Post date: Aug 27, 2016 8:13:46 PM
Dear Room 25 Families,
Week two is done, although I missed part of it while my family delivered our oldest to Willamette University and visited my dad and step-mom in Oregon. We're taking a break in Ashland right now and headed home tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing the class again on Monday. Thankfully, Debra Garcia was able to work with the class for the 2 days I missed last week.
The class and I seem to be working well together and I've been impressed by their accomplishments and immediate level of comfort with each other and with me. Parents, I want to thank you for your thorough and informative responses to the "Input About Your Kid" form that I sent out in late July -- everyone filled it in (!!!) and I think I knew your kids a bit even before I met them.
Recap of the Week:
Through a variety of activities and assignments, I'm getting to know more and more about these kids, and they about each other. Each kid contributed to the "Aspects of Us" spreadsheet and should have written a draft of their "My Name" essay and will hopefully go over it with you over the weekend. A few of the kids have also done their "Me in a Bag" presentation. The class also did some fun improvisation games one two afternoons. In addition, we spent time this week learning about the scientific method and experimental design. In history, most of the time was spent learning about European exploration of the Americas and about geography of U.S. Next week we will get to know a bit more about the workings of science, the amazing cultures of Native Americans, and the creation of a photo-enhanced essay.
With our first days under our belt, I feel that we are ready to start adding some more academic endeavors and routines into our days. Although the teamwork- and creativity-building activities need to continue, the daily routines from now on will focus on the specifics of science, history, and English. The engines seem to be running well and I'm eager to move forward with this group as we let out the clutch and start covering new ground.
The following 3 routines will continue all year:
1. This week we started the current events routine, wherein each kid is responsible for running a table-wide conversation on a specified day of the week. They should read an article of personal (and hopefully group interest) the evening before their day, summarize the article they chose, and have discussion questions written out. During class they will educate their group and engage them in great discussion for 5 to 10 minutes.
2. The weekly "curiosity slide" process asks the kids to document a topic of personal interest, stating what they know and what they wonder about that topic. They will do this process once per week, and delve into one of those areas in much detail about once every five weeks. My goal is to foster a very strong sense of curiosity about very diverse aspects of the world and to hone their observation and questioning skills.
3. The vocabulary process will involve a variety of types of activities all year and this coming week we'll start with a process that my students and I refined well last year. I'm hoping that the kids will develop a love and/or appreciation for words and try to expand their repertoire all year and beyond.
I've planned out a rough map of our curriculum for the year, which provides general direction but also allows individual exploration into areas of interest, and as we progress through the year, I'm sure we'll make changes as needed/requested.
Parent Presentations (link)
As I mentioned in last week's newsletter, I would like parents or other adults to come to class for about an hour sometime in September, to teach/demonstrate/play something with the class. Nine parents have already come up with great ideas and when the rest of your talents, resources, and creativity are added to the list, the class and I will get a set of experiences unavailable anywhere else. I'm being a bit forward about this because I really believe that this is the type of thing that should happen at a place like DCS, and because, honestly, I don't think that I have the repertoire of lessons and activities to fill every day of the month with the caliber of great, diverse, novel, and important stuff that we as a collective group can. Plus, the planning and in-class time can count towards your classroom hours or serve as credit for those times when you can't come or just want a week off!
Class Jobs (link) & Meeting (link)
On Wednesday, August 31 we will have our first class meeting from 6:30 to 8:00. We'll meet out near the stage with all 3 classes, then you'll spend about an hour in our homeroom and 15 minutes with Mr. Dowling and 15 minutes with Ms Malouf. During our time together we can discuss class-specific issues, play some games, and create a draft list of which of you would like which of the classroom jobs. Many of the jobs are not tied to a specific day and time but we do have to make sure that everyone contributes and in a way that best fits your schedule and preferences as well as the kids' and my needs. As you may already know, there are four main classroom workshift jobs that I'm proposing, but they are a bit unconventional. Below is a chart that describes the most common jobs:
Upcoming Events (subject to change):
-August 31 (Wednesday): Middle school selectives assembly
-August 31 (Wednesday): Parent meeting 6:30 to 8:00 (all 8th grade by stage then to homerooms)
-September 5: (Monday) No School (Labor Day)
-September 10 (Saturday): PSC Event TBA
-September 12 (Monday) Parent 101 (7 to 9)
-September 20 (Tuesday): Picture Day
-September 23 (Friday): Teacher Learning Day (no school for kids)
-September 26 (Monday): Selective & Parent Workshifts start
-October 3 (Monday): Room 25 to Ropes Course
-October 11, 12, 13: Room 25 Cal-Coast Walkabout
-October 21 (Friday): Teacher Learning Day (no school for kids)
-October 24-28: Fall conferences
-October 29 (Saturday): Fall Festival
-November 11 (Friday): Veteran's Day (no school)