New Summits Seen, New Heights to be Climbed

With the challenges that await us in the upcoming week, it seems evident that as one significant hurdle is crossed, another awaits. This seems to be the basic template of this class and of my teaching, in general. I believe that students will be able to meet these challenges with the level of energy and focus that such challenges deserve.

On the seventh grade side, I hope to see students during 4th period lunch on Monday and Tuesday. These are the last opportunities to revise their exam on Chapter 5. This is the last opportunity to work on this exam. For students who need to make up this exam, this is it. We move on after Tuesday. After this, whatever grade is earned stands. Passes can be found in the team area. We conclude our study of learning styles this week. Students have really done nicely in diagnosing themselves, their colleagues, and their teachers with this methodology. I hope that some of you have been privy to these discussions. There is little more revivifying to me to hear that dinner discussion centered around ST or NF modes of thought. Great times, indeed. Starting from Tuesday, we will take what we have gained with our learning styles discussion and pivot towards the writing tasks on Chapter 5. Students will have to select two writing tasks from the selected four and compose two defense pieces in addition explaining how their work represents the specific learning style. These tasks are due at the end of class on November 10. Students who will be absent for the extended weekend should submit their work to me before they depart.
On the 8th grade side, Sally Bowles might have summed it up with her song on "Money." We study industrialization and wealth this week. Students have been assigned reading from Chapter 17 and 18 for an open note, take home quiz on the reading for Monday. After that, we begin with an assessment on Immigration via Powerpoint/ Googledocs. With this, we will wrap the week up with a study of the themes of the Industrialization unit along with a small taste of the Identification, the 8th graders' new friend. Students know when their deadline for submission of their revised exam will be and my hope is that they will adhere to these deadlines in a timely manner.
All students should know that the Extra Credit Quotation Section on the Blog is going to be closed this week Friday night at 6:00 PM. These extra credit opportunities will be open at the start of second trimester. If students wish to take advantage, they are advised to do so soon.
If I can be of any further assistance, I strongly advise students/ parents/ guardians/ stakeholders to contact me at school via email or at my home. Partnership works best in any circumstance when there is open discussion and transparency and where suffering in silence is averted.
All best and happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan

Photo courtesy of http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/helios89/1468995258/sizes/l/in/photostream/