Area of a Parallelogram...

So, I just finished reviewing what a parallelogram and rhombus are with my students and we started trying to figure out how to find the area of a parallelogram, but only a few got it and I didn't think I explained it well enough so instead we're going to do it again and I'm going to teach the concept of a rhombus and a parallelogram and it will be good. Yay!

I found some useful websites too: http://www.mathopenref.com/parallelogramarea.html

I dropped the hammer!

So, yesterday we had a cultural performance (it was improv) and my class was terrible.  They didn't stop talking through the entire thing and I was torn between disrupting things further by moving them off the benches and trying to get them to cut it out.

So this morning I dropped the hammer.  I was quiet and controlled and I told them the new rules.  We now have a line up order (alphabetical by first name) and we walk down the hallway at my pace.  We practiced being good audience members into our gym time (and then we did 15 minutes of conditioning stations).

I told them they have lost their benches privileges in the next assembly (so they can sit on the floor with the rest of the plebs) and I can keep more careful track of them. They can earn their Grade 7 privileges back.

I'm glad it's a short day though.  Being this stern takes practice and I am finding it hard.

But they know it's down to business now!

Flash MOB!

So, I'm going to be in my second flash mob (shhhhh, it's a secret) on Anti-Bullying Day next week and we got to practice with my class today.

We're dancing to "What Does the Fox Say"

My class is involved in a lot of things (Iceman, a hockey program and this flash mob) that disrupts my teaching, but I think they are worth it for the kids.  School needs to be fun and if we can make things a little more fun everyday, we should do it.

Genius Hour - How do I form a research question?

So, last week's genius hour went pretty well, and the kids were super engaged and excited about it, but I think we need to focus on creating the actual questions they are going to be answering.  I'm excited about that (really excited about that) but we need to get to the point where they have more than just a topic.

I looked at a really great blog about topic selection and I'm going to have to see what else there is out there.  At the very least, we're going to get some "I wonder..." statements down so that they can see that a topic isn't enough.  I also found this really interesting blog post about "20 Time" which is like Genius Hour to the next level (as far as I can tell).

This blog post is also super useful for the structuring of genius hour (although I'll have to make it more accessible for Grade 7)

So, anyway onward and upward with the questions.

Chemistry, it's SCIENCE!

Planning for my science unit has been slow going because I want to make it more interesting and to move away from the textbook, but that's difficult.

I found an interesting website, Mr. Watt's Foundation of Knowledge but I'm not sure I'm going to use too much of it.

I think we're going to start with some vocabulary and reading from the text book, but then we're going to work on looking at substances under a microscope.

Our first lesson is just a introduction to classifying matter based on whether it is a pure substance or a mixture.

We will probably do some vocabulary sheets but that's boring. But we're also going to do some observations of our own.  This website looks interesting.

These slides look useful for later in the unit, too.   And I'll probably use part of this too, but have to adapt for Grade 7, although the iron filings in flour separation with magnets looks interesting.

      

Genius Hour and French Lesson Reflection

I started Genius Hour yesterday afternoon and it went really well (as a matter of fact, when my students found out I was doing my first lesson with them they cheered, although a couple were embarrassed because my CT was in the room), although I should have given my behaviour expectations before that lesson.  They were very excited about Genius Hour and completely absorbed during the videos I showed (that Caine's Arcade is amazing, if I was doing this in the fall, I'd be having my class take the cardboard challenge).  But, and this is a big but, after I handed out the sheets to help them find their own passion, they were too excited, they wanted to talk it over with each other and things got loud. 

So, this morning during French, I made sure to give them my behaviour expectations right from the beginning.  I followed through and I had wait time and it helped that I also had some cool Olympic videos that are in French with English sub-titles and English with French subtitles. 

I'm feeling good about things. :)

I'm starting Genius Hour TOMORROW!

I'm super excited about starting Genius Hour tomorrow.  I made a PowerPoint to introduce it and found some spectacular videos to introduce the concept of passion based learning to my students.

I can't wait to see what my students are interested in!

The French Olympics...

So, for my French unit I'm planning on doing winter sports and giving my students a chance to read and listen to authentic French language sources about something they are hopefully already engaged with.

I found some great sources including the Canadian Olympic Team Youtube Channel (in French and English) and an Olympic Phrase Book (although that one is mostly summer olympics related) and a flashcard set (just the terms to create the flashcards) and a free game of French Sports Bingo.

And a great French winter vocab video.

I've got some good vocab lists and I just need to make some more resources, and maybe book the smartboard.

It's really handy to have the internet, I'm just saying ;)

Genius Hour

On Wednesdays we have early dismissal and I think Wednesday afternoons will be the perfect time for Genius Hour (especially because Genius Hour has a component of Oral Language and it works with my Language Arts which is normally scheduled for that time).

I like Kessler's 3 criteria for Genius Hour projects: It has to have a guiding question (you can't just Google it) and it has to involve research and finally it has to be shared (in the classroom and beyond).

I think it's super cool!

Drugs and Sports and Sports and Drugs

So, for my HACE unit, I want my students to think about the misuse of performance enhancing substances and sports.

I went to the public library and found some interesting resources, and while I was there the librarian suggested I get a guest speaker in from the sporting community.  Now, I just need to find someone in the sporting community. I did find an article in the Citizen that explicitly states players trying out for a new football team in PG will be tested for illegal substances.

This is really a cool video about how performance enhancing drugs work:

And a short video from CNN: 

And of course Oprah's interview with Lance Armstrong