Coupla Things wk22 (2/10/18)

Post date: Feb 10, 2018 5:58:13 PM

Hello Room 25 Families!

I'm now 24 hours "post-op" and back in mild action. The oral surgeon had me sedated while he yanked out two wisdom teeth so I can't really say much about the experience. Twenty four hours of cold packs and a pain killer later I'm not at all worse for the wear. I hope that all went well on Friday and that the kids were helpful to make the lesson plans go smoothly.

Here are five things that we worked on last week"

Quotes: I was hanging out with room 29 kids early last week and saw that they were diligently working on a quotes book so I gathered details and took pictures of samples and started the project with our class. They've each browsed some possibilities and entered them onto this spreadsheet. Next week They'll get into the graphics (letter style and artwork) and build their cards (or book).

Amendments: Congress has created 17 amendments to the Constitution since the Bill of Rights and our class has been learning them for about three weeks now. On this part of my site you'll find a list of which topics are being covered by which kids, what their slides should contain, samples of each, and the scoring criteria. They will do their presentation sometime next week.

Buddy Time: Our kids and the 5th graders in room 15 got together after the assembly on Wednesday and created drawings of personalized license plates. Good creative stuff and good conversations/interactions.

Pressure Quiz: After a bunch of reading, drawing diagrams, and having discussions/demonstrations, I gave the kids this quiz and most seemed to be able to show that they understood the concepts, application, and terminology. After we cover flight and the Bernoulli Principle a bit this coming week, the kids will be putting together a big "Forces and Motion" packet of science work for your review and signature.

Vocabulary Set 10: The vocabulary process returned to it's usual routine this week during which each kid chooses a word, makes a slide, teaches others their word, studies, and takes a quiz.

Adi's newsletter article on security at DCS is pasted below, and below that is the calendar.

Security At DCS

With all the school shootings and problems happening at schools, security is becoming more important than ever. This can range from having a plan in case of a natural disaster to having protection against break-ins and possible hostiles. While DCS does have some faults in their system that can result in people breaking in without being caught they also have plans for almost every scenario that might happen. Even though you can never truly plan and protect against everything DCS has done a great job creating plans for what might happen and training the teachers to be able to react in the right way if something unexpected does happen.

One of the focal points of security at DCS is preparation for natural disasters, like earthquakes and fires. This is especially important in California because the fault lines and all the wildfires that have been going around. ne way DCS ensures the safety of the students in these scenarios is by having practice drills every few months. Another safety measure that each classroom has, is the emergency backpack; these backpacks have red and green cards, a class roster, a school map, and an emergency plan. The practice drill for a fire is for everyone to walk out to the field with the emergency backpacks, closing the doors behind them, and have the teachers show a green card if they have all their students, and a red card if they don’t. After that, they make sure all missing students are found and returned to their homeroom teachers before everyone can return to class. In case of an earthquake the process is almost exactly the same except it starts with everyone ducking under a table and that after the quake the school turns into a disaster center and stays open until all the kids have gone home.

The second part of DCS security is protection against break-ins and people being on campus when they shouldn’t be. Unfortunately DCS has had numerous break-ins over the past few years where chromebooks and other valuables have been stolen. In each of these scenarios the security system was alerted but no police were dispatched and the suspects got away clean. To try and be more secure, DCS had a new security company, Sonitrol, install one of their security systems. Even with all the measures, they have with Sonitrol there are still many faults. Criminals have been finding these faults in the system and have been bypassing the security since they know what to expect. Ideally the school would like to employ a better service that could keep monitoring the system, be able to recognize a break-in, and then dispatch police so the suspects could be caught.,

The most important and last part of security at DCS, is safety in case of a criminal in the area or intruders on campus. When there is a stranger on campus or a reason for a lockdown, ‘Code Blue’ is called over the PA system. Classrooms are supposed to lock the door, close windows and blinds, and stay inside at all times. Students are instructed to keep calm, quiet, and in a drop position until further instructions are sent to the teachers. Lance, an 8th grader in Room 25, remembers one such Code Blue when he was in 3rd grade. He was in his math class when there was a Code Blue announced because of a person that had robbed a house and was running away in the area. Lance recalled the doors and windows being shut and everyone being told to stay calm and quiet. Luckily, the robber never made it to the school and the lockdown was soon taken down. Despite the numerous break-ins most of the students at DCS feel that the school is an environment that they can feel safe in.

Situations like these can happen anytime and it is important to know what you are doing and remain calm. The school prepares and have procedures for these scenarios in order to maintain the student’s safety. However even with all these preparations and procedures, something can always go wrong and it is important to have a back-up plan and train the teachers to be able to react to these situations. The teachers and staff at DCS have been well prepared for this and can help keep the students safe no matter what happens.

Calendar:

February 14 (Wednesday): Skills-Based Progress reports available on Novare

February 16 (Friday): First Semester Selectives End

February 19 to 23 (Monday to Friday): President's Week

March 1 (Thursday): 8th Grade to the Exploratorium

March 2 (Friday): Bingo Night

March 9 (Friday): Laps for Learning

March 9 (Friday): Staff-Student Basketball Game

March 10 (Saturday): Parent Work Day

March 14 (Wednesday): Pi Day

March 16 (Friday): Staff Development Day

March 21 (Wednesday): Discovery Has Talent

March 23 (Friday): Middle School Dance (8th graders sell food)

March 26 to 30 (Monday to Friday): Room 26 Walkabout & San Francisco

March 28 (Wednesday) K-5 Science Expo

April 3 to 6: Room 25's San Francisco Trip

April 9 to 13 (Monday to Friday): Spring Break & DC Trip

April 25 (Wednesday): Middle School Science Fair DCSscience.com website.

April 30 to May 4 (Monday to Friday): Conferences

May 5 (Saturday): Spring Auction

May 11 (Friday): Middle School Dance

May 13 (Sunday): Mothers Day

May 14 to 17 (Monday to Thursday): CAASPP Testing

May 18 (Friday): DCS to Maker Faire in San Mateo

May 28 (Monday): Memorial Day

May 30 (Wednesday): Field Day & BBQ

June 1 (Friday): Final Middle School Dance

June 5 (Tuesday): School Musical

June 6 to 8 (Wednesday to Friday): 8th Grade River Rafting Trip Information is here

June 11 (Monday): DCS Maker Day

June 11 to 14 (Monday to Thursday): Early Dismissal

June 13: (Wednesday): Graduation! Practice at Westgate Church 9 to ~12, ceremony 5 to ~6:30, dance 7:30 to 10 .

June 14 (Thursday): Last Day of School

June 14 (Thursday evening): All 8th grade celebration at Saratoga Springs

June 16 (Saturday): Parent Work Day

July 8 (Sunday): DCS Alumni Boating and Barbecue at Vasona