Weekend Update

Happy weekend, everybody! Hope you're all enjoying this unexpectedly sunny fall day, and on a weekend no less! Hopefully this isn't just the calm before the storm (uh-oh, Ophelia), but let's enjoy it while we can.

As our first month has now come to an end, I'm reflecting on some of the things we have done so far. Lots of projects, some fun role-playing and plenty of writing projects so far with lots more in the pipeline! I'm very happy with how homework is going, and students are more and more prepared for work every day.

Things are getting very busy now with the onset of Intramural sports, Prefecting, Band, Strings, Environmental team and other activities, our days are now very full. This means added expectations on students to be organized, on-time and informed about what is going on in class to make sure they don't fall behind or miss out on things. I will be making an even greater effort now to let parents and students know about things ahead of time, so work can be started on early. Especially when students have busy home lives/practices/rehearsals etc., I don't want to heap any surprises on you.

The students' use of KidBlog has been very impressive so far. I like the initiative I am seeing, and I am happy with student's efforts in French. Students have been informed that they can post any homework they want on KidBlog (it's a great way to share and archive their work), and likewise they can create any "KidBlog assignments" with pen and paper if they would prefer.

Our Beothuk-themed Drama in Education project is ticking along very well. The classes (mine and Mme Curtis') split into groups this week to brainstorm, pose questions about, and think of presentation ideas for a number of topics. These included language, interactions with Europeans, transportation, housing and other topics. On Monday we will split into different groups (a technique called Jigsawing) to start working on projects that use all the information they have generated so far. The focus will now shift to online research, discussion and the creation of a final project.

I will post some links tomorrow, so check back. Have fun in the sun for as long as it lasts, and maybe suggest that your child check out this link to keep tabs on our next big weather concern:

http://www.stormpulse.com/