Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Sheila's Brush

Today was a bit of a frenzy as we got back in the swing of things after an unexpected long weekend. I say unexpected, but Sheila's Brush does seem to come back with a vengeance every year around this time. It seems as though many students used the weekend to good effect, either resting up, playing outside or working on their Becoming an Expert projects.

Day 6 being a day that has both Music and Gym periods, it can be hard to get much of a flow going. On top of that, we had a great concert by Irish-Newfoundland entertainer Fergus O'Byrne after recess. He showed slides and talked about Ireland, and managed to do the impossible by engaging (and enthralling) a group of  three hundred 9-11 year old kids. He showed his great sense of humour and entertaining flair as he answered questions and told the story of Finn McCool, then played some great traditional songs. I think the students go an awful lot out of the experience; Thanks to Beachy Cove Elementary for scheduling this great event!

We had a lengthy discussion about the current situation in Japan, as part of our French class. Discussions like this are a great way to talk about current issues and concepts, as well as a way for me to get a bearing on students' written and spoken French skills. Some students already knew a lot about the earthquake/tsunami tragedy, and others were very interested to find out more. It is a very difficult story to deal with, but I think they got a lot out of it and I was able to clarify some things they were unsure of.

We took some time to check in on each student's Becoming an Expert project at the end of the day, and I was very impressed with their project. A lot of the children in class are refining their ideas more as they go along, and some have taken the project in directions I wouldn't have even imagined. Great work! Some students have already reached their Week 1 goals, and have no assigned work tonight. Others have some things left to finish, and have written these instructions in their agenda and/or Becoming an Expert exercise book. Tomorrow they will have some time to do more research, and begin/continue working on their first project.

Enjoy what is left of this sunny day, especially now that our evenings have gotten a bit longer.

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