Senior Blog Post: Due Monday, October 4

Hello Seniors:

Hopefully you were given some good corrections or revision ideas during your peer review today...and that you will use these ideas to make your paper the best it can be.

A few things I saw:

-MAKE SURE YOU INCORPORATE YOUR CITATIONS! I want to know EXACTLY where the information came from, and I want there to be no worry that the words or ideas are not your own. When in doubt, cite! And be sure to include the list of the resources you used (you can link to the pages, if you really want to make me happy :)

-Double and triple-check your spelling and phraseology



The blog post for Monday is simply to post the paper, with full works cited. You may take the paper down (if you feel it doesn't fit with your blog format, or for whatever reason) as soon as I have commented on it.

Have a great weekend, and happy writing! :)

KF

A bit of housekeeping...

I have received 15 late passes since the beginning of the school year (to put this into perspective, we have had something like 33 days of school so far).Too many late passes!

If you do the math, (%/100 = is/of, 7th graders) that means that I have had at least one student late for almost half of the days of school.

Because I generally start class right after the tardy bell rings, this means that almost half of the days of class I have had one student or another entering my room, disrupting the activity already underway, and forcing me to give directions to the class twice to make sure the late student is fully up to speed. This is a waste of the rest of the class' time, as well as my own.

->I know this is a problem that other teachers are having, too <-

So, if I may, here are a few suggestions:
Parents: please do what you can to keep late arrivals to school at a minimum. Obviously there are days when things go wrong or there is a problem with traffic, but planning ahead and leaving a few minutes early can sometimes make a big difference. Remember, you are doing this for your student! Keep the valuable class time they miss to a minimum!

Students: help your parents out! Go to bed on time, get up on time, and be ready to go when your parents want to leave. Pack your bag the night before, have your lunch ready to go before you sleep, so all you have to do is get up, grab your stuff, and go!

And I will look forward to seeing you before the second bell rings! :)

KF

Things I'm looking forward to next week: Sept 27-Oct 1!

It's that time again: the weekly update!

6th grade: You are doing a great job with the 7 Elements of Culture...and next week we will be finishing up with the final two we haven't covered: #s 4 and 7! Expect all kinds of artistry next week, thanks to a helping hand from Ms. Campbell! Next Friday we will spend the hour organizing our information for our 7 Elements of Culture Presentation, where you will explain your society (including all 7 Elements) to the rest of the class. These presentations will take place the following Monday (and Tuesday if necessary), October 4-5).

7th grade: Next week we will continue our survey of the history of world religions by moving into the Semitic religions. We will start with Judaism and end the week with Christianity. I hope you are learning a lot--you seem to be enjoying this unit! Your World Religions Test will be October 8.

8th grade: I hope you enjoyed our foray into Hieroglyphs (and Hondoglyphs) and the tangled history of the Rosetta Stone. Next week we will be focusing on Pyramids! We will start the week by viewing a movie made by one of my all-time favorite people, David Macaulay, and completing a Pyramid-building activity. The Ancient Egypt Test will be Thursday, October 14.

Seniors: First of all, please please please please please keep up with your blog posts. Please. Some of your grades are REALLY hurting right now because you are not doing this very simple thing. Secondly, next week we will be continuing to work on our research paper writing skills. Remember your October 4 blog post will be your "Senioritis" paper...and this week's post is up and waiting for you to complete it. You will be writing one, slightly longer Research Based Paper due in a blog post no later than Wednesday, October 13 (more about that later).

So, that's what's happening in our world next week...enjoy your weekend, and see you Monday!

KF

We're going to the Opera!

Just a note, in case you weren't aware: the music department has organized a trip to the opera for all secondary students!

We will be going on Monday, October 4. We leave the school at 8:45 AM and will be back by 1:00, so this won't affect bus schedules.

The cost per student is 200 Lempiras. This is a special student rate, and is an excellent opportunity that I know I am really looking forward to! :)

For more information, please check out Ms. Norma's blog post about the opera by clicking here.

KF

Senior Blog Post: Due Monday, September 27

Hello again, Seniors.

I have been enjoying perusing the colleges of your choice thanks to your last posts. Now I want to know about your major of choice--what are you going to study at college?

Some of you already alluded to this in that last post, but I want you to go deeper. What attracts you to that job? (or, if you aren't sure yet, choose something you think you might want to do--or pick one of the many things you want to do.) Tell me what skills you possess that will make you good at your chosen field (it's ok to brag a little :).

Then, choose your hero in your chosen field. Whose career do you want to emulate? Add a picture and tell me why you want to be like them. (This can be a famous person, or a not-so-famous person. If the person is not famous, and you don't have a photo of them, you can draw a picture or something :)


Rubric:
Name career: 1 pt
What attracts you to the career: 2 pts
Your skills: 2 pts
Your hero's name: 2 pts
Picture of your hero: 1 pt
Why you want to be like your hero: 2 pts

KF

MAP test schedule

Good morning:

As I mentioned yesterday in my post, we are starting MAP testing at the school this week and finishing next week.

If you are interested in learning more about the MAP test, you can click here or here.

This week's MAP test schedule for 6th, 7th, and 8th grades are as follows:

Monday, Sept 20
8th grade: 11:40-12:55
7th grade: 1:15-2:30

Tuesday, September 21
6th grade: 8:30-9:45

Wednesday, September 22
N/A

Thursday, September 23
8th grade: 10:05-11:20
7th grade: 11:40-12:55
6th grade: 1:15-2:30

Friday, September 24
N/A

Please remember that your student needs a good nights' sleep and a good breakfast before taking these tests!

KF

Looking forward: Week of September 20-24

Hello everyone:

I hope you enjoyed your nice long break, and that the last two days of last week were nice to get you back into school-mode.

Grades came out last Friday. If your student (for some reason) didn't give their grade sheet to you, please ask them for it. If they did, please sign them and remind your students to return the sheets to their Homeroom teacher at school. 6th Graders, that means me. :)

We have just 4 weeks left in this quarter, so let's finish up in a strong way!!

6th grade: this week we are going to continue creating our own cultures. We will look at #s 3, 4, and 5 of the 7 Elements of culture. Parents: ask your students what these are--they should know! :)

*UPDATE* In order to better facilitate collaboration with the Art department, we have moved Element #4 to next week. Therefore, we will be focusing on #s 3, 5, and 6 this week, and finishing #4 and #7 next week.

7th grade: we will continue our history of world religions unit, focusing on Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism this week. Please be ready to take some notes...in the interest of being fair to all religions, and giving them equal time in class, we will spend quite a bit of time with a Microsoft Power-Point presentation this week...it's not my favorite way to teach, but it will get the info out there in a fair and balanced manner.

*UPDATE* Because of the MAP Test schedule, we will not be getting to Judaism this week. We will start with it on Monday.

8th grade: Are you ready for Ancient Egypt?! We will be going over the DBQ a bit this week, and starting our unit with a glimpse at the importance of the Nile river.

6th, 7th, and 8th grades will also be completing their MAP TESTS this week and next week. Remember that a good night's sleep and breakfast are two of the best things your student can do to prepare for these tests! I will put up the complete schedule for these classes tomorrow morning!

12th grade: We are going to start writing essays this week, and gathering information for our end-of quarter blog essay. Yay! (Right?) :)

Looking forward to another great week at Discovery School! :)

KF

Senior Blog Post: Due Monday, September 20

Hello Seniors:

I hope you had a lovely Independence Day break, and that you are refreshed and ready to get back to work!!

For your blog post this week, I would like you to link to the website of the College or University you are going to (or want to go to) and then tell me what you are going to major in and why you want to go to that college to study that subject. Tell me what excites you about your college and what are you worried about. If your specific major/degree has a specific site, you can link to that as well.

If you visited your school and took pictures while you were there, include a picture or two of yourself or the college. :)

Just for fun, here's mine:

University: Drake University
Degrees: School of Journalism and Mass Communication I Department of History I School of Education

I went to Drake originally because I wanted to be a journalist (Diane Sawyer-style). I also declared a second major in history, because I am a nerd. After two and a half years (and two MISERABLE internships) I realized I hated journalism, but still loved history. So I took more history classes and less journalism classes, and ended up with degrees in both. One year later I was back at Drake to get my Masters in Teaching, so I could eventually move to Honduras and hang out with all of you at school each day. :)

What excited me most about Drake was the hands-on Journalism experience I could get. Not only were there 3 major TV networks in Des Moines, but Drake had their own television station within the school. I was able to act as reporter, producer, writer, photographer, and everything in-between without even leaving campus ... I even got to interview Olympic champions at the Drake Relays! Even after I decided I didn't want to pursue journalism as my career, I was still excited about the options open to me as a Drake Student.

One of the things I was worried about was how much time I would spend doing these awesome extra-curricular activities. Even though they were career-oriented, they took a lot of time, and it was sometimes hard to balance what I wanted to do with what I had to do and what I should do ... not that that ever changes :)

Here are some pictures of my husband and I from my Graduations (well, ok, the first one was 3 weeks before we got married, but he's my husband now):



<=Undergrad Graduate =>















Remember, blog posts are a major part of your grade...those of you who spent time catching up last week...let's please try to stay on top of this!!!

Grading as followed:
2 pts: Name of College or University
2 pts: Link to College or University website
2 pts: Name of what you are going to study
2 pts: Explanation of why you are excited
2 pts: Explanation of what you are worried about
Extra Credit: Pictures (pictures make blogs so much more visually interesting!)

See you in class!
KF

Happy Independence Day!!

What a great Independence Day celebration we had!!

I hope you were able to join us, but if you weren't I hope your student told you all about it!

We had full of student-led presentations, Honduran songs and dances, and some speeches. We were also served Honduran foods...yum!! The Seniors also debuted their project...anyone who wishes to adopt a tree can contact me through my blog, or any of them through theirs (check out the blog links to the right of your screen!) All the class floats turned out really well!

Here is 6th Grade's float about Comayagua:

the 7th Graders with their Amapala float:

and the 8th Grade Bay Islands float:

(Sorry Seniors, I didn't get a picture of your float...send me one so I can put it up!)

Now, of course, we are all on our Holiday break...I hope you are having a safe and happy vacation, and will return to school and work next week rested and full of pride in this beautiful country!

KF

PS: If any of you have some excellent pictures from the celebration, the Discovery School Yearbook would LOVE to have them (and we'll give you full artists' credit)! If you have any pictures to contribute, please send me an e-mail at kfink@discoveryschool.edu.hn!

A Sneak-Peek at the 6th Graders' Comayagua Float!

There have been a lot of floats "floating" around my room this week! (OK, two bad puns in two posts, I apologize! :)

Anyway, I just wanted to share a small element of the 6th Graders' float with you...a VERY kind and generous parent provided us with some colored wood shavings which are traditionally used in the creation of beautiful "rugs" in religious motifs...

The 6th Grade class was kindly given permission to work on their float in Mr. Taylor's art class, and we spent a happy Tuesday afternoon using the wood shavings to make our own Honduran-inspired "rugs"...

Take a look:

We are really looking forward to showing these off during our Dia de la Independencia celebration on Friday!

KF

7th Grade Country Cultures Parade Project!

Hello all:

I just wanted to share a few images to show the excellent work our 7th Graders at Discovery do!

At the end of the week just two short weeks ago I assigned the students to complete a parade float that explained the 7 Elements of Culture in a fun and creative way...and go figure, I got A LOT of fun and creative projects!!

Here is a sampling:
The students each stood in front of the class and presented their country and its culture, and were graded on criteria ranging from the physical looks of their floats, to the accuracy of the information they put on them, to the interesting facts they found about their country.

They were also supposed to complete and hand in a works cited page...this is something we will be continuing to "work" on for our next project! :-S

After presentations, the students all voted on their favorite two projects. And here are the "winners":From Left to Right:
2nd place (tie)--South Africa and The Netherlands, 3rd place--Egypt, and 1st Place--Jamaica

Congratulations to all the students on a JOB WELL DONE!! and to the 4 "class-choice" winners!!

KF

Week of: September 6-10

Good morning!

Hope you are having a good start to this short (although not as short as next week) week...and Happy Labor Day to those of us from the United States.

This week the 6th Graders are going to start working on the 7 Elements of Culture. They will be creating short skits this week to illustrate each of the 7 Elements, and then will head into the long weekend with the assignment to re-create the first element, Social Structure, by manufacturing a family to live in the country they created last week.

The 7th Graders worked hard all weekend on their Country Float Projects (I hope!)...today and probably tomorrow they will present them to the class. The rest of the week we will be finishing up our short unit on charts and graphs.

8th Grade this week will finish up their Ancient Mesopotamia unit, looking at the fall of the society and taking a quiz on Thursday.

The Seniors will see me only once this week, and we will start looking at the important skills of summarizing and paraphrasing. They will not have a blog post due next Monday because of the break, but hopefully will use this week off to catch up on any blog posts they may be missing...

Midterm grades come out this week...hopefully everyone is sitting where they want to be in my classes!

It has been a great first half to the quarter...remember we have a half-day on Friday, and our Independence Day Parade...don't forget to send your 100 Lemps with the youngest family member so everyone can partake in the delicious Honduran Food!

Have a great week!

KF

(6th Grade) Honduran Activities

Good morning!

The 6th graders did an excellent job of standing (and not complaining too much about it) during the Honduran Flag Day event this morning.

Afterward we went back to class and discussed our float for the Honduran Independence Day parade next Friday! I don't want to give away any of our secrets, but I think the students came up with some excellent ideas. Parents, ask your 6th grade student about it, and what they volunteered to bring for the float.

We will be dedicating a bit of every class day next week to our floats, so if they could bring their supplies on Monday (or before) that would be perfect!

Please remember also that the school is asking for 100 Lempira (per family--cash only) to cover the costs of the celebration...if your student is your youngest (or only) child attending the school, please send the money with him or her to give to me so I can pass it on to the school. I can write a receipt for anyone who wants one. :)

Thanks so much for all your support!
KF