See you in 2020!

Well that's a wrap on the first part of the 2019/2020 school year!

Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. I'm feeling really fortunate to get to spend most of my days in a wee bit of chaos with a great group of students.

Enjoy your break! Regardless of the holiday you celebrate, make sure you also take some time to appreciate your awesomeness and celebrate your 2019 successes.

I can't wait to see you in the new year. (well okay...I can wait a couple of weeks)


Merry Christmas to you and your families!
Mrs. C

Quick Note: PowerSchool is going to be down for maintenance as of this afternoon until January 5th, so Mr. Ibbitson and I will be unable to update any marks until we are back after the break.

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to put up a quick post to say that it has been a great first half of the year!  I'm really looking forward to jumping back into the Renaissance in January.  Have a wonderful Christmas, Yuel, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, Winter Solstice, or whatever you happen to celebrate!

Evelyn wishes you all happy holidays too.

Welcome to the Madhouse

The construction of Rube Goldberg Machines is well under way.  Many shenanigans were had.

Science in the news - Week 2

Just a reminder that our second Science in the News was due last Monday. For those of you that have not yet submitted it, I have attached the article here if you need to refer to it. You can add this write below your Seabin submission or create a new document.

Reminder - 100-150 words - summary of the key points of the article.
                   100-150 words - personal response to the topic.

Health Risks of Vaping

Great 8 Design Challenge

Hello 8-3 and 8-4!

Here is the link to the slides for the Design Challenge! Make sure to bring in any materials you need for building your Rube Goldberg on Monday.  You will be showcasing your completed design on Tuesday afternoon.

Grade 8 Design Challenge

Have fun! We can't wait to see what you come up with.

Unit Review for Squares, Square Roots and Pythagorean theorem

Hello!! I posted a link below to the unit review and practice test for Squares, Square Roots and Pythagorean theorem.  We will go through the Practice Test in our review session tomorrow. I will offer an additional lunch Homework Support session Wednesday if you would like extra support before Thursday's test .


Pythagorean Unit Review and Practice Test

Dec 6 Hums Update

So we have spent most of the week working on our modern interpretations of traditional folk tales.  Just remember to make sure everything is in the shared folder on your Google Drive.  We don't have the computers next week so class time will be dedicated to the artistic portion of the assignment where you guys will produce the illuminated manuscript 'cover' page for the first page of the folk tale.  Remember the final due date for the whole kit-and-kaboodle is December 19th but we are unlikely to have any class time in the last week before Winter Break.

Dad Joke of the Week:
Why did the old man fall down the well?
Because he couldn't see that well.

How is it December 5th already? SMATH update

This week we have continued working on using the Pythagorean Theorem to solve for unknown side lengths of right triangles. We will work on word problems and another pile up on Monday and that will pretty much wrap up this unit. 

In Science, we started Complex machines today and are brainstorming ideas to build a Rube Goldberg Machine! We will need supplies brought in by Friday, December 14th (watch for an email about that). All the grade 8s will participate in this design challenge the last week before the break. 

Reminders: Square/Square Root/Pythagorean Test on Thursday Dec 12. 

                    Pythagorean Pile Up #2 is due on Monday. 

                    Science in the News - 2nd write up is due Monday, December 9th. 

December 1st Hums Update

Sorry for the late update.  Ended up down at the stampede grounds yesterday for the Comic Expo Christmas Market which led to this:

Gotta start em young I guess.  And yes, that is a Chewbacca Christmas shirt I'm wearing.


Anyhow, we got started working on our modern folk tales task last week.  We'll have the laptops this week to finish up the written portions, and then we can start working on our Illuminated Manuscript front pages.

I've made the task sheet available on the blog earlier this week.  In the interest of taking care of our pennies at the school I've decided to start minimizing how much photocopying I'm doing so I won't be printing out class sets anymore.  I'm still more than happy to print copies on request, but it's pretty mindboggling just how big the photocopying budget for a school like TMC can be.  I remember an old principal of mine (at a much smaller school) telling us that we typically spent close to 10,000 dollars a year on paper, toner, and maintenance.

Doing things electronically is also significantly better for the environment, so this is a pretty good kick in the pants to do something positive that way too.

As an important FYI: Because we use Google Classroom and most of my task sheets will be in Google Docs I will just mention that in order to access them please make sure you are logged in using your school Gmail account.  It only lets me share links within the CBE, so if you are trying to log in with your personal account it will start pinging my phone with messages, and manual approval only works like 50% of the time.

Dad Joke of the Week (Star Wars themed this time)
Why did the movies come out 4-5-6-1-2-3-7-8?
In charge of scheduling, Yoda was.

Science in the News

Here is a link to the slides and resources for today's science task. The write up is due on Monday if you didn't get it finished in class.  Please place it in your shared folder on the drive.

Science in the news - Week 1 - Seabins

Reminder that the Pythagorean Practice worksheets are due on Monday as well. The first sheet and questions 1-6 on the second sheet.

Happy Weekend!!

Folk Tale Task Sheet

Here is the task sheet for the Folk/Fairy tale assignment.  Please remember, you need to be logged in with your school google account for the link to work properly. 

Task Sheet

Bill Nye Simple Machines

For those band students that were away at camp, we watched the Bill Nye Video on Simple Machines. The topics were all discussed in class today but this video is worth a watch to review today's lesson and for the entertainment factor!

Bill Nye - Simple Machines

Mechanical Systems textbook link

New Science Unit

I have added a link to the textbook resource for the Mechanical Systems Unit we are starting. You can find it under the Important Link Section on the right hand side of the page.

I enjoyed chatting with your parents about all the projects you have been working on the last couple of months.

Have a great weekend. See you on Monday!

Nov 22 Hums

Hopefully everyone had a great time at band camp over the past couple days.  For those of you who missed out on it, we watched these Youtube videos while you were gone.

One of the things that, even to this day we use to almost define a culture is their food.  When people think of India their thoughts often turn to Curries, spice, and Naan bread.  Japan brings to mind Sushi and Yakisoba.  England makes us think of Fish and Chips, Mushy Peas, and Meat Pies.  Even within Canada we think of Fish and Lobster from the Atlantic provinces, Poutine and Maple Syrup from Quebec, and of course, our own Alberta Beef.

Food also has class connotations.  We all know of the starving college student stereotype, surviving on Raman noodles and stale hot dog buns.  Contrast that with the wall street banker buying a 100 dollar steak for lunch every day.

That begs the question, what did food look like in England during the Middle Ages?  This is a short youtube series looking at how people across four main classes within the medieval world ate.  It also provides a very interesting look at how class was reflected in the food that was eaten.

Youtube Playlist Medieval Food

Nov 20 SMATH Update

Mid Unit Review

I have posted a link to the Mid-Unit Review in case you forget to bring yours home over the weekend.

Reminder that we have a small quiz on Monday (4 questions) to check your understanding of squares and square roots before we move on to Pythagorean theorem.

Nov 17th Hums update

Sorry for the delay in getting this out.
Much excitement was had with the dry run of our Japan museum.  The artefacts look great.  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone share them with their folks during student-led conferences later this week.

Just as a reminder, the student leds for humanities at least will be hosted in the Learning Commons, not the classroom.

Also, I'm not 100% sure if it is going to work out, but we are trying to organize another opportunity for the kids are away at Band Camp to show their folks their work.  I believe it is tentatively pencilled in for Friday afternoon on the 29th, but I'll update those affected as soon as I know more.

Don't forget, the Japan Unit test will be on Tuesday and the final artists statement for your aftefact is due on Thursday.  I've also attached a link to the question bank because there are a few people who left it at school.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1up1SSmkFDAagPUu60SvdHzkPuA7_zheP9sZf1v9npkc/edit?usp=sharing

Remember, you are allowed to bring in the question sheet with notes on it, and the test will be one of those questions but even I don't know which one yet, so make sure you study them all.

Dad Joke of the Week:
Did you hear about the restaurant on the moon?
Great food, no atmosphere.

November 15th SMATH Update

Measuring Line Segments

Measuring Line Segments Worksheet

Hello 8-3 and 8-4. I have included a link to the example slides from class to support your homework for the weekend. Reminder that questions 3-10 on the Measuring Line Segment Practice Worksheet is due Monday. I have also included a link to the worksheet.

I really enjoyed walking through all of your museum exhibits today.

Have a great weekend.

November 12th Smath Update

Hello 8-3 and 8-4. I have included a link to the key slides from today.  In Science, we finished off the Mix and Flow unit. We will have tomorrow's period to review for the Unit Test on Thursday.

Pressure & Pascal's Law

Today in Math we investigated factors and what factors can tell us about square numbers. I have included the slides here (We covered from 9 on today but I included a few earlier slides with key words and definitions for this unit in case you didn't get the definitions down)

Factors & Square Numbers

Have a great night!

Reviewing the divisibility rules may be helpful when finding factors.

November 8th Hums Update

So the Japanese museum projects have been coming along very well.  Unfortunately we weren't able to spend quite as much time in the woodshop and other CTF spaces as I had hoped, because a few students had difficulty in respecting the spaces we had available.  The projects still look pretty awesome. 

Make sure you take the time to finish them up, and we'll start working on our artists statements and the plaques so we will be ready to go for Student Led conferences.

Dad Joke of the Week:
Why are spiders so smart?
They can find anything on the web.

Outstanding Work

Volume and Surface Area Word Problems

3D Sculpture Task & Rubric

Hello 8-3 and 8-4. There are many of you that still have not handed in the Volume and Surface Area Word Problems or the 3D sculpture task. I have attached links to them here and have extra copies in the classroom if you have misplaced yours.

Please choose 2 questions from the word problems to do but do a very thorough job on them! In order to get full marks, I want to see your formula, all calculations, a solution including units and a sentence stating your solution.

Bring your sculptures and the supporting work in as soon as possible. This assignment is a major piece of this unit.

Have a great long weekend.

If you haven't already submitted your slowest fluid write up to me, there is a firm deadline of Tuesday! Please make sure it is in your shared folder!

SMATH Update Nov 5th

Mix and Flow Unit Review - We will spend some time reviewing this unit next week but in the meantime you can refer to this link for key words and concepts that you should have an understanding of. Reminder that the Mix and Flow Unit test is on Thursday, November 14th.

Key Dates: Your 3D sculpture is due! Make sure to refer to the assignment criteria and rubric before submitting.

Your Slowest Fluid Write Up is due on Friday, November 8th. You will have two more full class periods to work on it.

The Remembrance Day Assembly is on Friday. I will have poppies for everyone. If you would like to bring a donation in for the poppy, I will take them down to the office.

And since Mr. Ibbitson always has fantastic Dad jokes...I thought I'd throw in a math joke, especially since it relates to the unit we started today!

November 1st Hums Update

It's so great to be back in the saddle again.

At any rate, we have gotten started working on our Japan museum project.  We begin construction next week and it looks like there are some pretty awesome projects in the works.  Remember to start bringing in any materials you need next week, and make sure you show me your blueprint before you get started.

Dad Joke of the Week:
Why didn't the skeleton eat any halloween candy?
He didn't have the stomach for it!

And the winner is....

Great job on your slowest fluids this week! We will have 4 full blocks next week to work on the write up for this assignment. Please make sure to have the assignment hand out and rubric to help guide you next week.

After roughly 35 minutes! 

On your marks...

Congratulations to Lucas, Arden & Josh in 8-4 with their secret solute of pancake mix and to Noah, Avi and Matthew D in  8-3 for their molasses mixture.

Honorable mention to those fluids that didn't cross the finish line. Perhaps if we had more time?





Happy Halloween. See you Monday!

Science - Slowest Moving Fluid

We begin creating and testing on Monday!! I will have your solvent and first solute option available for you. You should be ready to go Monday with your "secret" solute. We will be mixing and testing right away.

Reminders: No Xanthan Gum or hazardous materials!

I am so excited to see what you come up with and I'm looking forward to the race on Thursday! I'll be sure to have extra "scaries" on hand for the winners.

Mr. I is back on Monday. Woot Woot!

Solutions to Shape & Space Unit Review

I have attached a link with the solutions to the review booklet. I will post them in the classroom as well on Monday as the screenshots are a little difficult to read.

Unit Review Solutions

Please start brainstorming ideas for your 3D sculpture! We will be starting right away constructing nets and building on Monday. Please feel free to print any nets at home and bring in card stock if you'd like!

Compressibility Slides

Here are the slides from Compressibility today. The Check & Reflect questions on the last slide are due for tomorrow (Friday) if you didn't finish them in class.

Compressibility of Fluids

Density

This week (when we haven't been too busy missing Mr. I), we have been discussing properties of fluids. In particular, density! We will be finishing up this unit with buoyancy and compressibility and then that's a wrap on Mix and Flow! Ask your parents if they can rank our five fluids in order of density!

Reminder that the L-Shape Surface Area work sheet is due tomorrow. You will have tomorrow's entire period for work on Volume. 

UPCOMING - Math unit test on Wednesday next week (3D view, nets, surface area, volume etc) and the following week you will have your Mix and Flow Unit Test. In the meantime, its not all nasty tests! We have a couple of fun projects coming up too!

Density of Coke vs Diet Coke

I added Ms. MacNicol's photo because hers is better haha. 

Density Tower

What?! Ms C actually shook it?!?!?

Our Layered fluids

Homework Help

Hello 8-3 and 8-4!

I am going to switch my homework help lunch from Wednesday to Monday in hopes that I can see more of your lovely faces. I know there is a conflict with Open Gym Wednesdays at lunch and that is important too!!

Hope to see you Wednesdays   Mondays at lunch if you need any additional support! :-)

Crystallization Lab

The finished product from 8-3!

Waiting for crystals to form

Beautiful when the light passes through!

Some photos from our crystallization lab yesterday! We had some obstacles to overcome in 8-4 but I can't wait to see what our crystals look like tomorrow!

Friendly Reminder

Just a friendly reminder that fees for the camp Chief Hector field trip are available to be paid online.

Hello World

So... someone decided to show up a little bit earlier than expected.  Mrs. Pedersen will be in for me on Tuesday.  Just keep working away at your Meiji TV projects.  Once you finish them up, you can put the file in your shared folder and I'll try to get them marked before I come back.

No longer practice Dad Joke:
Mrs. Ibbitson: "Why is there a strange baby in the crib?"
Mr. Ibbitson: "You told me to change the baby."

October 11th Hums

So we've moved on into the Meiji Era now!  We started exploring some of the massive changes that took place after Japan began opening up to the world again.  We just started working on our Meiji TV projects where we will be creating television shorts set during the Meiji period, imagining what life would have been like if they had access to Television 150 years ago.

Practice Dad Joke for the week: What did the turkey say to the computer?  "Google Google Google"

Particle Theory of Matter Slides

Hello 8-3 and 8-4.

Here are the slides from today's lesson.
Particle Theory of Matter

Have a fantastic long weekend. See you on Tuesday!

October 7 - SMATH

Thank you to everyone who brought in mason jars. We have enough for our lab next week.

In science we were in the lab today looking at temperature and the solubility of salt. We will have our entire science block tomorrow to work on the Lab Report.

Reminder that there will be a quiz on Surface Area on Thursday and I will be available tomorrow after school or during lunch on Wednesday for any support or questions.

October 4th Hums

Great job on the mythology presentations everyone!  They were a ton of fun to watch, and it was nice to get a feel for everyone's presentation and speaking skills.  The Letters to the Shogun are looking good too.  Please remember to get those to me ASAP if you haven't handed them in yet.

Also, just a quick reminder that the fees for the Camp Chief Hector trip finally made their way up onto the CBE accounts recently.

So we continued our exploration of how Japanese society and culture evolved during the period of isolation.  Next week we'll finish that up and start looking at how Japan reopened to the world and began a rapid period of industrialization and modernization during the Meiji period.

In case you missed it, here is the documentary we watched on the forging of a Katana.

Practice Dad Joke of the week:  What kind of egg did the evil chicken lay?  A deviled egg.

October 4 - Smath Update

Unfortunately, we had to postpone our lab for this week, but that means we have a double block on Monday to test out solubility.

I have consolidated all the notes you created for your Separation Technique presentation and the link to the google doc is here.

8-3 Separation Technique Notes

8-4 Separation Technique Notes


Thank you to everyone that brought in Mason Jars. We will not be using them for Monday's lab but we will be using them the following lab.

Have a great weekend.

September 27th Hums

First off, thanks for a great Terry Fox Run!  You all did awesome.  It was cold and wet, but hey, here's a picture of Terry catching his breath running in the rain.

In other news, I've been really impressed with how the Letters to the Shogun have been turning out.  Remember, they are due on Monday unless you already handed them in, and we begin our Mythology presentations on Monday as well.  Have a wonderful weekend all.  See you Monday.

Practice Dad Joke of the Week: Two guys walk into a bar.  The third one ducks.

Link to Mix and Flow Unit in Science Textbook

I have attached a link to the first unit in the science textbook, if you would like an additional resource for the mix and flow unit! It can be found under important links on the right side bar.

Have a great weekend. Great job on the Terry Fox Run today.

September 26 - Smath

We had our first lab in science today! We had fun separating (and attempting to separate) three different mixtures. I meant to take some pictures to post but forgot! I am looking forward to what should be a great discussion when we debrief our findings on Monday. Reminder that your notes are due Monday and the remainder of the groups will present their Separation Technique research assignment.


If you haven't returned your Science Safety Contract yet, make sure to bring it in ASAP :)

In math we will be continuing to work on Surface Area next week.

Be sure to bundle up for the Terry Fox Run tomorrow!

Sept 21st Hums

Just wanted to mention how great it was to get a chance to meet so many of your parents on Thursday and Friday.

The mythology projects continue apace, and since we've finished up the Sengoku Jidai we should be about ready to start getting into the main course (pun intended -gotta work on those dad jokes-) of Edo Japan next week. 

Also, just a reminder that the Terry Fox run is this Friday.  This is always an important day for me. I've been teaching long enough that I've lost count of how many students I've taught who've either been affected by Cancer themselves or had their friends, family members or loved ones affected.  Cancer sucks, it doesn't discriminate, and the funds raised every year by the Terry Fox run's all across the country really do make a huge difference in the research being done on the disease.  

September 20 Update

This week we started talking about classification of matter. I have attached the link to a quick summary of the lesson.

Classification of Matter Summary

We had fun watching the separation of milk!

I hope to have our first math quiz marked and back next week.  

Have a great weekend. 

See you Monday!

SMATH this week

Great job on the WHMIS presentations this week! We are moving on to Classification of Matter in Science tomorrow.

We will have one more period to finish up the Isometric Dot Art in Math. There will be a 3-D shape view quiz on Thursday.

Reminder- Early dismissal on Thursday and no school on Friday for "Meet the Teacher" time.

Smath Update

Camp Chief Hector team building 

What a great week for the grade 8's with our first field trip to Camp Chief Hector!

Science- Reminder that WHMIS presentations will take place on Monday and our Science Lab Safety Quiz is now moved to Tuesday.

Math - We will continue with the shape and space next week moving into isometric drawing.  I really enjoyed the rope shape making on Friday and your convincing arguments that you had done it correctly!

Creating 3D shapes with rope

September 13th update

So we finished up another great week this week.  Many shenanigans were had out at Camp Chief Hector yesterday and it was wonderful getting to know all of you a bit better outside of the classroom.

For Monday please make sure you have your reading log and your current events log started in the shared folder.  Try to make sure you are staying on top of both over the course of the year.  They are easy to keep current on, but very difficult to catch up if you fall behind.

Also, remember your "Word of the Year Art" is due on Monday.  I've seen some great stuff so far and I'm looking forward to getting a bit more colour up in the classroom.

Have a great weekend and we'll see you on Monday.

HHPS/WHMIS

Hello 8-3 and 8-4!

Science this week has been all about safety. Before we can have "fun" in the lab, we need to understand behaviour and safety expectations. I will have a safety contract for you and your parents to sign later this week.

Here is a link to the slides we covered in class on HHPS and WHMIS symbols. Be ready to present your WHMIS research project on Friday!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wcYJi5UT3ccRldKAZj7B4PcAyzhw7KVZ574fd3mBhao/edit?usp=sharing


In Math we have started into our Shape and Space unit. We have been working with cubes to create 3-D objects from given 2-D views and will move onto nets later this week.

Welcome to the 8-3, 8-4 Blog!

Hello and welcome.  This post is mostly just a test to make sure formatting looks OK but I figured I would put a few quick reminders on it as well.

1) We are still missing a few demographic forms.  The office would really like to get these back, signed (even if nothing changed) ASAP.

2) Things are coming together for our team building excursion this Thursday!  As an added bonus it looks like it might be the one and only day this week that the sun is scheduled to make an appearance.  I suspect that it will still be pretty wet out at Camp Chief Hector though so I'd make sure you dress assuming you're going to get a bit muddy.  Pro tip!  An extra pair of dry socks in your backpack can make the drive back a lot more pleasant.  I understand that the 25 dollar fee for the trip has not yet appeared on your MyCBE account, but I'll update the blog and send out a note over messenger as soon as it is live.