Newsletter #4 November/December) Good Evening Parents,Guardians: As your are aware teachers are now in the process of completing the term 1 report cards. We look forward to meeting you and your child either on Thursday, December 3 (4:00 - 9:00 pm), or Friday December 4 (08:00 - 01:00 pm) If you are unable to meet with me during these times and dates, please contact me at the school and I am sure we can agree on a alternate date. On Monday, November 26, students will be begin presenting their Power point Religion projects "Religions of the World". Over the next two weeks the students will be completing their novel study "If I Just Had Two Wings". Students were asked to complete an interesting and creative diary of a slave escaping on the Underground railway to Canada. I hope you and your child are taking advantage of the Home Work Help, Tutor online, that runs from 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm, Sunday to Thursday. So far it has been a very popular site for grades seven to ten. Finally, my math classes will be completing a very interesting international classroom project that teaches students aged 8 to 14 about statistical enquiry and census-taking. In September, Students anonymously filled in an online questionnaire about themselves - their height, time use, eating habits and much more. We will now use these class results to learn statistical concepts, practice data analysis and explore social issues. Their responses also become part of national and international project databases that are used for teaching statistics. Statistics Canada's Education Outreach program manages the Canadian component of the Census at School project, which began in 2003. The project originated in the United Kingdom in 2000, and now also includes Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Students respond well to working with data about themselves. The students create graphs to illustrate their findings, such as the time they spend reading vs watching TV, or the relationship between their gender and the time they spend on homework (girls seem to spend more time on homework). They learn from experience about the importance of accurate answers when collecting data. Some of the students will examine and compare larger national and international datasets, gaining skill in applying statistical analysis techniques. The project also raises students' awareness about the importance of Canada's national census for understanding the country and for planning essential services. To view more information about this project, please visit my web site, then go the "Data Management Links", last entry. Parent Note: If you require that I sign and visit your child's agenda every evening, please note in your child's agenda. If you would like to discuss an important issue, involving your child, please do not write notes in the child's agenda that can be discussed in-person or by telephone. If you have any questions, or would like to meet with me to discuss your child's progress, or any other issue regarding your child, please contact me at St. Faustina. Again, thank you to the many parents who informed me that they do appreciate this web site. It is intended for your student's education and kept parents updated what we do in our class, especially math (201/202/203) and Language Arts. I regret that during the past week I was not able to update the site as usual, as I was busy with report cards and tutoring math. Mr. Giovannini