“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something.

It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.”

- Steve Jobs

We have started to look at the synthesis of prior knowledge and new learning as we read.  We will be applying this in an upcoming "zine" project.  Check the "shared documents" link for more details.

GSCS Parent, Guardian and Student Mathematics Learning Community

Join the Mathematics Learning Community for GSCS parents, guardians, and students and gain access to the student textbooks (Grades 3-9) and Student Practice and Homework books (Grades 1-9).

To register for this learning community, visit the cyber school website: www.scs.sk.ca/cyber and scroll down to the bottom of the page.  Under "Stuff" select "Math Learning Registration".  Scroll down on this page and select "I Agree".  Fill out the registration form and within a few days you will be emailed a user name and password.

Once you have your user name and password, you can access the learning community by going to the cyber school website: www.scs.sk.ca/cyber and logging in under WebCT Log In.

Education Week Activities October 24-28

In the spirit of celebrating our efforts to educate the whole child (spiritual, emotional, physical and mental), special events have been planned each day to draw attention to the gift of education.

Monday, October 24: Physical: 100 Quick Exercises

Tuesday, October 25: Intellectual: Author Read Book

Wednesday, October 26: Spiritual: Decade of the Rosary

Thursday, October 27: Intellectual: 100 of something project

Friday, October 28: Social: Classroom Potluck 

Welcome to tenfortyfour!

I am excited to have this blog up and running.  Please bookmark it and check back often.

Today we had a class discussion about what students would like to see on their class blog.  They had a ton of great ideas, and we have established a team of students to help realize their plans.

While I see this as, primarily, a communication tool to keep students and parents current about homework and school events, there is a lot of potential for it to be an excellent resource in other ways as well.

The October news letter that has been in limbo for two weeks...

October 4, 2011   (This stuff was TOTALLY current when I wrote this, then I changed blogs...)

Dear parents,

Just a note to keep you up to date with what is going on in grade 7…

Academic stuff:

Math:   We have recently come to the end of the “Patterns and Relations” unit.  There was a test on the first unit’s material on Friday.  Several students have elected to take a retest.  In order to qualify, students need to complete at least two review sheets.  Review materials can be found at: www.pearsoned.ca/mathmakessense/student or on CD-ROM available for loan from the school.  I would like to have retests completed by the end of the week, but if students are actively preparing and require more time, that is fine too.

Our second unit, begun Monday, is “Integers”. 

Language Arts:          

We are currently working on a unit called “the Unexplained”.  Students are reading from the Explore the Unknown anthology.  They have also recently finished reading and discussing novels related to the theme.

Guided reading is ongoing.

Our current writing assignment focuses on descriptive writing with a scary theme.

Social Studies:

            We are in the middle of our “Location” unit.  We have been familiarizing ourselves with our atlases, and have an open-atlas a quiz scheduled for Thursday.

Health:

            We have started the year with the Decision Making unit that will continue for the next few weeks.  Students are analyzing their own habits and learning to make healthy decisions.

Religion:

Unit 1 “I…We” is our current unit.  We are exploring the themes

                                                Who am I?

                                                Am I normal?

                                                Do I belong?

            We will be starting unit 2, “We believe in God” later this week.

Other news:

-Our class will soon responsible for Morning Prayer.  Advance preparation is encouraged.

Finally…

            Please take a minute to email me with your name and your child’s name, so that I can add you to my contact list.

With the classroom blog, I am hoping to go paperless for most communication.

Thanks,

D. Gallays

dgallays@scs.sk.ca

659-8451