Post date: Sep 23, 2017 6:38:54 PM
Dear Room 25 Families
First of all, I want to express my appreciation for a few things:
1. Thanks to those who replied to my "how is the workload going" question in newsletter of two weeks ago. Hearing your comments and suggestions always helps me mull over what to do next to make things as good as I can. I appreciate the dialog.
2. Again, but even louder, I want to thank the many parents who gave the gift of their time and knowledge to the class via a set of fantastic presentations on a wide range of engaging, interesting, and informative topics. You have helped open eyes, elicit curiosity, and provide models for the many special-interest presentations that the kids will do (and view) all year. Last week Frank on maps, Barbara on origami, Diane on China, and Hang on Viet Nam. This coming week: Andrea does salad wraps, Teresa does 50/50 day, Kieran does social science, April does car safety, and Robert does 3d drawing.
3. Thanks, kids, for your hard work. The unrelenting routine of daily assignments, nightly homework, aggressive accountability, and a fast pace class has been a hard adjustment for many of you, but I am very impressed by the signs of resilience that I'm seeing from most. Learning does involve some level of disequilibrium and discomfort, yet growth made now will serve you well for quite a while! With mostly good results, I've pushed you kids hard to be responsive and productive, agile, and active. Eighth grade is a crucial one, and it is my hope that when you leave DCS in only a few months, you will be able to hold you values, strengths, and passion for learning as well as be extremely well prepared to thrive amidst the academic and social opportunities and challenges of high school.
Recap of Last Week:
We're headed into our last three weeks of mostly unencumbered afternoons for homeroom activities and incredible flexibility. We've used the time to do extra in-depth activities, play games, learn from parents, read quietly a bit every day, and get loud and rowdy when needed as we get to know each other and learn how to work best together. Although I am very much looking forward to the selectives which start in 3, it has been nice to have such extensive homeroom time.
Science: The biggest and hardest topic of the week was learning use of dimensional analysis to do a variety of unit conversion problems. I put the lesson off for a day due to a gut feeling that I had that the kids (and I) just weren't ready to embark on learning this challenging but valuable skill; the lesson Thursday did go well and the kids have a practice worksheet to work on if they have time & desire this weekend (we'll do more on Monday). I'm making a measurement quiz for them to take next week so that they (and I) can know how well the knowledge and skills have actually set into their minds.
This week we also got an overview of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) which will hopefully pique the interest of quite a few in the class. We have the rare opportunity to design and propose an experiment that will be delivered to the ISS and conducted in microgravity. There are many aspects to this program that will tap into (and expand) the strengths of the kids, including the scientists, engineers, artist, writers, and speakers.
English: Each kid should now be well into the process of writing their photo essay (topics on this chart). Monday they will share theirs with the class if they like, and then start on getting their draft edited. I'm very eager to read these autobiographical pieces and view their great photos. During the name essay editing time, I was very impressed by a few of the interactions I saw in class while they were doing peer editing. There was a handful who seemed well engaged and heavily invested in making improvements to each others essays; not just to the grammar and word-choice issues, but more importantly, to the flow, organization, and intangible things that can make a writing piece go from "ok" to "good" and maybe even to "great"!
Social Studies: No noteworthy progress in this area, with the exception of the currents events discussions, interactive viewing of a History Channel video on early colonization, and an engaging class discussion (lead by Jamie) on threshold age of medical procedures in transgender kids.
Camping: Time now for me to throw some stuff in the car, do some errands, and then and head up to Mount Madonna to join some of you for some hiking and hanging around the campsite. Thanks for the invitation and I'm eager to join in!
-September 22 - 24: 8th grade camping trip at Mount Madonna County Park (Valley View loop 2)
-October 2 (Monday): Parent Workshifts start
-October 9 (Monday): Selectives begin
-October 9 (Monday): Chemistry intensive with Mr Dowling starts (calendar)
-October 16 (Monday): Room 25 to Henry Cowell Redwoods and Mount Hermon Ropes Course
-October 13 (Friday): Middle School Dance
-October 20 (Friday): Teacher Learning Day (no school for kids)... and Amy's birthday!
-October 21 (Saturday): Fall Festival
-October 23-31: Fall conferences
-November 10 (Friday): Veteran's Day (no school)
-November 20-24: Thanksgiving Break (all week)
-November 27-29 (Monday to Wednesday): CalCoast Walkabout
-December 1: Middle School Dance
-December 13-14: Angel Island "Living History" overnight with Bonnie