Classroom News – November

Hello everyone,

OK, I admit it – I’ve done a HORRIBLE job keeping up on my blog.  I promise to try and do better.  I will begin by posting this news article.  Then from now on I will try to remember to post when student’s have assignments, tests, quizzes, etc. Also, parent teacher conference are next Tuesday and Thursday from 5-8 p.m.  I hope to see many of you there!  If you are unable to make those dates or times and want to see me please contact  me and we can set up an alternative time.  If you make it to conferences you can also get your password for the new parent portal and will be able to check you child’s grades on the web 24/7!

So, on to the news.  We are finishing up our unit on Cells, the Brain and the Eye.  In fact, we reviewed today and students will be taking the test tomorrow.  Then, beginning Monday, we will begin our next unit on Mixtures and Solutions.  This unit is one of our three FOSS kits for the year.  This means there will NOT be a book at all for this unit.  However, students are expected to keep a notebook.  I will be giving them all the handouts for the entire unit either Friday or Monday for sure.  They will put these in their three ring notebook and work on them with the class.  When they have homework they may either take home the entire notebook OR they may remove the homework page, complete it and return the assignment.  After the assignment is graded students nee to make sure it gets back into the notebook.  This way,t hey have a complete notebook that they may take home at any time to study for quizzes and the unit test.

Speaking of tests, we are piloting a new assessment system along with FOSS this year.  It is know as the “Benchmark Assessments” and will consist of a “Survey” when we being the unit.  This is what you may know as a pre-test.  It will NOT be graded, but will serve as a road map for me.  I will be able to find out what students already know and what  items I need to spend a little more time on. I will also be giving some assignments that will not be graded, but are known as “Formative Assessments”.  The purpose of these is to “inform” the student and myself of how they are progressing.  So, don’t be surprised if students come home with pages in their notebook that have just  a check mark that they were looked at or that students helped “grade” themselves by marking in different colors what they got correct, almost correct, or didn’t have on their paper at all.  It is my hope that by doing frequent “formative assessments” that students will learn more and become more responsible for their own learning.

Well, that about sums up what’s going on this month in Mr. Yerington’s Room.  As always, if you have any questions or concerns please contact me!!

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Classroom News – September

Hello Everyone

I am going to try something new this year.  I am hoping to type up a little about what is going on in my science classroom once a month.  Of course, we all know the old adage about the best laid plans….  Anyway, we’ll see how it goes!

The school year is off to a good start.  My students are settling into their new routine of being middle schoolers.  They have taken one Daily Science Quiz (with another coming up Friday) and one chapter quiz using my new SMART Board and SMART Response system.  Most students are doing very well at turning in their work, however please continue to remind them of the importance of doing so.  At some point I may start reducing points for late work.

Anticipation is high for our annual Langwood trip.  This year we will be taking our third period classes.  This annual trip takes place over four days.  This year my class will be going on September 25.  Students will participate in the high ropes course for half the day and will visit three different presenters the other half of the day.  I am looking for parent volunteers to assist with this trip so if you are interested please contact me soon!

Our current unit of study is “The Nature of Science and Technology” – we are about 3/4 of the way through this unit so we will be testing within the next month.  There will be a posting here on the blog with things to study and there will be a sample test on my web site. After his unit we will move right into the Cells, the Brain and the Eye.  The two highlights of this unit are always  when we dissect real sheep brains and eyes!!  I always enjoy watching the reactions during these two activities!

That about sums up our classroom news for now.  As always, if you have questions or concerns please contact me by calling the school or shooting me an e-mail!

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Welcome to a New School Year

Hello Parents, Guardians and Students,

Welcome to a brand new school year.  Hopefully everyone is settling in and getting used to the routines here at West Middle School.

I am writing this post mostly to discuss the first assignment that will actually have points assigned to it!!  Today or tomorrow your student will be recieving their ScienceSaurus book.  This book needs to have a cover on it by FRIDAY, AUGUST 28.  If they have their cover on by that day, they get five points!  Easy, right?  I do have one thing to request.  I DO NOT want students to use the stretchy fabric book covers.  These have been known to bend the corners of the covers, and since my books are only a year old I would like to keep them nice. 

The book cover can be made from a paper bag, or West currently has book covers in the office that are free!  If you need directions on how to make a paper bag book cover, try this link:  Paper Bag Book Cover. 

Thanks!

Mr. Yerington

Things That Make You Look Twice!

Saw the following in a local restaurant sign tonight. I can see a hamburger or cheeseburger kid’s meal, but this???!!!???

Moon Logs

Attention Parents and Guardians:

For the next month or so students in my science class will have a long-term assignment.  They will be observing the moon every night.  They must do this each evening, even on the weekends!  I have suggested that they leave the actual moon log at school in their notebooks and draw the moon on a separate sheet of paper because they will NOT be given an extra moon log if they loose theirs. 

Please allow your child to either go outside each evening or look out the window and view the moon.  If there is a cloudy day or a day that they do not have time to observe we will be keeping a class log as well. 

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Mid-Summative Exam #3 Tomorrow – Daily Science Quiz Wednesday

Attention Parents, Guardians and Students:

I have been forgetting to update my blog!  Shame on me.  Anyway, we will be taking Mid-Summative Exam #3 tomorrow.  We are reviewing today, and here is a list of things to study:

• Be able to identify luminous items in the solar system
• Know which direction Earth rotates on it’s axis
• Be able to draw how light leaves a luminous object and illuminates and opaque sphere
• Be able to calculate local noon (sun transit) when given sunrise and sunset times (see my previous post for a web site that will help practice this)
• Be able to explain how it can be on time on the west coast and a different time on the east coast
• Be able to calculate what time it is on one coast given the time on another

Also, Wednesday we will take Daily Science Quiz #12 and students should have noted which questions will be on that quiz

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Link to Sunrise/Sunset Data

Hi

For those who want to practice finding local noon for our quiz tomorrow here is the link to the US Naval Observatory web site:  USNO

Hope that helps!!

Mr. Yerington

Mr. Yerington — Now Appearing on Twitter!!

That’s right folks, in an effort to add even more technology to my life I now have a Twitter account.  For those that don’t know, Twitter is for short, quick posts about what you are doing.  If you have a Twitter account you can follow me!!  Also, since I found out my Blog allows me to add Twitter to my widgets you can check my latest updates right here.  Just check the left hand side underneath my “Recent Comments” widget!

If you want to check out my latest updates just go here!

Enjoy

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

NEW UNIT: Planetary Science

Attention parents, guardians and students:

We will be starting our planetary science unit now that spring break is over. This unit should be a lot of fun. One key for students will be to save all their quizzes and use them to study from. (There will be a quiz after each investigation)

The ten investigations are as follows:
• Where am
• Round Earth/Flat Earth
• Day and Night
• Discover the Moon
• Moon Craters
• Mapping the Moon
• Landing on the Moon
• Moon Rocks
• Phases of the Moon
• Exploring the Planets

There will be much more information both here and on my web site. As always, if you have questions feel free to call or e-mail me.

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Spring Parent/Teacher Conferences

Hello Parent’s and Guardians:

Our spring parent/teacher conferences will take place next week.  I would love to visit with as many of  you as I can.  The conferences will take place on Tuesday, March 10 and Thursday, May 12 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. both evenings.  They will be in the large gym (like fall conferences), however, this time there will be NO APPOINTMENTS.  They will be drop in only, so be aware you may have some wait time if teachers you want to see are busy.  We will do our best to accommodate everyone.  If you are unable to get in to see a certain teacher you may also schedule an alternate time to see them.

Thanks

Mr. Yerington