Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Carlsbad Campout photos
What a great time! The weather was perfect. The water was a warm 72 degrees (unheard of on a usual non-El Nino October day!) I was privy to a few comments from fellow campers about our polite kids and what a wonderful experience we were giving our school children. Students played, talked, laughed, worked out, strategized, relaxed, prepared meals, cleaned up after each other and mostly just enjoyed the company of one another. Although it was not much of a surprise, considering the awesome 7th graders we have been privileged to teach this year, I was still constantly amazed by what a stress free time we had. Enjoy the photos.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Sept 28- Oct 2
Upcoming Events:
-Oct 5-Oct 7 Carlsbad Camp out (see class portfolio for details) Bring Tent supplies and sleeping bags Tuesday, Clothes in a backpack and a sack lunch Wednesday Morning. We will be leaving at 9:30 am. Arriving back at school Friday at lunchtime 12:30.
-Friday Oct 16: Tournament of the Phoenix $12
-Oct 19-22 Student Led Conferences. Sign up here. We will be on minimum day schedule the whole week with a 12:30 dismissal time.
- TBA beginning of November: Bike ride to Los Penasquitos Waterfall (do you have a bike?)
We had another fun week. Students are really showing a sense of urgency when it comes to completing classwork. One of the hardest parts of middle school is keeping up with and managing many assignments and deadlines at once. I have seen many students taking work home to add details or make it better. This is exciting to me as I have never had a class as enthusiastic about submitting good work as this one! We are trying to consistently practice organization and accountability for our assignments and work habits. I took all students' math notebooks home last week to check in with their note-taking skills as well as see how they organize their class work. I used examples of a few of the students' notebooks as models for students who have difficulty recording work and organizing notes. The purpose of their notebook is to not only provide documentation of their learning, but also to be an easy to follow resource as they build on the concepts we are covering this year.
We have an interactive math quiz on Tuesday Oct 6. Students are responsible for understanding the concepts covered so far: degrees, basic polygons, estimating angle measurements, right angles, complementary and supplementary angles. My goal is to have the students complete an assessment in a fun and hands on atmosphere where they don't even realize they are taking a test. I can't wait to let you know if it was a success!
Our Spanish class is so fun. I would recommend peeking in there if you are ever on campus. Patrick speaks almost exclusively in Spanish and the students are quickly picking it up. He integrates Spanish and drama in his teaching. I was able to record students as they worked on a first draft of the first scene of a story called El Sombrero del Tio Nacho. Students are involved in directing, narrating, arranging music, illustrating, and voice acting in their shadow puppet story.
We had the opportunity to do some service in our backyard garden on Friday. We are preparing for the impending El Nino rain by building a berm and digging a trench to divert flood water away from our outdoor nature studies gazebo and the butterfly garden pathways.
There will be no vocab quiz this week as week will be on our campout on Thursday.
All students should have completed their informational entries and sketches of four human body organ systems in their project journals. The objective of this activity was to familiarize the students with the main components and functions of a some of the organ systems in the body. Next we will begin the design and creation of a unique 3D representation of six organ systems.
Circulatory System: Kenzie, Mike, Asher
Skeletal System: Jared, Alexis, Henry, Raj
Respiratory System: Adam, Katrina, Ian
Muscular System: Monze, Jaylene, Jazmin
Nervous System: Ryan, Logan, Hanan
Digestive System: Hannah, Collin, Hafsa, Areana
Another aspect of our Human Body Being Human project is the performance of a dance routine that demonstrates kinesiology, how our body moves, and symbolizes how the body is like a machine. Natasha is working each week with our class to help us perfect the routine for our Fall Exhibition night. I notice a few of the boys complain as they come in to practice but also see the giggles and smiles that show they are having a fun time as well as getting a great workout!
-Oct 5-Oct 7 Carlsbad Camp out (see class portfolio for details) Bring Tent supplies and sleeping bags Tuesday, Clothes in a backpack and a sack lunch Wednesday Morning. We will be leaving at 9:30 am. Arriving back at school Friday at lunchtime 12:30.
-Friday Oct 16: Tournament of the Phoenix $12
-Oct 19-22 Student Led Conferences. Sign up here. We will be on minimum day schedule the whole week with a 12:30 dismissal time.
- TBA beginning of November: Bike ride to Los Penasquitos Waterfall (do you have a bike?)
We had another fun week. Students are really showing a sense of urgency when it comes to completing classwork. One of the hardest parts of middle school is keeping up with and managing many assignments and deadlines at once. I have seen many students taking work home to add details or make it better. This is exciting to me as I have never had a class as enthusiastic about submitting good work as this one! We are trying to consistently practice organization and accountability for our assignments and work habits. I took all students' math notebooks home last week to check in with their note-taking skills as well as see how they organize their class work. I used examples of a few of the students' notebooks as models for students who have difficulty recording work and organizing notes. The purpose of their notebook is to not only provide documentation of their learning, but also to be an easy to follow resource as they build on the concepts we are covering this year.
We have an interactive math quiz on Tuesday Oct 6. Students are responsible for understanding the concepts covered so far: degrees, basic polygons, estimating angle measurements, right angles, complementary and supplementary angles. My goal is to have the students complete an assessment in a fun and hands on atmosphere where they don't even realize they are taking a test. I can't wait to let you know if it was a success!
Our Spanish class is so fun. I would recommend peeking in there if you are ever on campus. Patrick speaks almost exclusively in Spanish and the students are quickly picking it up. He integrates Spanish and drama in his teaching. I was able to record students as they worked on a first draft of the first scene of a story called El Sombrero del Tio Nacho. Students are involved in directing, narrating, arranging music, illustrating, and voice acting in their shadow puppet story.
We had the opportunity to do some service in our backyard garden on Friday. We are preparing for the impending El Nino rain by building a berm and digging a trench to divert flood water away from our outdoor nature studies gazebo and the butterfly garden pathways.
There will be no vocab quiz this week as week will be on our campout on Thursday.
All students should have completed their informational entries and sketches of four human body organ systems in their project journals. The objective of this activity was to familiarize the students with the main components and functions of a some of the organ systems in the body. Next we will begin the design and creation of a unique 3D representation of six organ systems.
Circulatory System: Kenzie, Mike, Asher
Skeletal System: Jared, Alexis, Henry, Raj
Respiratory System: Adam, Katrina, Ian
Muscular System: Monze, Jaylene, Jazmin
Nervous System: Ryan, Logan, Hanan
Digestive System: Hannah, Collin, Hafsa, Areana
Another aspect of our Human Body Being Human project is the performance of a dance routine that demonstrates kinesiology, how our body moves, and symbolizes how the body is like a machine. Natasha is working each week with our class to help us perfect the routine for our Fall Exhibition night. I notice a few of the boys complain as they come in to practice but also see the giggles and smiles that show they are having a fun time as well as getting a great workout!
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