Post date: Feb 19, 2012 2:41:51 AM
Dear Parents and Students (kids, please read this one),
This week had its ups and downs for me. I'll start with the ups. As usual, the generosity and kind spirt of the DCS community shone. Parents contributed to the birthday party at lunch on Thursday, and at least one parent contributed things to the class "basket" (aka toolbox) for the auction, and I received a Valentines VISA card for class supplies. The P103 meeting on Wednesday night went well and seemed productive. Some of the kids worked hard on their book projects, essay outlines, and science projects. I'm noticing some renewed focus on the part of some kids as they make a fresh start for second semester.
The 'downs' revolve around my disappointment that some students are still not using their academic time and resources to their greatest advantage, nor are they being respectful of their peers or me when it comes to some aspects of classroom discussions, behavior, positive participation, and productivity. DCS is not immune to the age-old "games" that are characteristic of middle school: games where the social interactions can dominate the academic endeavors; where the locus of control oscillates between internal and external; and the stereotypically timeless (and therefor almost comical) games of "whose responsibility is it anyway" continue to play out. These issues are not affecting everyone, and some of the students that concern me the most are improving to varying degrees, at various times, and for varying durations. I think, though, that it is time for me to impose some progressive levels of consequences that relate directly to non- or counter-productive behaviors. Kids that engage themselves, contribute positively, and exhibit internal quality (and behavior) control should reap some benefits, and kids who don't, shouldn't. What that means, in concrete and specific terms, will manifest itself in tougher grading criteria, occasional separation of the classes into productive & non productive factions, and partial-class field trips. Essentially, and this applies mostly to HR25, y'all have worn me down, I think that I'm done being the unmatched enthusiast for a while.
Recap of the week:
English: Grammar this week related to hyphens, dashes, and parenthesis. My incessant focus on grammar and vocabulary, I hope, has not turned the kids off to grammar, and I'm always enthused when the students' increased knowledge and skills will show up in their writings. Also, the students wrote "outlines for essays they won't write" using this oversimplified online template. As I communicate more and more with high school teachers, especially those of English, I hear so often, how much they expect students to be good solid writers by freshman year, and how much those that aren't, are set back and hindered.
The other accomplishment for this week was the completion of their dystopian book projects. I've stressed the importance of the last part of that form... explain how the project shows an understanding and analysis of a dystopian society. I will be scoring them over vacation and hope to be encouraged by the level of literary analysis contained therein.
I am glad to see some students settle into their Steinbeck books. As a writer (and social commentator) Steinbeck is quite a far cry from many of the pure-enjoyment books that feed many plot-junkie kids these days. He invests heavily in scene description, character development, and cultural context, subtle humor -- all of which take getting used to but I'm hoping to elicit some appreciation for the genre as well. It takes while to digest raw grains when one has been downing processed foods for a while, but the health benefits are certainly there.
After vacation the kids will be taking the lead in their book-club meetings by assuring that they are up to speed on the reading as well as creating discussion questions (or even activities) for their group. Also, in March, the students will do their "Evocative Speeches". I saw some excellent excerpts done last year, and am eager to see the kids speak/perform very well. I'll be putting these on FlipVideo for the kids to review and self-assess afterwards.
Science: Chemistry continues. Starting with balancing some simple chemical equations, the kids and I learned about the various types of those reactions (synthesis, decomposition and single- and double-displacement. Some groups demonstrated them "live" in terms of who-is-with-who relationship changes -- an effective analogy. On Wednesday the kids did a simple exothermic reaction of calcium carbonate and baking soda, and they began building an online slide that showed a (hopefully, more) complex reaction and its various attributes and applications.
The students also personalized an online "science experiment control sheet" and invited you (parents) as viewers to that document. I had them do this in order to be more accountable to their process as well as keep you in the loop. If this document or even the experiment itself is news to you, please let your kid know that and have them fix the situation. Another thing that began a few weeks ago is the "daily demonstrations" of a science principal or process. The kids researched a variety of them, chose one, posted it onthis form, and then chose a date on which they will do their demo for the class. Khoi got us off to a good start on Friday.
One last thing: After writing report-card comments for my class (and Mrs. Stuart's class) I began to think that such narrative feedback should not be limited to just the end of the semester, nor should it be a one way discussion. I propose, then, that I turn the comment sheets into collaborative Google-Docs, with the parent, teacher, and student as authors. The documents could be the vehicle through which an ongoing dialog occurs -- not a far cry from the current occasional email strands that are scattered throughout our in-boxes. If you would like me to start that process between us (teacher, parent, student) please email me a reply. If you already have a Google account, please give me the email address that is associated with it.
Thanks and enjoy the rest of the vacation. Watching sunset over the mountains and listening to the trickle of water in the pond is sure a nice way to spend the evening!
Chris
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Chris Heumann
cell: 408 482-2394