The Last Days of 2007 for Mr. McGill's Greyhounds
Garrison Mill has receieved the Bronze Award from the Governors Office of Student Achievement. 95% of our students met or exceeded standards on the state assessment for 06/07 20% exceeded standards in all test areas. What a wonderful accomplishment! Hard work and focus brings success. Our math fraction unit on addition and subtraction of fractions is coming to a close this week. We will have a unit test next Wednesday. Concepts included will be prime and composite numbers, the divisibility rules, converting improper fractions to mixed fractions, and mixed fractions to improper. Addition and subtraction of fractions is also included, with both like and unlike denominators and also reducing fractions to their simplest form. Please review these concepts with your child.
Our class holiday party will be on the 20th at 10:15. Please join us since this will be the last time, as your children head off to middle school- Please, no tears allowed at the party!
Students have indicated their Research paper topics and have begun to take notes on them. The variety of interests underscores the diversity of our classroom. The final date for the papers will be sometime in mid to late January. The process of researching and evaluating information is an expansive one, so when we return from our break we as a class will set a more specific deadline.
We have been studying Cells in Science and have related this back to our study of Matter earlier this year. It is important that students recognize the value of reflecting on the material they learn. When they personalize their own connections to the material and draw conclusions and make comparisons, their mental skills strengthen.
The success of our Ellis Island Experience has culminated in students writing essays comparing and contrasting two different groups of people who impacted positive change in the United States at the turn of the century. Freed African Slaves and Russian Jewish families each chose to find a better way of life in moving from the Southern States and Russia respectively. Students noted their similarities and differences while practicing the writing process. This took many steps, but they accomplished the assignment and have benefitted from it.
I have attended trainings within Cobb County over the past three weeks and have learned some strategies for learning and teaching which are new to me. The first training related to Thinking Maps and how they can be implemented to draw conclusions, organize information, and indicate understanding of concepts. Five teachers from Garrison Mill attended the training, and our class has used these Maps in the classroom ever since (they were useful for many students in writing the essays mentioned in the previous paragraph). They are quite helpful, so ask your child to share one with you. They may help you too!
The second training had to do with Cobb County strategies and curriculum. One distinct portion of this was the new Georgia Performance Standards for Social Studies which will take effect next year. Students will surely benefit from the change in focus from knowing specific details out of context to learning large concepts which can be connected. Before, knowing that the U.S. had an immigration boom at the end of the 19th Century was the goal. Now, students will describe how European emigration, the end of the Civil War in the U.S., and industrialization all worked together in changing our country's history (and eventual destiny). While this is certainly more of a challenge, it is also more meaningful. Embedded in such study is the "why" answer to the question "Why do we need to know this?" Knowing our country's past helps to comprehend what is presently taking place (and how our future may play out).
The good news is that our students are currently learning to make these connections in class. Through our groupwork, personal writing, and reflection on the concepts, students are arriving at conclusions about our studies. Of course, this creates the need to ask even more questions. It is exciting to see students strategizing for lifelong learning.
Lifelong learning also requires personal discipline and a degree of self-mastery. Our class has identified what is most "Important" to us as individuals. Students have listed these on notecards kept in their desks. We are identifying obstacles to time spent on these important parts of our lives. These include timewasters, interruptions, and any other distractions. We will use these identifiers and recognitions to help create our New Year's Resolutions during our class party. We will post these at home to review and reflect on our personal goals. These are skills which will carry students beyond middle school.
ATTENTION: GRADING PERIOD FOR 2ND NINE WEEKS ENDS 12/21/07 GRADES WILL BE KEYED AND AVERAGED OVER THE HOLIDAY BREAK. WORK WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AFTER 12/21/07. REPORT CARDS FOR NINE WEEK PERIOD WILL BE GIVEN TO PARENTS AT CONFERENCES. CONFERENCES WILL BE SCHEDULED 1/22 - 1/28 with early dismissal on those days at 12:20 Thanks for reading our blog! Have a wonderful break! Alex McGill
Sincerely,
