Setting the context for a jot note exercise (postponed until Monday)

POSTPONED UNTIL MONDAY:

While listening to Metro Morning on the CBC, I got a great idea for a lesson.  Matt Galloway's guest was Dr. Shohini Ghose.  She is a professor of Physics and Computer Science at Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.  She was talking about the special screening they are having of the film, Hidden Figures at Ryerson University

We will listen to the conversation and then take a look at the trailer and then glance at an article from Popular Mechanics.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/programs/metromorning/hidden-figures-and-getting-girls-into-stem-1.3942778

Here is the Popular Mechanics story that explores the role of women at NASA

http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a24429/hidden-figures-real-story-nasa-women-computers/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/01/06/google-hidden-figures-diversity/96224964/
This article will serve as a reading for this weekend.  You will be responsible for taking jot notes from it.

Jot notes?  Here is a sample from a TDSB publication on strategies for improving Middle Level Students' Reading and Writing skills.  Here is an example of jot notes made from a short article:

Math Homework:

pp. 348-349 #2, 7, 8  (only do the conversion for perimeter, not for area)

pp. 353-354 # 1, 3-7

Some photos:

On her own initiative, Miriam did a presentation on Autism.  She did a great job educating the class!

A moment from Gym

A moment from out Orff/Music class

You asked for it and it is here; a new seating plan.

Homework

The questions to be completed are:
pp. 348-349 #2 (only do the conversion for the perimeter answers),7, 8
pp. 353 - 354 #1, 3-7

Bring in two samples of advertising.  As an added bonus, bring in an example which illustrates a stereotype.  For example:

Perhaps this image may suggest that only boys enjoy playing with a Tonka truck in the dirt.

Coming attractions, Homework

Coming Soon!

https://gradeslam.org/blog/multiple-intelligence-theory-is-it-real

http://www.duarte.com/blog/do-learning-styles-teach-us-anything/

To be continued and explained over the next few days.  Yes, I know it seems a little cryptic and mysterious, but you will see!  It relates to the exercise we did today where we charted some of our Strengths and Struggles:

This is a list of some of my traits.

Today's work:

Here are two examples from the "comma homework."  In the examples, I have used two of the rules and come up with two examples to demonstrate my understanding.

This is a sample entry for the Learning Skills journal.  This exercise encourages some reflection and awareness.

This working group did not get their photo uploaded a couple of days ago.  Sorry.

Goodbye, POTUS. Thanks for the inspiration.

Obama showed a generation of black men they can be more than athletes and entertainers http://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/obama-legacy-black-america-1.3935370 Shared via the CBC News Android App

I am not sure where this photo came from.  It was something circulating on the Intenet and it ended up in a Facebook post.  Many thanks for the photographer for capturing this beautiful moment.

post # 800

A short, but busy week!

Math Investigations

The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBR) made a comeback on our Math re-test for this week.  75% of the class scored a grade of 70% and higher, which is awesome!

from http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2015/04/crosstown-lrt-tunnel-boring-machines-successfully-moved

On the quiz, we used the statistic of this boring machine moving at a rate of 10 metres per day (10m/day).  The machine is close to Yonge and Eglinton.  I have not been driving in the area, but I hear it is quite congested.  The remainder of the underground portion of the project is to Eglinton and Laird Avenue.  I checked out the approximate distance on my phone:

If the distance is a little over 3 km, or 3000m, the drilling will go one for, at least, another 300 days.  This sort of toying with numbers is real world Math.  So, while the operations involve the strands of Number Sense but Measurement and Algebra.  Sean asked how long the project was and I said I would find a map:

http://www.gta-homes.com/images/18478/Condos-1/The-Eglinton-Crosstown-LRT.png

 In terms of how that relates to our existing subway system, here it is:

http://worldwidewickens.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Scarborough-ExpressRail.jpg

On the same subject of Math, we started an investigation into our new unit in Algebra.  It combines some elements of Measurement by looking at the formula for the area of a triangle.  The students were tasked to create 4 different shapes, all with area of 36 units squared.  Here are some shots of them at work, along with the completed items:

We will use the examples as a discussion point, before getting into the technical aspects of the unit.  I would like to thank Mr. Toale for sharing this exercise with us; this was part of a Professional Development exercise in the last week of December.

Stereotyping & paragraph skill development

I will have to continue to work on the entries, but I have a very interesting link to a story I read to the class called The Bear that Wasn't.  It relates to the Health/Language assignment on Stereotyping.  That assignment was due today.  Here is the story on YouTube:

I did not realize that there are so many versions of this on YouTube, but I will use the one I uploaded, since it looks like the story I read from the excellent website Facing History and Ourselves https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-1/bear-wasnt .

As Isabella and I were conferencing (talking) through her idea for her essay on Stereotyping, she wrote this quote up on the board.  The idea for the essay came from her..  Isabella's topic sentence was being developed with the red marker.

In addition to the story about the bear, written by Frank Tashlin, I was searching for appropriate video items that might broaden our discussion of Stereotyping.  One concerned Disney's 1992 film, Aladin and the other was from a famous experiment, captured by ABC news in 1970, with Jane Elliot, called Eye of the Storm.

 As I mentioned to the class, each one of these items is a construction.  Someone decided to put the ideas together and it comes from a particular perspective and point of view.  Being aware of these points of view is key to becoming a more critical thinker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8q11sAg2zg

This is only the first part of this program.  I streamed it from the vimeo website:  https://vimeo.com/153858146.

As part of the assignment, we have spent a fair bit of time talking about paragraphing.  The other day, we were working on developing concluding sentences for a particular paragraph.  I looked them over and added some commentary/feedback.  We will take a look at each one of them as we continue to explore writing that involves us constructing paragraphs.

odds & ends

We obtained a new light for our display cabinet.  It looks better in the photo.  I am trying to think of a way to tone down its intensity.  Still, it is the first time the light has been on in 4 years.

We made it through the first week!!

Homework

- Stereotype Health essay  past due

- Social Studies project past due

Over the coming weeks, as we head into Report Card season, there will be an emphasis placed on catching up and completing work that should have been done.  For some, this is a non-issue.  For others it is a more pressing concern that could be alleviated by a more regular use of the Agenda to keep track of work that needs to be done.

Enjoy the weekend.

a couple of paragraph games for reinforcement, returning to the Eglinton Crosstown project for our Math Retest

I proposed playing this in late 2016, but did not get around to it.
I think it will be a good review to help contextualize what we are doing in Health and in our Reading strand.
https://jeopardylabs.com/play/paragraph-jeopardy3

The two teams in action:

Sometimes, students struggle with how to end a paragraph.  Yes, we have the hamburger visual,

but it may need a little more to help you along and that is okay.  I will not play that paragraph song again, but I will show you another video for some reinforcement:

Somes trying to explain how the concluding sentences works, can be tricky.  It is similar to the topic sentence and has the same "material," but it should look and sound different.  Here is video, which may offer some insight:

A follow-up exercise, after checking the two videos was to add a concluding sentence to the following paragraph:

I edited this paragraph.  I thought the author had too many details that were off the topic sentence. I hope I have not offended the author.

I asked  the students to come up with possible concluding sentences.  Here are some of the ideas:

The Math re-test will use Eglinton Crosstown tunnel boring machine as a topic to explore one of the concepts of dividing and multiplying by Powers of Ten.  Let's take a look at the project and where the machine has been:  http://www.thecrosstown.ca/

For the Math re-test, I drew a visual reminder of the distance the boring machine has traveled.  A reminder of the two operations we have been exploring (multiplying & dividing) was also posted.

Forms for applying to the Extended French program were sent home in mid-December and need to be signed and returned, even if you are not going to enroll.  I think the TDSB wants to keep stats on the program.  I will be sending home additional forms, for those who may have lost them.  They look like this:

Welcome Back!

https://www.fotolia.com/tag/2017

The first few days after a vacation are a little slow, but we will be back and running (or at least jogging) soon enough.  I made a list of a few things I wanted to share, but I was waiting for this weekend to share them.

Yes, the new tap in the third-floor staff washroom has been replaced.  It was leaking at a rate that astounded a lot of students in the class.  I believe it was approximately 110 mL a minute, which converted to 6.6 litres every hour.  To give you an idea of the kind of container 6 L of water would hold, here is an example:

https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/plastic-bucket-6-liter.html

Here is the January school calendar:

I will post one on the Proudfoot Institute page, in case you would like to download it.  

Another opportunity for  the creative types in our class:

Although there were a number of people who did well on this last Math test, I wanted to review some of the concepts and provide the class another opportunity to do it.  I would keep the higher of the 2 results.  I am going to review the last test tomorrow:

As we head into the final weeks of Term 1, there will be some work that needs to be completed.  A number of students have not handed in the final copies of the Social Studies project, and a rough copy of the Health assignment.  This assignment related to our discussion on the dangers of Stereotyping.  I wrote a draft paragraph on my experience with being stereotyped.  In an earlier post, I wrote about why I thought it was wrong.

One of the items I marked during this time was the Reading Comprehension open-book test on food waste.  One of the questions related to Feedbacks's project of Feeding the 5000.

http://feedbackglobal.org/campaigns/feeding-the-5000/

As we settle into our routines, I am sure we will all get back in gear.  Enjoy your evening.