the day after the day before

I’m not going to apologise again this week, but yet again I failed to post yesterday – you probably noticed. I had everything ready, I was full of good intentions, and then it turned out that Daniela was at a book fair at UABC. We went to pick her her, one thing led to another, and here I am writing again on a Saturday. Hey, ho.

And on the fourteenth day (of the tenth month which is named after the number eight), the back notice board finally gets something put on it.

The laptops are slowing down. This is because they are not laptops, they are notebooks. They don’t have the processing power of a laptop, and nowhere near the power of a desktop computer. As far as I can tell, most students have taken to downloading as much stuff as possible on to their notebooks. When they open them, they open all of these programmes and the computers freeze. They are not designed for this. Also, with multiple downloads comes multiple risks. So, a bit of time was spent this morning discussing notebook care. I still believe that the one thing everyone should download is AdAware from Lavasoft. It will clear out a lot of rubbish that computers pick up. Also, when you uninstall a programme, you cannot just “put it in the trash“, you have to run remove programme from the control panel.

From there is was on to the DNA models. Everyone got to stand at the front of the class and show off their models. I have uploaded the pictures to here, and you can see them all – or you can click on the link in the sidebar. If you just want to see the models without having to look at the pictures of all the students:

Then it was time for the maths pop quiz. Hurray! Two students achieved a 10, well done them. A couple of students managed to score a 9.7, and five students picked up a 9.2. The annoying thing? The mistakes were fairly simple mistakes. Too often answers weren’t simplified, too often addition was done instead of subtraction. Most of the students can do these questions, most of them, with a little more concentration, could be getting a 10. What I have to instil into these students is a desire to achieve their best. They should be producing work which is a true representation of their abilities.

After art we showed our DNA models to 6B and they showed their models to us, 6A. We then had a discussion about the graduation party. Yes, we are already having discussions about the graduation party! This got a little bit heated, as some students really don’t want one of the options. I understand that sometimes the majority choice wins, however it seems a shame to choose something that will eventually lead to students not having the best memories of their graduation party. And, to be honest, it is all about the students. It is their graduation.

After recess, in the Spanish lesson, the students started to write/prepare/rehearse their radio programme. Normally I get invited to the final presentation – which is nice – if it happens I promise there will be some pictures and maybe a video or two. It was then time for The Wall Of Accomplishment treat. We haven’t really had any fun activity in the sixth grade this year. I am asked by the administration, every week, to do something fun. As I tend to feel that most of my lessons are fun (hahahahaha), I tend to feel that I have that covered. Also, as the Junior High exams loom large on the horizon, I try to get through as much stuff as possible. But, I had promised. So, to celebrate our achievement, we watched Babe. The story of a pig who was won at a fair and was destined to be eaten by Christmas. However, he wanted more. He wanted to achieve a lot more. So he became a sheep-pig!

Right, I have to go watch the Rugby World Cup semi-finals (and dream that England are playing in them). And then I have to mentally prepare myself for The Steel City Derby on Sunday. Yes, tomorrow my beloved Sheffield United (The Mighty Blades) take on that other team from Sheffield, Sheffield W*dnesd*y. Now, if that goes wrong, I might not be in on Monday! Back to growing a beard!

Homework:

• Reading Log: signed
• Read: 20 minutes