Khan Academy

Hello everyone,
Today your child joined our Khan Academy class Room 31 2016.
I will be using this wonderful educational resource for many math topics and digital technologies focus lessons. It is a wonderful tool to enhance  a student's exposure to subjects and gives real life scenarios to work with/in.
A great example of the exposure the students can get from Khan Academy is in the Pixar in a Box Unit of work. The renowned animation company Pixar has teamed up with Khan Academy to create a step by step structured lesson unit for kids to learn about the whole process of animation. We will also continue this in class in practical hands on projects.
Khan Academy requires parent authorisation for any person under the age of 13. The reason for this is that all videos from Khan Academy are stored by YouTube.

It would be prefered that the student's do not start the units of work yet but wait for me to begin together. Signing up is all that is required.

Term 1 Week 5

It was good to see so many at the parent Chromebook session last night.  Please remember to check the homework page to see what work your child has to complete.  You can also sign in (using your ardps.com account) to your child's Chromebook and check out Google Classroom to see their work too.

Please email me if you have any questions.

Term 1 Week 3 2016

It was great to see so many people at acquaintance night last night.  For those of you who could not attend, a paper copy of the term overview came home with your child tonight.  I will be posting a copy of my weekly term plan (detailing the topics to be covered each week by subject) on the Term Overview page.

I have arranged for staff not trained in Read, Write, Inc/Fresh Start to complete training over the next two days.  Therefore I will not be in class and have left my planned teaching for the relief teacher to cover.

Please feel free to email me if you have any queries concerning our learning, Chromebooks, etc.  at vcrozier@ardps.com

I will also be using Google+ to communicate with you too.

Val

Term 1 Week 2

Welcome back and General Class Information

What a great day, all students have made a fantastic start and the signs are good for a very successful year ahead.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you as Room 31 parents for 2016.

Please take a few minutes each day to let your child tell you about Room 31 and how we work. There may be a few concerns about class expectations and procedures. This usually disappears after the first week.

All students have been given equipment to use in the classroom. This equipment will stay in their tray and any other pencil cases they have can be kept at home for homework tasks.

We encourage students to have water bottles in the classroom. Raw fruit and vegetable snacks are also encouraged for brain break eating throughout the day.

Thanks to the parents who sent a box of tissues to school today. We would appreciate each family donating a box of tissues for class use.

We will cover Homework, Curriculum & Behaviour Management expectations and any other class information at the acquaintance Night on Tuesday 16 February 2016.

This year most communication will be through the blog rather than using a diary. If you need to write to us please do so in the diary. Confidential notes will need to be in a sealed envelope.

We hope that all families will be able to access and participate in the class online Hub and be an active member of the Ardtornish Google Community. We have found this to be a very successful communication tool especially when parents can access the information via their phone.

Direct address - http://room31ardtornishps.blogspot.com.au/

or you can access the blog through our school homepage, then click on the class blogs menu link.

School site - http://www.ardtornps.sa.edu.au/

I look forward to working with you this year.

Val Crozier

Term 4

I hope you have had a restful holiday and students are ready to return to learning.  I have been in and worked out the areas of work we still need to cover and the areas we need to revisit to ensure students have "got it". I will try to upload the term review in the next week or so.

I did find some students handed in work that was not to the standard they are capable of.  Many rushed their work, producing substandard work to get "Blast Off".  I have, therefore, decided that Room 11 will pull out of Blast Off for the first few weeks of Term 4 until the majority of students complete work to the standard they are capable of, but more importantly hand in their work on time.  I will review Blast Off after a few weeks. I understand some students will be disappointed but feel the one hour can be spent either completing required work to a good standard or expanding their learning.

This term is going to be very busy. We have the school fete in a few weeks and will be needing students and possibly parents to help set up and man the Year 6/7 stall.  We are also looking for donations of prizes for our sideshows.  The Year 7 students will also be preparing for their graduation - please make sure you have returned the forms and have arranged payment with the finance office. The year 7 students may also be visiting their High School for a day.  Room 11 is lucky to be hosting a year 10 student on work experience this term too.

Have a good weekend and stay cool in this heat and I will see all students back at school on Monday.

Term 3 Week 9

Last week saw Room 11 have a fabulous day out at Parliament House and the Migration Museum as part of our Civics and Citizenship Curriculum.  Students saw both the Upper and Lower Houses, the old parliament rooms and the library within Parliament House.  Our visit to the Migration Museum required the students to investigate primary resources to discover who had migrated to South Australia.  Students were amazed at the photographs, university certificates, clothing and personal items, the migrants had donated to the museum.  A highlight for me was watching the year 6 and 7 students roll down the hills/banks at the Memorial Gardens and strike up a game of catch involving everyone.

This week has been exceptionally busy too.  Tomorrow, we lose some students for the drive to Murray Bridge for the 24 hour Pedal Prix competition.  We also have a number of choir students heading to the Festival Theater for the Festival of Music 2015 Concert.  Tomorrow also sees our last assembly for the term.

Students are also busy completing their final term projects for Humanities, Geography and Art.  Many students presented their Science projects today and the remainder will present on Monday.

Have a great weekend.

Term 3 Week 5

Wow!  We are half way through this term already.  Where has the time gone?

Students are frantically finishing off their book trailers so they can be shown during next Friday's Book Week Assembly.  Please remind your child to complete their trailer, save it to Google Drive and email it to me at vcrozier@ardps.com and Jane Moore at jmoore@ardps.com.

Room 11 will be collaborating with our Room 31 buddy class to present at the Book Week Assembly.  We will be doing "Star Wars" - good against evil/light against dark.  Notes have been sent home and students have indicated whether they have/can borrow either white or black/dark clothes.  T-shirts with pictures can be worn inside-out.  Some students have indicated they have Star Wars costumes and will be wearing those.  I do not want you to go out and spend money on an outfit - I ask you to use what you have in your wardrobes.  Students have made masks and light sabers today so will only need to turn up next Friday in either white or black clothes as agreed.

A reminder that all year 6 and 7 students have now completed three lessons in our Growth and Development topic.  Please chat to your child about what has been covered and be open to answering any queries they may have.  I am always available for students to talk to and we have a box behind my desk where students can place written questions about this topic.

Could I please remind students and parents that food can not be heated up in the Year 6/7 kitchen on Thursdays as students have their Japanese lesson.  Students must bring cold food (sandwiches, salad, etc) or a canteen order that day.  We encourage the drinking of water throughout the day and many students are not bringing a drink bottle to use/refill.  Please remind your child to pack their water bottle.  Fizzy drinks such as lemonade and cola are not to be brought to school to drink to avoid the high sugar rush as well as upset stomachs following students exercise.

A final note to remind parents to check out the school newsletter. The Education and Health  Departments  have informed schools about the high instances of flu among children.  We are asking you keep your child away from school while they are sick so they do not infect others.  Could you also remember to phone or SMS the school or email me as to the reason why they are away, eg Family Sick, etc.  Please note that medical certificates are required if your child is away from school sick for more than three consecutive days.

Hope you all stay well and warm this weekend.