Read me, Please!

First, I want to openly thank you for your support and flexibility. As I listen to my "teacher friends" complain about the lack of parental involvement at their schools, I can't help but brag about my dedicated and involved parents. As of the writing of this letter, we have secured two of the trips to the museum. Mrs. Ferguson has dontated money to cover one bus trip and The CPC has dontated money for another trip. The museum wants two more additional sessions and have offered us a bus scholarship to cover two of the trips. I am awaiting further confirmation and details. You all have come through in the best way!

Science

6th and 7th are moving from chemistry to physics! Newton, Einstein, forces, motion, simple machines, electronics.... I'm getting dizzy just thinking about it! Please make sure your child is reading the chapters. I've noticed that many of them simply answer the study questions without reading the text. They are not seeking understanding of the text and this shows in their assessment. Some of the errors that I notice on tests are less about cognition and more about work habits. This is an area of concern for all of us who care about the education of these children. Let's hold our geniuses accountable. Read with them. 

8th graders learned about Gregor Mendel's pea experiments. We even did a virtual simulation in class. We will be planting some potatoes in class turn learn about the different ways some organisms reproduce. 

Please make sure your children are watching Cosmos every Sunday at 8pm. It is a science documentary that is well produced. It is educational and entertaining. (click on the word Cosmos in this post to see the last episode).

It Was Fair!

Science

I am writing this entry of the Dali at the awards ceremony of the  Regional Science Fair Awards ceremony. Nikkia Ferguson, Joshua Lambert, and Azia Papillon participated and made Cambridge Proud. 


Nikkia Ferguson received a participation award in Chemistry and was elected to the Science Fair Board as the Student Ambassador.
Azia Papillon placed silver in Electronics. Joshua Lambert placed Gold in Physics and received a Silver Award for his paper.

This has been an educational experience for all involved. I want to thank the students and parents for all of their hard work. The experience we've gained this year will make us a stronger and more effective team next year.

Gregor Mendel, father of
modern genetics

6th and 7th grade will testing on Thermal energy, tomorrow. From there we will be moving from Environmental Science to Forces and Motion. I am still providing tutoring on Thursday, after school.  

8th Grade will test on sexual and asexual reproduction. We will plant some clippings  We will get into the work of Gregor Mendel. He was a clergyman who did experiments on pea plants that are the foundation of everything we know about genetics. If you had the opportunity, would you "design" your perfect child from scratch?


History

There is a four-page (hand-written) rewrite of our persuasive papers due next Friday (03-14-14). We learned about the different categories of paper 

We are preparing for another debate. We have been learning about violent and non-violent revolution. We will be debating the merits of violent uprising over non-violent protest. This subject has been prevalent in the news for the last two years. What do you think about the effectiveness of non-violence resistance on the face of violent oppression.