March 7- March 11

Hello Parents, 

 

What a difference a week makes in San Diego weather! Hope you are safe and dry.  

Some important items of business:  

- WE ARE STILL AT ONLY 50% RETURN RATE OF OUR HOME TO SCHOOL JOURNALS after 2 weeks of email reminders to parents. Please help your students by signing and helping them return them to school!   Look for the journal on Thursday. Let's see if we can have 100% signed and returned on Friday! You will find the vocab words for Friday's test  if you would like to help your student study one last bit together(also currently posted on the vocab tab on my digital portfolio.)

-Due to the weather, slippery trails and possible contaminated runoff in the storm water, I felt it was safest to postpone our bike ride to Los Penasquitos Canyon.  We are tentatively trying for next Tuesday March 15 instead of tomorrow.  We will still need a couple of shuttles to and from school. (Contact me if available to help)  

- Please mark your calendars for a parent info meeting for End of Year Zion Trip on Tuesday March 15.  I will hold 2 sessions:  8:15 am - 9:00 am or  3:45 pm - 4:30 pm.  

-A payment of $25 will be due March 15, April 15 and May 15. We are right on track for the balance to come from our fundraising!

- March 22: Field Trip to Reuben H Fleet Science Center.  $8 per student

 Meanwhile, in academic news: 

We held a very important class council last week about our behavior during school time.  Due to the dynamics of our class, we have a very tight knit community.  The students are very close friends and tend to be overly chatty.  After feeling frustrated with "police-ing" the chatty behaviors, I decided to hold a council where I stepped away and let the students run the meeting.  Our topic was: How can we efficiently circle up, be ready for class and limit distractions without a teacher telling us to stop or making us move?  The majority of the class agreed there was a problem.  Questions they asked included: Why do we abuse the freedom of sitting next to friends?, Why aren't we following our own rules?, Why do we talk over each other?, Do assigned seats work? Why do we allow our peers to break our own agreements?  I watched them struggle as students talked over each other at first. They tried different techniques such as using the Talking Stick, taking turns, having a leader call on each other.  By the end, I saw great strides take place during their conversation. They did decide for themselves that they would try to be aware of chatty situations, remember to abide by  our "quiet signal" and remind each other to move quickly when it comes to transition times and during work time.  I spoke to some students afterward who now have a better appreciation of what it must be like for one teacher to try to get a class in order!  I have great faith with a few reminders, I will see a difference this coming week!

Math: Last week we worked on Rules of Exponents.  We also started using IXL for more practice of math skills. It seems to be a very successful program so far for practicing skills learned in class.  Students worked on Exponents section I1 - I7 last week.  The great thing about the program is those students who would like to move ahead, can.  Those who need more practice on basic skills can do that too. As noted last week, students recorded their passwords and usernames in their math notebooks for reference.  If you would also like it for your records please email me.

Science: We continued to gather information for our Climate Change resource guide Calendar.  Students are working on facts and figures and hope to complete the final draft by the end of this week. This should give us plenty of time for printing and distribution for Exhibition night.

News from Keith's class:

Vocab: Vocab #19               Week of 3.7.2016

1. Excruciating: adj. physically or mentally agonizing
2. Apprehend: verb. to arrest someone for a crime.
3. Enigma: noun. a person or thing that is mysterious or hard to understand.
4. Zenith: noun. the highest point reached physically by an object or metaphorically by a person or group.
5. Nadir: noun. the lowest point in the fortunes /life / career etc. of a person or group.
6. Turbulent: adj. characterized by conflict, disorder, or confusion; not controlled or calm.
7. Sporadic: adj. occurring at irregular time; scattered or isolated.
8. Preposterous: adj. contrary to reason; utterly absurd.
9. Phenomenon: noun. a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen.
10. Trepidation: noun. a feeling of fear or agitation about something that may happen.

Have a wonderful week!