Coupla Things v19 (1/24/15)
Post date: Jan 24, 2015 7:4:9 AM
Dear Parents.
Recap of the Week:
Everyone home and safe is the first sign of a good trip, a the second one is an itinerary full of check-marks, but the most important indicator will hopefully be the stories that your kids will tell you about their good and valuable experiences. The days were packed with walks, tours, and the full experience of a big city. The evenings had a distinct family atmosphere to them as kids played games, watched screens, and chatted together, as well as read and took their own down time as needed. Thanks to the 6 chaperones, the 4 luggage drivers, a great team of us teachers, and the skill of David Leftwich, our cook, it was an excellent trip.
Being with these kids full time makes me every appreciative of you parents. You’ve helped to create or catalyze some truly laudable characteristics in your kids. They are sincere, curious, helpful, affectionate, honest, and beautiful. All of them. We see a portion of that during school hours, and now, after 4 days, I really feel like I know them much better and appreciate them even more. Yes, I love our homeroom class, but my accolades apply across the grade level. This whole group is a happy, tight, and dynamic family. The “home base” time they had as a whole group (evenings, nights, mornings, and all of Friday) was just as valuable as the homeroom time they had touring various amazing places in The City.
So, to wrap up my SF trip rave, I want to say thank you for supporting us teachers as we try something, new. Thank you for the financial support, the trust in our abilities to create teachable moments, and thank you for the faith that you give to your kids, me as a teacher, and this school’s culture and community.
Coming Up:
Star Party tomorrow (Sunday) night! I don't know much about it, but I'll be there doing some much-needed room cleaning & essay reading.
On Monday we'll hit the ground running. Our class will start week 2 of 6 of the chemistry intensive with Mr. Dowling, and during our hour together the kids will review the student summaries of the chapter on the Revolutionary War, they'll turn in the Gift I Gave essay if they haven't yet, and we will start "Author Study" in English. I'll be ramping things up a bit as far as workload goes as well as imposing tighter due-dates (finally). My motives are not sadistic, but instead, to get the kids accustomed to a workload and process more closely aligned to that which they might experience in hight school.
Parents, workshifts start again Monday and I'm looking forward to seeing you again.
Have a wonderful day tomorrow!
Calendar (updated and more detailed):
January 25: Star Party (6:30 to 8:00)
January 28: 8th Grade Panoramic Picture & Card Stunt
February 6: Selectives end
February 6: Family Dance
February 9 & 10: Age of Sail
February 11: High School Information Night (parents and kids)
February 16-20: February break
February 26: Exploratorium
March 5 & 6: Diversity Conference
March 6: Laps for Learning
March 10: Spring Portraits
March 13: No school for kids
April 1-3: Science Fair
April 13-17: Conferences
April 20-14: Spring break
April 28: Levi Stadium Tour
May 9: Spring Auction
May 15: No school for kids
May 29: Middle school dance
June 3 to 5: Rafting the South Fork American River
June 12: Field Day
June 18: Last day of school
June 19: Staff work day