Tuesday February 7th

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.