Marcos left early today

To introduce Marcos to some of the elements of a non-literary persuasive essay, we examined the introductory chapter to Rachel Carson's novel,"Silent Spring". We discussed Carson as the forerunner of the environmental movement, and closely examined the language and techniques utilized to introduce readers to a scientific topic and to induce them to take action. Marcos underlined and circled these techniques in the text including the author's use of dire warnings of possible food shortages and the author's descriptive adjectives . We then discussed the arguments advanced by chemical companies in response to Carson's urging the banning of all pesticides,such as the health benefits achieved by eradicating harmful insects and the increase in the food supply. Marcos is quite conversant in the topic and the related need to address global warming.

Final Spanish Test

Today, Marcos and I reviewed topics to study from the textbook for his final Spanish test (listening, vocabulary, grammar, reading, communication skills, language use). Marcos and I reviewed information about autobiographies. I prepared an activity in order to have a clear idea about this final project (caracteristicas de una autobiografia, ejemplos de biografias, Definicion de la "Real Academia Espanola" Organizacion de ideas para escribir mi autobiografia, Personas influyentes en mi vida incluye entrevistas sobre datos del nacimiento de Marcos como por ejemplo a su familia Describir rasgos de su personalidad, Quien soy?, Mis metas y recomendaciones. Marcos was able to learn about the process of writing; brainstorming ideas, write a draft, revise, edit, finalize draft, and write the final project in order to be able to write effectively and in detail about his personal history (family, friends, neighborhood), growth, and goals over time. At home Marcos is going to read and take information from this activity so he can complete his autobiography. Part of his work is to read examples of published autobiographies to help understand effective writing techniques used. Then Marcos will be able to complete and turn in the final autobiography.

I offered Marcos suggestions for a science research project. He picked IQ testing. It is defined as a number representing a person's reasoning ability (measured using problem-solving tests) as compared to the statistical norm or average for their age, taken as 100. Marcos worked on some IQ problem-solving questions.

Marcos took the final exam during today's session.

Today, Marcos and I baked the oatmeal cookies he had made in a prior class. Marcos wanted to add ingredients to the batter but I explained once they are frozen we cannot alter the cookies. We did a little experiment and he then understood why we were unable to alter the current state of the cookies.
Marcos used an almond flour/protein flour base along with raw organic oats to create these incrediblely soft cookies.

Our class began with a review and discussion of current news stories. As always, Marcos was well prepared. Economic Instability was the next topic of discussion. Business Cycles and Inflation were reviewed and discussed. Inflation rates from 1914 to today were reviewed and discussed.

We began with a review and discussion of current news stories. Next, we continued our review and discussion of macroeconomics. Population and Economic Growth and Poverty and the Distribution of Income were reviewed and discussed at length. Marcos was involved and interested throughout the lesson.

The lesson began with a review and discussion of major news stories. As always, Marcos was very well-informed. Next, we continued our review and discussion of Macroeconomic Performance. Topics included GDP. GNP, and economic sectors. Marcos demonstrated an excellent understanding of the topics presented.