PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES

Hello parents and guardians:

This is short notice, but I wanted you to know that parent/teacher conferences are happening today (Tuesday, November 10) and Thursday (November 12).  They will be held from 5-8 p.m. each evening in the large gym at West Middle School.  This year is different than past years in that there are NO appointments.  You will simply walk in and find the teachers you wish to talk.  You may have to wait until those teachers are free, however, so please be patient. 

Also, this year at conferences you will be able to go to the library and view a short video about our new Power School Parent Portal.  You will then be able to view your child’s grades as often as you would like.  If you can’t make it to conferences you will be able to view the video online later on, but will still have to come to the school to get your letter.

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

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

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

Mixtures and Solutions

Attention Parents and Guardians:

We have begun our Mixtures and Solutions unit. This unit will last until spring break from the looks of things. Students will learn how a lever works, what the three classes of levers are, how to identify and diagram the load, fulcrum and effort in real world levers, how to set up, diagram and use four different pulley systems, and more.

As always if you have questions or comments, please feel free to e-mail me.

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Mealworm Labs – Materials Needed

Attention Parents, Guardians and Students:

I told students to record the following information in their agendas, but for those who may have “forgotten” the following items will need to be brought in for Mealworm labs this week and next. 

• Thursday, January 15 students need to bring whatever materials they plan to construct their maze from.  Some ideas are Lego type blocks,  Popsicle sticks, cardboard,etc.
• Tuesday, January 20 students need to bring in some type of food to test their mealworms (nothing containing citric acid such as lemons, oranges, grapefruit, etc)
• Wednesday, January 21 students need to bring in whatever  materials they need for their own lab.  They should have discussed this with their partner(s)

As always, if you have questions please feel free to comment to the blog, or send me an e-mail.

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Mealworm Unit Coming Up!

Hello,

I want to take a minute to mention our next unit.  When winter break is over and we return to school on Monday, January 5, 2009, we will be taking about two weeks to do a unit on mealworms.  The real “point” of this unit is to learn the scientific process and how to set up an experiment, collect data, and write a report over what was discovered.  This will help students who wish to take part in the science fair.  There will be some materials that will need to be provided by students and I will post further information here as we get there.

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Some Updates….

Attention Parents and Guardians:

This is just a little note to let you know what is happening the next few days in science class. 

First,  some of you may have heard from your child that we will be dissecting sheep eyes and brains.  This is correct, however, those items will not be arriving until late tomorrow.  Therefore, Mrs. Martinez and I have decided to go ahead with our tests on the dates announced.  (For my classes, that is Friday, October 30)  Then, next week we will do one of the dissections on Monday and one on Tuesday before we begin our next unit.

Next – speaking of our next unit – the next unit we will be covering is on Mixtures and Solutions.  One thing that I am in need of is paper towels.  We seem to go though quite a few in this unit.  I have told the students that if they can bring ONE (1) roll of paper towels I will give them two bonus points on the Mixtures and Solutions test.  This is totally optional, and NO they may not bring more than one roll to get more bonus points! 

As always if you have questions, feel free to call or e-mail.

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Books Handed Out Today!!

Attention Parents and Guardians:

I handed out the student’s “Sciencesaurus” books today!  This book will be very helpful when they are working on their daily science and/or studying for tests.  Since these are brand new books, I would like them to be protected.  Therefore, I am requiring that each book be COVERED by FRIDAY, AUGUST 29.  I am asking that they NOT use the stretchable, fabric covers.  Other teachers have discovered that these offer little too no protection for the books.  I told the students that they can use West Middle School book covers (which the office is out of right now) or a paper sack.  If they need help putting either of these on I can assist them during homeroom.

Thanks

Mr. Yerington