Here are some of the pumpkins that my students carved in the computer lab this week.
Check out this cool website to virtually carve your own pumpkin.
I wish everyone a Safe and Happy Halloween tonight!
Monthly Archives: October 2009
Happy Halloween!
This is the mural that my class made for today’s Halloween celebrations in the gym. It is about 6 feet long by 4 feet wide. All of my students had a hand in creating it.
And here are some positive and negative jack-o-lanterns that we made.
I hope that you all have a Safe and Happy Halloween.
Bubble Bobble – Takes Me Back
I think Bubble Bobble is the best video game ever.
And I’m not sure why it isn’t often mentioned in video game circles as a classic. I love playing this game. I can remember plunking in quarter after quarter into the arcade machine at the bowling alley near my house.
The one thing I liked about this game is that you could actually play for quite some time on one quarter. Other games didn’t give you much for your twenty-five cents.
As far as game play, it was pretty basic. Each level was a single screen much like Pac-man. The heroes of the game were Bubble Dragon Twins Bub and Bob. You could either play solo or work together with a partner to pass the levels.
The goal of each level was to capture the bad guys by trapping them in a bubble. They would then float around the screen until you either popped the bubble they were in or they escaped from it after a certain amount of time. Whenever a enemy escaped they became angry and moved across the screen very fast. It made the game more of a challenge.
You collected bonus points by running through the prizes that would appear on the screen, once again, much like Pac-man. But the best prize you could get in this game was rapid-fire bubbles. You could also bounce on the bubbles to get to certain spaces in the level that you couldn’t otherwise travel to.
It was an awesome game and I was super-excited when I found that it was available on Commodore 64. I immediately bought a copy and my brother and I worked hard trying to beat all 99 levels of the game.
I still have my Commodore 64 in a box in the basement. But I am very tempted to break it out, hook it back up, and play this game again. The best thing about it was that the game was just as good on the computer as it was in the arcade, that wasn’t so with a lot of the titles I had.
Did you ever play this game?
What’s your favourite classic video game?
Did you have a Commodore 64 too?
Please leave a comment and share. Thanks!
Teaching Tip Tuesdays – EQAO Testing
The EQAO is a standardized test that is taken by all students in Ontario near the end of Grade 3 and then again in Grade 6.
It is a difficult test and it is challenging to be a teacher in these grades. We need to prepare our students so that they can write the test independently. We need to train them how to answer both multiple choice questions and open response ones. We also need to work on their focus so that they can actually sit quietly and be productive independently for an hour at a time.
But we shouldn’t treat this year as the test is the all important thing. We shouldn’t teach to the test. The test does not count towards the report card mark at all. So the students shouldn’t be too worried about it. Nonetheless, test anxiety is a big concern for students of all ages. It is something that we as teachers need to be aware of.
The best way to prepare students for the EQAO is to include standardized test questions and the specific language that is used in the test throughout the year.
You can download tests from the previous years at the EQAO website here – http://www.eqao.com/
If you teach Grade 3 or 6, here are some hints for you to help prepare your students.
Math tests
– design your own tests (don’t use the ones from your teacher guide. If you do, make sure to add some EQAO-type questions to it)
– go to the EQAO website and scan the mathematics booklets to find questions based on whatever unit you are teaching.
– print out these questions and physically cut and paste them onto your test or scan them into your computer.
– make sure to include some questions where they need to show their work or explain their thinking.
Reading
– do weekly reading tests
– print out questions from the EQAO website so they have practice answering some of the questions
Open Response Questions
– Teach “a-e-o” – this formula will help your students answer these type of open-ended questions.
– a = answer the question, e = find evidence in the text to support your answer, o = make sure you give your opinion.
When do you prepare your students?
– Start right away
– Don’t take time to teach to the test
– Imbed all of this into your regular program.
Use the EQAO resources online
– some of these questions will appear again in future tests.
– you can also see that they same type of questions are asked every year
– become familiar with these tests so you can really prepared your students
Teach how to write a test
– make sure students know not to spend too much time on one question. If they get stuck on a question, they should skip it and come back to it if there is time.
– they also shouldn’t leave any questions blank.
– Teach them how to make good guesses.
Take up tests
– take up every test you assign
– show students how they can improve their levels and marks.
Share the marking schemes
– the students can recognize these levels and how to achieve better marks if they are exposed to the exemplars.
Don’t sweat it too much.
This is just one test and it is a snapshot of that particular day. Sure the test says a lot about what our students are capable of doing. The important thing to remember is that this is not just a Grade 3 or Grade 6 test. The data reflects how well the students are performing and learning at our schools, not just in our classrooms.
"We Don’t Buy Those"
I’m at the grocery store in the cookie aisle. I pick up some cookies and put them into my basket.
Just then, a father pushes his daughter down the aisle. She’s sitting in the shopping cart and she sees me picking out my cookies. She happily exclaims, “Cookies!”
Her father says doesn’t even slow the cart down. He replies to her, “We don’t buy those.”
It’s hard to explain what ran through my head just then. It almost felt like I was doing something wrong.
Why shouldn’t I buy cookies, I said to myself.
I wondered if I was being a bad role model to this little girl whom I had never met before.
I wondered if it was because I had picked up the no-name brand.
I then heard her dad say to her, “We make our own.”
Okay, good, I think to myself. Everyone should have cookies.
Be Satisfied Already
It seems that some people are never satisfied. I come across these people all the time and I really can’t figure them out. It used to drive me crazy because I would bend over backwards trying to please these people and it seemed that whatever I did, it was never enough. I finally figured out though that it wasn’t about me, it was about them.
I can understand wanting things done right. I can understand giving someone some constructive criticism if it is warranted. I can even understand complaining on occasion. But I can’t understand people who constantly nit-pick, find fault, and try to tear you down.
To these people, I want to scream “Be satisfied already!”
I try my best. I think I do a pretty good job in most aspects of my life too. I’ll also be the first one to admit that I’m not perfect. But who is? You certainly aren’t. Do you ever think of that? Probably not. But my faults are as clear as day to you and it seems to me that you think it is your job to correct them. And some of them aren’t even faults either.
So if you come at me with a complaint and I explain myself logically and can explain why I do so-and-so, please listen, consider what I’ve said, and be satisfied already.
Is that too much to ask?
Love Story Meets Viva La Vida
I so love Twitter.
Ryan D. Scott posted this message up yesterday: “Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp, Taylor Swift and Coldplay = holy fantastic. Thanks @jonschmidty http://bit.ly/BjfHR”
I follow Ryan because he is a good blogger and posts some interesting thoughts, observations, and links on his Twitter page. I followed this link in particular because I have recently become a fan of Taylor Swift. I’m glad that I checked out the video because Ryan was right, it is amazing.
So I retweeted the message so my Twitter followers could check out the video as well. I wrote @ryandscott That was cool! “on Schmidt, Steven Sharp, Taylor Swift & Coldplay = holy fantastic. Thanks” @jonschmidty http://bit.ly/BjfHR
But I know that Twitter isn’t everyone’s cup of tea so I decided to share the video with you here as well. I showed it to my class today and had the students write a response to it. I played it for them as they wrote and then I played them Taylor Swift’s video so they could see the connection.
Isn’t that an awesome video? It’s obvious that they are having a lot of fun with the song. I wanted to show my students that music can be fun and beautiful and that it can be presented in so many different ways. I hope they got the message and I hope you’ve enjoyed this too.
Check out the artist of Twitter here: http://twitter.com/jonschmidty
You can also follow Ryan D. Scott here: http://twitter.com/ryandscott
And if you can’t get enough Chase either here or on my other blog Thoughtful Cacophony, please check my Twitter page here: http://twitter.com/chasemarch
Teaching Tip Tuesdays – Level Everything
I found an efficient way to mark student work a few years ago and I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it sooner. It is so simple that I almost forgot to share it with you here on Teaching Tip Tuesdays. So here’s my tip, “Level Everything.”
I will go over some of the boring basics here but please don’t let it scare you off. I promise you that if you begin to level student work in your class, you will save yourself a lot of time, your marks will make sense and you will be able to back them up to anyone who would try to scrutinize or criticize you when it comes to your report cards.
The Basics: If you work in the province of Ontario you should be familiar with the four levels of achievement. Teachers are expected to use the achievement charts, and exemplars when assessing student work so that there is consistency within the province as to what actually constitutes an A, B, C, or D mark.
The Problem: I find that many teachers either do not know how to use the Provincial Leveling System or just don’t want to use it. This causes problems for me each and every single year (read my rant about that here)
Where do you Find These Charts?
You can find the Achievement Charts at the beginning of each Curriculum document and you can also find all of them at this site.
So What are the Levels?
The levels of achievement are meant to take the subjectiveness out of marking. The province has provided charts and exemplars so that everyone, teachers, parents, and students alike can see what exactly an A, B, C, or D piece of work should look like in each subject area.
Instead of letter grades though we use numbers. Below is an explanation of these numbers.
The Provincial Standard
Level 3 is the provincial standard. A student who receives a grade at level 3 has demonstrated considerable knowledge and understanding of the concepts taught during the term, and is able to communicate and apply this learning.
I always tell parents that if your child receives a grade at level 3 you can be confident that he or she will be prepared for work in the next term and/or grade.
Level 4 Achievement
A grade at level 4 means that a student has exceeded the provincial standard for the grade. Level 4 indicates that a student has demonstrated a thorough or high-degree of knowledge and understanding of the required learning and is able to communicate and apply this learning.
Level 2 Achievement
A grade at level 2 means that a student has demonstrated an understanding of some of the required knowledge and skills. The student’s performance is approaching the provincial standard.
Level 1 Achievement
A grade at level 1 means that a student has demonstrated a limited or partial understanding of the required knowledge and skills. The student’s performance falls considerably below the provincial standard.
How I mark student work.
I level everything.
Levelling Work Saves Time
I used to mark work out of whatever mark was called for at time time. As such, I had assignments that were out of 25, tests that were out of 50, other assignments that were only worth 10 marks, and so on and so forth. I would then take these marks and convert them to a percentage mark. With the percentages, I could average all of the marks together to get a student grade for each subject. What a lot of work.
Fortunately I discovered that I can mark everything using the levelling system. I have become intimately familiar with the achievement charts so that I can look quickly at a piece of work and give it a grade of 1,2,3, or 4. I circle these number grades so that I always know when I have levelled a price of work.
Train the students
Make sure you train the students so that they know that a level 3 is a good mark and that is what you expect of them. You can do this be sharing the exemplars with your class or creating some of your own by scanning in some student work, removing the names, and displaying them on your SMARTboard.
Level 4’s a rare. In fact, a student can get a piece of work perfect and still only get a level 3. For students to be able to achieve at this level, you need to make sure you include some higher-level thinking questions on your assignments and tests.
It sounds more complicated than it is.
I tried to explain it as easily as I could here. I hope it makes sense to you and I hope you actually use this system if you teach in Ontario. Teachers who don’t use the levelling system cause me grief each and every year as I need to explain my marks to parents. I shouldn’t have to do that as this system has been in place since 1998 and I don’t know why there still seems to be some confusion over it. It’s easy to use, it makes sense and there are some great documents for us to use.
Try it Out
Level Everything and your mark book with be full of 1’s, 2’s, 3’s, and the occasional 4. It is easy to then see the most consistent level of achievement for each subject area and write those report cards that are due next month.
Best Movie Ever – When Harry Met Sally
“When Harry Met Sally” is a classic movie in all aspects of the word. I truly think that it is the best movie ever made. Even now, twenty years later, it still holds up.
The writing is very sharp and it really explores what it means to be in a relationship and the nature of love.
Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan have perfect chemistry and were both at the top of their game when this movie was released in the summer of 1989. (Spoiler Alert)
It is clear that these two title characters are meant to be together, but it takes them a long time to figure it out. It’s actually great to see the awkwardness around their first meeting and how that grows into a good friendship.
The influence of this movie is abundantly clear when you can see how many times the diner scene has been reenacted in commercials, other movies, television shows, and comedy sketches.
Maybe, I’m just a hopeless romantic but this story has always spoken to me. I’ve seen it dozens of times and I never tire of watching it. If I’m flipping through channels on the television and it is on, I will always stop, drop what I am doing, and watch it. There are very few movies that have that pull on me. I also have it on DVD so I can watch it whenever I choose to. And that’s why this is my favourite movie of all time.
Here’s a great piece of dialogue about marriage and the possibility of divorce.
Harry: “Right now everything is great, everyone is happy, everyone is in love and that is wonderful. But you gotta know that sooner or later you’re gonna be screaming at each other about who’s gonna get this dish. This eight dollar dish will cost you a thousand dollars in phone calls to the legal firm of That’s Mine, This Is Yours.”
Marie: “Harry.”
Harry: “Please, Jess, Marie. Do me a favor, for your own good, put your name in your books right now before they get mixed up and you won’t know whose is whose. ‘Cause someday, believe it or not, you’ll go 15 rounds over who’s gonna get this coffee table. This stupid, wagon wheel, Roy Rogers, garage sale COFFEE TABLE.”
Jess: “I thought you liked it?”
Harry: “I was being nice!”
And I’ll leave you with a great speech that Harry gives when he finally figures out that he wants to be with Sally.
“I love that you get cold when it’s 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it’s not because I’m lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”
How can you not love that? If you haven’t seen this film, you’re missing out. I highly recommend it and I’m sure, that for me, it will hold the Best Movie Ever title for another twenty years.
Red Hill Valley – The Trail is Still There
When I was in high school, our cross country team always went to Red Hill Valley to do some nice trail runs.
The valley was beautiful and it was a treasure to have this huge green space in the east end of the city. If you hiked off of the main trail, you could walk right under Albion Falls. It was a little known treasure right in my own backyard.
A few years ago, they decided to put a highway through this valley and I was very upset about it. As a silent protest, I hadn’t even driven on it until recently when I realized that avoiding this particular stretch of highway didn’t really accomplish anything.
This weekend, I decided to go see if the trail was still there. The builders had promised that they would preserve it but I didn’t have faith that they would. Either way, it wouldn’t be the same I told myself, so I avoided going there for the trail as well.
Nonetheless, I laced up my shoes and I want to present you with a visual tour of my trail run through the Red Hill Valley.
This isn’t a good first sign. It obviously hasn’t been looked at since my old high school days. And worse yet, it says that the trail is closed. But I’m here and I’m up for a run so I press on anyway.
So far, there doesn’t seem to be any reason why the trail is closed. It looks nice.
It’s still a nice looking trail. I’m feeling pretty good about this run so far. I wonder why there was a sign saying the trail was closed.
Maybe this is why. The bridge is out. I don’t mind though. I can still manage to get across it. Besides, I always like a challenge.
The trail looks good on this side of the bridge. I bet that was the only reason that the trail was closed. The expressway has been up and running for quite some time now. I wonder when they are going to complete the trail.
I remember this hill. Nice, the trail is still here the way I remember it.
I love all of the hills in the valley.
I don’t like running on flat ground. I need some hills and steep ones. It makes the run feel all that much more satisfying.
This valley used to be far removed from the city. It was quiet back here. But, today, I have been acutely aware that the highway was hiding here all along. I could hear it, but at least I couldn’t see it before now.
This is the second trail marker that I have passed that hasn’t been finished either.
I can’t believe that I actually haven’t been here in years. This is a great run!
I wanted to show you a picture of the waterfalls but I couldn’t remember exactly how to get there. I’m pretty sure that I would have had to leave the main trail and hike it a bit. I wouldn’t have been able to run all the way there. I will probably go back in the springtime to share that with you.
It’s a little sad seeing this instead of the lush, green space that used to be here. But, what can you do? At least the raised the expressway so that there is still some room for nature here.
Fortunately, the expressway does fade away again. And you can really enjoy the beautiful trail.
It is still a great trail to run. I am impressed that it hasn’t been destroyed. They actually managed to keep the trail and build the road. I hope you enjoyed this visual tour of my run through The Red Hill Valley in Hamilton, Ontario Canada.