Mr. McCleary's Class Blog

What a great day we had creating music at the Conestoga Apple store! As we arrived at the store entrance we were greeted by a standing ovation from the twenty plus employees of the store; wow what a welcome! They then presented each of use with an Apple shirt that had our names on it. The employees gave us a brief overview of the Garageband music program, got us into groups and then the students spent most of the time experimenting with the program to see what would work and what wouldn’t.

Once their musical number was finished, students were given a few minutes to wander the store and try out the various Apple devices. For the last 20 minutes each group introduced their Band name and shared their musical creation. As a final act of generosity, the Apple employees presented each of us with a USB bracelet which contained every groups musical creation. So now we can take our creations home with us and share not only what we made but all of our class masterpieces. Enjoy

In April we said goodbye to our student teachers. Ms. Mylrae has been with us since October and Ms. Herald joined us in January. We thank them for helping us over the year and wish them all the best in their future teaching careers.

On May 2, students enjoyed a day of investigating their passions. This was our May Personal Learning Day, where they were to chose something they want to learn about and get to spend the day studying it. At the end of the day we celebrate their learning with a short presentation during which students share their discoveries through the day. This time around we learned about Lululemon, hockey and basketball skills, famous art, pets, catapults, Plinko, a Tattoo artist, electricity in fruit and vegetables, Starbucks and cash-cropping. It was terrific learning with you! Students are reminded to submit their self-evaluation page to Mr. McCleary.

Working on their Plinko board.

Researching tattoos.

Catapults

Studying basketball skills from the pros.

Getting a “charge” out of fruits and vegetables.

Sharing discoveries about cash-cropping.

We are starting to follow the progress of a Peregrine Falcon family as they begin life together near the top of the Sheraton Hotel in Hamilton. Surge and Madame X started the nest a month ago and yesterday Madame X laid egg 2 and 3. Watch with us as we follow their progress. The website with 2 convenient webcams is located at: Hamilton Peregrine Nest

Every once in a while we need some extra help in various subjects and parents need to be aware that in April I began an Extra Help time during the outdoor recess time in the morning. A few students have been taking advantage of this time and it seems to be really helping with the extra 1-1 or 1-small group time. I know missing their outdoor recess is asking too much of some students but I really feel more need to be taking advantage of the opportunity; especially with the latest math test results (if you haven’t seen your son or daughters results you need to ask them). Students are welcome to remain in the room following the first nutrition break and I will review whatever concept they are having difficulty with. I’m hoping to see more students over the next month as we refine our skills for the Grade 6 Provincial Test.

Our trip to the Apple Store has been rescheduled to May 23 to allow many of our students to attend the Badminton Tournament that conflicted with our original date.

Students at BDES joined people around the world in wearing a pink shirt to recognize International Day of Pink! It is a day where communities can unite in celebrating diversity and raising awareness to stop all forms of bullying.

The Day of Pink website tells us that “The International Day of Pink was started in Nova Scotia when 2 straight high school students saw a gay student wearing a pink shirt being bullied. The 2 students intervened, but wanted to do more to prevent homophobic & transphobic bullying. They decided to purchase pink shirts, and a few days later got everyone at school to arrive wearing pink, standing in solidarity. The result was that an entire school stopped homophobic & transphobic bullying.

The message was clear: anyone can bully, any can be victimized by bullying, but together we can stop it.

Each year on the second Wednesday of April, millions of people wear pink to remember that positive actions make a difference. And that the change starts with each one of us.”

Yes it is 3.14 (March 14)  and therefore “Pi” Day.  And what better way to celebrate then eat Pie all day!

The concept of Pi was used as early as the Egyptians (2613 BC) in the creation of the pyramids.  It has continued to be used throughout many cultures since then as a mathematical constant.  Did you know that there is no fractional equivalent for Pi?  It is also the longest number I know of (it actually never ends) that has no repeating pattern in it’s digits.  We use it to figure out the area of a circle but it also has many other uses in science and engineering.  So let’s celebrate. HAPPY PI DAY! And enjoy your Pies.

For breakfast "egg pie".

Pizza Pie was served at lunch

Pizza pie slice

Beef and Chicken meat pies

Finally Apple Pie for dessert!

One of the most feared things to do in North American culture is to deliver a speech to a crowd. However, it is also one of the most useful skills to learn for many occupations. From a speech at a wedding or job interview to a persuasive sales talk the skill of talking in front of a group is something all people can utilize at some point in their lives. We have had a great variety of topics presented to us over the past week and it has been terrific to see the confidence build in reluctant presenters. Nick and Tyler were asked to represent our class at the annual School Speech competition and the great news is that they not only did a fantastic job but they finished first and second in the grade 4-6 division.

Congratulations boys, we’re proud of how you represented our class. Nick did a very creative speech on how we blame the family dog for many of the incidents that happen around the house. Tyler, who won the competition, presented a great information speech on the shipwrecked Edmund Fitzgerald.

This week we have been participating in the World Education Games, which are sponsored by Unicef. Monday was World Literacy Day on which we competed against schools from all over the world on various English activities. Tuesday was World Math Day and we had the opportunity to demonstrate our Numeracy skills by challenging other students from as far a way as Egypt, China, New Zealand and Peru. On Wednesday, we tested our science knowledge in the World Science Day International competition. “It was lots of fun and I learned lots.” commented one student. In many cases we learned more from our mistakes as various people were overheard saying, “Huh, I didn’t know that.” Though our class isn’t up for any awards, hopefully this enjoyable and educational activity will be something we can participate again in the not so distant future.