Week 1 - Week In Review

Well, we got through the first week! This is now my third time beginning the school year with classes of 8th Graders at East Columbus, and in many ways, it has been the best. There are some challenges, to be sure, but all in all, I can say that if the rest of the year goes like this week went, we are going to have fun and learn like never before!

For one thing, I've got my SmartBoard up and running! The SmartBoard is a piece of interactive technology that allows you to do everything from running the computer from it to writing on it to using interactive software. As we studied simple probability this week (I'll get to that in a minute), I was delighted to watch my students come up to the Board and spin a spinner or roll dice, simply by touching the Board! And they loved it too! I have known of this technology and have desired to have it for ten years now. To finally have it in my room and be using it is literally a dream come true!

As we have begun the year, I started something else that I had been wanting to do for a while now: journaling. I've kept journals myself for years, but I wanted to have the kids start journalling so that they could put their thoughts on paper as they learned new concepts. The results have been significant, to say the least. I would say that my kids fall into three categories: those who are still trying to write as little as possible, those who know WHAT they want to say but don't know HOW to say it, and those who are not only willing but very able to express themselves in writing. With each of the kids in each of these categories, I would have them write down their impressions of the day's lesson, what they learned, how they felt, etc. I intend for it to be not only a reinforcement of the lessons they are learning, but also a long-running conversation between each of my kids and me all year long. My ultimate goal is to have this journal be a resource for them when they go to high school next year. Their high school teachers will not have the time to review what I have had to teach them, so by writing it all down now, the kids will essentially have me as a "tutor" to remind them of what they learned this year, NEXT year. I thought it would be a great idea, but it has come at a cost: I didn't quite realize the amount of time it would take to read and respond to 85 journals! But I'm making the adjustment. Some of the conversations I have begun with these incredible kids have been truly amazing. I can't wait to see the "finished" product at the end of the year!

As I said earlier, this week, we learned about simple probability. Probability is a number between 0 and 1 which gives the likelihood of an event happening. It can be expressed as a fraction, a decimal, or a percent. This number is found by taking the number of outcomes you are looking for and dividing it by the total number of outcomes there are. We studied this concept and the concept of sample space by exploring my "bag full of...stuff." You'd have to ask my kids about that. I'm sure they would love to tell you about it. What I will say here is, expect much more interactive use of manipulatives as we go through the year.

The week culminated on yesterday, which also happened to be my birthday! My children made it so special for me! They serenaded me with the traditional rendering of "Happy Birthday To You," and followed it up with Stevie Wonder's version of the same! It was a happy day all day yesterday, and I was REALLY keyed up about it even after the school day had ended! I sent the kids home with their first homework assignment; to write in their journals their own summary of what we learned this past week. I can't wait to read their responses on Monday!

Come back tomorrow night for the preview of next week! See you soon!