Hey Team!
Clearly I am having a hard time resisting the plane metaphor so far in these blog titles… I think I am getting punchy from too 
much “drinking from the fire hose of good stuff” (and maybe lack of sleep too)!?
Speaking of good stuff – I have been just SUPER IMPRESSED by the thoughtful and really intentional teaching I have seen happening over the last week plus. I have seen a BUNCH of examples of:
- Carefully laid out rubrics, aligned to standards, with intentional opportunities for “evidence based” student self assessment. So cool! This is what helps them become “leaders of their own learning”
- Active pedagogy – plenty of examples of well structured and rich collaborative learning going on
- Crew culture – students looking out for each other and building community
- A culture allowing for student leadership – GSA support, George starting a board game group, students motivated to form a leadership group, students attending who don’t always etc. etc!!!
I am humbled be and appreciative of this great team we have 🙂
Roger
THREE CHEERS FOR HEIDI – SHE JUST RECEIVED A $4000 DIACK FOUNDATION GRANT!
This week Heidi got confirmation that her grant application on behalf of the Fired Up team was funded – yahoo! Heidi put together a great application to fund a collection of field equipment (and other science stuff) that will enrich our 9th grade Fired Up expedition! Thanks Heidi and congrats!
CURRICULUM NIGHT
This Thursday we have Curriculum Night. I am asking the following teams to prep their “lessons” whenever you think you can find time together. Tuesday after school might be a good time for some?
- Crew Planners: Paul, Heidi, Mark,
- Curriculum Workshop Planners: Zach, Michelle
- Assessment Workshop Planners: Karen, Roger
Given that we HOPE to have say 75/85families attend, and that some families will have two parents, I think we can anticipate/hope/plan for having 100 attendees. Given that possibility, we should be ready to have approximately 16-20 people in our Crews and then our workshops would be 50 participants each… UNLESS we split our workshops into two sessions each… this is what I recommend we do UNLESS we have a small turnout, in which case we can group up easily at “last minute”.
I have added some clarity to our Curriculum Night Planning Document as well as a couple of resources that might help your planning.
FIELDWORK COMING UP ON OCTOBER 25TH
Here is the back end of your permission forms so you can track them.
PUMP & STRETCH ROUND 3
One more week on this round so it looks like we need to prepare for our next three week round already and get the sign ups out into Crew by Thursday of this week!
Ideas from students that have come up a few times from students in the 1st 2 rounds of sign ups include: Ping Pong, Yoga, Volleyball, Dance, Juggling. We can certainly repeat all three of the existing ones as well, but offer 1 or 2 more.
Can I get a volunteer to organize the next round of Pump & Stretch including a reach out to staff to see what they’d like to offer?
PD MEETING TOPICS FOR THIS WEDNESDAY
This coming week is actually supposed to be a “District SIW” meaning that certain teachers may be asked to go to District level meetings. As a Choice Option school Realms MS has always been a little loose on these… meaning that typically our teacher have not gone and instead have chosen/requested to plan with our own team at school.
However, I am OPEN to any of you opting to go to these meetings for the purpose of networking etc.! This round it looks like MS-HS math teachers are gathering and MS-HS science teachers are gathering. Details on these District SIW meetings here. Again, I am flexible.
So, here’s my plan… we WILL have an planning meeting at Realms HS, and it will be focused on Crew planning as scheduled, and we will likely break into two groups to tackle some thoughtful and productive planning around mapping out lessons and activities in two strands for the next 3-6 weeks: Community/Connection and Habits of Success. If you would prefer to go to one of the District level meetings on the doc above to make connections there or because the content is compelling – that’s fine… just let me know!
ENROLLMENT UPDATE
Two possible new students starting this coming week (not before Tuesday or Wednesday though) – one 9th and one 10th. Then, the hope is that we can shut down transfers until the 2nd semester… stay tuned
POST VISIT LETTER FROM SARAH PURDY!
- Evidence of deeper thinking: In the classrooms we visited, students were asked to think deeply about perspectives of marginalization, create a class bubble map about the biotic and abiotic impacts on forests, problem solve like a mathematician, and engage in a welcoming conversation in Spanish.
- Crew culture alive and growing: In our visits to Paul’s and Michelle’s crew, students were welcoming, engaged in the gummy bear initiative for the second time, and familiar with the norms and routines of crew.
- Students could articulate what they were learning in class and some naturally referred to former and current lesson resources as they did!
Yours in crew,
Sarah and Tony