Tuesday, June 19th

Happy Birthday, Liam
15 already!!
Would like to be quick with the post tonight.

Today was our year end band concert performance day so the routine was a little different.

In the morning we had a quick decision about which day to hold the annual BFF pictures which will be organized by Mrs. Cardiff - we chose Friday after the Pancake Breakfast.
For affordability the pictures and sizes range from $1.50 for a wallet size- $12 for an 8x10

Next we challenged brains and synapses with a set of Two way words and Mindwinders which are visual and organizational depictions of well known phrases like "searched high and low" or midstuckdle (stuck in the middle)
The students who were focused on the puzzles and mind challenges did surprisingly well.For others it was too much brain exercise too early in the morning.

Next I set out a selection of fossils, rock and mineral samples. The fossils came from the now defunct McAbee fossil beds in Cache Creek, B.C. and I didn't realize how attached I was to those sample until I saw one of the students 'attacking' one with a pair of scissors!! I ranted a bit (sorry but why destroy?).

The fossil beds date back to the Eocene epoch (36-50 million years) and have been a source of some amazing one of a kind fossil discoveries. The samples I have are not really worth any kind of $$$ value but the chances now of getting any more are slim now that the government has closed the area and access to it to create a Heritage Site!
See the full story in the following link

http://www.dll-fossils.com/  
John is my brother and he has had a passion for paleontology for many years.

In class today we analysed and tried to identify the rock samples as either igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic. I showed them the amazing magnetic pull of magnetite and what a glassy chunk of obsidian looks an feels like. I have always found that students like rocks and the chance to pick them up and wonder about them.

We had a bit of an earlier snack due to the need to go right into instrument playing mode after the morning break.
11-noon set up and school year end band concert in the gym as a practice for the afternoon portion for parents.
The students all sounded great and the organization of all the bodies was challenging but manageable with a little patience and shifting around everyone managed to find a place to be.

after lunch
1-1:20 quiet reading/working time for those still valiently trying to complete work
Ashley and Chloe (former students) visted before they headed to our band concert

1-2pm year end band concert for parents
Students did a great job performing and showcasing their music and instrument playing skills and zI believe that the aprents were impressed with their sound. Great job everyone: Ms. Sorban, Darcy and all the students of the Gr 5-7 classes. Amazing stuff.

strike the gym- my students worked extra hard at this because they wanted to get their gymnasium time :)

2-2:30+ Phys Ed
I had suggested a class game but the faces were long!
So we split into three groups
1. on the back gym equipment with hula hoops where I could manage to keep an eye on them all
2. basketball scimmage on one half of the gym
3. floor hockey on the other side of the gym
I was pleasantly surprised that everyone said they enjoyed their activity of choice and no one was upset. Yeah!

Back in class we cleaned up (kind of!). We had approx. 20 minutes left in our crazy day and I thought it would be fun to watch one of the programs we have been following on the overhead BUT the students all had such diverse and questionable ideas about what they would like to watch that the time quickly disappeared.
We watched a clip from Mr. Bean about a chemistry experiment but it wasn't that funny (2 minutes!), the students wanted to watch the Duck Song (which was interesting) and we watched the top ten funniest baby clips (laughing babies) but the other ideas were not appropriate for me to show without first vetting them.
What is very clear is the access to so much not so great content that our young people have today on sites like You Tube can be frightening. The things that my students find 'funny' are so very different from my definition of 'funny'. So I'll be sure in future to have my choices of appropriate content firmly decided on before I try that again!

guess what- time for dismissal
Saved again by the bell
Have a great evening.
Mrs. J.