Day 22

Today began my 3rd annual "Tech Week", a week in which students learn about different educational Web 2.0 applications and use them in the classroom.  Today's topic was creating a "Glog".  From a link off of my moodle page, students went to my main Glogster page.   From there, they signed in using their regular school ID and password.  Their goal by the end of the period was to create five text blocks that represent their five core classes- math, reading, science, history and english.  As an example, here is Megan Allison's from last year.  They can decorate their page however they want, but the five text blocks must be at the top (they have a rubric with all of the specifics).

News article #5 is due on Monday, and the Chapter 2 test will not be until late October.

Day 21

We reviewed the Chapter 1 test that students took yesterday.  Afterwards, students watched an episode of Mythbusters while I checked their notebooks.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 2 test will not be until late October or early November.

Day 20

We had class in the computer lab today.  Students logged into my Moodle site and used it to take the Chapter 1 test online.  Following the test, they had the opportunity to get a news article for next week or work on other homework.

The notebook check will be tomorrow, and the Chapter 2 test will be sometime in early November.

Day 19

We checked last night's homework (page 1-19) and went over the answers.  We then discussed, page by page, what needed to be done by this Thursday's notebook check.  For the remainder of the period, we played Classroom Jeopardy to review for tomorrow's test.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 1 test is tomorrow.

Day 18

Today we started with our 4th week of science news articles.  I then assigned to students activity 1-17 & 1-18, both of which students had to interpret a density graph.  We went over the answers to both pages before the end of the period.

Worksheet 1-19 was assigned for homework, and the Chapter 1 test will be on Wednesday, September 28th.

Day 17

We spent all period today completing worksheet 1-16.  This worksheet asked students to create a pie graph, bar graph and line graph using the given data.  To accomplish this, students used a website called Create-a-graph.  Once students created their graphs online, they saved them as "JPEG" files into their "My Documents" folder.  Each of the three graphs was printed and placed in their chapter one packets after page 1-16.

News article #4 is due on Monday, and the Chapter 1 test will be on Wednesday, September 28th.

Day 16

I tried to impress upon the students the importance of studying for the upcoming Chapter 1 test a little bit each night.  If they just study 15 minutes every night for the seven evenings preceding the test, the results will be much better than if they crammed an hour the night before or just studied during flex & study hall the day of the test.  Today's lesson was on the three types of graphs- pie, line and bar.  We discussed section 1-6 notes and I drew several examples of each type of graph on the board, stressing the importance of labels and titles on each graph.  We watched a http://www.brainpop.com/ video on graphs and took the 10-question quiz that followed using student responders.  We ended class by doing worksheet 1-15, graphing density.

No homework was assigned (other than to start studying for the test), and the Chapter 1 test will be on Wednesday, September 28th.

Day 15

We began class today with a http://www.brainpop.com/ video on Measuring matter. More specificly, it related mass volume and density, and how we measure each. Students then took the 10-question quiz using the responders. We went over the answers from yesterday's lab on density of liquids. Students finished the bottom of the lab by finding the densities of three unknown solid cubes.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 1 test is one week from today, September 28th.

Day 14

Students got back their week #3 news articles from yesterday.  We reviewed the conclusion questions from the metric measurements lab.  We discussed section 1-3 notes on density.  I used a "poly-density tube" as a visual demonstration of density, and I showed students some helpful links on the Moodle site.  Before beginning the new lab on page 1-13 & 1-14, I gave students a replacement copy of the lab.  The lab calls for students to measure the mass & volume of three unknown liquids (colored blue, green & red) in order to calculate their densities.  They then had to compare their calculated densities to a supplied list of known densities of common liquids.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 1 test is one week from tomorrow, on September 28th.

Day 13

Students had the opportunity to summarize out loud their week #3 news articles.  Afterwards, they had about 25 minutes to finish the metric measurements lab on page 1-12 that they began on Friday.  I read the equipment during the last 10 minutes of class so that students could compare their answers to mine.  Any remaining time was used to complete the conclusion questions on page 1-11.

The lab conclusion questions on page 1-11 are homework, and the Chapter 1 test will be on Wednesday, September 28th.

Day 12

At the beginning of class, I checked students' homework from last night (activities 1-7, 8, 9 & 10).  After going over all four pages, students began a 2-day lab on pages 1-11 & 1-12, in which they have to measure the mass, volume, length and temperature of 28 different objects.

News article #3 is due on Monday, and the Chapter 1 test will be on Wednesday, September 28th.

Day 11

Mrs. Jones and I tag-teamed science class today.  We split the class into three random groups and assigned them to rotating stations.  The first station was with Mrs. Jones, and she demonstrated how to use a triple-beam balance and metric ruler.  The second station gave students a chance to use the laptops to go to some websites I made available on Moodle that were online tutorials for using a triple beam balance and graduated cylinder.  The third station was with me, and I demonstrated the proper use and reading of a graduated cylinder and metric thermometer.  Students were at each station for 10 minutes.  At the end of the third cycle, I explained the homework assignment.

Activities 1-7, 1-8, 1-9 & 1-10 were assigned for homework, and the Chapter 1 Test will be Wednesday, September 28th.

Day 10

Students got back their Metric Conversion quizzes and we went over the answers to all 15 problems.  We then took the remainder of the period to complete the top of worksheet 1-6, using the conversion factors on page 1-2. 

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 1 test will be on Wednesday, September 28th.

Day 9

We began class when I handed back students' news articles from yesterday.  We watched a video from http://www.brainpop.com/ on Metric vs Customary units, and students took the ensuing quiz using the student responders.  I discussed section 1-5 notes with students and demonstrated how to convert between metric and customary units.  We completed worksheet 1-5 and began the top of page 1-6.

No homework was assigned, and the Chapter 1 test will be Wednesday, September 28th.

Day 8

We began class by listening to voluntary oral summaries of our 2nd week of science news articles.  After I collected their homework, students took the Metric Conversion quiz.  We ended class by watching a http://www.brainpop.com/ video on Metric Units and taking the quiz that followed using student responders.

No homework was assigned and the next test will be the Chapter 1 test on Wednesday, September 28th.

Day 7

There was no school yesterday due to local flooding.  As a result, our quiz was postponed until Monday.  Today in class we took a 15-problem practice quiz to prepare for the real thing.  After we went over the results, I handed back the first week's news articles, and I discussed the common errors that I found.

News article #2 is due on Monday, and the Metric Conversion quiz will be right after Monday's news article.

Day 6

Today was our third day of metric conversions.  We began class by finishing worksheet 1-3.  Students entered their answers to each of the 10 questions using the hand-held responders.  I used the Promethean board to show how each answer was derived.  After completing page 1-3, I took about five minutes to talk to the kids about bullying and being the "new kid in school".  I stressed how hard it is adjusting to a new school even if the other students are friendly.  However, if the students are mean, unaccepting and exhibiting bullying behavior, it makes the transition to a new school so much harder.  I asked of them to set aside differences in speech, appearance and whatever to just be a friend.  Finally, we began page 1-5 with about 5-10 minutes left in class, and students completed as much as they could with their partner before the end of class.

No homework was assigned, and the Metric Conversion quiz will be Friday, September 9th.

Day 5

It felt great to be back in the classroom.  Today was our first day for science news articles.  I explained to students the procedure for earning extra credit on the articles via oral summaries.  An average of five students from each class volunteered to summarize their article out loud.  After I collected the articles & summaries, students completed worksheet 1-4, which they began on Friday.  I demonstrated the proper use of the student responders, and students then used those responders to answer the 10 questions on page 1-4.  Any remaining time was usesd to begin worksheet 1-3 before the bell rang.

No homework was assigned, though if students did not have their article today, they can submit it tomorrow for half credit.  The metric conversion quiz will be this Friday, September 9th.

Day 4

Today was my last day of cyber school.  I'll be back in the regular classroom on Tuesday.  What a relief it has been to have someone as professional as Mr. Jim Girardi to take over my class in my absence.  He definitely made this time away more manageable.

Today in class we reviewed our objectives from the past two days by completing worksheet 1-1.  Students worked with a partner to put the steps of the scientific method in the correct order, and then they had to match the vocab term to the proper definition.  After that I introduced them to the metric system, the standard system of measurement used exclusively throughout the world, except for our United States of America.  I demonstrated the  procedure for converting from one metric prefix to another, like changing kilometers into centimeters.  All it takes is moving the decimal to the left or right a certain number of places.  With whatever time was left in class, students worked on page 1-4 (chapter 1, page 4) until the bell rang.

News article #1 is due on Tuesday, and the Metric Conversion quiz will be on Friday, September 9th.

Day 3

Today students were given their first chapter packet.  In place of textbooks, over the years I have created packets of learning materials that include notes, worksheets, study guides and lab sheets that a student may need throughout the course of a single chapter.  They simply keep them in a 3-ring binder and bring it to class daily in place of a standard textbook.  We continued our focus on section 1-1 notes, thinking scientifically.  Yesterday our focus was on the difference between a theory and a law, and today's discussion was on using the scientific method to solve a problem or conduct an experiment.  The students realized that whether they realized it or not, they've been using the scientific method almost all of their life whenever they solved a problem.  They just never looked at it before as being a 6-step approach.  They always just assumed it was a logical way of thinking (which is what science is all about, thinking logically).  I gave students three examples of experiments in which they had to identify the independent and dependent variables within.  I also gave them two examples of experiments that were not that well prepared, and they had to tell me what was wrong with the given variables.  We ended class by watching a short movie on the scientific method from http://www.brainpop.com/.  Their are links on my Moodle site for all of the above activities except for the video, as that is a subscription-based service.

Their first science news article is due on Tuesday, September 6th, and their first quiz on Metric Conversions will be on Friday, September 9th.