During this trimester (2), the students have continued to work on finding out what works best for them as a learner and how to advocate for the support that they need. In class, I see more and more students asking for assistance when they need it. 

Since early October, I have been posting the homework for the students in Learning Skills class with the understanding that I will stop doing that once we reach the third trimester.  It is hard to believe, but we are about 3 weeks away from the start of trimester 3.  On Friday. March 2, I will be reminding the students that I will no longer be posting homework once report cards go out in late March.  Many students are able to use Schoology and the individual updates from the teachers to find their assignments, but for others that may be too many places to look to find their assignments.  I will also discuss the need for the students to begin to develop their own system, whether it be with a  planner, use of a homework app, or consistently using Schoology.   My hope is that during Trimester 3 students can use and refine  their choice before leaving for high school. 

Along with our daily routine of completing a warm up and reviewing/reteaching new concepts, students have been using app's such as ixL for review of math skills,  noredink to practice writing skills, and reading articles from newsela to practice reading comprehension strategies.  

Going forward, skills class will continue to focus on reviewing new concepts and test preparation but will also focus on getting ready for high school and what schedules and class expectations may be like.  We will also be doing some review of previously taught science concepts as we get ready for the Science and Technology MCAS assessment. 

Since, we came back to school after New Years we have been talking about the properties of matter.
First we determined that "air" is matter.
Then, we explored density of matter.
And finally, we have researched objects that can be made of multiple materials and the properties those materials bring to the object.

High school course placement will be happening after February vacation. This link goes to the presentation that students saw on Tuesday. See the timeline for the process below. Teachers will be making their recommendations starting after break. 

What was life like in King John's England?  Students took on roles of different socioeconomic classes in medieval England and saw their money, possessions, rights, (and limbs in some cases) disappear at the hands of their government.  They did a great job!

The placement test for Grade 9 will be given to all students on Wednesday February 7. This test is similar to a midterm exam. Only topics that we have worked on in class this school year will be on the test. This test is only one of the components used to give a recommendation for next year’s math placement.