Friday 13th, 2009

Friday is always a challenge! TGIF :)
As I scan the empty classroom there is so much 'left over' energy that it is almost as if the students haven't left yet- it is just quieter!!
One of my students told me today that I was "too much of a mother", I chose to take it as a compliment but I'm not 100% sure. If it was an insult it is a nice one, don't you think?

Today I had a full class for the first time in three weeks!! So the extra challenge today was how to work with the students who have been away and who have missed instruction and lesson assignments and not completed work for Term 1 (today being the report marks cut off!!). Then there are students who have been here all along and really haven't accomplished a whole lot!!

How can I say 'no' to students who want to do their missed work? I just can't, but this leaves me with a pile of (albeit last minute) assignments that I still have to assess before I can comment on them in the report cards. C'est la vie. I really understand how the students feel when there is a deadline because I feel a minor panic about my Monday deadline!!

Homework
there is catch up homework only for students who have been away
For the majority of students, there is no new homework as this is my homework weekend!!

General Day
Started the day with a crazy indoor gym version of California Kickball- the students and I discussed adjusting the rules so the game could be 'more fun' and a bit safer (the bench was a bit too wobbly for me) - guess I was trying to control it too much!! I think they had fun - at least they want to try it again with a few less of Mrs. J's 'rules'!!!

Unit 8 spelling test was after a chapter of our read aloud Word Nerd the students actually laughed out loud as did I when the main character, Ambrose, accidently leans on the car horn scaring the life out of the couple kissing at the apartment building he was parked outside. Too funny! I told the students about drving in the Okanagan one summer and getting caught behind a pack of bikers when my vehicle's horn started to malfunction and kept going off. I thought I was going to die.

Math today was our 'problem solving' use of algebraic equations- some are expecting it to be much more difficult than it is and I usually find after their mild panic they can see the pattern and carry it on. It is really t-chart type thinking to develop a pattern that allows you to solve for a variable number. So, for example if you are earning $11.50 an hour and you want to earn at the minimum $150- how many hours would you need to work? If your shifts are four hours long, how many shifts do you need to book? The questions are along these lines.

The map of the countries of Europe will need to be completed Monday- too many countries and lots of new ones that are indepandent now of Russia. The students found the 1989 Atlases confusing and I understand because the boundaries and countries of the world have changed so much in twenty years!! :0

I tried to finish with art- it was difficult to keep up with the students as some were completing Remembrance Day posters for competition, some were working on Landscapes, some were finishing late novel activities, some were 'visiting' and pretending to be doing their art work- the class computer was busy and one student insisted she couldn't possibly complete her landscape without paint!! Arrgghh!

I am looking forward to getting everyone back on the same 'page' so to speak. Have a great weekend and think of your teacher having to meet her own deadline as you all go to the movies to watch 2012. Do I hear the sweet, sad sounds of a violin playing in the background...?
See you all Monday. Mrs. J.