Bump It UP!

Students have received numerous assignments back, ranging from math to literacy.

After the assessment of their work, I've offered students the chance to take the specific feedback I've provided and BUMP IT UP.

In other words, use the feedback to make changes in their work and improve it. Here's the chance to make it better!

Several students have already taken advantage of this opportunity and handed in improved work. It is entirely up to the students if they want to take the time to move beyond their initial assessment.

Student Blog Alert! New student blog created!

One of our students has created a blog outside of school. I thought others might like to read it too and follow along! It is about game reviews.

Here is Matthew's blog "The Review Dragon"

Guest Blogger: Nicole

As an extension to learning, each student will have a chance to write a short blog post for this class blog! Here is Nicole's contribution!

Taylor Swift is a 26 year old singer/song writer from Nashville. She has 5 albums. (Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red and 1989). Her first 4 albums were country and then on her fifth album she changed to pop music.

Taylor was born on December 13th 1989 in Pennsylvania but then moved to Nashville when she was 14 because she begged her parents for a year to move so she could pursue her music career. She would go to record companies giving them a CD of her so maybe they would sign her but none did then one day she was singing in the bluebird cafe and Scott Brochetta from Big Machine Records heard her and wanted to sign her.

Taylor has won 240 awards in her music career including 7 Grammys, 22 Billboard Music Awards, 19 American Music Awards, 5 Guinness World Records and 10 Teen Choice Awards. Taylor has 2 Videos on YouTube with over 1 Billion views, (Shake It Off and Blank Space). Her video Blank Space is the fastest video to reach 1 billion views. Taylor is also the most followed person on Instagram with 62.3 million followers.

She has toured all over the world and just finished her 1989 tour and is now taking a break for 3 years. She is taking a break so she can have sometime to herself and with her friends and of course her cats.

Digital Citizenship

Yesterday we had Officer Knox from the OPP in to give a presentation on digital citizenship and safe online behaviour.

The main takeaway is that everything you put on line, be it via text, email, app, internet, etc is NEVER private and it NEVER goes away.

So please consider what you post about yourself. You are responsible for your online identity and the 'digital footprint' you create.

You never know who might see it or when they might see it.

Today I showed the class a tweet of mine that was seen and favourited by someone just this week. It was a tweet about a recipe...and I tweeted it out in August of...2010! So a tweet of mine from over five years ago is still out there for someone to view in January of 2016.

That stuff sticks around!

Another Snow Day! Here's how it impacts our class.

The field trip to the film festival is cancelled due to bus cancellation.

However, it is rebooked for next week, same day (weds) same time (we leave at 12 noon).

Also, we haven't been able to address our math content due to the snow days. So we will likely move our math test to next THURSDAY.

We will likely also move our official CASI from Next Monday to another date next week (probably Thursday as well)

Here are some things you can do while away if you feel you are needing to refresh yourself with the content! And also maybe make some headway with future projects and due dates:

• Study for your history test this Friday. Study notes are on the blog. We will not be needing any more class time to review.
• Work on your at home history project! Details are here on the blog.
• Review math content for our measurement unit. Everything we will be talking about is in my math blog, easily accessible through this blog!

SEE PAGE TABS ABOVE to find the content you need.

Lastly, if you missed Indiana Jones day, if it is at all possible, please catch up by watching the movie at home! (And some of you still need to bring in your forms...bring it ASAP!)

As a class we have 25 mins left of the film and we will finish that portion, and the corresponding questions, on Friday, last block.

As always, If you have any questions, please email me jujohnson@scdsb.on.ca

DUE DATE CHANGES! REMINDERS!

REMINDER! 

Field trip forms due ASAP! The field trip is Weds. Please return your form/money ASAP!

Also, we only have 25 mins left of Raiders of the Lost Ark and we will watch it on Weds before we go to the Barrie Film Festival.

DUE DATE CHANGE! 

Due to snow day on Monday, and the field trip on Weds, we will need more class time to cover the math content. So we will postpone our math quiz, scheduled for this Friday Jan 15, to Monday January 18th (tentative date). 

WANTED: MORE OF THESE!

WE NEED PLASTIC BAGS! 

Have you seen these anywhere around your home? 

If so, please consider bringing them into class ASAP BEFORE January 25 as we will be using them in our next design project!

Mario Kart Data Management Assignment

For those who would like to revisit this task from before the holiday...

Data from playing Mario Kart, 4 players over 11 games.

Please find the mean, median, mode and range of the whole data set.(Show your work!)

Reminders of what mean, median, mode and range are can be found on the math blog. 

Please analyze and interpret the data results. What does it tell you?

Kevin McGill: Author Skype

Kevin writes YA fiction and has been a popular guest speaker in my class in previous years. (See this previous blog post for more information and to see his video when he sent his book into space).

Today, students will interview Kevin. They have created interview questions: one of the pair will ask the question, the other student will write down the answer.

After the interview, students will cooperatively write a summary of our interview using this google doc HERE

This is a synopsis of Kevin's book: Nikolas and Co. available on Amazon.

In the near future the world is coming to an end. What’s fourteen-year-old Nick and his friends to do? Escape through time to a fantastic moon populated by Merfolk of course. 

When Nick finds wealthy shoppers stepping over the body of his dying refugee friend, Jermaine, on the way to their next shoe sale, he decides that it’s time to leave Earth, and his friends are going with him. Nick’s grandfather, Grand, offers a way to realize this dream by taking him to the moon, but there’s a catch. Grand’s moon is in the past; it's teeming with magical creatures, and its merfolk believe that Nick will save them from the thousand-eyed monsters haunting their fortresses. 

To save his refugee friends, Nick must choose the better world: A future Earth filled with genetic viruses and malicious nannydrones, or a fantastic moon in the past inhabited by blood thirsty gorgons, man-eating pirate ships, and fire-breathing winged lions. The future or the fantastic? Their lives are in Nick's hands. 

Nikolas and Company: The Merman and The Moon Forgotten, follows Nick’s boisterous and heart-felt journey as he seeks to save his friends. If "The Doctor" took The Goonies on an adventure to a fantastic version of the moon, you'd get Nikolas and Company. 

Totally Random: Sulli

In which I pull a name at random and ask: what do you want on the blog?

Sulli wants to remind you that it is hockey season and hockey is awesome! 

For Those Who Might Be Wondering...

For those who might be wondering, yes I saw the new Star Wars movie!

I also caught up on my Dr. Who and have finished all of Season 9 (excluding the Christmas special)

A reminder please that our classroom is a #spoilerfreezone. But we can certainly figure out a way to chat about these two awesome narratives in a way that doesn't ruin it for others.

See you Monday!

Highschool Prep & Feedback

As we begin 2016, high-school comes very much to mind. By September of this year, students will be there!

So, students, is there anything you feel you need to help you prepare?

If so, please take this survey and share your ideas about high-school prep!  I'll keep it open until this Saturday, January 9 and then see/share what the results are.

There is a separate survey for your parents. Please show them this link on the website.  I'd love to hear their feedback as regards the high-school and the year in general!

Also, please see the picture on the side bar listing important upcoming dates from Eastview.

Keep in mind that we will be doing/have been doing a little bit of 'high-school' simulation here in class. (Also, keeping in mind the age appropriateness of tasks/skills! We are still in grade 8, after all!)

Here's some examples:

ANIMAL FARM
Our upcoming class read aloud, Animal Farm, lends itself nicely to a deeper form of literary analysis. This is definitely a text we can dive deep into. It is suitable for 13 years olds, but it also read in high-school (and even university). It has many layers!

CASI/ESSAY WRITING
The CASI reading comprehension assessments that we do in class also do a nice job of preparing students for in depth text analysis and emphasizes skills like providing proof to support arguments...which dove tails nicely into academic style essay writing and persuasive texts.

MATH
The math program for Grade 8 is specifically designed to offer a comprehensive review of skills. It is very much a 'consolidation of math knowledge' year.

GENERAL SKILLS
We will also be addressing other good habits, like note taking and how to study, homework completion (home projects will increase this term), and meeting due dates, etc. On top of our usual push for communication skills, creativity, and, problem solving skills!

RESPONSIBILITY & INITIATIVE
And, as always, I'll will be encouraging students to take ownership over your own learning. As usual I will be asking students to ask themselves:

What do I need to succeed? and Where can I go to get what I need?

ORGANIZATION & TIME MANAGEMENT
Lastly, lets talk about organization and time management skills!

I model a number of these methods in class (think of how I  break large tasks into smaller tasks and track their completion such as with the writing process wall, or of how I use the timer to track work completion or how I use lists to organize my day).

And students, if you have not already harnessed the organizational power of your personal device, please do so by copying all the relevant due dates listed in the side bar into your device's calendar! (If you do not have a device, consider investing in either a paper calendar like the one we post in class or using your provided paper agenda).

Welcome Back Pep Talk & Goal Setting

Sorry, guys! Holidays are over!

The school year can loosely be divided into three blocks.

We recently finished the first section. Now we are into the second.

It's like the second act of a three act play. Or the second period in a hockey game.

Or, if this were a movie/book trilogy, this section we are in would be like:

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

THE TEMPLE OF DOOM

CATCHING FIRE

THE TWO TOWERS

As you can see from the above examples, the second act typically requires the hero/heroine/hockey player to display a steady focus in the face of challenges.

The beginning of our quest is long behind us. The end of our quest is still far ahead.

This is my fancy way of reminding you that the holidays are over and now that we are back, we are going to hit the ground running!

Prepare to be challenged! Prepare to 'level up' your skill set!

Stay focused and on track! So switch off holiday mode and activate school mode, please!

To help with that, please submit this student survey. It gives you the chance to reflect on the year so far and set goals for the rest of the year ahead. (We will be doing this in class on Monday.)