Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Second day in and I'm happy to report that the students are still stunned into silence. Maybe it's from a lack of sleep, maybe they are stunned by my utter brilliance, or maybe they are just that great at being exceptional students. Either way, they have proven to be hard working and quiet so far. I'm crossing my fingers that it lasts.

We have accomplished a lot in these first two days. Students have already completed a time capsule by answering some interest questions, taking some measurements, and writing themselves a note. We are going to lock this up and open it at the end of the year.

As a class, we have also taken a look at twitter. We learned about how to tweet and why people tweet. We even made our own handles, avatars, and tweeted about our first day at school. Today, we read some very short stories that people have tweeted. We practiced our skills in visualization as we listened to these short tales. It was interesting to "see" the different ways that people visualized the stories.

Today we began to create our classroom goals. I presented the students with seven questions:

What should kids in our class be doing to make sure our classroom runs as smooth as possible?

Our classroom should be ______ everyday.

School is important because ___________.

What is one of your overall goals for this year in sixth grade?

What will you need to do to achieve that goal?

Write one goal you have for yourself after you graduate high school.

What will you need to do to achieve that goal?

They wrote their answers on sticky notes and added them to the posters. Tomorrow, we will look for trends in our answers and use these to guide us in creating our class goals which we will refer to all year to keep us on track.

If you have not handed in your parent questionnaires yet, please do so. Thank you.

Greetings from your Student Teacher

Hello parents,

My name is Will Fyles and I will be helping Tiiu with the grade six class this term as part of the Onsite Education Program at Ottawa University. This program is different from other education programs in that I will be at Churchill Alternative 4 days a week almost every week starting today. I am looking forward to this opporunity and want to have a positive impact in this classroom and in the school as a whole. My role in Room 310 will be changing as time goes on. I will start off doing primarily observation with limited participation and over time, I will take on more responsibilities. Towards the end of the term I will be teaching full classes with Tiiu observing me. I will be participating in the before school cross-country program and hopefully other extracurricular programs too.

You will find me out in the yard, at class meetings and I look forward to meeting you all throughout the year. If you have any questions or comments you can contact me at will.fyles@yahoo.com

Sincerely,

Will

Welcome!

Hello! Welcome to Room 310's blog. This is a project that I started a few years ago but was able to use more effectively last year. It is a great way for you to feel more connected with what is going on in the classroom and may provide you with more insight than the occasional grunt you get at the dinner table from the students.

This is my tenth year at Churchill and I feel very privileged to be working in such a great community. We have an excellent team of teachers and professionals working here and it makes my job that much more enjoyable. I am excited to be able to focus on one curriculum this year and am hopeful that our class size will remain as manageable as it is right now. I am also looking forward to working with our two on-site students teachers from the University of Ottawa. Will is here until December and Tara, who is working with Roy right now, will be with us in January. I will have Will introduce himself here on the blog for you.

Over the next week, there will be many important forms for you to fill out and return. Please ask students to bring you their agendas each night as that is where they will be waiting for you. Students are also expected to read for a minimum of twenty minutes each evening. They are to write down the title of what they are reading and have you initial it as well. This is an important routine for our program. Today, there is a parent questionnaire in their agendas. Please fill it out and return it as soon as possible.

I look forward to meeting all of you. I will be hosting a class meeting where we will go over a lot of important information. I hope you can all attend. I will let you know the date for that soon. In the meantime, if you need to get a hold of me, the most effective way is via email. My address is tiiu.tsao@ocdsb.ca. Thank you!

Dates to Remember

May 6 Final Copy of Biographies due, Pottery

May 13 School of Rock concert, 12:00 and 7:00

May 16-17 MacSkimming with Andrew's 5s

May 20 Plant Sale and Sharing

May 23 Victoria Day

May 25 Bike Day

May 27 Jump Rope for Heart

May 30-31 EQAO

June 3 PA Day

June 16 Grades 5/6 visit Summit

June 27 Honouring Ceremony for 6s

Whew!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

What a productive week we've been having.
I'm really looking forward to the Young Entrepeneurs program tomorrow. It should be jam packed of interesting and useful information.
We have been working really hard to get ready for David Suzuki's Birthday Party. We are one of only two hundred schools in all of Canada that have been invited to participate. Our class volunteered to organize this event for the school. We're looking at it as an opportunity to RAK David Suzuki and our school. We have planned four informative and fun activities to help Mr. Suzuki spread his message. Classes will be participating in these activities between 10:45 and 12:30. Our class will then participate in a live webinar where David Suzuki and host George Strombolopolous (spelling?) will be answering some questions. This is turning out to be a big and exciting event with some possible special guests and media attending. Please drop by if you get a chance!
I'm excited to start the biography projects next week. Please make sure all students have their notes on Monday.
We are also looking for donations of tissues and glue sticks for the classroom.

Thank you!

ps School of Rockers should check out PS 22 on YouTube for some great inspiration.

Biography Questions

Family Biography Questions

This is a list of questions brainstormed by our class. These are some ideas to use in your interview. Do not use all of these questions. Try to ask a few from each category, so that you will have enough to write a chapter for each section. Some you might already have answers to, so you can skip those, and just focus on finding out new information that you do not know.

Remember that the main idea of this is to go through the interview process, and get information from a primary source.

Origins

Where were you born?

When were you born?

Where were your parents from?

What were your parents’ names?

Tell me about your birth?

How much did you weigh?

How long did you stay in your first home (how old were you when you first moved?)

Did you have any siblings?

Were they younger, or older, and what were their names?

Growing Up

Tell me about living with your siblings. Did you get along?

What were your favourite things to do when you were young?

What are some of the tasks or chores that you had to perform when you were young?

Who were your closest friends?

Did you have a part time job while growing up?

Did you play sports when you were young?

Did you have siblings that you grew up with?

Did you have pets when you were young?

Do you remember going on any trips when you were young?

Did anyone in your family play musical instruments in the house?

Did you take music lessons or play an instrument when you were young?

Do you remember any major world events that happened when you were young?

Do you have any memory of important events during your youth?

Did you win any kinds of awards or have any major achievements?

Education

Did you ever move schools? What do you remember about moving schools?

How many schools did you attend?

What school, or schools did you go to?

What were your teachers like?

Tell me about your favourite teacher.

Did you have good friends in school?

Were you involved in clubs or sports when you were at school?

Were you ever a teacher’s pet? Were you a troublemaker?

Did you ever get in to a lot of trouble at school? How would the teachers discipline you?

What were your grades like?

Did you ever skip a grade?

Were you very popular at school?

Did you go to high school?

Did you graduate high school?

What were your favourite subjects in school?

Did you go to college or university?

If so, where did you go and what for?

What do you remember most about your school days?

Occupation

If you worked during your life, what was your main job or occupation?

Where did you work?

What was your first job?

Did you quit this job or get fired?

Were you ever worried that you’d fail?

Tell me about your most influential boss?

How many jobs did you do during your life?

How did you get involved in your career path?

Did you have to start working before you wanted to? If so, why?

Was it difficult to find a job?

When did you start working in your main occupation?

How long did you work before you retired (if you did)?

When did you retire? How old were you when you retired?

Does your company or the place you worked still exist?

Do you think that you were fairly paid for your work?

Did you work in a family business?

Did you like doing your job?

Are you still involved with your career in any way?

Did your travel for your work?

Did you ever lose your job due to a recession, or get laid off?

Did you work after you got married? If so, did your job change at all?

Did you work after you had children? If so, did your job change at all?

Did you work through any major wars? If so, did your job change at all?

Love and Marriage

Tell me about your first love. Are you still in touch with him/her?

Have you ever been married?

Tell me about where you met your wife/husband.

What made you fall in love with this person?

What was the proposal like?

Tell me about your wedding. Who was in your bridal party? Are you still in touch with these people?

What were some of the most memorable moments in your relationship?

Did you ever travel anywhere special together, like on a honeymoon?

Are you still married now?

Did you have any struggles in your relationship, or did you have to endure any hardship?

Family Life

How many children did you have?

Tell me being a parent. Was it more or less difficult then you thought it would be?

Tell me about what life was like when my parent was a child. Do you have any memorable/embarrassing stories you can share?

What other family members would you see back then? Who would have been at a typical holiday gathering?

What was your most favourite part of watching your children grow up?

What was your least favourite part of watching your children grow up?

World News

Do you remember when the first people stepped on the moon? Where were you or how old were you?

What did you think about when 9/11 happened? Where were you?

Did you ever live through a major war? What do you remember about it? How did it effect your life?

Have you ever met someone famous?

What are some of the major world events that you recall?

What are some of the trends that you remember from the past that you enjoyed, or that seem interesting?

What are some of the most interesting inventions that you have seen, and how did they change your life?

How do you feel about the changes in technology that you have seen in your lifetime?

Major Events

Tell me about how you may have endured any hard times in your life.

Tell me about the most memorable moments of your life.

What would you say the happiest times in your life were?

Were there any real sad times that you can share?

Was there ever a serious illness that you had to deal with?

Do you recall any deaths that had a major effect on you or your life?

Past Times/Sports/Hobbies

Do your have any special interests, sports you play, or hobbies? What are they?

How did you get involved in this?

What do you like about this?

Can you tell me some interesting facts about your pastime?

When did you start getting involved with this activity?

Are you still interested?

Have you ever thought of quitting or retiring from this pastime?

Do you keep in touch with old friends you made through this pastime?

Are there any major accomplishments that you have achieved through this activity?

Make a Change/Social Justice

What things do you see in the world today that concerns you?

What do you hope the next generation can work to change in the world?

What kinds of volunteer work, or charity work have you been involved with, of do you find important.

Words of Wisdom and Thank You

What have you learned in your lifetime that you think you might share with the younger generation? Any advice of any kind?

What are you most grateful for in your life?

How do you think you might have made the most impact on those around you?

Epilogue (the rest of the story up to now)

Tell me about where you live now.

Is your partner still living with you?

Tell me about being a grandparent. Do you enjoy it?

How old are you now?

Tell me about a typical day for you.

Are you retired?

How do you keep active?

Do you have any pets?

Pictures (these are some questions you might need answered if you make use of any pictures in your biography)

Where was this photo taken?

When was it taken?

What is happening in the picture?

Who is in the picture?

How did you feel at this moment?

What do you remember about the event this photo is showing?

Better

Sorry for the lack of posts. My entire family got sick, at different times, over the past week. It's been torturous. But, we're on the mend and getting back into the swing of things.

First of all, if you were at all apart of that generous and thoughtful RAK that came my way in the form of a Starbucks giftcard, I am truly grateful and touched. Thank you. My husband says I should pass on the RAK by passing the card on to him. No such luck Bucko.

Yesterday, I introduced an exciting project that all three junior grades will be completing: Biography of a Grandparent. A pink form was sent home and needs to be reviewed by a family member before being returned this week. Please look out for it. You can find a copy of it here and here.
We looked at some examples of completed projects that Andrew had done at his old school. The projects were bound so professionally and the students did an amazing job at them. It really motivated us to do our best. I am excited because I will be doing this project along side the students.
Our expectation is that by the end of the week. we will have outlined chapter expectations with guiding interview questions to go along with each chapter. Students will then be given the March Break and another additional week after that to complete the interview process. The students and I discussed that it would probably be best if someone else (like you) scribed for them while they conducted their interviews. Voice recorders, interviews via email, and video cameras would also be good options. The thought was that if they had to write as the interviewee spoke, it may be difficult to enjoy the experience.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments about this project.
In math, we continue to look at decimals. Here is a game that we are playing right now. I am finding that the kids are finding success at adding and comparing, but some students are having trouble with subtraction, especially when the two numbers they generate come from different place values. We will review this in class tomorrow by using the base ten blocks to visualize. There is no math homework this week. To review, or if you are away from school, it would be helpful to play this game at home. You can look online for a virtual spinner like this one. While I'm at it, here are some virtual base ten blocks to help you with decimals at home. Please note that the large cube represents one whole, the flat square represents one tenth, the stick represents one hundredth, and the small cube represents one thousandth.
In Literacy, we are wrapping up our look at inferring. Today, students will be shown another story and asked to infer the author's message on their own. As we did this question (based on a different story) at the beginning of the unit, this will be their chance to independently show us what they have learned.
There has been a lot of talk of Room 310 being our place of business. Students have been reminded to come prepared to work and represent themselves in a respectful manner toward their co-workers and their boss.
Thank you!