Monday, September 27, 2010

POWER POINT: THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE

Here is the Power Point on 'The Chemistry of Life.' Students received a Study Guide for their Test on Tuesday, Sept. 28th ). They should use that Guide to compare the notes in their composition books with the Power Point notes.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

IMPORTANT UPDATE: UNIT TEST 2

IMPORTANT UPDATE: UNIT TEST 2

DEAR PARENTS AND STUDENTS:

This is Mr. Hatfield, your Biology teacher at Bullard. Students, you have an important Unit Test on Tuesday, Sept. 28th. Parents, I know you want to encourage your students, and you need timely updates to make your encouragement effective. So....here's another update!

A Study Guide was given out in class to students on Friday (Sept. 24th) to help them prepare for this test.

In addition, students are eligible to attend a Study Session on Monday afternoon, Sept. 27th, which will use the Study Guide to review the material with the instructor.

Because I have five sections of Biology, participation in the Study Session must be on a first-come, first-served basis and capped at 54 students. The Study Session will begin at 3:15 and last until at least 5:00. Students who attend will receive valuable feedback about the test, but probably the most valuable feedback on how to prepare has already been posted on the course blog, here:

http://biologyknights.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-cope-with-your-next-test.html

Also, I remain concerned that some students and parents are still not able to access on-line grades and attendance via the district's new software. Some information regarding this was previously given on the course blog, here:

http://biologyknights.blogspot.com/2010/09/staying-informed-accessing-atlas.html

Please encourage your student to use the 'COPE' strategies posted on the blog to prepare for their test, particularly the completion of their Cornell Notes.

PLEASE BE AWARE THE STUDENTS WHOSE GRADES ARE BELOW-AVERAGE FOLLOWING THE SECOND TEST MAY BE ASSIGNED STUDY HALL AT LUNCH, AFTER SCHOOL OR ON SATURDAY, AS PER THE COURSE CONTRACT.

Bullard High School

Thursday, September 23, 2010

HOW TO "COPE" WITH YOUR NEXT TEST!

There will be a Unit Test on Tuesday, Sept. 28th.

Students who earn a percentage score higher than that earned on the first test can not only expect to earn a higher grade, but they are eligible for grade change on their previous test.

To achieve that, students need to consider the following, using the anagram 'COPE'.

C....(ontent)

Students need to know what's on the test. To make sure that students know what content will be covered on the exam, they need to obtain a copy of the Study Guide, which becomes available on Friday the 24th. The sooner they get this, the better!

O....(rganization)

Students need to plan their time. They need to consider setting aside Monday afternoon (the 27th) in order to attend the Study Session, and they need to consider using time on lunch or after-school on the day of their exam as needed to complete their test. Plan ahead, students!

P...(reparation)

Students need to provide evidence that they have prepared for the test. One way to do this is to attend the Study Session on Monday afternoon, the 27th. Another, powerful way is to make sure that they bring their COMPLETED Cornell Notes to class on the day of the exam. Cornell Notes, if completed, have questions and comments in the margins and summaries of the major sections. Students who have these items completed will be allowed to use them throughout the exam. Bring evidence that you have prepared for the test, students, and you will be rewarded!

E...(ffort)

Students need to finish what they start. There is nothing more important than giving our best effort, all of the time. On an exam day, a good effort means that students attempt everything, even if that means they need to come back at lunch or after school. Show a work ethic, students, and you will not only do better on the test....you will do better in every aspect of your life.

PARENTS, ENCOURAGE YOUR STUDENT TO USE THESE STRATEGIES TO EXCEL!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

STAYING INFORMED: ACCESSING ATLAS

ATLAS ACCESS!


DEAR PARENTS AND STUDENTS: This is Mr. Hatfield, your student's Biology teacher at Bullard.

I am VERY concerned that many parents and students are still unable to access grades and attendance on-line.

I am therefore providing this blog post with information on district resources now available, but I have also sent the same information out via email. If you did not receive an email with this information, please contact me immediately by sending an email to: epigene13@hotmail.com


Parent ATLAS access is available NOW at http://bhsknights.com.

There is a link on the left side, as shown below:


Unfortunately, many students have either yet to learn how to access ATLAS themselves or have failed to share that information with the home. We have to correct that, immediately!

I want to also remind students that they have access to MySites through the districts. These automatically provide students two useful resources, online storage and FUSD email. The following procedure allows students to contact their MySites:

BHS MySite Internet Storage

1. Log on to computer with your mysite username and password.

Username: STUDENTS\ ___ ___ ___ ___

Password: firstinitiallastinitialzeroidnumber ___ ___ 0 ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

2. Open Internet Explorer

3. Go to http://www.fresnounified.org

4. Click on Sign In – upper right corner

5. Username: STUDENTS\ ___ ___ ___ ___

6. Password: firstinitiallastinitialzeroidnumber ___ ___ 0 ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

7. Click on My Site in the upper right corner

8. To upload and store documents, click on Personal Documents folder on the left side

9. Click on Upload, click on browse for the file you saved

10. Click Open and OK and you now have the document saved in your “locker in the sky”


BHS Student Email


Students’ email is:

4characterusername@studentemail.fresnounified.org


____ ____ ____ ____ @studentemail.fresnounified.org



For Students to log in to email:

1. https://studentemail.fresnounified.org/owa

(Notice the “s” on the https)


2. username: STUDENTS\___ ___ ___ ___

3. password: firstinitiallastinitialzeroidnumber ___ ___ 0 ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___



GET ACCCESS TO ATLAS!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

POWER POINT: PROPERTIES OF WATER


You can download it direct from Mediafire here.

If you need the Lecture Guide based the Power Point, you can get that here. But a word of caution: not everything on the Lecture Guide can be found in the Power Point. As with our (blue) handout "Properties of Fluids....Metrically Speaking", much of material is found in Section 2.2 of our text.




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Sunday, September 19, 2010

POWER POINT: ATOMS AND MOLECULES (TAKE TWO)

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UPDATE: The MediaFire site which hosts files for our blog was recently down for repairs on Sept. 6th, but is now working just fine.

So, students, in case you haven't completed this item, for all my classes, here are the notes on 'Atoms and Molecules.'


****UPDATE****

Monday, September 6, 2010

POWER POINT: ATOMS AND MOLECULES

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For all my classes, here are the notes on 'Atoms and Molecules.'


****UPDATE****


BIOLOGY STUDENTS AND PARENTS:

One of the problems with the Internet is that it sometimes does not work

As of 10:30 PM this evening, the Mediafire site that hosts our Biology class materials is down. Students who may be attempting to upload the Power Points to review and complete the Cornell Notes for Thursday's exam may not be able to do so.

I will, therefire, be sending out a bulk e-mail to everyone on my class mailing lists with the Power Points attached tomorrow morning from my school site computer. I regret the inconvenience, but students still have all of Wednesday to complete their notes.

If you do not have Power Point installed on your home computer, you can get a free copy of a tiny program that will allow you to view them called (oddly enough) "Power Point Viewer" from this location:

http://download.cnet.com/PowerPoint-Viewer-2007/3000-18483_4-10742145.html

Saturday, September 4, 2010

BIOLOGY KNIGHT IN BEE!


Students, I hope you are enjoying your three-day weekend as much as I am enjoying mine.

The Fresno Bee approached me a little over a month ago with the idea of doing an article about my Galapagos experiences.



The article itself is a pastiche of quotes either collected by the reporter, Ron Orozco, or edited from observations that they asked me to submit. There were some formatting problems with the Bee article that were corrected on-line, but the paper has more still shots from video taken by yours truly. Overall, I was happy with the article.

My Galapagos trip has caused me to more tightly focus my blogging on ways that promote local science education, and I have another blog to support that effort, here.

* Just remember, we have our first test in this course on Thursday, Sept. 9th, with an After-School Study Session the previous afternoon between 3:30 and 5:00 in Room N-63.
* Just remember, we have our first test in this course on Thursday, Sept. 9th, with an After-School Study Session the previous afternoon between 3:30 and 5:00 in Room N-63.

Friday, September 3, 2010

VIDEO: "THE LIVES OF THE STARS"


The following episode of Carl Sagan's Cosmos, 'The Lives of the Stars', forms the basis of a student homework assignment. Click on the icon below to play the video within the blog:



You can also go to Hulu directly here.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

UNIT 1 SYLLABUS NOW AVAILABLE


BULLARD BIOLOGY: MATERIALS AND SUPPORTS

Hello again, this is Scott Hatfield, your student's Biology instructor at Bullard High School!


My thanks to the many parents and students who attended Bullard's 'Back to School Knight" on Monday, August 30th. If I haven't yet had the chance to meet you, then I hope to have the opportunity in the near future.

I have sent parents / guardians an email with three means to access the course. If they have not received an email, please contact me at: epigene13@hotmail.com and let me know, so I can add you to the mailing list.

A copy of the present course syllabus was attached as a PDF file to that email, but you can also download it from the Internet here. Use the syllabus to track your student's progress!

Our first major test is on Thursday, September 9th. Prior to that time, we will have an extra-credit Study Session after school in Room N-63, between 3:30 and 5:00 on Wednesday, Sept. 8th.

Feel free to contact me if you have questions about any of these materials or supports!

Sincerely

Scott Hatfield
Biology Instructor
Bullard High School