Over the last couple weeks many activities have been happening in class and in the school. Last week the boys and girls soccer teams both played in the area tournament. While the girls succeeded in moving to the regional finals my boys team fell to St. Mikes during the semi finals. Congratulations to both the teams. As a coach I really appreciated the Intermediate Boys Team's enthusiasm and good sportsmanship during the games.
This week the school had its regular Walkathon fund raiser. The school raised over 12 000 dollars and the grade 8 class made their class goal by raising over 600 dollars. Many thanks to all the students who raised money and to the family and friends who supported them.
In class we had our first real Math test returned, students are to get the front reflection page signed and complete the two reflection questions. Once returned the test goes into their portfolios at school. Overall the test was a good learning experience for myself and the students. I now have a better idea on how the students are actually doing when they have to work independently on a test. During class I do encourage students to work together and help each other out. However, I do often warn them not to be dependent on those around them as they need to be sure that they do understand the concepts being taught independently. The results of the quiz were that many students landed in the level 2 range and then quite a few earned level 4's. There were not many level 3's on this test and that is the level we want to see more students at. From reading the reflection sheets on the test it seems many students who struggled spent a short amount of time preparing and did not only the night before. I highly reccomend that students start studying/reviewing earlier and longer so that they can ask specific questions to me prior to the assessment. It will also help them complete the tests faster as they will know what procedure to do to get the answers. I will be starting the Math Club soon where students needing extra help will be "invited" to join me at recess to extra help.
In English we are continuing to work on connections while looking into Mechanically Challenged Teens and starting to study about youth street gangs (getting ready for the Outsiders).
A reminder that the independent novel study project is due on the 18th of November. I have told the students to bring in what work they have completed so far in on Monday so I can check what they have completed. When I assigned this project I gave each student a calendar for Oct and Nov. We then walked through each part of the assignment and assigned milestones and deadlines for each. This lesson in time management was meant to make sure that no one is scrambling the night before it is due. The project is large but the students will have about 6 weeks in total to complete it. Procrastination is the enemy...
Hope everyone has a good weekend.
Thanks
Mr Brooks
