Have a Happy Thanksgiving

Hello families,

I want to start out by telling you how great this past week was. It started out awesome and got better each day. I truly believe I have one of the best homeroom classes at Innovations Academy. What a privilege it is to spend my days with them. We have 3 new middle school students who started in the past week and a half: Catalina, Sebastian and Brianna. If you haven't checked out the comment from last weeks blog, do so. It really brought a smile to my face.

Thank you to all parents and students who came for conference this past week. If you still have not met with me, please make arrangements to do so...its not too late! I had a very positive experience hearing what is working and what is not working for our students. I found there are things that I will be changing as well as many things that are working brilliantly.
Upcoming events to be aware of:

No school this week HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

• No school next week.
• No school Monday Dec. 1 Teacher In-Service Day
• Mandatory Parent Inservice Meeting: (Come to one meeting only) Dec 1: 7-8pm in Community Room, or Thursday Dec 4: 7-8 pm in Multipurpose Room
• Winter Break Dec. 22 - Jan. 2
• No school Monday Jan. 5 Teacher In-Service Day

This past week in SoEmo, I asked the kids what they expected of themselves and what they thought others expected of them. After sharing, I asked what they thought I expected of them. I told them I have high expectations that can only be summed up in two words: BE AMAZING!Just so you know, I believe many of them are taking the challenge! In Language Arts we wrapped up with 2 tests covering literary terms and grammar. A few more students mastered the lit terms and will not need to take the test again! Please remember Reflection #2 is DUE TUESDAY DEC. 2. Remember to include a title page and an illustration. We are almost finished with chapter 3 in Algebra. Students were quizzed on 3-1 to 3-5 on Friday. I enjoyed having students teach the lessons and will do it again for chapter 4. In science we continued to work on our Periodic Table of the Elements. Our wall looks really cool. If your student has not picked their scientist for our Dec 18 Wax Museum please work with them over the break to get one picked out along with an activity or experiment that the scientist is famous for. Sounds like the kids are getting a lot of work done in Bill's class for their history projects. I am impressed with the maps and timelines that have been turned in. New PE classes start Tuesday Dec 2. I am teaching swimming. Your students were given a choice as to what PE class they wanted to go to: swimming, basketball, rock climbing, skateboarding. If they chose swimming, I sent them home with a notice to remind them to bring a bathing suit(no cotton t-shirts please. Only swimsuit material, rash guards, board shorts allowed), and towel on Tuesday.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the time off with your families and I look forward to seeing everyone in a week.

Look for an update next Sunday with reminders and anything new.

Talk about a wacky week!

After having a holiday on Tuesday, then a short day on Wednesday, we didn't really get into our groove until Thursday... and then it was the weekend again! Did we accomplish anything? Believe it or not, we did!

Important dates to remember:

• Wednesday Nov 19 and Thursday Nov 20 are conference days. School will end both days at 1:00 and conferences will be held from 1:00-4:00. If you have not already done so, please schedule a time to meet with me.


• Next week is Thanksgiving break. There is no school all week.


• Monday December 1 is no school for students. Teacher professional growth day.


• Monday December 1 Parent Involvement Meeting 7:00pm location TBA

This past week in SoEmo, we talked about building others up. Danielle came into our class on Thursday and talked about the importance of our words. Don't let things come out of our mouths unless they lift others up. We talked about how often we use language that is degrading and negative in our speech. Imagine a world where people speak only in the positive!

In Language Arts, we spent the majority of the week working on parts of sentences such as subjects and predicates. We will spend the next week continuing grammar and working on our 2nd reading reflection. There will be a test on Parts of Sentences on Friday. We will also be having a retake of the Literary Terms test on Friday. As stated in last week's blog, I will continue to provide retakes on this test until everyone in the class has mastered the lit terms. Once students have mastered it, they do not have to take the test again. Our second reflection that was originally due Friday has been postponed until Tuesday, December 2.

In Algebra, I got to sit back and relax...well, sort of... The students took charge of the class and taught the math lessons. A few more students will be teaching Monday and Tuesday. So far they have done an awesome job. I can tell that not only the students, but the "teachers" learned something this week! We will have a quiz on Chapter 3 sections 3-1 thru 3-5 on Friday.

Science is going great. We are still in the process of creating a humongous periodic table on our wall. Each student has a "pet element". We started a side project on Wednesdays which will involve a Scientist Wax Museum. The students are learning about a scientist of their choice and will be displaying themselves as their "live" scientist along with an experiment or activity the scientist was involved in. Our entire school will tour our wax museum in December.

The kids are having fun in Bill's history class and are in the process of creating a historical timeline.

PE will be making drastic changes after Thanksgiving. Stay tuned for more info as I get it.

Have a great week!

Month in review

OK. So it looks like I need to work on being a better blogger! We have been busy this past month and I apologize for not keeping you in the loop.

Important Announcement: Every Friday(Thursday for my 3-day students) students are sent home with a yellow envelope. This envelope contains classwork, important papers that need to come back to school, announcements, etc. We have been doing this now for a few weeks and I am having trouble getting the envelopes back to refill the next week. Please look for these envelopes every Friday, empty them out or sign what needs to be returned, and return the envelopes every Monday(Tues for 3-day). Please help your students to get in the habit of bringing them back to school!

Thank You: To our wonderful room parents, Sondra, Claire and Vicky for the great job they are doing. If it wasn't for them, our fabulous Halloween party would have been a bore. The kids had so much fun especially with the mummy wrap and the pizza party. Thank you to parents who have been bringing in snacks and water for the class. Last but not least, thanks to Vicky, Naomi and Coleman for chaperoning the Grossology field trip at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center.

During SoEmo this month we covered highways 5-8: Honest Communication, Forgiveness, Gratitude and Hope. Marcelline Broglie, our compassionate communications expert has also come to our class to talk about communicating with empathy. We are basically learning how to speak a new language in order to communicate our needs and feelings.

Language Arts is moving smoothly. The Jeremy Fink reflections were the main focus of the month. Students learned how to organize and write a typical five paragraph essay focusing on an introduction with a strong thesis, supporting examples and a thought provoking conclusion. We have been working on 39 literary terms and had a test on the terms last week. Students will be retested on the terms every few weeks until they have been mastered. So far, 3 students have already mastered them and won't have to take the test again!

In Algebra we finished chapters 1 and 2 this past month. We learned about integers, different types of graphs and functions. Most of the students are feeling the challenge of algebra! Next week I am putting the math into their hands as they plan, prepare, and teach the lessons to the class.

Our project time has been fun. We finished our nutrition project a week ago. Throughout the month students did group presentations on the digestive system, learned about the necessities of life, eating and burning calories and created 3D edible animal cells out of jello and yummy treats. Our service part of the project is a school wide "Running Club". This is a club where students can run laps at lunchtime on the field, collect sticks for each lap and collect foot charms for every ten miles. It won't start until after Thanksgiving due to the field closure this month for reseeding. We had a final test last week. Look for the results in next weeks yellow envelope.

Our new science project is called "It's ELEMENTary My Dear Watson." So far we learned about atoms, elements and compounds. We had a fun hands on experience making human atoms using balloons. The kids are making a giant periodic table where each student has a "pet element." During Mad Science this past Friday, students learned about molecules and made compounds. The favorite was the putty made from glue and sodium borate.

Bill is teaching the history projects and the kids are enjoying going to his class during that time. Check his blog for more information.

Don't forget! Tuesday is a holiday. Do not come to school!