And we begin...

Today begins the three day marathon review for the test.

We will review Chapter 4 exclusively today. Remember this is one of the 4 items that are due to me on Tuesday before we take the test.

Tomorrow I will be out. I have to take my kids to their doctors appointments, and I have one myself. Please remember my policy regarding substitute teachers. I like each and every one of my students but I really dont want them with me every Friday afternoon after school for detention!

Start Organizing now! Due Tuesday: 1)Chapter 3 Overview
2)Chapter 4 Overview
3)Chapter 4 Review Sheet
4)Chapter 3 and 4 Test Review (Friday)

Done at last

Well we finished up the notes for Chapter 4 in class today.

Tomorrow we will do a review activity of Chapter 4.
Friday will be the test review.
Monday will be a review day.
Tuesday will be the test.

Tuesday you will need to turn into me:

1)Chapter 3 Overview
2)Chapter 4 Overview
3)Chapter 4 Review
4)Test Review

The six weeks ends next Thursday please get any missing work in to me ASAP!

Thanks!!

A big thank you to all of the parents that attended the Back to School night. I hope I will see most of you at Parent Teacher conferences Oct 22nd and 29th.

Today we finished up the overview and started on the lecture. the bad news is that we will not get to the test on Friday.
Tentative schedule for the rest of this unit.

Wednesday Finish Lecture
Thursday Chapter 4 Review Sheet
Friday Chapter 3 and 4 Test Review
Monday Review Game
Tuesday Chapter 3 and 4 Test

I dont like to test these guys on Mondays!!!

The Begining of the End

This is the start to the end of Biochem. I know the students will be glad to say goodbye to this topic but I wont!!!

Today we used the computers to research the answers for our Chapter 4 Overview. For some strange reason the kids like using the internet for research instead of the book.

We are looking at trying to test on Friday on Chapters 3 and 4 but that will depend on the lecture/discussion tomorrow and Wednesday.

Thursday

OK so they struggled a little more on the review than I would have liked. Notes are your friend people, take them, review them, study them, know them!!!! Everything on the review sheet could be answered from the notes.

You need to be practicing drawing molecules IT WILL BE ON THE TEST!

Wednesday

OK so this was the classes first test with a sub. I was at a conference learning how to create more interactive lesson plans.

Here is my soapbox. I will not tolerate anyone treating a substitute poorly. Anyone that the substitiute says treated him or her poorly will suffer SEVERE consequences!!!

On a great note the class passed this first test. They worked on a review sheet that they struggled with a bit but hopefully I can take care of that tomorrow!

Tuesday Sept 18th

We finished all the notes today.

We also practiced drawing out covalent bond structures. I know it is difficult, but remember the following:

Carbon makes 4 bonds
Oxygen makes 2 bonds
Nitrogen makes 3 bonds
Hydrogen makes 1 bond

Monday Sept 17th

Today we took lots and lots of notes. people we need to keep in mind that this is the easy part of this unit. If you dont master the notes from this week next week will be awfully difficult.

Today interims also went home!!!

Energy Levels

today we started the notes on Chapter 3. More specifically we leanred about atomic mass, atomic number, and how to draw energy orbitals.

I know this stuff was very difficult, but we will get thru this.

Also dont forget in life there is a right way and a wrong way to do everything. Think before you ACT!!!!

Biochem!

Today we started one of the harder units we will do all year biochemistry, but not after a lecture on working hard in class so you dont have to for the next 50 years.

We started Chapter 3 Overview, most were much more focused today and are starting to really get back into the swing of school, though we do have a few that still think it is July.

Tomorrow will be more work on Chapter 3 Overview and some notes.

Next week I hope to get to our first real lab and probably some computer usage!!

Dont forget to wear Blue tomorrow and go see us play at JF tomorrw night!

Test Day

These days are always fun! The panic, the emotion, the pleading, and the whining. We have known for days now what was coming, what was on the test and what was due. Yet we have many that it just slipped their minds. Some parents arent going to be too happy with interims on Friday!!!

Overall I think they did ok for the first test, but it gets alot tougher strating tomorrow!

Frustration

Ok so I am a little frustrated today. Tomorrow we have our first and we have 4 assignments due.

Chapter 1 Overview
Chapter 2 Overview
Microscope Lab
Chapter 1 and 2 Test Review

We finished up the lab and worked on the test review. I was very upset at the amount of kids that chose to do nothing instead of utilize the test review. The test review is a tool to help each student. There is no new information on this review, it is just a means to help the student organize their information into one place. I really hope the kids do well on this test because it gets alot harder after this intro unit!

What a day!!!

We did alot of stuff today.

We finished the notes from Chapter 2. You should all have your information needed to complete Chapter 1 and 2 Overviews. We also covered the first 4 pages of the Microscope Lab.

Remember we have moved the test to Wednesday. Also on Wednesday the following items will be due to me:

Chapter 1 Overview
Chapter 2 Overview
Microscope Lab
Chapter 1 and 2 Test Review


Dont forget also what we talked about today in class this is your job, be professional and get done what is expected of you!

Week 2 is in the Books!!

Pep Rally day and you could tell. These typically aren't my favorite days because the kids are so distracted, but we managed to get thru.

Today we started the intro to the microscope lab. We will have to finish it up on Monday due to our lack of focus. Remember people if you read the instructions life is very easy!!!

Have a great weekend and see you on Monday (by the way Monday is going to be a whirlwind!!!!)

Is it Alive?

Today we did a mini lab on viruses and tried to determine if they are alive or not. Remember anything that is living must meet the 6 characteristics of living things:

All living things are made up of cells
All living things respond to their environment
All living things use energy for growth and maintenance
All living things reproduce.
All living things grow and develop
All living things adapt to their environment


Now as we discussed in class, some people believe viruses are alive and some do not, but the important thing is to be able to support YOUR idea as to which is correct or not!

Tomorrow is our Intro to Microscopes Lab, and our pep rally for the big game against those guys from across town, I cant remember their name, SO EVERYONE WEAR BLUE TOMORROW!!!!

Day 7

Today we finished up a few notes from Chapter 1 and completed Chapter 2 Overview. The first test will cover Chapters 1&2 and we will probably be next Wednesday.


As of right now it looks like tomorrow will be Is it Alive Lab, followed by the Intro to the Microscope Lab on Friday. Notes on Chapter 2 next Monday, Test Review on Tuesday, and Test on Wednesday.


Remember on Test Days you will turn in all overviews we covered for the test, and your test reviews. Both of which need to be completed in their entirety.

My Test reviews give you a chance to organize all the information you need for the test into one place, and are EXTREMELY useful for studying for my tests. Therefore no late test reviews will be accepted and failure to complete them will drastically hurt your grade!

Its September!

Well September here and the temperature has dropped, at least in my classroom so if you need a jacket bring it!

Today we had our first dose of noting taking here in Biology. The first three classes went extremely well, the last 2 struggled with staying on task a bit. Those of you that did your overview correctly didnt have many notes to take. Remember everything we do in class has meaning, I hate busy work so you wont get any. Please see me or a fellow classmate for the notes that you missed today.

It's Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok so I finally got both labs graded. So today we passed back these graded assignments and went over them. This was our best day yet in the classroom. The kids asked some great questions about why they got stuff wrong. They also seemed to walk away understanding more about charts and graphs. The is a really important skill and we will be working it back in through out the year.

I also introduced to the kids a saying, Good is the enemy of great! Remember people if you are satisfied being good at something you will never be great!!! Lets keep working together to be great!!

Drill Day

This is my least favorite day of the year!!! We started out with a fire drill, followed by a bomb threat drill, next was lockdown drill, and finally was the tonado drill. Too many distractions for the kids. I know we have to do these drills and I like the fact we get them out of the way on one day, but trying to get the kids to focus after`the drill is very difficult. OK enough whining.

Today we started our first overview. I give overview at the begining of every chapter. My thought is if the kids define the key terms and jot down a few things about the main concepts we will be covering, then when it comes time for me to present the info the kids 1)arent frantically writing, and instead are thinking, and 2)are more prepared to discuss the material. I like it when they do a lot of the talking, I want to know what part of Biology they are interested in and when they discuss things they have seen or want to know about I can lead them down an educational path that is much more interesting for them.

So as I said before we started our first overview, but we didnt get too far, but we will finish that up on Tuesday.