daw.com - Sept. 21

First off are some nuts and bolts to make sure everyone is on the same page.   First, a letter about international day went home on Thursday and needs to be completed and returned to me by next Tuesday.  International Day is October 12th and I have to all the students into proper groups for the annual parade.  Then on Friday the letter and packing slip for camp went home.  Just a reminder that we are at camp from October 9 to October 10.  I have also included copies of these letters with this post.  Next week on Friday is the annual Terry Fox Run with one big change for high AQI days.  If the AQI is too high for the run to take place then the event is cancelled and we will do a short history in the classroom.  It will not be transferred to the dome as it has been in past years.  Please keep this in mind if you are planning on attending.  The time for the ES is 8:30-9:45 am if the run is a go.  It will be in the stadium on the west side of the campus.  Heres hoping that the weather and AQI are all in our favor.

This week we have spent some time looking at how we are good global citizens.  One of the topics that came up in class discussions is kindness.  We have spent some time learning about this, reading about people in this category and also looking at videos that show people doing acts of kindness.  We have also looked at projects that have been successful in other countries as people try to be better global citizens.  The class has started a fast attempt at what we could do to make ourselves better global citizens.  Next week we will also complete our final project which is an in depth look at someone who has demonstrated the values and beliefs of being a good global citizen.

We are at the end of our first writing unit on personal narratives.  The class is busy publishing these pieces and finishing all the revisions and edits.  I will have these assessed and out to them shortly after the October break.  Overall, I am quite pleased with the outcomes of these pieces.  I am really working with the students to improve the quality of the writing they do without increasing the quantity.  I do require them to revise and edit with three other people, twice in the process before something is published.  This is to make sure that others that read the writing understand it.

Our math unit is also coming to a close.  This week was all about division of decimals by whole numbers.  The idea was to show scholars how the division algorithm actually work and give them lots of chances to practice it.  One thing that students were not aware of is what actually happened when you bright down the next number - which is regrouping.  We also looked at why this all works without changing the actual question given.  The final assessment for this unit will most likely be on Wednesday of next week.

I am in the process of completing the first report card on student as a learner.  I believe these go out to you about the middle of October and then it will be the first Parent-Teacher conferences.  Please remember that if you ever want to ask questions about your student, I am more than willing to set up a time to meet with you.

It is now a long weekend so I wish all of you a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival weekend.

daw.com - Sept 14

This week we had a discussion in class about math and the future of what students will need to know for their math studies.  I did indicate to all students that math us one of two subjects that all high schools require for graduation - the other is Literature/Writing.  One of the processes we have studied that is super important for all students future math success is the basic multiplication tables up to 9 x 9 = 81.  I told them that if they were to memorize this it would make their future math one step easier since it is estimated that about 85% of all math in the future involves multiplication.  I then told them that the best way to memorize these is orally one at a time.  For most students, if they were to orally say the multiplication table every night for about 2 months, they would have memorized about 75-80% of it and one additional month will really make it stick - I remember my mom making me do this about grade 4-5 when I was in grade school and I still remember my multiplication tables quite well.  There is a copy of the multiplication table in the back of their student planners.  Not required, but something that will really make math more accessible in the future.

We are busy planning for our annual overnight which this year will be October 9-10 with Mrs. Silberstein’s class.  The trip will be to Singing Deer lodge.  One thing we will continue with is the no electronics (cameras, phones, iPods, iPads, tablets, computers, Digital Watches etc) policy.  There will be an emergency number supplied to all parents which can also be used in case of an emergency at camp.  The number of electronic devices that are damaged, destroyed, lost or stolen at camp is always an issue while we are there and since it is only a single night, it is felt that this policy should not be too hard to follow.  I have talked with the students in class and the only concern of theirs is photos.  While I do not have a complete solution for this, at this time all I can say is that we will bring our class set of iPads out and they are more than welcome to use these to take pictures with.  The safest and best place for personal electronics during camp is at home.  Please note that this is inline with the grade 4 and grade 6 overnight experiences.

I have had a chance to look through all your scholars MAP scores and there was nothing that stuck out in my mind or that really surprised me.  I expect that you will get your copy of the scores in the coming weeks now that the testing is completed here at ISB.  Please remember, it is a single snap shot that can have numerous external influences to it.  While it is quite reliable over time, the singularity of the test can be a factor given certain circumstances.  Once you receive your scores, you can contact the office of learning to get more information and interpretation of the scores.  The ones I get are different to yours as they are meant to help teachers decide what still needs to be taught in areas of LA, Math and Reading.

Next week we will begin the final project for the Global Citizenship Unit.  It is researching an very special global citizen and preparing a presentation about this person.  Lots of choice here and lots of neat information to gather.  We did an exercise this week looking a remarkable teens and their contribution to the world and their communities.  This was a great lead in to the final project next week.

We are also coming to end of our current math unit.  We are currently working on larger scale problems that reflect what we have learned.  This will be a great way for students to show their learning and also to prepare for the final assessment for this unit.

The next two weeks are 4 day weeks with Friday Sept 21 off and Monday Sept 24th off.  The it is a much deserved holiday for the October national holiday from Sept 29th to Oct 7th.  If anyone is planning on leaving early, please let me know so I can make sure that all the work is completed and assessments done.  If students miss these, they will have to find time after the holiday to complete them.  Thanks in advance for this.

That is all for this week.  If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.  I will gladly set up a time for us to meet.

daw.com - Sept. 7

This past week has seen the first of two MAP testing sessions.  It is a good view of the growth, over time, of the learning of your student.  It is not a good measure of grades for school.  These two ideas are mutually exclusive.  One of the things I talked to the students about is how some of the questions asked are really meant for an American audience.  The best example of this is the use of money where it talks about pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters - something not used in countries around the world.  I told them to do the best they could with these kinds of questions.  I expect that you should have the results of these tests in about 2-3 weeks.  I think they are emailed out to you from the office of learning.

We also had our first performance of the week with two songs done in rounds and also a dance called the sword dance.  It was a sight to behold when you consider that 7 classes and 140+ students all did this together.  I have a video of the event that you can see with this link.  Look for several more of these over the course of the year.

Still in the frame of performing arts, students need to bring in their recorders starting next week.  New students will be issued with one, if a student has lost their recorder there is a 50RMB fee for a new one.  This goes to Mrs. Campbell during music class and she will issue the new instrument.  

This week students completed their first reading journal entry on Seesaw.  This is an assignment that lets me know what your child is thinking about as they read a book.  There is really no format to the entry other than to show their thinking about the book they are either reading now or have read recently.  Please remember that every student should be reading every night at home - no specific time, but some reading every night. Combined with the reading we do in class, this will show good growth and improvement in reading over the year.  If it is at all possible, students should read aloud twice a week as this is the only way the fluency can be improved.  We test the fluency of your student 3-4 times a year and develop strategies for teaching based on these results.

We have just about completed the drafts of our two small moment pieces.  Most students have had them revised and so this coming week we should be able to get them published.  After this I will be getting each student to choose one of their stories and create a book from it.  We will publish these as a class.  Some things we have looked at in this unit are transitioning from one idea to another, the specific use of time, writing from within the story and how the writing process works. It is amazing to see what the students have come up with and how they are expanding and enhancing their narratives.  There are still more lessons to come, but I am pleased with what I see so far.

This week we took a long look at beliefs and values.  We came up with our own definition and then looked at some CNN Heros - Young Wonders to see if their values matched with some that we came up with.  Next week we will create our first class video on our values and beliefs.  We will also begin to move on to the question; What influences people’s positions on global/civic issues?  This always brings up some interesting conversations so be prepared for these around the dinner table or at home.

During our library period this week we did a Breakout Challenge where the students had a two boxes with 4 keys on them.  To unlock the boxes students had to decipher clues they found.  All groups completed the challenge but there were several of the clues which were quite hard and took the groups longer than they expected.  I was pleased with the cooperation and collaboration shown to complete this challenge.  We are thinking of doing another one while at camp.

Speaking of camp, we will go to camp the week we get back from October break.  More information about this will be out in the next few weeks but we will leave on Tuesday morning and come back in time for busses on Wednesday afternoon.  Due to the number of students and classes, we can only go for one night this year.  Still, it is usually a highlight of the students year.  We will go to Singing Deer Lodge again this year.

In Math we are busy with the operations of decimal fractions having covered addition and subtraction and just started multiplication.  We are aiming to complete this unit prior to the October break.  So far, I have seen good learning from the students on this subject area and expect that to continue.  The biggest outcome from this is how to prove your answer.

That is it for now.  If you have any questions or concerns please let me know and I will gladly set up a time to meet with you.