Friday June 4th- TGIF

Yeah... it's Friday and it didn't rain much- things might be looking up weather wise for the weekend!!

Today went by in the wink of an eye (no, I'm not trying to be poetic!!)

Homework
some left over late assignments from the week are due Monday (Animal Thieves questions and science booklets)
complete the novel, Milkweed, forgot to tease the students about the name change (see yesterday's blog!!)
there are 6 grad hoodies left to be purchased
UBC forms still due please get them in asap

General Day
DPA: We had a great game of circle dodge ball this morning- I played and was too slow- Surinder got me first!! The students had fun although it honestly doesn't take much for them to get a bit over excited and silly!!

I finally returned the Raoul Wallenberg activity and we briefly reviewed the correct answers. I asked the students to be really honest about what they did when they received back a paper with a mark or grade on it- some (a few) said they would or do read my comments others were quite matter of fact and said they looked at the grade and then recycled the paper!!! :(
So (I know it's June but...) I'd like to challenge students to think about how they can improve their work the next time... today we looked at the trick of looking and using the marks for a question to help them answer with a certain number of points.
For example: Q1 asked who the author of the paper was and a clue was provided about reading the byline of the article which had all the necessary information for 5 marks.
If a student answers with one point i.e. The author was a photographer. There's only 1 mark that can be awarded out of five possible. This is especially difficult for the boys who write as little as possible. I need to teach them how to 'play' the points game.

Next we all agreed that my fabulous socials/language arts newspaper activity is not going to happen this year as we have left it too late - I agree with the students - we had a great time planning it. Sorry folks it's just there is not enough time left and we need to return all our library books for inventory by June 11th (next Friday).
The best laid plans of mice and men...

Next we reviewed the relative frequency work from yesterday's Math and I realized that in yesterday's blog my numbers were off...
If Raj scores 4 of every 5 goals he attempts, then if he attempted 20 times he would score 16 goals (yesterday I think I said how many goals would he score if he attempted 16 times (not a whole number- you can't score 0.8 of a goal- thanks Huntington!!!)
Hope that satisfies the math buffs among you!!

To finish the morning we had a really interesting discussion about internet bullying and the students' responses to the scenario they were given yesterday- our students are getting to be very wise and knowledgeable about the internet and what to do if they are being 'cyber-bullied' but it never hurts to keep revisiting the procedure.
Just in-case parents are not familiar with the steps...
1. do not respond to the messages (text mesages, e-mail, instant messages etc.)
2. if they are threatening your safety, save and print the e-mails or chat log so you have some evidence ( it is not necessary to read them) do not erase or delete- this helps identify who might be sending the messages and makes it easier for you to explain the situation
3. change your privacy settings and/or block further messages
4. talk it over with a trusted friend or adult- it's important to tell someone else and not to deal with this type of bullying alone- you may need to include a teacher or principal especially if the messages are school releated
5. contact the police- cyber-bullying is illegal harrassment and they are police are there to serve and protect
Hope that helps- it just occurred to me that sometimes we adults are not sure what to do with this new fangled type of communication.

Lunch hour was a flurry of activity for the afternoon variety show

1-2:40pm Variety Show 2010
We had a great treat and were entertained by all sorts of different talents that our students possess and have practiced for the last few weeks. Calliata and Samantha did a fabulous job as MC's and the sound system and music were all cued up and ready to go. Lots of variety indeed- dances, songs, mimes, piano, fiddle, hockey skills and audience participation. The participating teacher's brought the house down with their chreographed version of YMCA - fantastic job - I didn't even recognize them all!! Great costumes. Mrs Parker, Mrs Sollid and Miss Mah's skit got the whole afternoon started and was well received (little Billy)- it was funny. Hats off to Mrs McPhee who has worked hard to bring it all together on her lunch times and after school practices. It was a good afternoon and everyone had a blast dancing the Makerana (?) and clapping to the different acts. Well done everyone who participated- great job. Good audience skills to for the most part :)

We finished the day with a class game once we cleaned up and prepared for the dismissal bell.
We played an old favourite Thumbs up Seven up until the bell.

Have a great weekend - Happy Birthday party, Emily
See you next week
Mrs. J.