Thursday, February 2, 2012

I have been working on smoothing out some of the glitches with the SMARTBoard.  We have been using it to model the correct answers to questions.  It has been an invaluable tool in terms of highlighting information, especially in questions where reading is involved.


There are times when I will write on the board and then it will erase all of the work I am doing.  Once this round of reports is completed, I will be spending more time learning the technicalities of the board.  Still, I am very thankful that I have it.

It was used today to answer the Bloom's Taxonomy questions.  The groups marked their own work as we worked through the questions.  A great deal of emphasis was placed on understanding what the question was asking and figuring out where to find the information. 

Class set of group comprehension questions for Bloom's exercise on energy drinks

I postponed the Math test today because I did not have the time to review and refresh the class with the type of questions that they will encounter.  For homework, they have 2 questions which they will take a shot an answering.  I will review them tomorrow in class.

We began some early talks on African/ Black History Month.  I did not begin a discussion directly on the subject but brought up the figure of Mathieu Da Costa (http://blackhistorycanada.ca/events.php?id=21) and how he fits into an important role in Canadian history.  

We made links between Mathieu Da Costa's role and with some of the historical concepts we have been speaking about this term (change, exploration, cultural contact).  The conversation will continue tomorrow and throughout the month of February.

Chart notes for our class discussions

HOMEWORK:  2 review questions for Patterning quiz on Friday