Post date: Nov 06, 2010 6:0:52 AM
Hello There Parents,
This is your Friday night good-times report for the week of November 1-5, which marks the beginning of second quarter and time for another well-deserved batch of praise for the kids in my classes -- thank you for working so hard, treating your DCS community and experience with the respect it deserves, and for being such wonderful people. As I walk middle school alley so many times each day, my appreciation for the human spirit rises every time. Although it may sound dramatic and hyperbolic, I really do feel a great sense of security and faith in the potential of our species as I watch the kids play, work, and just hang out together. Although I am quite tired when I leave school each day/evening, I also come away with a spring in my step and an obvious grin from ear to ear.
Highlights for English This Week:
The Hunger Games seems to be a hit, and I'm hearing some good conversation about it during reading groups. Wednesday's quiz showed excellent understanding of the story as well as the symbolism and powerful messages that the book offers. When the quizzes come home next week, be sure to read your student's answer to the mini essay questions (1. Draw a comparison between the social/political structure of Panem, and our own country’s history or current international relations. 2. How are the “Pre-Games Events” similar to the current reality TV genre).
The students spent most of their class time this week writing OnePage Proposition Position Papers about one of the items on Tuesday's ballot. Their passion for the topics kept them engaged in the project and the impromptu debates were abundant, as was the mutual respect for each person's point of view. I was especially impressed by the in-depth peer-editing that they provided for each other yesterday and today. There are still a few people who haven't turned in their final products and edited drafts yet, and I'm expecting those to be in the "turn-in" folder on Monday at the beginning of class.
Highlights for Science This Week:
On Monday we made an interesting polymer goo out of glue, borax, and wate. Although this activity was off topic, it certainly was in season (think Halloween), and honed their observation skills a bit as well as sparked some interest in properties of matter as well as chemistry.
For most of the week, our goal was to "digest" the many concepts regarding forces and motion in chapter 6 of the textbook. Students took notes, did worksheets, and/or performed various little experiments (my thanks to Peterson Middle School science dept for the spring-scale loan), all with the goal of truly understanding the material (not just for the production of the notes or worksheets or data). On Thursday I set up a "CPS Student Response Pad System" (thanks to Buchser Middle School tech dep't for the loan), and we had a very rousing and effective review session. The result is some very high scores on the chapter test they took today -- they'll get those back on Monday.
In addition, most of the kids took me up on an offer to get extra credit by coming up with their own multiple-choice test questions and entering them onto a form. Although I was unable to import them into the ExamView software and have them get integrated onto the actual test (I'll figure out how to do that for next time), I was impressed by the quality of their questions.
Other Things to Mention:
Yesterday I received the good news that a grant that I wrote had been approved, and that we will be getting $1000 from the Silicon Valley Education Foundation for the purchase of some FlipVideo cameras and editing software. The project I proposed is called "Freeze Frame" and describes the use of the cameras to capture and analyze various physics experiments (collisions, etc.) in greater detail -- frame by frame. The cameras will also be used by the kids in my Video Production elective and/or other classes.
On Thursday nights I attend a woodshop class at Los Gatos High School, and this week I built an ugly but (hopefully) functional rolling shelf of cubbies to help alleviate the back-pack clutter on the classroom ramp and along the asphalt pathway. If this one stands up to the test of middle school abuse and winter weather, I'll probably be building a few more for other classrooms that want one -- anyone want to help me with the re-design and mass-production process?
On another personal note, as of late last night, I've been officially certified as a Google Apps trainer, which involved a 3 day workshop at Google this summer as well as the completion of 6 online 90 minute exams. This certification will allow me to help local school districts deploy Apps to their staff and students and begin to use them in effective and meaningful ways. My use of GoogleApps with my DCS classes provides me some valuable hands-on experience and I appreciate how much the students have embraced their docs and sites. The next step for us will be to utilize a wider range of tools (moderator, video, Aviary, and ZoHo). If the kids dive in as much as they have with Pixton, we're all going to get a lot out of my obsession for trying out various web-based tools.
My continued thanks to the parents in the classroom and all those who came to conferences. It is a joy to be a part of this community.
Sincerely,
Chris Heumann