Wednesday!!
Brain Week and Constitution Day therefore today went quick!!
We began the day clearing up some confusion regarding homework.
1st off: Students rotated into Mrs. Cargo’s class yesterday to discuss different learning styles and how some people may be hardwired to learn more efficiently through different learning styles . They were given, what was supposed to be a relatively quick assignment, the task of writing two short paragraphs about their learning styles. Some students took this to mean full page writes ups and some also worked on the second page of the handout. We discussed that asking questions and making sure you understand what is expected of you is an important life skill especially when they begin rotating 5 times per day next year.
2nd -- the weekly vocabulary had a “write about it” section. On Monday I made a point to emphasize that they were to write a minimum of a paragraph and they did not have to write a complete mystery. We had: some students that “forgot” to do it, some who attempted to write a whole mystery, and some that wrote a sentence or two. Once again we discussed the need to listen and speak up.
We then had an amazing discussion regarding this video about the driverless car. In this video they show how a man who is almost completely blind is able to go shopping, purchase food through a drive through and have his quality of life greatly improved. We then discussed how their generation would debate and discuss issues such as this -- should a driverless car kill you to save a group of children?:
Because as a class we were really discussing how far out and who amazing their future would be, we talked and discussed Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak:
This led to a discussion about how important it is for each one of them to remain enthusiastic learners and lifelong learners since who knows what will be in store for them 12 to 14 years from now when they hit the job market. Especially in light of how efficient businesses are becoming at phasing out humans in even service jobs -- store clerks and , waitresses/waiters. We discussed how they need to be the ones creating the programs or creating the ideas.
Math -- tonight and tomorrow’s math is a review of the first chapter on place value. The test will be given on Friday.
Brain-Week work: They stayed with me and we began reading and working on a packet regarding what is the best ways to study and what ways are not effective. This article was co-authored by a group of seven people who read through over 700 case studies. This article titled “What works and what doesn’t work” ran in last year’s Scientific American Mind.
They identify the two ways that have been proven through experimental data that work, three that work in some situations and they identify five ways that may actually hurt your ability to retain information.
We will complete part II on Friday and I strongly encourage you to ask to read the article when you get a chance.
We ended the day by watching a video and discussing our Constitution. We covered the high level basics today:
- why we are really a republic and not a democracy
- separation of powers
- checks and balances
- individual rights vs state rights vs federal rights
- federal responsibilities versus state responsibilities
- legislative, judicial and executive
Misc. stuff:
Outdoor Education:
We need chaperones and this year we are taking 20-22 chaperones. It truly is a first to complete all paperwork and get their fingerprints ok’ed are the first ones to attend our “fully catered and all-inclusive” resort Outdoor Education Camp from December 15th-18th (we may or may not make you attend a timeshare presentation while you are there).
We have already had 20 people take out the paperwork. However taking out the paperwork, returning it to Mrs. Bastida and getting your fingerprints done are two different things. If you are considering chaperoning please see Mrs. Bastida at your earliest convenience.
Lawrence Livermore Field Trip:
The field trip on the 3rd w/ just our class has been officially cancelled.
We are going to have 1/3rd of the class attend on the
September 29th
October 1st and
October 2nd
Therefore 8 students will go on each day. We would require two drivers per day. If you can assist with driving please complete this quick survey:
- Remember copy of the recent driver’s licence.
- Copy of your insurance verifying you have enough insurance coverage
- Ideally your proof of points or “good driver” status supplied by your friendly insurance provider (allegedly DMV will supply it as well)
Tomorrow their first completely independent version of their non-fiction reading & writing assignment. “What’s in your Cell”
Here is a reminder, I read this to the students today prior to them leaving at 2, of what is expected in their answers:
In review our best practices these were the five big keys to successfully completing this weekly task:
- complete sentences
- restate the question when answering the question
- number the paragraphs making it easier to explain to the reader where you pulled your information from
- when in doubt use the word “because…..” and explain your thoughts
- “bake your answer” -- take all of the individual parts that you read and bake(create) your unique opinion or thoughts
Kind regards,
Mr. Hubbard
***Long quote this week out of respect to the PBS special on the Roosevelts and one of my alltime favorite quotes!!****
“In the battle of life, it is not the critic who counts; not the one who points out how the strong stumbled, or where the doer of a deed could have done better.
The credit belongs to those who are actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is not effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, spend themselves in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if they fail, at least fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have tasted neither victory nor defeat.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
Homework for the week:
Books for your student or the class:
One-Time Class Activation Code: HH4V4
We’re closing the sale window on Friday.
Math
page 24-25 1-16 all due Thursday
page 22-23 set a,b,c,d,e,and f all due Friday
Chapter 1 test on Friday
Read 30 minutes every night
Bring the day planner back signed as proof that you read
Vocab
Page 8 due Thursday
Vocab test on Friday
Non Fiction Reading/Writing due Thursday
Free-Write due Friday
20 minutes of uninterrupted writing (w/ parent signature) or 1 full page written/typed out (no larger than 14 font)
Topic? “Let me describe how I choose a ……….”
Spelling test on Friday
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