Post date: Apr 17, 2020 2:06:32 PM
Hello again, all my Ravens and Raven families! I'm going to keep today's update pretty quick since there isn't a ton of new information to pass along. I do want to start by reminding everyone to check out updates #3 and #4 for information on how students can improve their grade for the third marking period, thus improving their overall grade for the year. Please keep in mind that the deadline for turning in work is next Friday, April 24th. Also, the only work we're still allowed to grade is for the third term only. For the MSM2 classes (Pds 1&4), that's anything from Units 15-20; for the 7H class (Pd 3), that's anything from Units 17-22. Everyone is encouraged to check StudentVUE/ParentVUE to see specifics on what is still listed as Missing or Incomplete along with quizzes that do NOT have "Quiz corrections have been completed" listed in the notes column (on the far right side of the grade screen).
As previously mentioned, this week marked the start of learning new content in all classes. For this reason, I'm devoting an hour every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30-10:30AM to "live virtual math class" sessions. We started yesterday (April 16th) and these will run through May 28th. I realized that hour might not work the best for some students, so I've arranged with some of the other 7th grade math teachers some late afternoon and evening hours every Monday. Starting this Monday (April 20th), various math teachers will be available in a new Canvas group; I'll be online from 6:45-8PM. These sessions will not be for formal lessons or planned activities but are intended to be more like pop-in sessions for tutoring time, meaning students can hop online during any of the scheduled sessions to ask a math question or get some help with an assignment. Students are of course welcome to still email/message me if they have questions at anytime, but I wanted to make sure students had some additional times they could get "live" help in case they are unable to logon earlier in the day. I've already invited all of my students to the group, so all they'll need to do is click the "Accept" button (green, I think) for the class when they next sign onto Canvas. If they've already removed the invite and need me to send it again, all they need to do is send me a message. The other 7th grade teachers should be sending out the invites or posting the join code as well, but if anyone knows of any other EDMS 7th graders who need/want to be in the group and they haven't heard from their teachers yet, please feel free to reach out to me on their behalf or have them message me with the student's name and user ID number and I'll get them added ASAP.
Finally, I've issued a new challenge to all EDMS students. While working on resources this week I came to the realization that our current unit (composite figures) and some of our other geometry work go hand-in-hand with a lot of art topics. This led me to the idea that this time of no-grades and no-SOLs is the perfect opportunity for everyone to have some fun with the topic! So what does this challenge entail? It's ultimately up to you! I don't want to hinder your creativity, so you can pick your medium (real or virtual) to create something artistic/crafty that is comprised at least in part of putting shapes/objects together to create something. Art isn't just paintings and drawings, so don't think those are your only options. I've always thought #foundobjectart is pretty interesting and I'm sure you can find stuff around your house and yard that could be turned into something cool. I've always found art tutorials that show the progression of a piece fascinating since they usually start with basic shapes before turning into something amazing. One of the ways I pass the time now is binge watching competition baking shows & some of the things they come up with on those I think definitely qualify as art. The possibilities are limitless (well... aside from the limits of staying at home and whatever your parents say), so just go for it (with parental permission of course). I want to see what all the faculty and hopefully all the students can come up with! You can send your work to me or post it with #EDMSmathartchallenge. Let's see what you've got!
Well, this ended up getting a little longer than I planned (are you surprised at this point? LOL!), so I'm going to wrap things up here. As always, feel free to email/message if you have any questions or I can help in anyway. I send you all my love and hope that you are all staying safe, happy, and healthy!