Mac and Leaves

Hello boys and girls. Here are some of your beautiful patterns you created last Friday. Bravo! I actually spent a bit of time after school on Friday showing your work off to staff members at Clairlea. "Isn't this great?"

- Ms. Hawkins :)

Today's artists, tomorrow's dreamers...

Pattern Portfolios

Dear boys and girls of Room 108. Welcome to your blog! This is the place where I'll share your amazing work and photos from what we're doing in class. Eventually, you will have the chance to contribute to this blog. Read this with your family and enjoy.

Here are your perfect patterns that you found at your home, in nature, and spaces and places in the city.

Yours truly,

Ms. Hawkins

Kimono Chaos

We had a whole lot of fun on Diversity Day. After Emily handily won us third place in the fashion show (woo-hoo!), we had some time to fill in before the next event. Not surprisingly, most of the kids just had to try on the kimono.

Here's more eighties gold. Cringe or enjoy. The slides work well to this tune if you click play.

Who is the Mole? Double Trouble Profiles

Let's get things started, shall we? *Cheeky comments in brackets are Ms. Hawkins' editorial remarks just for the hey of it.

Mole Suspect #1 TT (left)

Favourite sport: soccer

Hobbies: soccer

Favourite celebrity: all (does that include Justin Bieber? Just asking.)

A talent I have is: dance (Now the truth comes out)

My pet peeve is: (Somebody in our class. Now now. Play fair.)

I hate eating: beans

My favourite food is: T-bone (I'm thinking you mean steak, not legendary producer T-bone Burnett.)

My dream job is: ?

I hate it when: people bother me.

I have: 0 brothers and 3 sisters.

I can be trusted at all times.

I have a nickname. It is T.T. (Thanks. TT for now!)

Mole Suspect #2 JP (right)

Favourite sport: soccer

Hobbies: video games

Favourite celebrity (It looks like Becam, but I have no idea who this is. JP see me for clarification)

A talent I have is: running (Yes, especially down the hall in front of the office during the Mole finale, getting Ms. Hawkins in hot water... Thanks).

My pet peeve is: my sister (But she's so cute and sweet! She'll have the last say.)

I hate eating: zucchini (even roasted and served with a t-bone steak?)

My favourite food is: Post (the cereal, I take it. Not a wooden beam)

My dream job is: being a soccer player (David Beckham is soooooo nineties)

I hate it when: my sister bugs me (But she's soooo cute and she always says "hi" to me)

I have 0 brothers and 1 sister

I can be trusted at all times

I do have a nickname. It is Perri the platypus (Really. I had no idea.You must have Fairly Odd Parents. I know, wrong show. We've got Bell ExpressVu)

Mole Suspect #3 MR (In bossy pose)

Favourite Sport: soccer (Again! I thought we had a class of water polo enthusiasts)

Favourite celebrity: Avril Lavigne (Why'da have to go and make things so complicated?)

A talent I have is: skipping (And bossing people around. Hey, she's the first to admit it)

My pet peeve is: people who chew with their mouth open (Amen!)

I hate eating: carrots (more for the bunnies)

My favourite food is (wait for it): waffles.

My dream job is: being a teacher (wait until you find yourself writing 31 report cards three times a year, plus comments for the French class you teach English to. Not that I'm complaining. Still...)

I hate it when somebody doesn't like waffles (Let go of that anger. It's eating you up inside. Let it go!)

I have 1 brother and 4 sisters (We need more testosterone!)

I can be trusted at all times.

I have a nickname. It is Meggypants. (Are Meggypants more casual or professional?)

Mole Suspect #4 MW (the court jester of Jump Rope for Heart Day)

My favourte sport: baseball (Finally, something different. Water polo must surely be coming next)

Hobbies: baseball and blogging (and having his picture taken)

Favourite celebrity: Eddie Van Halen (Before the Icelandic volcano, there was Van Halen's Eruption. You just can't argue with the facts.)

A talent I have is: guitar (Hammer of the gods...)

My pet peeve is: My brother Colin (What's with you mean older siblings? Colin's such a great kid and he always says hello. Be nice to your brother. Yeah, yeah I know. "Don't be fooled by that cute little brother routine. He gets me in trouble all the time.")

I hate eating: seafood

My favourite food is: lasagna

My dream job is: archeologist (maybe you can discover a tomb in ancient Egypt and celebrate by rocking out in a crypt)

I hate it when: People go crazy.

I have 1 brother and 0 sisters.

I cannot be trusted at all times (True. I mean, you were the last Mole. Does your honesty about your dishonesty make you more honest than a dishonest person who claims to be honest? Honestly!)

I do have a nickname. It is (looks like) do White

Mole Suspect #5 AP (left)

Favourite sport: soccer (Darn you world's most popular sport!)

Hobbies: art, drawing, math (you're going to love what I have planned for 3-D geometry. It all comes together)

Favourite Celebrity: Selena Gomez (Was she a High School Musical person? I'm so old and out of the loop)

A talent I have is: dancing (Jai ho!)

My pet peeve is: my driver (Just be grateful you have a driver. I have to bike miles to get home, fighting killer bees and falling into moon crater-sized potholes.)

I hate eating: burnt food (Do you ever find yourself scraping char off burnt toast and asking yourself, "What's the meaning of life?")

My favourite food is: sweets

My dream job is: fashion designer (Will Fashion TV's Jeanne Becker still be around to fawn over you?)

I hate it when I have to: give up my dreams (Never!)

I have 2 brothers and 0 sisters. (Really? I never knew that you had an extra brother)

I can be trusted at all times.

I do have a nickname. It is Unam.

Mole Suspect #6 AI (right)

Favourite Sport: dodgeball (hurrah!)

Hobbies: reading

Favourite celebrity: Taylor Swift

A talent I have is: writing poems

My pet peeve is: my sister (please see indignant teacher comments about adorable younger siblings above)

I hate eating: broccoli (But it's the miracle veg that cleans out the old colon! This is a cross-curricular comment linking Healthy Living with Science - The Human Body.)

My favourite food is: pizza (Knew that one was coming).

My dream job is: to be a teacher (Just wait until you find yourself standing outside on yard duty in January sorting out who stole so-and-so's brick for the snow fort. Still. I believe that children are the future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside. Yikes. I'm quoting Whitney Houston. Get back!)

I hate it when: it is (a subject she doesn't like)

I can be trusted all the time.

I do have a nickname. It is Grumpy Girl. (I've got pictures that go with this)

Possible Mole Suspects Coming Tonight

I'll round up the usual and possibly not-so usual suspects later tonight.

Until then, enjoy the White Stripes.

Mole Profiles "Spooked" and Wave Walk Pics

Our cat Spook has been ill and we had to take him to the animal hospital tonight. I'll try to post the Mole profiles tomorrow evening or over the weekend. Sorry, I know how much you were looking forward to reading them, but life sometimes takes a surprise turn. We just want our kitty cat to get better.

Thanks for understanding,

Ms. Hawkins

We've been talking a lot about public space in the city and we've discussed the Wave Walk down at Harbourfront. Here are some pictures of Duncan fooling around on it last summer. Ask a parent to take you downtown to check it out. It's a great afternoon out.

The Great Egg Drop

Huge post alert! These are pictures from todays' egg drop experiment in Forces. Using the Scientific Method, students worked in groups or pairs to design egg protectors using a mock budget that they could "spend" on a limited variety of packing materials. They had to draw and label a picture of their egg protector and predict what would happen. After the eggs were dropped from 1 meter, students then looked at their eggs to examine them for cracks. Students then redesigned their protector or modified it so their egg could withstand the force of hitting the ground after being dropped from higher point.

We will wrap this up tomorrow. A huge thank you goes out to Mr. Baron for planning and running this wonderful experiment. There was so much learning involved: scientific inquiry, problem solving, math, design, and team work. It was a pleasure to see the how students were constructing their understanding of force and resistance in this hands-on lesson. Oh yeah, and it was a lot of fun too!


Thanks to Mr. Baron for writing these captions.
- Ms. Hawkins

DS thought he could crush an egg with his hand...although I think he's trying some kind of hypnosis as well

The tools with which to make a mess (hopefully not!)

KP, SK and AD planning their drop

I think CM has an idea... an evil, evil idea.

T.T. and J.P., our most successful egg droppers thus far

Apparently they work better when they keep to themselves

Beginning stages of a drawing

The ladies begin their scheme... the egg-dropping scheme, that is
Sibghat - "Hey, AS! I bet we can find some good ideas in the Collins French Dictionary!"
A detailed drawing, indeed.
Our first egg dropper, EC

Did it work?
Maybe......
Maybe.....

NOPE! BUSTED! Back to the ol' drawing board. Mr. Baron apparently enjoys EC's failure. He wants to be a teacher!?

Scientific measurements: "It's two fingers tall!"

"What!? You wanna mess with my device!" No way GJ, I dont' want to mess with you at all. I'm plenty scared.

Redesigning

A pre-test test.

JC - "You wouldn't understand...it's pretty complex"

Did Einstein leave these plans behind?

"How could I make this better...maybe instead of protecting the egg my device will make me an omelette!"

"AP, believe me, there's a lot of money in this omelette thing!"

MR and PT are modest in the face of success

No, Mr. Baron is not dancing. He's dropping Thomas and Justin's device from TWO METERS.

Did it survive the gargantuan fall?

Maybe...

"It actually survived the fall!"

I forget exactly what TT was saying but it was something along the lines of "OH YEAH! doo doo dooooo duh duh duh duh DUUUUH in your FACE!!!!"

JC and AP's moment in the spotlight

More tests

Were QH and DS successful? YES. See the following: