Learning Log for January 31

What We Did
    At the start of the block the students that had trouble with their blog got helped. We re-watched the ABC Nightline IDEO Shopping Cart video and finished our notes for it. We talked about how it related to our group work/discussions (communication, each member having a job, etc.). After that Ms Lees explained what we are going to do on Thursday. We are going to discuss our There Will Be Wolves chapter 1 and 2 questions in groups of three. We also did a bit of silent reading on There Will Be Wolves chapter 3.

Why We Did It
    The people who had problems with their blogs were helped because it is better to solve a smaller problem now, instead of it being a major problem later.
    We re-watched the ABC Nightline IDEO Shopping Cart video since some people were away so they can see it and so we could finish our notes on it. We did the notes so we could know what to improve on and to understand the video better.
    Ms Lees told us about Thursday so then we wont be confused on what to do.

Connections
    The people that needed help with the blog got helped so that they could learn from their mistake and know how to do it next time.
    In older grades and adulthood there may be a lot of team work required so watching the video made it more clear on what we should do.

Homework 
-read chapter 3 (There Will Be Wolves)
-finish chapter 1 and 2 questions (There Will Be Wolves)


Tips
-check Ms Lees' blog for updates

January 30th Learning Blog

What We Did
   Today we had class in the library doing group, and one on one blog critiquing. We got together with our blog groups and thought about how we could make our blog posts better, and saw how often each person was posting and we set group goals. Then you had to find someone you never, or rarely work with to critique each others blog posts, saying how good they were on a rate of 1-5, and say what they could do better to improve.

Why We Did It
   We did this so we could build our group, communication, and critiquing skills. Also others might see some things about your blog that doesn't make sense and learn from our mistakes. Through this we are also getting better at self, and peer evaluations.

Connections
    When we get into higher grades, most likely english, we will have to use these editing skills for essays, stories, etc. Also if we want a job in the area of writing like being an author or an editor, that is a place where editing skills are VERY important. Evaluating/critiquing skills are useful in many places.

Homework 
   The homework was to finish those peer editing sheets, and if you haven't already finished your novel questions there's that too.

Tips
   Make sure to finish your questions so that we talk in our novel groups tomorrow!

Learning Log for January 16th

Hi Guys,

Yay! We are getting back on track with these Learning Logs! Anyhow, here is today's learning log...

What We Did:

- Worked on our webs about our novel's setting: we got together with the people in our novel study group, and finished taking notes on our heading's subjects. Examples of these headings could be Geography, Clothing, Social Structure, etc. These headings must be only about the setting and time period of your novel, not the characters. After we finished taking notes and connecting ideas to other ideas, we planned the web out on paper so that we might see where everything will fit.

Why We Did It:

-Novel Webs: We are making these webs to better understand the setting and time period of our novel. This will guide us into learning more into learning about the history in the time period of our novels, as we must research many subjects. This will also help us in our oral communication skills, as we have to be able to collaborate and work well with our group. Also, this helps with organisation and planning skills, because we have to be able to fit things on our web in a way that makes sense.

Connections/Reflections:

-Novel Webs: This web will help us if we wished to be historians, history teachers, or archaeologists, because we learn a lot about a certain time period. Also, this can help us in meetings, as we will have good collaboration skills.

Homework:

- Finish taking your notes on your subjects that you are responsible for.

-Finish and hand in your paragraphs if you haven't already done so. Remember, the order of which they must be in is:

• Rubric/Checklist
• Good Copy
• Draft(s)
• Outline

That is all! Next up is... Hannah!

Learning log for January 13th

What we did:
Today we got our class selection sheet for grade 9. Also today we finished peer checking our paragraph.

Why we did it:
We did the class selection sheet to pick what classes we want to do in grade 9.
We did the peer check on the paragraphs to help us under stand how to improve our paragraphs and we did it in pairs to practice our oral skill by talking to each other.

Connections:
The class selection sheets can help us pick our future by picking the classes we want to take. We could pick the classes by what we want to learn about and about what job we might want to do in the future.
Doing the paragraphs in pairs helps us in the future to by improving our writing and oral skills.

Homework/tips:
We need to get our good copies of our paragraphs typed or written in black or blue pen.
Remember to bring your class selection sheets on Monday or you will have to stand outside in the cold and fill one out right there.

Next to post will be Kia.

Learning Log for January 12

What We Did

First block:

During first block we worked on our concept maps with our novel groups. We first did a basic draft with a title and subtitles, then we split up and each person worked on  a subtitle (for example, Jessica did class and Chase did warfare).

Second block:

In second block we did peer proofreading and editing for our narrative, descriptive, explanatory, and persuasive paragraphs. Ms. Lees handed us two sheets of paper and discussed them. One of them was about editing abbreviations (for example, three lines under a letter means there should be a capital). The other one was used for when proofreading and editing. On the front side there is a checklist of what was needed in the paragraph (title, punctuation, etc.). On the back there is a chart of things required (ranked one through four depending on how well you did it). We buddied up and edited with our partner. For each paragraph we had to use another checklist and most people finished three each. We will finish them tomorrow and do a good copy too.

Why We Did It

We did the concept webs for several purposes. TEAMWORK was really important in this task. We worked, discussed, and helped each other out while doing this assignment. It also developed making webs and getting information from the book. In the end it was pretty quiet while we worked so that was good.

We practiced proofreading and editing so we would get used to doing it to our own paragraphs and written assignments. We also learned about how to proofread and edit better.

Connections

You will need to know how to make concept webs and how to proofread and edit in school and out of school.

Homework/Tips

I don't think there was any homework today

You could work on your concept map or start the good copy of the paragraphs (if you have edited it already)

Be sure to check Ms. Lees blog for updates

The counselor might be coming tomorrow (block 4) to talk about course selections for grade 9

  

Tomorrow's blog will be done by Caitlin

Tuesday, January 10th's Learning Log!

Hello  again!
I'm sorry this one won't be too detailed since all we did was geography challenge...

What We Did...
   Today we did the geography challenge which took the whole block, so i guess there is not too much to write about.

Why We Did It...
   The geography challenge  is a test of different sorts of geography for grades 8 - 10. We were tested on Canada, the world, and even different foods! We did it so it would give us a chance to see how much we really know about the world, and Canada's history. It also gave us a chance to see how much background geography knowledge we have, and have a chance to use what we do have.

Connections
   We can use the information we learn when we are travelling, future socials classes, and of course the geography challenges coming up. Also, if you become a travel agent, you will need to know about different tourist attractions and things like that.

Homework
   The homework is, to make sure you have finish all not handed in work like the first knight questions, pathways notes, and make sure you have all your paragraphs ready for proof reading on Thursday!

Tips
   Try to get everything in as soon as possible so we can move on to other things in class, and also make sure you have all of your paragraphs done.

I tried to do my best based on not much information, so i hope it wasn't that bad!

So that means XINGLU you are up next!

Learning Log for January 9th

Hi guys,

I have not posted in a while, probably due to the fact that Caitlin has been posting for the past week or so!

Anyways, I'm back! And I suppose you are waiting for a learning log of sorts, so here you go...

What We Did:

-Ms. Lees discussed with us about upcoming things in our week like:

• The geography challenge, which is tomorrow. If you do not know what the geography challenge is, it is sort of a quiz, where our teacher asks us questions about Canadian geography and history, World geography and history, landmarks, and sometimes we have to answer questions while locating the answer of the question (a place) on a map provided on the overhead. We write our answers individually, meaning no chatting about the answers. I am not completely sure as to what would happen if you won this challenge, maybe we would have a school wide competition. But like I said, I am not completely sure. This challenge is not for marks.
• The course selection that will be happening on Wednesday. This will be done in a fair like format, where the Grade 8's learn about courses that will be available for them to choose from (their electives). At the end of course selection, we will receive a sheet to take home, and that is when we actually choose the electives. I highly recommend sitting down and talking with your parents, so that you can maybe see what would be best for you. Keep in mind that you must choose with your future in mind. For example, if you were planning on pursuing a profession that requires French as a second language, it might be a good idea to choose French as one of your electives!

Ms. Lees normally does discuss with us about the upcoming week on Mondays, so this was fairly normal.

- We took notes on concept webs. Concept webs are webs about a specific subject, using connections, diagrams, tables, pyramids and hierarchy ladders, pictures, and phrases that are all relevant to the subject. It is a visual way to represent and organise data. The webs on the walls of our class look really good, and it looks like an interesting way to maybe do a book report, write a history web, or take notes, because it allows you to survey all your information on one sheet of paper, and also to make connections you otherwise might not have been able to, say, in an essay. Soon we will be making webs in our groups made up of the people in our novel study group.

Why We Did It:

-Discussions about:

• Geography Challenge: To help us prepare for the upcoming geography challenge, so that we know what is expected of us, and also what to study. This allows us to get a better understanding of our world, and find out some things that we maybe did not know before. The geography challenge offers us a vast variety of information for us to process and remember. It is done in a slightly competitive way, so that it makes it a little bit more fun and interesting for the people who are taking part in it.
• Course Selection: So that we know about our new opportunity to choose our electives. This will help us to be able to speak with our parents before hand, and come to some sort of consensus before we even go to the selection fair. It also gives us some time to process that we are actually selecting our courses now, and not at the end of the year; I know I was a little bit surprised at that!

-Notes on concept web: This gives us an idea of the criteria of the concept webs, and also tells us what they are, because I know that some people may not have known what they are, and this allows us to understand and process what is needed to be done on these projects. The concept ways are great for helping you to make connections, and I feel that the visual element is key, as it gives interest to your eyes, and also helps the visual learners understand the information more. I am glad that Ms. Lees gave us an opportunity to plan these webs in our mind a little bit, maybe formulate what we think we want to aim for, and how we can achieve that goal. Following through, after all, is the key to success!

Connections/Reflections:

-Discussing:

• Geography Challenge: Doing the geography challenge will help us in jobs that involve travel, such as a travel agent, travel guide, or even if you were a traveller wondering where some neat landmarks are in the areas close to your destination. It also helps if you are watching the news, because then you can figure out where and why calamities are happening, whether the reason be of history, location, etc.
• Course Selection will help us in the future so that we can do an elective that will help us on our career path. Also learning about the courses will help us decide which one we would like to take and help us decide on the reasons that we are taking it, so we have a slight idea on why we might be thinking about pursuing a certain career.

- Notes on Concept Web: The concept webs will allow us in future projects in school, to plan out what we want to do. It also helps during meetings if we are trying to get a point across, but can't quite find the words to explain it.

Homework:

-No homework, unless you have not finished your novel. I suggest reading it as soon as you can, because by now we have moved on in class.
-Go to flex if you have not finished your First Knight questions or your Chapter one notes.

Tips:

-Talk to your parents about the courses you want to take. They might offer a point of view that you never thought about, and that could affect your decision.

-Try and brush up on you geography for tomorrow. It couldn't hurt to just surf the Internet for facts.

-Start thinking about your web. Its a good idea to plan it out a little bit (not the content, the format, because we don't really know our subject very much) so that you are fully prepared for the task.

I hope that this helped, and I'm really hoping that it wasn't complete rubbish!

Next up is Hannah. Bye!

Learning log for January 6th

What we did:
Today we had class in the library. We finished critiquing our blogs in partners again and we kinda critiqued three webs in groups.

Why we did it:
We critiqued the blogs in partners to improve on our skills. We critiqued the webs in groups to improve our oral skills and how to work good in groups.

Connections:
Its good that we did critiquing because it could help us in future jobs and it could also help others. Also its good that we worked in partners and in groups because it also could help us in the future for almost everything.

Homework:
We have the geography challenge on Tuesday.

Tips:
Always check ms. lees blog if u every need help.

The next person to post is Kia

Learning log for January 5th

What we did:

Today first block we did 6 rounds of the practice geography challenge to get ready for the geography challenge next week, Tuesday, January 10th. Geography challenge is when Ms. Lees asks us questions about geography kind of like a quiz.

For the second block we went to the library to use the computers to critique our blogs and to learn what we could do better.

Why we did it:

We practiced the geography challenge so we can get ready and be prepared for the challenge. Also we could learn about the world. Doing the geography challenge could help us in the future. For example we could use it in jobs or in travels.Some job examples are... - travel guide
- an archeology

We are looking at the learning logs so we can reflect on the work and to see how we are doing. Also doing the learning logs helps us work on our writing skills. We critiqued our blogs with partners to build oral skills. We reflected on them because it helps us see what needs improving and to see how far we have come from the start.

Connections:

We could use the blogs to help us learn about computers and it could help us in the future for a job.

Homework - tips:

Study for the geography challenge. Check Ms. Lees blog.

I will be posting tomorrow as well.

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