October 14, 2010

It feels like so much has happened in such little time, that I don't know where to start. At the same time, I look at my calendar just to see that the first term ends in just two weeks. In one hand, time seems to not be moving, and the other it's flying by. It's hard to tell which is which. This is part of the inspiration for this week's picture. It's an action shot playing football during P.E. Time is going in just about as many directions as the students are.

Keeping in mind that the term does officially end in two weeks, I'm making a deadline for all missing work. This coming Friday will be the last day I accept any late work. To help encourage the students to get caught up, I am making the class time during my rotation on Monday a period to catch up. Those students with no missing work, will have free time, those with missing work will have the 45 minutes to work on it. I will also be giving them new copies of eveything they are missing, so there will be no excuses. Remember, this all needs to be in by Friday, October 22, 2010.

I wanted to take a minute to bring up the discussion we had in class last Friday. It was the first time I had a minute to really get the students to focus on why I've been wearing pink all month. The "goal" of the discussion was to find out what the students knew about cancer, so we filled out the first level of a KWL chart, which is simply what the students know about a topic. The screen shot of that is pictured below.

There's only six things that actually got listed, but more importantly than that was the discussion we were able to hold. Almost every single student was able to share a story about someone close to them who has fought the fight with cancer. It was so neat for me at the end of the lesson to be able to say, "If you listened, almost every single one of you shared a story today. This is why we need to be more aware. There is not one of our lives that has not been affected by cancer."

I could take some time to list out everything the classes have done in the past week, but I would rather just ask you to watch the gradebook closely. The end of the term is coming quick. As I've said, for my room, they will have a list and copies of all their missing assignments on Monday. You might need to be a little more proactive for the other teachers. Either way, keep a close eye so we can end the term strong. Again, my last day to accept any late work will be Friday, October 22, 2010.

A few other important dates coming up are the Cultural Fair, which is this Monday thru Wednesday, October 18-20. The informance is also this week. For those that were here last year, you have previously experienced an informance. For those that were not, an informance is an informal, informative performance. The students take about a half an hour to forty-five minutes to show you just some of the ways that we've been incorporating the arts into the curriculum. If possible, please show your support by attending. It is Wednesday, October 20, at 8:45 in the morning.

With that, enjoy the long weekend. Have your students rest up and be ready to come back working hard!

~ "I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it." ~ Thomas Jefferson