Yes, that’s right – it’s the middle of October. We’ve had our first brush of snow, most of the leaves have fallen, and the first progress reports have been handed out. Before we know it, we’ll be putting up Christmas lights. In the meantime, things are trucking along well in classes. It is clear that students appreciate opportunities for hands-on learning, (especially in Computer Science) and I am working hard to bring more of those opportunities to class. In English, our class discussions have been going very well as we wrap our thinking around Lord of the Flies. This week is a bit of an anomaly in our scheduling, though, due to the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test practice, scheduled for Thursday, October 20. That will be a major focus in Grade 10 classes this week. With that in mind, here’s our weekly plan:
ENG2D – Grade 10 English will, as mentioned, be focusing on literacy test practice this week. We will use previous copies of the test to gain a familiarity with the types of questions, the instructions, and the expectations. Students will write the test on Thursday. This is a pilot for the online version of the test and if students are unsuccessful, it does not count against them as an attempt. However, if they pass the test, then it does count. It’s a pretty sweet deal. Students and parents can find additional resources on the EQAO – OSSLT website. This is the organization that administers the test.
ICS2O – Grade 10 Computer Science students will wrap up the computer hardware unit this week, which ends with a short unit test. We had some awesome success doing the hands-on computer disassembly/rebuild project. One group even managed to get their system running. With the cooperation of the GCHS IT Technician, we are also introducing real-world hardware problems into the class. Our students get to take on tech support roles. Yay!
We will then move on to our second coding unit. I’m still deciding if this will be Microsoft smallBASIC or Python. We’ll do both – I’m just not sure which one will come first. Both are available as free downloads if anyone wants to play at home.
Anyway, that’s it for the week. I know students are stressing about the literacy test, but they shouldn’t. We will get through it!