Berryhill's+Blog

1) ATTENDANCE! Mike will have the Iron Man t-shirt design today! These people are still in the running with perfect attendance: Devin Chris Zach Dean Dillon Alex Emily Mike WAY TO GO!
 * JUNE 28 - We have 4 weeks down, only 2 to go!**

2) PERCEPTION: Perception tests are graded--Check Quia. JOE & DEAN: Finish the essay portion of the Perception Test today.

3) READING-- We continue to read voraciously! In total, our class has read _____ books this summer. We used the new Achieve3000 program to read about use of antibiotics in animal feed after visiting the Kay Farm. CHECK THE READING CHART AND make sure it's accurate.

4) WRITING--I have graded Character Analysis papers! You'll get them back with comments today. Last week we wrote the narratives for our digital stories. We wrote thank-you notes to Fred Kay.

5) SPEAKING--Last week you practiced your speaking skills by visiting with Fred Kay about his farming operation

6) LISTENING--Fred Kay field trip.

7) TECHNOLOGY--Good progress on the digital stories-- We'll finish them today and tomorrow.

8) FIELD TRIPS--Last Tuesday's field trip to the chicken farm and Ms. Kay's home was memorable! In addition to learning about livestock and the agriculture labor force, we practiced our good manners ;-).

== 9) POST A COMMENT to the discussion board. == Berryhill

1) ATTENDANCE! Mike is working on the Iron Man t-shirt design. These people are still in the running with perfect attendance: Devin Chris Zach Dean Dillon Paige Alex Emily Mike
 * JUNE 28 - We have 4 weeks down, only 2 to go!**

2) PERCEPTION--We watched and discussed CRASH last week, plus took an "implicit associations" racism quiz. This week we will take our learning about perception to the next level as we examine how perception impacts communication.

3) READING-- I will be assigning a reading GRADE as part of your summer evaluation. Those of you who have read willingly and with focus each day in class will earn a C. If you want a B or an A, you will need to read outside of class as well. Keep that in mind as we head into our last two weeks of class.

CHECK THE READING CHART AND make sure it's accurate.

TECHNICAL READING: On Friday we used our technical reading skills to take the Implicit Associations quiz and read about Nerf-gun games. We tested our technical reading skill at Sunnyside Park! Great time with only a little blood and itch weed.

4) WRITING--We ALL finished our Character Analysis papers! Yay! This week we will have two main writing projects: We will write position papers about racism in Atlantic or why kids don't come to school.
 * We will write our digital stories.**

5) SPEAKING--Last week you practiced your speaking skills by reading poetry aloud, reading a book chapter in a Readers Theater style, and by discussing a film and racism.

6) LISTENING--You took notes while watching the PowerPoint about perception.

7) TECHNOLOGY--We turned the FlipVideo clips into iMovies...must get them posted to the Wiki this week!

8) FIELD TRIPS--Trip to Sunnyside (and Burger King) was a booming success! This week we'll go to the chicken farm!

== 9) POST A COMMENT to the discussion board. ==

Hugs to all, Berryhill

1) ATTENDANCE! I am very pleased with attendance. We have lost two of our classmates...but the rest of you have no more than one absence. These people have not missed a single day of class yet! If they can keep it up, they'll get an Iron Man t-shirt on July 9! Devin Chris Zach Dean Dillon Paige Alex Emily Mike
 * WE ARE HALF-WAY THROUGH OUR SUMMER TIME TOGETHER! Here are my thoughts:**

NOTE TO Joe - You STILL have 1/2 class to make up. Can you stay today?

2) PERCEPTION--You all know the factors that influence perception. You are all able to apply this knowledge when you analyze what you notice/pay attention to and what you ignore. We have learned that the perception process demands that we SELECT which stimuli we pay attention to, and then that we ORGANIZE that information. The organizational process (perceptual schema) slips into stereotyping when we make assumptions and expectations about people's behavior based on visual perceptions. Whew! THat's a mouthful! We'll be watching CRASH this week to put this concept to the test.

3) READING--The reading chart is up on the wall and several of you have stars: Chris * * * * * Dean * * * Dillon * * Zach * Berryhill * * * Paige *

CHECK THE CHART AND make sure it's accurate.

TECHNICAL READING: We are pushing our technical reading skills to a new level as we make iMovies this week. Watch for surprises, too.

4) WRITING--We will finish our character analysis papers on Monday. We will start writing our Digital Stories. We will write position papers about why kids don't come to school.

5) SPEAKING--This might be the area I am most proud of. Your group discussion skills are noticeably improving. You listen to each other, you participate, you monitor each other's contributions. EXCELLENT!

6) LISTENING--10:15 class finished reading the play "Curious Savage."

7) TECHNOLOGY--We added Flip Videos and iMovie to our repertoire of technology this week. Whew!

8) FIELD TRIPS--YAY! All permission slips are in. We took field trips to Walmart (with a swing through McDonald's) to test our perceptions.

== 9) POST A COMMENT to the discussion board. ==

Hugs to all, Berryhill

1) Thank you for giving me another great week of summer! I told a friend the other day: I wish I could teach summer school all year round! I love the small classes, the cheerful students, the relaxed atmosphere--and the amount we're able to cover when we have two hours straight to work!
 * Week #2 is behind us. Here are my thoughts:**

2) ATTENDANCE! I was happy to make pancakes for both classes last Monday as reward for their perfect attendance. These people have not missed a single day of class yet! If they can keep it up, they'll get an Iron Man t-shirt on July 9! Bryce Devin Chirs Zach Dean Dillon Paige Alex Emily Mike

Joe - You have 1/2 class to make up. Kameron - You have three class periods plus two tardies to make up (total of 4 class periods). Let's get you caught up this week. DJ - Thanks for making up your absence right away. Good.

3) READING--The reading chart is up on the wall and several of you have stars: Chris * * * Dean * * Dillon * Zach * Berryhill *

I think several of you will be finishing your books this week.

TECHNICAL READING: Look at our Origami Wall for evidence of our concentrated technical reading! During the coming week we'll take our technical reading to a new level as we learn to use the new iMovie program with our Flip Video cameras.

4) WRITING--We will finish our Character Analysis papers this week. We will start writing our Digital Stories.

5) SPEAKING--We discussed topics ranging from dress code to corporal punishment in schools...smoking laws and poetry. We'll continue to work on group discussion skills all summer.

6) LISTENING--10:15 class is reading the play "Curious Savage." (8:00 - Where does our TIME GO?)

7) TECHNOLOGY--We've continued to use Twitter. This week we also learned to post to the WIKI (10:15 class) and use Inspiration for writing an outline. Some of you took notes about our movie on your phones-- Your technology know-how left me in the dust!

8) I still need permission slips from some of you before we can take field trips!

9) POST A COMMENT to the discussion board. What are you liking about class? What do you wish was different? What ideas do you have for maximizing our learning?
Hugs to all, Berryhill

1) AS YOUR TEACHER, I had a wonderful week! Both classes were hardworking, cooperative, and KIND to each other. This is really important to me, and you made it easy to keep the room happy and productive. Thank you. The lawn chairs worked pretty well. Only two kids fell asleep, and only briefly! ;-)
 * Week #1 is behind us. Here are my thoughts**:

2) ATTENDANCE was pretty good! Three times (out of 48 possible) we had to call kids to wake them up or find them. Two of those calls resulted in kids (Yay Dillon and Cameron!) making it to school. If you don't have my number in your phone yet, put it in now: 249-5263. Be sure to let me know if you're going to be late for ANY reason. Remember, if you need a ride, CALL. We'll find a way to get you here. 10:15 class will have pancakes today for their perfect attendance last week!

3) READING--One student has already finished a book! (Yay, Chris!) Several of you have met your reading goals at night and earned cocoa for your effort. Yes, there are marshmallows floating by-- If you do not like the book you're reading now, SEE ME today. There are too many good books out there in the world to waste time reading the bad ones.

Our technical reading on Friday resulted in the production of several beginnings of lanyards! I found with my second group that it worked better to read the instructions all the way through before beginning the task.

4) WRITING--Be sure to check your % grade on QUIA today. Can you move that % higher this week? I saw big improvement in capitalizing "I" and in using capital letters/periods at the beginnings/ends of sentences. This week we'll start writing our life stories.

5) SPEAKING--I hope you all feel that you understand how group discussion works and what comments move a group toward productivity. We will finish up our Group Discussion unit this week, but we'll use the skills throughout the whole summer. Keep up the good work.

6) LISTENING--You really listened to each other during discussions, especially when we passed the ball as a visual reminder. I did not get to read out loud to you as I'd planned last week. The hours seemed to FLY BY each day. We did read poems together, and that was good. This week we'll read a play aloud together, and that will give us more practice.

7) TECHNOLOGY--All students have set up computer accounts, Quia accounts, and Twitter accounts for sharing vocabulary. Yay! the 10:15 class made Identity PowerPoints to show us who they are. This week we'll post our PowerPoints to the WIKI and make some vocabulary movies.

8) If you have read all the way through my blog, I am amazed! Please post a comment by clicking the tab that says Discussion at the top of the page!

Hugs to all, MsB