Diagnosing Diseases!

Today we spent some time at the beginning of the day talking about homework and organization strategies, as this is an area of learning for many students. I asked the students what they thought they should do if they forget their homework at school, forget to do homework, or forgot to write things down in their agenda. The group came up with some good ideas to problem solve, and we agreed that it is better to look for solutions, find ways to finish the work, and make goals for improvement in terms of organization and listening, rather than doing nothing and continuing on the same path. Even adults are still learning these skills, but it is important to continue developing self management and problem solving skills to survive the pace of day to day work and activities. Use the agenda to keep track of assignments, and always check what folders need to come home. If you aren’t sure of something, ask questions, and remember that Ms. D’s policy is better late than never!

After completing some of our work around diet and nutrition, as one of the personal choices that affects our health, we did some fun, interactive activities about diagnosing disease. This time, we not only looked at symptoms, but we also looked at the person’s medical history, common traits amongst people who have the disease, environment/exposure, and time of year the disease appears. Then, I put the students in groups according to their expert specialties (body systems) and gave them 8 case studies to analyze and determine a diagnosis for the patients. This meant using our brand new iPads to do research based on the case study symptoms and medical history of the patient.

We also had an opportunity to finish artwork from last week, begin doing some French work on the website French Games. Net which will allow them to work at different levels (this will be one of several resources we will use online), and see the Book Fair Preview, as the book fair is going on all week through Thursday. We also put up a large chart of our results from the bacteria lab, which we will use during math to find the probability of finding bacteria in the school environment.

Reminder of parent conferences this week, early 2PM dismissals on Wed. and Thurs., and also a late start up on Thursday morning at 9:50 AM.

Have a great night!