Survey Link

We covered three very important items in class today:

1. How to turn assignment in through Canvas. Using the Friendly Letter Introductions assignment we went step by step as a whole class to learn exactly how to submit an assignment into Canvas from a file or using a text box entry.  Students who had chosen to do their assignments on paper were shown how to take a picture and submit the assignment by uploading the picture file. Most assignments in this class will be turned in through Canvas because it provides for a detailed rubric and I can grade all the assignments against the rubric, leaving comments and broken down rubric scores for each student.
2. Weekly Vocabulary using Vocabulary.com. We read aloud and then paraphrased the Weekly Vocabulary responsibilities. A good paraphrase went something like this – Every student will find a new vocabulary list on the blog tab labeled Weekly Vocabulary each Monday. It is up to the student to study the words and be ready for a spelling/vocabulary test each Friday and a review test over all of the previous words every three weeks. Students were given a link to set up an account and join the class I have set up on Vocabulary.com to use as a study resource. On this site students can use flashcards and other study tools to learn the words. I will get a report from the site each week on how much each student is devoting to learning the words.
3. What is a Capstone Project / Habits of Mind Portfolio ? A capstone project will be done once each grading period. The capstone project is an assigned task that demonstrates your proficiency and growth in many aspects of what has been covered in that grading period.  You will be given specific instructions for each capstone project on exactly what is required, but you will be given a great deal of choice on how you do the assignment. Your first 9 week capstone project is your Habits Portfolio.  This is a reflective portfolio that allows you to demonstrate that you understand each of the Habits of Mind habits and can put that habit in to your own words.  It will also allow you to provide personal examples of your use of the habits.  As all of the capstone projects you will also be graded on your writing, organization, and creativity. This will be the larges project for the entire grading period and worth 175 points. Students were cautioned that this is not something that can be put off until the end of the grading period and must be worked on as we learn about each habit.