Wednesday, January 26th

Sunny and warm today - it was like spring already!
Today was one of those days (particularly the afternoon) that just disappeared and NOW it is 10 to 5pm and I have just started the blog!!
My after school fitness circuit was challenging today!! I can hardly type- wait until tomorrow!

Congratulations to the girl's basketball team who won their game last night. Way to play like a team :).

I was very humbled today when the students actually clapped when I told them a story about 'persistence' (I didn't expect that they would have a reaction like that but it made me appreciate that they are listening and that they appreciate some of my crazy stories as much as I appreciate theirs).
Yesterday some of the students asked what 'persistence' meant. I gave them a dictionary answer. However, at curling last night, our ladies' team was down 6-0 in the fourth end (mid point of the game), our skip was getting a bit frazzled and asked if we wanted to 'quit' if we didn't get any points. We decided not to 'quit',  persisted and won the game in the last end by one point! Persistence sometimes pays off- never give up. I gave them a much better definition of persistence. They clapped! How cute!

Homework
Unit 15 spelling test tomorrow
I asked students to complete the last page of a booklet for Math (English problems into algebraic equations) some managed to finish it in class but the majority have it to complete- however, I saw a few still sitting on desks and in the cloakroom!! So...
UBC letter and paynent ASAP

Heads up that I also have a chance to book a luge session at the sliding centre in February- sound like a once in a lifetime opportunity- I'll let you know if and when we get a date.

General Day
Word Nerd  Chapter 13 finish and 14 to read. I am so encouraged by the students' enjoyment of this novel that it is my pleasure to start every morning with the next installment :)
In these chapters Ambrose convinces Cosmo to take him to a Scrabble Club which takes place at a local church after he does him a favour by  'rescuing' him from his 'partner in crime' (literally). Cosmo did not intend to go in but meets Amanda, the club director, whom he immediately takes a fancy to!!! Their scrabble skills are rough but they'll both be back for more meetings for different reasons.lol
French completed the work unit on Quelle heure est-il? on the board together- the students did a good job and are ready for the unit quiz on Friday.
Math- started looking at the skills of changing the wording of a math problem into a mathematical or algebraic expression (equation) using variables for the unknown value. For some students the process of creating the expression mathematically slows them down a bit because some of the examples right now are simple enough for students who are so minded to be able to solve them using mental math skills. They know immediately what the computation part is to get the correct solution. BUT the skill we are trying to develop is the step prior to computation and to use the information given in a problem to create the mathematical sentence that will lead to the computation!! More practice is needed.

FSA section 2 The students completed the section that requests them to write a paragraph that connects the reading and comprehension of a poem and a short non-fiction reading selection.
I personally did not think the question asked was a fair one for this age level. It was challenging request to think from the speaker of the poem's perspective- the poem was about being a 'weed' (in the garden kind of weed!) and consider how the speaker in the poem might feel about meeting the author of the non-fiction piece which was about being a amateur scientist of nature. The non-fiction piece had a connection to poetry in general which gave the whole connection another layer. I think the students wrote as well as they could and I was impressed with the length of their paragraphs as they tried tpo explain themselves but the part that really bothers me most is the request for support or evidence from both the reading selections which is something I don't teach in grade seven and is a writing skill that is challenging even for high school students. There is not enough space on the page to do the question justice and I would be interested as to how many adults could answer that question with flair in a half hour- I don't think I could without a lot of rewrites.
My opinion- you're welcome!

DEAR time better today :)

However, the students kind of 'fell apart' during the final discussion session for the Personal Planning Risk Assessment lesson (supposed to be 10 minutes!!) Had to send a few for a walk- just being silly and interrupting others being attention seekers. I will need to re- think this type of lesson in future but the good news is that the activity for students to demonstrate their independent learning from the unit is next and that's all up to them- in the case of determining risk, the answers students give to the scenarios are defended by their ideas of how big a risk it is- many of the scearios are typical and risk-free but in some cases it 'depends' on unknowns like who you are with, where you are, when you are there, why you are there and how willing you are to be a part of whatever is going on. I look forward to seeing the individual results.

Computers- Math Links 7 (McGraw Hill Ryerson)
Chapter 9 Unit quiz on-line (Integers addition and subtraction)
Once the quiz was completed, I asked the students to familiarize themselves with at least ONE math game from the website- many played the games available. You should see how challenging some of the games can be. Check the web site for the Tower of Hanoi, the fruit game or the game called Hammurabi (after the Mesopotamian King).

Phys Ed
Girls yoga session #2 with Ms. Kislasko
Boys floor hockey session in the gym (boys only) was productive and everyone seemed to have a good work out. I am truly impressed by the skill and assertiveness the boys have developed with floor hockey; some fabulous plays and defense skills were displayed. Sometimes the quietest students surprise me when I see their physical talents and capabilities. Way to work together boys. Let's do it again soon.

Dismissal 3pm we didn't even hear the bell!!
See everyone for more fun in the SUN??? tomorrow (it got really hot (and stinky) in the class thank goodness for computers and P.Ed.) :)
Mrs. J.