Post date: Oct 15, 2017 8:20:27 PM
Hi All.
It is a beautiful weekend with clear skies and a nice coastal breeze up here in the Lexington Hills. If you ever want to take a quick jaunt to get off the valley floor, here is a piece of a map that will take you off of highway 17 so you can get to the John Nicholas trail -- the first part of which is a great short flat hike to a little lake above Los Gatos.
Redwood & Ropes Course: Speaking of nice hikes, tomorrow the class will be on the ropes course field trip, to which I've added a downhill jaunt into the redwoods and river of the Henry Cowell State Park. (The hike is the blue line on this map) The Sequoia High Ropes adventure course (video) is a truly amazing experience where each kid can challenge themselves and support each other as they attempt various elements in this incredibly beautiful area.
National Parks: Eight teams have shared their information, pictures, and enthusiasm for a National Park multiple times to small groups and the results are great. This project has spanned more than a month's worth of intermittent work times and I'm glad that the student's efforts are showing through.
Chemistry & Science Demos: Week one of intensives is over and I've been hearing some important comments from the kids about their experiences with Dan so far. Ranging from "that's hard stuff" and "I'm confused" up to "it's fun stuff" and "he makes it simple", I can tell that the kids are challenged, engaged, and learning! During my hour with room 25 kids, we're able to squeeze in one science demonstration per kid. Acetone dissolving styrofoam, puncturing plastic polymers, and airborne ashes -- good stuff, all.
Newsletter Articles: I'm most excited that April's idea of a student portion to each of these weekly emails is coming to fruition. The kids have selected their dates and the first two (Josh & Ariana) have chosen topics and are on their way! So, starting next week, these newsletters will contain my usual ramblings and be greatly enhanced by a newspaper-style article contributed by the author of athat week.
Student-Directed Learning: For the past 8 weeks, each kid has been creating one "curiosity slide" as a way of getting them to think about an area of personal interest and document the results. During this coming weeks I'll take the next step by having them choose a topic that they will investigate in great detail and then present to the class during November and possibly December.
-October 16 (Monday): Room 25 to Henry Cowell Redwoods and Mount Hermon Ropes Course
-October 20 (Friday): Teacher Learning Day (no school for kids)... and Amy's birthday!
-October 21 (Saturday): Fall Festival
-October 23-31: Fall conferences (sign-up chart)
-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
-December 23 - January 14: Winter break