Week of Sept. 10

Hello to all!!

I didn't get to post anything last week and I am sorry about that.  It was a busy week with our study on minerals.  The students have been taking notes and will use those to study for their test.  The test over minerals will be tomorrow, Wednesday.  I told them about it on Monday.  I have two classes, 6th and 7th periods, that will not take the test until Thursday because I did not tell them about the test till today.  I want to make sure that everyone gets two days to study for the test.  We will start rocks next.  There will be a computer project to go along with rocks that will have minerals in it, too.  For this project, we will use the class wiki.  Most students are already in the wiki.  There are only a few that still need to get in.  We have been doing a vocabulary word everyday as bellwork.  After the first 10, I had the students write me a story using those 10 words.  They will do a different activity after the next 10 words.  I like to do something different to keep things interesting and fun.  I guess that is about it for this week.  I will be on here next week to let you know how things are going.  I still need to get the paper to you for this address, too.  Until next week.......

New School year 2012-2013

Welcome new students and parents/guardians!!

This is my class blog.  It is where I post the things we are doing in class and what we will be doing in class in the near future.  I put on here any tests or quizzes that are coming up and projects the kids are working on.  I am even able to put some directions on here.  There is one computer tool that has the directions for the project in it.  That tool is called a wiki.  All the tools have web addresses, so they can be seen and worked on from home.  This is the good thing about using them.  You will always have access to what your child is doing in here.  If you have a Google email account, you can reply to this posting, but if not, then you can send me an email at school.  I hope that you will reply to the posting because it gets fun and interesting to see what other parents write on here.  I would love to get a dialogue started that way!!  Next week is our first full week of school.  I am going to be showing the students all the computer tools we will be using and even setting one of them up.  By the end of the week, we should be working on our first unit - rocks, minerals, and soil.  We have vocabulary everyday, so be looking for that, too.  Well, I am really looking forward to a great year with your children.  I hope to talk - type with you soon!!! :-)   See you on the web!!!!!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Hello! It has been a long time, since I talked to everyone. I hope all of you had a good Easter. Right now, we are working on our scientist project. We should be finished with these on Friday by doing our presentations. Some students are using the class wiki for their projects, while others are using Photo story or voice thread. This is the last project for the year. Next week, we will be working on OAA math to get ready for the test coming up on the 24th of the month. I use Study Island lessons to help them prepare for the test. They get to go up to the Smart board and work out any problems that they have. It works out so very well for them. Well, it is time for me to switch kids out on the computers. Have a good rest of your week.

Wednesday, March 22

Howdy!

Wow, is time flying by us! The school year is very quickly coming to an end. This week is the second week of our last grading period. The students have finished their energy unit and are now working on mass, volume, and density. This will lead them to physical/chemical properties and changes. From there, we will work on the individual project on a famous scientist or inventor. I am hoping we can do that next week and do the presentations the week of spring break. If we need to do the presentations after break, then that is okay, too. Don't forget that I will be reviewing for the math OAA the two weeks after we come back from break. This review really seemed to help the students, when I did this last year. I guess this is all I have for right now. Have a good rest of your week. Only two days till the weekend. We are downhill from here. ha! ha! Talk to you next week.

Thursday, March 15

Hello to all!!!

Well, we have finished our energy unit and are moving on to physical science. The test over energy was yesterday. I still have some students who need to take it because they were out for OMUN or were absent that day. Some students surprised me by doing very well on the test and others by not doing as well as expected. Students should be able to get the tests back on Monday, after everyone has taken it. I have some activities planned for volume, mass, and density. This is what we are looking at first. We are looking inertia, too, today and I am using my rolling chair and putting students in it to show this. It is really funny and the kids get a better understanding of what inertia means. Once we finish with these topics, we will be moving on to physical and chemical properties and changes. It gets really fun in here then!!! I set things on fire and blow things up!!! The students love that! I am hoping to get started on the last project before we leave for spring break. It will be an individual one, so many students will like that. It will not take long to complete and students can pick which computer tool they want to use: wiki, photo story, or voice thread. Well, I guess that is all that is going on right now. I can't believe how fast this year has gone. We are already in our last quarter. Talk to you next week. Have a great weekend!

Monday, March 5

Today is InView testing day. Tuesday thru Thursday will be Terra Nova testing. We will be doing work with Study Island after the testing is over, except for Thursday. There will be a dance on the afternoon for those students who are allowed to go because they have all their assignments completed for the nine weeks. Friday, we will be presenting the voicethreads on the energy projects. The last day of the 3rd nine weeks is this Friday. Monday will be the 1st day of our last nine weeks. This year has flown by! I will let you know on Friday what is going on next week. Talk to you then.

Friday, March 2

Hello, Everyone!

What a week we have had! The students have been working on their energy project voicethreads and I do believe they have gone very well. We are finishing those up today and will be presenting them next Friday. Monday starts the InView and Terra Nova testing, so we have to wait till Friday to start presentations of the voicethreads. The voicethreads can still be worked on at home, though, by going to www.voicethread.com. Your child should have the login name and password needed to sign in to their account. Your child will, also, need a headset to record with. I will let you know next week where we are going to go from here. Presentations may take more than one day. I don't know for sure. We will just have to wait and see. Have a great weekend! Talk to you next week.