September 28, Day 2
Work-Skills/ R suspended for the day. Class was good. No recollection of what we did. I think the lesson I described for yesterday is actually what we did on Friday ... so really I have no idea what we did Thursday, period 1. I need to start taking notes at the end of every class. By evening it's all gone. I know we went to the greenhouse though. We went at the end of class and they hated it, they like going at the beginning of class. We spotted the squirrel in the atrium digging up our bulbs!
Pre-Work/ Half the class was absent. We played Labyrinth. D cheats, R quit, K had no clue. Over all a success thoguh despite the sounds of it.
Work-Skills/ Draw-Squad lesson 1. They wanted "free-time" because it's Friday. Ha!. No such thing. Some of these kids were in the system last year, before I arrived, and have bad habits from getting such free periods. We did the alien house to start, then the birthday cake which got a plate and then became multi-tiered. I asked for a soda can so we did another tall cylinder (like the candle in the lesson would have been) and J even came up to the board to draw his soda can. The key to engaging these students seems to be to return to the last level at which they experienced academic success. In their case, it's grade 2. That's why drawing and planning gets them in. Reading to them works as well. It's because we are back in grade two for them. We were almost out of time and managed to draw the present. Drawing two copies of the same thing works well because the slower ones get to see if twice, or with pauses, and the faster ones can work on the next step. We then went with L to the atrium at 14h00 to install the bird feeder. They all accepted the responsibility of maintaining it through the whole year. Maybe an aquarium would be good? They like the idea of doing greenhouse, and bird feeder, so maybe a fish would be good ... maybe. The bird feeder looks good. Some of the maintenance and security guys said they would bring out some of their old and buried bird stuff to donate. The pole, food, and feeder cost me $100. A bit steep but worth it. The aquarium might be too rich for me however.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
September 27, Day1
Work-Skills/ I introduced the students to the idea of Area. After doing our landscape work on school property they were comfortable with a discussion about how much soil is required to cover a given space. I got around the Volume issue (that we haven't covered it) but simply stating that one bag of soil covers one square metre (the notion of a square metre being something that they are very familiar with from our planning and mapping work). So how many square metres are there in the atrium? This will tell us how many bags of soil we need. Using the Dy Dan technique of making them do the math the intuitive way I had them count the number of squares on their graph paper. It was 270 squares, thus 270 square metres and therefore 270 bags of soil. We then worked on the length times width calculation for area. Worked well. I used the diagram from the bags of soil as a hook to the lesson.
Pre-Work/ Full of beans today. Barely worked. Finally got them by doing Draw Squad: Lesson 2.
Work-Skills/ Inquiry method intro to science, as per their request. We did the card-held-by-water trick and the vinegar and baking soda trick to extinguish candles (CH3COOH + NsHCO3 -> CHsCOONa + H2O = CO2). They responded well to manipulating the variables in the water and card trick. We used glass and cardboard and a floor tile and loose leaf and everything else that they called out. Aluminum foil was mentioned but I didn't have any. Next year.
Work-Skills/ I introduced the students to the idea of Area. After doing our landscape work on school property they were comfortable with a discussion about how much soil is required to cover a given space. I got around the Volume issue (that we haven't covered it) but simply stating that one bag of soil covers one square metre (the notion of a square metre being something that they are very familiar with from our planning and mapping work). So how many square metres are there in the atrium? This will tell us how many bags of soil we need. Using the Dy Dan technique of making them do the math the intuitive way I had them count the number of squares on their graph paper. It was 270 squares, thus 270 square metres and therefore 270 bags of soil. We then worked on the length times width calculation for area. Worked well. I used the diagram from the bags of soil as a hook to the lesson.
Pre-Work/ Full of beans today. Barely worked. Finally got them by doing Draw Squad: Lesson 2.
Work-Skills/ Inquiry method intro to science, as per their request. We did the card-held-by-water trick and the vinegar and baking soda trick to extinguish candles (CH3COOH + NsHCO3 -> CHsCOONa + H2O = CO2). They responded well to manipulating the variables in the water and card trick. We used glass and cardboard and a floor tile and loose leaf and everything else that they called out. Aluminum foil was mentioned but I didn't have any. Next year.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
September 25, Day 9
PW/ Defined a scientist today (yesterday's post was wrong). Dressed JR in a lab coat to make the point. Allusions to garbage can activity. The Mystery of the Stolen Chip activity. Incomplete.
WS/ HHYA. Optical illusions lecture. Relation to critical thinking and situational math problems. Request for science class. Greenhouse.
PW/ Defined a scientist today (yesterday's post was wrong). Dressed JR in a lab coat to make the point. Allusions to garbage can activity. The Mystery of the Stolen Chip activity. Incomplete.
WS/ HHYA. Optical illusions lecture. Relation to critical thinking and situational math problems. Request for science class. Greenhouse.
September 24, Day 8
PW Math/ Probability worksheet (what si the likelihood of a tree being 6km tall). KC did very well at it. Casino games.
WS prep/ Greenhouse. Checkpoint 2 (bird bath plotting). Map activity (scale on google map to calculate distance). It failed miserably because they do not understand the concept of North on a map. Decided to back up and stick to scale plans and area and abandon map reading.
WS/ Atrium. Planted bulbs. Dirt was thrown, tools were thrown, much disturbance. I doubt that we will go back. JdiC did well at the rake and tidying up the soil bags. B quits easily.
PW/ Elephant activity (groups read one verse at a time). Define a "scientist" and the scientific method activity.
PW Math/ Probability worksheet (what si the likelihood of a tree being 6km tall). KC did very well at it. Casino games.
WS prep/ Greenhouse. Checkpoint 2 (bird bath plotting). Map activity (scale on google map to calculate distance). It failed miserably because they do not understand the concept of North on a map. Decided to back up and stick to scale plans and area and abandon map reading.
WS/ Atrium. Planted bulbs. Dirt was thrown, tools were thrown, much disturbance. I doubt that we will go back. JdiC did well at the rake and tidying up the soil bags. B quits easily.
PW/ Elephant activity (groups read one verse at a time). Define a "scientist" and the scientific method activity.
Friday, September 21, 2012
September 21, Day 7
WS/ Discussion with R about injustice and phone calls home. Trip to the greenhouse, it is still freezing in there. The aloe plants look like hell. Checkpoint activity (cheques and mapping a garden). Visit to the atrium to measure tree locations. Plotted tree locations on graph paper. Review of mapping without a grid. R cleaned up in the greenhouse.
PW. Werewolf. BBQ setup.
BBQ/ J.A.A served drinks. Spoke to M.H and L.K. about fund raising. Pie eating contest.
WS/ Discussion with R about injustice and phone calls home. Trip to the greenhouse, it is still freezing in there. The aloe plants look like hell. Checkpoint activity (cheques and mapping a garden). Visit to the atrium to measure tree locations. Plotted tree locations on graph paper. Review of mapping without a grid. R cleaned up in the greenhouse.
PW. Werewolf. BBQ setup.
BBQ/ J.A.A served drinks. Spoke to M.H and L.K. about fund raising. Pie eating contest.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
September 18, Day 4
Ace: No customers
Work-Skills/ Greenhouse. J remarked that he was keen to go and see if the plants were growing. He then sprayed them all with soap instead of water but the basil should be fine with that. The group also remarked that the garden in the atrium was looking good ("I planted that one"). Maybe next week they will be ready for a final trip to weed and plant the second garden. Overall, the combination of daily greenhouse visits and atrium work seems to be creating a sense that they are in a different program, but that there is some direction to it. Back in math class, we drew a tetris shaped building with made up lenghts as a warm up. Then they drew the atrium to scale at 2m and 5m. I asked what would it look like if we drew it to a scale of 1/2. J got it right away. K stayed late to get it. Connections work sheet (pg 224) helped make the leap from graph paper to scale based maps without a grid. Tomorrow: Sheet 2 and then the situational problem.
Pre-Work/ Intro to probability. Dice and coins demo. Worksheet from the Stats and Prob book page 3.
Ace: No customers
Work-Skills/ Greenhouse. J remarked that he was keen to go and see if the plants were growing. He then sprayed them all with soap instead of water but the basil should be fine with that. The group also remarked that the garden in the atrium was looking good ("I planted that one"). Maybe next week they will be ready for a final trip to weed and plant the second garden. Overall, the combination of daily greenhouse visits and atrium work seems to be creating a sense that they are in a different program, but that there is some direction to it. Back in math class, we drew a tetris shaped building with made up lenghts as a warm up. Then they drew the atrium to scale at 2m and 5m. I asked what would it look like if we drew it to a scale of 1/2. J got it right away. K stayed late to get it. Connections work sheet (pg 224) helped make the leap from graph paper to scale based maps without a grid. Tomorrow: Sheet 2 and then the situational problem.
Pre-Work/ Intro to probability. Dice and coins demo. Worksheet from the Stats and Prob book page 3.
September 17, Day 3
Pre-Work/ Part of the idea to lead the students through a Plan-Draw-Relate philosophy, this class focused on the draw. The students are a little weak on the idea that the real world can be represented in various ways on paper (what it looks like by drawing, how it is laid out in a plan, and how things relate to each other by an equation). I led them through lesson 1 of Mark Kistler's Draw Squad (AKA Commander Mark). M thought it was too easy and stupid but he came around thanks to the 30 second draw challenge at the end of lesson 1. Everyone completed the 30 second "termite" challenge except K. With the pre-work kids, this "Lesson 1" actually spanned two entire periods.
Work-Skills/ Free time in the lower gym. Basketball, dodgeball, then weights.
ECA: Girls Bantam Soccer. 1-0 win. Lots of confusion about getting back into the building afterwards.
Pre-Work/ Part of the idea to lead the students through a Plan-Draw-Relate philosophy, this class focused on the draw. The students are a little weak on the idea that the real world can be represented in various ways on paper (what it looks like by drawing, how it is laid out in a plan, and how things relate to each other by an equation). I led them through lesson 1 of Mark Kistler's Draw Squad (AKA Commander Mark). M thought it was too easy and stupid but he came around thanks to the 30 second draw challenge at the end of lesson 1. Everyone completed the 30 second "termite" challenge except K. With the pre-work kids, this "Lesson 1" actually spanned two entire periods.
Work-Skills/ Free time in the lower gym. Basketball, dodgeball, then weights.
ECA: Girls Bantam Soccer. 1-0 win. Lots of confusion about getting back into the building afterwards.
Friday, September 14, 2012
September 14, Day 2
Work Skills/ Described jokes and inappropriate tool use as being akin to the assault with a deadly weapon (frying pan) story from yesterday. Added soil to the garden and planted the veg. Trimmed back the shrubs and created a stone circle around the spruce tree.
Pre Work/ Fire alarm. Played werewolf afterwards. Took a lot of practice runs but it was fun. They left the captain alive the whole game so he was clearly a werewolf.
Both/ Interview activity. The students interviewed their teachers for their own jobs. Questions were in French and in English. Great context and intro to CV writing. Pizza lunch.
Work Skills/ Debriefed the interview activity. Bully conversation and drama from the old boys and the girls.I and G threatened to drop out.
Work Skills/ Described jokes and inappropriate tool use as being akin to the assault with a deadly weapon (frying pan) story from yesterday. Added soil to the garden and planted the veg. Trimmed back the shrubs and created a stone circle around the spruce tree.
Pre Work/ Fire alarm. Played werewolf afterwards. Took a lot of practice runs but it was fun. They left the captain alive the whole game so he was clearly a werewolf.
Both/ Interview activity. The students interviewed their teachers for their own jobs. Questions were in French and in English. Great context and intro to CV writing. Pizza lunch.
Work Skills/ Debriefed the interview activity. Bully conversation and drama from the old boys and the girls.I and G threatened to drop out.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
September 13, Day 1
Work Skills/ Cheque activity (as described here:http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/chec.lab.html). Great activity where the students have to read a series of cheques a few at a time. The need to construct a narrative based on the information that they can draw from the cheques at hand. As more cheques are drawn more information becomes available and the narrative changes.
My Good group was luke warm to it, not very participatory. Bad group, once they arrived, was very into the MADD plot line. We also had a bully conversation about assault with a deadly weapon, as demonstrated by my friend T.
Pre Work/ Class photos took up the whole period.
Work Skills/ Trip to the greenhouse to water the plants, drew the greenhouse on graph paper to scale, drew the atrium, planned the landscape time for the atrium, relaxed with a football.
Work Skills/ Cheque activity (as described here:http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/chec.lab.html). Great activity where the students have to read a series of cheques a few at a time. The need to construct a narrative based on the information that they can draw from the cheques at hand. As more cheques are drawn more information becomes available and the narrative changes.
My Good group was luke warm to it, not very participatory. Bad group, once they arrived, was very into the MADD plot line. We also had a bully conversation about assault with a deadly weapon, as demonstrated by my friend T.
Pre Work/ Class photos took up the whole period.
Work Skills/ Trip to the greenhouse to water the plants, drew the greenhouse on graph paper to scale, drew the atrium, planned the landscape time for the atrium, relaxed with a football.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
September 12, Day 10
PW/ Cheques. Did the whole class with set A. M and A very into it. R very jokey but his time machine thoughts helped. R added. Others listened. Word "reasonable" and "reinforce".
PW/ Taped squares, drew squares, drew greenhouse, JR drew cubes, is school the same as a job question. Time's up.
LC/ M read and then R read. Great!
PW/ Cheques. Did the whole class with set A. M and A very into it. R very jokey but his time machine thoughts helped. R added. Others listened. Word "reasonable" and "reinforce".
PW/ Taped squares, drew squares, drew greenhouse, JR drew cubes, is school the same as a job question. Time's up.
LC/ M read and then R read. Great!
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
September 11, Day 9.
PW/ Vinegar and baking soda. Four candles. Worked great. Designed the scientific method. A shook the mason jar. R used coke on R's recommendation.
LC/ Hobbit
WS/ Garden time in the Atrium. Forgot to get them to write their names on their gloves. Sent R and N to see Carla. Forgot to take before and after photos. K and B mapped out the Atrium. B dropped out of the program.
PW/ Vinegar and baking soda. Four candles. Worked great. Designed the scientific method. A shook the mason jar. R used coke on R's recommendation.
LC/ Hobbit
WS/ Garden time in the Atrium. Forgot to get them to write their names on their gloves. Sent R and N to see Carla. Forgot to take before and after photos. K and B mapped out the Atrium. B dropped out of the program.
September 10, Day 8
PW/ Taped floors to learn how to use a measuring tape. Attempted to draw in 3D. I wasn't enthusiastic enough and M and A felt too old for this stuff.
WS/ Measured and drew 2x2 and 1x1. Taped out greenhouse with wrong measurements. Aloe plants in greenhouse. Remeasured greenhouse.
LC/ Hobbit
WS/ Assembly. N and C took off. Marked as LC. Tom addressed them for the interview activity.
PW/ Discussed units and which zombie was scarier.
PW/ Taped floors to learn how to use a measuring tape. Attempted to draw in 3D. I wasn't enthusiastic enough and M and A felt too old for this stuff.
WS/ Measured and drew 2x2 and 1x1. Taped out greenhouse with wrong measurements. Aloe plants in greenhouse. Remeasured greenhouse.
LC/ Hobbit
WS/ Assembly. N and C took off. Marked as LC. Tom addressed them for the interview activity.
PW/ Discussed units and which zombie was scarier.
Friday, September 7, 2012
September 7, Day 7
WS/ Two attempts to get to the greenhouse. Measured the greenhouse. Watered the plants. Measurements did not match up or make sense. Attempted to draw greenhouse.
LC/ Hobbit
WS/ 30 minute talk about WOTP. Used measuring tapes to try and explain mapping. R tried to get into a locker.
PW/ Survival game. Jungle and Zombie Apoc. Great debate to pick top three. Move, Eat, Learn recap.
WS/ Two attempts to get to the greenhouse. Measured the greenhouse. Watered the plants. Measurements did not match up or make sense. Attempted to draw greenhouse.
LC/ Hobbit
WS/ 30 minute talk about WOTP. Used measuring tapes to try and explain mapping. R tried to get into a locker.
PW/ Survival game. Jungle and Zombie Apoc. Great debate to pick top three. Move, Eat, Learn recap.
September 6, Day 6
WS/ JDiC kicked out. Was off his meds. Played american with BM and LD. Groupd game of soccer baseball. Gym teachers want us to switch days.
LC/ Hobbit
PW/ Used the student generated pasta keys of all types to re-identify all the pastas. Very successful. Discussed pros and cons. HHYA lecture.
PW/ Move, Eat, Learn. Words lists became difficult and repetitive.
WS/ JDiC kicked out. Was off his meds. Played american with BM and LD. Groupd game of soccer baseball. Gym teachers want us to switch days.
LC/ Hobbit
PW/ Used the student generated pasta keys of all types to re-identify all the pastas. Very successful. Discussed pros and cons. HHYA lecture.
PW/ Move, Eat, Learn. Words lists became difficult and repetitive.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
September 5, Day 5 (Day 4 being a PED day)
WS/ Watered plants in the greenhouse. Tree ID walk. Werewolf and politics discussion.
LC/ Hobbit
PW/ Science vocabulary word hand out. The word list was created by the class. Definitions were then added. Tree ID walk.
PW/ Pasta key. McLuhan survey: What is the definition of a garbage can & What sounds are unique to a cafeteria.
WS/ Watered plants in the greenhouse. Tree ID walk. Werewolf and politics discussion.
LC/ Hobbit
PW/ Science vocabulary word hand out. The word list was created by the class. Definitions were then added. Tree ID walk.
PW/ Pasta key. McLuhan survey: What is the definition of a garbage can & What sounds are unique to a cafeteria.
RE: August 31. Day 3.
Pre-Work/ Inquiry based water and card activity. Used a lot of card. Asked; "will it stick? What could make it stick?". Tried low water, half water, high water. Rebecca said that the glass was half full of air. Andy tipped glass and poked holes in card. Magic and science discussion. Science vocabulary. Learning Inventory grid (what movies made you ask a question?). Shutter island. Transformers. Apollo 18. What is impossible? Living without a head. Rebecca said; "phytoplankton".
LC/ Hobbit
Pre-Work/ More cup and card. Responsibility activity of inventory. Did the 1991 grid. In class detention for all for throwing. More Hobbit.
Work-Skills/ Budget manipulatives. Used Raheem's calculator. Minimum wage estimation. Converted percents into dollar values. RE-Did the manipulatives. Wrote cheques.
Pre-Work/ Inquiry based water and card activity. Used a lot of card. Asked; "will it stick? What could make it stick?". Tried low water, half water, high water. Rebecca said that the glass was half full of air. Andy tipped glass and poked holes in card. Magic and science discussion. Science vocabulary. Learning Inventory grid (what movies made you ask a question?). Shutter island. Transformers. Apollo 18. What is impossible? Living without a head. Rebecca said; "phytoplankton".
LC/ Hobbit
Pre-Work/ More cup and card. Responsibility activity of inventory. Did the 1991 grid. In class detention for all for throwing. More Hobbit.
Work-Skills/ Budget manipulatives. Used Raheem's calculator. Minimum wage estimation. Converted percents into dollar values. RE-Did the manipulatives. Wrote cheques.
RE: August 30th. Day 2.
Work Skills/ Administrative work took up half the class.Basil plants were trimmed and bagged for subsequent use in cooking class. Plants returned to window sill.
Pre-Work/ Basil plants trimmed as above.
Literacy Circle/ Began the Hobbit
Work Skills/ Repotted all plants. Planted flower seeds. Konrad showed initiative by sweeping the floor. Bo learned to do all compost followed by all soil followed by all seeds. Brought to green house and watered.
Work Skills/ Administrative work took up half the class.Basil plants were trimmed and bagged for subsequent use in cooking class. Plants returned to window sill.
Pre-Work/ Basil plants trimmed as above.
Literacy Circle/ Began the Hobbit
Work Skills/ Repotted all plants. Planted flower seeds. Konrad showed initiative by sweeping the floor. Bo learned to do all compost followed by all soil followed by all seeds. Brought to green house and watered.
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