Weekly Recap and Look into Next Week

We had a busy week last week. We took the rest of our notes on regions and what constitutes a region. We used a Cloze Note strategy to mine our notes for the key points about regions, and that will serve as our study guide for the test on Tuesday. Originally, I envisioned that we would take the test on Friday of this past week; however, that was not realistic, nor compatible with finishing up the foldables. Therefore, the test will be on Tuesday of next week.

The soft date for the foldable turn-in is Wednesday, and the absolute deadline is Friday, October 4. I won't be able to add them to the report cards for grades if I don't get them by then.

We had a great time with our speaker on Friday during 3rd and 4th periods. Mr. Jay Jayaraman, a graduate student from the the Confuscious Center at the University of Memphis, came to teach the students about GO, the oldest board game known to man. The students had a fabulous time and, because he is so amazing astute at what he does, they learned the rudimentary rules so quickly I was surprised. Pictures of his visit follow beneath this post. He will be returning two weeks after fall break to work with my 5th, 6th and 7th periods. I can't wait for them to learn the game as well.

Next week will be a busy week. On Monday we will review for the test and use whatever time is left over to work on foldables. On Tuesday, we will take the test. On Wednesday we will begin the Timezones unit and introduce a new differentiated learning strategy into the classroom called "Learning Menus". With a learning menu, a student self-selects 3 activities to demonstrate their understanding of a concept - an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert on three varying levels of difficulty. Mrs. Murphy, from the Wonderkids, and I are doing this together (as we do most things!) Last, but certainly not least, is the turn-in of the foldables from Wednesday through Friday. The time spent on this project demands that it count as 2 grades.

Hope eveyone has a great week!