Saturday, January 9, 2016

Welcome to 2016

Great Things Noticed:

In a language arts class students were comparing and contrasting two characters using hula-hoops for Venn Diagrams, while other students worked on blog posts and another group worked on vocabulary activities all at the same time.  It was great to see the teacher providing direct, small group instruction while providing students the opportunity to reinforce skills they will need, and write to have a voice outside the walls of the school.

In a math class students created their own schedule to determine the order in which they would complete different activities.  The students students then worked on independent or partnered activities while the teacher called students over individually to evaluate their ability to solve different types of problems.  Wonderful to see the choice these students have in determining what activities they will be doing and when they will be working on them.  By doing this, the teacher shifts the responsibility of learning from the teacher to the student.

In a social studies class the students are viewing some current videos on President Obama and working to summarize the actions he has taken, and then determine what hat he was wearing (leader of the party, fundraiser, commander and chief, etc.)  The teacher had extra-activities planned for students who had finished this assignment early that were of high-interest, low reading level.  This included a huge graphic of Air-Force One.

In a science class students were conducting an experiment with vinegar to determine how foods are broken down quickly in the digestive system.  At the same time other students were working with yarn to create a model for how long different parts of the digestive system are, while others read articles and answered opened ended questions while pulling supporting details from the text.


Upcoming Events:

January 11 Faculty meeting

January 14 I & R S Meeting

January 15 BIS Spotlight – 9:00 a.m.
   
January 15 What is your favorite book Twitter Chat - 9:30 a.m.
                            (Check in with Mr. Fritzky if you would like to join)

January 18 Staff In-Service Day – SCHOOL CLOSED

January 20 SGO Meetings

January 21  SGO Meetings

January 22 SGO Meetings

January 25 8th Grade CAP Program

January 25 Dept. Meetings:  Special Ed & Specials

January 26 End of 2nd MP

January 26 8th Grade CAP Program

January 27 8th Grade CAP Program

January 27 Board Meeting, 7 pm

Nuts and Bolts:

A gentle reminder, please remember to wear your lanyard, ID and key with you at all times.

We would like all students to take the next STAR Reading Assessment in their language arts classes at some point next week.  January 11-15th.

We have a great deal of talented teachers, and it would be great to have someone recognized not only in our school, but outside the walls of our school.  I have attached a form to be filled out if you could nominate a colleague the Middle Level Educator of the Year.

March 11th is the date for this year's middle school conference, please let Tim or John know if you would like to attend this year.

SGO meeting Agenda

Tech Tips:

English Grammar Activities App Helps Students Learn Grammar Rules via: @Edudemic 
Great Read:








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