What's new in MegaBloc?

Hello parents and guardians.

It was good to see so many of you at the recent Gr. 9 Parents night.  We enjoyed talking with you about your kids, the spirit of our grade 9 class, and the incredible work that they have been doing.

The last couple of weeks have been a busy time in the MegaBloc.  Students have been wrapping up their first rotations:

1. 3D design and printing
2. Woodshop - intro to safety and tools, making salad claws
3. Collaboration with Google Docs and some graphic design

Students have also started working on their portfolios for this course.  We are using Edsby's portfolio feature.  It seems like a nice tool for students to begin to collect their featured pieces in our course and to begin to reflect upon their learning.  We are hoping that their portfolio can be ongoing and be used to capture their high school learning artefacts. 

This week we have started our 2nd rotation.  It is a mini rotation in the MegaBloc and is short 2 day experience in related topics:

1. accurate measurements and conversions - understanding feet and inches
2. your environmental impact and your environmental footprint
3. using InkScape to prepare objects for the Laser cutter and engraver

This mini rotation ends next week Tuesday (Oct 11th) and then the real work begins!  On Wednesday, we will begin our next big project - sorry, but we can't release any details yet!  We have an expert coming to work with us to "kick-off" the project.  This might be a good time to pre-plan a supper time conversation for Wednesday evening to find out what is going on.  We will be taking lots of pictures during the project, keeping your up to date on the work, and you are all invited to our class Celebration of Learning; we will let you know the date soon!

A little bit about homework and assessments

Each student should have their work complete from each segment of the first rotation. 

• a 3D Design
• a few spreadsheets and a slideshow
• a set of wooden salad claws

We are connecting with students about work that is missing. Students should also have their portfolio up to date with one entry for each rotation that they think was meaningful to their learning. They can find the details on our Google Classroom.

Students should begin to receive some written feedback on their work in the next few days.

Again, please feel free to comment on this blog, or email us with any questions or comments that you have. ~ Mr. B