Month Number Two! #ENG2D #ICS2O

Yes, it’s October. It’s the second month. It’s almost a third of the semester. It’s insanity. Students are progressing well in our classes as they show a willingness to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. As we cruise through October, (and the month will go by as quickly as it came) it will be important for students to exercise their best work ethics as things will be getting pretty busy.

ENG2D – Grade 10 English Students had a bit of a reality check last week as argumentative essays were returned. I was a little surprised and a little disappointed with the quality of the final products. Many were not edited very well. Several did not follow the minimum expectations or success criteria. Evidently, some did not use the lesson materials and resources provided to them. As such, it was necessary to take pause from our Lord of the Flies novel study to ensure that the majority of the class is able to demonstrate an understanding of effective writing because it’s such an important skill.

I took the time to conference with each student using descriptive feedback on their essays to help them understand what changes needed to be made in order to meet expectations. Students took this past weekend to implement some changes and I’m optimistic that the end result will be worth taking the pause.

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This week, we will return to Lord of the Flies. Students have been developing high-order thinking questions for chapters and we will get to discussing them this week. Our other focus is building an understanding of how plot, conflict, setting, and characters can all contribute to the theme of a novel.

ICS2O – Grade 10 Computer Science students spent last week looking at various pieces of desktop computer hardware through various online retailers with the goal of pricing out and building a customized computer. Normally, I would begin a computer hardware unit with physical examples, (from discarded computers) but alas, I had none available – so I’m starting with the end. Flexibility is important! This week, we will continue talking computer hardware, (hopefully with some examples!) and perhaps take our foray into a second programming unit, (either Python or SmallBASIC). I’m pretty excited to bring an old classic into the classroom for folks to explore:

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That’s it for this week’s update. A reminder that Parent-Teacher Interviews/Parent’s Night is scheduled for next week on Wednesday, October 12 from 6:30pm-8:30pm. If you’d like to make an appointment to see me, students should be bringing home appointment cards. Otherwise, email me and we can set something up.

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