 During the first semester of science with Mr. Kirste I learned many things. We covered plant cells, animal cells, traits, genetics, and rat growth and development. In liked doing the lab work for these the most. The Edible Cell was probably my favorite because we ate it when we were done.
The most difficult part was the study of rat growth. My group and I struggled to get the measurements done. We kept making errors because the little rat was always moving. We needed to wrap a string around the circumference of the rats head. Then we measured the length of the string to determine the size. It took us many tries to do this. We kept trying until my lab partner was finally able to accurately get the measurement accurately. We knew it was accurate because it was the same as other groups that measured the same rat. I have many things to be thankful for in my life. My father is doing well after several illnesses, my children are successful adults, and my wife and I have celebrated over 32 years of marriage. My dad has dealt with prostate cancer and oral cancer in the past few years. He now has regained most of his strength and lived independently. My two children are both happy. My daughter is happily married and working as a physical therapist for Children's Hospital Central California. My son is in New York attending college while working toward his goal of serving as an U.S. Air Force officer. My wife and I are enjoying life without dependent children. Sometimes I cannot believe the love of my life has put up with me for so long. Yes, I truly have many things to be thankful for today.
 By now you should have 4 pages on your website:
Blog posts should be deeply reflective and thoughtful. Don't just say what the hardest thing is - tell: What made it hard? What did you do to better understand it? What can you do differently? Is there a better way to learn the subject? Possible topics:
Today's lunchtime event, Marshmallow Face, drew the largest teacher participation ever. We had six teachers and two administrators come out to be target for the Marshmallow Bombs. It was all done in a great spirit of fun. Having teachers like Mrs. Baird, Mrs. Dunlap, Mr. Dorman, Mr. West, and Mr Vinson join me in providing a good laugh for our students was priceless. Mr Ward came out to take a few to the face too. The big surprise was that Mrs. Badawi, the vice principal, took a turn below the ladder.
I think a good time was enjoyed by all. The students got to drop a chocolate dripped marshmallow onto their first period teacher or a school administrators. A shout out to Mr. West, for unofficially, catching the most marshmallows with his mouth. He had a good strategy. Personally, catching one was plenty. For me, the combination of marshmallow and chocolate did not make an appetizing flavor. Today will be an interesting experience. In an effort to encourage teachers to come out to our lunch time event, we are giving them 10 bonus Spirit Points if they play Marshmallow Face. That means 10 of my first period students will line up to drop a chocolate dipped marshmallow into my face. They will climb a four foot ladder to aim their confection bomb at my mouth, I hope.
The fun will be seeing the amusement on the faces of the students. So I get a little sticky and messy. This will be great fun and give us a chance to catch Mrs. Baird in the points competition. I hope my students join me now in a commitment to attempt to win the Spirit Points Competition. Parents and students please take note. I will not take grades for Brain Pops or Quizzes a second time. The first score you submit is the score you receive. If you want to practice before you take the quiz, do so at the Brain Pop site or the Microsoft site.
Today in second period, Abdul helped solve the problem of stopping comment capability on student blogs. Thank you Abdul.
Here is what he shared. At the end of your first post, choose Settings from the top right corner of your post area. Then select Post Settings, Allow Comments. From the see more area choose closed. Finally, click the Save to Live (blue button) at the top left of the window. Your comments are now turned off. In 4th period, Connor shared an improved process for stopping sharing comments. At the top of the page on the left choose the Manage Blog link. Choose settings. Then set the Allow Comments to closed. Doing it this way will maintain the setting so that you do not need to re Tomorrow I will attempt to use blogs with my students for the first time. I believe giving students real reasons and opportunities to write will help them to become proficient authors and story tellers.
The real purpose is to invite students to be thoughtful and introspective about themselves and what they are learning or not learning in school. For me it is an experiment. I hope it goes well. |
 Mr. ALarry Armstrong, Computer Applications teacher at Computech Middle School. Archives
January 2013
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