Friday, October 30, 2009

Well, it's been a long time since my last post.  Since my last entry, Room 11 has finished Chapter 2 in the math textbook and we've covered plate tectonics and earthquakes in science class. 

Chapter 3 in mathematics begins work with integers and Chapter 8 in Earth Science delves into the exciting underworld of volcanoes.  I will post both assignment schedules on the Columbus homework page.

Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Well, finally, the heat wave is over.  Now, can we get some serious work done?  Of course, I'm only kidding. We've been working diligently in Room 11.  Currently, we're comparing and ordering fractions which requires an understanding of the concept of least common denominator.  It requires an automatic knowledge of the multiplication table and an ability to use prime factoring.

In science, students are reading about plate tectonics. The District would like the students to understand this material by the end of September, which is somewhat difficult given the amount of dislocation that goes on in the first few weeks at Columbus Middle.  Currently, the students are working on an essay that will demonstrate their knowledge of earth's structure as well as their comprehension of the theory of plate tectonics.  It's heavy stuff, man.!  Here's a link to the website Dynamic Earth which should help anybody understand some of the difficult but cool ideas in this area of Earth Science.

Monday, September 28, 2009

We're at the tail end of a 3-day weekend and I've spent some part of it attempting to become more proficient at this blogging thing; I'm trying  my hand at hyperlinks, and embeds and tables and...truthfully, I'm terrible at this but I'm going to keep hacking.  Stay tuned, I hope to post all the work I've assigned in both my science and math classes.

As we move more deeply into the curriculum, students will find that they will have to work much harder both in the classroom and at home to keep apace with the course work.  For many students, this is the point where they divert from the main goal of the classroom; that is, learning about required material.  Already I am observing off-task behaviors that are disruptive to the classroom environment.  Much of the cause for these behaviors can be attributed to the anticipation of academic failure. Yes, even this early in the school year students are predicting their own failure and acting accordingly.  My hope is that they can break this behavior chain and succeed in some small measure. 

Thursday, September 17, 2009
9:42:55 PM

It now appears we have the final numbers for our classes.  Periods 4 and 5 will have 43 students.  Not a problem if everyone has a desk, a seat and a book.  The computer class has access to Computer Lab in Room 14 and the students have begun  to learn the keyboard. 

I've given all my standard speeches about behavior, responsibility and work ethic.  God bless us all as we embark on yet another school year.

Day 6
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
10:00:34 AM

As I type students are taking their first math test of the new school year.  It's a 4 question test about writing primes, identifying primes and composite numbers. The results are in and it's not stellar.  This is a so-called "honors" class but it looks like we have much work to do.  Good. I need the work.

10:54:41 AM
Right now, a student is leading the class in a review of the science workbook pages. Did I mention we had a fire drill this morning?  Everyone survived the ordeal and the kids got some time out of first period.

Day 5
Tuesday, September 15, 2009

This was our first shortened school day; school was dismissed at 1:30 and the classes are shortened.  The students were assigned classwork to help further their understanding of prime and composite numbers.  The state standards indicate these are 5th grade concepts but it's a good idea to check for comprehension before moving on.  Students were asked to answer questions 1-31 on page 7 and 58-60 on page 9 of their textbooks.  Any work not finished in class should be treated as homework.  I consider classwork and homework as interchangeable.

In science, students were asked to read silently pages 16-23 in their textbooks (Both textbooks should be at home at this time) and to assist in their reading comprehension they were assigned the corresponding workbooks pages.

Day 4
Monday, September 14, 2009
4:09:40 PM

At the close of the day students should have received all of their textbooks and workbooks.  A slight glitch...Mr. Bell had to use at least half of our classroom texts to send home with the students. In addition, Periods 4 and 5 still have too many students.  I trust both situations will be fixed in due course.  Every students should have a desk and a chair by the end of the week.

In Math we're reviewing some 5th grade standards and concepts, specifically prime factorization.  In Science, we've begun the process of examining the processes by which science is practiced and the attributes and characteristics of scientists themselves.

Friday, September 11, 2009
8:02:39 PM

On Day 3, students received their Math and Science textbooks to take home.  They also received three workbooks to go along with their textbooks.  I think the kids were pretty excited about their books. Yes, there was some grumbling and complaining.  Marines grumble, too. But they get the job done and I hope my students are academic Marines.

This was also the sad anniversary, the remembrance of September 11, 2001, the day that radical Islamic fundamentalists hijacked 4 commercial airplanes and killed over 3,000 people attacking the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon.  If not for the bravery of the men and women of Flight 93, the Islamo-Fascists would have killed more. 

We did not commemorate or recognize this day at Columbus.  However, I took the opportunity to talk to my homeroom about the events of that day and the significance in their young lives.  I think it's important we remember what happened that day and teach our children that freedom must be defended from generation to generation. 

Wednesday, September 09, 2009
10:35:07 PM

Well, the summer is officially over for students and teachers alike.  Back to school we go and happily I trust.  We had a productive day in Room 11.  During Homeroom, emergency cards and internet usage forms were distributed along with the students classroom schedules and programs. 

In Math class we discussed the importance of learning the multiplication table, factors and multiples, through the twelves.  In addition, students learned about prime numbers and why it would be useful to memorize those numbers at least from 2 through 11.  We also got a first look at our new Math books.  They're pretty cool.

A couple of classes were overloaded, we had over 50 students in Periods 4 and 6 but that should change in the next few days. 

I can't wait for Day 2.