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.