Post date: Aug 22, 2014 11:54:9 PM
Hello Parents and Kids of Room 25.
We made it through our first (half) week and whatever typical trepidation I may have felt before meeting this great group has fallen by the wayside. After only 3 days of various "getting to know you" activities and conversations, I am quite sure that this will be an excellent year -- one that can honor its position as the capstone year for the first class of kids who have done their whole school career at DCS. The personalities in our class and the dynamics within the group are the things that greatness is made of!
Recap of the Week
The activities for the week all revolved around team building, sharing things about ourselves, and having fun being together. We did a lot in only three days, and some of the visible signs are the "Aspects of Us" spreadsheet, the collection of kids "Word Clouds", each kid's photo-essay, and the trash cans full of popped balloons. Communication, camaraderie, and confidence are all factors that I'm seeing grow as we play games together and learn to work together, educe creativity, and solve challenges.
Academic Calendar for Eighth Grade
Last year the 8th grade team created an interesting rotation schedule for their subject-area classes, and we are continuing/refining it this year as well. Essentially, each class works in homeroom configurations for much of the time (4 week chunks), but rotates to each teacher once each year to participate in a 6 week "intensive" on a particular subject. Susan Leftwich will run an English intensive, Dan Dowling will teach the chemistry intensive, and I will take on the history stuff, focussing on the Constitution and government during the intensive time. I created this document as a way for me to visualize and plan things out a bit. During the 4 week sessions between intensives, each homeroom will be working on curriculum as well as student-initiated projects and educational endeavors. The topics for our homeroom class are on page 2 of that calendar document and we'll talk more about this (and everything) at our first class meeting (9/16).
Work Shifts
This is my 5th year at DCS and one of the things that is most unique and powerful about the school is the parent involvement and work shifts. It is really important to me that we find you a workshift that appeals to you, utilizes your talents, fits your schedule, and serves the classroom and student needs. Michelle Damore and I met last week to discuss the various ways that I think parents can do their workshifts, and this page is intended to explain them. Please read about the 6 Classroom Helper Roles described on that site and let me know if you have any questions. I'll explain more at our class meeting (still 9/16) and maybe we can even work out a draft schedule at that time.
Parent Presenters for September
Ok, here's a crazy idea and odd request: would any of you be willing to teach/demonstrate/discuss/play something with our class for an hour or so anytime during September? While I can certainly keep the kids engaged and busy for a month of "all-homeroom" days (no selectives), it would be fantastic if a bunch of you could come in for an hour or so to do something with/for the kids. There are no constraints on the possibilities and so take a minute and let your imagination fly and let me know what you come up with. Check out this list of ideas.
Website Resources & Homework Page
In 1994 I built my first classroom website and, although the technology and ease-of-authoring has increased, the basic purpose hasn't -- I try to have all necessary information available and user-friendly. My current site is the current culmination of abundant content perhaps a bit overwhelming unwieldy, but there are a few spots that you should visit. The "Daily Schedule" page shows the detailed agenda for each day and the "assignments" page shows the homework for each night. There are pages about projects, trips, procedures, curriculum, assessment, calendars, and lots of other stuff (too much, actually) from previous years.
Upcoming Events:August 23: School Barbecue
August 25: Math and PE classes start (our class has PE on Monday & Friday from 2:10 to 2:35)
August 27: Parent 101 at Westgate Church (7 to 9)
September 1: No School (Labor Day)
September 4: Selective Sign-Ups for 8th graders
September 13: International Potluck
September 16: Room 25 Parent Meeting
September 22: Fall Portraits
September 22: Google Science Fair (field trip)
September 29: Selective start
October 3: Room 25 to Ropes Course
October 15: Room 25 Parent Meeting 2
October 24: Teacher Learning Day (no school for kids)
October 25: Fall Festival
October 27-31: Fall conferences
October 30: 8th Grade to "Sweeney Todd"
November 11: Veteran's Day (no school)
November 24-18: Thanksgiving Break
December 11-12: Room 25 to Balclutha, Age of Sail
December 22 - January 9: Winter Holiday
Quick Recap:
Great first few days
Kids do most subjects in homeroom but have 6 week "intensives" with each of the 3 8th grade teachers
Parent workshift jobs are varied and flexible.
Please consider teaching something to the class during September
First class meeting is September 16 from 6:30 to 8:00
My website has lots of information.
Thanks for having such awesome kids and please click reply if you have questions, concerns, or comments. I hope to confirm that my email list is accurate and getting to everyone (kids included).