Note:
I do have access to the internet and I am able to check my email so if you have any questions please feel free to contact me. However, I will not be updating the Homework and News sections or the Marks sections until I return.
Cheers,
Mr. Lang
Tuesday October 14
I will be away from October 16 to the 23. I will be back at school on Friday October 24. Mrs. Gail Langley will be in for me during this time. She was a teacher at Louis Riel at the Grade 5/6 level and retired last year. She is a great lady and knows many of the students. If you have any questions and concerns feel free to email me and I will try my best to check and respond; however, I can not guarantee that I will have access to a computer or the ability to respond.
7-1
- Make sure that you are keeping up on all of your work. Many of you have caught up but many of you are still behind. Please take a look at your marks to see what you are missing or what you can redo so that you can improve your mark. Remember, we are looking for mastery of concepts and topics not just a basic understanding of them.
- Quiz 2 marks are updated.
- Number Sense Scavenger Hunt Project is due on Monday October 20. I will try to upload the file tomorrow from school. You were given this on Thursday October 9 so you have plenty of time to get it finished. I am doing this project instead of a final unit exam as it allows you to show me what you know in a more comfortable way.
7-2
- Marks are now updated for Our Home and Native Land Project map.
- We are continuing Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver as a read aloud book during our reading workshops and the students are using the remaining time, approximately 30 minutes, to read a book of their choosing. Reading workshops occur on Mondays and Wednesdays. Please remember that you should be reading 20 minutes a night at home. This can be anything that you would like from textbooks to comic books.
- We have begun to write memoirs and have been looking at how to brainstorm ideas for our writing.
Web Design
- Many of you are falling behind. We will try my best to mark Assignment #1 & #2 tomorrow so that you can see how well you are doing.
- If you have not yet handed in your Web Site Planning assignment then please get it in so that you can start designing your site.
- Make sure to ask me or other students in the class for help so that we are all able to learn together.
7-1 – Math Quiz
- There will be a math quiz on Tuesday October 14. The topics on the test will include: divisibility rules/tests, scientific notation, factors, greatest common factor, factor trees, multiples, lowest common multiple, and prime and composite numbers.
- If you do not understand something then it is your responsibility to come to me to get help. The best time to do this is the day we are learning this in class and working on it. This way it will be fresh in your memory and we will be able to get you up to speed so that you do not fall behind.
7-2 – Our Home & Native Land Map Puzzle Piece
7-2
- Your map puzzle piece for Our Home & Native Land project is due on Tuesday October 14. You should have had enough time to complete it at school because have given you around five full classes to complete it. If you have already finished it and if it is absolutely amazing then you may start working on the brochure, or third part of the project.
Web Design – Children’s Book Adaptation
Web Design
- All of your characters and backgrounds need to be completed for Thursday October 9 as we are going to start filming on this day. If you do not have them done then you will have less time to film and edit your work.
Wednesday October 8
All marks are updated on the website. Please check to make sure that I have entered them in correctly and so that you can find out how you are doing or what you still need to do.
7-1
- There are still a number of students who have not returned their math quiz signed, handed in Investigating Plants Around Our School Part II, and the plant life cycle questions. Please get them in ASAP because they are all late.
- Math Quiz on Tuesday October 14. The quiz will have questions about the following: divisibility rules/tests, scientific notation, factors, greatest common factor, factor trees, multiples, lowest common multiple, and prime and composite numbers. Remember, that if you do not understand something when it is being taught it is your responsibility to ask for help. The best time to do this is on the day that we are doing it so that it is fresh in your mind and so that you will not fall further behind.
- Make sure to have your groups beehive information completed for tomorrow so that we can continue with this assignment.
7-2
- Please try to read for at least 20 minutes a night. This can be the book that you are reading in class or another book that you are interested. If it is the book you are reading in school please make sure that you bring it to class on every Monday and Wednesday.
- Your Our Home and Native Land map puzzle piece is due on Tuesday October 14. Tomorrow will be the last class to work on it. If you have already finished it and if it is absolutely amazing then you may start working on the brochure, or third part of the project.
Web Design
- Finish Planning Your Website activity for our class on Tuesday, and make sure that you hand it into the D2L dropbox, so that you can start making your website.
Monday October 6
Parents:
I am becoming ever more disappointed with the effort put forth by the majority of the students this year. I try to approach learning with an inquiry project based methodology which should be more engaging to the students. With this methodology much of the responsibility is put on the students as they are essentially in charge of their own learning. I remind the students that I cannot force them to do work or learn and that this must come from within. However, as part of this the students are required to think and apply information instead of just regurgitating it. For many of the students this proves to be rather difficult but nonetheless it is essential for their success. I have talked to the students about this still of learning and the consensus is that it is enjoyable, “more fun,” and “cool” compared to other styles of learning they may have done before. Yet, most of the students do recognize that it may be somewhat more challenging as a result of having to think but they have been reassured that this will better with time.
I provide as much class time as I can so that the students have the opportunity, for the most part, to finish their assignments at school. However, if the students are not utilizing their class time to the best of their ability, if they are over achieving, or if they are having difficulty with a particular project or assignment they may have to complete some of it outside of the assigned class time. From what I can see this is not happening with the majority of the students.
The reason that I post homework and assignments on this website is to keep everyone aware of what is going on and what should be getting done. Therefore, please use this site to help you engage in conversation with your children to find out what they are doing in school or at least in Mr. Lang’s class.
There is also the mark section which I update on regular basis so that everyone is kept in the loop regarding student assessment results. In the beginning of the year I also called the parents of the students who failed to have the letter signed and returned so that I could ensure it had been seen and also to enforce the idea that we mean business. Since that time I have also sent other forms, assignments, or quizzes home so that they to can be looked at. However, currently only one third of the students are returning such forms and I do not have the time to call thirty plus parents every time this is done. As a result some parents are not aware of what is happening in the classroom and with their child.
Essentially, I am writing this to inform everyone of our continued frustration with both Grade 7 classes and that if things do not improve there will be a number of students who will end up receiving an assessment of no report/record (NR) on their report card as they have failed to complete a sufficient amount of work to be properly assessed.
I am writing this as somewhat of a disclaimer as I have tried my best to keep everyone informed and I do not mean for there to be any surprises for the students, for you, parents, or for myself when the official reporting period comes around. Furthermore, I am looking for continued support from you to ensure that we are doing the best we possibly can for your children.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to email me, call me at school, or comment on here so that we can have an open discussion about this.
I apologize for the rant as my intention was to inform parents of the situation at school. Furthermore, I apologize if I have offended anyone in the comments that I have posted as that was definitely not the purpose of this rant.
Cheers,
Jeremy Lang
P.S. – Please do a search on the internet for “inquiry based learning” and/or “project based learning” as there are many great articles out there regarding this approach and research supporting it.
7-1
- Get your Investigating Plants Around the School Part II in as it was due today and I only received five completed projects.
- Please make sure to return your math quizzes signed as I have only received around ten of them and they too were due today.
- For those of you who are not enjoying the study of plants in science I thought I would let you know that we will only be looking at this unit for approximately three more weeks.
7-2
- Please make sure that you are remembering to complete at least twenty minutes of ready a night at home.
- Remember that you may want to work on your Our Home and Native Land map puzzle pieces and brochures at home so that they get completed to the best of your ability and so that they are handed in on time.
7-1 – Investigating Plants Around Our School Part II
7-1
- Part II of your Investigating Plants Around our School project is due on Monday October 6. Tomorrow will be the last class that you have to work on it as we have already used three periods to do so. Make sure that you look over the instructions and that you check your rubric to ensure that you are doing everything correctly. Remember the quality of your work is directly related to your effort.