This is a wish that goes out to all my students and their families. Being a teacher is an awesome responsibility. Each student learns and behaves differently and teachers have to be constantly adapting to help each and everyone of them.

Some may say that we are the hardest working people out there...I disagree. I see many other people who work harder and for longer and often even get paid less that I do. Sometimes I feel bad about how easy it is for me, and then other times I am just grateful I get Christmas breaks off and summer's off just to recooperate from the exhaustion I often feel.

Anyway, I want to send my thanks out to all of you. Thank you for being great parents and students. Thank you for your understanding when we have a hard or busy day. Thank you for your encouragement throughout the year and your support.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas! Have a wonderful break and I will see you next year!. Remember school starts January 5, 2009.

Mrs. Slad

structure of the bone -- using chicken...

Here are my ninth graders....dissecting chicken legs in order to better understand the structure of a long bone.

They love any excuse to sit, talk, and cut instead of listening to a lecture by me. Fun times for all...OH and guess what the Slade family is having for dinner? The legs that weren't used! Yea Us!

What the Heck!?

O.k. my room has been taken over. Yikes, Ballroom is here.

So..here is Tasi Young trying hard to use my classroom to teach ballroom to a bunch of girls and two..count them...two boys.

Oh well, I don't mind. It is fun to watch. The only down fall..I don't get to dance. maybe.. just maybe Tasi will dance with me on occassion. :) He is a great dancer...and fun to dance with.

Enjoy the pictures!

Thanks Watabe for the idea--Brilliant!

Here is a picture of an idea I stole from Watabe. He has in is classroom small white boards. He will give the students math problems and then they will work them out and hold up their answer. This helps him see who understands something and who doesn't easier. Today I borrowed his white boards to help the students review for a test. I loved it. I am so going to make my own! Thanks Watabe for the use of the boards for a day and for the great idea.

AP biology and Cellular Respiration

Cellular respiration is a fairly complex chain of events. It is the process of converting glucose into the usable form of energy called ATP. Over the years I have tried to find ways to help the students gain an understanding of what is happening and how changes affect the whole process (for example..what happens if there is no oxygen...etc...)

Well a few years ago I had a brilliant creative moment and developed a "skit" where the students acted out the whole process. They have a lot of fun and it really seems to help (or so they say). so here is a short clip of the whole thing.

8th grade cell reports

Here they are...the cutest class ever. They were assigned to find out about one type of cell and build a model of it to share with the class and then to write a report discussing the job of the cell.

We had quite a variety.
Mesophyll cells of plants
amoebas
nerve cells
eye cell (rod or cone)
The protist, Trypanosoma Brucei, that causes African sleeping sickness
A my personal favorite...the dinoflagellate! otherwise known as algae...

8th Grade cell models

Cell Cookies

The competition is on!

Boys vs. Girls

Each team was given three cookies and a whole lot of candy. Using their knowledge and notes on types of cells (prokayotic, animal, plant) they were asked to create each.

Tomorrow the winner will be decided.

Here are the beginnings of each...tomorrow we will have pictures of the final products.

Reaction Time

Today my seniors did a lab to determine if the length of a nerve affects the reaction time. They did this by catching a yard stick in different situations.

If you wonder what happened....ask a senior.

Some comments I heard today.

"My reaction time is terrible" - Meagan

"It's so funny to watch." - Victoris

"My toe sucks" - Sammy

"I got a one with the foot thing" - Sarah

"NOW!" - Everyone (during the ear part)

AP Lab -- Potatoes and water potential

Part C of the AP #1 Lab....Yea students.

Who is this very good looking somewhat older man?

So... This afternoon during a time when someone was not too preoccupied...this man showed up. Who is it? Can we really allow someone so "scary" looking to enter our school?

Well check out below to see who it is and how he came about....

The process.....

Check this out....

Anatomy fun

I have been somewhat neglectfull in my blogging. Despite this some of my classes have had such a great time lately. Others, unfortunately have had exams. Few view this as enjoyable.

but I am back. I just hope someone out there is looking at this and appreciating their own child and the learning that they are participating in.

Today in 9th grade anatomy we used the beautiful black table tops to create cells and with beads, tape and string. Modeled the process of Mitosis.

Mitosis, for those of you who do not know is the process of cell division. It is not a simply process that only involves splitting a cell into two. It is very precise. You have in each cell 46 chromosomes made from thousands of genes which in turn are made from thousands upon thousands of nucleotide sequences. Each sequence is a code for a protein in your body. One mistake in copying it and or splitting it results in some pretty bad mutations.

so..the process is pretty complicated

Pictures for your enjoyment.....

8th grade lab fun

Here we are...look how safe we are being. We used red cabbage juice to determine whether or not some unknown substances were acids or bases. We also practiced using litmus paper. Yea students.. so do you think these goggles will become all the rage soon? I do...He hE

Those who didn't win!

One of the requirements for science is memorizing the six functional groups. One way is to make it a memory. So this year I asked the students to write songs about them...with all the information they need to remember for their test later and the AP exam at the end of the year. So cute...enjoy!.. IF nothing else they laughed alot. Most students said they would remember more. I hope they do. I still have anatomy kids from years ago who remember their songs.

AP Biology functional Group songs

Here is the winner of the competition....But I have decided I will post them all...so enjoy!

dating, engagement, and marriage in 8th grade?

O.k. not really what you think. Here we are...learning the bonds between atoms.

Ionic
covalent
Hydrogen

One way to remember them is to compare them to dating, engagment, and marriage.

Fun! Especially for kids who really aren't sure about what is happening?

The best form of torture...

Marshmallow molecules

O.k. so one of the things we as a class must learn is the four macromolecules of life....Proteins, Lipids, Carbohydrates, and Nucleic acids.

The students must have a concept of the structure of each (because structure = function)...

This includes ingredients and how they are put together (how many bonds between atoms etc...)

One of the funnest ways is to have them build these out of colored marshmallows. Here they are...they had done this in eight grade but really wanted to do it again and a refresher.

Enjoy!