See above.
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So, today's topic was confined mostly to science: we read through he new handout, which is entitled "The Basics of Inheritance." I'll attach that below. It also will be up in the science section under the new tab, Genetics. So, the overall goal was to read through the material and use it to generate a list of questions that we can use as a basis for our upcoming research paper, which will mainly be about explaining meiosis and inheritance. Also, the five terms have their definitions due tomorrow, which is Friday.
Let me be clear, because there's been a fair amount of confusion: right now, we are reviewing the last 17 amendments to the constitution: eleven through twenty-seven. With that said, the test next week will include ALL of the amendments, including the Bill of Rights (first ten.) Be prepared.
In class today, we took our formative exam for the Mitosis Test we will have in two weeks. Start Whooo. Long day. I just got home, and it is: nine. Pm. Wow.
Okay, so our main accomplishment today was to review through the last 17 amendments of the Constitution. please don't forget the test is next Tuesday: You must be able to correctly identify is a statement is one of the 27 amendments, and if so, which amendment it is...MANY STUDENTS FAIL THIS. Mainly due to a failure to prepare. So...prepare! See you all tomorrow. Oh, I'll admit that I was worried about today's test, a little bit. I personally didn't think it would be that tough, but last year a lot of students really struggled with it. Well, not today! On the Bill of Rights assessment, a huge majority of students passed with flying colours!
For the most part, that was our main accomplishment in Social Studies for today. Tomorrow, we'll start looking at the last 17 amendments to the Constitution. That material is already up under the Social Studies tab, and the test will be next Tuesday the 18th. In science, we reviewed some of the definitions that we had struggled with from the Meaning Behind Meiosis handout from last week. Then, everyone got a copy of my version of those definitions: flashcards for them are due tomorrow, Tuesday the 11th. That handout is now up on the Biology : Cell Division page. Well, overall, today wasn't awful: 60% of you students passed the test with a 60% or higher, which meant that only 32 calls had to go home tonight. In fact, 20% of the group got an A, which actually indicates that the test may have been too easy... In any case, we have until 2/24 to retake it, although if you wait till the last day, it will not help your progress report grade, because the midterm is at Feb. 24.
The only concern over the weekend is whether you walk in prepared for the Bill of Rights test. Work hard! Okay, so: 87% of you turned in your science homework today. Utterly fantastic! I will start grading and entering those later tonight. After collecting that, we then reviewed some of the materials for what will be covered on the Eukaryotes test tomorrow. It seems like the majority of the students have not been studying properly over these past two weeks. With that said, I am throwing the definitions PowerPoint up at the end of this post. Even at this point, something is better than nothing. In social studies, we took some time to review for the test that is coming up on Monday for the Bill of Rights. Don't forget, the mitosis flashcards (which should have been done earlier this week) are due tomorrow as well. Work hard!
Actually, today went pretty smoothly, all things considered. The reward for the students who met their AR goal last quarter was this morning: a viewing of one of the Percy Jackson movies, I believe...while everyone who qualified went down to see the show, the remainder of us stayed to catch up on some reading. (Not I! I was able to actually clear my desk of various paperwork piles! It turns out my desk is made of some sort of wood...)
Since we had limited time for the remainder of the day, the only thing we had time for was to finish going over the Bill of Rights. Remember, that test will be Monday. Study the flashcards you were given, and come prepared! This week has not felt long, exactly. I just feel like waaay more time has past.
But, in any case: the day is done. I apologize for the late post. I got home a bit past five, started cooking dinner, and the wife and I have just finished up, with the dishes done. All that's left is an hour or so of grading, and then bed! But, I'm not too tired, because I enjoyed today. In science, we handed back the Mitosis definitions, and had a wee bit of a talk. Overall, the main problem seem to have been this: the task of reading the text I've assigned and then creating explanations or definitions based on the text has been perhaps a bit ambitious: not the basic task itself, but the amount assigned. Given that in general several excellent students have been struggling with this task, I talked about a compromise. First, we need to acknowledge the general point of the assignment: it is not to generate the best possible definition. It is, rather, to use the text. By reading it closely, and asking questions about it, and using the context of the text, the real goal is to interpret it well. If you students can try that, I will limit the number of definitions I am asking you to create, and supply my own definitions for the rest of the important terms, which you are still responsible for knowing on tests. In exchange, you need to use the actual text and truly try to interpret it, rather than resort to the internet or other texts. If you cannot decipher the meaning of a given term, you need to leave it blank, so we can cover it in class... So, overall for science, today we finished reading through the Meaning Behind Meiosis text: the definitions for terms 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15 and 16 (I think) are due Thursday. The flashcards for mitosis (which I handed my definitions for today) are due Friday. Also, we do have the Eukaryotes test on Friday, as well. Study hard! In social studies, we started talking about what is possibly the most important part of the Constitution: the bill of rights. The handouts (which are flashcard style when the pages are printed back to back) and the presentation are both already posted in the constitution section under the social studies tab. So far, it's been great discussions in all classes. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. Get your work done, and get some sleep. On the day! I've probably used that title before, but I am genuinely pleased to report that so far today, most people have passed the third Constitution test on Article 3 with flying colors! Sadly, that ate up most of our time in Social studies today, but we will start reading about the bill of rights tomorrow, and the test will be next Monday, too.
In science, we talked about how Mitosis as a means of reproduction was supplemented by sexual reproduction and meiosis sometime deep in the past. The text to introduce this was handed out in class today. The associated terms will be due with definitions on Thursday. We also collected the Mitosis definitions that were assigned last week and turned in today. I'll have those graded and returned by tomorrow so that people can start turning them into flashcards for study: these will be checked off as homework on Friday. Finally, DO NOT FORGET TO STUDY! The Eukaryotes test will be this Friday. |
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Mr. StevensonScience Teacher. Fanatic lover of Board games. Historian. Huge Nerd. Scholastic Bowl Coach. |