Quick Update:
CLASS: We have been doing slides all this week, on Vertebrates. I will post them online so students can review them... they probably should since there was so much information in them. I chose to teach chapters 17 and 18 back to back, so we could work right through the rest of the Animal Kingdom. Students have been taking notes on each major animal phylum and putting them in a chart for comparison. They also have a worksheet where they can take longer notes on vocabulary and key ideas. The material is going very quickly, but I really wanted to finish this up before Spring Break... and NOT test the kids after vacation about material they learned three weeks prior. TEST: The test will be on Wednesday, on Chapter 17-18. I was going to make it open book, but some have expressed concern that the book has too much information that students can't map to what we are emphasizing in class. So I decided to make the test tailored to the slides and chapter homework, and have students take notes in class on those slides. They can use these for the test as well as any notecards they may have made. They are also allowed to put other notes on their class notes. If they want to handwrite some more information on either of the worksheets we've been using in class, that is fine. They will attach these notes to their test when it is done. I would recommend adding some on the major bodily systems (digestive, nervous, circulatory, etc) if they feel unsure about these. GRADES: Midterm grades are coming out soon. Most students are doing fine, and most did really well on the last test, which was encouraging!! Many are also doing well with in-class activities, which I have been grading each week for participation points. But some have not done well on the lab pages. Many did not finish the crayfish lab, in particular, which was worth 50 points... so that may be a factor. A handful have had trouble turning in the vocabulary part of the homework assignments as well, which ultimately also accounts for a lot of points. (Because vocabulary terms are such a huge part of biology). You are of course welcome to contact me further about details once I get those sent out. I tried hard to disregard assignments lost due to student sickness, but some students may have a few assignments or tests they still need to make up. Quick Update:
Monday's class was great. We started Chapter 15 on Invertebrates.
I spent some time updating this website, mostly the calendar, so you would all know what was going on in February. I also updated the Excel calendar at the bottom of that page. I was sick for a week, as were many other students, so some quizzes and assignments were shuffled around. I apologize for any confusion! |
AuthorMrs. Riddle teaches Life Science, Biology, and Earth Science at Brighton Academy for 2017-2018. She homeschools four children and has 10 years of co-op teaching experience. Her family is part of Radiant Church in Overland Park, KS. Archives
May 2018
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