John Oliver Secondary School Ms Ink

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April 13 – New Assignments for All!

All of my classes have been assigned new assignments. I am going to try to always give out assignments on Mondays and make them due on Fridays. If they are larger assignments or projects I might give you more time than that, so please just make sure you are checking the due date on the assignments.

IDS 12: Please locate your assignment on our OneNote. It’s under Content library – IDS Project – REDUX Mid Year Presentation. AS WELL, i’ve given you a second mini assignment that you can access on our Teams post page. Our weekly meeting will be on Friday at 11am.

IDS 11: Please locate your assignment on our OneNote. It’s under Content library – IDS – Mid Year IDS Online Presentation. Our weekly meeting for this week will be on Wednesday at 1pm.

Digital Com 10 Mini: Please locate your assignment on our OneNote. It’s under Content library – Assignments – Mid Year IDS Online Presentation. Our weekly meeting will be on Thursday at 1pm.

S.S 9 Mini: Your assignment is on Teams. You can find it in our Team under Posts, or by clicking the Assignments tab. Our weekly meeting will be on Thursday at 11am.

S.S 9 1-2: Your assignment is on Teams. You can find it in our Team under Posts, or by clicking the Assignments tab. Our weekly meeting will be on Tuesday at 2pm.

S.S 9 1-3: Your assignment is on Teams. You can find it in our Team under Posts, or by clicking the Assignments tab. Our weekly meeting will be on Tuesday at 11am.

Infotech 8: Please locate your assignment on our OneNote. It’s under Content library – Assignments – Mid Year IDS Video Presentation. Our weekly meeting will be on Wednesday at 11am.

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April 1 2020 Update

I hope this finds everyone as well as can be under these unprecedented circumstances.

There is no doubt that we are all witnessing historic events unfold before us, so the number one priority is the health and well-being of you and those around you. For the next week or so, take this time to focus on your physical and mental health. Relax, spend time with your family, call and check in on those family members that may be isolated alone or be lonely (especially your grandparents!), virtually hangout with your friends, go for walks with the people you live with, etc.

With that in mind, this is also an opportune time to be an active witness to what is happening around us, so if you are able to, record your thoughts, observations and questions about what is going on as we navigate through this.  There are many profound opportunities for us to leave an impact in the midst of so much uncertainty through our observations and records. It can also be very therapeutic to journal like this and record your thoughts.

If you need someone to talk to, remember that our school councillors are still available. You can contact me by email and I can put you in contact with them. As well, if you would like to talk to someone who is not a teacher or councillor you can call or text Kids Help Phone. To start using the texting service, text CONNECT to 686868. The phone number for Kids Help Phone is 1-800-668-6868. It is a 24/7 service so you can contact them ANYTIME. Here is the website if you’d like to access resources: https://kidshelpphone.ca/.

Further updates and information will be provided next week; the school will be issuing formal communications via your emails so check your emails regularly; if you have questions do not hesitate to contact me by email. I will be available from 8:30 – 3:30 on weekdays. We will get through this together.

Be safe and stay well,

Ms Ink

 

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Partnership With the Microsoft TEALS Program

JO is one of four schools in Canada who currently has a partnership with the Microsoft TEALS program. This is a program where Computer Scientists from the community come into to the classroom to help teach coding to students. We currently have a team of four volunteers who work in the Computer Science industry at various companies such as, Microsoft, SAP, and Electronic Arts. The volunteers work with Ms Ink to teach an introduction to Python unit over the course of 2.5 months. Students start by learning about different data types, how to use variables, and casting to create a simple Mad Libs program. By the end, students are able to use functions, while loops, lists, booleans, and conditionals to create a fully functioning text-based adventure game program.

Next school year, we plan on continuing to teach our introduction to Python unit to our new students. As well, we will be teaching an intermediate Python unit to all the students who learned the introductory Python unit this year. The following year, we hope to teach Java and/or C++ to our senior students.

Learning from people who are currently in the Computer Science field has been an incredible experience for students. They are able to see how coding has real life application right before their eyes, as the volunteers connect the content to what they do at work on a daily basis. It also gives students a chance to see their classroom teacher work with and learn from the volunteers as well, showing that ANYONE can be a life-long learner.

Here are some testimonials from our JO Mini School students about working with the TEALS volunteers:

“My learning experience was great with the TEALS volunteers. Learning from a coder who does this as their career was awesome.”

“I liked that they [the TEALS volunteers] let us work and then ask questions because this allowed us to try our best to do as much as we can and then get help and actually learn it properly”

“They [the TEALS volunteers] were very nice and patient with us, even if we did ask repeated questions or nothing at all. The Cross Canada game was also fun and I really liked the challenge.”

“The fun but instructive approach they [the TEALS volunteers] used to teach us was very effective as they were not forcing us to memorize the material, rather they helped us understand it.”

“They [the TEALS volunteers] were good at explaining how to use the code and wanted us to succeed. They were nice people and were always willing to help when someone was confused.”

 

Madan, one of our TEALS volunteers from SAP, teaching about Lists:

Patrick (writing on the board), one of our TEALS volunteers from Electronic Arts, hard at work:

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Thursday, September 20th

S.S 9: All classes completed their enlightenment paper infographics. Next class we will be starting our French Revolution project. No homework.

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Wednesday, September 19th

IDS 10: Please complete the MadLibs labs on Repl – it is located in our online classroom under assignments. It is due on Friday by midnight. There is an example MadLibs on Repl in our online classroom under projects. Please keep an eye out on your email for information regarding coding assignments coming up next week. 

S.S 9: We started our French Revolution Events project – you should work on your project on the pro-d day. Then, you will have two more classes next week to finish it. Presentations will be in our regular classroom on Monday, October 1. 

IDS 12: Those who did not present will do so the first class back after Seattle. Then, we will be going into our IDS project. 

IDS 8: Your Digital Footprint assignment is due on Sunday – please complete it and post it on your website/blog. DO NOT PUT IT ON ONE NOTE. 

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Tuesday, September 18

All day 2 blocks of S.S 9: We will continue to work on our Enlightenment Infographics next class – you will have about 50 minutes to finish them up and then we will provide an answer to our inquiry question: “How was the French Revolution a consequence of the Enlightenment”.

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Monday, September 17

IDS 10: Please complete the Magic Genie and Casting Lab on Repl. They are in our online classroom under assignments.

S.S 9: Please finish your paragraph on the WORST ruler of France – it is due on Wednesday.

IDS 12: Your career project is due next class – you will all be presenting so please be prepared.

IDS 8: We will continue our Digital Citizenship Project next class

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Friday, September 14th

2-1 SS 9: Students worked on ranking the various leaders of France during the French Revolution. They were to rank them based on certain qualities. Then, within their group they were to choose who they believed was the WORST ruler. As an individual, each student had to write a paragraph explaining exactly WHY they believed that ruler was the worst. This paragraph is due at the beginning of next class!

2-3 SS 9: Students worked on ranking the various leaders of France during the French Revolution. They were to rank them based on certain qualities. Then, within their group they were to choose who they believed was the WORST ruler. As an individual, each student had to write a paragraph explaining exactly WHY they believed that ruler was the worst. This paragraph is due at the beginning of next class!

2-4 SS 9: Students worked on ranking the various leaders of France during the French Revolution. They were to rank them based on certain qualities. Then, within their group they were to choose who they believed was the WORST ruler. As an individual, each student had to write a paragraph explaining exactly WHY they believed that ruler was the worst. This paragraph is due at the beginning of next class!

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Thursday, September 13th

IDS 10: Learned about variables and value today – all students need to take a screenshot of the “Magic Genie” lab and post it to your blog. We are planning on getting assignments up and running on the Repl site itself, so hopefully you will not have to keep taking screenshots. 

S.S 9: We had a great introduction to the French Revolution – Students filled in a set a notes and then we did a simulation of what it was like to be a person living in France during the 1600’s. Students found out the hard way that it was very difficult, frustrating and unfair to be a peasant – this led to unrest and eventually revolution!

IDS 12: Kept working on the career inquiry projects. Remember these are due on September 19th – all will present for about 3 minutes. 

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Friday, Sept 7

IDS 12: We watched 4 Ted Talks today about passion. Please write your personal response on your blogs/websites. As well, e-mail me the link to your blogs/websites. Full assignment instructions are on our course OneNote in the Content Library. 

Infotech 8: Students started to get their blogs/websites set up today! They will be using them as e-portfolios for infotech, which means they will be posting all of their projects and assignments on there. Students owe me a blog post that is due by the start of class on Tuesday – full assignment instructions are on our class OneNote under the Content Library. 

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