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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 January 5, 2005 04:06 PM