Post date: Jan 28, 2012 6:50:33 AM
Hello All.
I just returned from the amazing Starting Arts Showcase performance, starring a few of our very talented and entertaining DCS students and alumni. I am humbled and honored to be able to be a part of the lives of some extremely hard working and passionate students whose skills are diverse and dynamic. It is true of all of the kids, but tonight I got a glimpse at an incredible few. Thanks, for that!
English:
On Monday, the students got their composition compositions back, complete with excellent, articulate, and elaborate feedback from Mr. Aronen. He put very much time into each students essay and made meaningful edits and concrete suggestions. His knowledge and objectivity made him the perfect person for the job, and I appreciate the high standard to which he held the authors -- I hope that the students did as well. Many wrote letters of appreciation (and sometimes rebuttal) to him. Those letters, by the way, properly formatted, will provide the first grades of second semester.
The book club meetings went well, as usual, on Tuesday, with most of the groups engaging in some good discussions of their books. Each group gave a quick synopsis to the class so that all could see the common strand of the "dystopian Society" genre. The book group facilitators have shared thoughts and concerns with each other and me, regarding the purpose, structure, and outcomes of book group meetings and I'm hoping that the sessions can become more useful and engaging in the coming months. I'm guilty of pushing agenda over autonomy and not holding the bar high when it comes to reading pace, project production, and equal participation. My hope is that the kids rekindle their sense of commitment and responsibility to the groups, and elevate the interactivity during meetings.
On "Wordy Wednesday" the students used this list of "1000 Words to Know for High School" to create a set of online flash cards and share them with their peers in class-wide groups using a service called quizlet.
Then, on Thursday, we started some great discussion on various aspects of persuasive media. I used a Prezi that showed some commercials as a resource for our discussion and they analyzed various commercials for audience, evidence, and relevance. Today I showed this video which does a great job describing pathos, ethos, and logos. After that (and for an unrelated task), the students wrote their own "Daily Edit" for use to use during the second semester. If they didn't get those done today, they can enter them here and see examples here.
Science
Two big topics of the week were atomic energy (chapter 16) and the onset of the student's independent Science Experiments. Last year, concurrent to this chapter on atomic energy, the tsunami in Japan occurred which certainly heightened interest in nuclear power production and it's safety systems. This year the interest was a bit more mild, but still adequate to yield some good discussions and excellent test scores. The students created their own test questions which you can view here., and I included many of today's test (the scores are on PowerSchool). The next unit will delve into chemical interactions and bonding and should involve some great experiments and investigations.
The science experiments will hopefully provide a balance to the bookwork and structured curriculum, and give the kids a chance to decide on a topic relevant to them, design and perform investigations, collect and analyze the data, draw and support conclusions, and communicate the results. This spreadsheet shows the ideas they pitched, and the blue columns are approved for the next step. Since most of the actual experimenting will be done at or around home, the students should be coming to you for discussion and approval early next week. In a few weeks they will also begin projects for the school-wide science fair, lead by Mrs. Stuart.
On a similar vein, I'm asking each student (or pairs) to find a quick science demo to do for the class. There are thousands of ideas online, many of which have accompanying videos. A asked the kids (today) to find one that interests them and enter it here. I'm impressed by the results so far and eager to have the demonstrations become a part of our daily science routine.
Lastly:
High school recommendations and report card comments are due early next week and completing them will be a big portion of my weekend. I've done many already of the report cards, but I sometimes find myself at a loss for just the right words to praise the students' accomplishments, recognize their individuality, and present a reasonable challenge. Just know that I truly value each student and believe that our time together is an incredibly valuable gift to me.
Chris