Week of June 13 - 17, 2016

Friday Notes:

1.  I handed out the final test pack of the year today.  It is not necessary to return it.  I will also be sending home the year's portfolio in the final eight days of the year.

2.  On Tuesday, June 21 I will take the class to Yogourty's on Bloor Street for an end of the year treat.  Students should bring no more than $7.00 to $10.00.  One dessert should be enough -- I want to avoid having them get stomach aches.  After wards we'll walk over to the park space behind the Public Library to relax a bit and play.  We should be back near PM recess.  If any parent has an hour or two that afternoon to help chaperone that would be great.

3.  Several students have school Library book issues to resolve:  either they have a book to bring in, they've lost it and must settle up with Ms. Edgar (the school librarian) or they have returned it and need to sort that out with Ms. Edgar.  We are running out of runway on the year and I encourage students to use the daily reminders from me to resolve their book issues.

4.  We continue to pursue Google Apps for Education activities in the class.  I have marked the students's online work with comment and rubrics as well as a detailed grammar check for writing.  I modeled the method for checking these grades online with students in the classroom thusly:

a)  They have to log in at aw.tdsb.on.ca using their school credentials and then open their Google Drives.

b)  They will find files labelled as "Marked" in either their personal Google Drives or the shared folder, depending on where they left it.

c) When the file is open they will see the comment, the rubric and the grade above the written work they submitted.  Since it is paperless the feedback can be lengthy and more detailed.

d)  To open the grammar and conventions feedback the students need to launch "JoeZoo Express", a Google Drive add-on extension.  It is found in the "Add-Ons" tab at the top of the Google Doc window and I have included a screen shot to show where it is in the opening comment from me.  After installing and enabling it (it's free) they provide their own names in the field and then it should appear with grammatical feedback in a pie chart.  If not, you may have to reopen the file after installing it.  I'm eager to develop my use of this method of evaluation and I think my learning curve is flattening out with it.

e) School-generated gmail addresses exist for each student.  They follow this pattern:
firstname.lastname@student.tdsb.on.ca
You may have a momentary conflict if you have other gmail or google drive accounts operating on the same computer already but I find that the browser usually offers you a chance to select the relevant gmail account from a list.