May Provincial Exams

The May Provincial Exam session is coming up.  Science 10 as well as the Math 10 courses can be written on May 17th and 18th.  If you anticipate having completed Science 10 and/or Math 10 by this time, please contact me and we'll set up the time, date and place for you to write your exam.  For the complete exam schedule go here (pdf).

To help study I recommend checking out the LearnNowBC website.  I've written about the different resources they offer here.  Particularly helpful in preparing for exams is their Success Checker

Another great way to prepare for the exam is to try out past exams.  You can do that by going to the BC Ministry of Education website here.  I also encourage you to get in touch with me and I can talk to you about how to best prepare.

Term 3 Report Cards

photo credit: daveblume cc

Report cards will be sent out on April 30th for all students enrolled in grades 8 - 12 at ConnectED.  Over the next few weeks I will be writing these up for my students in Math and Science.  If you have work that you haven't submitted yet, please do so as soon as possible so that I have the most accurate picture of where you are at in your courses.   If you finished up a course in term 1 or term 2, your final mark will be reported on this report card.

Right now we are 3/4 of the way through the school year, so ideally you should be 3/4 of the way through your courses.  If you find yourself getting behind or if you have questions about your courses please do not hesitate to contact me.

Science Fair Congratulations

Congratulations to John N and James N who not only participated in the district science fair, but earned the right to compete at the regional science fair in Kelowna!

John, who is in grade 9 at ConnectED, did his project on how he thinks our eyes will evolve as a result of the different screens (computer, TV etc) that we are exposed to everyday.

John N with his project 'Next Evolution of the Eye'

James, who is in grade 8 at ConnectED, did his project on an innovation that he has come up with to help to repair the Ozone layer.  The regional science fair takes place at the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBC-O) on April 11th and 12th.  Great work boys, and best of luck in Kelowna!

James N with his project, 'Save the Ozone'

Provincial Exam Marks

photo credit: albertogp123 cc

Provincial exam marks are now available for students who wrote provincial exams in the last exam sitting.  Below are instructions on how to check on your exam marks.

• Access your exam results by going to this link (https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/tsw/tsw/student/).
• Click on enter and you will be prompted to create an account.
• As well as some personal information you will need to know your PEN (Personal Education Number).  If you do not know this number, contact ConnectED secretary Caroline Ryan (250.770.7718) and she can give it to you.
• Once your account is created you can log in and view your results.  Results are usually available approximately 4 weeks after the exam period has ended.

Spring Break

Just a reminder that ConnectED, as with the other SD 67 schools, will be closed over spring break.  Schools are closed from March 19th - 30th.  April 2nd is the first day back.  Students are welcome to continue to work on their courses over the break.  However, work submitted over the break will not be marked until school resumes.

I hope you enjoy the break! 

photo credit: CEThompson cc

Sumdog--Math Games

Recently my older son showed me a neat Math website that uses games to help students work on their basic math skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals and more.  The site is called Sumdog, and while it doesn't teach math skills, it provides a motivating and fun way for students to practice their basic math skills.  There are 18 different games to play.  Once the student selects a game they get to play against 1 to 3 other players.  Each player is getting questions at a difficulty level that is suitable for them.  Sometimes my 7 year old, 9 year old and myself will go online and play against each other and it is a lot of fun!

I have a teacher account with SumDog and can set ConnectEd students up with their own account.  Please contact me if you would like an account and I'll send you your information.  You can sign up for an account on your own, but if you go through me that will allow me to set up some challenges for you that will help you to work on specific skills.  Also, if you go through me, you do not have to enter an e-mail address.

It is important to note that playing on Sumdog does NOT count as doing your Math course!  Do not be coming to me saying that you haven't done any of your math assignments or quizzes, but that you have a bazillion points on Sumdog and so deserve credit for the course ;-)

Progress Updates

photo credit: ttrentham licensed CC BY-NC-SA

Semester 1 is over which means that we are half way through the school year.  It is a good time to take stock of where students are in their courses.  Over the past week I have been e-mailing progress updates to students and their parents/guardians.  If you have not received a progress update please contact me.  In addition, I am happy to discuss a student's progress at any time in the school year, not just when I send out these updates.