Friday, October 4th

well, I do hope everyone has a good weekend rest - we were all a little tired today and just in time for the weekend:)

Reminders
nothing much new
no new notices or newsletters

this weekend I have asked a few students (specifically in math 7) to take home their binders and get 'up to speed' with what they might have missed this week- we have had a week of absences for one reason and another. Also some just need to practice the skills.

This week has been challenging for a number of reasons as the weather changes and the work becomes more demanding, students (and teachers for that matter) have different coping mechanisms. I have been attempting to have students ask themselves what they can do to help themselves be more proficient learners- I was a little shocked that some had no idea so starting next week we are going to be taking a look at study and organizational skills for the Health&Career sessions. Of course just talking about these things (and presenting them) are not worth the time if we do not plan to put them into effect. So I need to devise some practice for the class and home.

Our day

Social studies
after completing the journal work from Thursday, we revisited the idea of the Friday 'passion' projects and I have collected the journals to get an idea of the various interests of the students in the coming weeks. Again I am frustrated by the number of students who have no idea what interests them for such an undertaking - no personal learning interests, no passion of learning about anything specific, no plans, no ideas. It is challenging having to 'think' for a class full of students of diverse background and skill levels.
However, once I see their ideas, I can provide some guidelines and outlines and make suggestions but those who can't come up with their own project will be directed to one that is 'pre-packaged' by me!!

Mapping- Oceans of the world
looking at details of the world's oceans and the continents they border- we also did a quick review of the importance of neatly labelling and colouring maps. Some of the colouring that was handed in last class was not 'up to par' and this skill will be just as important in junior high as it is now. No sloppy colouring- it takes away from overall quality of the work!

Story: If the World were a Village (still to complete)
It took a long time to complete the map activity but as the students get familiar with the expectations the map work will become more streamlined.

Math 7
quiz 3 on rounding numbers
many students did not review- when will the realization kick in that there is a great deal they can do for themselves???- the students who missed a class or two and didn't catch up and also didn't review, fared the worst.
It is quite frightening the amount of confusion that is still apparent on something as basic as the place value of numerals! Practice is key!

General results next week- today I was fortunate to have a couple of extra teachers in Mrs. Dawson our EA and Mrs. Currier. Together we managed to assist individuals with their understanding of place value and basic skills.
Students were asked to complete the individual number cross puzzles
before picking a game partner for cards/games.

What I have learned about the 'games' choice (which I still think is important) is that the student need much more structure than I thought. Usually at this age level they can happily play a card or board game for a half hour. Today within 10 minutes some were complaining of boredom and were not engaged or following behavioural expectations. Lots of work to do on teaching basic cooperative and game skills!
It was like spinning plates and trying to catch the wobbly ones before they crashed to the floor! Very tiring.

Read to Self
record
some students are struggling with reading stamina today

- unable to stay still and calm
unable to focus on one book
unable to stop seeking social interaction
Can you say FRIDAY?

Computer Lab- the students used some time to read a time capsule website called D'Marie to check out what was going on in the world on the day they were born (social studies) once they type in their birthdate (even that was a challenge for some!) the website directs them to information about the headlines, top books, songs, tv shows and cost of things on the day they were born)
some free time- this was the only time today they were relatively relaxed and cooperative!

Buddies class- we met our buddy class, Mrs. Hoyrup's grade 2/3 class- today was introductions so it took a little longer than usual to get settled especially as we were later back from the lab than expected- for the last part of the day we read with our little buddies. The grade threes read very well- hoping it will challenge some of the older students to improve their own reading !

It was (as you can imagine) a challenge to get everyone on the same page at the end of the day as we had too little time left when we said goodbye to our little buddies. There was nothing new for planners but the bell rang when I was mid sentence. I asked the students to stay for a proper dismissal- some ran out and I chased after them!! Nuts! I will review my end of day expectations on Monday. No biggie but the bell signals dismissal time it does not dismiss the students. Guess I didn't make that clear enough! No one will miss a bus but a proper end of day dismissal is important to me.

Thank you so, so much to the students who stayed to help with a bit of clean up and chairs- much appreciated.

Can you say end of Friday?
TGIF
Have a good weekend.
Mrs. J.