Fin d'octobre

We are getting into the busiest part of the term. The Bear Beach project is over and in November we will be embarking on an early Middle Ages project, in which students will be researching a world civilization and then playing a game with Mme Balabuch and Mr Owen's Socials classes to learn how cultures interact. In French we will be continuing to work on grammar and verbs as well as developing media literacy - what are the messages and biases on t.v., films, music and in the press? We have also begun to learn about rites of passages and will begin our own grade 8 'Rite of Passage,' starting with an interview with someone in the community who might help them understand their life path.

There is a lot happening at school this week:

• Monday is the Halloween Dance, with proceeds going to the Mustard Seed Food Bank.
• Tuesday we are going skating for the afternoon with the Scorpions team (M Levesque, Mme O'Connor, Mme Brault and Mme Balabuch). If you are free please join us to help supervise. If you have not yet sent in the permission form or the $17.50 for field trips, I need to receive it by Tuesday morning or your son/daughter will have to stay at school. Students with significant outstanding work will also be staying at school (and missing the dance) to complete their work.
  
• Wednesday to Friday I will be away at a training session with the GVTA (Greater Victoria Teacher's Association) and then attending and presenting at the ACPI (Association Canadienne des Professeurs d'Immersion) Conference. I am looking forward to bringing back lots of good ideas to the class.
• Thursday there will be an assembly on internet safety (Facebook and other sites) for students during the day, and for parents in the evening
• Friday, Education Minister George Abbott and a slew of trustees, local and provincial politicians will be at Central to officially open the school at another assembly.
  
• Friday there will also be a Social Studies test and students will need to hand in their duotangs with all the work covered in the unit. I will give them a checklist on Monday and missing handouts can be downloaded and completed at www.mbarwin.wikispaces.com/Civilisations  . Their next "signet" book report is also due on Friday.

The following week we will have the Radio Radio concert, a Remembrance Day Assembly, and Friday is a statutory holiday.

As teachers will not be writing report cards this term, I have been meeting with students to tell them their marks, their strengths and how to improve in French, Science and Socials. I hope to send you all emails with updates later in the month, and you are always welcome to email, phone or make an appointment to come in to see me.

Images of Bear Beach

Here are a few pictures of our trip to Bear Beach. In class (and hopefully at home too) students are developing their civilizations and posting to the class wiki, found at http://mbarwin.wikispaces.com/project/list Explore the projects to see what they have come up with. YOver the next weeks students will also have to comment on others' projects. You can also click on "Join this wiki" to join in the discussion. Students must post their work by next Sunday night.

Using the wiki is an experiment for me, but it could be a useful tool for projects, information sharing and other collaborations.

The Bear Beach trip was the first step in our Grade 8 Rite of Passage. More on this over the next few weeks.

We have a few other routines that you should know about. Every week we are working on a group of French verbs. This week it is -ER verbs that use ETRE as an auxiliary (Monter/Tomber). We practice in class and there is a quiz on different tenses at the end of each week. Every two weeks students are handing in a Signet, a bookmark with daily comments on what they are reading in French. The next one is to be handed in on Thursday. Finally, each month they are completing a Lexique, a list of 50 new French words. The first is due next Monday the 24th.

As you are aware, Parent-Teacher meetings have been cancelled due to job action. If you have any concerns please send me a note and I will of course let you know if there are any serious issues with your child. There will also not be any report cards this term if the job action continues, but rest assured teachers are keeping track of marks and progress. I will conference with students at report time to let them know their marks and ways to support their learning.

October already. We have started a few routines: silent reading and signets, verb du jour and Friday quizzes. We have discussed world views and ways to count time. To get ready for Bear Beach we have read topographic maps and planned meals. And students are speaking French every day, in class discussions, in partners or in groups. They are still out of the habit, but getting a "yellow card" is a good deterrent.

Tomorrow early I head off for the first Bear Beach trip. The forecast is calling for strong winds and rain, but that is part of the experience. We did discuss appropriate gear, but out there is where there are real consequences. It is truly a beautiful place, and I would love to stay out there more than one night. sometimes I think students may learn more from two days at Bear Beach than months in a classroom; different learning, but still valuable. I wrote about the trip for an article in Green Teacher Magazine, which you can read here.

When we return, we are off on another, much shorter trip, to see Kenneth Oppel, an author who grew up in Victoria and has a great range of works, from early reader mysteries to youth fiction, and lately more adult reads. The trip is this Thursday at Vic High, leaving Central at 9:30 am. Email me if you'd like to come along.

Later in the week I will send home a notice (and post it here) for a year's worth of cultural and phys ed excursions, including skating, swimming, a magic show and a concert by Acadien hip hop artists, Radio Radio. You might want to come along for that one!