Congratulations Mrs Bertucci

Mrs Bertucci was the successful applicant for your classes. Both she and I are overjoyed. I cannot think of a better person to finish the year off with you.
I miss you, of course, but I rest easy knowing such a caring and dedicated teacher is working with you. Plus, I know how this is literally a dream come true for Mrs Bertucci.

The hardest post...

I have written and re-written this first line about a dozen times. It still isn't right, but I have to write this.

As a Grade 8 teacher, I knew that I was going to say "see you later" in June; I prepare for it every year. Actually, it is about this time of year that I start to look at you and think about what I will miss about each and every one of you. I wonder about what you will study and do with your futures. I wonder that for a long time.

I am not able to take that time to say good-bye this year.

Over the weekend I was offered the Vice Principal's position at Poirier starting as soon as possible. I was not expecting this at all. My first thought was of you. I thought about how it would be a shock for you and your families. I felt very conflicted, but just as you are going on to High School to pursue your futures, I knew that I needed to take this next step. I accepted the position.

What next?

I am so thankful that we had Mrs Bertucci as our UVic teaching candidate this year. I feel as though we share you. And I am so grateful that Mrs Bertucci was able to work this week with you as I make the transition. She knows how important you are to me because she thinks of you as her class too.

My position at Journey will be posted and Mrs Bertucci will be applying for it. It is my hope that she gets awarded the post. If she does, I will be getting her set up with blogger to keep you posted on what is going on in class.

I will be returning to visit and I will be at your leaving ceremony to say goodbye at what would have been a more natural time. That being said, we live in a small town and I will see you around town.

Yours and I mean that, Mrs Bridal

Thursday, Open House!!!

Today you prepared for the Open House.

Parent and Grade 5 feedback was overwhelmingly positive. They were really impressed by the Grade 8's stations.

The biggest plus is they are less anxious about middle school in general. You showed just how great middle schoolers can be. I was so proud!

Wednesday, April 18th

Today's summaries:

English Div 4 and 5: You were given a reading/work block toward the completion of your independent novel study.

S.S. Div 3 and 4: You were given a work block toward the completion of your inquiry project due this Thursday AKA TOMORRRRRROWWWWW.

Remember: Open House 4 to 7pm. An opportunity to show off what you have done and welcome Grade 5s to the middle school experience.

Tuesday, April 17th

Today's summaries:

Career 8: You were introduced or reviewed key career vocabulary: career cluster, career pathway, soft and hard skills. We will be exploring career clusters and pathways as a part of this newly renovated course.

English Div 4: You were given a reading/work block.

S.S. Div 4: You were given time to work on your inquiry project due this Thursday. The project criteria was distributed to you, but I am going to take this opportunity to post it for your reference here. Also, I want to remind you that the research page is due alongside the project itself. This is the secondary source evidence that proves that you know what you do about your subject.

Monday, April 16th

Sorry for the late post.

Here are the summaries from yesterday.

Open House Preparation (Remember that it is happening this Thursday from 4 to 7; you designed it and are running it, so it will be amazing)

S.S. Div 3 and 4: You worked the 3rd of 4 work blocks to complete your inquiry for the open house.

English Div 4 and 5: You had a reading block for your independent novel study.

Friday, April 13th and Weekend

Open House this Thursday, April 19th from 4 until 8pm.

Course Summaries:

English Div 4 and 5: You were given time to dedicate to your independent novel study.

S.S. Div 4: You were given time to dedicate to the "construct" phase of your inquiry project which should be show ready by April 19th. This means that you will be able to present your inquiry findings in an informative, eye-catching or interactive way on that day. Please refer to the marking rubric to see if you fit the criteria for your desired result.

This weekend you should be reading your novels and catching up, if you have fallen behind the pace of our inquiry project; this would be anyone who is still waffling on their topic or is still gathering facts. It is go time.

OPEN HOUSE IS 4 pm to 8pm on Thursday, April 19th (Grade 5 Parents and their kids have an orientation meeting at 7pm)
Some of you are unable to come because of other commitments; your presentations should be able to "run themselves", if you are not going to be present. Your parents, families and friends are welcome to come to this event. They can see what you are learning and explore other aspects of the school.

Thursday, April 12th

Today we wore jerseys for Humboldt and the Broncos. 

Many of you went to Ladysmith for the Band competition. I hope that you did well.

Today's summaries:

S.S. Div 3 and 4: You had a construction block. The maker space cart, paper reels and cardboard display boards were out for you to display all of your extensive research. Some of you are still in the research stage. This weekend, you need to catch up. 

English Div 5: You were given a block to work on the independent novel study.

Open House Prep: We worked on the open house set up last block. 

Wednesday, April 11th

Today's Summaries:
(An instant prize for the phrase in the brackets below)

This morning you conducted an anonymous survey to help inform health programs for youth. Your parents were alerted to this survey in a handout that was sent home with your report cards.

Social Studies Div 3 and 4: You were given 1 out of 3 construct blocks for your Inquiry. It is my hope that you will be able to set up a display of your findings by (April 19th, Open House).

English Div 5: You were given a reading block to work on your independent novel study. I recommended that you read your chosen book on a nightly basis.

Tuesday, April 10th

(Choose your sci-fi/fantasy novels, if you haven't already; get rid of your book, if it is boring!)

Today's summaries:

English Div 4 and 5: You were given your independent novel study tasks, one critical thinking oriented and the other creative. We will be working on the projects in class and you should be reading both in class and at home to get through your selected sci-fi/fantasy novel. Here is the link to that Independent Novel Study.

Social Studies Div 4: You had your first of three construct blocks for your inquiry. Your inquiry project is due on the morning of the (Open House), April 19th.

Math Div 4: You were introduced to how to solve equations involving fractions. Please review the materials on the Algebra Page to become more familiar with them.

Monday, April 9th

Put a shirt on, buddy!!! Today we were out doing the same, building shelter out of found materials. Find the bracketed word in this text for an instant prize.

Here are today's summaries:

English Div 4: You did exercises around developing sentence variety and fluency. We will review them tomorrow.

S.S. Div 3 and 4: This was your last dedicated in class research block for your Inquiry project. From now on you should be writing, building, constructing, and putting together your project idea using the information that you have gathered. I will be checking in with you all to see your notes and to quickly give you a 1-5 rating on how complete/thorough they are. I will formally assess them using the rubric provided on April 18th.

Mars Mission: Survival protocol building (shelter) from found materials. You worked in teams to build a variety of structures to shield you from the weather. The AI was very impressed at your ability especially given the limitations of your human brains.

(I think that he is using his shirt to tie that building together. Is that cheating?)

Friday and the Weekend

Friday's Summaries:

English Div 4: You were given time to complete your sci fi stories for assessment.

English Div 5: You went to the library for a book talk with Ms Fader. She presented you with a selection of SciFi/Fantasy books. You were to select one of interest for our independent study. Some of you chose the same book which is great fun!

S.S. Div 4: You were given a research block to look for information to answer your inquiry question/topic.

For the weekend you should be continuing your research on your S.S. inquiry, selecting a sci fi/fantasy book that fits you (if you haven't already), and using the virtual manipulatives to play around with visualizing algebra.

Thursday, April 5th

Today's summaries:

Thanks to Ms Bertucci for coming in for me in the morning.

This morning you went to view a visiting band first block.

S.S. Div 3: You had the second of three research blocks for your inquiry. You will have one more in class session, but I would recommend taking time over the weekend to research your topic. You will get three in class blocks to construct your projects.

English Div 5: You listened to All the Time in the World by Isaac Asimov.

The afternoon was spent working through the (design thinking) process to develop our open house concept.

words in brackets for an instant prize...yes I will remember to bring them this time! ;-)

Wednesday, April 4th

Today's summaries:

English Div 5: You were introduced to the Fantasy aspect of the Sci Fi/Fantasy genre with an overview of King Arthur's Tales. You were given 15 minutes to finish a Sci Fi writing assignment.

S.S. Div 3 and 4: You are working on Step 2 in Inquiry where you are researching your inquiry topic and taking notes. Remember this step has value and as such is graded. You can find a link to that inquiry here.

Math Div 4: You reviewed algebra to date and worked with this site to model expressions, one and two step operations. The program is useful for reinforcing that there is a way to (visualize)manipulating the values in an algebraic equation.


Bracketed word for an instant prize if you tell me before the end of the day (I forgot that I was going to the board office tomorrow morning and Ms Bertucci is in for me. Hi, Ms Bertucci!!!).

Tuesday, April 3rd

Here are today's summaries. Please note that if you were away today, you are expected to make up for missing assignments. This includes students out of the class for band:

English Div 4 and 5: You wrote an in-class marked quick write on the topic of Spring Break. The marking focus was the "Ideas and Content" trait. You will get those pieces back tomorrow.

Global Simulation: You find yourself on an Earth-like planet. Last thing you were aware of was the sensation of being put to sleep for the journey to Mars. Now, you are disoriented and scared. Your AI unit walked you through emergency survival protocol. You worked in groups to plan out how to build a shelter, locate and collect water, identify and find food, as well as how to find your way around this new land.

WELCOME BACK to the FINAL term of GRADE 8 and Middle School....

Dress for variable Spring weather tomorrow. We will be outside Blocks 4 and 5...