to join us at the Callaghan- remember your permission slips
Band class will be Thursday (not Wednesday) in order that both the Grade 6/7 classes can practice together for the concert on Dec. 16th
Honour Band class (approx 12 students in Div 1) will be performing at the seniors centre on Friday Dec 9th (this Friday)
please send some canned or dry food items for the CCC

General Day
Settle into the new seating arrangement- thank-you to both Geozua and Ajay for being really good 'sports' about allowing me to use their placement as 'buffers'!!
I said it publicly here first that both boys will have their requests met in the next seating arrangement. That's a promise :)

Daily French
Avez-vous beaucoup de la nouriturre dans votre refrigerateur?
I have asked the students to design and fill their artistic rendition of a fridge with lots of food which they are to label en francais.

Spelling study time- some take this time seriously some not so much!

I took my life in my hands this morning and I gave some artistic licence and control over to the students this morning and I was very impressed with the outcome- it was both productive and, for the majority of the time , the students managed to direct their own learning and productivity and some things were successfully completed and handed in. This allowed me to really assist and provide direction to those who needed and requested it. Students chose to work on the following activitiessome more than one of them :)

Novel: some students just had the finishing touches to add to their novel project jeopardy boards and the ABC summaries. A couple of others finished biographies on the author and used the on-line programs to create some vocabulary puzzles and crosswords. One partnership has prepared a script and another a soundtrack :) I even have a graphic rendition of one of the major events in the novel's plot. It's pretty impressive stuff :)

Socials: research for the project- reminded the grade six students that their report this year is on the modern day (current) country which includes a small section on history. Today I encouraged the students to find information in text and take notes from resources we have available.

Science: Some students found library books yesterday on their virtual 'pet' and chose instead to take some notes for (or complete incomplete w/s) science power point or pamphlet.

I trusted a small group of student to work independently at the computer lab to finish up some 'nearly finished' activities and I must say that I was worried but needed have been - they used the lab for what they needed and came back to class as expected when they were done. I was impressed. Thank-you.
I guess sometinmes you just have to give them the benefit of the doubt and many times I find when trusted students rise to the ocassion. That makes my heart happy!

Math 7
Followed up and reviewed the language of the Translation (slide)
We reviewed the worksheet 10.1 and I showed visually what the correctly plotted shapes should look like using the overhead projector- I made like Martha Stewart and had one already 'baked' to show on the overhead visually which allowed me to be able to shift around the class figuring out which points were out of place. Truthfully, most students did very well indeed. I love that they all help each other too.

We then tried our hand at creating Reflections or Flips (10.2) on the Cartesien Plane and the only bugaboo was the diagonal reflection line which even caused me a confused moment before I realized that if we drew a mini-version (manipulative) and flipped it over the diagonal line that the line of reflection goes 'down' and not across a diagonal line!! It's one of those visual tricks! Students seem to be enjoying this especially when I need to be corrected! They got me with 4 'busted' points today!!

Silent Reading
Thanks to my bulletin board team who displayed the landscapes
To the team helping the grade fours with their reading

Personal Planning
I made a heroic effort to have the students clean out their binders of Term 1 work that is assessed and completed to allow space for the new work of Term 2. Please ask them about where they have decided to keep it- some wanted to recycle which was 'verboten'. I suggested either take it home and decide what might be useful (especially for Gr 8 i.e. some French, language arts reference and math) or keep it in their class bin for now. I guess the decsion is really up to them (and you?). I hate to see hard work just being tossed but it is their work.

Phys Ed.
Basketball
We slpit the gym today 3 groups of 5 practiced layups and baskets at the hoops while a mini-game 5v5 played across the gym.

Back in class. time seemed to just disappear- we had the clean up left from the binder emptying, we moved the class bins to their new spots, collected some books and papers and we wrapped up the afternoon with a brief game of Jeopardy, The Frances Rain Edition :) (Thanks to hosts Hannah and Teresa)

I reviewed the homework which was on the whiteboard before the end of the day and it was Dismissal time before I was done yapping about that!!
Anyway, it's 5pm already- where did it go?
I have to go curling tonight gotta run! Hope I play better than last week!
Have a great evening
Mrs. J.

Monday December 5th

2011-12-05T16:02:00.001-08:00

I swear that I need a degree in classroom organization: setting up desks and ensuring that every student is included (even when they exclude themselves), the floor space is used to the best advantage, the viewing of the instructional area remains open and unobstructed, the grade six and the grade seven students are integrated in groups together, special considerations (particularly eyesight and hearing) are catered to, student requests (for the most part) are given some weight and finally students who should not (or cannot) work together are kept separated.
That's just the planning- then, add the moving of the desks into their new homes and the re-arrangement of the chairs and student bins around the room (both the latter steps I get the students to help me with). I have just finished and have started our daily Blog. It's alread 4:15pm.
One student just returned for a forgotten spelling list and I had a bit of trouble locating her desk's new home!! Thank goodness I had them identify their desks with a 'sticky' label before they went home tonight.

It is an exhausting process and there are always students unhappy with whatever scenario for seating in class no matter how much time, health and welfare is expended in creating a new plan. It is impossible to please everyone but I always make the effort to try to ensure they can 'live with it' for a couple of weeks.

Homework
List # 2 Term 2 next 15 words from address to altar
Math 7 (most completed in class)- Translations w/s (slides on the Cartesien Plane)

Reminders
retake photo packages went home today with your children please ask to see them if they forget!

Thank-you for the permission slips and payment for Cross Country Skiing (Decemeber 14th)
Today was the due date for the skiing fieldtrip paperwork. If your son or daughter would still like to go skiing in the Callaghan, please ensure the permission slip and payment is in at the very latest by Wednesday- I have enough students to hold/confirm the booking. Currently 16 of 26 have returned forms and payment. I have one volunteer parent (Thank-you) and will not need anymore as we are going with Ms. Gregoire's class and she has enough volunteers to cover the safety ratio.

General Day
Daily French was silly- I couldn't think much beyond the date so I wrote en francais something like, "No daily French today because I can't think of what to write this morning"
(I guess parce que (because) was a new word, the verbs penser and ecriter)

Spelling List # 2 for Term 2 from address to altar
We did our usual look or in-depth analysis on the list to determine the tricks and the reasons why they might have made it to such a list (of spelling demons).
I returned last week's test and must say that I observe a bit of a slump in results mainly due to not studying (despite the routine and the daily time). The average mark was 9/15 (60%)
A redo will be given as this is a new term and I think many can do better with a bit of study!!
I did a quick instruction on the grammatical difference betwee -ice and -ise as there is an example on this week's spelling list:
advise (verb) and advice (noun).

Grammar- a look at (review actually) of the 8 parts of speech and how they can be defined and identified. The students each have a reference list and a study sheet on the flip side to test their memory. I haven't told them yet that I will be 'testing' their knowledge of these parts of speech on Thursday with the spelling test- I'll do that tomorrow.
Wordles (visual phrases) worksheet was next for all but particulaly for those who had completed the morning's work- we began looking at them last week. FYI not many of the students noticed that I photocopied all the correct answers at the bottom of the page- our powers of obserrvation are not 100% right now and that includes me (tired?)
Twice today I wrote the word practice/practise on the board missing a very inportant 'c' Sheesh-how can I expect my students to soar?

Band

Math
productive class yet again :) Just a few needed to be reined in!
Today we reviewed identifying coordinate points on a Caresien Plane, plotting coordinate points, creating one dimensional geometric patterns and completing linear points using a table of related factors (i.e. like x+y=10)
Then we plotted a translation of a pentagon shaped figure , plotted a slide (translation) of its points and joined them up to create a 3-D figure in three quadrents of the Cartesien plane.
Once this bit of magic was created, we started work on a worksheet trying outr hand at mini-translations which I believe are the elements of design.
A few struggled to read the points and accurately jpoin the points but the majority of students focussed and did a great job. This is a math unit that requires good hand eye-coordination and some patience as well as precision. I find it interesting how many enjoy this type of application math. It is fun and I enjoy the fact that the students enjoy it so much. What's not to like?

Silent Reading

Science outline for the Virtual Pet Project was distributed today. This was meant to go to students on Friday but somehow it was missed! So, today I gave the option of working on either socials, science research or finalising the novel activities in the time in class and at computers today (which was extended beyond our normal 40 minutes to nearly an hour!!) I have also expanded the science activity to include either a brochure or a Power Point presentation (PPP) so I thought that it was a good use of the computer time today to show/explain where and how they could access a brochure template (using Word) and the PPP through MS Office. It felt good being able to assist these digital natives with some of the more utilitarian uses of the computer!!
I am still learning myself.

Library exchange
Computer research and word processing (many seem to like the idea of the PPP)

back in class seating plan results of the 'extensive' class survey- too much information from the students imput but I got what I asked for...(one student wrote down the names of 4 classmates he could work with and 10 more he was sure he would be unable to work with - that's nealy half of the class!!)
Anyway I set up as best I could 4 groups of 5 and two sets of three.
I need to call one student to ask for assistance as I haven't been able to accommodate those requests this time around- I'll see if he can live with it for 8 days. Wish me luck as I don't really want to mess with my desks anymore- told you I need a degree- bet that would make a really interesting Masters Thesis: the benefits and drawbacks of social organization in the classroom on creating an effective learning community. I wonder if it's been done?

Dismaissal after a review of tonight's homework and reminders.

Have a good evening.
Mrs. J.

Friday, December 2nd

2011-12-02T16:33:00.001-08:00

Wow- Friday sure went by at the speed of light!!

Everyone agrees (on staff) that you should have seen the students today from Kindies to grade seven all watching Frosty the Snowman (the original) in the gym- it was pyjama day and they were all snuggled up with stuffies and lounging comfortably in their Pj's. It was priceless. Mrs. K. also reported that some of the grade seven boys offered to help move and put away all the mats. Thanks boys: it is gestures like these that make it a pleasure to provide opportunities for you. Mrs. K sends her thanks.

Homework
nothing new
novel projects are extended and there will be computer time in the lab on Monday so the weekend is free of school work- enjoy
Reminder
Monday Dec 5th ski permission due so I can determine numbers (payment can come later in the week if necessary)

General Day
It is difficult to feel fully in control of my students when I am wearing Pj's!! However, we had a pleasant day together all in all.

started with the List 1 Term 2 spelling test that we postponed yesterday

Science
Time to complete the work from Chapter 2 activities. Instead of continuing to pile on the worksheets, I have found a neat activity that fits both the grade six and grade seven curriculum- it is a Virtual Pet Pamphlet.
The intention is for students to decide what kind of reptile, insect or aquatic pet they have maybe thought at one time that they would like to own and care for. What came up ?
lizards, Gecko, turtles, tropical fish, snake, spider, pot-bellied pig(!), Chinchilla, skink, guinea pig, mice, rats, hermit crabs, tortoise etc [no cats or dogs but something that needs a specialized habitat created] I said "No" to baby crocodiles, a great whales, a baby zebra, a Komodo Dragon, a dinosaur, an anaconda and any lions, tigers or bears (OH MY!)

They have to determine what these 'pets' need for survival IN THEIR BEDROOM (the student's bedroom) so students need to find out what it would take to create a mini-ecosystem and habitat for their virtual pet. Included they need to cost things out and figure out the needs (food, water, habitat and health). They must cost the purchase of the animal, the tank and items needed like heat lamps and 'decoration', the food needed, possible vet considerations, supplements, a way to provide water, a cleaning schedule - that they are responsible for and finally make a reasonable decision about whether this is a good family pet.
I have found some students don't always think about the costs or care of animals especially those who need special habitats and daily care. Mom ends up doing it.
My son had a green Anole lizard that lived for 6 years (my son got him in Gr 2 and he went to the great lizard pasture in the sky last year!) BUT if I hadn't been the one to bring home the live crickets and change out the water he might have not had such a long life.
Students will use this information to write up a BEFORE YOU BUY pamphlet so that everyone will be more than aware of the responsibility of looking after these kinds of creatures.
Should be a worthwhile activity.

Math
Problem Solving every Friday we try our hand at using our skills for solving problems using the 4 step method: 1. use info. given, 2. show thinking and working using info,. 3. find a reasonable answer and 4. organize the work neatly and make a final statement that answers the question.
We did seven different problems around the room today both independently and in partners (Think-Pair- Share)
My observation is that there are still a handful of students that freeze when these kind of activities are presented and are not yet able to work confidently independently- more practice and solving together is needed.
11:35-noon We finished with some card and dice games and a some students assisted in Band with the kindies. Also had the chance to provide some assistance to a couple of students struggling with graphing.

Silent Reading :)

Art 1:30-2pm
finish Landscapes- many just needed to glue their dried landscape onto a 'frame' of construction paper

provided materials and time for the fridges that the students are designing for the French/art activity- some have started their food drawings - it is going to be so neat to see what goes into their fridges. Then we will find all the French words which we are not already familiar with hopefully in French-English dictionaries (or from our French Immersion teachers:))

2:35/40- Dismissal
Advanced the reading of our class novel while students cleaned up [thank you to Arsh, Gurpreet and Geozua for the sweeping - much appreciated]
Collected novels - still have some to be returned (numbers on poster)
Discussed and asked for information on a new seating plan for next week
Collected all the in-progress 'fridges' to ensure they don't get lost or damaged and finally, reminded students about the ski-letter and wished them a good weekend.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.
See you Monday.
Mrs. J.

TGI Thursday!! Dec 1st

2011-12-01T15:47:00.001-08:00

Whaaaahh!! November is over and I didn't see it going!!

I'm on the classroom computer tonight- wish me luck- I'll try to get this post done ASAP so it won't 'kick me off" like yesterday!! P.S. it tried but I figured it out

This afternoon was like herding cats- I'd get one back to his/her desk and another would pop up from somewhere else- Oh no, wait,-that's 'whack-a-mole'!!
We had our Christmas Card/letter writing day this morning and it seemed to go smoothly- I was especially happy not to have to chase my students away from the coffee (as there was no coffee) as I have had to do in years gone past. Thank-you Mrs. S. good call :)

Homework
We have another night to study the spelling words as the students voted to do the test tomorrow morning instead of this afternoon- study Term 2 List 1
Science - as per last few posts (there will be more science tomorrow so it is a good idea to get caught up)
Reminders
Ski permission and payment due Monday
PJ day tomorrow
Mark your calendars now for our Intermediate Band concert December 16th at 10:45am

FYI
I am on an organizational 'rampage' - CAUTION
today six students were guilty as charged of having desks jam-packed with 'stuff'. Let's just say their personal reading time (and these are students who LOVE their reading time!) was postponed until they had everything where it should be and papers files into binders. It seemed to be a task that was completed relatively quickly and efficiently. Go figure!
Soon we will be filing Term 1 papers in their bins and they will be encouraged to take the completed work home for posterity!!

General Day
Annual Christmas card writing day - thanks to the staff members and students who organized and helped set up, to the post office :) for setting up shop in our foyer and to all the parents who came to support and write and hob nob :)
Students wrote to Santa, Sidney Crosby, our Canadian troops in Kabul, grannies and grandpas, aunties and uncles and relatives from close and far flung places. It was busy but productive.
One observation I made was how many students asked for the correct way to address an envelope because they text and e-mail and use social media- who sends envelopes any more? Some even mixed up where the main and the return addresses went!! I'd never thought about it before. For that reason alone it is worth the time we put into this annual writing bash.

Math
We had a bit of challenge but not-to-much designing flags using the Cartesien plane. It is such a different skill for some who are numerically minded because all of a sudden they have to have good hand-eye coordination- it is challenging for some to simply use a ruler to draw an accurate straight line on the graphing lines! Generally great concentration and those who had no trouble became tutors for those who were having difficulty. It, again, was busy but productive- great job.

(kind-of silent!!) Silent Reading
The students seemed so needy this afternoon; it took a while before they settled. There is always a frenetic energy after lunch that needs to calm before they can focus- it makes me nervous...some of the requests:

can I go to the bathroom?
can I have scissors (glue, paper, tape, a sharpie, an eraser, a ruler etc)?
can I eat my lunch? Do you want what's left of my lunch (thank-you but that would be a "No")
can I have another spelling list?
can I use the class computer?
can I get the lid of my class bin? (It had fallen out the window- don't ask!)
can I clean my desk? ABSOLUTELY-see above rant!
can we listen to a song? ("You're too sexy for your shirt"- sorry, absolutely not!) !!!!!! I can just imagine what that would be like- never use the word 'sexy' around pre-adolescents in class.
can I finish my novel project, science, work on socials?
when are we doing the spelling test, the book draw, the novel work?
what are we doing for gym today?
can I use your keys to go to the computer lab and get my printed copies?
So-and-so is looking at me funny!!

I was just about to have a brain melt down when finally the familiar hummmm of quiet work started to invade the room and catch on. YES! You have no idea how much I LOVE this time. Remember how you used to take a peek at your sleeping child? That's what this time is like for my brain. At this time in the school day I need a chance to fall in love with my students all over again. Oh look, they are so cute all reading and minding their own business and doing what they were asked to and not asking anyone any questions (especially me!). Thank-you Lord.

Novel time in class- decided to extend the due date for the projects to Monday! That way some can use the weekend if they have to.

Those who have completed novel projects (and there are a handful) worked on note-taking for the socials projects. I have been digging out material for various topics please ask your son or daughter what country or civilization they are researching and ask them if they are finding the materials they need. It is difficult to monitor 26 different projects at once but I tend to circulate and provide ideas and suggestions as well as materials for a few each day and hopefully making the 'rounds' will include everyone eventually.

Phys Ed. Line Basketball- Day # 2
Just played today- seemed to be getting a bit tired and cranky (the students too!) lol
This kind of free-play allows me to observe where we need to work together as well as target skills for the unit.

Completed the day with a chapter of Word Nerd while the students worked on the projects and notes for socials. Ambrose has just met his Landlord's wayward 25 year old son, Cosmos.
We are at Chapter 9 and the students still seem interested- sometimes read alouds can bomb by chapter 5! I hate when that happens but there are lots of books and stories out there so, life is short and I say, choose another book- change your mind and find one you love. Why not?

clean up and prep for dismissal.
See everyone Friday. Have a warm evening :)
Mrs. J.

Tuesday Nov 29th and Wednesday Nov 30th together!!

2011-11-30T18:49:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the delay folks. My classroom computer is up to no good so I am posting from home tonight and I still have not become familiar with the new browser but I am at least managing to get this done now. I'll try to make it as painless for all of us as possible!!

Homework
Still nothing brand new...just the assignments that are 'pending':
novel projects (class time available)
science reminded students again to take home their texts!! tomorrow I'll drop names for those who are monitoring :)
Term 2 List 1 spelling test (tomorrow afternoon due to the writing day organized for the morning)
Reminders
Ask your son or daughter for the ski letter which they received today: letter, permission form and volunteer form. I have requested a return by Monday Dec 5th who would like to join us by first to return forms and have a criminal record check on file
Tomorrow is our annual Christmas card writing day- please join us for the morning if you can

General Day today (Wednesday)

Daily French: c'est le dernier jour du novembre. Il fait beau (le soleil est brille) mais c'est froid aussi.

Library visit (missed it on Monday) and the students really needed to check out library books for their socials research. Thanks Mrs. Blackwell, sorry about all the books that were left on the table!!

class time for some library book browsing and note-taking for the socials project

Band

Math
I am so excited to report the results from our Monday quiz (remember I had them do some deep breathing ?) the results blew me away and are very encouraging. Only four students need to redo the quiz based on marks below 50% but the majority of students did very well. Pass/fail rate for this quiz was 85% pass first time (15% below 50%). The test will be redone after the students in question have a chance to go back to the drawing board (instruction) and do some more practice.
I wonder how much the 'breathing' exercise helped. However, I also realize there are many other factors that could have contributed to success on this quiz- still I am encouraged to keep it as a 'settler' before a quiz or review.
Fractions are understandably in need of more time and attention especially figuring out how to bring them from a % (x/100) to a fraction in its lowest terms. However, we have made a great start.
New topic in class today (followed up from yesterday) Cartesian Graphing Plane and vocabulary. Ch 1 text book MathLinks 7 introduction to the concept.
11:30-noon we logged onto the on-line learning centre for MathLinks7 and we played some math games, some tried the quiz (although we are not really ready for that yet) and others wanted to go back to the IXL site that we used last week. I took about 10 minutes to familiarize the students with the e-Numeracy practice that is on-line via the Ministry of Education website under exams. Students can practice and familiarize themselves with the types of general math skill questions they will be asked to do 40 multiple choice for in Jan-Feb 2012.

Silent Reading- some worked diligently on their novel projects, some on science and some on socials- I see it all as text based work which involves reading and I want students who are 'behind; to get themselves up to speed

French- I was surprised how much the student seemed to enjoy this activity which is still in its planning stages- for me it is a double dip (art and French) - the students have to design and plan (dessinez et coloriez ) to fill a refrigerator full of food and find all the French vocabulary for the food items that they decide they want in their fridge. If I can fit in a "find out the cost" that might even be a triple dip (add math skills). Hey, I like that idea. I'm not sure if the students will. Anyway they had fun decideing what was going to go in their fridges :)

Phys Ed. Today we played a basketball by numbers games (line basketball 5on 5). It was interesting at how 'rusty' some skills are. I swear the first round looked like a cross between rugby and basketball! You don't want to know. I like to see general skills before I plan drills and basketball skills to work on. Let's just say, my planning is wide open lol
Back in class we 'unpacked' our gym session and made some observations and perceptions about the game- and what we can work on. The most important thing is that they had fun.
Me? I'm still recovering :) lol

Chapter of our read aloud Word Nerd (now at chapter 8) while the students completed the Trans4mation activity from Tuesday.
Ski letters were distributed and we took time to read over them (a few questions were asked and answered regarding the fieldtrip) and we discussed homework before packing up for the dismissal bell

Have a great evening
Mrs. J.

P.S.
Tuesday Miss B. was my TOC and the schedule was as follows

Spelling activity
Novel project
Socials note-taking research
Math plotting point on a graph activity to create a T-Rex
Silent Reading
Trans4mation word search puzzle- divergent thinking
Phys Ed. split gym for different activities hockey, free choice and basketball
Word Nerd read aloud chapters while completing art/project activities.

According to Miss B's notes about the day, everyone was pretty well-behaved and compliant but she agreed that they were quite noisy. We need to do a bit of work on being more inclusive of one another in our class community. We are still having some issues of friendship and friendliness.
Thank-you Miss B. I appreciate your work. Thank-you for being my TOC

Monday, November 28th

2011-11-28T14:23:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure if it is the sun that is making everyone so squirrly today but there was definitely more energy than I could handle- I was getting a little concerned that I was sounding more like a 'bag' and less like a motivational speaker (ha, ha old joke- my students once bought me some coasters that had that as a logo!!)

Anyway...we all survived

Homework
Term 2 list 1 for Spelling- first 15 words for test Thursday
no math- starting new LO's (learning outcomes) tomorrow
Science as per Friday- remember they ran out the door to the volleyball tournament? Yes, well many left their Science behind. There are students with Ch 1 and Ch2 work pending!!
Reminders
A school newsletter went home today please ask for it- I was short some so I can always send it home tomorrow with those who didn't receive it.
ALSO writing day information was distributed for this week- we would like to encourage our older students to consider writing a Christmas greeting to our Canadian troops in service in the Middle East (or elsewhere) who may not be home for Christmas.
We have a cross country ski date boooked for Dac 14th- permission forms will go home this week

General Day
I was on duty this mornng so didn't have time to set up daily French- the students were grateful !!

Spelling Term 2 List #1
I have found a great list of the 'most mispelled' words in North America. Today I gave lists until March for Term 2. We are starting with the first 15 which we analyzed today as to why they might have made that list. We have discovered that the reasons follow the pattern of the words we were finding challenging in our novel: they had double letter combinations, had a vowel 'schwa' which was difficult to 'hear', followed or were an exception to the the 'i' before 'e' rule, had silent letters and/ or had an 'ion' ending or suffix.

Language Arts (divergent thinking)
We completed a neat worksheet today that had the students analyze the sounds of letters and the words that could be created from them i.e. PPP peas, CCC sees, sieze or seas, TTT tease or tea(s), ERG energy.
It was an interesting activity for them as they needed some assistance to get into the formula of finding the words (these are the kinds of code that are used to create personal license plates for people).
They got into it and started to create their own. The majority of students completed the activity- a few need to hand it in tomorrow.
Hannah gave us this one ...

9s8a7f6e5t4y3

We tried but she had to put us out of our brain block!

(answer at the end of the Blog!)

Band

Math
Before the quiz I had students join me in a breathing exercise- I know some thought it was a bit 'weird' but after three times some of them were asking for more. I asked them to close their eyes (you would be suprised how many have trouble just closing their eyes) and breathe in deeply for three counted breaths and then let it all out with a BIG sigh- they enjoyed that part!!!
The intention was to focus their attention and energy. Remember our goal is less student doing redo tests this quiz. I'll let you know.
We used most of our class time to complete Quiz #4 for the last ten minutes of class while some were finshing up we played with the shapes of a tangram after determining the % of each part of it. I was very impressed with the competence and confidence that I am seeing in the students. It is very encouraging.
There are still a few whom I know didn't bother to study- it is very obvious to tell at this level!!
Can't win 'em all.

silent reading - some asked to get a chance to work on their novel work.

Socials
Today the specific component outlines for the socials projects (grade 6 modern day country and grade 7 ancient civilization research) were distributed. We read over the outlines and expecctations together and determined a due date that works for everyone. The report is due Monday, January 16th

That gives the students three weeks before break and three weeks after to create a research project. It is meant to be a class time project and while some work may need to be completed at home, the students are expected to have their work in class and use class and computer time wisely to complete this project.
I personally think it is too long a time span BUT the students needed to have some input and they opted to take a bit longer thanm I suggested so I expect good quality.
If I can't figure out how to post it to the Blog I will give every student an outline to take home for FYI (parental perusal)- just let me know if that would be helpful.

Computers
Today was find your Internet sources day and take note of the names and URL's on the sites you plan to use for the social studies project- we surfed the web looking for relevant sites. Some needed to be reminded why they were there!! Not the greatest start to a research project but just as many did a great job! We'll follow this up with note-taking from text Tuesday.

Back in class we took time for all the handouts and read a chapter of Word Nerd Ch 5 to finish our sqiurrly day.

Dismissal
answer to the letter and number code= SAFETY in numbers
Have a good evening.
Mrs. J.

Friday November 25th

2011-11-25T13:29:00.001-08:00

Well, it looks like everything is the same for my readers but the post page itself is a different format for me- I think I can handle it and I can access it (the Blog) from school :)
Things just look different to me on the browser- isn't it funny how we get used to things being familiar and how we can panic when things change? I'll speak for myself. I was in a panic but it's really not that big a deal. Apprently, I did this to myself (according to my son) because the 'mystery' key I pressed last night was a request to upgrade my browser!!! Who knew? I guess I have to keep up with the times even if it is by accident ! lol

So where was I? Ah ,yes ,Friday! I love Fridays!

I have 10 students left in class this afternoon!! Some students left early for the volleyball tournament (Good Luck to both our boys' and girls' teams), some were absent today and a few others are with their high school buddies!! We are having an 'own choice' afternoon- some are working on novel activites, some art and others a game which is more like an excuse to chat :) I am taking the opportunity to post this Blog while overseeing the activities. It is interesting to watch those who can settle and those who are easdily distracted even with only ten students in class :0

Homework
Math 7 Quiz #4 is set for Monday- please study this weekend by practicing the skills on the worksheets from which the quiz has been created- also see the IXL website for Grade 7

Science Grade 6 and Grade 7
Students who have not yet completed the chapter 1 review activities need to get them finished and the Ch2 work that we did today - I have encouraged students to take home their science texts BUT we had a bit of a crazy afternoon with the early dismissal for the volleyball tournament and I am sure that many have 'forgotten'!! I'll check next week and make a master list of work not handed in FYI.

Reminders
Ask your son or daughter for the article about adolescents and sleep
Movie night tonight at our school.

General Day
daily French
go B.C. Lions go- bring the Grey Cup home

We started our morning by following up yesterday's discussion about sleep and read the students the article (which is really addressed to adults). I have asked the students to take the article home and give it to you FYI so perhaps see if they remembered. It provides some guidelines for bedrooms and what the author calls 'good sleep hygiene'. Apparently a minimum of nine and a quarter hours sleep is recommended for 11-22 year olds!

Science - a big chunk of the morning (9:20-10:20am) was provided for work on science- I had to settle the social interaction on a couple of occasions to get everyone back to the actual science activities.
There are still some Chapter 1 activities from last Friday not handed in yet- if not completed it will be homework with today's Ch 2 activities!! Some were working verrrrrry sllloowwllyy this morning.

I read the students chapters 3 and 4 of Word Nerd. We find out a bit more about how overprotective Ambrose's mother is and why.

Math 7
Reminder about the quiz #4 on Monday and to make the effort to study as the goal is to have fewer redo quizzes!!
Today we also worked on some general problem solving activities (multiple choice) in the TPS- think, pair, share method - these problems require students to recognize the math skills necessary to solve a word problem and apply them to finding an accurate answer.
11:30-12 we used a different set of math skills to play some math based card and dice games while some students provided some buddy assistance for the primary students in music class.
This a win-win :) The students and I love the break and Ms. Sorban appreciates the help- not to mention how positive it is for the primary students to connect with the older students.

Silent reading- good use of the time today for the most part!

Brain Game categories- divergent thinking is good for the left and right sides of the brain because the names and titles bring memories and reminders that are stored in the Hippocampus and it gives them an airing out.
This is a fun way of shaking off the cobwebs of what we know and how we make connections. I was surprised how much fun the studnets had with it- give a letter of the alphabet, say the letter B.
B
The students have to recall and write down: a movie title, a book title, an actor or actress, a song or album (old school!!) title, a game or sport and a food that begins with the letter B.
One example:
Bend it Like Beckham, BFG, Basinger (Kim), Beautiful, Baseball, bananas

2pm volleyball boys' teams left first for Don Ross
2:15 then the girls' teams for HSSS
then the high school mentors arrived

then we were 10
art, games, reading, catching up on work (not a favourite!) and work on the jeopardy boards for novel project. Lots going on just few of us left to do it.

3pm Dismissal after reminding them about the homework!!

Have a great weekend everyone.

I am very confused!

2011-11-24T20:00:00.001-08:00

This is a bit of a trial or error post. I was messing around tonight at home trying to find the article for parents about the importance of sleep hoping to publish it to my blog. I hit a key and the next thing I could no longer access my account via the Blogger website- apparently my browser (or something like that) is no longer 'supported'.
My son showed me how to log in using Google Chrome which looks so different (that's what I am trying now).
So if there is a bit of a hiatus in my posts please keep checking because I am not too sure what's going on or if I can access it from school anymore!! I don't get it.
This is so annoying as I have just managed to secure a good parent base of readers. Keep checking in and I'll be sure to update you on technologically challenged journey! Sheesh
Have a good night. By the way I found the article but I still don't know how to post it to my blog so I'll give a copy to the students tomorrow. More later.
Mrs. J.

Thursday, November 24th

2011-11-24T16:15:00.000-08:00

Some days I feel that I need things to be much quieter and calmer than they are in reality.
I feel that our students need to find a quiet and calm space just to give their overwhelmed brains a chance to think things over- early dismissal days aren't those kind of days!!!
Things seems so hectic, noisy and interrupted that I get flustered.

Thank you to parents who called and took the time to come in to see me- if there are others who would like to do the same but didn't have time to fit it in this week, please feel free to contact me , e-mail or call and we can set up a time for a meeting.

Homework
none for tomorrow!!
the grade sevens have a MATH Quiz on Monday but they have practice work for that and I'd suggest they do it on the weekend

Reminders
Friday volleyball tournament after school
Friday night movie night at the school

General Day
we started the day with a LOCK-Down drill - the students did a great job and we talked about the need for such drills. There was a recent incident in Surrey that my students knew about.

Read as promised chapter 1 of ,Word Nerd, we didn't get finished at the end of the day yesterday and guess what...
my students begged for another chapter and didn't even want to hear the other contending novel so I obliged and we started our day with the students listening to the story of Ambrose, a grade seven studnet in Vancouver, whose allergic reaction to peanuts landed him in hospital. More tomorrow.

Spelling Test #8 everyone was here today so I don't need to remember to redo the test on another day :) Yeah!

Novel work time on the projects and a reminder about the socials research projects for which I would like students to make decisions (10-10:30 am at computers)
Gr 6 will be researching a modern day counrtry
Gr 7 will be reasarching an ancient civilization (ancient river civilizations) NOT including Greece and Rome at this time, however.
Computer time until morning break

Math 7
Today was a review day for the Quiz #4 (as requested)
The students now know what is on the actual quiz and everyone was given another worksheet to practice the ones we didn't do together for their own study on the weekend. The concepts are on Order of Operations and conversion from decimal to fraction to %
We did some examples and review together - I was getting a bit impatient with some of the students who were more interested in interacting with each other than with the math concepts!!
Hopefully, they will all study for the Quiz Monday. I challenged them to NOT need a redo test for quiz 4!!
I asked the students to consider where their energy is going during class and asked them to be more mindful about where and how they're working on math skills!
Charlie Brown's teacher: " Blah Blah Blah, Balh Blah" cue piano music

Silent reading
two students asked if they could read the novel, Word Nerd, but I want to keep it for reading aloud!!

Again with the short day- I encouraged students to work during the silent reading time reading OR on activities that they needed to get completed including novel , science and math.

Personal Planning - we finished our day with a quick look at p40 in the Teenage Survival Guide which is a brief passage (three paragraphs) about nutrition, activity and sleep. Sleep is one of the biggest issues that can cause teenagers to underperform at school and generally simply because they are too tired. Lack of sleep affects their focus and ability to learn. It is recommended that this age level gets 8-10 hours of sleep a night (and not all on the weekend) . It is a topic we need to do a bit more work on because before we knew it, it was 2pm!!
I have an interesting article about sleep that I published on this Blog a while ago. I'll see if I can locate it and post it again.

Early Dismissal. Have some parents to meet. See everyone tomorrow.
Mrs. J.

Wednesday, November 23rd

2011-11-23T15:48:00.000-08:00

Early dismissal today- have been meeting with some parents- need to get to a fitness class so I will finish the posting for today from home!

Homework
Spelling Test # 8 (last one for the novel and for this Term)
Math 7 encouraged the students to go on-line and try some of the math practice on the IXL website

Reminders
there is another early dismissal tomorrow 2pm
I'll be available for any parents who would like to meet (just drop me an e-mail or give me a call at school)
Friday volleyball tournament
Friday movie night at school
Today, please ask your son or daughter to share the Math 7 update for Term 1 with you. The students each received a teacher assessment attached to a self assessment for the first term in math 7.
What I found so encouraging is how accurate many of the student comments were regarding their own learning. I agreed with many of them and some even said it better than I could!

General Day
Daily French - no new vocabulary today- same old day, date, weather routine :)

Spelling study 5 minutes

This morning we used the scheduled Language Arts time for completion of the science work that we started last Friday. I want to get a bit further ahead in science topics and will be introducing new topics this Friday so we want to get the review activities completed.

Band
While the students were at Band class with Ms. Sorban today a colleague, who works at Don Ross, popped in to say 'hello; and bring me a message that made me emotional but very happy! It was an "I miss you" message from a former student! It was a student whom I was sure couldn't wait to see the back of me waving me 'farewell' as they all went off to high school! lol

Sometimes the students who need us the most give us the toughest trials and I learned today that even if it seems that I am not reaching a student when he or she is here with me, my contact with them can still resonate months later. It reminds me that while students might not always remember what we taught them, they will always remember how they were treated and how they felt!
What a great message- it made my day and I intend to send a message back soon. It helped me hold my head a little higher :)
I am humbled by the imapct that simple message had on me.

Math 7
We are now ready to tackle the textbook work on application of the skills we have been learning and working with in converting decimals-fractions and percents. The students are working through Chapter 4. p. 30 # 19-24 and p. 138 # 16-19 in Mathlinks 7
I prefer that the students do not take home textbooks but gave them the option IF they wanted to complete the problems which we will look at tomorrow so homework tonight was optional!
The students voted on a date for our next quiz of recent concepts for Monday November 28th. Quiz #4 will ask them to study the Order of Operations rules and practice decimal-fraction-% conversions. They asked for a review class tomorrow! Absolutely :)
I also distributed the Term 1 Math 7 assessments which provides a numerical skill rubric and has both a self (student's own thoughts about their Term 1 performance) and my assessment of their Term 1 achievement on the numeracy performance standards.
W completed today's class in the computer lab on the on-line learning centre for the math text- students went to the Chapter 4 internet connects and some tried the quiz while others tried the games that are connected to the skills we have been working on. Remember to check it out- just google Mathlinks 7 and go to the student's learning centre and see for yourself what is available for personal learning and practice.

Talking about on-line practice, (I might have said this before but...) the IXL website has a wealth of practice examples and immediate feedback whether the answers given are correct or not- an incorrect answer gets immediate explanation of why the answer was incorrect and what a student can do to fix it. It is great and the grade seven level has something like 227 separate math skills that can be pracriced. Wow! Check that one out too. It is used in over 150 countries and can be matched to different curricula all over Canada including BC. The students seemed to be enjoying their 'playing' with math time on-line today.

Silent Reading- due to the earlyy dismissal we okayed the completion of science and math during this reading session which we extended by 10 minutes.
**had to catch some students up with missed spelling tests during this time (thanks to Manpreet and Gurpreet for the assistance)

Before the 2pm dismissal, we had a vote on a read-aloud novel for Term 2. I am not ashamed to tell you that the one that got the most votes (just from sharing the story lines and the first chapters) was my all time favourite story set in Vancouver called, Word Nerd. I try not to push it on the students but maybe my passion for the story comes across in my presentation!
This will be the third class in as many years that I have read this story to (I love it). The students from previous years have loved it too; they practically begged me to read 'just one more chapter' and I was happy to oblige. I'll keep you posted about the progress :)

That was it folks 2pm already and the phone was busy with students calling parents!
More fun and excitement tomorrow. Have a good night :)
Mrs. J.

Tuesday, November 22nd

2011-11-22T15:49:00.000-08:00

Busy day that seems to have whizzed by...what's with all this speed?
I sometimes wonder if it is just me that senses things generally are hectic and frenzied.
There was a significant amount of whining today both from me and the students! Let's hope tomorrow is calmer as I feel wiped out by the pace of things.

Homework
nothing new today
Math 7 try to complete the booklet (fractions-decimals) if you didn't finish it in class
Spelling test 8 Thursday (those who need to make up a spelling test 7- be prepared for tomorrow)

Reminders
Today the students have a self assessment to share with you regarding Term 1 work habits- please ask them to give it to you (I still have 4: Eric's, Kelli's , Manisha's and Ashley's- they can pick them up to bring home tomorrow)

General Day

Daily French

spelling study

novel time to work on the last projects for the end of the novel, Who is Frances Rain?
Many are working on an ABC summary and the other most popular activity seems to be the Jeopardy board for which I encourage studnets to first create and word process their questions before they get the poster board for the presentation.

Math 7
review and correct the practice converting fractions to decimals to percent and back again
Most students completed the booklet today and are ready to tackle the 'apply' problems in the text book p138 # 16-19 Mathlinks7
Again, a good class but we were so busy that I forgot to give them their numeracy rubrics and must remember to get the students to update their index pages. Sometimes the time together goes so fast that it is lunchtime before we know it!!

silent reading - provided some extra help for students who had a bit of a struggle with the fraction to decimal conversion :)

French - les phrases- follow up the activity from the J'ai Faim booklet (last week) and we wrote the answers en francais to six questions about the students' favourite foods, pizza toppings and shopping malls!!
We reviewed the questions in French: Qui? Que, Quelle, Qu'? Pourquoi? Ou? Quand? Comment? et Combien?

Phys Ed. we had to stop the activity today and review safety and sportsmanship- the game was only partly to blame- we need to work a bit more on teamwork- I find some students get so competitive and other are less than enthusiastic that it makes for a challenge to include everyone.
We finished with a good team building exercise which unfortunately had to be cut short- no more dodge ball for a while.

Parallel sketching- 'Complete a Cheetah' once we had unpacked the issues we were facing in the gym, we tried a sketching activity which engages both sides of the brain. It was amazing how much quieter and settled the students became as they made effort to concentrate on the lines of the cheetah.

Then the afternoon was over - the bell rang for dismissal as we were in the midst of sketching!
I distributed the work habits assessment sheets after quickly reviewing the homework.

Have a good evening.
Mrs. J.

Monday, November 21st

2011-11-21T14:46:00.000-08:00

I'll get this started at school and most likely finish it at home tonight...

The build up of overnight snow was a bit of a surprise this morning. However, all our staff agree that the recess and lunch breaks were fascinating as we enjoyed watching (from the warmth of the staffroom!) the students having so much fun together: rolling, building and creating snow sculptures. Their cooperation was amazing and the engagement total- the question of the day posed by Mrs. Paxton was, "How can we create this kind of engagement in our daily learning?"
Good question indeed!
Moving the snow into class would be too literal an interpretation but it makes my heart happy to know that a big dump of snow can bring together a school of students. I wonder if that might be the answer to the problems in the Middle East?
Homework
Spelling List #8 for Thursday test
Math 7 complete the first page of the conversion booklet (fractions to decimals to percent)
Math 6 complete the place value work from class
make sure the novel, Who is Frances Rain?, is complete for the end of reading projects that are due this week

Reminders
Wed and Thursday are early dismissal days 2pm
there will be a variety of assessment forms home this week- today look for a message from the Superintendent and an attendance review for Term 1

General Day
Daily French today's new words were 'dehors' (outside) and 'soir' (evening)

Spelling List # 8 (last list for the novel and last list for Term 1) 15 words from Ch 27-33
Activity was a list word search with a hidden message- most students managed to complete it in class today

Mapping- we completed the chart of area in km squared of the biggest oceans and finished the look at which continents each ocean bordered.

Band

Math 7
we did the first part of a two-part assessment. The students completed the Numeracy Rubric for Grade 7 and placed themselves where they feel that they deserved to be at the end of first term (self assessment). Tonight, I will compare and attach my assessment of where I think they have performed this term. Look for those assessments to come home for your perusal on Tuesday (tomorrow)
Next we completed the worksheet on comparing and ordering fractions and moved onto a booklet- the first page of which provides students with what I call a VIP- visual instruction plan that they can refer to if they are struggling with the conversion steps.
We managed to get a good start on the second page of the booklet - some completed it in class others are going to make an effort to complete it tonight for practice and we will review it tomorrow

Silent reading
took a bit longer than usual to settle due to how long it took students to get all the snow-wet gear off :) They were so pumped when they came in that I think if I had suggested they go out they would have been all for it!
I didn't and they finally managed to get into a much needed reading time.

Personal planning
Self assessment for Work Habits grade 6 and 7. Student rated their own opinion of their work habits and I will add a few comments and send home my rating for Term 1. It became very quiet in class which suggests to me that the students were being serious and honest with their comments- look for this assessment to come home tomorrow.

Computers- socials
The grade six students will be undertaking a project on a country of their choice that they would both like to visit one day and would be interested in doing a research project for. Today we just brainstormed- not Canada or North America but everywhere else is fair game.
The grade sevens will be completing a research project on one of the first and most ancient civilizations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China or the Mesoamerican (Maya, Inca, Aztec). Today I gave them time to 'shop around' and look at a variety of web sites in order that they can make an informed decision when I ask them to chose. A quick check at the end of the day seems to suggest that their is a nice balance of interest.

I always worry that everyone wants to study the Egyptian civilization so it is nice to allow students to have a look-see about available web information and create an interest in some of the other 'beds' of first civilization. Of course, we will be using text and library skills (research and note-taking) as well as in class lessons on each of the civilizations.

10 minutes free time after making a research decision :)

Back in class, we shared our areas of interest and while I am not asking students to commit to their choices today, it was interesting to listen to the info they had managed to find of interest to them in a half hour session!

dismissal after clean up and homework review
I had to allow students into the cloakroom in smaller groups today due to all the winter gear that was spilling over and hiding some of their boots and gloves.

Have a great evening- stay warm and dry (or not) :)
Mrs. J.

Friday, November 18th

2011-11-18T13:25:00.000-08:00

This week seems to have disappeared very quickly...

Homework
Nothing new
Questions to ask ...
Have you completed reading the novel?
Have you started work on your novel project(s)?
Are you up tp date with the math activites?

Reminders
so far nothing new to remind you (or me) about
actually Wed and Thurs next week are early dismissal days 2pm

General Day
Daily French

switch in our morning schedule- 9-9:30 am
We went out to do our landscape sketching instead of waiting for the afternoon (I was worried that the clouds would cover the local landscape) Also, I noticed that the sun was on the peak of Diamond Head and a half moon was still visible in the sky. It was the perfect time to sketch. However, it was cold!

Back in class I directed the students to work on the next section of science Grade seven Ecosystems (Roles of Organisms) and Gr6 Tools of biology- looking at the microscope and its uses historically. We began the reviews of the first section of science work for the term while I made everyone a HOT hot chocolate. I was impressed with the many thank-yous :) You are welcome and I appreciated how much you enjoyed it.

Math Problem Solving
Think-Pair- Share. We worked on a set of 5 multiple choice questions which students spend 10 minutes solving independently, 5 minutes sharing ideas on how to solve and what reasonable answers may be and then we switch and share or correct the probelms together. I do not record marks on such practice activities but results ranged from 0-4 of 5 correct.
One of the students today told me that I over-explain methods of how to find answers to problems in math :) - I thought that was a very timely and good observation- perhaps I should stick to one method (unless a student can't ubnderstand it). I appreciated the feedback.
We broke out the card games for the last 20 minutes of class- I will be teaching them some math card games and would like to incorporate 'practical' mathematical thinking using games and strategy type activites like Blockus.

Silent reading- was better than it has been lately :)

Socials Mapping Oceans of the world. Did you know ocean water is 70% of our world? The biggest ocean is the Pacific.

Friday desk clean- binders, desks, bins and all homeless papers repatriated. Thuis took some longer than others !!

ART- rest of the afternoon was spent working on our morning sketches and beginning the Landscape watercolours. There are some amazing sketches- you would be impressed. Students are still learning how to colour with the watercolour pencils. We used paintbrushes and kleenex to smudge the colour across the landscapes. It is interesting to watch how some students can really get into using an hour of precious time to really get into detail while a few others cannot sustain their attention and start to wander and lose their direction.

Before dismissal we did our best to clean up but it was Friday and I find that they are more interested in running out the door- sometimes I like to organize the class for Monday on my own anyway (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!). I sometimes find it theraputic to simply put things away where I know I'll find them again (or not!). I also had to organize a new desk and set of materials for a new student on Monday.

Have a good weekend- remember to vote Saturday.
See everyone Monday morning. Can you believe November is nearly over? Where did it go?
Mrs. J.

Thursday, November 17th

2011-11-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

I am sitting in the quiet of an empty classroom this lunch hour- thought I'd get another early start on the Blog- if I do get the chance to start it early, I usually finish it after school or from home. I have a meeting at the other end of town after school so if I at least get the homework up, it helps for my parents checking the blog for that purpose :)
Thank you for reading and checking in...

Homework
I love the fact that the bulk of what is for homework is generally completed by today leaving Friday free for 'catch-up'
No new homework for Math7 or Math6
only two overdue reader responses remain (they know who they are and I know where they sit! :)

Reminders
reminder free yahoo
(except for me. I need to rmeember to send home the ski information for Dec. 14th)

General Day
Daily French today's new words were 'icy' and slippery' (gele and glissant)

Spelling Test #7

writing activity- buliding up complex sentences. Great start ....however, now we need to look at the difference between a single complex sentence and a run-on sentence.
We reviewed the 8 parts of speech and employed many of them in bulding up the sentence 'He cried'
our class sentence became:

On Sam's fifth birthday at Nexen beach, he built a gigantic castle but he cried when it was destroyed by the tide.
Students tried their own and we had many creative and amazing complex sentences; unfortunately, many of them were run-ons and that is our next area of concern. How to rid writing of the dreaded Run-On.
My intention is to encourage them to add detail and 'colour' to their writing.

computer access for writing and novel time (end of novel projects)

Math 7 completed the worksheet for improper and mixed numbers and introduced the concept of creating the common denominator to be able to compare fractions.

Silent Reading

Personal Planning
'Anger' booklet - we began to look at the differences in verbal communication that is assertive, passive and aggressive (follow up last week's failed role plays to try to provide the students with some idea of a balanced way to control personal reactions and anger- hopefully, with some verbal and physical body language tools we can effectively re-do the role play activity.

Phys Ed - Bench Ball- game focussing on good ball handling skills- intention of the game is to free your team members from the bench so they can join the floor team and help free even more members. First team to free all members wins.

Art use of the watercolour pencil today sketching small natural items like shells and rocks (pebbles from the beach). The students learned how to smudge the outline and drag the colour across the sketch without wrecking it by using too much water- so far so good- some excellent sketches and trials- tomorrow we will try the lansdcaping idea and hope it is sunny so we can use clipboards outside.

homework review- dismissal
Have a good evening
Mrs. J.

Wednesday, November 16th

2011-11-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

The first snow of the season flies and you'd think that our students had never seen a snow flake- the excitement was amusing for the first half hour- now...not so much! But they have settled down.

I'm taking the opportunity to get a jump start on the post tonight as it is a busy evening for me after school: with fitness class and curling.

Homework
Math 7 nothing new for h/w gave the option of completing the Improper and Mixed fraction w/s we were working on in class- some still have a few overdue activities to turn in (see Mon. handout)
Math 6 complete decimal place value w/s
Novel have 4 reader's responses #3 (ch 16-20) to get yet
Spelling test #7- please study the words
Art projects overdue (name acrostic and Halloween poster!)

Reminders
Photo retakes tomorrow
Popcorn $1 available tomorrow

General Day
Daily French- some new vocabulary (mais souflee- popcorn) and hier, aujourd'hui and demain yesterday, today and tomorrow
the majority of students did well on their translation yesterday Level 2/3 average which is great for the first official 'translation'

Spelling 5 minutes to study (I find that even with only five minutes that some students are not or cannot use the time wisely!

Novel had some access computers to print their reader response #3 while others read and a growing number began work on their chosen end of novel projects
(snow excitement interrupted the quiet working atmosphere!) One of my studnets looked at me seriously and sai "We're 12 Mrs. J. What do you expect?" lol

Band

Math 7 today we began to look more in depth at the skills and concepts of conversion of fractions- decimals- percent- fractions-decimals and the big LOOP that is involved.
The skills are multiplying and dividing decimals and understanding the fraction (rational number) vocabulary: equivalent, improper, mixed, numerator, denominator, lowest terms and repeating or non-terminal decimals versus terminal decimals which have a complete quotient.
This completes the key concepts to be covered in Math 7 for Number Concepts and rounds out our Term 1 learning Outcomes although the skills will be needed for subsequent units into next term. If you have any questions about those concepts feel free to contact me. I have a easy to read chart that outlines the concepts for the Math 7 curriculum (actually, I can share the key concepts from K-grade 9 if you are interested to see the progression of Math skills and concepts) We had another productive and busy math class in which we completed one and a half worksheets together in class practicing conversion of fractions.

Silent Reading

French - to get some continuity we worked on the written activities for the French story from yesterday's class- once we settled (it took a while!) we managed to get three of the four activites complete- the fourth and final one is an activity we have to work on together as it is writing les phrases francais.

Phys Ed. Split gym today- half played floor hockey and the other half basketball
Thanks to Autumn for tidying the equipment room as it wasin need of a good organization.
Good sportsmanship and organization today- very impressive!

Spelling Bee- went to the competition words for the Vancouver Bee and our top three class spellers with bragging rights are TJ, Nic and Teresa who place in that order but are all winners to me. Great job.

Class had decided they would like the December 14th (Thursday) date for Cross country skiing- I will send home forms in the next couple of days.

Have a warm evening.
Mrs. J.

Tuesday November 15th

2011-11-15T15:46:00.000-08:00

I'll finish this post from home later- I need to get to the post office!! Made it, whew!

Homework
Math 7 (no new homework) completion of the work that needs to be handed in- the students were provided with a list of what those assignments were
Math 6 nothing new
Novel Finish the novel (most have) and Reader Response #3 so we can really focus on the end of novel projects
Spelling test #7 Thursday

Reminders
Photo retakes Thursday
Popcorn Thursday
I'm taking the literary entries for competition to the Legion on my way home :) like now...

General Day
Daily French- today the students translated the daily French phrases which gave date, weather and a comment about the snow on the mountains

Spelling study 5 minutes
Guess what? Give up? the students have started to ask about when we are going to finish the spelling bee (Noooooooooooo!) I'll need to take care of that soon or I will never be forgiven- there are still 9 students in the running of Division 1 spelling champion.

Novel time- we are now finishing up the last few chapters of Who is Frances Rain? by Margaret Buffie, I read Ch 27 (my favourite) and the students generally had time to

read the last few chapters
complete the last Reader's Response (Ch 16-20)
read the projects and see the samples from former students to help thenm choose two of their own
start or continue work on the chosen projects

Math 7
we followed up the assignment list from yesterday and I returned the redos of the Quiz #3 - we have improved the class pass/fail rate from 80%/20% to 96%/4% which is very encouraging indeed. 2 students still have to write the quiz but I am impressed with the seriousness of the learning that is taking place in our classroom.
My whole intention this year is to ensure the students understand the importance of being driven by their own goals and learning (not mine although I still have to plan and guide what that learning is). I have seen some proud faces when the quizzes are returned :)

That being said, division still proves to be challenging for a handful of students- just recently a colleague ,whose son is at the university of Victoria doing engineering, said that her son had mentioned that some of the university students in his class were experiencing difficulty with division! That makes me feel that the extra practice is worth the time and effort.

It is too easy to dismiss skills that students find difficult and make life easier by moving on sooner than we should.
We also began to look as a class at the method of converting decimals into fractions and fractions into decimals and percentages. The base skill for conversion is understanding the division process (HELLO!) of dividend (numerator) by the divisor (denominator) and , yes, one activity I distributed encourages the use of the calculator but I am feeling more confident that most students know what they are doing now with the division skills. Chapter 4
It was a great class.

Silent Reading

Students used some time to prepare their posters and poems for competition- mounting them on construction paper and affixing the competition details requested. We entered 5 posters and 8 poems from our class alone.
(P.S. I dropped the entries for our school off at the Legion on my way home tonight and Madeline Robertson and some of the other folks there had a great time flipping through them :)

Thank-you to Kelli and Jack for clearing the Remembrance Day bulletin Board at the front of the school
Thanks to Autumn and Manisha for doing the timed reading with grade four students
Thank-you to Roshni and Manisha for keeping the paper supply room tidy and organized
We appreciate your help and willingness to be of service in our school :) Merci

Oh yeah, students also READ (I can't believe how many are reading the Hunger Games series- it is the new "Harry Potter' of fiction methinks)

French, J'ai Faim- bandes designees- we began a picture book (cartoon) program which places high frequency words (in this case the words for food and vegetables) into short picture stories which are called 'authentic' or meaningful situations- for example in this story 4 friends are ordering food at the food court in a shopping mall in Montreal and they all have different food types.
It is a clever blend of high interest-high frequency vocabulary which has been proven to improve students' recognition of French vocabulary.
The students did well dealing with the new focus and understanding the French. We will be following up with written work for the story.

Phys Ed. Volleyball- good sportsmanship and team play- I got bonked on the head but I think it was an accident!! I still do not have a good serve but many of my students are very effective with theirs.

Art- time for a new focus- introduced the students to landscape type watercolours. We looked at shapes, moods and colours.
Tomorrow we will be taking clipboards out to find a spot and something from nature to sketch just in an around the school yard. The idea is to go from detailed or general observation to including the item (a leaf, tree, rock, mountain, shrub etc.) in a biggger landscape piece. Today we spent time looking at possibilites and resources- I'd like to have the students learn how to use watercolour pencils effectively.
I always encourage student to bring their own ideas for landscape(s) so if they have a picture or a special spot, he or she can use that as inspiration.

One thing I learned at camp many years ago was to carve aout a time and a place for 'solitude'. The best artistic work often comes from 'solitude'- it is a foreign concept to some of the children I teach- quietness and introspection is scary becuse they spend so much of their young lives wired and tuned in to technology. I remember a student telling me that his ears hurt from the class being too quiet!! The sad thing is that I understood what he meant! (maybe that's a good thing!)

We finished the day seeing how many of the French words from the story they could recognize- pretty good! You've never heard such 'excitement' from students shouting out words like "tomatoes", "mushrooms", "pickles"- I'm sure if you were in the hall you might have been worried about what on earth was going on..."peppers"

Dismissal after homework and tidy up. It was a productive day.
Look forward to another tomorow.
Mrs. J.

Monday, November 14th

2011-11-14T16:18:00.000-08:00

Sunny and cold! It is an interesting combination :)

Homework and Reminders
Math 7 nothing new. However, I distributed an FYI for assignments that I am missing for assessment or that need to be handed in (I'll follow up in Math class Tuesday)
Math 6 - nothing new- complete inc class work
Novel complete reading the book for the projects this week- before the project work starts, I would like to have the last reader response for Ch 16-20 (#3)
Spelling List #7 out today (test Thurs.)
finish art work at home please (Halloween, name acrostics)

Remembrance Day literary entries due tomorrow Nov 15th
Photo retakes Thursday- see the web site for other during the week happenings (volleyball, knitting, leadership, running etc.)

General Day

New seating plan in action today- went well- just some minor placement alterations

Daily French- showed my students that I need to use my BBFF (Best Book for French) the Larousse dictionary to find the wording of some phrases like 'seating plan' :)

Spelling- return test #6 and distribute and complete word analysis on 15 words for list #7 from the closing chapters of the novel.
activity- word search (again students completed the activity quickly)
This left some time for reading and working on either novel Response #3 or the creative project work to complete the book.

Band

Math 7 Redo Quiz #3 half of the class took this opportunity (about 14) :)
The others worked quietly on catching up and moving forward- today's activity was adding and subtracting decimals to solve Magic Squares and triangles (which are kind of like one section of a sudoku puzzle)

An FYI assignment reminder was sent home for students to check their binders for work still to be completed or handed in (or both!) Follow up tomorrow...

Silent Reading- some students are having a difficult time using this time wisely!! I'll stay on top of it but you'd think that by now they would have figured it out!!

Socials- lesson intention was to present the 'history' of ancient man from paleolithic from 500,000 BCE to Urban Revolution in the 3500 BCE era and to provide a reference 'story' for them to connect to the developments.
After a brief overview of when those times were and what developments of 'ancient man' were typical, we read the research story of Otzi, the Iceman, who was discovered in the Alps between Italy and Austria in 2001. Research has proven that Otzi was a Neolithic trader and was mummified under the ice to the point that scientists were able to determine his last meal, what killed him and prove his 'origin' in order that the fight over him was settled- he went back to Italy. His clothing and materials he was carrying with him were preserved too. It is fascinating to learn that using modern technology (CAT scan machines) we can learn so much from scientific research and archaeology.
Just Google Iceman, Otzi, and you'll find a wealth of information about the trader from Italy who died nearly 5500 years ago.

That's just what we did today at computer time. After the follow up from class- some time for reader responses and competition poems for Remembrance Day was provided- some students were up to date and had some free time.

Library book exchange with Mrs. H.- students are taking advantage of all the new additions to our school library- they really seem to love reading and books- it makes my heart and soul happy :)

Back in class- it was later than intended as we spent a bit longer at computers and the library than we had planned. We reviewed the work for home and the week's reminders, cleaned and packed up for the evening.
Wow, I hope the week slows down a bit.Today was crazy fast!

Have a warm evening.
Mrs. J.

Thursday, November 10th

2011-11-10T17:05:00.000-08:00

This morning we had our Remembrance Day Assembly, the students stepped up to the challenge and did a marvellous job. With the direction of their teachers and Ms. Sorban (who did all the sound checks and music/choir practices), the students designed and created a bulletin board display, prepared readings, wrote and read their work, M.C'd. the assembly, sang and played for the musical selections which were all very well performed. They created class wreaths as well as doing the sound, setting up the gym and helping with gym clean up after the assembly for lunch time practice.
I hope they are proud of their efforts.

I always find it an emotional memorial- I guess many memorials are or can be emotional just for the fact that they are about remembering!

Homework
Nothing new
BUT the 'leftovers'...
novel- read chapters 23-33 (10 to finish the novel)
Math 7 study for the Quiz #3 redo (those who are doing it)
Reading Response #3 now overdue

Reminder that Legion Remembrance Day competition entries are due to the local Legion on November 15th
Art projects for Oct and Halloween are now overdue
No school Friday- stat for Remembrance Day

General Day
Daily French

Spelling Test #6

reading for novel- Who is Frances Rain? end of the book Ch 23-33
writing for Remembrance Day (entries due Nov. 15th)
deciding on creative and written project(s) for the end of the novel

computer time for completion of reader responses and word processing of the entries for the Remembrance Day literary competition. There are some fine poems that students have been working on- we are still at the rough and 'tweak' stages of the writing process but they are promising entries and the students are proud of their effort which is worth the price of admission :)

Remembrance Day Assembly: 11-11:30am

Math 7 (20+ minutes) - reminded students re-writing Quiz #3 Monday what they needed to study and then we played tweo rounds of a game called I Have... Who Has...? Cards are distributed and the class participates in a round.
Example: Who has 5x9...I have 45, who has 8x7?...I have 56 who, has 6x7 etc.
It is a quick and entertaining way of practicing mental math and focussing on both listening and spaeking skills. We did well once we got the hang of the pattern with the multiplication facts (6-10) but we didn't have time to finish the mixed computation games which somehow got 'railroaded' without half of the cards being played.

hot lunch day

silent reading- the students were rather difficult to settle this afternoon but we eventually managed to calm everyone down (including me- I told the students I needed to breathe and couldn't or wouldn't answer any more questions until we had had a quiet reading time) It worked and we were much more civil to each other after the reading session.

Personal Planning today needed a focus on some housekeeping issues: namely our class recycling, our belongings and instruments in the cloakroom are becoming a health and safety concern and it's time for some items to go home for a good wash! It is time for another seating arrangement- the majority chose a groups of 4 setting this time. There was a bit of discussion and we created a plan together. Soon, I am hoping the discussion will no longer need to happen and that we can sit anywhere with anyone for the most part (although there are always a few personalities that might clash but, really, for a couple of weeks???)

Phys. Ed. following up yesterday, we played a couple of rounds of Dr Dodge which I think the students enjoyed. It is a quick game once the 'doctor' is tagged out!!

Back in class we shared (at least the students who were comfortable with it) the poems and writing for the Remembrance Day competition.
I read an article to them about how injured veterans who are suffering from PTSD are finding that dogs, trained by a group (based in Ottawa) called Courageous Companions, can really help them to recover and regain some confidence and self-esteem.

Time for clean up, homework reminders and dismissal already! The afternoon was a blur today- it has been a very quick week (four days!)
My thanks to Autumn and Cassidy who helped me with the chairs and desks sfter school while waiting for their busses. :) I appreciate every little kindness :)

Have a moment of silence 11am tomorrow and enjoy the weekend. See you all Monday.
Mrs. J.

Wednesday, November 9th

2011-11-09T16:23:00.000-08:00

Some days are for the birds....

Homework
Spell Test #6 tomorrow morning
Math 7 No new homework - Order of Operations puzzle and (as our assembly falls during Math Thursday) please remember to take home your division practice and study the last quiz for Monday's redo
Math 6 class will be interrupted tomorrow- practice multiplication facts
Reader's response #3 (some time at computers tomorrow to word process- so at very least have rough ready to go)

Reminders
Assembly tomorrow at 11am Remembrance Day
stat on Friday no school
Photo packages payment due tomorrow

General Day
I forgot to cover the Daily French today!! but it was on the board!! I hope the students read it!! I live in hope that things we do every day become second nature BUT I am a realist and I wouldn't count on it!

Spelling practice time in class (or hall)

discussed the different scenarios for the upcoming seating change- students were given their chance to vote and tomorrow we will reconfigure seating for next week

Remembrance Day literature and writing
I shared some past winning entries from former students and some poems written this year in class and provided time for students to either write a reflection on the importance of the memorial of Remembrance Day or take the time to create a poem or written piece of their own that they might like to enter for competition (so much to do so little time it seems)

Band

Math 7
corrected page two Order of Operations booklet and worked on some practice examples from page 3 on the board
the challenge page is not mandatory but is open to all who would like to challenge their skills
Puzzle for Order of operations
Some students started on next week's lesson skill- converting decimals to fractions
there will be no class tomorrow- reminded students to take the division practice and quiz #3 to study for Monday's redo

Silent Reading
a couple of students asked if they could work on a poem for Remembrance Day- absolutely :) I am all for the wise use of time and while I do want to encourage reading, I also like to encourage participation in opportunities that fall out of the classroom range like writing and art competitions.

Personal Planning: Peer Pressure
Are you assertive, passive or aggressive?
We discussed the difference of aggressive and passive behaviour and language and had the students consider what it meant to be assertive.
We started today to look at different reactions to different scenarios (role play) and how we deal with things that happen every day. What I found interesting is that the students had a very difficult time with the role plays and very few had language of assertiveness- they did not know what to say to show that they could be calm and rational! I had to ask them not to use bad language and no physical contact because that is the first thing they 'reached' for in their bag of coping skills!!!
I guess that is a no brainer given their age and experience but I guess I was shocked at how difficult it was for them to respond without 'drama'. We have our work cut out for us in this area. I need to look at how to teach assertive language.
I found the need for the students to make each other laugh rather tiring not that laughter is a bad thing (and some may have been using it to cover their embarrassment) but just that it took much longer for the whole intetntionn of the lesson to come across. Actually, I'm not sure it did yet.
Back to the drawing board on that lesson!!

Phys Ed.
Today was Community day at Quest U. so we had about 20 varsity athletes here working with our classes.
Everyone had fun and the students were dripping sweat by the end of the class. They were completely engrossed in a game of Dr. Dodge and then the students split the gym and half played with a basketball and the others half played floor hockey- rather aggressively if I say so myself but they were playing with the big boys and our students held their own!!!
Observation: aggression of competition especially in floor hockey- it is ingrained in sports which makes me appreciate the difficulties we experienced in the previous lesson

back in class I tried to follow up the Personal Planning lesson but it was not successful..again- 'flogging a dead horse' as they say. Like I said back to the drawing board ... I do know that it will be worthwhile having the students learn some assertive language and behaviours.

Clean up. homework review, dimissal

would the studnents involved in the assembly tomorrow please practice their speech parts Thanks.
See you all tomorrow.
Mrs. J.

Tuesday November 8th

2011-11-08T16:36:00.000-08:00

Another speeding bullet of a day.......I swear the days seem to get faster after the time change for Daylight Savings! Why are we still doing that anyway?

Homework
Math 7 complete p.2 of the booklet for Order of Operations - by all means try page 3 (we will be covering it tomorrow just try a few)
Math 6 students have a study guide for a math quiz to practice
Reader Response # 3 Ch 16-20 (at least have the written ready to word process at computers or hand write it!)
Any INC art - not much more class time for Name Acrostcs and Halloween posters/houses- please complete in own time at home or...

Reminders
Remembrance Day practice for speech parts Nic, Teresa, Autumn and Eric (no need to memorize just read for smooth delivery)
Quest U. students will be visiting and running a guest Phys. Ed. class with the students tomorrow afternoon
Remembrance Day Assembly Thursday
Stat Holiday to commemorate Remembrance Day this Friday- no school
Photo package orders due on Thursday if interested

General Day
We welcomed Hannah's new puppy Otis to our classroom first thing today - he was understandably a little scared of all the faces (hey, I sometimes feeel that way too first thing in the morning!! LOL) He is so cute and had the neatest markings- we will watch his progress throughout the year- maybe he'll be our class mascot :)

Daily French (fresh snow on the mountains :))

Spelling practice

Novel time: introduced the final project for the novel- no more reader response- no more questions but a creative written and/or design project- there will be 10 different possibilites for students and they will be requested to chose two of them. Today I showed examples and we played a round of Jeopardy from a former student's project. The students will all receive a list and expalnation of expectations- we will create a rubric for quality once the reading of the last 12 chapter is complete.
Some possibilities: game board, Jeopardy with 4 or 5 catergories, sound track, sales and advertising poster, character depiction (various artistic formats), create an epilogue or prologue for the story, ABC summary poster, research the author's other work are some examples.
We read chapters 21 and 22 today and we all became VERY animated when there was a romantic KISS of the characters of Lizzie and Alex (the novel was leading up to 'the kiss' with everything except the romantic music playing in the background- come to think of it now, I could have provided it (lost opportunity).

It was amusing to see all the different reactions to the written description of a first kiss. That's why I love what I do. I also love that these students enjoy being read to :) It gives me an opportunity to 'ham it up' a little. I stopped reading at one point and exclaimed "KISS HER ALREADY" - you should have seen the students faces!!! Priceless...

Math 7 collected the division work I asked to be completed at home. We did an update of the index and a look at the Learning Outcomes for term 1 that we have covered and I am happy to report that we have three learning outcomes left in Term 1 to cover in the next three weeks. It is hard to believe we have covered all the other outcomes since September (there were 12 and we have covered 9).
I distributed a review booklet with a VIP (Visual Instruction Plan which lays out the steps of BEDMAS and provides students with several examples) and we worked on practice and correction of error- the main error seems to be the "left to right" appearance of the arithmetic functions- doing the correct procedure first. The students seem to be doing well on it so far. After a few practice examples and sorting out the order errors- they are good to go.

Silent reading- once settled, the students read well
This time is SO important to everyone and is a stress free method of balancing the lunch time activity with a calming chance for the brain to re-focus.

Thank-you to Kelli, Jack, Brody and Rowan for making a beautiful and collaborative effort on the Remembrance Day bulletin Board. It looks impressive.
Thank-you to Ethan and Arsh for working so dilligently on our class wreath and for all the neat colouring and cutting of theose individual poppies.

French quick preview of where we are headed with French (FSL)- now that we have had a term of vocabulary and 'high frequency' phrases and games, we will be starting into a couple of different programs (Salut, mes amis) which will hopefully provide opportunity for bringing language, culture and spoken French more into focus. I showed the students the resources today- they seemed to be kind of following !!!

Phys Ed. Volleyball. Things were fine - still a few crazy wild balls flying overhead but generally much better than in late September (but I am personally tiring of volleyball skills- time to move on!!!)

I provided the general class some completion time (Art projects, reader response, math etc.) after we were back in class- everyone had something to work on while we listened to the readers for the Assembly on Thursday read their part of the speeches for the first time- they are taking home their parts tonight and will hopefully read them over and practice. Thanks to Autumn, Eric, Nic and Teresa and to Kelli for time keeping. Each part is approx. under a minute so by timing we can tell if the reading was to slow or too fast. We worked on 'pitch' and tomorrow we will have another 'dry run'.

That was our day- some days I feel like we hardly get anything done but when I reflect on the day it is busy and productive for the most part. Have a fabulous evening - I have a culring game at 7pm- gotta run.
See you tomorrow.
Mrs. J.

Monday, November 7th

2011-11-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

'Ick Poo' it is so dark out already that I just want to run home but places to go people to meet- it's the all-candidates meeting tonight! There are so many!!!

Our day was a little strange- the students were wired or tired (I mean Halloween was last week). I know I was tired and a bit imaptient with the constant chatter!

Homework and Reminders
Math 7 complete 10 (most have 4 or five more examples to do) decimal division examples for practice (have about five already handed in)
Math 6 finish INC worksheets
Novel Reader response #3 is due now (get it in this week) and remember it does not have to be word processed
Spelling Test 6 Thursday

Volleyball Tuesday and Thursday
Remembrance Day Assembly Thursday 10:45am
Stat Holiday Friday- no school

General Day
Daily French

Spelling List #6 and double puzzle activity- which students spent less time completing than it took for me to create the activity - don't you just hate that (it's like spending an hour making a fancy dish for dinner and it's gone in minutes). Good job- I need to challenge them more it seems!!

Band

Math 7 Quiz #3 on dividing decimal numbers back to students. Good news is that it was another 20% fail/80% pass rate which means 5 students need to do some remedial (or study practice) before the redo of the quiz (some asked for the redo on Wednesday others next Monday- I have agreed to offer both dates!!)
Some observations about this quiz were the patterns of error...

students were moving the decimal on the divisor BUT forgetting to adjust the dividend by the same number of decimal places
students were forgetting to add a zero to the end of quotients or when they appeared in the middle of quotients
accuracy- just the presentation of the work was difficult for me to follow- I need to provide more space on the quizzes for the working to be included

Today we simply did some more decimal division practice from the oldest text on the planet called Practice, Practice, Practice (no kidding! 1982) Today we did 10 students choice questions from p.132 (I asked for them to choose 10 even numbers- it was too challenging- so we ended up agreeing- just choose 10 to practice!!) I was busy doing 'rounds' and providing one-one assistance and am happy that students are finally asking for help.

Silent Reading

Socials
Remembrance Day- setting up the class for playing a pivotal part in organizing our Thursday assembly. Discussed the reasons and history of the memorial. Recently, Mr. Fenton (one of our past Remembrance Day speakers), passed on. He was one of our local War Veterans and we will remember his service for us at our assembly this year.
Students will be responsible for the Bulletin diplay, the poppy sales, distribution of the program to parents/teachers and the set up of the gym and sound system, the history speech and the acceptance of the wreaths. There will also be a choir performance. Ms. Gregoire's class will be MCing and speaking. If you can make it you are welcome to attend.

Computers
Royal Canadian Legion
the students spent time on the RCL website and were impressed with the quality of the art and literature of the past winners. All of the contest winners have their work displayed as far back as 2004. It is a well organized site if you have a minute you might want to check it out.
I took the opportunity of being in the lab to show the students our class blog and the readership around the world- some were non-plussed by it (why would anyone read it?) and others thought it was cool!

Back in class we organized for the day's end- the day went so quickly today that I wonder if the hour we gained this weekend was to blame??!!??
Have a dry and warm evening. I will eventually get home!!
Mrs. J.

Thursday November 3rd

2011-11-03T17:20:00.000-07:00

I am so grateful that I can now take down the Hallloween decor- pumpkins be gone! I have never been so happy to get RID of it!!!
I am so glad the aftermath of the 'celebration' is over. If one more research expert tells me there is no connection between sugar consumption and children's behaviour I'll march down to their offices and force feed 300 mini chocolate bars to see how it affects them in their daily focus! Our school population has been vibrating from candy overload this past couple of days; if the school could float, we'd be in a different location.

I also lied (but not on purpose) about the vaccination date for the grade sixes- it happened today- tears and fears but thank goodness it is all over - I had to shut down the grade seven students who were telling nasty stories about vaccinations gone by!! I was proud of my sixes because despite their fears and all the fearmongoring of their peers, they seemed to manage well.

Homework
No new homework...however, there are a few students who have not completed some current activities
Reader's Response #3 for Ch 16-20 (once the reading is complete)
there are two Science booklets not yet submitted
Name Acrostics for art (still to get 7) and a few haunted houses still being completed (need to move on) please complete in your own time (or hand in as is)
Reminders
a Christmas card creative fundraiser was sent home with students today- some were left behind after class and can be picked up next week but the due date is next week
no school tomorrow
Remembrance Day assembly next Thursday

General Day
True confessions: You know some days just 'get away on you'? Today was one of those days for me and by silent reading time I really had to check my emotional guage because I felt like I was near to tears but not because of anything awful or disruptive (the students were quietly reading or complting the Math quiz) but more due to me feeling overwhelmed by the pace of the day!! Perhaps a glass of red eh 'coffee' tonight might be the ticket!

Spelling Bee the students really loved it - me,not so much becuse they were so excited and nervous and some were scared, others impatient and generally vibrating and noisy- productive noise, if you get my drift!
It took an hour 9-10 am and I had to stop with 14 of them still in the Bee.
They had studied well and were very confident and competent with the words which we re-cycled 3 times before deciding to go 'cold turkey'. Some are fabulous spellers almost too fast for me to hear but that is all part of the practice in speaking skills which is one of our learning outcomes (to learn how to speak clearly to an audience with a specific purpose). Some asked for word 'origins' (which 'Shhhhhh' I made up if I didn't know because I hadn't prepared etymology on my word list. Sheesh!
Whose idea was this anyway?
We postponed round four until the afternoon but the students asked me all day when we were going to complete the Bee just in case I might have forgotten. I was already tired from the emotion of the competition and then....
the community nurse arrived for the grade six vaccinations (could it get any more dramatic?)

Computer time for the reader responses 10-10:30am
As you can imagine it took a bit to get everyone on task but I am provoiding time and opportunity for the assignments. A handful of students earned themselves some free time becuse they managed to finish the third response and were caught up with other work :)

Math 7 Quiz #3 dividing decimals
breathing exercise first, a quick grouding and explanation of the components of the quiz- the majority of students needed about 30-35 minutes for the quiz (a few needed a bit more which is fine and some even finshed after lunch in my class during the silent reading time). It is difficult to judge how much time is needed for a review quiz as some student work faster than others. I don't like to rush students but there is on;y so much time...
Nothing new was taught this class instead if the quiz was handed in, students worked to complete the Scientific Notation work and the Order of Operations work- once that was done I handed out some Sudoku puzzles which some student thought were too easy and others too difficult!
My brain was on overload during this session today which I think led to my emotional 'wobble' in the afternoon: providing encouragement to students for the quiz, ensuring those who needed a calculator borrowed one from class supply, collecting the work as it was completed, showing scientific notation procedures, explaining the BEDMAS steps for order of operations, distributing Sudoku puzzles (which after the quiz everyone wanted!!) and then trying to find more difficult puzzles for my Sudoku experts- which I copied at lunchtime. I have set no new homework because it was lunchtime already and I didn't know up from down any more! :)

Silent Reading
reading time (being the end of the week, I do allow students who have missed or who are incomplete on an activity to use time during reading time to complete work)
completion of Math quiz #3 for those who needed a bit more time.
Hannah won the random draw for the October reading record- congratulations. She will pick a book of her choice.

Personal Planning
Peer Pressure: we discussed the positive and negative effects of peer pressure and discussed among other things the Vancouver riot after the Stanley Cup loss, the need for people to 'belong' and the feeling of 'power' in groups (mob mentality). Last Friday, we did an activity that asked the students to determine (informally) where their needs were high (power, belonging, fun or freedom). If you would like to ask your son or daughter where they were the strongest, it might be an avenue to open discussion about their social-emotional needs.
We are using the resource mentioned in yesterday's Blog (Teenage Survival Handbook) and we read p17-28 about mood swings and changing emotions which happen with the hormonal influx of adolescence. This allowed me to do a quick brain-based introduction to the gland that is responsible: the pituitary.
I was impressed with the students participation- some are a little nervous and can be a little silly with their answers but once the program gets underway that usually subsides (usually!).
It hasn't been long enough yet for them to feel comfortable but they really seem to be interested (why not?- it's about them :))
I was supposed (by the timetable schedule) to do French today but one of the students politely pointed out how much time we have missed for the Personal Planning unit and wondered politely if we couldn't possibly fit in a 30 minute class - absolutely!!!

Physical Education- volleyball today (boy's game after school in our gym)
allowed the grade six students who were feeling their arm's sore after this morning's shots to sit out and do some reading or art. So I filled in (like I needed anymore emotion in my day) I was Terrible with a capital T, the students were very encouraging but I couldn't serve a volleyball today to save my life.
Back to the BEE!
Spelling Bee rounds 4 and 5 - we are now down to 9 participants and will have to determine the top three next week! (Oh good Lord, save me from the Bee). They are all so strong I have to put my thinking cap on and come up with a 'cunning plan'. If you have any suggestions feel free to share.

As I said the day 'got away' and just as the last participant spelled the last word of round 5, the dismissal bell rang and my students disappeared so quickly that there was only a swirl of empty Halloween candy wrappers left behind (probably wrappers came from hiding holes in their desks!) . They don't usually do that! So, to cap off my day, I put up the chairs, cleaned off the desk and generally tidied up like a mother hen (do hens clean up for their chicks?). I am tired. Anyone know where you can but some red coffee? Just wondering!
Have a peaceful night because I wish for myself to have a peacful night
(that's another issue- my job isn't over when my students go home- Gr.9 math and my darling son- I'm scared to go home- kidding!)
Mrs. J.

Wednesday November 2nd

2011-11-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

I'll post the homework quickly and then do the rest of tonight's blog after my fitness class- I don't really want to go but I NEED to...
it seems that the sugar overload is kicking in now and today was 'challenging'!

Homework and Reminders
Reader Response # 2 Ch 11-15 overdue
Math 7 Quiz #3 on dividing decimals
Math 6 complete INC work (need to get some more specific info from Mr. P.)
Spelling Bee (cumulative Lists 1-5) in class tomorrow morning (redo test #5 also)
read Ch 17-20 if not yet complete for the next novel response (more computer time for word processing tomorrow)
Reminders or alerts
Photo packages went home tonight- order due date is next Thursday Nov. 10th
ask for the school newletter that went home yesterday
Gr. 6 vaccinations are scheduled for Nov 10th (next Thursday)

General Day
Daily French- date and weather

Spelling practice in partners for the Spelling Bee tomorrow morning

Novel reading and writing the rough draft of the Reader's Response #3
I was so impressed that the 30 minutes they had for the novel was so focused and quiet. They did an excellent job.

Band

Math 7
new index was distributed for the new month (I wrote up the last few days)
collected the p. 66 # 10-14 MathLinks 7 homework- quite a few had not completed it- I can only provide opportunity and assistance when it is requested. Student responsibility to their own learning is the key to success.
Worked in class on Scientific Notation worksheet (not for homework)
some students managed to get started on a challenging work sheet using the skills of BEDMAS (order of operations). I know that I haven't really prepared the students yet for the more challenging 'skill-testing' questions but it is good practice! (also not for homework)
Homework: to study for the dividing decimals Quiz tomorrow- I showed the students which worksheets the quiz questions were taken from- there will be nothing new on the test of skills everything that is on the quiz, we have completed in class this last two weeks.

Computers were available form 1-1:30pm. so we took the opportunity to word process our reader responses or at least get them started- there will be more time available tomorrow.

Silent Reading- took a long time to get everyone settled but I was finally able to get students reading (or busy with something other than yapping at each other!!)

Phys Ed.
we played a class game after a quick warm up- here is a quick question for those that might be interested. I asked the students to go quietly down the stairs to the gym and find a space by themselves before we started the activity because we always do a stretch and warm up before an activity.
How long do you think it took for the class to 'find a space by themself'?

Give up?

Don't really care? :)

10 minutes of our P.Ed. class!!!!!
But we finally managed to do the necessary 'warm up' and began a game of Bowling for Skittles (a tag game with the goal of knocking over the other team's skittles) We managed two rounds of the game before the other class was there to claim their gym time!!! 30 minutes can go very quickly when we are wasting time being chatty and silly! It was like watching puppies rolling all over!!

Back in class I managed to re-claim some time with the students cooperation and get a decent introduction to our Personal Planning program which we have completed a couple of classes for so far this year.
I distributed and quickly introduced the students to the general topics that the Teenage Survival Handbook addresses ( it is a resource that is available widely in the community (doctor's offices) and is a free resource sent to schools). I have enough to send one home with every student but it was amusing tonight to watch my students do their utmost best NOT to take one home!! There were a few nervous giggles which is normal. I'll keep you informed about the topics we are covering and perhaps it will provide you a chance to ask or talk to your son or daughter.
We will be starting on the topic of Peer Pressure as of tomorrow.

Homework, reminders, clean up and chairs up before dismissal.
Have a warm and dry evening- it is pouring out there and I am surprised how dark it is tonight.
Mrs. J.

Tuesday November 1st (All Saints Day)

2011-11-01T16:36:00.000-07:00

Well, it's the day after the day before!! Actually, I had fewer Halloween visitors at my door this year than ever before (about 12 little ones- no one older than grade 4) so I have a ton of Halloween goodies that I'll just have to pack for lunch treats (but I also have a teenaged boy in my house)!

Welcome to all my Russian Blog readers- I was pleasantly surprised to see so many hits from Russia today- more than my Canadian readers so far but to be fair I am a bit delayed with this post and most read it in the early evening. Thank-you to all my loyal and random Blog readers- your interest makes the time spent worthwhile and I enjoy it as a reflective exercise after the school day. When I write about some things I see them from a different perspective! Thank-you.

Today the students did better than I thought they would after last night's adventures- a few were tired and a little cranky but we all survived the day.

Homework and Reminders
Math 7 textbook p66 # 10-14 (handed in by the following already Kasper, Autumn. Harjot, TJ and Manisha (students started this in class today so they shouldn't have too much more to do)
Math6 complete INC worksheets

Novel Read Ch 17-20 for the next 'response' activity (P.S. if not yet completed RR#2 for Ch 11-15, it is now overdue)
Spelling Bee in class Thursday- everyone participates
no more class time available for Halloween art project(s) please complete at home or in your spare time during the school day at lunch or breaks

Reminders
Math 7 Quiz #3 on dividing decimals Thursday
No school this Friday
School Newsletter home today
Gr 6 immunizations are scheduled for Nov. 10th as is our Remembrance Day assembly

General Day
Daily French 5minutes

Spelling practice 10 minutes

Novel read chapter 16 in class and set up the next set of guide questions for the next 5 chapters 15-20

Journal write: Relate your Halloween adventure OR Create a brand new superhero(ine) with a unique name and tell about special skills and powers and how they are used.

30 minutes Computer time for word processing the last Reader Response for Ch 11-15

Math 7
Thursday Quiz on one topic- dividing decimals
MathLinks7 Text book page 60-65 for a review of the skill of dividing with decimals and providing the students with a retrospect of three different ways to be successful:

front end estimation- rounding to determine as close as possible the accuracy of a quotient)
divide using 10 blocks or by papaer and pencil algorithm
using a calculator - ensuring the divsor is in the correct placement for accuracy in calculation

we then practiced on pp 65 #4 and 5 which we corrected today on the board together and set more practice called apply p.66 #10-14
We also reviewed the art of scientific notation (which we have worked on before) and students who were complete the textbook work started on the Scientific Notation worksheet.

Silent Reading

French- last hurrah for the Halloween posters and haunted houses complete with les parties de la maison et les vocabulaires de L'halloween

Phys Ed- Volleyball teams 4x5 and one by 4 working on 'shot' skills (volleys, bumps and serves) in the centre

Art/French
Back on class provided the time needed for the students to get the last day in class to complete the art/French project for Halloween (there never seems to be enough time!)

Homework, planners, tidy up etc. and newsletters out before dismissal
Have a great evening- see you all bright eyed and bush-tailed tomorrow (remember your band instruments)
Mrs. J.

For parents:

During the 'work-to-rule' of the job action, I have still been assessing your children's work and progress like I do every year- I am doing very little differently in my daily work with your children (my students). I will be (have begun) to e-mail parents and begin a process of providing you with assessment information pertaining to your son or daughter.
Over the next two weeks, I will be contacting you either by phone or e-mail. If you would like more information, feel free to e-mail me or call the school especially if you would like to meet.

I will be available for meetings but will not be setting up a traditional parent-teacher interview evening. However, there are a couple of early dismissal days that I can be available between 2 and 3:30pm. Perhaps when we share information we can determine if a meeting is required.

I will not be providing a formal report card but have the opportunity to provide you and your child with a progress report that is accurate and unique to your child's progress without the bounds of the formal process.
I look forward to communicating in the coming weeks. Thank-you for understanding. "marks' are available if you wish to see or be advised of them.
Mrs. J.

Halloween October 31st, 2011

2011-10-31T16:20:00.000-07:00

Well, it is the BIG day...or really the BIG night tonight
Apparently the weather is supposed to hold so it will not be dark and miserable but dark and cool I guess. I'll be manning the door at home for all the trick or treaters.

NO HOMEWORK !! NO POINT!! We'll get back on track tomorrow when they are so tired they won't complain! (evil laugh)

I have been trying to pull of a disguise as Rapunzel today but some students had to ask me who I was and one colleague asked me if I was Broomhilda so you can imagine that I am not exactly looking as sweet and innocent or pretty as the lovely princess from Tangled!!
I told my students that it was a medieval story and Rapunzel was a maiden (in my world an old maiden) who was so desperatley looking for escape she let the first knight climb up her hair braid and then ran off instead of getting married and was an old maid forever! I don't think they bought it. LOL

The students costumes were great- we had a parade assembly this morning and the recycled prize went to Nick in gr 5 who was a lego man- in old painted boxes- very cool.

I noticed my students costumes were influenced by TV and media but was happy to see a couple of girls who so love the Hunger Games (a fictional trilogy of stories set in the future) that they dressed as Katniss twins :) We had a brain surgeon/donor who apparently likes to carry her brain in a jar of food colouring- great red colour :) We had Kenny from Southpark aned Ronnie from Jersey Shore. We had some freaky Friday type costumes with masks and long black capes. We had the obligatory witches- very cool witches- some great ideas (imagine if you will a grass skirt for hair and a broom as a brush). Our class costumes rounded out with a kitty kat, a bunny rabbit and of course the Grim Reaper- no class is complete without one!
I would like to send a GREAT BIG (((hug))) and thanks to the generous mamas of Rowan, Teresa, Autumn, George and Eric who provided us with our Halloween afternoon goodies. I am very grateful for the donations for the hungry monsters :) We had some beautifully decdorated cupcakes, a vanilla thematic Hallloween cake, some munchies (chips etc), some gummy treats spiders (I think) and chocolate minis to go home on!! Merci.
The rest of the students send their thanks too.

General Day
Daily French was quick, we just did the date today

I shared Friday's notes from our visiting teacher (TOC) Miss Borsoff and was proud of how the day went. FYI on Friday the students completed (well most did) the next section of the Science chapters, had computer time for the Reader Response #2, Math was problem solving- I'll post them a bit later this post and the afternoon was reading. personal planning and art. The TOC said that the students listened well and were a 'really nice bunch'. It is nice to come back to school and get great news about the students. Great job everyone. And, thanks also to Miss B.

Returned Spelling test #5 (redo #4)
our next list is a cumulative list made up of words from lists #1-5 The students and I worked on the words (3 from each test) that were giving the most trouble. We have chosen 15 words and on Thursday, instead of a spelling test there will be a class spelling bee which everyone will participate in.
I like to promote the Spelling Bee that we enter every year and give students who might never feel confident enough to do the BIG one, a chance to try out the skills of public spelling in a small, safe class community first.
Instead of a spelling activity this morning we created ghoulish, gross menus for the Monster Cafe (fine dining for monsters, witches and ghouls)- the students didn't disappoint- on the menu were such items as
hairy eyeball soup, toe jamb salad, booger milk shake, spaghetti and eyeballs, fried human organs, slow cooked spider legs in mucus sauce and such sipping delicacies as puppy pop and giraffe drool drinks.
It was fun and creative.

Band

Math 7
briefly review the problems from Friday's math class and ensure the students are confident solving them
First one:
If there are 56 students who need to assemble for the school choir on four steps on stage, and each step had 4 more students than the previous step, how many students will be on each step?
Quick hint the correct answer is not, "I don't care"!!

Second one:
If a book has 250 pages, how many times will the number nine (9) be written on those pages?
Answers tomorrow for my mathematically minded parents although tonight is too busy for this kind of thing (maybe Wednesday?)

Next we corrected the work from last week's 1.5 Exponents worksheet together
We completed class with a quick review of BEDMAS- order of operations.

At 11:30am we assembled in the gym and had a costume parade from Kindergarten on up- it was kind of fun to see all the little students in their Halloween finery :)

Silent reading
class vote on movie for this afternoon's 'treat'
Thank you for the 'technological' assistance hooking up the correct wires and 'feeds' for the machines to work. This medieval old maid thanks thee from the bottom of the manor well!

We watched a semi- 'romantic' comedy together and I think the students enjoyed it from the laughter which is always good to hear- only two girls found the silliness too silly and opted instead to work on their haunted houses. Gotta love this age level- they are so hard to please but I do appreciate that they were, at least, polite about it.

During the movie we shared the student brought treats and saved energy for the evening.
The movie was just the right length and we managed to clean up for the last five minutes of class and get everyone packed up with all their costume bits and pieces that came off during the day out the door (not exactly in one piece).
If anyone has seen or finds a missing phone please let me know. Thanks.

Have a wonderful, safe and fun-filled Halloween- please be careful with candy in the dark- don't eat it until you get home and can see what it is. Carry a flashlight or flashing button for vehicles to see you. Don't wander off on your own- be with friends. Stay far away from fireworks. Finally get a good sleep and be reasonable with the amount of your candy 'treasures' that you chose to bring to school tomorrow. A little goes a long way and too high a blood sugar reading can cause fatigue and headache so be sensible with snacks.
See you tomorrow.
Mrs J.

Thursday October 27th

2011-10-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

Aother lovely day with the weather- please remind me when we are socked in!! Have ameeting tonight after school - need to make this quick :)

Homework and Reminders
Math 7 just try to complete the last few examples on the exponenet worksheet (remember the exponent indicate how many times the base number is multiplied by ITSELF 10 to the power of 5 is 100000 (10x10x10x10x10)
Math 6 complete INC work from class on worksheet
Reader response #2 complete rough draft (a second night!!) for completing the good copy at Friday's computer time

Halloween Dance tomorrow evening at the school
Costumes Monday for parade at 11:30am- prize for costume made from as much recycled material as possible

General Day
Daily French

Spell Test List #5 (redo #4)

Ghost Story IQ- a fun-filled activity where I told 4 'well worn' (almost cliche) ghost stories and the students have to finish them in their journals with the traditional conclusions OR they can get all creative and complete the stories as they would like them to finish...there was a lot of "Chucky" scenarios from one participant!! but for the most part the students recognized the well told tales and enjoyed sharing their weird and gory endings!!

Computer time for the good copies of the Reader Response #2 - I was a bit disappointed with the show of homework from the students who pretended they had never heard of a reader response before let alone that it was a homework assignment- really- come on!!
However, a handful of students managed to use the lab time to complete the good copies as expected (the way it is supposed to work!).

Math 7 we completed the Division work that we first looked at earlier this month (Oct 12th) and ensured the students could now see that the movement of the decimal point to make the divisor whole id the key to division of decimals. We also corrected the Exponent worksheet leaving about ten examples for more practice. Another pretty good class- reviewed square root and its connection to square numbers.

Silent Reading

Socials activity from yesterday (archaeology- we discovered that our virtual excavation was from a family farm circa late 1800's like 1870-1900 (1903)
Students found the forming of resonable guesses (inferring) challenging - we nned to work more on that skill.

Physical Education- team volleyball- good class- stretches first and all shot making observed.

Complete the socials activity and we ended the day by playing a class game of 'silent ball' with a ball made of 'fingers'!!! I owed some P.Ed. time from last week and the boys had a volletball game after school and didn't want to do anything too strenuous!!! Go figure!! :)
Good luck at Volleyball (they are at Brackendale tonight)

Planners and homework, pack up and chairs before dismissal.
See everyone tomorrow.
Mrs. J.

Wednesday Oct 26th

2011-10-26T13:34:00.000-07:00

Boy, I feel wiped out today- maybe the change of weather?

Productive day and much less 'drama' which I much appreciated. Blood pressure normal! :)

Homework and Reminders
Math 7 complete the arithmetic puzzle page (most did in class)
Math 6 complete the worksheet for exploring multiples (unit2)
Spelling test tomorrow morning Unit #5 (redo #4)
rough copy of Reader's response #2 (we started it in class)

Halloween dance Friday night $5+ concession grade4-7
Monday costumes welcome as per the school newsletter (appropriate, safe and able to be worn during class work)

General Day
Daily French : matin, l'apres midi, soir, nuit
discussed briefly the need for students to be mindful of their morning attention as some are not fully participating or even looking at the daily high frequency French words and phrases. After a couple of months they should be confident translating into English and able to pronounce t he French words.

Spelling study time for list #5 and reminder about redoing the #4 list for those who are willing and able!

10 minute Visit about Halloween safety from our RCMP liason officer Constable Zonderland. Discussed general safety and things to be aware of and look out for regarding Monday night's 'trick or treating'.
The students were very attentive :)

Novel distributed the guide questions for the Ch 11-15 as discussed yesterday and the students started on their second Reader's Response. We will continue tomorrow but I would like the rough ideas of their responses to be completed tonight.

Band

Math 7
Yeah- a very productive class.
It makes a huge difference to everyone's comfort!
Today we followed up on the examples of decimal division set for homework. There are a few students whose confidence is being shaken by the requirements for division. Every arithmetic skill is needed to be successful in the traditional algorithm. I have suggested that students keep trying (not too many at once) but maybe even one each evening until they 'burn' the steps into the storage part of their brain (hippocampus).
Students seem afraid of bigger numbers - we need to get them to see it as breaking big numbers apart into 'bite-sized' pieces!
We also managed to (most did) complete an arithmetic puzzle using sum, difference, product and quotient skills as well as finding averages and using exponenets so a bit of a review of skills puzzle- they did a great job. :)

Silent Reading
good job today. I think they just needed some down time!

Socials
Archaeology - connects to the novel and to social studies. The tools, technology, methods and reasons for the preservastion of artifacts.
Activity: using some clues and grid coordinates, the students had to sketch and make reaasonable predictions about what the 'site' that we are 'virtually' excavating might have been.

Physical Education
Bowling for Skittles - (gator balls) a kind of 'double dip' bowling game where opponents can be tagged out to make a clearance for getting the bowling pins knocked over :) If the person who tagged you out gets hit you are back in the game so it adds a level of observation to the game- students have to be aware and ready at all times to return to the game.

Art not much time left but we are continuing to move forward with the French thematic posters and haunted houses :) Some student are still finishing up their name acrostics too. Lots of activity- just need to keep movement forward as some are beginning to 'zone' out!

Clean up, chairs, planners and homework collection- especially spelling lists...
Dismissal
Have a warm and dry evening. :)
Mrs. J.

Tuesday October 25th

2011-10-25T16:31:00.000-07:00

We have been so fortunate to have had such nice sunny days - it always makes a difference when the air is getting colder that there is still some sunshine.
I had one of those days that makes me wonder about how the universe knows just what you need and presents opportunities for you (or me) to understand or at least presents an opportunity for us to put new skills or understandings into practice.
For pro-d on Friday I spent some time learning and reading about the MindUp Program and decided that it is a set of lessons for learning and living that I would like to integrate into my program. I started yesterday and today, BAM, I really needed to dig deep and put the concepts of the program into use. Interesting and timely :)

Homework & Reminders
Math 7 complete at least 4 or the 8 practice examples for division of decimals (booklet p3)
Math 6 problem solving
Spelling Unit #5 words Thursday test

Halloween Dance on Friday night grade 4-7
Still a few students with MIA assignments Arsh, Nic, Ethan and Brody - see the poster if you are not sure what is not handed in yet.

General Day
Daily French 5 minutes- we romped through the numbers from one to thirty (and played Dix at the end of the day)
Spelling time 5 words 5 minutes- In my opinion, there is still too much noise in class for this time to be used effectively. I find that quite a few students do not know how to settle to independent work or study!
We will continue to work at that!!

Novel Chapters 11-15
I read Chapters 11-13 and the students read the last two in this set. After the last reader response, I prepared some 'guiding' questions for this one.
I found that some of the responses were a bit stilted and repetitive so I was hoping that providing a set of questions to think about (the students do not have to answer all of them) would assist students to write a more natural response to the novel's story development.
I do need to remember that tis is a new writing activity for the students and that they are learning to appreciate the story parts as a whole instead of answering chapter questions.
We also discussed how the second part of any story includes: the rising action, the events that develop and perhaps split the story into a couple of different plot directions, a crises that rise to a climax (turning point).
The student have story maps in their reader response booklets- we will follow up the writing and thinking for this activity tomorrow.

Math 7
Some drama but we managed to get back on track and down to the important stuff quickly.
Today I followed up the brain recognition lesson (Lesson 1 MindUp) and I said earlier it was very timely as it gave me a real insight into what was actually happening with the 'drama' which we were able to diffuse quite quickly as a class community. Thanks everyone. I apprecitae you understanding how our behaviour can affect the whole class and set us on edge.
Lesson for math was to check homework completion, follow up the whole number division by completing the examples together on the board, and move into instructing the steps for dividing with decimal numbers.
For practice tonight I have asked the students to try the booklet p 3 and do # 21 and 22 and at least 2 or 4 of the six remaining examples on the page (there are 6 altogether) # 27-32.
The trick is to make the decimal divisor a whole number and then move the decimal point accordingly in the dividend so the divisor becomes a whole number.
36/0.06 becomes 3600/6 = 600

Silent Reading
assisted with some extra math tuition

French- les parties de la maison pour les maisons hauntees
the students are working on the Halloween project both art and French recognition of vocabulary together- Halloween and parts of the house. We (as always) need more time!

Physical Education volleyball- nets were up and we awere able to take advantage and practice some game techniques. It is rather difficult to be involved in 'evening' up the student numbers (particpating) and watching the skills of the general class. Still a few wild balls and some silly unnecessary collisions with the net! Thank you to Gurpreet for providing a stretch for the class today- hamstring stretch and balance opening up the hip and glutes.

Back in class we cleaned up and prepared our homework (I always review it at the end of the day and I do notice that some students are not participating- it is truly the most difficult thing in the world getting all those ducks in a row and on the same page at the same time!!)
We tried to extend our P.Ed. session (because I owe the students some activity time from last week!) by doing a trail walk and talk activity of the like we have done at camp BUT alas it was not to be- we nearly made it; however, after ten minutes of trying to get their attention so I could provide the first question for the walk and talk, we turned around and returned to class!!! No point...but I won't give up- I will definitely try again another day.
We played the French number games of Dix which can be a little tricky but everyone was a good sport about it.
Have a great evening.
Mrs. J.

Monday October 24th

2011-10-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

Productive day today- I am very proud of how well the students worked together in teams to carve their pumpkins this afternoon- the railway park donates the pumpkins and we carve them for the annual community display. We had 25 students working in partners and they managed to clean, design, carve and clean up 12 pumpkins in an hour. The 25th student was Sarah who was my 'right-hand-woman' she and I circulated and provided materials, plastic baggies for 'guts' and seeds, napkins, implements and general mess control. Great job everyone and the creations look fabulous. Tomorrow we will be taking pictures with your pumpkins (if you would like) before they go to the park display.

Homework and Reminders
Math 7 complete whole number division p.2 of the booklet # 5-8
Math 6 complete any INC work on Area and perimeter
Spelling List #5 distributed today for Spell Test Thursday
MIA assignments - you know who you are. I will check again Tuesday!! I know where you work :)

Halloween Dance at the school this Friday night for grade 4-7 for $5 admission (and some cash for concession)
Volleyball games this week Tuesday and Thursday

General Day
Started with settling into a new seating plan asked for and designed by the students- it is a double horseshoe of desks. It is different and I am not 100% sure about its longevity but so far so good for the first day. Everyone is integrated into a community that is grade 6/7 and not separated as before :) I like that better.
No one complained or had a hissy fit about their places and it worked well for the activity this afternoon :).

Daily French

Spelling return last week's activity and test results from Test #4 (redo #3). I think once I have it done, I will provide parents with a class average mark on the spelling tests and then you can ask your son or daughter how they did that week (or on that particular test)

Distributed new list #5 using words from Ch 11-15 - the list is 15 words this week
today's activity was a crossword puzzle and I received 20 of 26 today (I'll remember to get the rest tomorrow)

Band

Math 7
Dividing whole numbers - in an earlier assessment for instruction I found that many students were very confused (or not confident) with division. I need to teach division of decimal numbers but can't do that until I have reviewed the steps of whole number division first.
Then I can introduce the concept of making a decimal divisor a whole number and making the same adjustment to the dividend before the division process begins.
I provided verbal and visual instruction today- each student received a booklet with the step by step process for division outlined for them to follow. I found that students who said they 'didn't understand' were the learners who waited for me to assist and didn't use the step by step guide!! Interesting- some learners can become a bit 'helpless' and their brains actually shut down because they believe there is nothing they can do to help themselves!!
We did 5 or six different examples together on the board from the class practice and I have asked them to make an effort to complete # 5-8 at home. If they can't do 4 I have requested at least 2 to show me that they are making some effort to try the step by step process of divison for themselves!
If the skills aren't practised there can not be any understanding or improvement.
End of math class
quick introduction (15 minutes) today to the MindUp program and the importance of understanding what is going oon in your brain- how it works and why certain things function the way they do (or don't). The first lesson really needs a half hour so I'll continue with another 15 minutes tomorrow's class.

Silent reading
thanks from Mrs. K to the students who took down the volleyball nets for her after lunch

2-2:50
Pumpkin carving- choose partners, choose a pumpkin (I did the honours and 'topped' all of them- the pumpkins that is!!!- before the students started as I was just a little concerned about sharp knives and sawing through the pumpkin tops for the first time)
the students did a fabulous job and created some amazing looking pumpkin faces and everyone had a noisy but (I think) fun-filled hour being carvers.
I apologize in advance for the plastic bags coming home (with some students) full of guts and seeds. We only had a couple of them explode but the students were able, ready and willing to help clean up and for that I thank them all.
The custodian was impressed after sachool because the classroom smelled like a pumpkin factory (?) and there are 12 carved pumpkins decorating the room but the clean up left is minimal although I did find a few interesting spots where I have no idea how pumpkin 'stuff' landed there!! On my marks sheet , honestly people- was that just acoincidence? Sheesh!
Great job- well done.
You rocked the pumpkins. I think they'll look amazing all lit up at the railway park.

2:50-3 Dismissal- clean up, prep for homework (planners) and chairs into new designated spots.
Have a super evening and we will get some pumpkin pictures tomorrow - I'll bring the tea light candles from home and maybe we should read a scary story or something thematic. :)
Mrs. J.

Thursday Oct 20th

2011-10-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

Oh boy, I know I have worked hard when I stink like a mouldy cloth at the end of the day!! Sorry, but really I need to buy more cotton breathable tops and send my 100% polyester away until it is really cold- well, enough about me- hope I haven't put you off the Blog tonight!!

Remember the Halloween Carnival is tonight- come and enjoy and bring a few extra dollars for the silent auction- some great goodies to be had :)

Homework and Reminders
As mentioned yesterday what follows is a specific list of assignments wanted (that means they have not yet been handed in and that the parties responsible for handing them in have until Monday morning Oct 24th to submit them)
Spelling activity #4 Eric
Reader's Response Ch 6-10 Brody, Tesla, Arsh and George
Socials Web Day I was Born Nic and Ethan
Venn Diagram for the Stonehenge activity George, Eric, Brody, Tesla and Nic
Science Gr. 7 questions on p15 Arsh, Nic and Autumn
Science Gr.6 Brody and Tesla

Manisha- if you are reading this, I found your spelling work- I had stapled it to another students- oops- no worry I knew you had hnaded it in. Sometimes I'm in too much of a rush collecting things.
Sarah remember the Spelling worksheet #3 which is at home :)

As you can see from this list we have truly been working hard to complete activities - everybody else has all these activites completed and handed in :)
I set no homework for Math 7 and I believe there is no new h/w for Math 6 but everyone is gone now and I can't confirm.

Reminders
we will be carving pumpkins on Monday afternoon (for the Railway Heritage Park display)

General Day
Daily French- same old, same old: date, weather and information about 'les photographies, aujourd'hui'

Thank-you to the photogrpher's helpers who really worked hard pretty much ALL day to work through the classes. Keanan and Manpreet did an excellent job- I saw them in action in our class and I guess they had done the routine so often by the time they arrived at us LAST they took over and I was 'chopped liver'- they didn't need me at all but I was there:)
Manisha and Ethan helped in the morning hours and I am sure they did a great job too. Thanks, you don't know how much we are grateful for your assistance :)

Spelling Test #4 and redo #3 after a bit of study time

As promised 'catch up' time for all the assignments and activities that need to be completed this week (we have been working on some for the last couple of weeks but it is time to get them 'off the table')
Students worked on Spelling activities, novel, web, venn diagram, science and art projects both in class and at the computer lab. So, everyone was working on their own independently although again the frustrating thing about noise level is it creeps up until I have to raise my voice or turn on the microphone to bring the noise level back to a 'working hum'.

I tried to explain to my students that for the brain to think and to work efficiently needs to have a certain level of focus and that can't happen if there is so much interruption that the brain gets 'shaken' (think of a snow globe). What tends to happen is the attention level can't be sustained and it is easier for the majority of students just to become social and chatty because they can't concentrate anymore- a class doesn't need to be silent but a 'working hum' is my misnomer for it. Honestly, there are a few students who can ignore what's going on around them or can efficiently multi-task (listen to music, eat watermelon and do their spelling hanging upside down from a chair) BUT research has shown that it is actually not good for us to continually multi-task and that's why I think the brain being overwhelmed is what is causing the surge of students who are being diagnosed as ADD. They haven't learned (or been taught) how to focus, how to organize and how to concentrate. I have a study skills unit that I intend to introduce with some introductory lessons from the MindUp program (guess what I'm doing for Pro-D?) More about that later because I am already off topic- sorry!

computer time was available as mentioned for students who preferred to word process or needed the printer.

Math 7
Quiz redo (six students)
Checked h/w (still about 10-11 students not doing any h/w) I need to get on that and while I can't MAKE them do it (and neither can parents really) perhaps if there are only one or two standouts, the culture will be one of a more positive show of homework (more care and respect for their own learning). One thing we don't want is to turn it into a battle against our 'control' because we will most likely lose.

Corrected the work together on factors, multiples and primes- most seem to be comfortable with the concept
introduces the concept of Scientific Notation- a fancy phrase for writing HUGE numbers as a number between 1-9 multiplied by a multiple of 10 using exponents to indicate the value
example: 3657483029000 is the same as 3.657483029 x 10 to the power of 12 expressed in scientific notation. 10 is the base number 12 is the exponent written like a cardinal nth on a base number (just can't do it on the computer) and that indicates that 10 is multiplied by itself 12 times to re-create the original numeral.
We also will be working on division skills and then on the order of operations (BEDMAS)
good class today- most students completed a subtracting decimals worksheet :)

silent reading- as it is Thursday/Friday so to speak we did organization of desks and binders (fit to be tied) and I produced a 'witch-hunt' list (very thematic for Halloween). The list was to let students know what they still needed to work on so they didn't have any homework for the weekend.
It was effective but I also let them know that I can't be chasing them down all the time and that they will be expected to become more and more responsible for their own learning and assignments and that includes storing, organizing and submitting them without continual reminders. I'll be contacting parents soon to give everyone a heads up on progress and organizational issues.
Some read- many did work during reading time today (yes, I stole more reading time!)

Time for photographs next - the boys did their make-up (kidding) and the girls tousled their lovely locks and off we went to pose. It went very smoothly but no one could see their papers for the flash in their eyes- too funny they all looked starry eyed. lol

Art - we now have 12 Name acrostics completed and dispalyed - they look fabulous and we continued the assignment grind- really, we hustled the work until 2:30pm (taskmaster extraordinaire)

At 2:30pm (the gym wan't available due to the carnival- Phys Ed cancelled- I'll try to schedule more time next week) we stopped cleaned desks and hunkered down to a class discussion and vote on the new seating plan- it may not last long but we are going to try a horseshoe-like desk arrangement and I have put my grade sixes on notice that come Monday they will be seated around the room and not in a grade 6 enclave :) that was my bad! At least they know and it won't be a surprise that will traumatize them on Monday. I'll let you know how it works and if it works.

Once I made sure (although Eric you got a way on me!!) that all my students who needed to take things home to complete this weekend had their kit and kaboodle, it was the end of a strangely busy day and we packed up and headed for the door.
There is lots of excitement about the carnival tonight. Hope you have a great time.
See everyone Monday
Mrs. J.

Wednesday, October 19th

2011-10-19T17:42:00.000-07:00

Bit of a delay in posting tonight due to our exercise circuit being moved to the fitness studio- our PAC parents are busy decorating the gym for the carnival tomorrow evening.

I'll try to be quick

Homework and Reminders
Spelling test #4 and redo #3 tomorrow
Spellling activity #4 - if not completed is to be finished at home tonight
Math 7 quiz redo tomorrow for approx. 6 students also worksheet on review of prime numbers, factors and multiples
Science, novel Reader's Response activities incomplete will be either completed in a scheduled 'catch-up' time in class tomorrow OR students will have to complete them for Monday Oct 24th
I'll post a list of who needs to do what if necessary (more to the point, I'll make sure each student knows exactly what they have to do before they leave school tomorrow) :)

Picture Day tomorrow
Halloween Carnival tomorrow evening
Provincial Pro-D day Friday- no school

General Day
Daily French

Spelling study for test and time for activity #4
Venn Diagram time for the article and information in yesterday's reading and discussion about Stonehenge

Band

Math 7 results for Quiz #2 were really encouraging 26 students wrote the quiz 22 passed 4 didn't. That's an 85% pass 15% redo rate. We reviewed the test today and analysed reasons that may be behind diffculty in performing on quizzes from plain out not bothering to study to brain freeze due to PANIC.
A chance to redo will be given tomorrow.
We worked briefly on a follow up to the review of factors, multiples and prime numbers and set the worksheet for home so we could celebrate our hard work on the quiz with some computer lab time- the students enjoyed 20 minutes 'free' time. I showed a quick PPP (power point presentation) on how the numbers we use became the numbers we use from ancient days.
I think the students enjoyed the little break :)

Silent Reading
helped with one student with organizational difficulties
another with math re-instuction for the quiz redo tomorrow

Art follow up of the Halloween project and the Name Acrostics to the ppoint that we didn't do Phys Ed today- something's got to give and with volleyball season in full swing our students are getting lots of fitness and exercise- we needed some time to get things completed.

I have been getting frustrated with the amount of time that it takes us to transition )lots of off task chatting, distracted behviour and social silliness- it is something we really have to impprove together as soon as possible- a new seating plan will help but we still need to re-visit time spent 'off-task'!!

We took art time to the end of the day and I do think the students enjoyed it.
Clean up od desks, planners and homework review, prep for home before dismissal.
Have agood night.
Mrs. J.