Lesson Review                       1 ASE Morning                       January 2006

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Monday, January 09, 2006                               5 Learners Present               3.25 hours

Writing: Sentence Structure and Sentence Combining

 

John started off our new year with some work on sentence structure and sentence combining.

Using the following connecting words:

 

not only . . .  but also

because

in which

which

that

 

we came up with and changed around sentences like:

 

"Not only does Tom work two jobs and go to school, but he also goes out with a different

gorgeous girl every night because that's the kind of dog he is."


Tuesday, January 10, 2006                              9 Learners Present               3.25 hours

                                   Complexity of managing and resolving conflict (Conflict & Resolution)

                                                  Develop reading Vocabulary (Reading)

          UNDERSTANDS SYSTEMS -  Social, organizational & technical systems - and operating effectively with them (Systems

                                                  (Understanding Complex Relationships)

The Civil War

 

The Civil War developed out of a series of sectional crises over slavery.  It was also a war to

preserve the Union . . . Many northern leaders (especially Abraham Lincoln) did not believe that

 we could maintain self rule if a minority could choose to leave the Union.

 

Minority - less than half the members of a group

Majority - more than half the members of a group.

 

Discussion Questions:

The leadership of any group is usually a minority (ex. Slaveholders in the pre-Civil War South)

 

Leaderships do not always represent the entire group (or lead in their best interests either.)

 

How does the leadership of the United States  represent the whole nation?

 

We also did some silent reading and note taking  - and some vocabulary work (tyranny, compel,

exploitation, coercion, domination, oppression)

  Student Comments

Male                     18.00 -- 24.99

I wrote about the sectional crisis and the Compromise of 1850 and how people were mad at Zachary

Taylor.

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

[I learned today because . . .] that’s what I'm here to do.

[I could have learned more if . . .] he could have taught more

Female                   18.00 -- 24.99

[Word Bank words:] tyranny, exploitation

[I could have learned more if . . .] I stayed focused.

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

[I could have learned more if . . .] it was actually interesting.

[Word Bank words:] tyranny


Wednesday, January 11, 2006                        8 Learners Present               3.25 hours

            Analyze and explain computation procedures and how operations are related (esp. reversibility of operations) (Number

                                                      Relationships & Computation)

         MATHEMATICS - Perform basic computations; approach practical problems by choosing from a variety of math techniques

Majority Algebra.

 

Majority - more than half of the members of a group

Minority - less than half of the members of a group

 

Let N represent the number of members of a group

Let M represent a simple majority of Group N

 

M=(N / 2) + 1  (for even numbers . . . . For odd number Round(N / 2))

 

We calculated M when N was given.

 

We also calculated N when M was given (N = 2M+1)

  Student Comments

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

[What helped you learn today?] the explaining on the board.

[What didn't help?] a lot of off topic convos going on.

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

I participated. I paid attention.  I learned about minority and majority and algebra stuff.

Female                   18.00 -- 24.99

[I learned today because . . .] I wanted to learn the formula. 

[I could have learned more if . . .] If it was quieter I could have don ether practice test and learned

how much I've improved since I've been here.

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

[Next Steps] to keep a positive and open mind about thing[s] that seem hard & confusing.


Thursday, January 12, 2006                            5 Learners Present               3.25 hours

                          How everything is made up of a small number of building blocks (Similarity and Diversity)

Science:

 

Structure:

After talking about the structure of the class for a while, . . .

we talked about the definition of the word "structure" and whether such a definition should

include the word "parts"

 

Structure - the way the parts of a whole are arranged or work together

Basic structure - having no subparts

 

We reviewed the Building Blocks of Matter

 

subatomic particles<atoms<small molecules<large

molecules<ORGANELLES<CELLS<TISSUES<ORGANS<BODY SYSTEMS<ORGANISMS

  Student Comments

Female                   45.00 -- 59.99

I always stay busy.

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

[I could have learned more if . . .] Someone didn't freak out at me for no reason.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006                             13 Learners Present               3.25 hours

                                Means and varieties of civic participation (Power, Authority, & Participation)

                                                  Develop reading Vocabulary (Reading)

                                                   Develop writing vocabulary (Writing)

Vocabulary:

 

Instead of spending a lot of time on the Civil War Vocabulary from last week, we spent most of

group time discussing and defining . . .

 

Democracy  (from the ancient Greek meaning “rule of the people) - a system where citizens

CAN control their government using legal structures that prevent any one person or group from

using government powers to abuse or exploit the majority or a minority.

 

Republic  (from the ancient Latin meaning “the people’s thing”) -  a system of that tries to

balance the different interests of society through representative government

 

Tyranny - unrestrained government

 

We also started a crossword with vocabulary from last week and from the Chapter on "Sectional

 Divisions over Slavery".

  Student Comments

Female                   25.00 -- 44.99

[Word Bank words:] tyranny - rule unrestrained.

[I learned today because . . .] I always have fun with school.


Wednesday, January 18, 2006                       11 Learners Present               3.25 hours

            Analyze and explain computation procedures and how operations are related (esp. reversibility of operations) (Number

                                                      Relationships & Computation)

         MATHEMATICS - Perform basic computations; approach practical problems by choosing from a variety of math techniques

Distance = Rate X Time

  Student Comments

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

Individual Learning Time worksheet and the explaining and the arguments

[I could have learned more if . . .] people didn't argue so much 'bout so little details.

Thursday, January 19, 2006                          10 Learners Present               3.25 hours

       WRITING - Communicate thoughts, ideas & information in writing; Create documents (letters, directions, reports, graphs) (Basic

                          How everything is made up of a small number of building blocks (Similarity and Diversity)

Structure inside Structure inside Structure

This was mostly a writing class today.

 

Prompt: In "our" world everything has parts and everything is part of something else. Pick one

of the following and  . . . 1) describe how it is part of something bigger , and 2) describe its most

 important parts.

A) a object  B) a substance  C) a machine  D) an organism  E) the universe  F) a story  G) a

situation  H) a relationship  I) a tradition  J) an institution or organization  or K) X.

 

After sharing their initial writing most people wanted more time to write.


Tuesday, January 24, 2006                              9 Learners Present               3.25 hours

                                   Complexity of managing and resolving conflict (Conflict & Resolution)

       WRITING - Communicate thoughts, ideas & information in writing; Create documents (letters, directions, reports, graphs) (Basic

                                                 Learn strategies for organization (Writing)

The Sectional Crisis over Slavery:

Short group time: we reviewed vocabulary (minority, majority, sectional, abolition) and added

some new words (agitator, territorial stage).

People then worked on their writing projects.

  Student Comments

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

I did good[.] I learned about sentence structure[,]word use[,  and] mechanics

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

I read about sectional crises and wrote about parts of the universe.

Male                     18.00 -- 24.99

I took notes/listened/understood

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

I learned from Joe's mistakes.

[I could have learned more if . . .]  got here on time

Female                   45.00 -- 59.99

[I learned today because . . .] one copy of Lincoln's letter to Horace Greeley

paramount means top priority

Female                   18.00 -- 24.99

[I could have learned more if . . .] - I came here sooner - if my life didn't get so troublesome after I got

back [here]

Wednesday, January 25, 2006                       11 Learners Present               3.25 hours

        Compute with whole numbers, fractions, decimals & integers using appropriate algorithms and a variety of techniques (Number

                                                       Relationships & Computation)

Individual Math - making sure people were using the tracking system.


Thursday, January 26, 2006                          11 Learners Present               3.25 hours

          UNDERSTANDS SYSTEMS -  Social, organizational & technical systems - and operating effectively with them (Systems

                                                  (Understanding Complex Relationships)

              Identify factors that cause changes & predict implications of a particular change to a system (Patterns of Change)

System: Inputs, Outputs, and Feedback

After a loooooong harangue from Joe about 1. Filling out the class evaluations in a meaningful

way - especially when it comes to math, and 2) Making sure that people take the monthly

writing REQUIREMENT seriously . . .

We looked at a model of a system and described some of the inputs and outputs that make this

class worthwhile.  We also talked about good feedback methods that allow us to make changes

to get better results.

  Student Comments

Female                   45.00 -- 59.99

[We] students had a short group time[. M]ostly Joe did the talking to us about more writing and math.

I finally got my essay done for the month.  It is call[ed] "A Very Costly Cake".

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

I did some good writing.

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

I participated by saying ["]monkey["]

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

Typed up my essay & gave it to Joe.  I also helped Marguerite with her last paragraph on her essay.

Female                   18.00 -- 24.99

In group time today we mostly discussed how the class ran. I did pay attention. It was mostly Joe

talking and no student participation.

I finished all my word problems in my Math workbook. They were on multiplying, dividing, adding  and

subtracting decimals.  I got an 88% on Meaning of Fractions. That section is really easy. In Unit 6 -

Mixed numbers I got an 89% on the pretest. Fractions are really easy for me so I should fly through

the next 4 units. I'm not good with word problems though.

[Next Steps] Next Monday I need to edit my writing project [and] do the word problems for Unit 6.

[What helped you learn today?] The class was really quiet          today so it was easier for me to

Male                     18.00 -- 24.99

I put a lot of effort on my [essay] today[.] I could [have] put more but I did pretty dam[n] well[.]

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

I did decimals, and it really made me upset.  I'm not sure at the moment what['s] worth remembering.

Female                   25.00 -- 44.99

[What didn't help?] It could be better if the group work[ed] together [for] the first [two] hours because

we all learn together (most valuable thing!)  Also less talking from Joe!

Monday, January 30, 2006                             10 Learners Present               3.25 hours

       WRITING - Communicate thoughts, ideas & information in writing; Create documents (letters, directions, reports, graphs) (Basic

                                         Awareness of rules for grammar and mechanics (Writing)

Writing With John: Sentence Structure and Sentence Combining

John lead them through different exercises to show how many ideas can be combined into one

sentence.  When there are many ideas in one sentence, it is usually best to combine them in a

way that one idea gets the most emphasis.  Ordering the ideas and choosing the right kind of

connecting word can make some ideas seem more important than others (Stress)

 

Baby connecting words: and, or, but, so

Advanced connecting words:  therefore, because, when, who, which, that, as, after, before, etc.


Tuesday, January 31, 2006                              8 Learners Present               3.25 hours

       WRITING - Communicate thoughts, ideas & information in writing; Create documents (letters, directions, reports, graphs) (Basic

                                             Increased knowledge of grammar rules (Writing)

Writing:

Commas join ideas (sentences) together.

Periods separate sentences (ideas).

  Student Comments

Male                     16.00 -- 17.99

[What didn't help?] your loud mouth Joe!!!

Female                   16.00 -- 17.99

[Writing Project This Month:] I'm working on it [,] get[ing] it done and I hate English.

Math Work Today:] I'm ding long division on fractions and  I hate it [passionately].

[Other Learning (or Work) Efforts:] The Story of Philosophy.  I really like the book even though I'm