Learning Blog Nov 30

What We Did

Today was a double block day, and that means double the time and double the learning. During the first block, we started taking notes on paragraphs in our social studies textbook. The notes were separated in terms of which pages to do and what type of paragraph to do it with, so specific notes needed to be taken using specific note-taking methods, since no one can take textbooks from class, the notes aren't due anytime too soon. After the break had ended and the second block had started, we practiced for the Canspell spelling bee, it was performed as a written test since some people are doing the "Vow of Silence" and they cannot talk so we wrote it instead. Ms Lees decided to conduct an experiment by secluding the girls (minority of the class) into one side of the portable and cramming the boys (the majority of the class) into the other, this was to see which side could get more tests with high marks. After that we looked at a video describing how to do Cornell notes. Some time after she called for anyone that had trouble with geography to help them. The rest of the day was spent working on our notes. Ms Lees conferenced with a few people about their portfolios throughout the day.

Why We Did it

We worked on our note taking to help us on our note taking abilities so we might be able to use them- later on, in other school classes or when we do other stuff that involve taking notes in a neat and organized fashion. We had the spelling bee to help us practice our spelling since the class spelling bee is coming, which will lead to bigger spelling bees. The fact that it was written was probably to help the people doing the vow of silence. Ms Lees showed us the video on her blog, to teach us the procedure of how to write Cornell notes because we didn't have anything about Cornell notes in out note taking booklets (or at least in mine). She conferenced people about their portfolios since it determines the student's grade.

My Reflections/Connections

Taking notes on the textbook will probably help my note taking and reviewing, as I usually have problems with that. I think that Cornell note taking is very complicated though.
Doing the spelling bee on paper reminded me of doing weekly spelling tests when I was young.

Homework

Remember to come to flex tomorrow to work on your notes if you want to them early.
Study for the geography test, it's on Friday
If you took geography work from your portfolio home to study, remember to get it back to school