May 30 - June 3, 2022
May 30 - June 3, 2022
Embedded Files
Learning Anxiety vs Survival Anxiety
Learning Anxiety vs Survival Anxiety
We frequently discuss how research in neuroscience helps us understand how we learn.
We have talked about research that proves we create more brain synapses when we acknowledge and reflect on our mistakes.
We have discussed how much energy our brains use and that humans have evolved to do as many things as possible autonomously to save energy (e.g., we don't have to think much to walk or to count to 10). But when we are learning new things, the pre-frontal cortex is involved and this part of our brain uses massive amounts of energy. This is why learning new things can be very tiring!
This week we learned about learning anxiety and survival anxiety.
Most of us have experienced learning anxiety. This happens when we struggle and feel frustrated or incompetent when we are learning something new. When someone criticizes us for making mistakes because we're learning something new, this adds more anxiety around learning new things.
We all know that learning requires change. But learning anxiety often makes us avoid change.
We need to remind ourselves that if we don't change, we will be stuck in situations that either don't work or that limit our personal and professional growth.
Survival anxiety helps us "unfreeze" in situations where we are feeling learning anxiety. We can say to ourselves:
my current situation doesn't work for me any more (e.g., I am not learning what I need to learn to improve)
if I don't change, I won't achieve my goals
who can I ask to coach or mentor me through this change
To motivate ourselves to change, we need to create enough survival anxiety to override our learning anxiety.
Baby Tomatoes!
Baby Tomatoes!
When we discovered tiny tomatoes on our hydroponics plants, it was VERY exciting!! We weren't sure if there was enough movement to pollinate the blossoms.
The past few months have been a fascinating experiment as we observe the amazing growth of our plants in the Nutri Tower.
In this pic, you can see Soren giving the grade 3 class a "tour" of the baby tomatoes.
Student Votes - Provincial Election Platforms
Student Votes - Provincial Election Platforms
On Thursday, students worked in small groups to research the platforms of all 6 major political parties running candidates in the provincial election.
After presenting what they learned, students wrote a supported opinion paragraph explaining which party had a platform that was best for them and their families.
In our student election, the NDP placed first, with the Greens coming in a very close second.
"Thought Traps" Performance at Port Colborne High School
"Thought Traps" Performance at Port Colborne High School
Ariane and Kate deal with people from their past who invade their head space. Will either be able to set themselves free?
Today we attended a dress rehearsal performance of the play "Thought Traps" written by Lindsay Price.
Bravo to Mr. Baker and his cast and crew for an energetic and engaging performance!
Students are following up by writing their third and final theatre review.
Mr. Ottaviano's Second Visit
Mr. Ottaviano's Second Visit
We were honoured that Mr. Ottaviano took time out of his work day to visit us again!
This time, students wrote blog posts to capture his inspiring stories. Here you can read Josh's reflections on what he learned from Mr. Ottaviano's time with us.
UPDATE ... Mr. Ottaviano treated the whole class to pizza lunch on Thursday!! When the pizza boxes arrived, he had written messages on them for us. This box reads, "It ain't over when it's over! It's over when you quit. Never give up!"
Diego Rivera Mural Update
Diego Rivera Mural Update
We are moving forward on our next steps to install our collaborative mural as a permanent piece of art at DeWitt Carter. This week, Mr. Terry DeGuire, Manager of Maintenance Services for DSBN joined Sheyanne, Macy, William and Ms. Cooper to discuss painting the wall outside the library and how best to install our mural. Here is a "before" pic of the wall with Scarlett and Rosie who are our grade 2 painter collaborators.
We are so grateful for Mr. DeGuire's enthusiasm and support.
On Thursday, Steve and Marty dropped by the class to lay out the art on the MDF backboard.
On Friday, Gerry came by for us to choose the background paint colour.
Painting of the backboard and wall will take place on Monday. Steve will install the work on Tuesday.
We have 4 event convenors for our grand unveiling. Thank you to Amber, Dreadin, Josh and Scarlett. Stay tuned for news of our grand unveiling date!
We are very excited! And so are the grade 2's!
Spatial Reasoning & Angle Relationships
Spatial Reasoning & Angle Relationships
Solving angle relationship problems is our focus in Math this week. One of the most important strategies to solve these visual puzzles is to train ourselves to look at problems from different perspectives.
Practice (ie. solving MANY different problems) is the key to developing confidence and mastering these ideas.
There are 9 pages of practice problems posted in our Google classroom. Students know that I want to reward people who do the work, so test problems will be chosen directly from the practice problems I have posted.
Fluid Pressure at Depth
Fluid Pressure at Depth
Have you wondered why it feels like your head is being "squished" when you dive deep under water? Why your ears "pop" when you drive up or down the escarpment? Why baking bread at high elevations is different that at sea level? Why airplanes need to be pressurized? Why helicopters can't rescue climbers at the top of Mount Everest??
We will be answering all these questions using our understanding of fluid pressure.
So far, we have used the formula for pressure to explain why pressure increases under water.
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