Hello darlings,
As you can see, I am not here right now. My fall down the stairs has caused more than a little amount of pain and I'm going home to rest.
However, the lovely Ms. Froggett and wonderful Mr. Terrade ARE here with you.
Please spend this period wisely and work on this new assignment (#17) that will be due Friday and your Eric Walters inspired story (#16) that is due the Monday after the holidays.
I am SO PROUD of ALL of you and your hard work with writing and performing your amazing poems. You ALL blew me away with your creativity, your use of language, how much you pushed yourselves, your courage and your flow. I want you to take some time to reflect on today's slam.
1. For this assignment, I'd like you to start a new post on your own blog.
2. Link back to this assignment.
3. Answer the following questions in full sentences:
You will be doing a fair amount of writing (IN FULL SENTENCES), so remember to leave some spaces between your answers so it is easy for your reader to read (perhaps hit enter between each response), read over and edit your work, spell check and make sure you've followed all directions.
a) What did you learn from Greg and Beth Ann? (at least 2 things)
b.) When writing your own poem, what did you use as inspiration? (at least 3 things)
c.) What are you most proud of from your poem or your presentation of it? (at least one thing)
d.) How did you feel before you performed?
e.) How did you feel AFTER you performed?
f.) What would you change about your own poem or performance for next time? (at least 1 thing)
g.) What did you learn/like about someone else's poem?
4. Post your poem on your blog.
Think about whether you would like to take part in the Youth Slam in the new year. We will certainly share our poems again, perhaps at a coffee house or an assembly. We'll talk about that later.
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Assignment #16 - Eric Walters Response
Eric Walters writes books about teenagers discovering who they are and dealing with some pretty serious issues. His books appeal to teenagers because the characters are realistic. In fact, some are so real because they are actually based on real people. In the grade 8 presentation, he talked about how he would turn Noah and Tara into characters in one of his novels. He also presented in an engaging and entertaining way that brought all his stories to life. If he took those same words and put them on paper, he would have the start of a wonderful written story. I hope you were inspired by Mr. Walters.
It was so wonderful to have Eric Walters as our lunch guest this Monday. He told us about a lot of his new ideas, and I, for one, was astounded that he's written 73 books in the past 16 years. On average, that's more than 4 books per year! He described to Prof. Scott, Tara and I at least five new ideas that he's working on right now. Amazing!
In response to Mr. Walters' visit, I'd like you to write a creative text featuring a realistic teenage character (based on yourself) and an issue you think is important.
Before you get started, think about some of the books you've read by Mr. Walters, ones that you've heard about, or research some of his books online. Each of his books has a message and a purpose and he writes about real issues for teens living in Canada and around the world.
For the first part of your assignment, I want you to select three Eric Walters books and write, in one sentence, what you think the main idea or message of each of those books is. Post this on your blog.
For the second part of the assignment, I want you to select an issue, a message or a main idea that is important to you. I want you to bring that issue to life in your writing through a character that is based on you. This character can have your name, some of your experience and emotions, and or some physical characteristics that you have. It will be easy to make this character come to life, because you're already alive! A great writer writes about things he or she knows, and what do you know better than yourself?
Create a short story about your character (either a stand alone story or a chapter of a larger novel) in which he or she is dealing with the issue of your choice.
You may write this in your free write book or on your computer, and when you are happy with it, post a copy on your blog.
This assignment will be due after the winter break.
It was so wonderful to have Eric Walters as our lunch guest this Monday. He told us about a lot of his new ideas, and I, for one, was astounded that he's written 73 books in the past 16 years. On average, that's more than 4 books per year! He described to Prof. Scott, Tara and I at least five new ideas that he's working on right now. Amazing!
In response to Mr. Walters' visit, I'd like you to write a creative text featuring a realistic teenage character (based on yourself) and an issue you think is important.
Before you get started, think about some of the books you've read by Mr. Walters, ones that you've heard about, or research some of his books online. Each of his books has a message and a purpose and he writes about real issues for teens living in Canada and around the world.
For the first part of your assignment, I want you to select three Eric Walters books and write, in one sentence, what you think the main idea or message of each of those books is. Post this on your blog.
For the second part of the assignment, I want you to select an issue, a message or a main idea that is important to you. I want you to bring that issue to life in your writing through a character that is based on you. This character can have your name, some of your experience and emotions, and or some physical characteristics that you have. It will be easy to make this character come to life, because you're already alive! A great writer writes about things he or she knows, and what do you know better than yourself?
Create a short story about your character (either a stand alone story or a chapter of a larger novel) in which he or she is dealing with the issue of your choice.
You may write this in your free write book or on your computer, and when you are happy with it, post a copy on your blog.
This assignment will be due after the winter break.
Assignment #15 - Slam Poets Response
Hello R8A,
Thanks to your fantastic fundrasising efforts, we raised a total of $321.oo of the $327.70 we needed to host a four day Slam Poetry workshop in our class. We'll work hard to pull together the final $6.70 this week! Your efforts were amazing!
Yesterday (December 7th), Greg "Ritallin" Frankson and Beth Anne Fisher came in to our class and blew our minds.
We got to know Beth Anne and Greg a bit as they told us a little bit about their origins and then learned a lot more about them through their amazing Spoken Word. Greg performed two drastically different works and Beth Anne performed one. It was interesting to get to see the different styles that different poets use and that a poet uses for different poems. It was a good reminder that each poet has his or her own unique voice.
Throughout our sessions with Greg and Beth Anne, you will continue to develop your own voice and you will actually perform a 3 minute long memorized poem in our class Poetry Slam. If this captivates you and lights your passion, you can participate in a Youth Slam that Greg is organizing in the new year.
I can't tell you how proud I am of the work you are creating. In ten minutes, with one "springboard word", you wrote an amazing array of poems. Greg and Beth Anne were amazed too, and were so happy to see the advanced point we're starting from. Because they were so impressed, they taught us the "3...2...1...Raise it!" welcome for new poets.
Guess what the "3...2...1..Raise it!" reminds me of?
You've got it, a 321 response!
For your assignment #15, I want you to do a 321 response about your experiences in our Slam Poetry workshop.
The questions are below. Please start a new post on your blog and link back to this post, answer the questions in full sentences with lots of care and detail.
3 things that you are looking forward to learning, developing or using in your poetry over the course of our Slam workshops.
2 things that Greg or Beth Anne reinforced that we have already been doing in class, or you are already using in your own writing.
1 poem that you wrote yesterday. Here is your chance to continue to work on step 1 of the 3 step poetry writing process (step 1 - write, revise, edit and proofread, step 2 - memorize, so you can connect with the audience, step 3 - perform!). Take some time to polish your poem from the 10 minutes of writing you did yesterday.
I look forward to reading your responses. Please leave a comment on this post when you have completed assignment #15 on your blog.
Remember to read and follow all instructions.
Remember to read over your post before publishing and to do a spell check!
Thanks to your fantastic fundrasising efforts, we raised a total of $321.oo of the $327.70 we needed to host a four day Slam Poetry workshop in our class. We'll work hard to pull together the final $6.70 this week! Your efforts were amazing!
Yesterday (December 7th), Greg "Ritallin" Frankson and Beth Anne Fisher came in to our class and blew our minds.
We got to know Beth Anne and Greg a bit as they told us a little bit about their origins and then learned a lot more about them through their amazing Spoken Word. Greg performed two drastically different works and Beth Anne performed one. It was interesting to get to see the different styles that different poets use and that a poet uses for different poems. It was a good reminder that each poet has his or her own unique voice.
Throughout our sessions with Greg and Beth Anne, you will continue to develop your own voice and you will actually perform a 3 minute long memorized poem in our class Poetry Slam. If this captivates you and lights your passion, you can participate in a Youth Slam that Greg is organizing in the new year.
I can't tell you how proud I am of the work you are creating. In ten minutes, with one "springboard word", you wrote an amazing array of poems. Greg and Beth Anne were amazed too, and were so happy to see the advanced point we're starting from. Because they were so impressed, they taught us the "3...2...1...Raise it!" welcome for new poets.
Guess what the "3...2...1..Raise it!" reminds me of?
You've got it, a 321 response!
For your assignment #15, I want you to do a 321 response about your experiences in our Slam Poetry workshop.
The questions are below. Please start a new post on your blog and link back to this post, answer the questions in full sentences with lots of care and detail.
3 things that you are looking forward to learning, developing or using in your poetry over the course of our Slam workshops.
2 things that Greg or Beth Anne reinforced that we have already been doing in class, or you are already using in your own writing.
1 poem that you wrote yesterday. Here is your chance to continue to work on step 1 of the 3 step poetry writing process (step 1 - write, revise, edit and proofread, step 2 - memorize, so you can connect with the audience, step 3 - perform!). Take some time to polish your poem from the 10 minutes of writing you did yesterday.
I look forward to reading your responses. Please leave a comment on this post when you have completed assignment #15 on your blog.
Remember to read and follow all instructions.
Remember to read over your post before publishing and to do a spell check!
Monday, 29 November 2010
Professor Scott's Tech Talk
Hi R8A,
Below are my notes from Professor Scott's talk about the history of technology today. We'll talk about this more in class this week.
Technological Advances in
-1815-1850 – HUGE population growth in
-1815 – about 50 years before Confederation
-end of Napoleonic Wars
-most people lived on farms, very few
big cities
-people worked in the home: textiles,
making food products, farm implements
-resource extractions: lumber, fishing,
mineral resources (mines)
-merchants: shippers, handlers, sellers
-we had grist mills for grinding grain
-power: from water, animal & human
strength
-transportation: walk, ride horse, take
boat
-communication: word of mouth, books,
a few newspapers, Shakespeare’s plays
-use of steam power: steam ships, machinery, railways
-the telegraph, telegraph lines – first way to communicate with people in other parts of country
-used morse code (dots, dashes)
-transportation – canals, railways, roads
-canals – shipping goods
-Canal in
-Colonel John By – built
-technological marvel
-ships
-first full steam ship “The
Accommodation” built by John
Molson in
-also started Molson’s Brewery
-36 hours to get from
-John Bennett – engineer to design and
build “The Accommodation”
-archives have records of steam ship
voyages (including contracts)
-1833 – 20 days, first transatlantic
crossing of Canadian steam ship
-carried pork
-sailing ship had taken 6 weeks
-factories: -by 1850s – breweries, distilleries, iron works, stove works
-first formal scientific institution – 1842- McGill, geological survey – make maps, find mineral deposits
-first cotton mill – 1844 in
-agricultural machinery – Massey-Harris
-Canadians were the first to invent many things
-1850-1885: Railway Age
-CPR completed – driving of the last
spike in 1885 – nationwide
transportation
-$$$$$$ investors, government
loans/subsidies (millions of acres of
land in
-needed steel tracks (steel factories)
-needed coal miners (coal powered)
-width of tracks = width of 2 horses
behinds (pulling chariot 2000 years ago)
-John A MacDonald – took bribes from
Canadian Pacific Railway – RAILWAY
SCANDAL!!
-CONCLUSIONS:
-every time a new technology is introduced, new technologies are needed to support it, and some technologies become outdated
-century of building created all new jobs
-you could get around much faster
-prices of goods dropped – everything was cheaper to transport
-everyone became a little more wealthy, there were needs for new skills and knowledge
-mass communication – telegraph, phonograph, telephone, radio, photography, printing press?
-established ideas in science/technology vs. new ideas in science/technology
Questions:
-think about the effects of technology on urbanization (living in cities)?
-what happened to health care?
-what happened to education?
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Assignment #14: Poetry of Hope with Reading Buddies
Hello R8A and EF5A,
Welcome to the lab. We will be working with our buddies in here today (Wednesday). This Friday morning, we have the priviledge of hosting a Holocaust survivor at our school. Some of you know some about the Holocaust that happened during WWII and others will know very little. Today, your job is to do some exploration in partners (or groups of three) to learn more about what life was like for a child living in the time of the Holocaust. We are asking you to use empathy and understanding and read about difficult stories with hope and reverence.
Check out some of these sites and see what they have to offer and what you can learn:
Children in the Ghetto
Hana's Suitcase is a website about a very special brother and sister (Miss Pollock has an autographed copy of a book by the same name if you would like to learn more)
Daniel's Story exhibition photos (a wonderful museum exhibit based on the book of the same name about a young Jewish boy and his experiences during the Holocaust)
Poetry and Art about the Holocaust (this is a website designed for teachers, but you can scroll down and read some amazing poems to inspire you)
Once you and your buddy have done some reading and exploration, you will collaboratively write a short poem (at least four lines in length) expressing hope and a desire for peace, based on the information you have learned and your prior knowledge.
Grade 8s, you can share with your grade 5 buddies about the poem we read this morning, "The Butterfly" by Pavel Freidmann. Hopefully this will help to inspire you. Think also about our discussions about Empathy and your readings about the Golden Rule. Remember what it felt like to take on the persona of someone involved in war in your Assignment #11. You have lots of experience to tap in to for this assignment.
On Friday, we will get to hear the survivor stories of Eva Olson, and as is said about the Holocaust, "when you listen to a witness, you become a witness too".
Let's work together to create messages of peace and hope. The poems you write together will be posted on your blogs as Assignment #14. We look forward to reading your thoughtful words.
Welcome to the lab. We will be working with our buddies in here today (Wednesday). This Friday morning, we have the priviledge of hosting a Holocaust survivor at our school. Some of you know some about the Holocaust that happened during WWII and others will know very little. Today, your job is to do some exploration in partners (or groups of three) to learn more about what life was like for a child living in the time of the Holocaust. We are asking you to use empathy and understanding and read about difficult stories with hope and reverence.
Check out some of these sites and see what they have to offer and what you can learn:
Children in the Ghetto
Hana's Suitcase is a website about a very special brother and sister (Miss Pollock has an autographed copy of a book by the same name if you would like to learn more)
Daniel's Story exhibition photos (a wonderful museum exhibit based on the book of the same name about a young Jewish boy and his experiences during the Holocaust)
Poetry and Art about the Holocaust (this is a website designed for teachers, but you can scroll down and read some amazing poems to inspire you)
Once you and your buddy have done some reading and exploration, you will collaboratively write a short poem (at least four lines in length) expressing hope and a desire for peace, based on the information you have learned and your prior knowledge.
Grade 8s, you can share with your grade 5 buddies about the poem we read this morning, "The Butterfly" by Pavel Freidmann. Hopefully this will help to inspire you. Think also about our discussions about Empathy and your readings about the Golden Rule. Remember what it felt like to take on the persona of someone involved in war in your Assignment #11. You have lots of experience to tap in to for this assignment.
On Friday, we will get to hear the survivor stories of Eva Olson, and as is said about the Holocaust, "when you listen to a witness, you become a witness too".
Let's work together to create messages of peace and hope. The poems you write together will be posted on your blogs as Assignment #14. We look forward to reading your thoughtful words.
My Awesome Post
Remember how much fun the "Behind My Name" assignment was? It was so fun that I had to make a post about it as well. Assignment #12 is so much fun that I also want to write my own post about it.Miss Pollock's Awesome Things
Part 1 - Awesome Things from 1000 Awesome Things
Awesome Thing #375 - Finding out someone has the same birthday as you
Last week, during Interviews, the teachers all met up in the staff room to wish Mrs. Kenward a fond farewell and good luck with her new baby. While we were there, we started talking about birthdates and due dates. Mrs. Seabrook said that her birthday was in January. My birthday's also in January, and, as I always do, I asked her, "What day?". To my delight, she replied "The 13th!). Mrs. Seabrook and I have the SAME BIRTHDAY! It was so exciting. Now, you can all put January 13th on your calendars as the most important day of the year!
Part 2 - My Very Own Awesome Thing
Awesome Thing #1001 -
THIS IS A POST IN PROGRESS, BUT I WANTED TO POST IT AS IT IS AS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW YOU CAN LAY OUT YOUR POST!
Assignment #12: Awesome
Hello bloggers,
I have your newest assignment ready to go. There are two main parts to this assignment.
#1. Check out this AWESOME blog, 1000 Awesome Things and read the posts. You will probably find some posts that really speak to you and that you agree with strongly. Write about three that you really enjoyed and link to them. (I think it's awesome when..., and .... and .... - replace "..." with your links)
#2. Create your own AWESOME post. In the style of 1000 Awesome Things, write about an experience you've had that is AWESOME. You can title it Awesome Thing #1001.
I look forward to reading your posts.
I have your newest assignment ready to go. There are two main parts to this assignment.
#1. Check out this AWESOME blog, 1000 Awesome Things and read the posts. You will probably find some posts that really speak to you and that you agree with strongly. Write about three that you really enjoyed and link to them. (I think it's awesome when..., and .... and .... - replace "..." with your links)
#2. Create your own AWESOME post. In the style of 1000 Awesome Things, write about an experience you've had that is AWESOME. You can title it Awesome Thing #1001.
I look forward to reading your posts.
Monday, 15 November 2010
Eid Mubarak!
To my many wonderful students and their families who will be celebrating this week - Eid Mubarak!
Have a happy holiday and we look forward to seeing you back at school! Be safe and enjoy a wonderful family time!
Have a happy holiday and we look forward to seeing you back at school! Be safe and enjoy a wonderful family time!
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Monday, 8 November 2010
Assignment #11: Letters of Remembrance
Hello R8A,As you know, Remembrance Day is coming up this Thursday. There are many things that we do to remember the people who sacrificed everything to ensure that we live in a free and peaceful country.
The stories that make up history are found through artifacts, journals, letters and passed on oral histories. You will create a historically accurate fictional letter for this task.
This Remembrance Day, I want you to think about the young people in Canada whose lives were affected by war. You will take on the role of one of those people and write an imaginary letter from his or her point of view.
In order to complete this task, you will need to do some research so that your letter will be historically accurate and you can be creative. I have found a wonderful website full of real letters and journal entries from Canadian soldiers who fought in World War I (1914-1918), World War II (1939-1945) and the Korea conflict (1950-1953). You may also choose to write about the Afghanistan conflict (2001-present).
Below are the steps I would like you to follow in completing this task:
-Look at canadianletters.ca to and see what a real letter or journal entry would look like in different time periods
-Get some background knowledge about the events that affected Canadians in these wars/conflicts (wikipedia is a good starting point, but make sure to be a critical researcher)
-decide on a war/conflict that you would like to write about, select a specific event in that war/conflict to focus on (you must include a logically accurate date)
-decide on a point of view you would like to write from (it must be a Canadian participating in an international conflict)
-decide who you are writing to
-in a new post, link back to this assignment
-begin writing your letter, include a greeting and a date
-in your letter include your feelings, your emotions, a description of what you see, hear, smell, feel and taste
-write about how you are thinking about the person you write to and what makes you worried or gives you hope/makes this worthwhile
-paint vivid word pictures (like we did with our Superhero Apartment building in Writer's Workshop) (a tool that might help you to be even more accurate in the language you use is Writer's Dream Tools)
-end your letter appropriately
-remember that it will likely take months for your letter to reach its intended recipient
-ensure that punctuation, grammar and spelling are perfect
-begin writing your letter, include a greeting and a date
-in your letter include your feelings, your emotions, a description of what you see, hear, smell, feel and taste
-write about how you are thinking about the person you write to and what makes you worried or gives you hope/makes this worthwhile
-paint vivid word pictures (like we did with our Superhero Apartment building in Writer's Workshop) (a tool that might help you to be even more accurate in the language you use is Writer's Dream Tools)
-end your letter appropriately
-remember that it will likely take months for your letter to reach its intended recipient
-ensure that punctuation, grammar and spelling are perfect
-publish your post
-leave a comment here to let me know you're ready to have your letter marked
Some events that you could write about:
-shipping off
-your first participation in a battle
-women heading to work in factories for the first time
-rationing food on the homefront
-WWI - Passchendale
-WWI - Vimy Ridge
-WWII - Dieppe
-WWII - D-Day
-Canada's role in Afghanistan
Here are some possible points of view:
-You may write as a young male soldier in WWI, WWII, or the Korean conflict, or a young male or female soldier in the Afghanistan conflict
-You may write as a mother, sister, friend, girlfriend/boyfriend, wife/husband, or child of someone who is fighting in war, you will be writing from "the homefront"
Some events that you could write about:
-shipping off
-your first participation in a battle
-women heading to work in factories for the first time
-rationing food on the homefront
-WWI - Passchendale
-WWI - Vimy Ridge
-WWII - Dieppe
-WWII - D-Day
-Canada's role in Afghanistan
Here are some possible points of view:
-You may write as a young male soldier in WWI, WWII, or the Korean conflict, or a young male or female soldier in the Afghanistan conflict
-You may write as a mother, sister, friend, girlfriend/boyfriend, wife/husband, or child of someone who is fighting in war, you will be writing from "the homefront"
Monday, 1 November 2010
Assignment #10: Mystery History Maker
As you know, we are going on a VERY SPECIAL field trip on Friday. We will be travelling with Mr. Glossop's class (and my mom, Mrs. Pollock) to The Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec (it is in a different province, but it's only about 20 minutes away!).In the course of the day, you will be taking part in two workshops, and enjoying the wonders that this amazing museum have to offer.
In order to prepare for our field trip, I'd like you to check out the museum's website.
Please play the game: Mystery History Maker.
Write a new post.
In this post, link back to the assignment, create a link to the museum's website and the website for the game. You will tell us which History Maker you were matched up with. Find a website with more information about this person and link to it.
Post and answer the following questions:
1. Were you able to identify your history maker using the clues provided?
2. What do you have in common with this person?
3. Why is this person historically significant in Canada?
Links: This assignment, Museum of Civilization, Mystery History Maker, further information about your History Maker
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Assignment #9: The Golden Rule
Hello R8A,
Your newest assignment is a collaborative one. Ms. Crosbie's students have been reading and thinking about The Golden Rule. They will be posting a response to her assignment on their blogs.
Your buddies' names are listed on the right hand side of my blog, with links to your blogs and theirs. Please check on your buddy's blog (or buddies' blogs) often and make sure to leave thoughtful comments and questions. You will be evaluated on this.
For this assignment, visit your buddy's blog, read his or her post about The Golden Rule and, in the comments section, do a 3-2-1. 3 things you liked about the post, 2 other ideas that could be added (maybe links or your own personal connections), and 1 question for the poster.
Layout your comment like this:
3 things I liked
-
-
-
2 further ideas
-
-
1 question
-
Remember to be thorough, thoughtful and respectful in your comments.
Your newest assignment is a collaborative one. Ms. Crosbie's students have been reading and thinking about The Golden Rule. They will be posting a response to her assignment on their blogs.
Your buddies' names are listed on the right hand side of my blog, with links to your blogs and theirs. Please check on your buddy's blog (or buddies' blogs) often and make sure to leave thoughtful comments and questions. You will be evaluated on this.
For this assignment, visit your buddy's blog, read his or her post about The Golden Rule and, in the comments section, do a 3-2-1. 3 things you liked about the post, 2 other ideas that could be added (maybe links or your own personal connections), and 1 question for the poster.
Layout your comment like this:
3 things I liked
-
-
-
2 further ideas
-
-
1 question
-
Remember to be thorough, thoughtful and respectful in your comments.
Monday, 25 October 2010
Kenneth Oppel
Hello eights,
As you know, this is Ottawa's first ever Teen Author Week. There are lots of free events being put on in libraries around the city to promote reading and writing for teens.
Tonight, Kenneth Oppel was in town. He is the author of many books, including the Silverwing series (great books about a bat named Shade), the Airborn series (set in airships) and a brand new novel called Half Brother (an only child gets a chimp as a little brother).
Jeffrey arrived with his mom and little brother and I ran into them in the parking lot. We found seats in the front row and enjoyed a GREAT show! Ken Oppel was entertaining and engaging. The audience gathered in the theatre at the Nepean Centrepointe Library was in the palm of his hand.
Mr. Oppel told us about his writing process, his inspiration and read to us from Half Brother. The book is both hilarious and heart-warming. I wish you all could have been there tonight, he was inspring. I was amazed by the amount of reserach he does before he even starts writing. He becomes an expert on a topic and makes book after book of notes before the story itself begins. He showed us photos of his many, many book drafts. Together, one book makes up a pile about the height of my two-year old nephew, Andy! His earliest editors are his two oldest children, to whom he reads aloud and gauges their attention and interest. Mr. Oppel rewrites his book four times before sending it to his three international English language publishers. Editors at each of the three offices (in London, Toronto and New York) send back tons of notes and he takes those into consideration before writing his final draft.
Jeffrey bravely asked the final question of the evening. Mr. Oppel had showed us a photo of his inspiration board (a bulletin board full of images in his office) for his new book, it was like a display of Flair! There were a few old maps, a photo of a strange looking bird and a photo of a bright blue fish. We tried to make inferences based on our observations. I thought maybe he was writing about mutations of some kind. Jeffrey asked Mr. Oppel what the book was about and he answered! Now, we have a sneak preview of the book that will be coming out next fall. Ask Jeffrey if you want to know about it. I was incorrect in my guess, but it's way cooler than what I thought of. Perhaps, he'll even write a blog post about it!
At the very end, Mr. Oppel offered to sign autographs and gave everyone a bookmark (that he had promised us at the beginning of his presentation!). There was a huge line of fans waiting to meet their favourite author. When we met him, he signed our books (he signed mine, "To Miss Pollock") and we snapped a quick photo.
I have several of Mr. Oppel's books in the classroom and I strongly recommend them to all of you. Now that it is the Read-A-Thon, you should think about checking out one or more of his books. Tyler has already devoured Half Brother.
It was a wonderful evening, and I hope you all think about attending some of the other events this week, and I hope this becomes an annual event.
As you know, this is Ottawa's first ever Teen Author Week. There are lots of free events being put on in libraries around the city to promote reading and writing for teens.
Tonight, Kenneth Oppel was in town. He is the author of many books, including the Silverwing series (great books about a bat named Shade), the Airborn series (set in airships) and a brand new novel called Half Brother (an only child gets a chimp as a little brother).
Jeffrey arrived with his mom and little brother and I ran into them in the parking lot. We found seats in the front row and enjoyed a GREAT show! Ken Oppel was entertaining and engaging. The audience gathered in the theatre at the Nepean Centrepointe Library was in the palm of his hand.
Mr. Oppel told us about his writing process, his inspiration and read to us from Half Brother. The book is both hilarious and heart-warming. I wish you all could have been there tonight, he was inspring. I was amazed by the amount of reserach he does before he even starts writing. He becomes an expert on a topic and makes book after book of notes before the story itself begins. He showed us photos of his many, many book drafts. Together, one book makes up a pile about the height of my two-year old nephew, Andy! His earliest editors are his two oldest children, to whom he reads aloud and gauges their attention and interest. Mr. Oppel rewrites his book four times before sending it to his three international English language publishers. Editors at each of the three offices (in London, Toronto and New York) send back tons of notes and he takes those into consideration before writing his final draft.
Jeffrey bravely asked the final question of the evening. Mr. Oppel had showed us a photo of his inspiration board (a bulletin board full of images in his office) for his new book, it was like a display of Flair! There were a few old maps, a photo of a strange looking bird and a photo of a bright blue fish. We tried to make inferences based on our observations. I thought maybe he was writing about mutations of some kind. Jeffrey asked Mr. Oppel what the book was about and he answered! Now, we have a sneak preview of the book that will be coming out next fall. Ask Jeffrey if you want to know about it. I was incorrect in my guess, but it's way cooler than what I thought of. Perhaps, he'll even write a blog post about it!
At the very end, Mr. Oppel offered to sign autographs and gave everyone a bookmark (that he had promised us at the beginning of his presentation!). There was a huge line of fans waiting to meet their favourite author. When we met him, he signed our books (he signed mine, "To Miss Pollock") and we snapped a quick photo.
I have several of Mr. Oppel's books in the classroom and I strongly recommend them to all of you. Now that it is the Read-A-Thon, you should think about checking out one or more of his books. Tyler has already devoured Half Brother.
It was a wonderful evening, and I hope you all think about attending some of the other events this week, and I hope this becomes an annual event.
Live Blogging from a Workshop
Hello friends,
I am at a workshop this morning with Mr. Glossop, M d'Entremont, Mme Martel, Mme Dorion and Mrs. Eliasson. We are using a cool new program called "Smart Ideas". We will play with this in class. It's super fun and a great way to organize your ideas.
Here's what I've made so far:
I got to eat some dragon fruit, too.
See you this afternoon!
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Assignment #8: HOW are you Creative?
I was asked a very interesting question the other day, which is "HOW are you creative?" This person took for granted that everyone IS creative, but we are all creative in different ways. I loved that attitude and I totally agree with it. Sometimes people claim, "I'm not creative." All I can say to that is WRONG! Each one of us is creative, but sometimes in very different ways.
Your task is to tell and to show us how YOU are creative. Some of you have wonderful talents that I already know about. Willeme denies it, but he is an AMAZING dancer. Noah can navigate a basketball court. Tyler loves to draw. Amy is a writer. Haneen is a poet. Melissa is a songbird. Hannah is an empath. Jeffrey is an animal tamer. Sara is a rocker. Charlotte can express herself through art. Qavi is a stand up comedian. Reshad is an artist. Mateen is a programmer. That's not all you are, though. Each of you is so much more than that, you may not even want to focus on those talents that I've listed. There are SO many talents that you each have and you often keep them hidden. It's time to bring them out into the open!
Our classroom FLAIR was a great way for you to demonstrate your passions, and I'm going to let you do that again, on your blogs. Not only will your classmates and I see what you have to share, but so will your buddies in Ms. Thurow's classes in Toronto (hi!) and your buddies in Ms. Crosbies classes in Oshawa (hello!) and my classmates in the course I'm taking at Queen's (hola!). In fact, anyone, anywhere in the world with Internet access, can see where you shine and HOW you are creative.
I want you to be creative in how you complete this task. After all, this is a task about your individual creativity. Your requirements are: start a new blog post and in it, tell us (with words) and show us (with music, pictures, video...) HOW you are creative. Your posts will be very unique, but I want you to make sure you really showcase your abilities. In the words of your post, you need to include a description of HOW you are creative, HOW you express that creativity and WHY it is so important to you.
Some examples: you may want to record yourself dancing and post a video of that on your blog with a description of why you are passionate about this and how it helps you to express your point of view. You may want to photograph and post examples of designs you've created for clothing. The sky is the limit on this one. You may want to embed samples of your video game designs.
If you need access to a video camera or digital camera and do not have one, you can make an appointment with me and we'll use mine. I'll even show you how to upload and embed videos and photos.
You'll notice that this post is a lot of text and not much else. That's deliberate on my part. I don't want to sway you too much one way or another. I want you to create posts that are meaningful and exciting to you.
There is a lot of freedom in this task and I don't want you to rush into publishing your post. You can always hit "Save now" and come back and work on a post in the "Edit Posts" tab. This is a very personal, innovative task when I want you to reflect honestly and share creatively. I cannot wait to see what you come up with!
Good luck!
***when you start your post, make absolute certain to link back to this assignment post*** (you should be doing this on all your assignment posts)
Assignment #7 - World of Work!
Hello friends,Exactly one week from today, we will be on our first field trip of the year! We will be at Landsdowne Park at The World of Work. This is always a really fun morning for our grade 8s and I'm sure this year will be no exception.
In preparation for our trip, make sure you've returned your permission form by Friday. If it's not in by then, you will be staying behind! If for some reason, you've misplaced your form, please email me right away and I will get one for you.
The purpose of this event is to highlight opportunities in our communities and schools to support you as you transition into the world of work, the trades and college. There will be more than 60 presenters with interactive, informative booths at this event. When we are there, you are encouraged to seek out the booths that interest you, ask questions and pick up materials. There will be presenters there from the following sectors: Construction Sector, Design & Manufacturing Sector, Service Sector, Information & Technology Sector and Transportation Sector. All of us will, at some point in our lives, work in the trades. This is a very important, informative assignment and field trip.
Start a new post and follow these steps:
-Link back to this post
1. Do some research on these sectors (I've linked to some helpful sites to get you started, see below)
2. Think about which sector appeals the most to you. Why? List at least 2 reasons
3. List at least three specific jobs for each sector (5 sectors x 3 jobs each = 15 jobs listed) (you may make some inferences or guesses here)
4. What do you hope to learn more about on our field trip? Write at least 4 questions you have.
5. What pathway do you plan on taking after high school? College? The world of work/trades? University? Why? What do you specifically want to do as a career (or careers!)?
6. Include some relevant photographs to your entry (at least 2)
7. Link back to the sites where you found your information at the bottom of your post under the heading: References
Some places to start looking for information:
Careersintrades.ca
Skillscanada.com - especially THIS page
World Skills Portal
Skilled Trades Guide
It Gets Better - Part 2
Hello R8A,
I'm sorry that I'm not there with you today. The cold that I've been had for weeks has gotten even worse. I'm going to a few appointments and hopefully I'll get much better really soon! I miss you all. Please make sure to read through the new posts and prioritize your tasks. I've changed your SOLE assignment due dates, so you can do your individual assignments and tasks first.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 20th is the Day of Purple. People all over the world will be wearing purple clothes to show support for people's individuality and in memory of the young men who have taken their own lives because of LGBTQ bullying.
I will be decked out in a cool purple dress and purple nail polish at my doctor's appointments. Will you wear purple tomorrow?
Click here to read my post, It Gets Better. Reflect on reasons why it is important to show your support. For a bonus, link back to this post and create a new post on your blog.
Assignment #6 - URGENT- Comment settings!
Ms. Thurow's students from Toronto are visiting and reading your blogs and would like to comment on them. Unfortunately, some are unable to comment on your blogs. Each of you needs to make absolute certain that you have set up your comment settings properly. Please visit this post and make sure you have followed ALL instructions.
Anyone needs to be able to comment (allow for anonymous commenters) and you need to ensure that word verification is OFF.
This is a priority.
Make sure you have set things up properly, and then leave a comment on this post, so I can check.
Monday, 18 October 2010
Mystery Photos
To prepare for upcoming lessons, examine these photos, observe what you see and make inferences about why I am sharing these with you. We will be working with these images later this week.
For a bonus, leave a comment where you make several observations and inferences about these photos.
Tweet Up
Hello R8A (and other readers out there in Blogville!),
This afternoon, Mateen and Noah stuck around after school to take part in a "Tweet Up" (a twitter meet-up) with professors and students at Algonquin College. Twitter was not being terribly reliable (it was VERY slow), but Mateen had a chance to answer lots of questions about his interesting part-time job (app developer). If you are interested in seeing what went on, you can see a summary here.
I am having such a blast with you this year, R8A and I can't wait to learn more about ALL of your hidden talents. We'll do an assignment very soon called "HOW are you creative?", where you'll have a chance to showcase your unique talents. Feel free to leave a comment below giving us a clue about what those are!
This afternoon, Mateen and Noah stuck around after school to take part in a "Tweet Up" (a twitter meet-up) with professors and students at Algonquin College. Twitter was not being terribly reliable (it was VERY slow), but Mateen had a chance to answer lots of questions about his interesting part-time job (app developer). If you are interested in seeing what went on, you can see a summary here.
I am having such a blast with you this year, R8A and I can't wait to learn more about ALL of your hidden talents. We'll do an assignment very soon called "HOW are you creative?", where you'll have a chance to showcase your unique talents. Feel free to leave a comment below giving us a clue about what those are!
Assignment #5 - Island Man: Work With It
Today in class, you were introduced to the poem, Island Man. I want you to work with the poem on your blog.
Copy the text of the poem to a new post on your own blog. Link to this post. Select the 10 most important words in the poem (in your opinion) and put them in italics. Select two photos or images from the Internet and embed them in the poem at appropriate places.
Finally, answer the question: "Where would you most like to wake up?" (answer in at least 5 lines describing where you would like to wake up and your reasoning)
Here is the poem:
Island Man (for a Caribbean island man in London who still wakes up the sound of the sea)
by Grace Nichols
Morning
and island man wakes up
to the sound of blue surf
in his head
the steady breaking and wombing
wild seabirds
and fishermen pushing out to sea
the sun surfacing defiantly
from the east
of his small emerald island
He always comes back
groggily groggily
comes back to sands
of a grey metallic soar
to a surge of wheels
to dull North Circular roar
muffling muffling
his crumpled pillow waves
island man heaves himself
another London day
For a bonus, practice reading the poem aloud. Do you read it the same as I did? Differently? You may be asked to perform it in class. We still have more work to do with this one!
Here is one reader's interpretation of Island Man.
Does this look familiar?
Copy the text of the poem to a new post on your own blog. Link to this post. Select the 10 most important words in the poem (in your opinion) and put them in italics. Select two photos or images from the Internet and embed them in the poem at appropriate places.
Finally, answer the question: "Where would you most like to wake up?" (answer in at least 5 lines describing where you would like to wake up and your reasoning)
Here is the poem:
Island Man (for a Caribbean island man in London who still wakes up the sound of the sea)
by Grace Nichols
Morning
and island man wakes up
to the sound of blue surf
in his head
the steady breaking and wombing
wild seabirds
and fishermen pushing out to sea
the sun surfacing defiantly
from the east
of his small emerald island
He always comes back
groggily groggily
comes back to sands
of a grey metallic soar
to a surge of wheels
to dull North Circular roar
muffling muffling
his crumpled pillow waves
island man heaves himself
another London day
For a bonus, practice reading the poem aloud. Do you read it the same as I did? Differently? You may be asked to perform it in class. We still have more work to do with this one!
Here is one reader's interpretation of Island Man.
Does this look familiar?
Sunday, 17 October 2010
Assignment #4 - Self Organized Learning Environments
Embedded below is a video that I LOVE and try to watch at least twice a year, I find it hugely inspiring. This is video that comes from TED conferences (Technology, Education and Design). You might remember that earlier in the year, I spoke about a woman named Aimee Mullins who has lost both of her legs and is still able to do all kinds of incredible things. I first saw her speak on the TED website.
Sugata Mitra speaks in this video about some amazing experiments he has conducted. I want you to watch for yourself and see what you think. If you would like the speech translated, you can click on the link and pick a language from the pull down menu below the video.
You do not have to watch the entire video. You can start at 7:15 and stop at 14:55. You are welcome to watch the whole thing, but the key stuff I want you to see is in the middle and you're probably eager to get down to work.
Once you have finished watching this video, you have a task to complete. You will work in a group of four students (hmm...I wonder why I picked THAT number!?) to complete this task. You may use only one computer among the four of you. Figure out how that will work in a fair way, you will need to figure out seating and turn off all but one of your computers, sitting in such a way that you can all see what is going on with your computer monitor.
Your groups and your topics:
Group A - Aaisha, Amy, Melissa, Reshad - Cyberbullying
Group B - Claire, Qavi, Shahad, Zuhair - Kiva, Freerice, The Girl Effect
Group C - Haneen, Jumanh, Tyler, Will - Plagarism on the Internet
Group D - Hannah, Mateen, Connor, Charlotte - Privacy on facebook
Group E - Jatinder, Tara, Zak - Your Digital Footprint
Group F - Jeffrey, Noah, Sara, Walid - Teenagers and Sleep
If I do not have your name on this list, it means you have not completed all the steps of Assignment #1. Make sure you get those done and I will put you in a group (and link to you) post haste.
Along with your group, research your topic. Pretend I'm not here. Help one another. The key thing I'm looking for in this task is that you REALLY understand your topic. The writing comes after great, in-depth research. While you research, save the web addresses of the really helpful sites you used. After you have a good grasp on your topic, select one student on whose blog you will post the answers to the following questions. You will collaboratively write a post that is directed to your peers. You will post this assignment on only ONE of your blogs. Other group members will link from their blogs to the completed post. Make sure you write IN YOUR OWN WORDS in a way that is appropriate and all conventions are followed (spelling, grammar, punctuation). Make sure to layout your work well, lots of white spaces, bold headings, etc. so it is easy and enjoyable to read. Remember, you are writing for your peers.
In your post, you must include:
-title of your topic
-a note that this is an assignment for class and a link to my blog, specifically this assignment
-names of all the researchers and links to each of their blogs
-3 or more great sources for information on this topic (hyperlinked)
-2 or more well placed, carefully selected images to help add clarity for your reader
-a description of what this issue is (think of "who, what, where, when, why, how" to guide your research and writing)
-a reflection on why this issue is important in the digital classroom
-a summary of how your readers (your peers) can use this information to make their own lives better (this could be in jot notes or sentences, but must be clear and easy to understand, it could be a list of tips for your reader)
Good luck and enjoy your SOLEs.
Sugata Mitra speaks in this video about some amazing experiments he has conducted. I want you to watch for yourself and see what you think. If you would like the speech translated, you can click on the link and pick a language from the pull down menu below the video.
You do not have to watch the entire video. You can start at 7:15 and stop at 14:55. You are welcome to watch the whole thing, but the key stuff I want you to see is in the middle and you're probably eager to get down to work.
Once you have finished watching this video, you have a task to complete. You will work in a group of four students (hmm...I wonder why I picked THAT number!?) to complete this task. You may use only one computer among the four of you. Figure out how that will work in a fair way, you will need to figure out seating and turn off all but one of your computers, sitting in such a way that you can all see what is going on with your computer monitor.
Your groups and your topics:
Group A - Aaisha, Amy, Melissa, Reshad - Cyberbullying
Group B - Claire, Qavi, Shahad, Zuhair - Kiva, Freerice, The Girl Effect
Group C - Haneen, Jumanh, Tyler, Will - Plagarism on the Internet
Group D - Hannah, Mateen, Connor, Charlotte - Privacy on facebook
Group E - Jatinder, Tara, Zak - Your Digital Footprint
Group F - Jeffrey, Noah, Sara, Walid - Teenagers and Sleep
If I do not have your name on this list, it means you have not completed all the steps of Assignment #1. Make sure you get those done and I will put you in a group (and link to you) post haste.
Along with your group, research your topic. Pretend I'm not here. Help one another. The key thing I'm looking for in this task is that you REALLY understand your topic. The writing comes after great, in-depth research. While you research, save the web addresses of the really helpful sites you used. After you have a good grasp on your topic, select one student on whose blog you will post the answers to the following questions. You will collaboratively write a post that is directed to your peers. You will post this assignment on only ONE of your blogs. Other group members will link from their blogs to the completed post. Make sure you write IN YOUR OWN WORDS in a way that is appropriate and all conventions are followed (spelling, grammar, punctuation). Make sure to layout your work well, lots of white spaces, bold headings, etc. so it is easy and enjoyable to read. Remember, you are writing for your peers.
In your post, you must include:
-title of your topic
-a note that this is an assignment for class and a link to my blog, specifically this assignment
-names of all the researchers and links to each of their blogs
-3 or more great sources for information on this topic (hyperlinked)
-2 or more well placed, carefully selected images to help add clarity for your reader
-a description of what this issue is (think of "who, what, where, when, why, how" to guide your research and writing)
-a reflection on why this issue is important in the digital classroom
-a summary of how your readers (your peers) can use this information to make their own lives better (this could be in jot notes or sentences, but must be clear and easy to understand, it could be a list of tips for your reader)
Good luck and enjoy your SOLEs.
Our Student of the Month Empathy Presentation
Remember this? I don't know if our friends at Hillsdale can watch this at school (it's a Youtube clip which we cannot watch at school), or if they'll have to wait until they're home. Many of you wanted this to be accessible online.
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Editing Reminder
Ms. Crosbie has just made a wonderful post and reminder to her students. I encourage you to head over to her blog and check it out.
She reminds her students that these are professional educational blogs and that there are high expectations for your layout, spelling, grammar and punctuation. I can tell that most of you already are, but make sure to always proofread before posting your new posts and comments.
She reminds her students that these are professional educational blogs and that there are high expectations for your layout, spelling, grammar and punctuation. I can tell that most of you already are, but make sure to always proofread before posting your new posts and comments.
Friday, 8 October 2010
It Gets Better
I am so proud of all of you today. We had a wonderful, thoughtful discussion at the end of the day before our long weekend. I am proud of you for listening to one another, supporting one another and showing maturity.
There was a lot of heavy stuff that we talked about and you are all probably processing the discussion in different ways. In fact, I heard one of you educating a student in another class about the importance of the words we use.
I wanted to make some videos available to you if you are interested in watching them. These are some of the things I was referring to in class today. I have embedded youtube clips, which you will not be able to watch at school, but you can at home.
For a bonus, write a post on your own blog (link back to this post and leave me a comment to let me know you've done it) reflecting on what we talked about today and/or relating the issues to your own experiences. Not everyone got to share their stories today, but now you have a chance to share them online. Start a post, write a poem, a story or your thoughts.
Remember:
When things get rough, you'll get through it. It gets better.
Words are extremely powerful. Be cautious about how you use them and how you respond to the ways others use them.
There are people out there who love you and care about you more than you'll ever know. When you need help, turn to them. (One of those people is me, by the way.)
On Glee, Kurt's dad, Burt, responds to Finn's hurtful words about his son.
My favourite actor, Neil Patrick Harris tells you it gets better.
The wonderful Ellen Degeneres talks about teenage bullying and the crisis that we have been hearing about this month.
Chris Colfer (Glee's Kurt) tells you it gets better.
For more information and support, you can check out The Trevor Project.
UPDATE: Please take some time to visit Hannah's blog and read her response to our talk. She has written beautifully and honestly.
Thank you for your tolerance, empathy and support of one another. I am a proud teacher.
Be safe and happy this Thanksgiving weekend!
There was a lot of heavy stuff that we talked about and you are all probably processing the discussion in different ways. In fact, I heard one of you educating a student in another class about the importance of the words we use.
I wanted to make some videos available to you if you are interested in watching them. These are some of the things I was referring to in class today. I have embedded youtube clips, which you will not be able to watch at school, but you can at home.
For a bonus, write a post on your own blog (link back to this post and leave me a comment to let me know you've done it) reflecting on what we talked about today and/or relating the issues to your own experiences. Not everyone got to share their stories today, but now you have a chance to share them online. Start a post, write a poem, a story or your thoughts.
Remember:
When things get rough, you'll get through it. It gets better.
Words are extremely powerful. Be cautious about how you use them and how you respond to the ways others use them.
There are people out there who love you and care about you more than you'll ever know. When you need help, turn to them. (One of those people is me, by the way.)
On Glee, Kurt's dad, Burt, responds to Finn's hurtful words about his son.
My favourite actor, Neil Patrick Harris tells you it gets better.
The wonderful Ellen Degeneres talks about teenage bullying and the crisis that we have been hearing about this month.
Chris Colfer (Glee's Kurt) tells you it gets better.
For more information and support, you can check out The Trevor Project.
UPDATE: Please take some time to visit Hannah's blog and read her response to our talk. She has written beautifully and honestly.
Thank you for your tolerance, empathy and support of one another. I am a proud teacher.
Be safe and happy this Thanksgiving weekend!
Creating a Link List
Hello R8A,
Now that we're starting to link up with students at Hillsdale, I want you to be able to create shortcuts for readers (and you) to be able to visit their blogs super quickly without having to type in the blog address every time.
Once you've logged in to blogger, go to your Dashboard. Select "Design". On the design page, select "Add a gadget". Scroll down the list of gadgets until you find "Link list". Select the "+" sign. This will open a window for you to edit your link list. Begin by adding my blog. Enter the blog address (http://pollockdigital.blogspot.com) or copy and paste it from another window. Write a title for my blog "Miss P's blog"/"My teacher's blog". Continue by adding your Hillsdale buddy's blog and other classmates' blogs that you refer to often.
Now that we're starting to link up with students at Hillsdale, I want you to be able to create shortcuts for readers (and you) to be able to visit their blogs super quickly without having to type in the blog address every time.
Once you've logged in to blogger, go to your Dashboard. Select "Design". On the design page, select "Add a gadget". Scroll down the list of gadgets until you find "Link list". Select the "+" sign. This will open a window for you to edit your link list. Begin by adding my blog. Enter the blog address (http://pollockdigital.blogspot.com) or copy and paste it from another window. Write a title for my blog "Miss P's blog"/"My teacher's blog". Continue by adding your Hillsdale buddy's blog and other classmates' blogs that you refer to often.
A Happy Teacher
Thrilled am I.
I'm so absolutely ecstatic to see that Fielding and Hillsdale students have begun to connect. Please keep me posted on how your interactions are going and if you have any great ideas for collaborative digital tasks.
This is going to be really amazing, our new partnerships!
I'm so absolutely ecstatic to see that Fielding and Hillsdale students have begun to connect. Please keep me posted on how your interactions are going and if you have any great ideas for collaborative digital tasks.
This is going to be really amazing, our new partnerships!
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Student of the Month Reflection due Friday, October 8th
Date: _________________ Name:____________________
Class:______
Empathy Student of the Month Presentation
Reflection
Please answer these questions with detail. You can submit your answers by email, on your blog or on paper. This is due tomorrow (
After watching the video of our Empathy presentation, reflect on what you saw and how it felt creating the performance, practising and performing.
Please answer in full sentences with lots of detail and juicy words.
3 Things that I think would have helped to improve our presentation
2 Things that I think went really well
1 Piece of advice I have for students who will be performing in the future
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Welcome Hillsdale Students!
Welcome to our new friends from Hillsdale! We are so thrilled that we're going to be working together digitally this year!
Ms. Crosbie is a teacher in Oshawa who just got married last weekend (CONGRATULATIONS!) and who teaches grade 6, 7 and 8 students at Hillsdale. She found me online and we decided to hook up our classes and try some new ways of learning collaboratively.
I was intrigued to learn that Ms. Crosbie's school is called Hillsdale, because it reminds me of Hilldale, a fictional neighbourhood in one of my all time favourite movies, Back to the Future (warning: this link makes noise. Turn your speakers down first!).
Ms. Crosbie's students will be working on their first assignment this week. They'll be making their welcome posts and visiting R8A's blogs. Don't be surprised when you see that they've commented on the things you've written! Our next step is to check out their blogs, answer some of their questions and pose some of our own.
Yay! This is about to get REALLY good!
Hillsdale students, settle in, take a look around and enjoy yourselves! We're eager to hear what you think about the work we've been doing.
Ms. Crosbie is a teacher in Oshawa who just got married last weekend (CONGRATULATIONS!) and who teaches grade 6, 7 and 8 students at Hillsdale. She found me online and we decided to hook up our classes and try some new ways of learning collaboratively.
I was intrigued to learn that Ms. Crosbie's school is called Hillsdale, because it reminds me of Hilldale, a fictional neighbourhood in one of my all time favourite movies, Back to the Future (warning: this link makes noise. Turn your speakers down first!).
Ms. Crosbie's students will be working on their first assignment this week. They'll be making their welcome posts and visiting R8A's blogs. Don't be surprised when you see that they've commented on the things you've written! Our next step is to check out their blogs, answer some of their questions and pose some of our own.
Yay! This is about to get REALLY good!
Hillsdale students, settle in, take a look around and enjoy yourselves! We're eager to hear what you think about the work we've been doing.
Behind MY Name
I saw how much fun you were all having with Assignment #3 - Behind Your Name and I decided to join in! Also, you can take a look at this as a sample for completing your own assignment. Make it juicy!
Behind My Name - Shauna Elizabeth Pollock (Salvatore) (when you do your post, include only your first and middle names unless you get parental permission to include your surname/s. I'm a grown up so I didn't need parental permission. Yes, it rocks to be old!)
Before I started this assignment, I thought my name was pretty great, because it's uncommon enough that I feel pretty unique and when I meet another "Shauna" (especially if it's spelled the same!), I get really excited and feel like we're somehow linked. I also like that it rhymes with Madonna, iguana and banana (if you say it in a British accent).
I think my parents chose this name for me because they thought it was a nice name. My Aunt Lisa says that she pressured them to use it because she had a crush on Shaun Cassidy. My dad says he knew a nurse that was named Shauna and she was really nice. My mom seemed pretty clueless about girls names, as she was SURE I was going to be a boy and she wanted me to be "Jared Daniel". I was almost named "Jana" which is a name I don't like as much as my own, but there was a cool story to it. My maternal grandparents are "Jack" and "Verna" so "Ja" from Jack and "-na" from Verna = "Jana", plus, I was born in January. However, my aunt got pregnant for my cousin shortly after my mom got pregnant with me and my aunt wanted to name her baby (if it was a girl) "Jenna". Many of you know that Jenna is like a sister to me and her babies, Andy and Will are my precious nephews. I'm glad we're not Jana and Jenna. That's just a little too precious.
After searching on Behind the Name and Baby Names, I learned that my name means "God is gracious". It took a while to find it on Behind the Name, because it took me through all the versions of my name: Shauna - Shaun - Sean - John.
Some other interesting things I learned are that Shauna has only once in history been in the top 300 girls names. When I was born, it was the 299th most popular girls name!
I think my name does suit me because I like the way it sounds coming out of my mouth, I love writing it and, like I said before, I like how unique it is. The meaning of my name doesn't really have anything to do with my life, but it's a great name, in my opinion. (Plus, "Shauna Pollock" sounds a lot like "Shopaholic" which is funny to me.)
If I could give myself a new name it would be something really funky and gender ambiguous like Vaughn or Hendrix (after Stevie Ray Vaughn or Jimi Hendrix, really amazing guitarists).
Other information: I looked up the origins of my full name.
Shauna = God is gracious
Elizabeth = my god is a vow
Pollock = coronet (a horn)
Salvatore = rescuer
Basically, I'll conclude that I am a gracious, promise keeping rescuer who is as loud as a hooting coronet. Do you think that's about right?
This is the actual Pollock family crest. The logo means "boldly and strongly" and the boar pierced with the arrow means Pollocks fight to the death. Awesome.
Behind My Name - Shauna Elizabeth Pollock (Salvatore) (when you do your post, include only your first and middle names unless you get parental permission to include your surname/s. I'm a grown up so I didn't need parental permission. Yes, it rocks to be old!)
Before I started this assignment, I thought my name was pretty great, because it's uncommon enough that I feel pretty unique and when I meet another "Shauna" (especially if it's spelled the same!), I get really excited and feel like we're somehow linked. I also like that it rhymes with Madonna, iguana and banana (if you say it in a British accent).
I think my parents chose this name for me because they thought it was a nice name. My Aunt Lisa says that she pressured them to use it because she had a crush on Shaun Cassidy. My dad says he knew a nurse that was named Shauna and she was really nice. My mom seemed pretty clueless about girls names, as she was SURE I was going to be a boy and she wanted me to be "Jared Daniel". I was almost named "Jana" which is a name I don't like as much as my own, but there was a cool story to it. My maternal grandparents are "Jack" and "Verna" so "Ja" from Jack and "-na" from Verna = "Jana", plus, I was born in January. However, my aunt got pregnant for my cousin shortly after my mom got pregnant with me and my aunt wanted to name her baby (if it was a girl) "Jenna". Many of you know that Jenna is like a sister to me and her babies, Andy and Will are my precious nephews. I'm glad we're not Jana and Jenna. That's just a little too precious.
After searching on Behind the Name and Baby Names, I learned that my name means "God is gracious". It took a while to find it on Behind the Name, because it took me through all the versions of my name: Shauna - Shaun - Sean - John.
Some other interesting things I learned are that Shauna has only once in history been in the top 300 girls names. When I was born, it was the 299th most popular girls name!
I think my name does suit me because I like the way it sounds coming out of my mouth, I love writing it and, like I said before, I like how unique it is. The meaning of my name doesn't really have anything to do with my life, but it's a great name, in my opinion. (Plus, "Shauna Pollock" sounds a lot like "Shopaholic" which is funny to me.)
If I could give myself a new name it would be something really funky and gender ambiguous like Vaughn or Hendrix (after Stevie Ray Vaughn or Jimi Hendrix, really amazing guitarists).
Other information: I looked up the origins of my full name.
Shauna = God is gracious
Elizabeth = my god is a vow
Pollock = coronet (a horn)
Salvatore = rescuer
Basically, I'll conclude that I am a gracious, promise keeping rescuer who is as loud as a hooting coronet. Do you think that's about right?
This is the actual Pollock family crest. The logo means "boldly and strongly" and the boar pierced with the arrow means Pollocks fight to the death. Awesome.
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