CRAZY day in 7th grade :-) We started out in the cafeteria with a Survivor challenge between homerooms. What fun... the kids rotated through 7 stations with a variety of challenges. They were absolutely awesome. Behavior was extraordinary. Today is the high school football game - first in playoffs, complete with pep assembly. Also, elementary Halloween parade. Since all schools are in same building... we were wired today. I let my math classes make banners for the football game. I knew very little would be accomplished anyway :-( and we have not had a free day all year - so this was a "structured" free day. They could play online math games I chose or make banners. It was about a 50/50 split in each class. The banners are beautiful, hanging in gym for pep assembly, each carefully labeled FROM 7th GRADE :-)

Things have been going well - we just stepped out of our Data Unit to review decimals. The basic skills these kids are missing is just amazing and terrifying. They are great problem solvers, but they cannot add, subtract, order decimals, don't know place value.... so we spent the past week hitting the high points, and for the most part, I'd say it was beneficial. The predicatable ones still cannot round decimals.... or even find the millions place... I really struggle with what to so with some of them... partof itis low skill level for some of them... others attendance.... others simply do not to work... they don't participate in class, even when we are doing something online, interactive - they do not want to make any attempt to DO IT. It is frustrating and saddening... No child left behind... right.....

The interactive mean, mode, median lab online we started yesterday was fun. The kids could really SEE what changing 1 piece of data did to the mean, median, mode... Even I came away with a stronger understanding of the relationship between these 3 measures:-) Monday will they be able to do it on their own???

AHHHH..it is time for my 6th graders so I must go...