Extended Leave

Dear Students and Families,

You may have noticed over the course of the first trimester that I have been gone a fair amount. Some of that time was taken to care for my children, a couple of days were for myself being sick, and some have been to take care of my wife.  Now she is having more acute issues that require me to devote more of my time and energy to her.  So I have decided to take some extended leave (at least for the end of this week and most of next week).  I have met with Mr. Olson, my replacement, and will continue to consult with him about curriculum so that the students experience as little disruption as possible.  I will also still maintain an online presence via mrtalmadge.com and edmodo.com.  In addition, I will be checking my email if you should have any questions.  Thanks for your understanding and patience. 

Mr. Talmadge

Mr. T's Holiday Challenge

I was watching TV last night and happened upon a certain talk show that will be ending next year.  The hostess was interviewing two Pulitzer Prize winning authors about their most recent book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.   I was moved by the the horrendous stories and thought that perhaps my students would be interested in doing something this holiday season to help  women in need in the developing world.  So, I proposed in class today that we have a little competition to see which of my classes could raise the most money to donate to a worthy cause in support of women.  The talk show I was watching provided many options for how to give, but two in particular caught my eye.  One, costing a mere 250 dollars, helps an Afghan woman to start a business.  Another, for about the same amount, provides a "School in a Box"for children in emergency situations that don't have access to traditional schooling.  So, I will be putting 4 collection boxes in my room, one for each class.  Let's see over the course of the next two weeks which class can raise the most money.  For an inspirational video on the topic, click here.

Conferences Recap and Happy Thanksgiving

It was nice to meet everyone this past week.  I hope I was able to provide you with some good information and I thank you for sharing with me a bit about your family.  I left thinking that it's no wonder our 7th graders are such great kids.  Some of the common things that I tried to communicate are as follows:

·                     Students can retake/redo perfomance assignments (peformance assignments are worth 70% of the grade).

·                     I am available at lunch or after school on most days (excluding Wednesdays).

·                     I collect assignments on Friday, so students need to be organized enough to hold on to them for a few days.

·                     If daily classwork is not finished in class, then it becomes homework and needs to get done by Friday.

·                     Quizzes from this point on are CLOSED book, but OPEN workbook.

·                     Unit 2 about The Rise of Islam begins this coming week.

·                     Trimester 3 is Washington State History and students must pass to graduate from High School.

·                     If students are absent, they should check www.mrtalmadge.com for accurate information.

 

We will have our final quiz of unit 1 on Monday (over information in chapter 6).  It was originally scheduled for this past week, but I decided to postpone it till Monday.  We did a review in class the last couple of days, but students may need to study a bit so that they are ready to go on Monday.  Also, thanks to those of you who volunteered your ideas for stock market contest prizes and even offered to bring some in.  You can just have your student bring them to me this coming week.  The last day of the contest is Monday.

 

Lastly, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.  I know that I am thankful to get to spend my days with your amazing kids. Enjoy the long weekend.

 

Mr. T

 

Dear Mom or Dad,

For this week's blog post, I want you to write a letter to your parents (either one or both) explaining to them how the first trimester of 7th grade has gone for you.  Explain to them what you've learned in each of your classes.  If you've done well, explain what you did that has helped you to be successfull.  If you haven't done so well, explain to them what you did or did not do that made you struggle.  Then, whether or not you did well, describe what you would like to do differently this coming trimester. 

Computer Lab Instructions

1.  Log on to your computer. 

2.  Open up Internet Explorer. 

3.  Go to <www.voicethread.com>. 

4.  Click on "sign in or register an account" in the upper right hand corner.  

5.  When the pop-up box opens, click on "register". 

6.  Fill in the boxes using the following format: 

• name:  yourfirstnamemrt09 


• 
  
  email address:  yourfirstnamemrt09@mrtalmadge.com
  
  
• 
  
  password:  your 6-digit number 

8.  Click the "register" button. 

9.  On the next screen, click on "browse" in the upper left hand corner. 

10. Type "ss5" or "ss6" in the search box and hit enter.

11.  Find the picture that you were assigned in class by clicking on the 4 images

       in the lower right hand corner.

12.  Make two comments on that picture:

• One that shows an interesting detail or a question that you have.


• One that explains how the picture shows something from section 6.4.

13.  Find another picture that someone else has commented on and respond to

      their comment.

 

 

 

Veteran's Day Assembly

Middle Age Research, Progress Reports...

This past week we have been working in the computer lab as students researched topics of their choice related to the middle ages. You can check out our work at http://www.middleagesmrt09.wikispaces.com. The process we used is similar to the way that students will conduct their social studies CBA (click here for more info) in the spring as part of the way Washington state evaluates subjects other then reading, writing and math. I wanted students to conduct research by selecting a topic, posing questions, making inferences, searching with key words, evaluating websites, summarizing and citing sources.

Also this past week we had our last 15 day progress check before the end of the trimester on November 25th. I updated grades and changed all of the asterisks "*" that students may have had to zero's. This way they get a truly accurate picture of what their grade would have been if the trimester had ended this week. The good thing is that students still have about 10 days or so to make up any work or redo any tests. Because I want to have the grades finalized before parent conferences begin on November 20th, I have decided to make November 18th the last day to turn in work in my class.

Regarding conferences, I look forward to meeting with families on 11/20, 11/23 and 11/24. Conferences will run from Noon-3pm on Friday, Monday and Tuesday. In addition, we'll be offering an evening time on Tuesday from 4:30-7:30. I do have a question for you. The other teachers on the 7th grade team and I have been wondering whether or not to print out a paper copy of student' grades. Does it matter to you if you get a hard copy or is the online access good enough? Respond by clicking here if you read this on your email or by using the comment box at the bottom of this post if you are reading this on my blog.