The DC Trip is Almost HERE!

Venturers,
Our field trip is almost here!  I thought you'd might like to look at some videos of what the Hotel Harrington looks like, as well as the play, "A Christmas Carol".

The National Geography Bee!

Students,
On Monday and Tuesday of next week, we will hold the preliminary round of the geography bee from National Geographic.  There will be 10 finalists that will compete after the holidays for the title of Robious Middle School geo bee champion 2012.  Watch this youtube video to see how the finals in Washington DC work.  Enjoy your weekend!

7th Grade Ellis Island Reenactment

Below you will find some pics and videos of our immigration reenactment from last Friday.  I hope that you enjoyed the experience and have learned a bit more from this simulation about an immigrant's encounters on Ellis Island.  If I didn't get you in the shots I am sorry!  There was so much going on at once, and I found myself getting pulled into all of the mini-dramas happening.  Thanks for doing such a great job!  Your costumes were wonderful!

The final processing

A Character Check

An 88 year old lady from Italy

An Italian guy hiding a rash...

A priest, who in previous years has killed someone

A Scandinavian woman

A young Scandinavian woman...yes woman...making a grave mistake at the character station

A broken arm....from what?

Trying to pass the health inspection

The realities of deportation are setting in...

The loyalty oath for all but one....oh my...they need to work on their English!

Happy Thanksgiving, Treasure Chests, & Murphy

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  It has been nice to have a few days off from school.  I was going to send grades on Tuesday afternoon after school, but the construction crews cut the power on my side of the building...I'll send them early next week so that you can see your current progress.

The treasure chest event was great.  Thanks for putting forth great effort in creating your chests.  I got a lot of good pictures of each group.  I decided to just put two pictures up on the blog of two really great treasure chests.  I will show you each group shot later in the year.  I usually make a movie at the end of the year highlighting some of our events.  I will use the treasure chest pictures of each group for that.  You will see in June just how much you've grown!

I have always been pretty spontaneous about things, and this week illustrates that.  When my daughter was born 15 years ago, we purchased a Shetland Sheepdog.  He was the greatest dog ever.  He was huge for a sheltie, weighing about 50 lbs.  A sheltie resembles a collie in many ways.  Our dog looked more like a collie than a sheltie because he was so big.  We grew to love that dog as a member of our family.

When when my daughter entered sixth grade, a neighbor of ours had a sister who had a border collie who needed a home.  The family was moving to Colorado, and could not take the dog with them.  My daughter kept teasing me for the dog, and I kept saying no, as I didn't want two dogs.  Well, since I am a dog lover, I finally gave in, and Kali joined our family.  At first,  the two of us didn't get along as she really hadn't been trained properly.  As soon as she figured out how to do things, I grew to love her too.  I never dreamed that I would own two dogs at once.  I am a dog lover, but two of them?

The two dogs we had grew to love each other, and became inseparable.  Our sheltie died two years ago unexpectedly, and our family was very upset.  Even Kali, our border collie felt the loss.  I decided that we would go back to being a one dog family as it is easier, and cheaper.  Then....I started thinking about how great it is to have a companion for the dog we have now...and...I started looking at dogs on the internet that were for sale...and there was one for sale near Johnston-Willis Hospital...and...we went to see him on Thanksgiving morning....and now...we have a new member to our family.  His name is Murphy and he is a ball of fire.  He will get to be about 70 pounds, the biggest dog that I have ever owned.   My daughter, who is 15, has never really had a puppy, as she pointed out.  We got our dog when she was a baby, and our border collie, Kali, was an adult dog when we adopted her.

I have some pictures here of my new family member.  I made sure I included Kali in one of the shots as I don't want her to be jealous!

See you on Monday!

Mr. McEwen

The Venturer Bazaar Last Year

Students,
As I said to you this afternoon in your CREW classes, I will post a link to some pictures so that you can get an idea of what our holiday bazaar looked like last year.  Don't copy what they did...be unique.  My students last year didn't have the advantage that you do in looking at pictures from the previous year.  Their booths were phenomenal!

Also, don't forget to vote for your bizworld internet ad!  The poll closes next week!

CLICK HERE to go to holiday bazaar pics from last year.

The Assembly Line

The seventh grade last week studied Henry Ford's assembly line.  To illustrate how an assembly line works, we created our own bookmark assembly process.  Watch everyone diligently working on making bookmarks as quickly as possible while at the same time, focusing on quality.  Below the photos you will see a few movies that I took....

Also, don't forget to vote for the BizWorld ad you think is the best!  The poll is on the right column.  To view the ads, CLICK HERE!

The Team by the Door

The Center Team

The Team by the Windows

Below you will see some videos of the groups at work during the assembly process.  Students were not allowed to talk.  They had to come up with their assembly plan before the manufacturing process began.

The picture above shows a unique way to keep track of the number of bookmarks created

Ad Campaigns for Mr. McEwen's ASE Class

Dear Venturers,
My ASE students have created internet ads for their BizWorld companies.  Which one do you like the best?  Please vote for the company that you feel has the most persuasive ad.  This company would be most likely  the first company to get your business because of what you are seeing online.  Please don't vote because of friendships!

You will find the poll in the right hand margin of the blog, at the top.  You can only vote once.  The poll is not able to read multiple votes.  You can go back and change your vote at a future date, but you can still only vote for one company.

You can vote until November 20th!  Stay tuned to find out when our actual sale day will be.

~Mr. McEwen

Bulletin Boards and Skits

I have never been fond of putting up bulletin boards for some reason.  I don't know why.
Thankfully Mrs. Catron came in and put up some of your melting pot & mixing bowl assignments.  They look absolutely fantastic!  To find them, you will need to walk through the hallway near the teacher workroom.  Take a minute to look at them.  I have some pictures below of what they look like.  Wow!  Impressive!

We've also enjoyed some skits this week which covered our reading on Spanish conquistadores.  Some of you definitely have creative juices flowing through your brain cells.  Here are a few pictures from the different classes.  I will share all of them at the end of the year.

A Spanish Priest

The Magic of the Fountain of Youth

Spanish Royalty?

Thomas Edison and Industrialist Posters

My 7th grade class has been busy this week.  We had a great time putting on a "To Tell the Truth" skit with Thomas Edison.  Our three Edison's and our host were great!  We also have been hard at work at our industrialist posters.  Our next video moment will be our immigration reenactment!  Stay tuned....

The Thomas Edisons...The "real" Edison was #3...Mr. Cartier

A Soy-Sauced Poster

Putting Final Touches on a Poster

Teamwork

Venturer Election Today

The Venturer Election was held today.  We used the Australian voting method to allow for more student second and third choices.  The photo above shows the candidates for the Venturer Senate.  We are very proud of them for taking a risk in running for this office.  It is not always easy to write a speech and give it to your peers.  Kudos to all of you!

The official results are now in.  The results have been double checked by Earnst and Young the famous accounting firm.  Mrs. Cook has nothing to do with the "young" part of it since she will turn 58 this week.

The election results were very close.  Their term of office will expire sometime at the beginning of the second semester.  Students may run again for a second term, or choose to retire from public office.  Mrs. Cook and I are very proud of each and every one of you for your willingness to serve the Venturer Nation.

Our new Senators are:

Brian, Lillian, Jenny, Madison, and Mallory

These five senators need to see Mrs. Cook and me tomorrow during CREW so that we can plan our first meeting.

Venturer Senate & Biz World Trial

A lot has been happening in the Venturer Nation in the past week!

The Senate campaign is drawing to a close.  The election will be held tomorrow after the 13 candidates give their speeches.  Mrs. Cook and I have been impressed with the quality of each student's speech as well as the campaign posters, buttons, and slogans.  The election results will be posted as soon as the officials can count the ballots.  Good luck to all!

Biz World students were involved in a patent trial on Friday afternoon.  Mrs. Cook's class helped serve as jurors and lawyers.  Mrs. Cook was even the judge.  My goal was not for you to get mad at each other, but to see how the court process works on our country.  When I signed some of the patent applications in which the Biz World company ignored the ratio qualifications, I wondered if other teams would notice.  I decided to sign them anyway to see what would happen.  Every year there are a few companies who do not read the patent application thoroughly, but this is the first year that a company has taken others to task!  We will talk about this in class on Monday.

The lawyer for the prosecution presenting his case

Judge Cook examining official documents

A witness being questioned

A witness answering questions

The defense team

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

The 5th Annual Venturer Artifact Museum

The artifact museum was a success!  Thanks for everyone being on task as we looked at the various exhibits.  There were many impressive displays.  I tried to get as many pictures as I could.  I've put a few below.  Our next product will involve treasure chests and explorers...stay tuned!

Kyle and Hisham With Their Inuit Harpoon

Evaluating Projects

Mary, Cozmy, and Sydney by Their Project

Sophia and Grace With an Amazing Display

Noor and Morgan With an Excellent Artifact

Katie and Erin With Their Kachina Doll

Gabby and Emily With an Iroquois Mask

Graham and Tad With a Creative Display

Noah's Authentic Display

Nicoleta's and Anne's Inuit Display

Katie Trying to Flee a Picture Taken With Boys

Sophia and Grace's Project Up Close!

Ashley and Zoe Hard at Work

Carter and Bryce's Display

Evaluating Displays

Evaluating Displays

Venturer Senate

Students,
As the Venturer senate campaign gets underway, I want to point out to you a blog that has been started by one of the candidates.  Mrs. Cook and I will remain impartial in the election.  (If you don't know what impartial means, look it up!)  However, I will highlight any candidate who asks me to do so!  I think a blog is a clever way to show potential voters your ideas and thoughts.  And the great thing is that the blog can be fluid, constantly changing every day.

To go to the blog, CLICK HERE.

The Venturer Senate Campaign Has Begun

Students!
The campaign for Venturer Senator has begun.  We have 13 great candidates running for five seats on the Senate.  Senators will be beginning their run for office starting tomorrow.  Be on the lookout for campaign paraphernalia to adorn the halls of RMS!  The speeches for Senator will be held during ASE on October 24th.  The candidates have been advised not to make promises in their campaign speeches that they cannot keep!  Their term of office will last until the beginning of February.  When their term expires, they can chose to run again, or to step down.  There will be another election held in February for the second term.

Below you will find a "spoof" on a campaign political campaign ad for a ficticious presidential election.  From where does the humor come?  Do you get what the joke is?

Random BizWorld Videos

Take a look at the BizWorld Videos.  Nothing planned, staged, or orchestrated...just a snippet from the daily grind of a company in producing a product for their savvy consumers!
Which company do you think seems ready to dominate the field of Venturer bracelets?  Please excuse the amateur camera work.....

The 6th Grade Wiki

Venturers,
The sixth grade wiki will be getting underway this week.  My ASE students will be using the wiki to showcase their friendship bracelets.  They will be creating internet ads to spark interest in their designs as well as to showcase what will be on sale soon.  We will keep you posted on updates made to the pages.  The wiki address link is in the right hand column. 

With the passing of Steve Jobs this week, it has made us all realize just how great he truly was.  He is our modern day Albert Einstein or Thomas Edison.  He has changed the way the world looks at things.  He dared to think differently.  I bet that as a sixth grade student, he would have qualified to be a CBG student.  At least I'd like to think so!  The world needs more people like him, people willing to go out on a limb and do something revolutionary and different....

Watch this short biography on youtube.

Back In The Swing of Things...Finally

It certainly has been an interesting couple of weeks!  This probably has been one of the hardest school openings I've ever experienced, even harder than the year I went to a brand new school, and we weren't ready on Labor Day to open, though the students came anyway the next day!

Coming back on Wednesday and finding all of my things missing, at least the important stuff, was really hard to take.  Luckily, I've retrieved most of my stuff.  I've lost things of sentimental value, I've lost student work, I've lost a binder or two, but I've got most of my teaching "debris" back.  Mrs. Cook and I spent a good portion of our first days back looking for stuff.  I am so happy that she found her bronzed cowboy boot which is her pencil holder on her desk.  The boot has sentimental value for her, and something like that just cannot be replaced.

Just look at the scene below.  This is just one of the many places where we searched for our beloved stuff.  Unbelievable and overwhelming!

The Old Clover Hill High School Gym

Imagine searching through rooms like this with boxes.  We found a lot of our stuff in boxes labeled "library" or "home ec".  One day, all I found was a post-it note that I had written on the last week of school in June.  It was in a random box.  Weird.

 

Luckily, you all came back to school, and believe it or not, things seemed a bit more normal as we began our daily teaching.  When my seventh graders arrived on the first day of school, it was great to see familiar faces from last year!  Something that I knew!   I look forward to a great year with both of my grades.  Hopefully you will enjoy your year as a Venturer in 6th grade or a Navigator in 7th grade.  

The picture below shows my 7th grade class working on tower structures of states.  The towers were built according to geographic region.  These students won the competition by having the tallest structure.  They've earned bonus points on their states and capitals test coming up next week!!!

Cameron, Isabell, Patrick, Joey, and Zach are victorious!