Post date: Mar 25, 2018 6:31:46 PM
Happy Sunday Everyone.
Hannah and Abbi had a long drive down from Oregon on Friday and Saturday but they are home for a week now and their youngest sister and parents couldn't be happier. They are headed off to the beach now, so I'll take some time here and write my weekly update.
English: The biography book sessions wind up tomorrow and I hope that they've enjoyed reading about a person that they find important. I'm not sure if the 'everyone reads their own book' arrangement worked for book club meetings but I hope that they took advantage of the possibilities. Each kid should have started their timeline and paragraphs by now (instructions). They'll have some time on 4/2 to show their works-in-progress to their group and elicit suggestions for improvement from their group and parent facilitator.
Grammar was also a prominent subject this week. I had each kid join my trial "No Red Ink" account and started working on a grammar/writing topic of their choice. It seems to be effective so far.
Science: Two things stick out in my mind regarding science lessons last week. First, they learned about the flow of elements and energy in the photosynthesis-respiration cycle. Second, I had them watch a NOVA video called "Conquest of Cold" and I think that it was effective in teaching about the history of discoveries, technologies, and theories about heat and temperature. They discussed/answered some questions along the way.
The science fair will be the next big project and there are many possibilities for 8th graders to get into -- we discussed it a bit in class already and most of the kids seem to be willing to get into it.
History: For better or worse, the kids plowed through a chapter in the history textbook and took notes into a pre-formatted template. We also watched some videos on the same subjects and took an online quiz Friday. I'm not convinced that this is the most engaging way to teach/learn, but right now this is all I've got -- thanks kids, for your tolerance and patience.
The most important part of the social studies continues to be current events and those continue to go extremely well (I'm eager/hopeful that the protests are a significant part of the topics that the kids choose for this coming week). Much appreciation, by the way, to Samek who does the current events bookkeeping.
Transition to High School
Have you ever wondered how Discovery Charter School students transition to high school? Some people assume that it is going to be hard to adjust because of the teaching style that DCS offers. They are concerned that the hands-on learning activities will not prepare kids for a rigorous academic program. Others are concerned that students will not be prepared for high school sports programs because there are little to no sports at DCS.
While these concerns are valid, people should know that many Discovery students have made the transition easily. In fact, some say that Discovery students don’t just adjust easily, they are very successful in academics, sports, and many other extra curricular activities. According to a DCS parent who is also a teacher at Archbishop Mitty High School, “students who come from Discovery and matriculate into high school have an innate intellectual curiosity in the classroom; they are consistently engaged and find it easy to interact with teachers and other adults; most importantly they carry with them a true love of learning and discovery.”
Four siblings in the Akhenaton family attended DCS for elementary and middle school. Three of them (Arman, Kamran and Suraya) have since transitioned to private high schools in San Jose. Currently they attend Bellarmine College Preparatory, Archbishop Mitty High school, and Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
All three siblings were interviewed. They agreed that there was an adjustment period when they started high school and each identified different challenges. Arman said that he had difficulty adjusting to the faster pace of academics in high school. “Focusing on homework was harder because, at DCS, there isn’t a lot of homework... but it’s still enough for us to be prepared for high school.”
Suraya, she said it took some time to adjust to the larger school setting. At DCS, we knew almost everyone there. Then, at high school, when there were lots of more people, it was a bit overwhelming. Also the academics are way more challenging and complicated.”
Finally, Kamran said there was a different style of people at his current school. “At DCS everyone was super nice. At Bellarmine most people are nice, but there are those people who only hang out with students they know from middle school. There is also different types of and way more homework.” Kamran was the only one from DCS that went to Bellarmine that year. Even with these challenges, the Akhenaton siblings all strongly agreed that Discovery really helped them with making friends, asking for help, team building, and hands-on work. All those things are the skills that DCS is encouraging its students to practice throughout their lives.
The Akhenatons also agreed that there were some things that DCS didn’t teach them. They all missed grammar. Arman said, “Discovery doesn’t have a real grammar class, they only have English and some grammar lessons within the English class.” The Akhenaton's also felt they really missed sports while they were at DCS.. They said this because its nice to have one sport that you really like and stick with it instead of just doing P.E.
The mother of a DCS alumni, Judy Catano, had similar thoughts about the social and academic adjustments to Mountain View Los Altos high school. Her daughter is Aria Catano, who currently attends the University of Southern California. Judy shared , “Academically, it was a challenge at first because she [Aria] wasn’t used to working that hard at DCS. But, she ended up doing really well.” She also said that a lot of people already had their own cliques from three other feeder schools. Luckily she found another “left out” person and became friends with them.
Overall, the DCS alumni that were interviewed said that DCS was really good at helping them make friends and not to be afraid to talk in class. Although they had to adjust to the rigor of the academics, they all felt academically prepared. Most parents said that they are happy their kids went to DCS because it really did help prepare their kids for the future.
Calendar:
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 18 (Wednesday): Discovery Has Talent
April 25 (Wednesday): Middle School Science Fair DCSscience.com website.
April 27 (Friday): Bingo Night
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 20 (Sunday): Deliver Goodwill items to DCS (9:00-3:00)
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