Reflection Post

During my blogging I learned a lot of good things I did and a lot of bad things I did.

I think I need to improve my:


* Color/ Font
* Spelling
* Grammar
* More pictures
* More information
* Link to a video...


I think that using class blog was a lot of fun and it was useful if someone was absent! Sometimes blogging was a bit to much work if we had other homework, but anyway it was very fun :D

Reflection post

This quarter blog I think I did a better job then last quarter blog because I used more pictures and I had better information, and I also think that I improved the English and so on. The other thing that I feel that I did better it was that science then the last quarter. But I think that next quarter I should improve: more information, put links, and recheck my work, and use different colors for each paraghraphs.

The good thing a bout blog is that when you are missing a class you could go and check blog because it tells what did we do in the class, and the other thing is that if you somehow cannot go on to moodel then you could check what was the homework for that day. The thing that I don't like about blog is that you have to make comments and this is the only thing that I really don't like a bout bloging.

My post for the 3rd quarter has improved a lot, as I undestand from the comments the 7th and 8th graders made to me. I had both positives and negatives! My comments helped me understand what I did wrong and what I am supposed to do better on in the 4th quarter. Some things that I did well on were:

• good pictures
• good colors/font
• good websites
• easy to read
• good information
  
• good captions
• labels are done correctly
  
• the science is good
• grammar and punctuation
• well orginazed
• great length
• not boring
• fun and easy to read

Some things that I could improve next time were:

• Spelling, proofread for spelling mistake
• Explain on the cigarette picture a little more
• Previewing the post before I publish it
• Include questions for the activity, not only answers
• Link directly to audacity
• Explain commercials a bit more
• Use more bullet points
• Explain more about smoking
• Organize information better
• Add the pro smoking radio commercial
  

Overall, I think that blogging is ok to use! It was fun in some ways, but I think that people mainly kept an eye on their comments and the post to be really good because this project is graded! I also didn't like that the comments had due dates, I found that kind of annoying. Also when your writting a reflection post or a post, your writting it on a small window and I don't like that at all and I find it really hard to write like that! But I liked how we got to express our ideas about somebody's elses post and they got to share their ideas about my post! Blogger also helped me when I was out of class, and I kind of knew what we were doing in class and I think it helped other people too. Overall blogging was ok to me and I think we should continue doing this!

Nathan's Reflection Post 3rd Quarter

Nathan's Reflection Post

There are many things about my scribe post that I did good on, and some I need to improve on. From looking at comments, I did well in:

• Pictures (need captions)
• Spelling
• Grammar
• Coverage
• Hyperlinks
• Color
• Spacing
  

Some things I need to improve on that people suggested:

• Adding Date
• Simple Definitions
• More Detail
• Couple More Links
• Tenses
• Couple More Pictures
• Titles

The blog has really helped me when I was sick and missing school, and I think that is a major benefit of the class blog. Although very helpful, the blog has become a bit annoying to keep up with, even though we have further comment due dates. Other than that, I like the idea of a blog and I think it would help the class to keep using it.

Ben's Reflection post for the Third Quarter

Ben's Reflection Post

Hello Grade 7 and 8,

This quarter from the comments on my post, I had improved. I also feel that I did better, based on how I felt while making my scribe post. Although I improved, I still made some mistakes. Here is what I could do better:

• Add captions to pictures
• Put a link to a Youtube video
• Make "Scribe Post" a label in the labels section
• Give definitions for vocabulary words
• More specific notes
• Make sure text is the same size
• Figure out formatting issues
• Capitalzing days of the week

From what you guys comented and what I can say for myself, these are what made my post good this quarter:

• Grammar and spelling were almost perfect
• Pictures were helpful and relevant
• The link was helpful and interesting
• Thorough and informative
• Date in title
• Colors were legible and not distracting
• Link to Moodle
• Labels were correct
• Included name in the title
  
  
  I enjoyed blogging this quarter. Partially because we didn't have to do as many comments, which definitely took off some of the weight. Also, now I knew how to make my post good as a result of my post from last quarter, so I didn't have to worry about every detail. The class blog helped for when I was away for CEESA events and when I was sick. I must say, the blog is becoming a bit of a harassment with all the other things we have. One of the downsides to blogging as I said in my last reflection post, it doesn't have spell check and isn't as compatible on other computers. I would like to keep using blogger, but not for every class because sometimes we don't do much.

Davide's Reflection Post

My post for the third quarter had many pros and cons. These are mostly found in all of the comments the 7th and 8th graders made to me. I found all of the comments very helpful, since they helped me understand my mistakes and gave me an idea on how to make a better post next quarter. Some good things I did were:

• Good font
• Good color
• Showed emotions (excitement)
• Good hyperlink
• Gave the notes we took in class
• Good spelling/Grammar
• Defined key terms

Some things that I could improve for next time are:

• More pictures
• More links
• Put a caption for the pictures
• Add new information
• Made my post less confusing (organization, explained the notes)
• Included examples for the math problems
• Change the color of a hyperlinked word, so that people can see it
• Bigger title
• Resolve the problems with my computer (word and sentences cut off in the middle, color working)

Overall, I thought that posting was OK, since we had the pressure of it being graded. It was fun because we got to express our ideas and write about what happened in class. It was helpful when I was sick, and I am sure it helped when anyone couldn't attend the class. It wasn't as fun though, since we had to keep an eye out for the rubric and for spelling/grammar mistakes. Instead, I found commenting on other people's posts really fun! It is good to see what other people think about your post. It is also fun to let everyone know what YOU think, and since I tried to comment on everyone's post, it made it even funner! I like blogger and think it is a great way to express ideas and show what you learned. Overall, I liked posting and really enjoyed commenting!

Valentina's Reflection Post

Hi to everybody,

This quarter my blog post was better than last year, but I still had ways I could have improved.

Here are the things that I should have improved in this blog post and who wrote them;

• I should have added more pictures at the end of the post (Viktor),
• Add a date of the Science class in my title (Viktor),
• My grammar (especially in the Japan section) was a bit off (Ms.D and Sophie),
• My hyperlinks were a bit too old or complicated to understand (Ms.D),
• I had trouble with explaining the nuclear reactor problem (Ms.D),
• My fuel rods explanation was not completely correct (MS.D),
• I mistook nuclear reactors for atomic ones (Sophie and Tamara),
• I should have explained what the different simple machines were (Sophie and Courtney),
• I should have organized the information I gave in a better way, for example by using bullets (Sophie),
• I should have made the hyperlinks stand out more so they were clearer (Courtney),
• I should have split up the paragraphs (Gio),
• I had some grammar and spelling mistakes (Gio),
• I could have highlighted key words (Gio),
• I could have concentrated more on the simple machines we were working on rather than the earthquake and the tsunami in Japan (Gio),
• My pictures were badly organized (Davide),
• The captions weren't clear (Davide),
• I could have added more excitement in the second part (Davide),
• Should have added a video to explain the problem in Japan (Davide),
• I made a mistake with the one of the groups and omitted Davide (Davide).

I was also told that I improved from last year in some different ways as well as I did some good things in my blog post, which are the following, with who wrote the comments;

• My diagrams were good (Viktor),
• My spelling and punctuation were okay (Ms.D),
• My labels look good (Ms.D),
• My hyperlinks were very good (Ms.D, Viktor, Gio, Davide, and Sophie),
• People also like that I had a picture for each one of the Simple Machines (Ms.D, Davide, Gio, Sophie, Viktor and Courtney),
• I covered the fuel rods and how they were used (Ms.D),
• I followed all the requirements on the rubric (Ms.D),
• My post was clear and easy to read (Sophie),
• I talked about everything we did in class (Courtney),
• The readers liked that I included the explosion in Japan (Tamara),
• I also gave a very accurate description of the class (Gio),
• I went pretty far with the science (Gio),
• I covered what we did in class (Gio),
• It was good that I at least gave a general background of who was working with who for the simple machines presentation (Davide),
• People also liked that I included the temperature at which the nuclear bars had to be put/ used.(Davide).

That was mostly it with the different comments and things that I did well or should have improved!
I like the idea of blogging because it keeps people up to date with what is happening, and if they had some problems, missed class or did not understand something that had happened they can always go to the blog and read a simpler explanation that contains the main events of that science class. I also like that we had to write less posts because one didn't feel as blocked and I thought it let people put more effort in the ones they did because there were less to have to do. Although I did not find it fair that some people were judged on the color that their blog was when it was actually the blogger program itself that didn't post the colors as the author had wanted to have them! Also the grammar check highlighted three quarters of the words even when they were really right! One last thing I didn't like was that, on my computer for example, the virus blocker wouldn't let me post the comment many times, and would (as Courtney said) erase everything because apparently the site contained a high risk of viruses.

Overall thought it is a good method to share ideas, learn more and discuss the events that happened in that particular science class!

Chiara's Reflection Post

I feel that I improved a lot from last quarter, but I feel that I need to improve
better my spelling, grammar, color chooise and go a bit further with the
science part. The benefits of the blog is that if you were absent you could go
and check on the blog to see what did you miss in class. Some times I didn't liked the blog because it didn't had spell check. Also I don't like to comment, but it is okey. I could also make my font bigger. Overall it was a nice science quarter.

Tamara's Reflection Post

I think that my blog post was okay. It was easy to read, it had nice colors, a few pictures and some (hyper linked) links about the topic I wrote about. However, as I looked through other people's comments on my post, I found out that next time I can improve by: putting more pictures, which are related to the topic, and more links (like the one Ghazaleh suggested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvcOYOO0Fvw&feature=related). I also should put more information (because some people said that my post was too short).
What I like about the blog is that you can improve yourself as a writer and it's also a fun thing to do. But there are some things that I don't like about this project. For example, sometimes there are some computer or internet issues, so sometimes I can't really write the blog or the comment, and it is due... Lets say today! So, what am I supposed to do now? Well, just get my internet/computer fixed and sometimes my parents don't have time to make my computer/internet work. So then, I have to stay at lunch time in the computer lab, doing my science homework, instead of being outside and hanging out with my friends. Well, work is work and school is school.

Courtney's Reflection Post

My 3rd quarters blog post was okay. From the comments, it had: nice colors, a link to moodle (for homework), a nice diagram, good definitions, notes on the topic... But, next time I should include: a date, more pictures, a caption for the pictures, more notes about the topics I talked about, I should indent the paragraphs, more links... These are all things that I should improve for the 4th quarter.

The benefits of a class blog are: the fact that if you are absent on the day of the blog, you can see what your classmates did including pictures, notes, links and vocabulary; you can see your homework; and maybe if there is a visitor on the blog or a parent, then they can see what your friend or child did... There are only a couplethings that I dislike about blogger, and they are: that blogger sometimes deletes your comment or erases half of it; or on some computers blogger does not check your spelling.

Blogging this quarter was overall fun! There are a few negative things about blogger, but these are things tat we have to deal with. I had a fun time blogging this quarter, and I am looking forward to blogging again next quarter!

Ben's Scribe Post for Tuesday's Class

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Hello Grade 7 and 8,


The first thing we did on Tuesday's class was talk about what will happen over the next two weeks. Here is a link to moodle so you can plan ahead. Also, we have a quiz on tuesday (March 29) about work, power, the math for work and power, and all the simple machines. After that, we began the remaining presentations on simple machines.

First up was Nathan and Jakub. Their powerpoint was about the Wheel 
and Axle. I took some notes about the presentation so you can use this post 
as a study guide. Here they are:

• The wheel and axle is a simple machine made of a large wheel secured to a smaller wheel which is called an axle
• It is a rod attached to a wheel and their movements are the same when one of the parts is turned
• Some examples are: a doorknob, a steering wheel, fan, and a windmill
• It decreases distance and increases output force
• Mechanical Advantage= radius of wheel ÷ radius of axle

The next presentation was the pulley by Valentina and I. Here is some 
information about pulleys:

• There are three types of pulleys, Fixed, Movable, and Block and Tackle
• Mechanical advantage= length of input force/ length of output force
• Fixed pulley changes the direction of force
• Mechanical advantage=1
• Examples are fitness machines, flagpoles, and blinds
• Movable pulley decreases the amount of input force required
• Mechanical Advantage=2
• Common uses are in cranes or tow trucks
• Block and Tackle pulley is a combination of fixed and movable
• Its mechanical advantage=3
• Mechanical Advantage for this pulley relies on how many sections of rope there are
• Used to lift loads, fitness machines, and cable cars (gondolas)

The final presentation for Tuesday's class was the screw by Courtney 
and Tamara. They had a powerpoint as well. Here are my notes from the 
presentation:

• A screw is an inclined plane wrapped around a cylinder
• Inclined plane forms the threads on a screw
• Types are countersunk, round head, raised head, coach screw & twinfast
• Names of screw heads are slotted, philips, and crossed slot
• Shank is the space between the head and the threads of the screw
• Core is the rod inside of the screw
• Mechanical advantage= length around threads ÷ length of screw
• Examples - jar, faucet, swirly slide, drill bit, screwdriver, boat propeller
• Increases distance of output force

That's it Tuesday's class. Emilija & Maria Chiara started their presentation, but
we ran out of time shortly after they started. On Thursday they will present, 
along with David and Davide who haven't done their presentation yet. For 
those who are presenting, remember to practice beforehand, know your 
information, and be able to define it. I hope you enjoy reading my post.

Here is a link to a website on simple machines, it has a small quiz on it, so 
you can prepare for next Tuesday's quiz, click here.

THE SECOND TO LAST SCRIBE OF THE QUARTER IS......... DAVID!