Quick one tonight

Staff meeting tonight PAC too but I am not feeling great so I want to get home and have a relatively early night!!

Homework
Spelling Unit 16 test tomorrow
still waiting for a couple of reports
(however, I have been enjoying the ones I have received and the big 'what's the point' is the students' ability to follow and meet the expectations of an outline asking for given criteria assessing to what degree they have managed to research to provide their some information about a given civilization.)

General Day
spelling prep for tomorrow's test Unit 16

reflection on the boys' game last night and a thank-you from both me and Mrs Paxton for having a very productive afternoon with the TOC Ms. Borsoff yesterday afternoon.

FSA short write section

Math -Integers- adding and subtracting integers. Introductory concepts of uses in the everyday and natural world of postive and negative numbers, reactions, language. Consideration of several
methods of understanding the process including: number lines, integer 'disks' (which cancel each other out), the virtual thermometer and the zero principle +3+(-3)=0 / -3+(+3)=0

Dear time was so successful that the students asked for a bit more reading time !! I am encouraged to see more novels being read AND this is an activity (silent reading) that they will be continuing in high school. I think that the students enjoy the down time and the quiet. I do think I might need to change the time to the end of the day after the break!!

Socials Egyptian clothing and art- types of materials used, styles, jewllery, headdresses and make-up- a quick visual in the text- students will be designing a profile in Egyptian dress and adding their names in Egyptian hieroglyphics in a cartouche.

Art- continued on our marketing group work on the crazy chocolate bars- I had to remind
students about keeping their creative ideas appropriate for school. Our youth are so seeped in the media culture that some of their ideas and depictions are on the border (some past it) of being inapproprite for school. The difficulty is they don't see anything wrong with the socio-sexual references to 'pimps and 'ho's' and guns and making $$$ illegally- it is part of their culture in their music videos and video games and movies so we need to have the conversation with them both at home and at school about what is appropriate. Perhaps I need to provide more prescriptive cirteria at the expense of their 'divergent' thinking! I would also appreciate parents having a conversation with their sons and daughters about what is influencing their thinking. It might be interesting and a bit scary!!

Was difficult getting them to clean up and be ready for dismissal today- a bit hyper with the less structured nature of group work!!
Until Thursday.
Mrs. J.
this was a bit longer than I intended!!!!!!