Monday, 5 November

This morning I was in and out of the room for meetings, so I showed segments of a National Film Board documentary on Vimy Ridge.  I also gave a very brief talk on the differences between the reasons for the fighting in the First, and Second World Wars and the Cold War.  It is tough to do that in 15 minutes.  I wanted the class to see some footage from the First World War before they present their research (poetry topic PowerPoints) tomorrow in class.  The class also had a band block with Mr. Grice.  They also completed an overall self-assessment reflection on their Term One work.  I wanted them to think of both their successes and their frustrations as we move towards Term Two.  Certainly the past week has shown that many students need to be more organized and more responsible about getting their assignments completed, or at least ask for help if it's needed.

After lunch I gave the class one last period to catch up on their art and other outstanding work.  We ended the day outside for soccer.  Parents/guardians, some students have started a trend of not wearing runners in p.e.; please speak with your children about wearing shoes during p.e. in order to stay healthy and to save their socks.  I apologize for not being more on top of that. Tomorrow I'll be giving them as French review and a brief oral French quiz.  That will be paired with a participation mark to be their French mark for Term One.  So far, everyone has a high participation mark, so the quiz should not be seen as a huge hurdle to worry about.  Remember,  French is fun!  I'll also see the last few Sumer transportation presentations (1-minute long).  I'll be passing out all of the art that has been done so it can be grouped (by student: 5 still-lifes and 3 warm-ups) for marking.  I've attached a copy of the drawing rubric Joanna and I will be using.  Finally, I'll be having a science test review.  The test is on Wednesday - study the crossword puzzle.

Heads Up: Next week in art we are moving on to colour and will need the students to bring in any old art materials collecting dust at home - all those materials used at school in past years or what-have-you.  Specifically we'd like: felts, colouring pencils, wax crayons, water colour pucks, oil pastels, coloured pens.
Also: Could you save styrofoam egg cartons and bring them to use as water-colour pots.  Thanks.

Also, also: remember we need drivers Nov 20 for skating (we only have 2 parent volunteers so far).