Tuesday, January 25

 Hi parents,

We had a bit of a rough day today (by our class' standards) but there were still some awesome moments.

In the morning, the students worked diligently to catch up on the work they didn't complete yesterday. We discussed 'states of matter' again, and completed fill-in-the-blank sheets about solid, liquids, and gases.  Students brainstormed more examples of each.

Then, the students responded to a fun writing prompt, that asked them to imagine life in a different state of matter: "If I Was a Liquid, I would..." 

The responses to this one were so creative and funny. Some students said they would freeze themselves to become solid again, others said they would boil themselves to turn into gases. One student said they would become part of the ocean and then create waves to get rid of all the ocean garbage. Another wanted to combine with liquid nitrogen and become a frozen mass of ice in space.

We made Jello today and observed the changes in states of matter. First, the water boiling into a gas. Then, the water combining with the solid jello crystals to create a liquid. Finally, the liquid cooling and settling into an unusual, jiggly solid. The class wrote down their observations and made predictions along the way.

In the afternoon, we did Daily LA, played a great game of Kickball in Gym, and finished up our science experiment. 

We've been having some issues with listening, tattling, and general silliness, and unfortunately I've even had to bring back the dreaded 'Listening Club' as a consequence. I've also had to limit the number of options that students have available as 'responsible work choices' due to some irresponsible behaviour. We've wasted a lot of time lately with slow cleanups, interruptions, and unnecessary quarrels, and I know everyone is tired of having to deal with those. I hope that the students understand that even though these consequences may seem strict, they'll ultimately help our class get back on track and be a more fun place to learn. 

Have a nice night,

Zac