Week 14

I'm going to have to make this week's update short as both Carol and I are going on a "retreat" this weekend to do some much needed planning for mid-term exams and portfolio organization. Don't cry for us, though. I'm sure we'll get a few hands of cards in, too. So, as a quick wrap-up, this is what we covered this past week:

• All of the kids designed a Prezi for their problems in Life Skills Math. As Sophie spoke of last week, they had to come up with specific demonstrations that would be presented at a (fictional) job fair. I was pleased with how quickly they caught on to the Prezi format, and they made me promise that I would require similar projects in the future.
• In Logic, we finished our work with Categorical Symbolic logic and moved on to Propositional Symbolic logic. Why is this necessary? All symbolic logic (especially Propositional) is a great introduction to Algebra and Trig. Once a student becomes familiar and comfortable with the symbols and properties of Propositional logic, those pesky high school problems that call for "proofs" will be second nature. Our introduction focused on the distributive, reflexive, and associative nature of arguments.
• We continued to drill our Latin vocabulary and derivatives.
• In Ethics, we began reading St. Exupery's The Little Prince, discussing the various ethical statements made in the author's retelling of a supposedly true event.
• In History, we are still in the Archaic and Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt. As we study the dynasties from I-VII, students are making flip-books to help remember the order of the pharaohs.
• We began our Science unit on moss and liverworts this week. After collecting in the field, we brought our specimens inside for dissection and study under the microscope. We also began discussing moss' two-generation reproduction oddity.
• We had a spelling test on last week's words and derivatives. The test this week mimicked the game Othello. Sarah and Sophie battled it out to the end; Sarah was victor.
• We introduced Homer's biography, and we began our reading of the Iliad.
• We completed work on identifying the Object of the Preposition in Grammar. This was exciting as now we are able to diagram basic sentences in their entirety . The kids were most excited about this!
• We started our first week at The Telling Room. We will be spending our Wednesday afternoons here, working on various writing projects and participating in workshops.
• We also had co-op (Odyssey of the Mind, Digital Photography, Writer's Guild, Journalism, and Robotics) plus our day at internships.

Over the next two weeks, we will be adding a school day to the week in an attempt to prepare for the upcoming mid-term exams. Mid-terms are a "first" for all of our students, and we'll be sure to report on how they go.