Innovations Celebrations

Week of Jan 16-20

2012-01-23T13:59:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Events:
*Wed. Jan. 25: Fieldtrip this Wednesday(note day change). Kroc center. Bring $7 for ice skating and a sack lunch
*Friday Jan 27: Report Cards sent home.
*Friday Jan 27: Costco Pizza to purchase for lunch
*Tuesday Jan 31: Fieldtrip to Mission Valley old IA school sites. $5.00 for trolley and bus bring lunch or money for lunch to eat at Fashion Valley mall. Wear tennis shoes for capture the flag and river walk.

This past week was amazing! I was so impressed with our students' POLs. It was obvious they put much preparation into their responses. All three socratic seminars were done with professionalism and respect for each others' opinions. Thank you to the many parents who came and help with the assessment process of their children. We hope you enjoyed the experience.
We have finished the first semester and students are aware the last day to turn in any unfinished work is Wednesday Jan 25.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-10T16:00:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Events:
Wed Jan 11 6pm or Sat Jan 7 3pm: Parent Meeting in the Multipurpose Room to celebrate IA
Mon Jan 16: Martin Luther King Jr Day no school
Tues Jan 24: Field trip to Kroc center
Fri Jan 27: Report Cards Handed Out

Hope everyone had a safe and relaxing two weeks off. We got off to a great start last week. It seemed to be over before it began! We are coming up on the end of the semester and started preparing for our presentations of learning (POLs) The eighth graders will be participating in socratic seminars with two main topics of discussion. The humanities portion will discuss the novel Nothing But the Truth, and the math/science portion will include chemistry and closing our murder mystery case. In order to make this meaningful and successful for our students, we would like parents to be there to support the students. You would be involved in the questioning and assessment portion of the socratic seminar. This will help students to prepare for articulating and answering their topic questions in a way that those who were not involved in the assignment can understand. The socratic seminars will be held the mornings of Wednesday, January 18 and Thursday, January 19. You will recieve an email by Thursday as to when your student is scheduled to participate.

As the new semester begins, students have been told that Jennie and I are holding them to a higher expectation. Accountability for their work as well as excellence are top priority. I handed out a checklist of math assignments that will be due Friday, January 20. This checklist also includes a self assessment of their struggles, successes and overall effort in completing the work.

Once POLs are complete, students will be starting the 2nd and 3rd phase of our AMA project. The 1st phase ended with amazing presentations given about buildings and structures around the world. Students were able to show their knowledge of elements of architecture, symmetry, geometry and history involved in the building of their structures. Jennie and I were very impressed with the seriousness and professionalism in which they presented themselves. The 2nd and 3rd phases will move much quicker as they design and build our hydroponics garden.

Another project to look forward to starting on the 24th is the IA Beginnings documentary. If you have any still cameras or video cameras that we may use for this project, please let me know.

Nov 3- Dec 2

2011-12-05T14:51:00.000-08:00

This year won't slow down! The month of November was filled with novelty and fun. We started the month with a new humanities teacher, Jennie.

Jennie has taken over the language arts and history portion of our eighth grade curriculum so please refer to her blog (in "links I like") for information.

Our science activities this month were designed as a precursor to the "Murder Mystery" that began last Thursday. Students got to visit the crime scene and document their observations. They will spend the next two weeks questioning suspects, participating in crime labs and gathering information to prove whodunit.

October 24- November 3

2011-11-07T14:17:00.001-08:00

This was a fast couple of weeks!

Students began research on Phase 1 of the AMA project. Most of the research was internet based though I brought many books from the library about buildings and architecture for students to use. I am excited to learn about the structures the students chose. Some buildings are from medieval and renaissance times as well as modern structures. For an idea of what questions students were investigating, click here. We started AMA-GEOMA, the math component of the project. Using images of our buildings, students are learning about 3 dimensional geometry and symmetry. They are using that information to recognize the elements of geometry found in their structures.

We started reading a book together as a class, Nothing But the Truth, by Avi. It is about a boy who got himself into trouble for breaking the school's policy of silence during the national anthem by humming along. The story examines freedom, patriotism and respect.

In other math news, the Skills group is learning how to write exponents, understand square numbers and simplify expressions using PEMDAS. The Pre-algebra group learned how to multiply and divide numbers with exponents using the power rule and convert numbers from standard form to scientific notation. Algebra students learned how to use the distributive property and advanced exponent rules in order to simplify expressions.

Our eighth grade scientists spent October learning about atoms, elements and the Periodic Table of Elements. These fundamentals of chemistry will be useful for November’s mystery.

Week of October 17-21

2011-11-07T13:30:00.000-08:00

A big thank you goes out to all parents who joined in on our Student-Led Conferences this week.
The conferences were inspiring and useful in setting goals for the students.

The week flew by and students finished their second drafts of the short stories, reviewed for their math test and gathered more information for the AMA project.

We discussed the 3 main phases of the AMA project:

1) The Individual Research Paper. This research includes gathering information about a specific building or structure that the student chose.
2)Using their knowledge of art, math and architecture, students will work in groups to design futuristic structures for use in phase 3 of the project.
3) Students will work together as a class to create a hydroponics garden area outside our classroom using their futuristic designs.

During the week, students came up with questions that might be important to investigate about their structure. The main goal was to discover the purpose as well as the art, architecture and mathematics that was involved in the building of the structure. Using the questions they came up with in class students will begin research.

Week of October 10-14

2011-10-16T21:55:00.002-07:00

Upcoming Events:
Student Led Conferences are next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. If you have not signed up or forgot your time, click on the link here. Remember this time is for your child to share his/her strengths and weaknesses, academic goals, social goals and personal goals as well as show their learning in our class. So please bring your student and be prompt as there is a limited amount of time for each student.

Minimum days next week are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Dismissal time is 12:00pm. There will be no Rubios lunch on Friday.

Week in Review:
We kicked off our Art Math and Architecture Project this week (AMA) We began by asking the question, "How has art and math influenced architecture?" Our first step in answering this question is collecting information. We started by gathering information about bridges and buildings such as what are the elements of buildings and what types of bridges are there? We will take a look at buildings from our past and compare them to those that are around us now. We will learn how geometry and algebra plays an important role in the planning and building of structures. We plan on taking a field trip in November to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles as well as a local field trip to Balboa Park to investigate elements of art in the architecture of the buildings there. We may also take a day for a San Diego bridge tour.

During math skills, students practiced working on integers. There will be a skills test Friday October 21. Our language arts class finished the first draft of their creative writing piece. Students were given a deadline to have their story completed by Thursday Oct 14. They will begin peer editing by 3 students on Tuesday Oct 18. Their final draft will be due Friday October 21.

We began our Cross Class Connection with the 1st grade. All classes are connected to another class on campus to have an opportunity to share their work, to read together and to be in a mentorship type roll. The first graders met in the eighth grade classroom for a get to know you activity. We had so much fun and look forward to working together this year.

Rubios Friday was changed to Thursday since school was out Friday. We made $68.09. Besides the fact that a whole class was on a field trip, we decided the drop in lunches could have been because many students did not realize Rubios day was changed this week. We decided it might be a good idea to advertise more instead of just relying on the Sunday IA calls to remind parents about Friday lunches.

A special thank you to Jennifer for picking up donated carpet for our science lab. And those eighth graders who stayed after school to move furniture and roll out the carpet... you rock!

We had some changes in our 8th grade staff and are doing the best we can to make the transition for the kids as seamless as possible. As expected, the class is taking to the changes in stride. Please email me if you have any questions or concerns. lisa@innovationsacademy.org

Week of October 3-7

2011-10-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

This week was one that required much teamwork. I am so impressed with our class' attitude of ownership this year. The students began leading morning meetings and class council this week. I watched as a leader was chosen each day and how the other students worked together to make the meetings effective for everyone. They try to show respect for each other and honor each other's ideas. I am so excited to watch them grow as individuals as well as a united class this year.

We braved the elements on Wednesday to hike Iron Mountain. Our hike started out cool with a chance of showers. After about a mile of walking it started misting. As we walked higher up the mountain we were immersed in the clouds and quite damp. We trudged up the trail, not being able to see much ahead of us because of the mist. Just after we got to the top, the cloud cover opened up enough to enjoy an incredible view of the horizon. On a clear day you can get a 360 degree view of San Diego county all the way to the ocean. We still enjoyed the nearly 6 mile hike and had a fun time out in nature. A very grateful thank you to Jennifer, Laura and Naomi for helping with the drive.

Our first Friday Rubios lunch program went off without a hitch! We profited $ 115.90. We hope to average $100 per week to raise funds for our Northern California trip in May. Each student in our class helped with order form distribution, advertising, collecting money and orders, and serving food.

Math: Pre-Algebra and Algebra students focused on the rules of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of integers this week.

Science: Students used the earthworm information they gathered last week to learn about how to create a laboratory report. After collecting their work and realizing many of them were incomplete and lacked detail, we discussed the reasons why complete and accurate laboratory reports are necessary. Students were then given a model of a “good” laboratory report as well as a template that would work for most experiments. Our second drafts were much better!

During humanities, students finished their "Who Am I " artwork, created a presentation rubric and started presenting their work to the class. They also worked on writing individual stories.

Week of Sept 26-30

2011-10-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Events:

Iron Mountain Hike: Wednesday October 3. Leave school at approx 9:30, return to school at 1:00. Wear tennis shoes. Bring water and lunch.

Friday Lunches: 8th grade fundraiser begins Friday Oct. 7! We will be taking orders and passing out Rubios lunches to IA students and staff. Lunch will cost $4.00 and include an entree, a side and bottled water. Look for menu on our school website and this blog on Wednesday. Students can pay for lunches to their teachers Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday morning. Lunches must be prepaid by Friday morning meeting at the latest.

This past week was very productive! We officially moved into the science lab so we now have two classrooms to work in. (We would love some indoor plants for the lab to help muffle the noise! We are working on getting floor rugs too)

Students are well into math skills according to their appropriate levels. I introduced weekly Academic Language for math this past week and students had their first quiz on Friday. The quizzes are designed to help students master the language of math. New words will be introduced each week with a mastery quiz at the end of the week. Last weeks words or phrases for pre-algebra: integer, whole number, natural number, rational number, evaluate, expression, equation, order of operations. For algebra: constant, variable, coefficient, term, expression, equation, independent variable, dependent variable, order of operations

Science started out a little slippery as students searched for earthworms on our campus. After trying many different spots ranging from dry and rocky to cool and green, students discovered the best place to find the worms was underneath the air conditioners where water was condensing and dripping on the dirt. After we collected them, students created a testing environment in the classroom. The purpose of this activity was to introduce the scientific method and the protocol for designing and reporting on an experiment. Students investigated the question whether earthworms prefer light or dark environments. Rather than always providing the supplies and testing apparatus already set up for them, our eighth graders will learn what it is like to be a real scientist. Often they will create their own experiment from a question they may have about a topic, form their own unique hypothesis, need to search out their own testing materials (worms in this case..."no animals were harmed in the making of this activity!" ), devise their own procedures, analyze and report out their data and present their findings to the class. Next week we will perfect our laboratory reporting techniques and presentations.

During language arts, students began a "Who Am I " activity by creating a piece of art that represents them.

A vocabulary list was generated from an article read in class as students came across words they were unfamiliar with. They defined and acted out the words in skits. The words that students are responsible for this week are: philanthropy, fiscal, aggregate, inconsequential, sacrifice, burden, coddle, federal, revenue, and legislators

Looking forward to another great week!

Lisa and Diana

Week of September 19–23

2011-09-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

Week of September 19–23

The students finished presenting their skits and shared their suggestions with the class on ways to make stronger the systems that society requires in order to best function and meet its members’ needs. They also started writing a class letter to city planners with their suggestions, which we will be revising and sending out next week. The students also decided that we would find out more about and participate in the current planning that is going on in our local community.

We have begun working on math skills. We are also continuing to work on our stories and learn new vocabulary words.

The class has officially finalized and ratified our class constitution.

Supplies:

Students need to bring in and have in class each day several composition books or spirals and a free reading book, as well as a few pens and pencils.

Assignments:

Students were assigned to research their topics and bring in a newspaper or magazine article. Some students still need to do this.

Students also need to figure out what supplies their family would need for 72 hours in an emergency, and make a checklist of whether or not they have those supplies.

Announcements:

Back to School Night is Thursday from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. We hope to see you there!

Have a good week!

Diana and Lisa

Week of September 12–16

2011-09-21T13:51:00.001-07:00

Week of September 12–16

We are working on defining what makes “beautiful work” and the importance of revision. We have made physical representations, and the students are working on presenting their work.

We have also been studying the systems that society requires in order to best function and meet its members’ needs, and what happens when a part of that system breaks down. Students are analyzing the systems and creating a skit to share their information and demonstrate their suggestions. We have also been reading newspapers and researching how this applies to current events as well as decision making. The students have decided to write to the city as well as their representatives to share their suggestions, which we will begin working on next week. We will also be building upon this to look at community planning today as well as examine the ways people lived during periods of time throughout history.

The students have taken a math assessment. We will begin working on skills next week.

We have created our class constitution and are now ready to finalize and ratify it.

We have begun writing fiction stories and are working on critiquing and building a safe environment to share our work. Soon, we will be working on grammar based on the students’ writing.

This week we set up the science lab and made the room our own. It has been great to have two classrooms.

Supplies:

Students need to bring in and have in class each day several composition books or spirals and a free reading book, as well as a few pens and pencils.

Assignments:

Students were assigned to research their topics and bring in a newspaper or magazine article. They were also asked to figure out what supplies their family would need for 72 hours in an emergency, and make a checklist of whether or not they have those supplies.

Announcements:

Back to School Night is Thursday from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. We hope to see you there!

Have a good week!

Diana and Lisa

Sept 6-Sept 12

2011-09-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

What an interesting week we've had! Our eighth grade class is off to a great start. We are putting our systems in place while getting to know each other. We are practicing routines and signals that we hope will help our classroom run effectively. Parents - ask your student about morning meetings, class council, signals, critique, our pets (and their names :) ), lunchtime, their peers, etc.

We are currently in the midst of creating our class constitution. We are also creating the framework for expressing ourselves through writing and presenting our work to others.

We were all surprised to get a day off of school on Friday and hope you enjoyed the unexpected break!

Yesterday, we started our Explorations program. Our 8th grade class has the opportunity to spend the next nine weeks in two classes on Mondays: "Rhythm and Percussion" and "Hands On Art."

We are so impressed with how quickly our class is becoming a strong community. On the second day of school during a small group activity, we noticed students laughing and working together as if they had known each other for years!

Welcome Back To School!

2011-08-22T00:16:00.000-07:00

Hello new 8th grade families!
Although I can't wait to have students back in the classroom, summer was not long enough! I hope you all had a restful time off and are ready to get back in the swing of things.
I would like you to be prepared for the new school year before we begin by looking over the following two things:
1) 8th Grade Class Supply List
2) A brief overview of the first few weeks of school

CLASS SUPPLY LIST
(Don't panic if you don't have it all on the first day! This is a list of things used throughout the year)
For each student:

One journal/idea/planning book (a bound composition book is best)
4 spiral notebooks
A large variety pack of colored pens and colored pencils
Loose leaf notebook paper- College Rule preferred
Dividers- 5 count (I will provide 3 ring binders)
Large durable pencil pouch or box
Several #2 pencils
2 blue or black pens
Highlighter (3 various colors)
Scissors
One package lined Index Cards (3x5)
Quad (Graph) paper
Personal whiteboard

For the class to use (please help with these if you can):
1 ream of printer paper
1 pack of cardstock paper, any color
Poster board (preferrably white)
1 box of Kleenex
1 box of Wet Wipes
Scotch tape
Painters tape

I often purchase a variety of supplies for the classroom, so gift cards to Barnes and Noble, Michaels, JoAnns, Staples,etc or adding $10-20 to the classroom supply fund is greatly appreciated. As we are a public school, your donation is voluntary and we thank you for your generosity! Please bring any cash(designated for the 8th grade class) to Donna at the front office for proper accounting.

OVERVIEW OF THE FIRST FEW WEEKS OF SCHOOL Eighth grade students take on a great role at Innovations Academy as the leaders, mentors and examples for our younger students to follow. I have great expectations that they are students who can think for themselves and take on roles of leadership and responsibility

Our class will spend the first few weeks developing a class culture that cultivates an environment of learning, inquiry, respect and teamwork. Together we will create class expectations and set up routines. Students will get to know each other during daily morning meetings and class councils. We will begin our first integrated project, where we will look at an essential question: How do people learn? The students will build relationships with a younger class at IA by becoming "learning buddies".

During this time we will also take pre-assessments in order to determine the best math course for each student. Math classes offered this year include 8th grade Math Skills, Pre-Algebra, and Algebra. Other assessments taken during this time will be the school-wide MAPS test.

IA Eighth graders have the unique opportunity of taking a 10-day trip in May to Northern California. This trip involves much planning as well as fundraising. We will start planning immediately this year by including an information session during our back to school night in September. We can use as much help as possible.

One of the ongoing fundraisers that will fund our trip is our Friday lunch program. 8th graders are in charge of advertising, ordering and distributing lunch for the entire school every Friday. They take this responsibility very seriously and we have learned to integrate the experience into our math program. I am thinking this year we will learn about science using the lunch fundraiser too!

Parent participation is strongly encouraged in my class. I welcome parents in the classroom at all times. Just know I will put you to work!I believe as much learning happens outside the walls of the classroom as inside and we will be taking many field trips this year. I will need help with drivers and coordinating the field trips. Please see the sign up sheet in my classroom for other opportunities to volunteer.

Thank you for everything you are doing to get your child ready for school. Feel free to contact me anytime at lisa@innovationsacademy.org. I look forward to seeing you soon!
Lisa Moncrief

End of the year events

2011-06-08T22:36:00.000-07:00

Friday June 10: Six Flags Grad Night. We have drivers covered! We will leave school at 10:00am and plan to leave Six Flags at 10:30 pm. We should arrive back at school around 1:15am. Please pack a lunch, snacks and bring money for dinner. We will eat lunch when we arrive. A meal costs around $10-12. We can go out to the car to eat snacks, but cannot bring food in.

Monday June 13 is Field Day for the whole school: 10:00-2:00 at Allied Gardens Community Park about two miles away on Zion Ave. We are looking for a few parents to shuttle kids up there and back.

Thursday June 16: Eighth Grade Promotion 6:00- 8:00. Location TBA this weekend. Promotion begins with a message from Christine and Teachers, followed by student speeches and promotion certificates. After the ceremony, we will have dinner. During class council today, some, but not all students signed up for food assignments. With 22 students, we are looking at around 80-100 guests. I did tell students if they have more people than just immediate family, we are asking that they also bring a dish.

Food Assignments include:

1. Appetizers: chips dips
2. Main Dish to serve 10-12 each (8 volunteers)
3. Side Dish to serve 10-12 each (8 volunteers)
4. Drinks sparkling pink lemonade (8 2liter bottles sprite, countrytime or crystal light pink lemonade mix)
5. Dessert: cookies, sweets

I am bringing a Costco graduation cake, lemonade decanter,dinner plates and utensils(donated from Poway little league)
Barb Carlson has volunteered to pick up decorations.

Friday June 17: Last Day of School! Beach Party at Belmont Park Leave school at 10:00, return to school at 3:30. Students can be dropped off at 10:45 at Belmont Park but I need to know in advance to mark students present for school. Bring lunch or money for lunch, bathing suits, sunscreen, etc. Main setup will be on the beach in front of the rollercoaster.

The year flew by! Can't believe its almost over!

2011-05-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

Student Led Conferences are May 23-26. All of those days are half days for the students. Here is the link to sign up for conferences with me and Tony.

Eighth Grade Sacramento Trip

2011-05-16T16:55:00.000-07:00

Sacramento Trip 2011

Day 1:

After a harrowing morning packing 22 people’s belongings into 3 cars, we got on our way at 10:45 in the morning. We had one mishap. Lost an air mattress off the top of Tony’s car. 9ish hours later, we arrived safe and sound at the Ponderosa campsite. Much to the dismay of many of us, there was little to no cell service. It was dark and we couldn’t see much but we could hear a river roaring nearby. People were grumpy, tired and excited all at the same time. We settled into our campsites and called it a night around 11:00.

Day 2:

We woke up to a cool, cloudy day after a much needed rest. We decided today we would take it easy and get a lay of the land. We found ourselves out in the middle of nowhere on a beautiful river. The kids spent the morning exploring and wanting to jump into the freezing river fed by snow. I spent the time figuring out the best way to get all of the kids fed quickly and efficiently. After a successful breakfast and lunch, we drove a couple miles away from the campground for Marshall Gold Discovery State Historical Park. First stop, the museum where we learned about the history of the land we were on. We took a hike through the park, stopping to see a replica of Sutter’s Mill, the original site and the place where James Marshall first discovered gold. We continued on our hike along the river where Tony showed us his ninja rock skipping and tree climbing skills. We played for a while before taking a trip to civilization (Walmart) so everyone could call their moms for Mother’s Day, as well as replace the air mattress and stock up on supplies. (one gallon of milk = one breakfast for our crew). We came back to our campsite in time for dinner and barbequed burgers. I was surprised by a bouquet of roses and a Mother’s Day card signed by my class. We ended the day with a relaxing evening sitting around the fire, hanging out, joking and laughing.

Day 3: (Pictures coming tomorrow)

We had a great time today, as expected. We got up at seven and drove through the Sierra foothills to Moaning Cavern. It was like going down the rabbit hole from Alice in Wonderland. 300 steps down, we were tiny in comparison to the giant cavern and formations around us. It was exhilarating to climb into the earth. Some kids were claustrophobic at first and the height where we started the descent to the bottom of the cavern was a little scary. This cavern can hold the statue of liberty inside it. Much like you would look at clouds and see shapes, our guide pointed out rock formations that looked like ET, Mufasa, a child’s arm, Homer Simpsons head, Jaws, etc.
It was so eerie when the lights went out and we were all silent. All you could hear was water dripping and it was impossible to see anything in front of your face. (Unless you were sitting next to Ashley’s glow in the dark shirt) After the tour, Sage and Moen ziplined through the forest. Our next stop was Sutters Gold Mine. What started as a beautiful sunny day turned into a downpour as we got out of the cars to begin the tour in open trucks. Fortunately our hair didn’t get wet on the short ride to the opening of the mine shaft due to the fashionable hard hats we were required to wear. We toured the mine and learned about the history of gold mines and the geology of the land around us. We traveled back to the campground sighting cows, horses, wild turkeys and gorgeous rolling hills. There was just enough time before dinner for the kids to take a trip down to the river and jump in. Tony took most of them down while I got tacos prepared with the help of Hunter and Brittney. Just as we were finishing there was a sudden rush of girls cramming into any available hot shower. They came in purple, blue and red and laughing after having a great time in the freezing river. After dinner we had an awesome class council around the fire. We finished up by recalling one memory or good thing about the trip so far. Below is what each student said:

Ashley – Writing things I want to let go of on pieces of paper and tossing them in the fire.
AJ – Freezing while fishing in the river.
Brittney – Everyone bonding and getting closer.
JC – Being the first guy to go completely in the freezing river!
James – Besides the homesickness, it’s been fun!
Hunter – Tony getting me a free short stack at IHOP after taking a survey.
Chana – I just think that all of it’s great. I loved when we all came back from the river and just jumped in the shower!
EZ – Building the fire and having everyone around it.
Lorenzo – Sitting around the fire with my friends.
KT – Falling “up” a tree at Sutter’s Mill.
David – Singing “I’m a Little Tea Pot”.
Elena – Skipping stones with Tony and getting to the bottom of Moaning Caverns and seeing the characters formed by the rocks.
Moen – Playing with the Frisbee and watching KT fall “up” a tree and watching Brittney eat ketchup.
Jacqueline – Swimming in a freezing river and still having fun!
Eddie – Being around the campfire with everyone.
Sage – Fun with the fire.
Melanie – Having an awkward, but funny conversation with the girls.
Lynn – This is the first time I’ve gone camping and I like the whole thing.

Sorry no pictures today. When we get to “civilization” tomorrow, we will download them.

Day 4:

Yesterday, we woke up bright and early to head out to the Old Sacramento School House. We met our “teacher” who converted us into an authentic 1850’s class, with boys and girls separated and sitting on opposing sides of the room. Each of the students had a small chalkboard and practiced their cursive as the teacher had everyone point out differences between the old classroom and classrooms of today. Kids got a kick out of hearing the old school rules and the amount of lashes unlucky troublemakers would receive. We moved on to Sutter’s Fort after a brief lunch at Subway.

Everyone enjoyed touring the headquarters of John Sutter, California’s enterprising businessman who owned the land on which his partner, John Marshall, discovered gold. The kids got to explore the fort and take in what life might have been like during Sutter’s time as they observed merchants and farmers at work behind the two and a half foot thick, eighteen feet high walls.

Day 5:

This morning, we went on our way to the California State Capitol building in Sacramento, where the students got a tour from Senator Joel Anderson! He showed us both the senate and the assembly halls and students’ jaws dropped as they marveled at the ornate ceilings. As we left the building, we were quickly greeted by a small news crew doing a story about a bill that, if it were passed, would force manufactures to reveal the ingredients of hot dogs! The anchor interviewed us and most people had blank stares as they contemplated what a hotdog could be made of.

Next, we moved on to the Jelly Belly Factory, where we made the last factory tour. We got to walk above the factory floor and watch the workers and machines create the delightful little treats that we’ve known and loved our whole lives. At the end, our tour guide gave us free Jelly Bellies and released us into the gift shop where kids tried every flavor from strawberry to dog food!

We headed west for San Francisco and are now in a beautiful home, courtesy of Elena’s aunt, to continue our San Francisco leg of the trip.

Day 6:

We slept in because we were all so exhausted from the past few days which have been packed with activities and moving around. Once everybody was ready, we drove down to Danielle’s house to do a service project. When we first got there Danielle and her roommates explained the way they live in an “intentional community.” They explained how they practice things such as living in a community, recycling, and self growth. They basically try to live off of what they have. They recycle everything they can and have a compost pile, which is the start of what we did there.

We had three groups, one was planting seeds, one was planting plants, and one was turning the compost. The group planting seeds first had to prepare the dirt, which Danielle had dug up from her backyard. The dirt was clay-like, which made it hard to work with and required a lot of preparation. We had to break up the dirt was there was very little clumps and take out all the weeds and pieced of plants and stuff. Next, we mixed it with some fresh compost. Then, we added Alfalfa Meal, mixing it all together. Once the dirt was ready, we poured it into boxes where we would then plant the seeds. We planted a variety of flowers, but I’m not really sure how that helped them out. Haha.

The plant planting group poured fertilizer on the ground and got it ready for the plants. They then dug little holes in the ground that were just big enough to fit the plants that they had in them. They planted flowers, which kind, I’m not sure.

The compost group was by far the most interesting and exciting group. When they got to the compost pile, they pulled off the cover and a wave of bugs poured out. Most of the girls in the group screamed, if not all of them. The pile of old, broken-down food was alive with bugs. It was just once huge mound of wreathing dirt.

As soon as we finished with the service project (helping Danielle and her roommates with their gardening), we ate lunch. Lunch consisted of or sandwiches we made and packed this morning, some fresh apples, kumquats, strawberries, and chips. As soon as we were done eating, we hit the road.

Three students went with Lisa to go get the Wharf passes so we could go do a bunch of fun stuff in the area. The other group went to Blazing Saddles to rent bikes to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, but still had to wait for us to get there and give them the wharf passes.

When we finally got to Blazing Saddles, we watched the bikers take off. As soon as they were gone we got back in the car and drove across the bridge just for fun and to see if we could see them. We got out of the other side and took pictures and looked out across the bay to the city and Alcatraz Island. When we got in the car and drove across the bridge, we looked all over for our class but we couldn’t see them, they weren’t that far yet. So we stopped at the famous Lombard street and drove down because we were finally in a car small enough (a Dodge journey, not the giant van) to drive down the windy, narrow path. When we got to the bottom we got out and took a picture. Then we went to the coolest music store ever, Amoeba Music. We searched through some music for a while then left to go back to Blazing Saddles.

When we got there, some kids were late, but everybody made it across the bridge and back. Yay! It was a long and tiring bike ride (two hours), but they made it! After that, everyone was hungry so we went to a pizza place in Fisherman’s Wharf, which was overly priced for the tiny pizzas. As soon as everyone was done eating, we decided to take advantage of our Wharf passes, so we went to the Wax Museum. On the way there, we passed by the Rainforest Café and went inside. We planned on getting dessert there but didn’t exactly have the time, considering we wanted to do as much as we could. So we looked around for a while and bought some stuff then continued on our way to the Wax Museum.

We got there and everybody went through at their own pace, taking pictures and admiring the great works of realistic art. When we got out of there, we kind of just wandered around. Some kids went into a Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum thing. At the end of the night, we got home late, and everybody was tired, but we still had packing to do considering we were planning on trying to get out of the house at 8:30 the next morning. After a long day, we finally all went to sleep, ready for the next morning.

Day 7:

We woke up early, having to pack and have everything ready within the next hour. We got packed and were ready to go at 8:40, only ten minutes behind schedule, which is a lot better than usual! Yay us! The first thing we did was drive to Chinatown. The way there, everybody in Lisa’s car was dead asleep, so by the time we got there, nobody wanted to get out. We decided we didn’t need to go, and left the other groups to get out for an hour and look around while we went to get our Alcatraz tickets. They went to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, which was tiny and everything was handmade.

Lisa’s car went to get the Alcatraz tickets and waited around for a little bit for all the other kids. When they got there, we all got in line and waited to get on the boat. When we got to the island, we got to go inside and we got audio players which played directions of where to go and gave us some information on what we were looking at. They were basically recorded tour guides. We got to walk all the way through the prison and learned a lot about it. When we finally left and got back to San Fran, we got on a double-decker tour bus around the city. We drove in a complete circle, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and by a bunch of other tourist attractions, listening to facts about them along the way.

We got off the bus and went to Subway to eat lunch, it was late and not everyone got to eat breakfast due to our rushing. We ate and left, going back to our cars to leave San Francisco and head toward Big Sur.

(Day 6 and 7 written by Ashley on the way to Big Sur)

Day 8:

Last night we got to Big Sur after sunset and had to set up in the dark. Not fun. So we got all set up and went to sleep pretty early. This morning we woke up under gigantic Redwood trees, had pancakes and hot chocolate for breakfast and left for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We all had a great time going through and seeing all the sea birds, fish, and other marine life. There were a bunch of cool touch pools and other interactive things.

On the way back to our campsite, we stopped to hike down a short trail to see Mc Way Falls, an 80 foot waterfall that poured right down onto a beach. The water was incredibly clear. It was beautiful. We even saw a proposal written in the sand, “Natalie, will you marry me?” It was really cute.

When we finally started going back to camp, we decided to stop at Pfeiffer Beach instead. After driving two miles down a bumpy, windy road, we got to this beautiful beach. We were virtually unprepared, considering we didn’t have time to go back to the camp and get bathing suits on and stuff. But either way, the kids went in the freezing water and had fun. Others climbed the rocks and explored.

We got back to camp and it was freezing so we started a fire and made dinner. Hunter’s dad and sister showed up on his motorcycle and joined us for the evening. After spaghetti and veggies, kids separated and played flashlight tag around the campground. That’s when the rain started. Because of the lush Redwood trees, there was some protection from the rain so we sat around the fire and made s’mores. Eventually it was time to call it quits and seek refuge from the rain inside our tents.

Day 9:
We woke up to sprinkling after a long night of pouring rain. Most tents were soaked and we were all cold. We packed as well as we could with everything wet and muddy and left Big Sur for our homes. Our cars smelled of wet dog, we were damp and tired, but we knew we were heading home after an awesome trip. Nearly everyone commented on how much fun we had. It was difficult to say goodbye but exciting to be back to family and the luxuries of home.

The Month of March

2011-03-28T08:31:00.000-07:00

UPCOMING:

Family Night: Thursday 5:30-7:00. I will provide pizza. Please RSVP so I know how much to get. We will go over final plans for Sacramento trip, including itinerary, money and packing list. I will also have computers up with the websites and programs available to you as additional learning resources for your family. Christine will be meeting in the lower bay at 6:30 with all school announcements and information about next year.

No School Friday April 1. This is not an April Fool's joke! It is Teacher Day only.

Spring Break next week. See you back at school Monday April 11. Enjoy the long break!

Yearbooks for sale! $15 Purchase by March 31st and a portion comes back to our school. Last day to purchase is April 29th.

MATH:

NEW MATH GROUPS were started last week. If you are not aware, our 7th and 8th graders have a wide variety of knowledge in math. Some students never had the opportunity to master basic math skills, while other students are far advanced. Although I have made a huge effort to make sure all students are learning in class, it is very difficult with the limited time we have to satisfy the needs of every student. I have found some students are checked out because they are lost, while others are checked out because they are bored. I was teaching three levels at one time and feeling as if many students were not getting the attention they needed. I made the decision last week to break my class up into skills based groups rather than grade based. The periods have been broken up into Advanced Math/Skills section and a Middle School Math section. While I am teaching Advanced Math, Christine and Trish have taken on the Math Skills class in the commons for those students needing extra practice. So far, it seems to be going smoothly and I have felt a sigh of relief from students as they are getting THEIR needs met.

SCIENCE:

We had an awesome fieldtrip to Camp Pendleton on Tuesday for our HOVERCRAFT PROJECT. Students saw and got to board a real military hovercraft or LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion). Looking at the design, we were able to understand how our own hovercraft designs can be adjusted to work more efficiently. Everyone should be done with the assembly of their hovercrafts by Thursday Night's Family Night. We plan on racing them On Tuesday after spring break for the whole school to see.

Students worked on Zingy Lesson 6: Topics 4-6 in class. If your student is not that far, please help them work on it at home.

Velocity experiments are due Wed March 30. Students should have: 1) A model or diagram of their experiment. 2) Conduct the experiment. 3) A written description of the Materials and Procedures needed to perform the experiment. 4)Written conclusions about what they learned and how this experiment taught them about speed and velocity.

Supplies and Drivers needed

2011-02-27T23:47:00.000-08:00

UPCOMING:

A possible change in Friday lunch fundraiser: We are going to try out Panda Express or Subway Sandwiches for the month of March.
Beach Bums Club Field Trip Change: We will be going to La Jolla Children's Pool on Friday during clubs. Drivers needed.
7th and 8th grade Camp Pendleton Hovercraft Fieldtrip Tuesday March 8. DRIVERS NEEDED. We need license plate numbers for military clearance for all drivers asap by Wed March 2.

MATH:
EVENT PLANNING PROJECT is well under way. Students are planning activities and troubleshooting snags in their planning. This past week students learned how to convert decimals and fractions to percentages.

SCIENCE:
Our HOVERCRAFT PROJECT started Monday. Students were introduced to Newton's First Law of Motion while building mini hovercrafts with cds and balloons. On Tuesday and Thursday, students were given a set of instructions and a supply list for the construction of their 4ft hovercrafts. If you can help with the supplies, we would really appreciate it. Our goal is to start working on the construction next Tuesday and Thursday. I will have the plywood cut outside of class. Students have decided within their groups their team name and theme. The designs are looking fantastic! Students should be well into Zingy Learning. On Wednesday we worked on Lesson 6: Topics 1-3 in class. If your student is not that far, please help them work on it at home.

BEACHBUMS:Our Beach Bums Club went to Sea World last Friday. The storm held off long enough for us to have a beautiful afternoon. Our guide was Keith Yip, curator of mammals. He took us behind the scenes where we got to learn how the animals are fed and cared for. We saw a baby harbor seal, a green sea turtle and a deaf pilot whale, all rescued from the wild and otherwise would have died. We also got up close and personal with many other animals. Mr. Yip was very impressed with how well our students listened and paid attention during the tour. I hope we can build a relationship with Sea World so we can do this again.

Projects Projects!

2011-02-20T23:11:00.000-08:00

Time is flying by!
UPCOMING THIS WEEK: Whole school yearbook photo on Thursday at 2:00. Turn in Vons receipts and Box Tops. Pizza Friday(we need help picking up pizza)

MATH:
We are well on our way into the planning process of our EVENT PLANNING PROJECT. Our essential questions for this project is "How do the PARTS contribute to the WHOLE? Throughout the planning, students will incorporate the math concepts of fractions, decimals and percentages into their planning.

7th graders chose to work on 3 events: Field Day for grades 6 thru 8, School Sleepover(Lock In) for grades 4 thru 8, and a 7th grade Beach Bonfire.

8th graders are working on 4 things. One event is 8th Grade Promotion. The other three involve our Sacramento Trip. One group is working on Food and Supplies, another is working on the Itinerary and the last group is working on Lodging.

SCIENCE:
We finally started Zingy Learning! Students were given their own username and password so they can use this program at their own pace at school or at home. We are currently completing Lesson 6 - Motion. This coordinates with our HOVERCRAFT PROJECT starting Monday. Students will learn about speed, velocity, acceleration, bouyancy, friction and momentum during this fun project. Students will be constructing 4 ft diameter hovercrafts out of plywood, plastic and a leafblower. If anyone has access to plywood or gas powered leafblowers, please let me know. The plywood does not need to be new.

BEACHBUMS:

Our Beach Bums Club went to Mission Beach last Friday. We braved the weather and had a great time picking up trash and walking on the jetty. We almost had to cancel because we did not have enough drivers. Thank you Jaq's mom and Austin's mom and Fortunately we had some non parent drivers who also helped out. Thank you Luisa, Julian and Michelle.

Our next trip this upcoming Friday is behind the scenes at Sea World. Again I need help with drivers! This trip is a rare opportunity that not many kids get to get up close and personal with dolphins, pilot whales and other sea animals.

******I have a special request: It seems that some 7th and 8th graders do not feel a sense of urgency to turn in work on time. All Detective Reports were due on Tuesday. Out of 10 groups, I only have 3 group's reports turned in. I would like to debrief both classes and uncover the guilty suspect but I will not do that until all reports are in. Please ask your student if assignments have been turned in.

End of Semester

2011-02-10T16:16:00.000-08:00

This past month has been a busy one! We went on two field trips, had an eighth grade beach bar-b-que, had an awesome intern, Katy with us as well as do a lot of school stuff!

In math, students studied the properties of equality, solving one, two and multi-step equations and combining like terms. We learned about factoring and the beginnings of fractions. We are kicking off an "Event Planning" project next Tuesday where we are looking at "How do the parts contribute to the whole?" We will be investigating in detail the concepts of fractions, decimals and percentages.

Our science mystery is almost solved! Students interviewed suspects and investigated evidence for a mock arson this past month. They are putting their finishing touches on their Detective Reports as I write this. After wrapping it up next week, I am introducing our new Zingy Learning Online Science program. This will be an ongoing program that will be integrated into our science curriculum. Our next science project is buiding hovercrafts. More info coming soon!

Clubs started this month. I am part of the Beach Bums Club. We are learning about sea creatures from the ocean and will have three fieldtrips coming up in the next few Fridays. Some of our eighth graders are in my club. Ask your student which club they joined.

Report Cards went out this past week. If you have any questions or would like to come in to discuss them or your student, please see me.

Spring is in the air and our middle schoolers are maturing. It is so fun to watch how much they have grown since the beginning of the year.

Last week before the holidays!

2010-12-13T11:45:00.000-08:00

Two thank yous:
I neglected to acknowledge all of those who helped with our last Family Night Potluck. We had an amazing turnout! It was nice to visit with everyone and enjoy the yummy food. Thank you to everyone who contributed!

Our UCSD fieldtrip was a great success because of the help of our drivers. We couldn't have done it without you. Our Student Ambassador, Bijan, told us that he thought we were a great class and he appreciated how well behaved and attentive we were compared to most middle school student tours he gives!

Upcoming Events
• Pizza Friday Fundraiser $3 one slice $4 two slices

• 7th Grade Bake Sale: Friday

• Winter Break: Dec 20-Jan 2

• No School Monday Jan. 3: Professional Growth Day for teachers

• Jan 20 Reily's Farm in San Bernardino(2 hours north). This all day trip is a living history exploration of the Revolutionary War. The trip includes dramatic and cultural workshops, a light lunch and two mock battle scenarios. The cost is $20 which includes the fieldtrip, lunch and gas. Please bring money asap as we need to pay a deposit now. So far we have these drivers: Lisa(6), Tony (4), Crystal (4), Kaleb (4), Andrew C (3), Andrew G (3), James (4), Elena(5), Brittney (?)

Class Happenings
Math:
Students had a math test today covering functions and graphing. Our next unit includes solving algebraic equations in single step, two step and multiple steps. The goal of this unit is to help students look at an equation and break it apart into smaller, understandable steps. Algebraic equations are all around us. We use them in science, money, measurement, food etc. My hope is to take away the fear of "the algebra monster" by giving students the tools to solve any math problem.

Science:
We are almost ready to present our "second round" of posters. Students chose elements or groups of elements from the periodic table to create a poster and presentation. I have seen a great improvement as well as dedication to researching the information compared to the first time around with the atomic theory posters. We took a little more time than I expected to finish up but the results far outweigh the time lost. I am using this time to teach the importance of doing excellent work as opposed to mediocre work. During presentations of their elements, students will also be assessed on their listening as well as speaking skills.

2010-12-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

Two weeks left until winter break! We have much to do!

Upcoming Events

• Friday December 10 7th and 8th grade Field Trip to UCSD
So far we have enough drivers for 35 students. We need 40. Here is what I have so far. () = number of passengers:
Lisa(6), Andrew C (3), Maggie (4), Crystal (4), Eddie (4), James(4), Brittney (6), Tony (4), Andrew G (?)

• Jan 20 Reily's Farm in San Bernardino(2 hours north). This all day trip is a living history exploration of the Revolutionary War. The trip includes dramatic and cultural workshops, a light lunch and two mock battle scenarios. The cost is $20 which includes the fieldtrip, lunch and gas. Please bring money asap as we need to pay a deposit now. So far we have these drivers: Lisa(6), Tony (4), Crystal (4), Kaleb (4), Andrew C (3), Andrew G (3), James (4), Elena(5), Brittney (?)

Class Happenings
Math:
Students continued learning about and identifying the slope and y-intercept. We finished the Stretching Slinkies Project and started Who Wins the Race?, an inquiry into how do we figure out a word problem? Students are using graphs diagrams and words to explain how they came up with their conclusions. Eventually students will use their conclusions to determine slopes and y-intercepts.

Science
We critiqued our posters about the discovery of atoms and will be using that information to create even BETTER posters to represent the periodic table, metals, nonmetals and metalloids. This information will be used for the mystery next week.

2010-11-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving break!

Upcoming Events

• Family Night this Thursday Dec 2 Potluck!
Please bring favorite dishes according to your last name:
A-K: Main Dish to serve 6-8 people
L-R: Side Dish plus 1- 2Liter drink
S-Z: Dessert plus 1-2Liter drink

• No School Friday Dec 3 Teacher Professional Development Day

• Friday December 10 7th and 8th grade Field Trip to UCSD(drivers needed for 40 kids. please let me know asap if you can drive)

• Jan 20 Reily's Farm in San Bernardino(2 hours north). This all day trip is a living history exploration of the Revolutionary War. The trip includes dramatic and cultural workshops, a light lunch and two mock battle scenarios. The cost is $20 which includes the fieldtrip, lunch and gas. Please bring money asap as we need to pay a deposit now. Drivers needed!

Class Happenings
Math:
Students continued learning about and identifying the slope and y-intercept. Using pattern blocks, we determined equations of lines. We also learned how to graph a line in just a few seconds using only the slope and y-intercept.
Science:
Before the break, students designed posters to present information they learned about the discovery of atoms and elements. We also"created" edible cookie atoms to understand the structure of the atom and where protons neutrons and electrons are located. We are gathering more information about elements this week before our actual investigation into a “crime scene” that takes place at IA next week.

Fundraising update: We earned over $100 at our second Pizza day! We have over $1100 in our account for Sacramento. Our goal is $10,500 (500 per student)though so we have a lot of work to do!

2010-11-15T18:39:00.000-08:00

****A special thank you Crystal’s Family for hosting our garage sale on November 6. Thanks to donations from IA families, we raised $695.37 for our Sacramento trip!

Upcoming Events
• Pizza Fridays I need parent help setting up and picking up pizzas!
• No School Next Week Nov 22-26! Happy Thanksgiving
• Family Night Thursday Dec 2 Potluck! Bring your favorite family dish
• No School Friday Dec 3 Teacher Professional Development Day
• Friday December 10 7th and 8th grade Field Trip to UCSD(drivers needed)

Class Happenings
The last couple of weeks in math have been devoted to introducing functions, function rules and the Cartesian coordinate plane. We played Human Twister to solidify the meaning of the origin, the x-axis, y-axis and graphing ordered pairs. Students are learning how to define slope and y-intercept and use them in linear equations written in the slope-intercept form. We started an ongoing Stretching Slinkies experiment where students gathered data about pennies and nickles. Students graphed the information they gathered and will be using those graphs to find function rules, slope and y-intercept for their data.

Science this month was devoted to more hands on labs. In the wrap-up of our "What's the Matter?" unit, we investigated solids, liquids and gases and their characteristic properties. Students created a non-Newtonian fluid – sometimes known as oobleck or sticky sand. It’s a liquid, no, it’s a solid, no wait, it’s a liquid again! We discovered that one plus one does not always equal two by measuring the height of two cups of water and then measuring the height of one cup water plus one cup sugar. We watched a Styrofoam cup painted like a witch “melt” when set in acetone. We just started our new unit on Atoms and Elements. Our culminating activity will include an investigation into a “crime scene” that takes place at IA.

If you haven’t heard, the 8th graders have been busy raising money and learning real life math skills at the same time. Before our first Friday Pizza Day, students estimated that about 1/3 of the students at IA would order pizza. They calculated the cost of supplies, a breakdown of individual meals, and profit margin. It was exciting to see that our estimations were spot on! We estimated we would sell 67 meals and the actual total was 65. Our class profited $105 after expenses. We look forward to doing it again this upcoming Friday.

FYI the Academic Language Quiz 5 included the words: Domain, Range, Coordinate Plane, Axis, Origin, Ordered Pair, Function, and Function rule I was impressed with how many students did really well on this quiz! I think they are getting the hang of it!
Academic Language Quiz 6 is this Friday(Nov 19)
Math terms:
Slope
Y-intercept
Linear Equation
Slope-intercept Form
Science terms:
Atoms
Model
Theory
Nucleus
Electron
Electron Cloud

Week 7

2010-10-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Events

Picture Day Thursday Oct. 28
7th grade 10:00 - 10:35
8th grade 10:40 - 11:20
8th grade Sacramento Trip Fundraiser Garage Sale
WHEN: November 6, 2010 from 7:00am – 5:00pm
November 7, 2010 from 7:00am – 1:00pm
WHERE: 3622 Sunbird Way, San Diego (Tierrasanta)
Details coming

I want to thank all of our families who attended Student Led Conferences this week. If you did not meet with me, you can still make an appointment.

Although the turnout for Family Night was not the best, we still made $215! Thank you to everyone who brought food in, helped sell tickets, helped set up and serve. Almost every student was involved with this event!

Class Happenings
We spent Monday math honing our addition/subtraction integer skills one last time before moving on. Because of the rest of the week being half days we did not have a "traditional" math period. Math was integrated into our science labs.

Science this week was devoted to hands on labs. In "What's the Matter?" we investigated density, mass, volume, pressure and temperature.
*Our yummy candy bar lab helped students understand how density is a measure of mass per volume. They determined the mass from the actual packaging and the volume by measuring length x width x height. Reminder: Density = Mass/Volume or D = M/V.
*Balloons, boiling water, a soda can, and cold water helped us to discover what happens with changes in temperature. We learned that molecules get excited when they get hot and pressure changes. Parents: do YOU know what happens to a balloon when you put it into a freezer or into boiling water? Does it pop?melt?disintegrate? How about when you heat a soda can with about a centimeter full of water to boiling and then invert it into a bowl of cold water? Does it create steam?explode?float?sink? Although those are some of the ideas we thought might happen, we found out what actually happens by experiment! Next week we will find out why it happened.

Because of conferences, short days and no school Friday, we did not have our weekly Academic Language quiz. We will have it next Friday Oct 22.
Academic Language Quiz 4 will include the following terms:

density
mass
volume
pressure
temperature
Boyle's Law
Charles' Law

Week 5 and 6

2010-10-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS:
*Minimum days Tuesday, Wednesday,Thursday.
*No school Friday. It is teacher Professional Devolopment day.
*Please contact me if you have not signed up for STUDENT LED CONFERENCES yet. Right now I only have seven students who have signed up. I want to meet with EVERY family this week.
*Our class is in charge of dinner for Family Night this coming Thursday(this is a class fundraiser!)
*During Family Night I will be holding a PARENT MEETING to discuss cost and fundraising ideas for our Eighth grade Northern California class trip at the end of the year.

CLASS HAPPENINGS
In our math class, we finished our tessalations and worked on addition and subtraction of integers. I am stressing the importance of practicing the basic integer addition and subtraction skills. Over the years most of the mistakes I see while solving complex algebraic problems is in simple addition/subtraction errors.

During science we practiced using the scientific method and writing a laboratory report. Students were given the challenge to create a car that rolls and carries an eraser using only two pieces of paper, a 16cm piece of wire and glue. It was fun to see their ideas and their reasoning for creating their cars. We started our chemistry unit "What's the MATTER?" Students were introduced to the three states of matter: solids liquids and gases.

During our project time on Wednesdays, students created a piece of artwork to portray their Summer vignettes written in Tony's class. Students made chalk and tempera paint in my class and many students used their own created colors as their medium for their artwork.

Academic Language Quiz 2 consisted of the following science terms:

scientific method
question/observation
hypothesis
materials
procedure
data analysis/results
conclusion

Academic Language Quiz 3 consisted of the following math and science terms:

Integer
Whole Number
Absolute Value
Matter
Solid
Liquid
Gas

Week 4

2010-09-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

A special thanks to James and his mom for bringing Moon Cakes and other snacks on Wednesday. The Chinese Moon Festival is a traditional Chinese event that is celebrated during the full moon in September.

We had a great time on Friday at lunchtime. We got pizza and went to the park. I plan on doing that every other week just to break the monotony of going to the upper bay for lunch. During class council last week, we talked about ways to make lunch more enjoyable. I agreed to taking kids to the park once a week and having lunch in the commons on the off weeks. If any parents would like to help with this, I would appreciate the company!

One of my goals this year is to have all students using ACADEMIC LANGUAGE. Knowing and understanding the vocabulary of math and science will aid students in grasping the concepts.
Students will be quizzed weekly on new words related to the concepts being taught.
Week 1 Academic Language Quiz consisted of the following math terms:

constant
consecutive numbers
symmetry
translation
reflection
line of symmetry
rotation
tesselation

Our math class this past week looked more like an art class. Students made tesselations using equilateral triangles and symmetric designs they created. In science we talked about the two main concepts we will cover this year. Namely, Chemistry and Physics. We took a look at the scientific method by guessing how many marbles and what types of dividers in 7 sealed boxes. Using only observations from the outside of the box, students formed hypotheses stating what the inside of the box looked like.

UPCOMING EVENTS: Student-Led Conferences Oct 11-14 minimum days

week 2 and week 3

2010-09-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

What a great year this is turning out to be! I can say with surety that this school year kicked off so much smoother than the last two years. I feel privileged to be a partof such a great endeavor. Students are getting into the routines of school and reconnecting with their friends as well as making new ones. We have six students in 8th grade and seven (and counting) in 7th grade who are new to IA this year. They have blended right in to our school culture.

Yesterday, during morning meeting, we reflected on what is different about our school compared to other schools we attended. Here are some of their responses:

Teachers help me when I don't understand instead of make me feel dumb.

Teachers actually listen to me and care about me.

I like that we learn things "hands on" instead of reading about it in a book or memorize using flash cards.

This school is open and inclusive - students decide.

Kids are nicer.

Teachers make kids feel comfortable.

We have group work and collaborate.

The past two weeks were spent establishing our schedule, introducing our "Me project", and diving into math.

This year in math, all students will concentrate on five core concepts in order to perfect their algebraic thinking: 1) Equivalence 2) Patterns and Functions 3) Variables 4) Graphing and 5) Mathematical writing

For the past two weeks we have been looking at patterns and learning how to represent them on T-Charts. Some students have been able to turn their understanding of their charts into algebraic expressions. Ask your student about Leapfrog, Flying V or Pattern Blocks.

Thank you to those parents who came to back to school night last Thursday. Those of you who couldn't make it, please contact me. I am in need for volunteers to help me in and out of the class(especially a room parent). Also come sign up for a time slot for Student Led Conferences to be held the week of October 11 through Oct 14.

Lisa's Class Week 1 Update

2010-09-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

ATTENTION! IA NEEDS STUDENTS! Although the 8th grade class and 3rd grade class are nearly full, some classes need more kids! Please let your friends and neighbors know about Innovations Academy. They can enroll immediately. Contact me if you have questions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We made it through the first week of school! I had a great time seeing old faces and getting to know new ones. I am sure this year will be another great one at Innovations Academy.

This week we spent most of our days with the seventh and eighth graders combined. Because Tony and I will both be seeing your students, we want to form a united front when it comes to classroom procedures, positive discipline and schoolwork expectations. We spent this week setting goals and expectations, finding out about each other, creating posters to promote a positive community and most of all, having fun!

Next week we will begin our first project and ease into "real" schoolwork! I will be assessing all students to place them into pre-algebra or algebra classes. Our first math unit will center around symmetry and patterns. We will kick off science learning about chemistry and chemical reactions.

Some reminders:

Kyle's birthday party is this Saturday at 6:30 at Corvette Diner

NO SCHOOL MONDAY! Happy Labor Day!

Please bring school supplies by Tuesday. Return any unfinished school paperwork to Donna.

School lunches begin Tuesday. You must pre-order a day ahead. Check out our school website for more information.

Back To School Night is Sept 16th

Have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend. I look forward to another great week next week.

2010-2011 Supply list

2010-07-31T14:54:00.000-07:00

Hello Parents,
I hope you are having a great summer!

Here is the recommended Class Supply List (Don't panic if you don't have it all on the first day! This is a list of things used throughout the year)

I have already purchased 2 spiral notebooks(1 for math, 1 for science) per student. They were on sale for 6 cents each! Look for deals at Staples, Office Depot, Wal-Mart. Each week they have something different on sale.

· ONE large 3 inch binder(to be kept at school)

-Loose leaf notebook paper- College Rule preferred

· Dividers- 5 count

· Large durable pencil pouch or box

· Several #2 pencils

· Pencil sharpener with cover

· 2 blue or black pens

· 2 red correcting pens

· Highlighter (3 various colors)

· Thin colored markers

· Colored pencils-12 count

· Eraser

· Scissors

· Glue sticks

· One package lined Index Cards (3x5)

· Quad (Graph) paper

Day 6 Alcatraz and the Wharf / Day 7 Bus Tour and Bike Ride

2010-05-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

(Notice the homeless guy in our group pic. He wouldn't move)

Day 7: This may be our last day posting. There is a rumor there is no cell or internet service at Big Sur. We will find out when we get there! We are loading up, doing a city bus tour and bike ride over the Golden Gate bridge. We should be on the road around 3:oo. Here are some pics from yesterday:

Day 6: Today we woke up early and made our way to the wharf by shuttling kids in one van. Yikes! The trip to Alcatraz was so fun. Much improved since I was a girl and took the tour. We watched a video about the origins of Alcatraz as a bird sanctuary, military base, prison, Indian land for 19 months and finally a national park. After that a ranger took us on a walking tour about the attempted escapes there by prisoners. Last we took an audio tour of the prison. It was narrated as if you were part of history, with the sounds of what it must have been like during that time. We got back on the ferry to drizzles so we decided to forego our bike ride til later and went back to the hotel. We left again for the wharf for dinner and a night tour bus(which ended up cancelling due to the weather) We ended up shopping for a few hours on the wharf, watching the sea lions on pier 39 and playing arcade games.

Day 5 Fairfield and San Francisco

2010-05-18T22:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry no photos today. We are all tucked into our hotel rooms and my camera battery died. Will get em posted tomorrow. Today was all about relaxing. This morning we took off from Sacramento and hopefully left behind everyone's allergies. We had all been sneezing since we got there.

In Fairfield, we found the Jelly Belly factory. On day 1 of our trip, after driving for hours and hours I started imagining a place similar to McDonalds play place where you can play in the ballpit, except instead of the balls, it had Jelly Bellys. That would be my dream come true!
Anyway, we got to tour the factory and find out everything there is to know about Jelly Belly beans. They gave samples of everything including the gross ones like skunk scent and dog food. Lucas tricked me into eating what I thought was a peach one. Turned out it was barf flavor. Ick. We had a great time and left wired on sugar.

An hour or so later, we made it to our hotel in San Francisco. From the outside it doesn't look too great but the inside is pretty decent. The elevator looks as if it is the original. The hotel itself looks like it has been around for a hundred years. The only problem with this town is the parking. There is none. We did not add that into our budget and it looks like we will be spending about 25 per car per day and the same for the trailer. We are getting creative and having to shuttle kids in one car. Just adds to the adventure right?

We got our wharf passes for tomorrow and spent the evening near Union Station eating at Buca di Beppo (in the Pope room at a huge round table) and window shopping. Everyone is wiped out and refeuling for a fun day at the wharf tomorrow. First on the itinerary, Alcatraz Island.

Day 4 Capitol Building and Old Schoolhouse

2010-05-17T23:10:00.000-07:00

Yes we went to school today too! An old schoolhouse

Today we spent the day in downtown Sacramento. The capitol building was fun to see. We had a tour guide who took us through the different floors of the building. We got to see a live session in the assembly chambers and see bills get passed. We went into the Senate chamber and saw where the governors office was. We learned a lot of history about the capitol building and California.

Later we went to an old schoolhouse from the 1800s. We all agreed it didn't sound fun. Kids were in the same room from first thru eighth grade. You had to sit at your desk with your hands folded in front of you. When you answered a question or were called on, you had to stand up, curtsy or bow and then speak. Teachers had switches and weren't afraid to use em! You would get 4 lashes if you played with someone of the opposite sex on the playground or climbed higher than three feet up a tree(1 lash per foot). A student would NEVER sass a teacher. Teachers had to get to school at seven to heat up the classroom with a wood stove so it was warm. Female teachers were not allowed to marry or frequent ice cream parlors!

We tried to go to Sutter's Fort today and remembered the reason we were going to go yesterday....It was closed today. Due to budget cuts of course!

Rai getting a lashing

Day3 Sacramento Civil War Reinactment

2010-05-16T22:56:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning at our camp site a little tired and took our time getting to the civil war reinactment.

We traveled back in time again and got to walk through the campsites of the Confederate and Union Soldiers. We saw what life was like on the battlefront. We got to play games and even practice skills learned during our Edudance MAPS class. Warren and Clarissa got to show off their talents doing the Virginia Reel. We met Abraham Lincoln and he told us his history before becoming president. He was quite the storyteller and poet. After he gave the Gettysburg Address, we witnessed a battle scene. It was loud! The cannons were deafening. We called it an early day after the battle and spent the rest of the day lounging around the campsite.

Day 2 Panning for gold

2010-05-15T23:14:00.000-07:00

We woke up at the crack of dawn to the sounds of the neighbor's donkey. I was amazed at how wide awake and talkative the kids were, especially because it was three hours before the start of a regular school day and usually I don't see that type of animation until noon! Rob started us off with a history and science lesson about how gold is formed and where. Did you know we are in the third gold rush right now? The second one happened during the great depression when more gold was found then than by the 49rs.

We were on a private claim and were the only ones around. It was absolutely beautiful and warm. We found out last weekend was freezing and hailing. We lucked out. The kids learned how to pan and sluice. Almost everyone found something. (ask about "fly poop"!) Rob was so kind as to leave us with a parting gift each of a piece of gold worth $15-25.
We had a great time. As we were packing up to go to Sacramento, Ken, our other gold teacher, suggested we stay a little longer in town and visit Columbia State Park. Not doubting a local's suggestion, we followed his advice, postponed our trip to Sutters Fort til tomorrow, and found ourselves traveling back in time to a part of town left in the 1840's. Main street included shops with pioneer stuff, old fashioned candies, a blacksmith and livery shop and historic artifacts.

We finally got on the road around 1:00 and made our way down the beautiful mountain landscape into endless grape vineyards and fruit trees. On arriving in Sacramento, we found our campground, argued over whether boys or girl got the "better" campsite. (Girls won this time...) We spent a relaxing afternoon unpacking, paddle boats, swimming, playing cards and eventually winding down for a new day tomorrow.

Sacramento trip Day 1

2010-05-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

After a few technical difficulties, we finally got on the road around 10:30. We spent the next 10 hours blasting music, snacking and many pitstops. One of the highlights of the road trip was the ranch that we passed that had llamas, cows, goats, ostrich and.... a camel! At around nine o'clock at night, we arrived at our destination 49rs Gold Mining Supplies. We drove up a dark dirt road with nothing but woods around us(and a few bats). Reminded us of a great place to tell ghost stories or a scene from a horror movie. At the top of the hill we met Rob, our gold mining guide. He graciously welcomed us into his home, warning us of wild animals and showing us a vault full of gold(and the artillery to protect it and his family..yikes!). We were wondering where the last car of our caravan was when we got a call that they couldn't make it. Rob had to come to the rescue to tow Sondra up the remainder of the hill. After a small scare when the key to the trailer with all of our luggage disappeared, Gil found it lodged in the drink holder. We set up our sleeping bags, cots air mattresses in the huge storage supply shop on his property (pictures coming tomorrow). The air is so fresh out here, the stars are amazing. The kids are conking out and aren't that excited to get started at 5:45 in the morning!!!! We will be going deep into the mountains to a place called Woods Creek to pan for gold. Can't wait!

Last Week: May 3-7

2010-05-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

We spent most of the week in STAR testing but still managed to fit in some hard work too!

8th grade:

Algebra class included learning about quadratic equations (parabolas) and the role of "a", "b" and "c" when determining the shape and size and location of parabolas. Julian D. was a great peer tutor working with the Pre-Algebra students this week. He taught them geometry basics of lines and angles.
In Physical Science, we started our buoyancy unit, "Walking on Water" . We hope to design a device that will allow us to walk over water using concepts of Archimedes' principle, buoyant force, water pressure, and fluids.

7th grade:

We have been brushing up on the pre-algebra concepts of percentages and probability. For the rest of the year, our math concepts will be presented using food! We have a field trip to the grocery store on Thursday to plan a meal for an end of the year beach party. Students will use their math skills to determine costs, price per serving, doubling or tripling recipes, conversion factors, etc.
In Life Science, we learned more about food webs in the Mono Lake ecosystem. They organized individual organisms as producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers and decomposers.

Both 7th and 8th graders are well into the construction phase of their Solar Oven Project. Students completed a webquest to learn about solar ovens, solar energy, transmission, absorbtion and reflection of the suns rays. In groups, they created designs for their solar oven. The next phase includes creating a marketing plan for their oven, preparing a meal and assembling a class cookbook with their recipes. It has been so fun watching the construction process. Students have gone above and beyond, even getting Skip (our resident woodworker!) involved in cutting plywood. I am interested in seeing how the reflective properties of music cds help to heat up one of the group's ovens!

Update

2010-05-11T10:37:00.000-07:00

We are in charge of Taco Night on Thursday.

Food Assignments( for about 125-150 people):
Beans and Rice: Lisa
Taco Shells(small flour): Nick (100), Arturo (100), Rai (100)
Taco Meat: Hunter , Warren
Cheese: Canelle, Clarissa
Chopped Lettuce: Ben (5 heads)
Chopped Tomatoes: Amanda
Salsa: Lucas, Julian D
Chips: Julian V. , Adrian, Maston

Don't forget, bring your luggage on Thursday night. We will leave on Friday around 9:00 am instead of 6:00 am, otherwise we are stuck in LA morning traffic.

Sacramento Trip Itinerary and Packing List

2010-05-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

Itinerary for 8th grade educational field trip to Sacramento

Thursday May 13
During family night (our class is providing taco night), drop off luggage.

Friday May 14 (Arrive by 6:00am)
· Drive from Innovations Academy to Columbia, California.
· Sleep in the 49er Mining Supplies shop (free)

Saturday May 15
· Early AM panning for gold excursion on private claim.
· Drive from Columbia, CA to Sacramento KOA
· Sutter’s Fort Reenactment: Visitors have the opportunity to meet pioneers who left their homes and braved the journey to Sutter’s Fort at the dawn of the California Gold Rush. Hands-on activities led by experienced docents change daily and include blacksmiths, bakers, doctors, vaqueros and more at this midtown Sacramento historic park

Saturday May 15 & Sunday May 16
· Civil War Reenactment all day · Participate in the 1860's: tour Civilian, Yankee and Confederate Camps, enjoy music, food, battle re-enactments (complete with canon fire), interact with living history·

Monday May 17
· Tour State Capitol
· Old Sacramento Living History Program lead tour
· Empire Mine Historic Park

Tuesday May 18
· Jelly Belly free factory tour (Lisa's favorite candy)
· Free Sticker Factory Tour
· $3 Each Cheese Factory Tour
· Double Decker City Tour
· Fisherman’s Wharf
· Night double decker tour

Wednesday May 19
· Alcatraz Island
· Book Bindery/printing press tour
· Fortune cookie Factory tour
· Pier 39 Aquarium
· Ride a Cable Car
· 2 hour bike ride :)
· Wax Museum
· Tour Sourdough bakery

Thursday May 20
· Drive to Big Sur campground

Friday May 21
· Hang out in Big Sur
· We will rent inner tubes and float down the river (bring swim suits, water shoes, and goggles) ·

Saturday May 22
· Drive home to San Diego late afternoon/evening ·

What to bring:
Basic clothing for a week(we will do laundry at campsites with washing machines)
Sleeping Bag
Pillow
Air Mattress(optional)
Swim Suit
Water shoes
Sun Screen
Shade Hat
Jacket (San Francisco can be very cold, even in summer)
At least 2 pairs of shoes
a towel (or two)
toiletries
spending money
a book
ipods, cell phones AND chargers
camera and extra batteries (maybe an extra sim cards)

Each student can bring a small to medium sized suitcase.

Upcoming events

2010-05-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

STAR testing is this week and next:Please make sure your students are there. Because of the 8th grade Sacramento trip, we won't have time to makeup tests later.

Tues May 4:

10:00-11:30 Language Arts Part 1(7th and 8th grade)

1:15-2:45 History Part 1 (8th grade)

Wed May 5:

10:00-11:30 Language Arts Part 2 (7th and 8th grade)

Thur May 6:

10:00-11:30 History Part 2 (8th grade)

Tues May 11:

10:00-11:30 Math - Part 1 (7th and 8th grade)

1:15-2:45 Science Part 1 (8th grade)

Wed May 12:

10:00-11:30 Math - Part 2 (7th and 8th grade)

Thur May 13:

10:00-11:30 Science Part 2 (8th grade)

Sacramento Trip WE ARE SO EXCITED FOR OUR TRIP! During class council on Tuesday, we will go over the itinerary and packing list. We are scheduled to get on the road bright and early Friday morning May 14 and will return Saturday May 22. Parents will also be receiving a final itinerary, packing list and other important info in an email by the end of this week. We will be sending daily updates during the trip! Those students who are not going will be staying with Tony's class with eighth grade work provided for them.
Fuddruckers hamburger coupon booklets are still for sale. For $10 dollars they get 8 buy one get one free and 8 buy one get one half off coupons. We get to keep $5 for each coupon book sold. This is a great deal. Will help fund Magic Mountain grad nite (Friday June 11) and Eighth grade promotion (Thursday June 17 at Adrian's home)
Family nite Thursday May 13

Science news

2010-04-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

We have been having tons of fun in both 7th and 8th grade.

Seventh graders have been learning about populations and ecosystems. They started by learning how to identify items as individuals, populations, communities, and ecosystems. They learned the difference between biotic and abiotic factors.

We used chips to learn how to create a dichotomous key. The best part was eating them afterwards. We learned another classification technique (cladogram) that helped us to determine how a platypus, a whale, a cat and a human relate to one another. Students were able to take what they learned to classify the students in our class.

We learned about aquariums and terrariums by creating mini ecosystems. They are thriving(with the exception of a few unfortunate guppies). We will be observing the changes to the populations throughout the next month. We hope to see babies soon!

Eighth graders are finishing up their rollercoaster physics project. As one student observed, my classroom looks like it is on life support with all of the tubing connected to walls and chairs for their rollercoasters. They have learned how to determine velocity using measurements from their tracks and the time it takes to complete the track. They predicted and observed how changes to their tracks affect velocity. We learned about the physics of rollercoasters in order to understand potential energy, kinetic energy, gravitational force, centrifugal force, Newton's laws of motion, inertia and momentum. We also learned about how these concepts relate to the physical changes that happen to our bodies when these forces are put on them. The kids are excited to go to grad night at Six Flags and experience firsthand the physics they learned.

Help! Drivers needed!

2010-03-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

DRIVERS NEEDED! (This is an all day field trip. Takes about an hour and a half to get there). On Friday the seventh and eighth graders will be going to Blair Valley for a field trip to see the ruins of the home of Marshall South. He and his family lived at the top of Ghost Mountain in a home built from the earth. They had no electricity or running water. This trip will culminate our unplugged project. We will have 34 students going so the more help the better. We plan on leaving at 9:00 and coming back at 3:30.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slworking/sets/72157603562436150/

Busy Week! We have Spring Fever!

2010-03-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

Last week's events:

Field Trip to Science Tech Fair in Del Mar:
(A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR PARENT DRIVERS! WE COULDN"T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU)
Seventh and eighth graders got the opportunity to visit over 50 science exhibits from various companies around San Diego. They had fun hands on experiences and learned a lot of information. There were seven different science strands so students were able to choose what areas they were most interested in:

Biotech / BioMedical: The science of using living things, and components of living things, to produce goods and services. It involves manipulating and modifying organisms, often at the molecular level, to create new and practical applications for agriculture, medicine and industry.

Clean Technology / Energy: Clean Technology applies science and engineering solutions to three critical areas: reducing the consumption of energy and natural resources; reducing waste and harmful emissions; and harnessing renewable energy and materials for sustainable development.
Conservation/Environmental Science/Agriculture Technology: Focus on current and future conservation of our natural resources; the science and technology of sustaining our wildlife, forests, coastlines and oceans; and technological advances in farming that help better serve the needs of the public while protecting the environment and increasing output.

Engineering / Aerospace / Transportation: Focus on the application of science to practical uses such as the design of structures, machines, and systems.

Healthcare Technology: Focus on the systems within which health is protected and maintained, including prevention and rehabilitation, emergency medicine, medical devices, and technology for monitoring the health of a patient remotely. Dental technology is also included in this strand

High Tech / Computer Technology / Telecommunications: Focus on highly specialized, complex technology, including computer applications and telecommunications.

Robotics: Focus on the technology associated with the design, fabrication, theory, and application of robots.

Field Trip to Health Sciences High and Middle College:
Eighth graders visited HSHMC on Thursday. Two of IA's alumni from our first graduating class last year were our tour guides. I have information if you are interested in this school.

Parent Night Thursday Night: We had an awesome turn out from our eighth grade parents. Thank you for coming to get more information about the Sacramento trip and graduation festivities. My apologies for miscommunication to those eighth grade parents who went to the general meeting instead. Please contact me to get information you missed.

SCIENCE NEWS:
7th graders have been learning more about heredity and DNA. We should be recieving our chick eggs in the next week. We will be incubating and hatching them! This will coincide with our unit on populations and ecosystems.

8th graders have been learning about atomic structure and bonding. We will be finishing up our chemistry unit in the next two weeks. Coming soon... walking on water and rollercoaster physics!

Before our science field trip both 7th and 8th grade students created KWL charts to show what they 1) (K) Know about their selected science strand, and 2) (W)Want to know. After the trip we talked about 3) (L)What they Learned after the trip.

Feb 1 - Feb 5

2010-02-07T20:03:00.000-08:00

UPCOMING EVENTS:

-FAMILY NIGHT:

Thursday, February 11th hosted by the kindergarten class. FIRST check in at the front desk from 5pm-6pm to sign in and receive directions and a schedule for the evening.

From 5pm-6pm chili will be served in the kindergarten classroom. Please bring it upstairs to be eaten in our classroom. If you are not purchasing food, after checking in please come to my classroom anyways.

At 6pm the general parent meeting will take place in the commons upstairs. During this time students will go to DeeDee’s room for crafts.

Parents with more than one child: I understand it is difficult to make it to each classroom. If you cannot make it please contact me so I can pass along any information to you.

$3 chili, cornbread and drink (Vegetarian chili will be available)

$3 hot dog, chips and drink

$1 for 2 baked goods

-PRESIDENTS WEEKEND: No School Friday Feb 12th and Monday Feb 15th

-VALENTINES PARENT NIGHTOUT FUNDRAISER: Sunday Feb. 14

8th graders will be babysitting 5:00 - 9:00pm

LAST WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS:

Special thanks to Adrian's mom for the In-n-Out run for lunch on Tuesday!

We were on the news! During our buddy time with the 3rd graders, some of our 8th graders were on film. You can see it at: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Charter_School_Struggle_San_Diego.html

Council member Donna Frye came for a visit and loved our school!

Our Parent Night Fundraiser brought in $120! We had a great time! And we have lots of parents interested in the Valentines Night Out next Sunday.

We got a lot of information about high schools for next year. I sent home Innovations Academy's recommended high schools list, as well as a booklet showcasing schools around San Diego that includes magnet schools. Many schools have a deadline to enroll. San Diego magnets(choice schools) need to be in by FEB 15. If you have questions, please contact me or Danielle.

In Math, students learned more about the coordinate system and the slope of a line with our giant floor coordinate plane. Next week we put it all together with the scale map of our school we made.

In Science, we finished Unplugged Science mini lessons. 7th graders are continuing with heredity and genetics. 8th graders are continuing their study of atoms and elements and the periodic table.

Wow January flew by!

2010-01-25T13:46:00.000-08:00

UPCOMING EVENTS this week:

Report Cards are out on Monday
Visit from King Chavez High School (parents welcome) Tuesday 9:30-10:30
8th grade fundraiser Parents’ Night Out: Friday Feb 5 6:00-10:00
Field trip to Health Sciences High and Middle College(next week): date TBD

The wet week of Jan 18-22 could be considered one of the strangest. We had a three day weekend and then we had a three and a half day weekend! The rain, although welcomed, wreaked havoc on our schedule! Some highlights:

We welcomed a new student this week! Canelle: Hooray another girl!
We started our math-graphing project. Both the 7th and 8th graders measured the upstairs area of IA. After all rooms were measured, students created a 2D scale model on graph paper.
Continued working on our unplugged project. Students were preparing their pod casts and worked on an essay explaining what it would be like to live without the five “plugged in” things they absolutely cannot live without.

Last week Jan 25-29 seemed to fly by. We crammed a lot of things in that we missed out on from last week.

Reading Buddies: On Monday mornings we meet with the 3rd graders for reading and fun.
Edudance is in full “swing”. Not only are students learning how to dance, they are getting learning about manners and etiquette while they dance.
Current events: students have signed up every other Wednesday for science and social studies currents events. Our first Wednesday started off slowly as not everyone who signed up was prepared. Those who were, did a excellent job!
In order to catch up on our “Unplugged” project we took a short detour from ecosystems (7th grade) and chemistry (8th grade). We learned about energy, renewable and nonrenewable resources, pollution and conservation. On Friday, students were assigned to choose and complete ONE of the following activities using the 5 “plugged in” things they can’t live without:
1. Create a graphical representation of consumption levels of common plugged in items.
2. Research what happens to used “plugged in” items. Recycled? Dumped?
3. Estimate the amount of money it costs to buy and/or replace your items over two years. We also started recording pod casts. Can’t wait to hear them all!

TWO concerns:

My supplies are dwindling not from use but from misuse! This past week three of my rulers were broken. I started the school year with full drawers of markers, pencils, pens, scissors, etc. I bought most of it with my own money. I am down to hardly anything. I do not mind students using my supplies but I do mind when those things disappear or are destroyed. Talk to your student about how they can help to keep our classroom community running smoothly. Beginning this week, students can check out supplies from me, but they will need to return them at the end of the period.
Cell phones and electronics: Students are allowed to use phones, computers and electronics during breaks ONLY unless otherwise cleared with Tony or I. I WILL take them away if they are used during classtime.

2010-01-14T12:42:00.000-08:00

Happy New year!

A lot of changes have happened in our class since "last year"!

Although we lost a couple of students, we gained three awesome new kids: Amanda, Nicholas and Lucas.

We have a new schedule. We found that lots of time was being wasted with our old schedule and this new one seems to be working wonders.

Our new MAPS classes include Edu-Dance(you should see their moves!) and Art(wire sculptures)

We have a class pet. He is a ball python named Steve. He is the most loved reptile in the universe. Who would have thought kids would line up to hold a snake? His favorite place is on someone's wrist during class.

Morning Meetings:
Our morning meetings as always are my favorite time of the day. I love how tight knit our homeroom class is.

Math Skills:
7th graders have been working on mastering integers. 8th graders are working on inequalities in algebra. We have really focused on getting basic skills mastered. Next week both classes will start a graphing project that includes putting the entire school on a coordinate system. Seventh graders will concentrate on the coordinate system and plotting points on an xy graph. 8th graders will learn how to use graphing to solve algebraic equations.

Science:
7th graders kicked off our unit on populations and ecosystems. We are currently learning about genetics and heredity. Ask your student what a larkey is! We plan on incubating chicken eggs in the next couple of weeks.

8th graders kicked off our unit on chemistry. We are currently learning about elements, compounds and mixtures. Ask your student to tell you the difference between a metal and a nonmetal.

Our Unplugged project is well underway. Students are learning about the importance of electricity and what things we need to be "connected" to our society. All students should be done reading "the People of Sparks"by now. We are currently working on gathering information for their podcasts. Each student was to collect three articles pertaining to the topic they chose about energy, electricty or conservation. We will begin Podcast recording next week.

Upcoming events:

8th graders are planning a babysitting night fundraiser for Friday February 5 . We hope to turn it into a monthly event where IA parents and maybe parents from the community can drop their kids off for a date night while 8th graders babysit. More details coming in the Sunday nite IA call.
We scratched the 8th grade Washington DC trip for this year and are planning to go to Sacramento instead. Details are coming! Look forward to a call or email from Clarissa's mom about how we can make this trip a reality.
For February: Winter Olympics 8th grade Science Service Project. We will be learning about potential and kinetic energy, motion, velocity and acceleration. Hoping to involve the whole school in Winter Olympics games created by us.

Happy Friday the 13th

2009-11-13T13:37:00.000-08:00

I AM GRATEFUL FOR I.A. FAMILIES!
First of all, I want to thank parents for all of their support in the last couple of weeks. I got the chance to see many of you at the Student Led Conferences last week and our Family Night Exhibition last night. The students were so proud to display their hard work to their families and their peers.

New Stuff:
In order for the kids and me to be a little more organized we are using a weekly assignment tracker. Students turn in all assignments for the week on Fridays along with the assignment tracker. As well as a checklist of assignments, students assess themselves on whether they finished the assignment, if they used their time wisely, if they have questions, and how they rated their work as a whole.

Morning Meetings:
Our focus has been on gratitude this month. On Monday Nov. 2, the kids shared two things they are grateful for. On Nov. 3, they shared three gratitudes, etc. Today, Nov. 12, they each shared twelve gratitudes. It has been fun to listen to the many things they are grateful for. As the lists get longer, their gratitudes are becoming more creative.

Math Skills:
We have been working on positive and negative numbers and using them in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Today we saw how we use integers in real life by taking temperatures of hot, cold and icy water. Students created equations to show temperature changes. We looked at the difference between increases or decreases between two values.

Science:
7th graders are learning about cells. Last week we created Jello cells and small groups made posters to teach the class about the purpose of each cell part. Next week we will have a quiz on the cell parts and learn about cell division.

8th graders are learning about matter, density and pressure. We made non-Newtonian fluids… also known as oobleck. We learned about solids, liquids and gases and their physical and chemical properties. Next week will do a density experiment and look at Charles’ and Boyle’s Laws.

Final Words about the Legacy Destiny Project:

Although our scrapbooks only show the results of their career salary, house and car and personal budget, most students can say that a lot of behind the scenes work went into the final product.
I was impressed with how many things we did. Here is a run-down:

First we chose a career and determined salaries using online searches. We learned about bell curves and quartiles and how not all people doing the same job make the same amount of money.
We played the Roulette of Life to determine what percentile on the bell curve our salaries were, whether we were married, had children and spouses incomes.
We calculated state, federal and Social Security taxes based on our gross income. We also determined taxable income, annual net income and monthly incomes.
We calculated monthly budget percentages.
We searched for houses and cars and used an online loan calculator to determine home loans and auto loans within our budget.
Last but not least we tied it all together to create a monthly budget using an excel spreadsheet.
I learned a couple of things myself about this project. Many kids chose high paying professions and had a lot of money to work with. Next time I present this project, in addition to their dream job, I will give the whole class a fixed income to calculate a budget that is more representative of the “average Joe” and our economy today.
FYI: Scrapbooks will be coming home next week. We are creating a class rubric in order for the students to assess their work. They will make any last revisions before their final grade.

2009-10-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

HELLO I.A. FAMILIES!

A Summary of The Past Couple of Weeks:
· We are pretty much finished with My Legacy, My Destiny Project. The scrapbooks are beautiful and we can’t wait to share them with you in November. Next week we will finish Resumes and work on Personal Budgets.

Ups and Downs Timeline: After finishing the first draft of the timelines, we focused on perfecting our work. Students went on a gallery walk and critiqued unnamed timelines, looking for things they liked and things that could be improved. I am using Ron Berger’s critique format for beautiful work. The three main focuses are that when critiquing work, you are 1) Kind, 2) Specific, and 3) Helpful. Their final drafts were amazing transformations from the originals.

Family Traits Tree: After learning about inherited traits, students compared traits with one another to create a graphical representation of traits versus students. Students also interviewed family members to find out what inherited traits they have in common and used that information to create a family trait tree.

Salaries and Taxes: Students started dreaming about twenty years from now about their ideal careers. Using www.salary.com we looked at salary ranges, bell curves that showed percentiles, job descriptions and education tracks for our careers. We played a game of chance to determine such things as whether they are married, have children and what percentile their salary falls in. Students used this information to calculate their federal, state and social security taxes. Not only did they sympathize with their parents for having to do taxes every year, they found out how much of that money gets taken away!

· Our morning meetings are getting so fun. The kids are really getting comfortable and seem to really enjoy each other’s company. I love listening to them. Our sharing and activities are the highlight of my day! I enjoy our class’ creativity. I learn so much from them.

· Our M.A.P.S. program has been a hit. Our class just finished Art with Tina and Fitness Conditioning with Kalif. They started Puppetry and Yoga this week and will continue with it for the next three weeks.

For Next Week:

Conferences will be held next Wednesday and Thursday after school. If you have not signed up with me, I will be contacting you to schedule a time. Please fill out and bring the Student Goals sheet to your appointment.

We will finish our personal budgets and resumes and put the finishing touches on our scrapbooks. They will be ready to exhibit for our Nov. 12 Family Night.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Week 2 in Review

2009-09-20T23:41:00.000-07:00

Without sounding like a broken record, our second week of school was another great week. The kids are getting used to our schedule and I am getting to know them a bit better.

Last Week:

We started getting serious with our integrated project - My Legacy, My Destiny. To get an overview click here http://sites.google.com/a/innovationsacademy.org/lisa-moncrief/projects . For one of the math components we started looking at career dreams and a quick look at salary ranges. We created a class bar graph of all of their careers and salaries. In Tony's humanities class, students worked on their "I Am" poems and started working on vignettes.
We kicked off our first mini math project: Math board games. The 8th graders are creating games for 5th and 6th graders and the 7th graders are doing the same for the 3rd and 4th graders. We are hoping these games will help students at our school for many years to come. It is my goal that as they create their games, they will take the opportunity to review essential basic skills in order to be ready for the new skills they are going to learn this year.

For Week 3:

During math we will continue with the Math Games mini project. We will also work on two components of My Legacy, My Destiny: 1) The Career WebQuest http://sites.google.com/a/innovationsacademy.org/lisa-moncrief/projects/my-legacy-my-destiny/career-webquest and 2) the Ups and Downs Timeline.
Our Science class will take a look at genetic traits as we create Family Pedigree and Trait Trees for the Legacy Destiny project. We will also be learning about DNA on our fieldtrip on Thursday.

Upcoming Events:

We are putting together a parent info night (or conference call?) to plan for an 8th grade trip to Williamsburg/Washington DC in the spring. You will be called or emailed with details this upcoming week.
Tuesday Family Game Night 6:00 - 8:00
Thursday Field Trip to Wild Animal Park. We leave at 8:30 am. Please do not be late.
Oct 5-6 Picture Day
Thursday Oct 15(?) 7th - 8th grade Field Trip to UCSD

Have an awesome week! Always feel free to contact me when the need arises.

Awesome First Week!

2009-09-13T22:29:00.001-07:00

We had a great first week of school. I have a feeling we are going to have an awesome year together. Our class seems to enjoy one another and we have an amazing group of kids.

I will be blogging every Sunday evening before I go to bed. Each week I will try to include a synopsis of the past week and a quick outline of the week ahead, as well as upcoming events.
If you are having trouble looking at my website calendar, I am trying to figure it out. Hopefully I will have the kinks worked out quickly so you can access it.

Last week:

We got to know each other as well as the seventh graders. We were introduced to Morning Circle, Class Council and Closing Circle. Tony and I worked together throughout the week with all of the seventh and eighth graders to establish expectations for our classrooms as well as taking a look at rights, responsibilities and privileges that we can all share. Since the students will be working in my class for Math and Science and Tony's class for Language Arts and Social Studies we found it more effective to be united in our expectations for our classrooms.
We introduced our first big project, "My Legacy, My Destiny". We will be working on this for the next month and a half. More will be coming home about this project during this upcoming week.
We started assessments for math, spelling and reading comprehension on Friday. We should be done by Tuesday. If you would like to be informed about these tests please contact me.
A huge shout out to all parents who came to our first monthly parent meeting last Thursday night. It was a pleasure to get to know you better. I look forward to working with you this year. (There is still room to sign up to volunteer in our classroom or help out in other ways. I will be contacting those of you who signed up on Thursday to give you specifics as well as send out an email to all parents this week with a list of volunteer opportunities that are still available)

This upcoming week:

We will continue to work on routines and start the My Legacy, My Destiny project.

Coming soon:

I am in the process of working with Brooke Landau, a weathercaster from San Diego 6 news to come in next week to teach about the weather as well as broadcasting. Her information will help us in a math/science graphing project as well as help us learn some interviewing skills for our Legacy Destiny project.
Thursday, September 24 - Field trip to the Beckman Center(a conservation education laboratory) at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Transportation, admission and lunch is free, thanks to special funding they secured just for charter schools! The field trip will last all day and we will be going with the 5th,6th, and 7th grades.

Class Website is up and running!

2009-08-20T17:41:00.000-07:00

Our class website is ready for viewing! Some pages are still under construction as I am fine tuning my plans for this upcoming year! I will use it on a regular basis to post information about class assignments and projects. Use it as a resource to find out what we are up to! A class supply list is included on the home page. You can access it by clicking on the link on this page. Don't forget family orientation is Saturday August 29 from 10:00-12:00 in room 403.

Welcome Back

2009-08-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hello IA Families!

Its the most wonderful time of the year!(written while singing and thinking of my favorite Staples commercial)

I had a great summer. Our family played hard! We spent a lot of time camping, beaching it and relaxing. I am almost ready for school to beginning....almost!

Spent last week in intensive training at High Tech High learning to be a better teacher. This week we started our IA professional development. I am almost done putting together a website for our class this year(Should be up and running tomorrow). It will include projects, class materials list, resources, calendar, photos, a blog link and more.

I look forward to seeing you during our family orientations. My goal is to meet with you all on Saturday Aug 29 from 10:00-12:00. If that time does not work for you please contact me.

See you all soon!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-25T22:43:00.000-08:00

I did not start this year with any New Year's resolutions, but I think I am going to start one now. My resolution is to do my best at blogging every week! I have no excuses!

Upcoming events:

Report Cards will be available for pick up by parents/guardians the week of February 2nd in our main office (with Donna, the new Administrative Coordinator). Those reports not picked up by the end of the week will be mailed home.
Wednesday January 28 is Ice Skating. Don't forget warm clothes and socks.
IA Phone Home - On Sundays between 6:30 and 7pm, Innovations Academy will be sending phone messages with any important information for the week.
Friday Next Year Committee - On Fridays from 11:30am - 12:30pm IA staff meet to talk about ideas and plans for next year. All parents are invited to attend and we'd love to have your support. Some items that we are discussing right now are scheduling, facilities, school calendar, and Friday Partnerships. If you can't attend these meetings but would like to give input, please email!
We would like to put together an eighth grade graduation planning committee. Please let me know if you are interested in helping.

This month has been a busy one for SoEmo time. The honeymoon period of our new school is over and most students are settling into their routines. Some students are still testing the waters. In my opinion, having lived through three of my own childrens' middle school years, 6th through 8th grade is a tough time. We have been talking alot about freedom and choice and the effects they have on us. We were lucky enough to watch the presidential inauguration last Tuesday morning. What a historical event.

My language arts class is so fun! We started the week comparing two inaugural poems. Elizabeth Alexander read her inaugural poem, "Praise Song For the Day" right after the president's inaugural speech. We compared and contrasted her poem with Maya Angelou's 1993 inaugural poem, "On the Pulse of the Morning." We spent the rest of the week preparing for our 3rd reading reflections due Friday Jan 30. This time around, students will do oral presentations to reflect upon their reading.

Algebra is quite the challenge lately! We made it through absolute value and inequalities and are now learning about linear equations and the slope intercept form. The kids learned about coordinates and slope on a giant graph that we formed on the floor. Students were assigned coordinates and had to move around the graph to figure out the slope of a line.

Our Scientist Wax Museum was a smashing success! The kids did a great job sharing their knowledge and dressing up for the rest of the school. It was really fun. For the next three weeks, I will have all of the 6th and 7th graders for science and Bill will be taking all of the 8th graders for history. After that we will switch and I will have the eighth graders for science while he takes the others. I am teaching a unit that focuses on the interdependence of all living organisms. We set up mini fish tank ecosystems last Thursday and encountered some problems when some of the fish died (yikes). This week we will investigate the possible causes that led to their demise. Although it didn't go exactly as planned we will get to use scientific inquiry to learn what it takes for an ecosystem to exist and take a look at how fragile our earth can be.

Monday mini projects begin this week. For the next seven weeks students will be with me for "Beach Bums" or Bill for "Music History and Appreciation." All students were given a choice as to which class they wanted to go to. "Beach Bums" will focus on San Diego's shoreline. We will look at tourism, commerce, scientific exploration, military, energy and more as we explore all the different uses of our beaches. Our culminating project will be a beach clean-up with Jeremy's class.

Please remind students that all unfinished work in any subject must be given to me by Friday in order to give an accurate assessment on their Report Cards.
Have a great week!

Happy To Be Back To School

2008-12-05T16:06:00.000-08:00

It was nice to get away for a week. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am hoping all the parents in my class read this blog this week. If you noticed in your Friday envelope, I asked permission for your student to watch Pay It Forward during SoEmo next week. Please give your reply by making a comment to this blog. I am just curious how many people actually read the blogs because I haven't had many comments about it. This is the best way for you to find out what we are doing in class each week.

We had a very fun and busy week. I have been starting each day with a short video clip at the beginning of SoEmo. This seems to be a good way to get all of the kids to class on time in the morning! We have been relearning the 8 to Great Highways. I spent this week talking about highway 1: Get the Picture. We talked about what we could do to change the world and what we would do if today was our last day. If you have a chance, listen to a great song by Nickleback called If Today Was Your Last Day.

In Language Arts, we started editing each others' book reflections. After the edits they will be rewriting them. We also have the privilege of being in charge of the school newsletter. We took over the position this week. The kids are pretty confident that they will have December's edition out on Friday before the Holiday Break.

We have three new students trying out our Algebra class. We are growing! Does that mean we are getting smarter by the day?

Science and History are moving fast and furious. The students are staying very busy as they finish all of their assignments. I am impressed with how they have buckled down and are getting their work completed. It is so fun to see how creative they are.

PE has been awesome! We had the unfortunate incident of not getting the skateboard park for the month due to Toys For Tots, but most kids took it in stride. I am in the swimming class and fortunately the water is warm! The other classes available are basketball, gym and rock climbing. Students were given the choice where they want to go for PE. We had so much fun on Wednesday at the ice rink. FYI: ICE SKATING will happen again for the next two Wednesdays, so make sure kids have jackets and socks.

A funny thing happened yesterday as I was passing out the school pictures. I accidently called our class photo our family picture! I am grateful to be a teacher at Innovations Academy and love that I feel that it is my home. Have a wonderful weekend!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-23T17:57:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-16T14:31:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

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!

The Week in Review and Whats Coming

2008-09-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

Hope your weekend was relaxing! I admit that my goal to write comments at the end of the week and then again at the beginning of the week was too lofty for me. My apologies to those of you who expected a blog update on Friday. I am going to stick with once a week and see if I am any better!

Last week started feeling more like "school" is supposed to feel. I don't think I mentioned this before, but if your kids come home talking about So Emo, they are talking about our social emotional curriculum. This week in So Emo we talked about 8 to Great Highway 4: Feel All Your Feelings. This was a touchy subject for some since so often in our society we are told to suppress our feelings. I learned so much about my class this week and have so much empathy for the many things they are going through not only in the classroom but outside in the real world. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a mentor to them and provide a safe place for them for seven hours every day. Ask your son or daughter about Giraffe Language!!

Our language and math classes are going great. If your student is not in my class for either of those subjects and you would like to contact their teacher, please let me know. In my language class this week we have been reading Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass. The first line of the book begins... "My sweat smells like peanut butter." Obviously with a line like that, the kids were immediately engaged! We spent the week learning how to spot information while reading, listing character traits, and recapping what we read. Students were given tools on how to organize information using Venn diagrams and they wrote compare and contrast paragraphs about two of the main characters, Jeremy and Lizzy.
My math class still included the prealgebra, algebra and adv. algebra kids. We spent the week reviewing addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of integers (positive and negative numbers) and learned about real numbers, rational and irrational numbers. On Monday the pre-algebra kids will officially start Direct Instruction with Christine. The algebra class will stay with me. Be ready to move fast! We have a lot to learn!

Our website project went on the back burner last week as I realized the snail pace we were going with it wouldn't change until we have computers in our room. As soon as this happens, we will continue the project. We are still working on the Rome vs US history project. Last week we compared Rome's downfall with some of the things happening in the United States today. This week we will work on creating a perfect world. We also started a nutrition science/math project. Part 1 of this project involves writing down what you eat for seven days. I sent the students home with a packet on Thursday that includes 7 counting calories logs to be filled out each day for everything they eat. Please remind your student to fill these out as their information is vital to completing the project. Last week we learned how all food, whether it is sugar, fat or protein gets stored as fat cells if it is not used up. This week we will investigate hands on what a cell looks like and how food travels to all of our body parts.

A quick thank you to Julian's mom who stepped in and is teaching an amazing cultural dance class as one of the Friday Experts. Those who got to experience it had a great time. Once you get to know me you will find I am quite clutzy. I now know how to fall with grace! Anyone else still sore from crab walking?

Along with their nutrition packets, I sent home another important paper that I hope your student showed you. If this isn't timely enough, it is an announcement of our schoolwide junk food policy. I personally have noticed a difference in the energy level of kids in my class who had sodas and sugary foods for breakfast and lunch. Please send your kids to school with healthy food and snacks. Sodas and candy in my class will be confiscated until after school.

Last but not least... I am looking for a room parent or two for our class. An email is going out this week with the specifics. If you are available I would truly appreciate it.

Looking forward to another great week!

What a Week!

2008-09-20T15:48:00.000-07:00

This week was full of many ups and a few downs.

It is good to finally be on our regular day to day schedule. Things are going smoothly as we learn to transition from place to place throughout the day. I can truly say as I left school on Friday that things are looking up.

Parents I would like to ask you to please talk to your child about what it means to be an effective student. There were quite a few times earlier this week when I was disheartened and frustrated because some of our class members caused distractions and inattention during class. I admit I focused more on those who were causing problems which in turn took away from my ability to teach to those who were ready to learn. On Wednesday, I publicy apologized to the kids who I had been neglecting. I knew I did not need to name names as they knew who they were. I am grateful for their good examples.

This week our DI (direct instruction) classes for language arts and math were put into place. Most of the students were placed in the correct ability level according to the assessments they took before school started. We are still shuffling a couple of students who may be moved to a different level.

In the coming weeks you will be able to view what your son or daughter is doing with regard to their project based service learning. This Thursday, I introduced the kids to Project Foundry in the computer lab. We took a look at how to input, revise, document and log in time spent on our projects. To begin the year, most of our projects are teacher guided. By the end of the year students will be designing and completing their projects on their own.

On Friday we started our community partnerships. This is definitely something kids outside of our school don't get to experience on a regular basis! Each course is ten weeks long. The rotations in which every student will get to participate in the next year are: Lego PlayTEK, Creative Movement, Drama Kids, Emerging Arts, Archeology and Drum Circle. Some of the sixth graders in our class went to DramaKids and Emerging Arts. The rest of the sixth, seventh and eighth graders were introduced to Archeology and Drum Circle. Very fun.

Happy Saturday

This Week: September 15-19

2008-09-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a great weekend!

This week, we will start off each day with 8 to Great Highway 3: Full Responsibility. During this time, we will focus on the importance of being responsible for our own actions. We will learn what it means to go from from B.C. to A.D.(Blaming and Complaing to Acting and Dreaming). We will be talking about "shoulds". Sometimes we are hard on ourselves (or on other people) because of the things we think we (or they) "should" do. We will discover how to turn a "should do" into a "want to".

Tomorrow we will get to break up into groups based on ability in Math and Language Arts. Students will switch classes during those times and may or may not be with their homeroom teacher (me) during those times.

This Monday after lunch we will not have community experts yet. During that time we will work on our first project - our class website. This site will be designed by the kids and will include fun info about our class. Hopefully we can even set up a link to include this blog on the site. Each student has a part in this project whether it be web design, gathering information from each student, incorporating graphics, audio and visual effects, editing, etc.

PE will be in the ping pong area this week! Dont forget we have PE every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

During the next two weeks our class will also be involved in a mini history project. I just read a fascinating book called Are We Rome? by Cullen Murphy. It compares the rise and fall of Rome to America today. We will look at some similar issues such as government infrastructure, our attitude toward our borders, citizenship, and the military. This project will cover the CA standards for all three grade levels in history as 6th graders learn about the Rise of Rome, 7th graders learn about the Fall of Rome and 8th graders learn about U.S. History. This project will lead us right into a fun math mini project I am designing to cover the upcoming presidential elections.

This Friday will be our first experience with our Community Partnerships. I will give you more information on that as I get it.

Looking forward to an awesome week. For your info...I will post every Sunday and Friday. Sundays note will take a look at the week ahead. Fridays note will tell you how the week went!

What A Great Day!

2008-09-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

When you treat every day as a new experience, you will never be disappointed! Today is my first attempt at blogging. I am excited to have a place to share my thoughts and info about my awesome classroom at Innovations Academy. Check back often as I will try to keep you up to date with daily happenings in our class.

I want to thank those parents who supported our class today on our first field trip of the year. I could not have done it without you. You made a difference in the lives of quite a few kids today. Thank you, thank you!

To my amazing kids...I just want to share with you how great it is to spend my school days with you. We are going to go through a lot of "firsts" together this year. I give you my word that I will encourage and guide you as you discover for yourselves, the potential you have to make a difference in your life and in this world.

Happy Tuesday!