How tall is KC?
We measured the height of the school with mirrors and the law of reflection.
We made similar triangles and calculated based on 3 simple measurements.
Our class figured that the school is about 15 meters tall.
Bean update: flowers!
We’ve got flowering bean plants here now! What comes next in the lifecycle? Stay tuned.
Sometimes all you need is the right playlist
Listening to music can pump you up and also isolate you from distractions. Do you have a homework playlist?
Math Partay for grade 9s tomorrow at lunch
The quiz this week will be another chance to demonstrate your understanding of the chapter 3 material. If you are stuck, come at lunch and we’ll help you out.
Any grade 10-12 students who would like to come help grade 9s are also welcome.
A few notes on Failure
Failure is always an event, and never a person
And, actually, we often fail many times as we grow and develop and learn new things.
F -first
A -attempt
I -in
L -learning
So, as test marks get returned, know that this is the first step. The next is up to you to learn from what you did the first time, to find areas for improvement, and focus, practice, ask questions, and use your resources.
Math partay
We’re working hard in room 208 after school, working on math, physics, and other things.
Bean update
Some of our plants are thriving!
We may even have a few buds starting to grow.
Some of the students aren’t too sure of what comes next in the lifecycle of a bean….more excitement to come in the next weeks for sure!
Crumpled paper
A former student let me know that I should share the story of crumpled paper with my new classes. It’s usually a story that I tell in response to a put down or negative comment, but so far this term the tone has been pretty positive in class. I am telling the story proactively.
Here’s a fresh blank sheet of paper. Everyone starts off life like this, clean, fresh, and unmarked. 
In some respects we start each day like this too.
However, we will sometimes encounter people throughout the day who will say mean and hurtful things like “I don’t want _________ to be in our group” or “Did you see what ____________ was wearing” or “You are (a loser/ugly/stupid)”. Each one of these comments will start to crumple your fresh clean paper.
As we go through our day, we can sometimes get quite crumpled!
Some people realize that their words have done some damage, and they try to smooth things out by saying “I was just joking” or “no offense”, but no matter how much you try, it’s impossible to get the paper smooth again.
It’s hard to stick up for yourself when hurtful comments are being made. “You’re hurting my feelings” is not so easy to say. We sometimes find it easier to talk about crumpling paper…”Don’t crumple my paper” or even sticking up for the other people around us by saying “Don’t crumple their paper”. It’s become a bit of a code word in my classes over the years, and I was so happy to know that my former student remembered the story, and asked for it to be passed on to my new classes.
Roche Dans La Poche
Some of us get anxiety on test days. To help avoid this, we’ve got math rocks to keep in our pocket, or hold in our hand, to calm us down.
We decorated them, and will bring them for our first test on Monday. Study hard grade 9s 🙂
On a Walk
We went on a walk in period D to the lake, and did some math with rocks!
Here is a series of rock piles that show exponents.
Here’s another that shows 1/2 to the power of 2 is 1/4. We left our mark on the shores, and had a fun bonding experience on a lovely day.
Ms. Bearse's Site 