New and exciting in my life and at Glenview

Let's start with me. My wife and I are taking part in the Riverdale Art Show 2007 this weekend. 6pm - 8pm October 19th, 10:30am - 5:30pm October 20th (Danforth and Hampton) Please come and bring a few friends. The opening is Friday night (free wine and snacks!!)

We are showing some of our photographs in a show primarily for painters. Yes, I know somewhat ill-placed but a show none the less. It should be really good though and we are hoping to sell a few prints. It is only our second show this year but is another opportunity to get our artwork out there.

At the school the days pass so fast. Already we are closing in on the end of first term. Within a few weeks the grade 7's will start their bridge building project soon and the grade 8's start their gripper building project. I get the sense that both grades are excited about the projects and I think I will have as much fun as they will. It represents an opportunity for my students to build structures and fluid controlled devices and I am looking forward to the experience. It will be the first year we have actually made testable devices in all my years at Glenview.

Parents: I am still looking for parents who would like to come in and speak to all my classes. I would like to hear from anyone who uses either Math or Science in their lives and would like to share that love with students. I am trying to increase career awareness in the classroom and well, since my career is already in the classroom, I need help from the outside. Please contact me at the school if you are interested or email me at daniel.foster2@tel.tdsb.on.ca.

Have a great time until I write next.

Its the third week....

The school year has gotten started with a ding of the bell. Two weeks have passed quickly and the third week is already started. I cannot believe that the summer is over and we are back but this is what pays the bills and keeps me smiling. This year I have a wonderful homeroom class. They are a lovely group of grade 7's and are eager to do their best. I am eager to do my best so it should be a fantastic year.

I am trying a new method of teaching this year as well. I took a course over the summer in Physics and my instructor taught me how to use a program called PEEL procedures. The program was started nearly 20 years ago in Australia by a group of educators frustrated with the way curriculum was delivered and the output students were giving.
The program was also designed to help students develop critical thinking skills and problem solving strategies.

It is these last two things that I hope to incorporate into my classroom. I want my students to critically assess what I am trying to teach them rather than have them be passive to my instruction. I want them to be engaged in what I do and decide where we go with the information they present. I think the new method will be good and I hope the students can look back at this year and see how it helped them get more out of their education. That is if they look back at all.

To the former 8B, good luck to you where ever you end up and please come back and see me. I have seen a few of you come in and it is always great to hear the fantastic things you are up to.

Good luck in your first few weeks of school. Mr. Foster

Mid-Summer Update

Hey,

It is now mid-way throught the summer. I hope everyone is having a lovely time being away from school. I am making my way through a challenging summer course but it is giving me all sorts of great ideas for teaching. I hope to use much of what I am learning in the new school year. I have another 2 weeks to go before I am finished as it is a six-week online course in Physics from Queen's University.

The weather is fantastic today. Another perfect day and I have already been out biking in the Don Valley. That trail is a wonderful resource to be a part of. If you haven't been in it recently, take a bike, or the dog or just you alone and walk in there. It is beautiful and very peaceful. We are so lucky to have such a pristine (if you can call it that) watershed right in our backyards. Here's a picture from my backyard. The tigerlilies are just about finished. We had a bunch in bloom over the past few weeks.

In terms of the next Sharkwater event, I have changed my mind a little and am thinking in another location closer to Toronto with a different focus. I will keep you posted. I will be neededing volunteers likely so if you are interested, watch this space.

I hope the summer is passing you by slowly as it is for me. I'll speak to you all soon.

Take care and be well.

D

PS: I wanted to but never did properly thank Mr. J. Coyle for his help raising awareness about the Sharkwater event. His article in the Toronto Star was excellent and helped to bring many people to the event. Thank you Mr. Coyle.

Sharkwater Fundraising Update

Hey,

It has been nearly a month since school ended for the students and summer is well on its way. I recieved a letter from Sharkwater productions recently but chose today to post it. It shows how much we raised and I think we should be really proud of our work. I am very pleased with how it went and will be trying to run another event like it in the fall in Niagara Falls. My brother and I are going to team up to make something special happen.

Have a great summer and keep me posted on where you all end up.

Dan

June 25, 2007


Dear Daniel Foster and the Glenview P.S. community,

On behalf of the entire Sharkwater Productions staff and family, I would like to personally thank you for the Sharkwalk fundraiser that you hosted on Monday, June 11th, 2007. The entire day was a complete success, helping to not only raise awareness for shark research and conservation, but in raising $3,047.00 for shark research and conservation.
It is the individual efforts and community events such as this that raise awareness, alter public opinion and instigate social change. Cultures have evolved in the past to correct mistakes and the conservation of the ocean and environment will be no different, but we must keep these subjects at the front of our cultural attention.
A special thanks to Daniel Foster for his effort and coordination. This event certainly would not have happened without his passion and enthusiasm for conservation and his students’ futures. This was a very special event for us here at Sharkwater and we extend our greatest appreciation and thanks.


Sincerely,
Rob Stewart
Director of Sharkwater

Sharkwater Fundraiser

My class has worked very hard to put together a fundraising opportunity in conjunction with Sharkwater Productions. They are a hard-working bunch who have invested hours of their own time getting the idea together, advertising and promoting the event which takes place this Monday night.
The event will be a film and talk with Rob Stewart from Sharkwater Productions. The location is the Regent Theater, 551 Mount Pleasant Rd, Toronto, Ontario. Tickets will be sold at the door for $10 with all proceeds going to fund shark research. Please come out to support the students and their incredible work to get this off the ground.

Cow Eye Dissection - Louise's Perspective

On May 16, 2007 after school, 40 Grade 8 students and the 3 Grade 8 science teachers Mr.Foster, Ms.Robbins, and Ms.Lebeznick gathered in Mr.Foster's room to perform a scientific discovery, dissecting a cow's eyeball. This was exciting, as a lot of the participants were considering entering a career field of science or medicine. As we rushed to get a seat, we were handed styrofoam trays, and were instructed ''Do all your work over the tray, you don't want eye juice squirting on you!'' This was slightly worrisome.

We slipped on our protective gloves, and we were handed our eyeballs, dripping with a liquid that we were instructed not to lick of our hands (?) Some eyes were brown, some were white (due to the amount of time they had been preserved). Some eyes were much bigger than others, the largest was named Theodore! Just looking at the outside of the eye was extraordinary! You could see the squishy cornea (which was fun to poke with your finger!), the eye lid, and even eyelashes for some on the front! All around the eye you could see fat and muscle, which had very different textures, even through the gloves! You could even see the optic nerve, which looked a lot like a lollipop stick!

We began by cutting off all the fat and muscle surrounding the eye, until we were left with just the sclera on the outside. We then made a small inscision with a scalpel at the top of the eye, stuck our scissors in, and cut the entire thing in half! When we opened it up, just as we had been warned, a bunch of liquid (the vitreous humour) squirted out. While trying not to spray ourselves (and each other!), we emptied out all the juice.

Then we saw the real highlight of the whole adventure, the inside! The lens was held in between the cillary muscles and surrounded by the aqueous humour (almost jelly-like after having been boiled). Looking at the back, you could see a turquoise-coloured coating, which looked really gorgeous! After cutting the aqueous humor away from the front, we could actually feel the inside of the cornea! We were on our own from there. We could cut open anything we wanted to see what was inside. The lens looked almost like an onion when sliced open, and the optic nerve had a whole bunch of little tubes on the inside! Several students asked if they could keep the lens and the optic nerve! After awhile of this it was time to clean up and wash our hands :( We dumped the remains of the eye after taking one last fond glance at it...

This whole experience was truly phenomenal! I really appreciate the time that the science teachers put in to give us this opportunity! I will never look a cow the same way again! A quote from Ms.Robbins : ''Next time you see a cow, you can tell him 'I looked inside your eye!' '' ~Louise

Cow Eyeball Dissection - Meghan's View

On Wednesday, May 16, 2007, Forty Grade 8 students each performed a cow eyeball dissection that took place after school. Since my career goal in life is to pursue the path of ophthalmology, I have found the activity phenomenal. The atmosphere in the room was very energetic as we all anxiously awaited for our own eyeball to work on. Some students – mostly people from my table – tried their best not to vomit or pass out as they examined their eyeball.

To start things off, we all prepared ourselves by putting on our latex gloves and got right to work. First, we began by cutting away the fat that surrounded the eyeball. This was very time consuming, but in the end, if you had something that looked like a lollipop, it was done perfectly. Once all of our eyeballs were bare, we began the dissection. Second, we made a small 1-2 cm incision at the top of the eyeball with our scalpel. Third, we took our scissors and began cutting the eyeball until they were in two halves.

Now, our adventure begins! After the dissection, there were various different parts that you can see and feel. We were able to discover where the vitreous humor, lens, retina, cornea, aqueous, pupil and the iris were. Then by slowly removing the layer of retina, we were able to examine even more suspicious parts of the eye.

Throughout the activity, there were so many interesting substances and objects that we found in a cow eyeball. An interesting thing that I found during my experiment is that they look almost exactly like human eyeballs. Overall, I had found it to be an amazing experience. After this activity, I will never look at a cow eyeball the same way again!
- Meghan

Glenview Senior Science Grade 8

Exciting things are happening here at Glenview in the Science Department. Tomorrow we will have 40 students try their hand at an optional cow eyeball dissection. These students were selected out of a pool of over 85 names by a lottery as the interest in participating was greater than the number of spots we had. The dissection will be after school and each student will get an eyeball to work on by themselves.

The question has already come up as to why would we encourage students into vivisection (dissection of once living animals) however I strongly believe in the practice. Our samples come from Boreal where they take steps to ensure the animals are killed by humane methods. We will discuss this process at the beginning of the session and highlight that these organisms have given their lives to help us learn.

Beyond that it should be a really eye opening session (ha ha).

If you are interested in doing a virtual dissection there are several options out there. You could buy a subscription to Froguts (http://www.froguts.com/) where they have the eyeball dissection or try Netfrog (http://frog.edschool.virginia.edu/) for frog dissection kits.

Thanks for reading,