Post date: Oct 27, 2012 1:40:21 AM
How odd is it that after a week of academics in the mornings and 14 hours of conferences in the afternoons, I could feel invigorated and renewed? Exhausted, yes, but the kind that comes from running a long race well and completely enjoying the stride and scenery along the way. During every one of the 27 half-hour (sometimes longer – sorry ‘bout that) conferences, I was constantly impressed by the kids’ candor, maturity, and (usually) comfort. Thank you to all of you who let me get a glimpse of the interactions that make up family dynamics -- it explains a bit more about why these kids are so amazing!
This Week in Science:
The third unit of the year started this week with a jump back in the book to previous (but uncovered) chapters on properties of matter, phase change, and the nature and interactions of elements, compounds, and mixtures. I’m anticipating some great in-class investigations and an easier set of nightly readings and chapter (2, 3, and 4) quizzes.
This week also marked good progress on the finalizations of the Fall science projects. The “status sheet” has a link to each group’s “control sheet” which shows how far along the process they are and their completion dates and notes along the way. The kids will have to invite you as viewers on the document in order to see it.
During Thursday and Friday the kids measured many solids to calculate density and also built liquid density columns that have come out looking really cool and providing some great hands-on experiences. We also had some time to play with dry ice, which is a good set-up for next week’s topics of states of matter and phase change.
Today they also started another Non-Fiction Friday form, so anticipate some discussion with your kids about current events this weekend.
Looking Ahead
The kids have built their unit 2 packets and it contain all of the work for the past 3 weeks. I’ll add my summative comments over the weekend and give them back to the kids on Monday for your review and comment, then returning to school on Tuesday to store away until the end of the year when they build their own science “book”.
Fall Festival is tomorrow but I am teaching a technology class at Foothill College tomorrow so I won’t be attending the Festival or helping with our class’ “Dry Ice Bubble Art”. Most of the booth-coverage spots have been filled by the kids, with the exception of the first hour or so. Veronica could sign-up additional volunteers I’m sure. Enjoy the day, and dunk ‘em once for me!
Quarter Closing: Today marks the end of first quarter, and if conferences haven’t provided enough reflection already, please let me know if there is anything about our time together that you would like to change or if you feel that we are on-track and progressing well. I always appreciate your feedback.
Sincerely,
Chris