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January 28, 2005
TGIF!
The retro picture of Megan and Matthew on top of this blog might have caught your attention. Today was 50’s day and the final day of our Spirit Week. We had a great time this week. I was a bit concerned when many of the students asked me what I wore in the 1950’s! Since I am only in my early 30’s, we will be having some parent conferences to discuss that. :-)
We did have an excellent day bettering ourselves as writers and that made it an even better day. We labored developing our sensory image words – taste, touch, smell, hear, and feel. We spent some time studying an item the kids were more than happy to write about – candy - specifically Starburst.
On Monday we are going to compare and contrast all the paragraphs to see who has the best one from each sense and then publish the collective best of each online. Look forward to seeing how creative the students are in their Starburst Sensory Stories.
Ms. Cox and I both sent home Progress Reports today. Most of the kids were excited, as their grades were pretty good. Please push them to really be focused of earning their AR points this nine weeks. We work so diligently on the Writing Test, we do not have as many grades as we usually do. AR makes a HUGE difference in that GPA at the end of the grading period.
Posted by hlperson at 04:14 PM | Comments (5)
January 25, 2005
Great Announcement!
What an excellent announcement I am able to make today. Norwayne Middle School has raised over $2,000 for the Tsunami Relief efforts of the American Red Cross. Through straight contributions (most of it coming 25 and 50 cents at the time) the students and families of the communities in Northern Wayne County has once again seen fit to help those who need it so desperately. Be very proud of what these kids have done with their generosity and caring nature – the faculty and staff here really are! Cobras Care and it Shows! A very special Thank You to Mrs. Lauren Williams for orchestrating this effort. Your energy and enthusiasm is a great addition to NMS and will benefit many young people throughout your career. You are appreciated!
Tomorrow I am attending the last part of the “Write for the Future Workshop”. This is my 10th year in the classroom and this has been one of the best workshops I have ever been able to attend. Melba Johnson is a master educator and her strategies for helping kids become skilled writers are excellent. Missing school is not real high up on my “Happy List” (it really is more work than being here) but this experience is worth the sacrifice.
Computers in the Classroom booklets went home today. This is the easiest fundraiser we do at NMS and the money goes directly back into the classrooms for technology needs. Each completed booklet earns NMS $5.50! The All-Stars could raise $275 for the school’s technology needs.
I get so many comments in class from students and in the community from parents, please feel free to leave them online also. It lets me know the site is working both directions. If students or parents leave posts they earn a “Done Good Coupon” to help out on assignments later on.
Posted by hlperson at 04:34 PM | Comments (4)
January 20, 2005
The Whole World
I don’t seem to be posting as much as I should. This is the time of the year that can be summed up pretty easily in Plan Books and in Class Web logs as... "the Writing Test". This is a long drawn out process for a relatively short 70-minute exam. It places a great deal of stress on the students and the teachers as they work to be ready. The emphasis seems to really be geared toward reading skills and comprehension in the earlier years (except those poor souls who have the 4th grade Writing Test) so we feel we are really working from “Ground Zero” in seventh grade. Don’t get me wrong, it is awesome to see the kids progress so much; to gain that sense of self-confidence that they need as they climb up the academic ladder, it is just a huge task when you are in the middle of it.
Social Studies sees us almost done with our Geography Handbook Unit. Time to move forward with our Ancient Egyptian studies. I am so excited! This truly is one of my favorite time periods in history and the highlight of the Seventh Grade Social Studies curriculum.
On a personal note - I spent 7 hours yesterday caught in the traffic in Raleigh. Who would have ever thought that 1 and ½ inches of snow would shut down an entire metropolitan area’s traffic system for so long? I met some interesting individuals and saw some sites I have never seen before. I took plenty of pictures as I sat on the highways and interstates and have posted them online. Take a look and see what you missed from a first person point of view.
Posted by hlperson at 09:17 AM | Comments (8)
January 13, 2005
Moving "Write" Along
The Writing Test has been keeping us pretty busy this last week. We are advancing in our skills, but we have a very long way to go. Our Vocabulary Units, reading, and journals have helped us advance as writers throughout this last semester and now we have to polish and fine-tune the process for the test March 01. We have used a great deal of Thinking Maps in our brainstorming process and they have really helped us organize quickly to maximize time on our assignments.
We are working on map skills and are preparing for our Africa and Asia Map Test. This is a big challenge for those who have never really had longitude and latitude with directions and map skills. This group has picked up quickly with these skills and the benefits they derived from science and mathematics is evident. (I am a strong advocate for cross curricular integration – Life is not lived in individual sections and learning should not be relegated to them either.)
Posted by hlperson at 09:13 AM | Comments (5)
January 10, 2005
Cobras Care Challenge
Posting this early in the day so that I can head off to the basketball game at Goldsboro this afternoon and take some pictures. I did want to make a special thank you to Daniel R., Jessica P., Andre Anna H., Andrew C., and Ashley M. for bringing in tissue. These boxes will carry us through a couple of weeks. I did give them a “Done Good” coupon to use as they saw fit. If you can help make sure the kids have tissue this spring, please do.
Mrs. Williams, Mr. Barnes and myself are heading up a “Cobras Care Challenge” to benefit the American Red Cross in their Disaster Relief Efforts. We will be collecting monetary contributions through the end of next week. Our Challenge is for every team at NMS to bring in at least $50 and hopefully over $100 for the victims of this disaster. Our school wide goal is to raise at least $2,000 and to reinforce those values of giving that the parents have instilled in their children. So many have been left without; we can do something to help. Jessica C. summed it up well this morning when she discussed how, “Sometimes we feel like we don’t have a whole lot, but these people don’t have anything now.”
We took a definition test in Language Arts today. We will take our eInstruction Test on Wednesday for the entire Vocabulary Unit. We got our AR Goals for this nine weeks last week. We have DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) everyday and the kids should be working on their reading at home. They record the “at- home” reading on their Reading Logs and a parent signs them to be turned in every Friday.
Social Studies saw more work on Map Skills. Longitude and Latitude sometimes give the kids a hard time. This website might be of some help at home when things get confused. We began the first of our Map Skills Booklet with North America. The rest of this week will be devoted to map skills as well as reading charts and graphs. We will begin our unit on Africa next week. Just a quick note: Channel One Logs are due every Friday.
Posted by hlperson at 10:47 AM | Comments (2)
January 06, 2005
New Year's Resolutions
We got our first grades of the new nine weeks today in vocabulary. It was a simple check of last night’s homework. Almost every single student had their homework done and earned themselves a 100! What a great way to start the new nine weeks.
We took a little time to do some goal setting and make New Year’s Resolutions today. On Channel One there was a young lady who had earned over $100,000 in scholarships to attend Xavier University. When the students found out that it cost on average $10,000 per year for tuition, books, fees, and housing for college they understood the importance of scholarship money. Many of our resolutions were geared towards working a little harder to be qualified for some of this scholarship money. I know this is many of the parent’s resolutions for the kids too.
In Social Studies we got our hands dirty today. We had an interesting review using some new overhead markers and laminated maps of the earth. We have worked on: the differences between Political Maps and Physical Maps, how we use different kinds of maps, the four Cardinal directions and the four Intermediate directions, along with the Prime Meridian and the Equator, the four Hemispheres, four Oceans, and seven Continents. The kids realized that real fast here things add up quickly in Social Studies and this is just the basics we have to understand before we can begin the major concepts.
Didn’t here any comments back yesterday? Guess everyone is still in holiday mode. I am going to giving the kids a “Done Good” coupon they can attach to any late assignment or add to any assignment for some extra credit for each blog they respond to. Maybe that will get the conversation flowing this semester. Working on improvements as fast as my fat fingers can type. Let me know what you think. And make sure you check out the Field Trip pictures in our photo gallery.
Posted by hlperson at 04:05 PM | Comments (3)
January 05, 2005
1st Day – New Year
The first day back is always interesting for the teacher person, the students, and the parents. I had a parent ask me Monday over lunch how we dealt with 30 of “them” in a class when her two were driving her insane during the holiday. I actually believe the kids are better out in public than they are at home; "familiarity breeds’ contempt" I guess.
This third nine weeks is almost solely dedicated to the Writing Test. It is THE BIG THING in the seventh grade and much effort, energy, and preparation goes into giving the kids every available opportunity to be successful on it. We discussed it some today and the other projects we will be working on this nine weeks. I made sure the kids knew there would not be as many grades this nine weeks and so they had to make sure they were more organized and focused to do their best. I sent home enough Reading Logs and Channel One Logs for the entire nine weeks so they should have them ready for you to sign. I am taking Natasha’s mom’s advice and putting all of the forms and records online so that they can also be downloaded from home when they are forgot. Thanks for that great advice Natasha’s Mom! This site can only get better when all of you let me know what makes it easier and better for you!
Social Studies saw a new group of kids beginning the Geography curriculum. So many of the kids have such a weak background in the Social Studies we really do start at the beginning. I was impressed with how many had some map skills today as we looked at the equator, prime meridian, cardinal and intermediate directions. I think they were impressed with how much of the compass skills fit right in with their mathematics. I found an excellent map site that allows you to download interactive maps of all the continents and study with them when we get into Africa and Asia.
We sent home a Team Newsletter with lots of information about new school policies and an appeal for Kleenexes. We have gone through all that were brought in from the beginning of the year and then some extras we have purchased.
Posted by hlperson at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)