May 12

Things this week are going pretty good so far.  I had a number of students that I asked to stay in for half of noon due to poor behaviour on Monday, but things are looking up.  

Also I have a long list of missing assignments in all grades, especially grade 7.  If those assignments aren't in by Wednesday the students will be spending noon in the Homework/Detention room.  I clearly went over who this includes and what work is overdue.  

Grade 7

Overall, our math exam last week went great!  This week we are working on circles and on Monday the students discovered the amazing number that is pi.  I think almost everyone was amazed at how every circle imaginable has a value of 3.14... if you divide the circumference by the diameter.

Our Science quiz last Friday did not go as well as math, but it wasn't terrible.  I am trying to tweak the structure of the science classes to make them as productive and meaningful as they can be.  I am more used to high school science and I find grade 7 is a lot more basic theory than upper grades and it is harder to make it really interesting, but I am working on it!  We are now learning about electricity.  There will be a short quiz on Thursday just to see what we remember from Monday (this has not been mentioned at school).

ELA is going well.  On Wednesday we are doing Role Plays based on a story we read.

Social has no new news.  The Timeline/Family Tree assignment still needs to be turned in by a lot of students.  Last week students researched a social justice/charity.  I hope they learned a bit about how we can help others in need.  We are also going to be looking at some current events, such as the flooding in Winnipeg last month.

Grade 8/9

Science has been off for a while (we have it 3 days and then don't for 3 days).  We are still looking at the Water Cycle.  We will then be looking at Food Webs.

Social has us continuing our look at Citizenship and the history of citizenship in Canada.  The fact that Canadian citizenship was established in 1947 as a memorial for our soldiers is very interesting!

We will also be looking at some current events in this class.

Math 9

Exam on Wednesday!  I am excited to see how well the class can do on the exam.  The students should be completing their review and having parents sign it for a bonus mark.  

After the exam we will be starting Polynomials.  I am going to try teaching it using Algebra Tiles, which are a hands-on visual way of introducing the topic.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Feel free to leave a comment if you read this.