Mrs. Burttram's Physcial Science Blog

Attention parents. There will be an important program about heroin use and fatalities in the metro area. Shelby County has had 19 heroin related deaths year to date. The schedule for the program is:
ABC 33/40 Sunday, Nov. 18 at 10 PM News
Monday thru Wednesday, Nov. 19-20-21 during the 4 PM “FOCUS@4” program.
We encourage you to view this report in the effort to prevent drug abuse and increase awareness.

We have begun researching science fair projects this week. Your child may have already given you a letter to sign. Lost letters can be reprinted by clicking the “printable letter” link on the right. I am excited to see what the students create this year!
On another note: 8th grade students will be taking the Explore test on Oct. 24. This is an ACT predictor and aptitude/interest survey. There is not much students can do to prepare other than utilize good test taking strategies. Please encourage your child to get a good night’s sleep and eat a healthy breakfast, the test is a long one! We will be sending home more information in the next day or two.

Students have joined my Edmodo group this week and most have already completed their first assignment.  Parents:  when your child logs in to Edmodo, there will be a parent code on the right side of the screen that you can use to join Edmodo as a parent and see what it’s all about.  I encourage you to become familiar with this new networking technology as students will be using it more at the high school.  The interface is very similar to Facebook and students say they enjoy it.  Please keep in mind that students can only post to me directly or to the entire class so there is limited possibilities for harassment and inappropriate use.  Also, you may want to remind your child the importance of keeping passwords and usernames safe.

We are into week 2 of school and really getting into the swing of things.  I have begun to send home Edmodo forms.  Edmodo is an online platform that allows teachers to post content and assignments for students.  It is available through the Shelby County Schools web site.  You will only need to sign and return the form if you do NOT wish for your child to access Edmodo.

Unlike Facebook, students will not be able to message each other directly or post content unseen by the teacher.  This eliminates issues such as cyber bullying.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about Edmodo.

I am so excited about starting a new school year at CMS!  We have had some changes, but with the new faces also comes a renewed enthusiasm for teaching and learning.  This year I am particularly excited about using Edmodo with my students.  Edmodo will allow them some flexibility in completing assignments and accessing content.

Some suggestions for success this year:

• Get a good night’s sleep!
• Try to not miss school unless necessary.
• If you need help, don’t wait until the day before the test or due date.

I am looking forward to working with you this year, we are going to do some great things!

2011-2012 was a great year, and I am looking forward to the next school year and working with another talented group of students.  I am working on some changes to my classroom, including using Edmodo, restructuring the science fair project rubric and looking for new opportunities to challenge my exceptional students.  As I complete changes, I will add them to my blog for you to view.  In the meantime, I will see some of you at registration and the rest of you on August 20!  Have a safe and fun summer.

I want to post a reminder that I do not accept facebook friend requests from former or current students or their families.  I am flattered that several of you have asked me about this, but it is my preference to keep my personal and professional lives separate.  Besides, do you really want your teacher seeing what you post on your facebook page? 

As always, you are free to post on my blog or email me at my school account.  (Just remember to keep it school appropriate!)

Shelby County High School will be having an informational meeting for parents of entering freshman students (9th grade in the 2012-13 school year). The meeting will be Thursday March 8 at 6:30 pm.

It is hard to believe we are more than half way through the third nine weeks.  Students have completed a unit on energy and we are now investigating forces.  Our AMSTI kit is getting a work out!  We are going to be calculating work soon and that will wrap up the third nine weeks for us.  As we enter spring, I will be working with students more on note-taking skills, content reading strategies and other study skills to help prepare them for high school.

The UAB Science Fair will be in less than 2 weeks and students are getting excited!

We have had some challenges with scheduling time in the computer lab and library!  My priority has been to teach the content and prepare students for the nine week test so projects have been on the back burner.  With this in mind, I am extending the project due date by a week.  I have scheduled library and computer lab time for the next two weeks and we will be focusing on projects.  The new due dates are January 12 and 13.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and I am looking forward to seeing you next week!