One Last Post? Saturday, 29 June

First, here is a link to my farewell at the Grade 7 Leaving Ceremony: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eCaRKFw5pi5uF0m2zHvxlqM4kTIwd5JTNf9JxNOwoS4/edit

I had a long but happy day at school yesterday.  I thought I might feel melancholy as I packed up, but I didn't.  I did do much reflecting on the year as I was creating a sample folder of the grade 6s' writing for their next-year's teacher, and as I recycled old test sheets and packed up boxes, but I had a recurring feeling of satisfaction, not sadness.  I was also not sad at our little good-bye celebration for the 17 staff who are leaving the school this year.  Mr. Brown noted that I am the only one who left by choice: that sounds terrible, doesn't it.  I enjoyed the company of everyone on staff and have had moments of doubt about my decision to leave such a positive place.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my year at the Creek.  I have also appreciated the willingness of the staff to challenge our practices and discuss our vision as we ask what school could be like in our quest to deliver the best opportunities and the best programs for our students.  I truly believe exciting times are ahead for the whole school community.  I have received many kind words about my efforts over the past year and they are most appreciated.  But I didn't do it alone.  I was well supported by Carol, Jay-Ann, Sarah, Ms. Henderson, Mr. Pond, Ms. Foster, Ms. McBain, Mr. Clements, Ms. Rive, Joanna and the many parents who were able to support us up front and in the background. We teachers care a great deal about what we do and there is no better fuel for that fire than affirmation from an appreciative school community and the satisfaction that comes from a job well done.  So, thank you, everyone.

All packed up and ready for the next step

Joanna asked that I post this for her:

Here are all the wonderful words and gifts you have all given me.  A beautiful still life reminding me of the good feelings I have from the year and how honoured I feel.  Thank-you everybody!

Joanna

Thank you, Joanna, for teaching me how to do this:
the piece I'm most proud of!

Monday, 10 June

PLEASE ENSURE YOU HAVE SHORTS AND RUNNERS (NOT FLATS OR SANDALS OR BOOTS) FOR EVERY P.E. CLASS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR.  STUDENTS SHOULD EXPECT TO BE RUNNING IN SOME FORM EVERY DAY.

I am requesting two parent drivers to volunteer to drive the students who are going to the Chatelech orientation meeting.  I think one of the mums from Division One has already indicated she is available.  I will be staying with the Chatelech-bound students, and Mr. Pond will be going with the Elphi-bound students (they get a bus because there are so many more of them).  A consent form for both groups will go home tomorrow.

Also, please try to remember to bring $10 for art supplies as soon as you can.

I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend.  Mine was quite busy with house guests here to see my eldest daughter in the Dance Academy's show at the Raven's Cry Theatre.  We began our day debriefing the class's most recent paragraph writing assignment.  Without a doubt, the most common writing flaw was run-on sentences, so we reviewed how to avoid them.  Many students commented that they will try to spice up their next piece of writing with some juicy words.  Others noted the need to more effectively employ transition words (signposts) to guide their readers through the twists and turns of their writing.  Here are the notes we created on the board:

Remember to follow the punctuation
recipe for things such as commas.

Next, the class went to band.  I noted that on this report card fine arts will again be separated into "art" (with Joanna) and "band" (with Mr. Grice).

After recess we read for for ten minutes and then started math.  In Math 7 I gave instruction in how to assess numbers in a set of numbers to see if there are any outliers.  We then started the practice set for Lesson 7.3: there is no homework today.

After lunch we read for 15 minutes and then began our inquiry work.  Goldney and Kiah volunteered to use some of their inquiry time to help prime the art "canvasses."  Thanks, girls.  The inquiry projects are due to be finished at the end of Monday, 17 June.  The 7s have their secondary school orientations that day, so the 6s will have one extra class day to work on their projects.  That might be time used to practice the presentations so we get fewer students "reading" their presentations.

We ended the day with some running.  We each also tried to do one chin-up/pull-up.  We'll be doing more of that sort of thing as we get ready for the year-end fitness test.

Tomorrow I will be giving a French pre-test and on Wednesday, after art, we'll have the real test.  Remember to study your notes (or, check the notes posted to the blog - all test questions will be things we've practiced in class).

Thursday, 6 June

We began the day with a special guest: Ms. Meredith Thomson came and taught us how to play Uno in French.  We tried to play without and English and I thought it went very well for a first try.  It is hard not to slip into English when you're searching for that elusive word in French.  Ms. Thomsom gave us a script that helped immensely with most of the game-play phrases necessary to play.  A big merci, Ms. Thomson.  After Uno, the class had band (some of our grade 6 students worked with our other Ms. Thomson (Bronwyn) to prepare a special math activity for the grade 1 students she works with).

After recess we read for ten minutes and then started math.  In Math 7 we added to yesterday's lesson on mean and mode, and learned about median and range.  With these four terms we can speak better about questions involving averages or measures of central tendency.  We didn't get to begin the practice set on pp. 264-66 as we were interrupted by the fire drill.

Reviewing mode and mean

Learning median

After lunch we worked on our passion inquiries, heard one of the final social studies inquiry sharings, and then went outside for a "personal choice" p.e. session with Division 1.  Some played basketball, some played soccer, some other less organized activities.

Remember that the high jump competition is being held after school at Chatelech and the meet is scheduled to be held tomorrow at Elphinstone.  Good luck to all of our Division 2 athletes. 

Monday, June 3

Heads up: we are hosting an Appreciation Tea for all parents, guardians and caregivers in the library at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 5th.  I hope you can all attend.  You've been so supportive of us all year and this is our chance to honour you in a small but sincere way.

The students have also planned a NEON DAY for Wednesday, June 5th: there will be prizes, so dig out your brightest clothes!  (Guests of the Appreciation Tea need not wear neon, but should feel free to do so if they wish).

We began the day with a short French quiz as we waited for the Elphinstone jazz band to get set up for their performance in the gym.  At this point, the phrases connected to food should be quite familiar and students should be anticipating a test soon.  The band sounded good with some talented soloists but they had a student vocalist who really made the experience memorable.  I've never heard a school band accompanied in that way before.  What a great way to begin the day.

After recess we read for ten minutes and then the students had math.  In Math 7 we did the equations unit test.  I'll try to get those marked this evening so you can see the results tomorrow.  There is no math homework.

After lunch we worked on our passion inquiry projects.  I suggested that a good place to start is by asking these questions: 1) What do I already know? 2) What don't I know? and, 3) What do i wonder?  This will help to define where the inquiry should go.  In the end, students will be able to say, I discovered... ; 2) I now know... ; and, 3) I now/still wonder....  I'm hoping that the students will discover that in real life one question/inquiry often leads to another.  I see this as part of the shift away from old school where the focus may have seemed to be about finding a series of "right answers."  There is a balance that needs to be found between facts and finding, and I hope that we can put some of  the wonder back into learning for older students.

We ended the day with a game of capture the flag against Division 1.  We did much better than last time we met them.  I think Thane's pre-game cheers has a lot to do with our success.  Have a nice afternoon.

Please remember that tomorrow night is the Elphinstone parent information night for the families of grade 7 students: it starts at 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, 30 May

Just a brief post today: I have a French meeting to run off to.

We began the day with French.  Then we had band.

After recess we read for ten minutes and then had math.  In Math 7 we looked at using algebra to solve area and perimeter problems.  There was definitely some tension in students' learning as they tried to solve for missing measurements using the formulae that they learned in previous units.  I was trying to have them understand the need to represent things in a conventional form.  For example, writing 2d instead of 2 x d (2 times d), or instead of d + d.  A couple of students stayed in at lunch to hammer out their understanding or to get extra practice questions.  I had planned to have the unit test tomorrow, but since there is a dance tonight and because I want to give everyone a chance to get extra practice questions,
we'll have the test on Monday, instead.

After lunch we worked on our passion inquiry questions and then listened to Arif's presentation that included the use of Prezi (instead of PowerPoint).  It was a most informative talk.  We ended the day with some running drills in the gym and then played a rugby drill that involved the class trying to beat Nicholas around a circle (they pass the ball while he runs). It took many tries, but after we split the class they were ultimately able to beat him.  Hats off to you, Nicholas, for a very strong and impressive effort.


Here are the answer's for Friday, 31 May's Math 7 practice test:

Monday, 27 May

We had many donations for the gift basket today.  
Please see the comments at the foot of the Tuesday 14 May's blog post to see where folks are noting what they're donating so that we have a nice mixture of gifts.

4 students earned bike-to-school week raffle-draw tickets for riding to school.  Way to go Gus, Noah, Avery and Kiah.  
If you'd like to have a chance to win a bike, you've got to ride.


Ouch: a few of the grade 6s began their day with vaccinations.  The rest of us began with a short French quiz: I hope neither was too painful.  In French, I am noticing improvement already.  Although I'm trying to do lots of oral work, I am also trying to give attention to spelling, my Achilles heel when I was a student.  After the quiz, we got started on the second lesson associated with the food theme.  I shared with the class some of my experiences when I lived in Northern Quebec and came across French words whose meaning I knew, but whose pronunciation at first stumped me (ex. huile - oil, pneu - tire).  Being immersed in another culture is a wonderfully challenging way to experience inquiry every second of the day.  Here are our notes:

 Afterwords, the class went to band.

After recess we read for ten minutes and then the 6s left for math while the 7s received the counseling team from Elphinstone.  The 7s not only heard from adult, school staff, but also from three grade 8s who are former RCCES students.  There was good information exchanged and I was most impressed by the positive and professional tone of the students' comments.  Our students were given a folder to take home (some were dismissed before they picked up their folders so they'll get them tomorrow).  In that folder was a piece of paper that needs to be signed and returned.  Please do that ASAP so we can get them back to Elphi.

After lunch we read for a short while and then listened to inquiry presentations by Simon and Bowen, Emily and Kiah, and Gus.  It is interesting to see the growth in the students work as they get more and more experienced at both inquiry learning and sharing.  Gone is the nervousness of only a few months ago.  The learning also appears to be much deeper and more detailed this time.  We ended the day with a game of backwards indoor soccer.

Inquiry sharing: India and Rome

Inquiry sharing: India and Greece

Audience participation: teaching the
 class Indian dance steps 

I don't know if we invented this game,
but I'd like to play it again, now that
we have the kinks worked out.

Thursday, 23 May

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE ARE COLLECTING DONATIONS FOR A KITCHEN-THEMED GIFT BASKET FOR THE SPRING FLING FUND RAISER SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 1st.  We have three items to date.

First, let me say what a wonderful day we all had on the grade 7 year-end trip to Vancouver yesterday.  The laser tag, rock wall climbing, harbour cruise, tandem bike trip and playground time were all a huge success.  There were many people involved in the logistics of getting this year-long venture completed, but I think we will all agree that two mums went above and beyond, and they deserve to be recognized: thank you Agnes and Dianne!  Mr. Pond was a photo ninja and even after he had culled the herd, he was able to post 180 photos to his classroom blog.  Here is the link: mega photo cache

The fire truck at Second Beach, Stanley Park

We started today with a French quiz and then did some meta-cognition: some thinking about our thinking.  Ex. "I will try to remember to...."  Here is a copy of the quiz:

Next, we practiced our knots for fifteen minutes before band.  Some students were pretty rusty with the bowline - remember, it's probably the most useful knot I've shown you.

After recess we went to the gym to hear about Bike to School Week next week.  The students learned of the contest to win a fancy new bike and how they can earn a ticket for the draw each day they ride to school next week.  After the assembly, we started math.  In Math 7 students worked to complete the problem set for the final lesson, 6.5.  As students finished, I started to challenge them with a new twist on isolating variables. There is no homework.

After lunch we read for fifteen minutes and then I gave some instructions for the passion inquiry project.  Specifically, I indicated the need for more initial structure and planning.  I spent the rest of the hour checking in with students and helping them with their organization and inquiry question proposals.  We ended the day with an old-fashioned game of kick-the-can.

NOTE: Few students were ready to present their socials inquiry projects today.  I will not deduct points for being late, but I may give special consideration to students who were able to meet all criteria, including the deadline.

Heads up:

Monday is immunization day for grade 6s.

Monday is also the day the Elphinstone counsellors will be in to talk to the grade 7s.

Finally, Monday we have Aboriginal ed. with Kristi.

Monday, 13 May

I'm the tall guy on the left

We began the day with a talking circle.  I know some of the students think the only value of a talking circle is to waste class time so there is less work, but I still think it's important to give people the opportunity to have a voice, even if they don't.  I was able to share a bit about my experience at the TEDx event that some of us attended on Saturday.  I agree with Ms. Rive that it was an inspiring and affirming day.  It's nice to connect with others who challenge what we do in the hope of advancing our practices.

Next, the class had band and after that we met with our parent drivers to whisk ourselves away to Kinnikinnick for the Jesse Miller presentation.  I saw him a few years ago, and it was interesting to see the difference between what he did for our students and what he did with the secondary students.  I found him to be engaging and the students were a good audience.  Thank you, Jenine, Michele, Angela, Christie, Aideen, Pam and Jane for making yourselves available to drive.

Apart from the presentation, it was nice to have a chance to chat to parents about what we're doing in and out of class.  I was asked how much homework I thought the students should be doing on their socials inquiry projects.  That is a tough one.  Research shows that "homework" does little if anything to promote or deepen learning, especially in elementary school (I did give near-nightly reading assignments and some presentation assignments in my senior secondary courses).  On the other hand, it also suggests that inquiry learning (especially where students have autonomy, choice and the opportunity to define the boundaries of their project-based learning) allows for the most complex thinking.  I've scheduled many hours of class time but have not said specifically "how long" the presentations should be.  I hope that this allows for differences in terms of student ability, interest and desire.  I know that some will work very little at home, because the class time is mostly enough.  Others will feel they need more time spent at home in order to "get done," while others, I suppose, will have their interest sparked and want to look deeper at home.  In terms of sharing, I've suggested that the presentations (sharings?) should go beyond PowerPoint slides this time: we've done that quite a bit and students are quite familiar with that medium.  We saw some pretty good science presentations, so the bar has been set high for many in our class who like to be in the "exceptional" range of student output.  I'm not trying to be vague in order to confound, it's just that I don't want to say, "Here's the bar, get to it and stop."  I think some of our students are used to doing the bare minimum and I want to give them a chance to excel - to push themselves - for each student that measure will be different.  I've told the students that if their sharings give us goose bumps, they will have done "enough."

Upon returning to the school we had 20 minutes to eat lunch and then we were out to another presentation, in our gym this time.  We met Sam Lenarduzzi and Carl Valentine of the Whitecaps FC.  I remember watching Carl and those huge quadriceps of his thundering down the field when the Caps played at the old Empire Stadium.  Today they did a good job at involving the students, both young and old.  Some of the students in our class said they had seen this presentation in years past and so they weren't really interested.  That may be true, but I saw a few of our guys who looked like they were going to wrench their arms from their sockets trying to get picked to go up and participate!

We ended the day with a discussion.  I was getting frustrated with some of the student behaviour around talking (while walking in the halls, lining up, that sort of thing), so we had a chance to share our thoughts and opinions with one another.  I hope tomorrow will allow us all to more forward with a more informed viewpoint.

Tomorrow, I will issue a notice about the PAC's Spring Fling Dance event scheduled for Saturday, 01 June, at the Roberts Creek Hall.  Our class has volunteered (ok, I volunteered our class) to create a gift basket that can be used to support this fundraising event.  So stay tuned for more information on that.

Thursday, 9 May

Thank you for the strong response from parent drivers for Monday's visit to Kinnikinnick.  So far we have seats for 21 students; there are 27 students currently in our class.  We have 13 of 27 consent forms back. Please bring yours tomorrow if you've not already done so.

Please remember runners for track and field activities tomorrow from 1:30 - 2:30.

Today we had many activities that occurred outside of the classroom and that made the day fly by.  We started by getting the laptops so we could continue our short story paragraph response writing.  Only about one quarter of the class is now finished that piece.  This was a difficult assignment for many because they had to define, in concrete terms, exactly what they should write about.  It is easier to answer a narrow topic such as "discuss the use of irony," or, "identify the role conflict plays..."  In this case, I wanted the class to answer a more open question: "what makes this story notable, or memorable, or worthy of our time?" This assignment has caused much thought and made it necessary for students to reflect on all of the elements of fiction that we've studied so far.  We'll take some time tomorrow so those who are still working have a chance to finish.  After we finished writing, the class had band.

Upon returning from recess we read for a short while and then began math.  In Math 7 we completed the practice set on p. 224-25 and then I gave instruction for Lesson 6.2 where were looked at the idea of balancing equations using the metaphor of a scale or balance.  I have asked that the students complete question #1 before tomorrow's class after which we'll complete the problem set on pp. 229.

After lunch we met outside on the field with Martin and Division 1 to hear a safety briefing for the May 22 Stanley Park trip the grade 7s will attend.  Martin discussed tandem bike etiquette, safety rules, seawall courtesy and equipment considerations.  Thanks agin, Martin and Dianne.

Afterwards, we returned to class and read our novels or worked on our inquiry projects while we waited for the Chatelech Secondary band to arrive for an afternoon performance.  They were a bit behind schedule, but had time in the end to give the students a good taste of what the music program there could offer.

I was not pleased when a number of students in our class snuck out of the gym after the performance to avoid having to help stack chairs.  I thought that after all of the team building that we've done this year during activities like the snowshoe trips, we were beyond that kind of behaviour.  Through the lens that I view life, leaving our responsibilities to others is inconsiderate at best, and selfish at worst and I hope we can do better next time.

Thursday, 2 May

Today we began the day with a review of more questions from our short story Sisters.  I was pleasantly surprised by the good quality examples of alliteration that were found.  As often happens with this type of examination, samples were found that sort of fit the criteria, but sort of didn't.  I like this type of natural learning.  Today we needed to decide whether a series of similar sounds that didn't all come at the beginning of the words was still alliteration.  We found it wasn't and were thus introduced to a new term: consonance.  Next, Mrs. Rive came in and spoke to the class about how they approach band class before they headed off to see Mr. Grice.

After recess we read for ten minutes and then started our math lessons.  In Math 7, we continued to dissect the unit test before we have another try at it.

1. Confirmation of yesterday's review

2.  Reviewing a test question

3. Confirming today's practice

www.lifecycle.ca

Thanks, to those who loaned us tandems to train with.

After lunch, half the class attended the track meet at Madeira Park Elementary.  The ones who remained worked on their socials inquiries.  Seven of the grade sevens (who had their consent forms returned) got to do some tandem bike training with Martin Prestage of LIFECycle.  Martin will be back tomorrow morning to train the remaining grade sevens IF THEY HAD A CONSENT FORM SIGNED AND RETURNED.

Please bring a helmet: we had to scramble today to borrow helmets so that everyone could ride. See yesterday's blog post for other clothing requirements.

http://bc.gafesummit.com/

Finally, I'm getting pretty excited about attending the Google Summit this weekend with my colleague from Pender Harbour Secondary, Dave Lewis.  He has been spearheading an iPad initiative at Pender this year and we're looking at doing some iPad work here, next year.  I see this training as necessary as we shift away from school server-based storage to cloud storage (and access).  Also, more and more teachers are including the use of apps from Google Drive as a great way to differentiate a class' learning and allow for varied student output.  This means that not every student will have to work on the same "work" or produce evidence of their learning using the same method.  For example, one student may create a slide, while another creates an audio record, while another creates a video mash-up, while others do a collaborative report.  We've started that shift this year, but we can go a lot further and then possibilities are exciting.

Remember that for phys. ed., tomorrow is our third (of four) track and field training days from 1:45-2:30.  Please ensure you have running shoes.

Monday, 29 April

So, I opened my Twitter account after school and got two pleasant surprises.  First, a friend from high school who I haven't seen since a chance meeting on the ferry in 1984 sent me a tweet.  I've learned he started the first chapter of the Guardian Angels in New Zealand - very cool.  It's neat to hear about people we know who are doing something meaningful for their communities.  I don't have a Facebook account, but this Twitter thing is proving to be pretty engaging for me.  Second, a while back, we watched a TED Talk video about the research of Amy Cuddy from the Harvard School of Business.  She proved that our posture can affect our brain chemistry and suggested that we "fake it till me make it," and use "power poses" to increase our ability to deal with stressful situations.  Here is a link to that blog post: Amy Cuddy TED Talk post   Anyway, last night I tweeted her a photo of our students in a power pose on the snowshoe trip and she favourited it and retweeted it - yippee: we're famous.

We had a good discussion on imagery

We began our day with a discussion/lesson connected to the short story "Sisters" that we read at the end of last week.  I'm using these stories to engage the class in an examination of the parts of a story.  As they become more sophisticated readers, they will be able to appreciate their reading material at a deeper level.  I used some sports analogies to try to demonstrate my point.  My daughter is taking riding lessons and at first, I just saw a girl on a horse. But now I look for the position of her heals in the stirrups and whether of not she is riding on the diagonal: I can appreciate what she does because I am becoming more educated about the subtleties of the sport.  This appreciation will come for the students as they learn to read beyond mere plot.  Next, the class went to band.

After recess we read for ten minutes and then started math.  In Math 7 we did the unit test for area of triangles, parallelograms and circles.  It took most students longer than one block to complete the test and so we continued after lunch while the grade 6s started their socials inquiry work.  It's good to come against tension in our learning.  The key is to remember that we're all learning.  If we find we haven't mastered a concept when we need to perform it, it is no big deal: get more practice, or more instruction and just try again.  I love that today no one in our class got upset of visibly frustrated.  Some said, "I can't remember how to do that," or, "I think I'll be writing this test again," but that's okay in my books.  The game is about learning and being engaged with your learning; it's not about As and Bs.

We ended the day with a short game of camouflage in the forest.  I was displeased with the amount of time it took for us to get ready for p.e. today.  We need to be respectful of everyone in the class and that means getting ourselves sorted out quickly and not causing everyone else to wait.

I issued three notices at the end of the day: 

1.  Dad and Me Dance: May 14 at the Chatelech Secondary Gym

2.  SCYSA (house league) soccer registration: closes May 31

3.  Consent form for Grade 7 trip to Vancouver: May 22.  THIS MUST BE RETURNED ASAP BECAUSE IT INCLUDES CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN TANDEM BIKE TRAINING ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY THIS WEEK - BRING A HELMET.

Thursday, 25 April

TOMORROW IS TRACK AND FIELD FROM 1:45-2:30.  
EVERYONE REMEMBER TO BRING RUNNING SHOES.

TOMORROW IS OUR DANCE CELEBRATION ACTIVITY IN THE GYM: 9:45-10:25

Today we began with the school photographer taking a grade 7 group photo and a whole-school panoramic photo and that upset the schedule a bit and band was cancelled, but we did have a chance to continue with our short story work and I gave a short lesson on the difference between literal and figurative meaning.  We then discussed one of the "challenge" questions from the study guide to see how the lesson could be applied to a story.

After recess we had our class photo and then we carried on with math.  I gave a group problem to the class and asked them to solve it.  Interestingly, most students worked independently or in small groups, but there was no whole-group discussion until I led it at the end.  At first, many students said they couldn't do it, but over time, patience, grit and a few hints got them on their way.  Here is the problem and one part of the solution:

Because some students will be away tomorrow for volleyball, I am postponing the Math 7 unit test until Monday!  

After lunch we worked on our socials inquiry projects.  I was very pleased with the way everyone worked today; there were many good discussions going on.  Next we shared p.e. outside with Division One.  Some played soccer with Mr. Pond on the field, others played Person Hunt with me in the forest.  We put a twist on the game today and I released the people who were "it" first, and then everyone else went to hide - some got a real surprise!

Thursday, 18 April

We began the day by hearing science presentations from Sadie, Thane and Nicholas.  Next, we went to band.  After recess we read for ten minutes and then began math.  The Math 7 students spent the first ten minutes completing the circle graph practice set, and then I gave instruction on constructing circle graphs using "percent circles" (a circle divided into 100 sector angles, versus 360).  We started by examining the percent circle to see how we could use it to report percentages and then we did some practice questions before starting the practice set on p. 163.  There is no homework.

Two methods to convert a portion of a total into a percent

The most common fault when students constructed their own percent circles was not giving enough details in the "key" (or not labeling the "pieces of pie").  It is also important to remember to give the graph a title so your audience knows what is being reported.

After lunch we read for fifteen minutes and then listened to inquiry presentations from Christopher, Gus, Mia, Oliver, Braedon and Landseer.  Each student is getting a chance to compete a self-evaluation on the same rubric that I am using for my assessment.  This allows the students to reflect on their work and to think about both what they did well, and where they might improve.

We ended the day with a short game of three-corner soccer and a game of dodgeball.  Tomorrow, anyone who has not given his or her presentation will be asked to do so (there are 12 left to go).  I've noticed a marked improvement in the quality of the work over the first two inquiry projects.  Thus, I'm excited to see what the class will create for their socials compare and contrast inquiries on ancient civilizations (to be done in learning pairs) and the "passion" inquiry to be done at the end of the year.

Monday, 15 April

Today we began with an introduction to short stories.  We noted the difference between novels, novellas and short stories and then noted some of the characteristics of short story writing.  We also  jotted down some notes as we reviewed the key elements of fiction.  Next we read The Tunnel from a collection of short stories (Back of Beyond: stories) by Canadian author Sarah Ellis.  I read the story this time, but we'll use a variety of reading strategies as our unit continues.  I issued a differentiated study guide for the story.  In this way, I hope to accommodate the various reading levels in the class.  Everyone will do the first level of questions for every story, but students may challenge the more complex questions (Levels Two and Three) as they see fit.

Elements of Fiction (parts of a story)

How does point of view affect the story?

Plan for differentiation

Study guide

 After we read the story we reviewed the various types of narration (points of view) and then headed off to band.


















After recess we started responding to the study guide questions and then transitioned to math.  The questions are not for homework.  In Math 7 we learned the formula for finding the area of a circle and then started the practice set on page 151.  Please complete #1-6 if you can.

After lunch we had Aboriginal Ed with Kristi.  We practiced drawing form lines, ovoids and u-forms.  With a study package, we learned a bit about the proportions required to draw these shapes.  We concluded by using the shapes to draw a salmon head and then selected other animals to draw.  Next week we'll be carving potatoes to create stamps with which we'll make other images.  It was interesting for me to see how some students chose to trace their animals in the second part of today's lesson, rather than risk imperfection by drawing freehand.  I explained to the class how approximation and "failure" can both be powerful parts of the learning process.  I want to encourage risk-taking in our learning.  Society makes some feel like they must strive for perfection and that can be destructive both physically and emotionally: we have to be very careful about the messages we send to our children (and ourselves)?  I'm okay; you're okay and taking a few tries at something is okay.

We ended the day with p.e. and went to the forest to play "person-hunt."  I chose students who I thought would be ruthless to be it.  I also added another new rule: players could only hide in one spot for 60 seconds before being obliged to change location.  It was a pretty high-energy day today, cooled off only by the light showers that began overhead.

The students artwork from the GPAG exhibition will be returned to the school by Joanna, so there is no need for parents to go to Gibsons to pick up their children's art.  Thanks, Joanna.  There is another show starting in Sechelt so some students might like to have there art showcased there next.