Week One - Sanitize your hands please

Title: Sanitize your hands please.

Author: Mr. Hodgkinson

Date: September 18, 2020 

Quote of the week: "Can you make the S in my name a dollar sign" - $pencer

Here is the first of a new experiment. A week in review blog. In order to prepare for it, I introduced the students to the following reflection strategy.

The "rose" is the thing, activity or event that made the week fantastic or memorable.

The "thorn" is the thing, activity or event that made the week challenging or difficult.

Finally, the "bud" is a snapshot of the future. What are we looking forward toward.

The Rose 

The rose this week was the return to school. We got used to the routines fairly quickly and the weather has allowed us to take mask breaks when necessary. Tuesday was a big day because the classroom projector was installed. That made sharing information much easier. Friday was also a special day. It was the first time we assembled as an entire class.

The Thorn

Although the arrival of the projector was our rose for the week. The installation was also a thorn. We lost 45 minutes of class time while the projector was being installed. We understood and rolled with it. We tried to complete a few activities outside too. When we returned, either the WiFi or Google was acting up. Consequently, we hit more roadblocks. Technology can easily be a thorn in our week. It's amazing how valuable it is...but also, how reliant we are on it. When it isn't available, it is really frustrating.  

The Bud

We decided we were excited about the weekend, but also the week ahead. The next week will be our first full week of school since early March. That's exciting. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and we will be able to maximize our time outside for learning. We have an "in school field trip" planned for Monday morning. That is also something we are looking forward to experiencing.

Mathematic Mentions

We began an activity called "Four 4s" from mathematician Jo Boalers' Week of Inspirational Math. The link to the activity can be found here. The most important thing we learned about, while watching this video, is that we are all mathematicians with brains that are capable of changing to learn new skills. The most important thing is that we approach math with a Growth Mindset and that we accept that struggle is an important part of our brain's development. We are looking for progress, not perfection.

Literacy Links

The only story we looked at was a short parable about an Old Man on the Road. It was a chance to introduce metaphor and remind students that on their road through education, there are things they can gather that might turn to precious gemstones in their future. However, it is up to them to gather and keep this information. No one can make you learn. To help reinforce this thinking, students were given a "gemstone" to keep with them. Hopefully, I provide them with enough incentive to gather as many gemstones as they can on this part of the road through Grade 7.

Week's End

As a final task, I asked students to think about their favourite teacher(s) and then write down three things that made them special. I gathered these anonymous post-it notes at the end of the day and will collate them this weekend.

Speaking of weekends, have a great one!