Author: Gerry Schaefer

Gerry SchaeferA hundred indecisions. Preoccupation with words, visual art, music, culture, and ideas.

Technology in the classroom

Our class is leading the way with technology in our school, so we’ve enjoyed the advantages it provides for us. I’ve also invited students to bring their personal technology into the classroom, at their own risk of course (which means you are personally responsible it if you choose to bring it).

The use of technology in schools is a relatively new thing, so schools and school boards are still figuring out how to best manage it. At a staff meeting today, we discussed the proliferation of students’ personal devices at Westview. It has become a problem in some classes, so in the spirit of equity, I was asked to clarify with class 87 the school’s policy around the use of technology.  So what follows is for you to take under advisement.

If you choose to bring your technology to school, you’re responsible for the safe-keeping of that device. You are permitted to use it in our classroom for the specific uses that I assign, and during instructional times with me. The same standards of use for using school-owned technology apply when you’re using your own device. This means, among other things, that you should not be  on sites that are not board approved, you should not be taking images of other students, and you are not permitted to play games on any device, whether it is an online game or one that is loaded onto the device.

Here is an important note for class 87: you cannot use technology of any sort in the school during lunch or indoor recess times. There has been a great deal of leniency on this school rule for class 87, but this is the policy of the school, so this is the expectation that I’ve been asked to communicate to you.

By the way, you are also restricted from using technology on school property before and after school, and at recess. In other words, don’t take your device onto the playground at recess, and don’t use it on school property before and after school.

Other teachers in the building (including supply teachers) will have their own practices regarding technology during instructional time, and they’ll let you know their what those are.

It’s probably most clear if I describe it this way: you are not allowed to use technology anywhere on the school property at any time, except when a teacher is permitting you to use it during a lesson. Otherwise, it needs to be locked in your locker and turned off.

Mr. Tye has struck a committee of teachers to investigate whether the school rules, as I’ve outlined them, should be changed.

 

Reminder: Ted Talk original draft and feedback

This is a reminder to those students who didn’t attach the original draft of their Ted Talk response to their second draft. The purpose of the assignment was to take feedback into account in your second draft. You need to return the first draft so the second one can be assessed. I haven’t received those from some students.

March 24th Homework Reminders

The second draft of your Ted Talk response was due today, with the first draft attached behind it. Those of you who didn’t hand one in today need to get this in tomorrow. Those of you who didn’t attach the first draft need to bring that in tomorrow.

Math homework is on the hub.

Geography homework is on the hub.

Imagist Poetry

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much depends
upon

a red wheel 
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

			--William Carlos Williams
____________________________________________________


In a Station of the Metro

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.

			--Ezra Pound

____________________________________________________



The City

In the morning the city
Spreads its wings
Making a song
In stone that sings.

In the evening the city
Goes to bed
Hanging lights 
Above its head.

			--Langston Hughes
___________________________________________________


The Toaster

A silver-scaled dragon with jaws flaming red
Sits at my elbow and toasts my bread.
I hand him fat slices, and then, one by one,
He hands them back when he sees they are done.

			--William Jay Smith
________________________________________________________



Apartment House

A filing cabinet of human lives
Where people swarm like bees in tunnelled hives,
Each to his own cell in the covered comb,
Identical and cramped -- we call it home.

			--Gerald Raftery


TASK:
You are going to describe something metaphorically
without naming the object explicitly.
Pick an everyday object from around the house, such as a 
dryer or iron. 
Now list some things that it reminds you of or that it 
could be like.
Now all you have to do is write four lines to describe 
your object.
Your lines could rhyme AA BB just the last two above or 
your poem
might rhyme only two lines or perhaps not rhyme at all.

Grade 8 Option Sheets

Completed option sheets are due back on February 23rd.  Don’t leave this to the last minute!

Procedure:

  1. Select your options by consulting with your parents.
  2. Fill out your form according to discussions involving your parents.
  3. Ask one parent to sign the form and review it to ensure that it’s complete and correct.
  4. Bring the form to me for review.  I’ll make sure it’s complete.
  5. Take the form to Ms. Hardy.  She’s usually in her office at the end of the small hallway next to the staff room.  If she’s not there, leave it in the envelope on her desk marked “Completed Option Sheets.”