Clare's Blog: Week of September 25, 2016

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Monday, September 26
C DAY

8:00am Morning Meeting

10:00am All Schools Chapel
10:30am Snack in the MS Lounge

10:40am Tutorial Time
3:30pm All School Topic Groups
3:30pm MS Boys Soccer @ Lighthouse Christian

Tuesday, September 27

D DAY

8:00am Advisory

10:00am Snack in the MS Lounge

10:10am Tutorial Time: Math & Science

10:20am Flex

2:15pm Design & Art Collaboration

2:45pm Grade 6 Team Meeting in the Design Lab

3:15pm Grade 7 Team Meeting in the Design Lab
3:30pm MS Girls JV Volleyball v. Lighthouse Christian
4:30pm MS Girls V Volleyball v. Lighthouse Christian

Wednesday, September 28

E DAY

10:00am Snack

10:10am Tutorial Time: Language & Lit

10:20am MS Chapel & 6th Grade Recognitions

2:15pm MS Faculty Meeting in the Design Lab

Thursday, September 29

F DAY

7:45am Grade 7 Parents Coffee in the Dining Room
10:00am Snack

10:10am Tutorial Time: Language Acquisition

10:20am Share: Spotlight on Math and Language & Literature

2:15pm Lang & Lit and PHE Collaboration

2:45pm MYP Collaboration: Meet in the Design Lab for units sharing
3:30pm MS Boys Soccer @ Muckleshoot Tribal
3:30pm MS Girls JV Volleyball @ Crosspoint
4:30pm MS Girls Varsity Volleyball @ Crosspoint

Friday, September 30

A DAY
All School Civvies Day

10:00am Snack

10:10am Flex

Action Items...

This week will include our first formal share of the year. The spotlight is on Math and Language & Lit, but all submissions are welcome. Please let Clare know by Wednesday what will be shared.

Progress Reporting Calendar

Reminder: upcoming dates for Progress Reporting:

Oct 3: Grade Check
Oct 26: Sumbit Course Summary
Nov 3: End of First Quarter
Nov 4: Fall Conferences
Nov 10: Submit Advisors' Letters
Nov 11: Q1 Progress Reports Published

As we discussed briefly during August in-service, this year I'd like to shift the language of progress reports beyond the Learner Profile. As you think about writing Course Summaries, please start with unit plans and the information already reflected in curriculum maps - instead of focusing so much on content, emphasize the SOIs, concepts, ATLs, and the ways students are assessed (as reflected in rubrics). At the end of First Semester, we'll tilt this direction in student narratives as well. In advance of due dates, we'll designate time during Faculty Meetings to work on these and to get feedback from each other.

Fall Observations

Reminder: please schedule a fall observation with Bill or Clare a.s.a.p.

Fall Observation Week of...

Oct 3: Taylor, Wagstaff

Oct 10: Flores, Kim, Paco, Clauson

Oct 17: Gettel, Hake, Leenstra

Oct 24: Finch, Hartmann, Rockne

Oct 31: Hunt, Lorance, Strate

Nov 7: Price, McConnell

Please schedule pre-observation (15 mins the day before), observation (one full class period), and post-observation (45 min 2-3 days after the observation).

Student Recognition

The schedule for recognitions is here and linked at the bottom of this blog. Next week, we'll recognize students in the 6th Grade.
Please complete your nomination by 8:00am on Wednesday so Alicia can prepare the certificates. To nominate a student:

On the Student Recognition Schedule doc, select the tab for the corresponding Grade.
Find the name of the student you'd like to nominate.
Provide the date of the Chapel they'll be recognized.
Provide the LP Attribute you'd like to recognize the student for.
Provide 1-2 sentences describing how they model this attribute (this will be included in the certificate).
Provide your name.

We'll aim to recognize every student in a grade before second or third nominations occur, but, as we did last year, we won't recognize students inauthentically or hold back a timely and deserved honor. There are 10 slots for each Grade, meaning about 3-5 recognitions each week.

Grade Level Parent Coffees

This year, we have three rounds of parent coffees. This is a casual, low-key opportunity for parents to connect with each other and for us to get a pulse of what's going on in the class. Faculty are welcome to drop in, but there's no expectation of attendance. Last year, we had 8-12 parents show up at each coffee
The first round began last Thursday morning with 6th Grade. 7th Grade will be this week, and 8th Grades will follow.
Last year, these events were free-form, but this year we'll use something as a starting point for conversation. For this first round of Coffees, we'll use two recent articles that were recently included in this blog - Sue Shellenbarger's "What Teens Need Most from Their Parents," a synthesis of research on the affective development of teenagers, and Eileen Torrez's "The myth of the Ivy League," a reflection on the author's own academic journey and what she didn't get along the way (spoiler: constant focus on achievement diminished her sense of purpose and self-worth). These were posted on last week's blog.

Experience Days 2016

They'll be here before we know it! October 27 & 28. As we discussed at our last MS Faculty Meeting, all Experiences will be built around the Arts. So far, 17 ideas have been posted on the doc. If you posted anything, please add a few details (a particular place in mind, a specific resource or connection to make something happen, etc.). If other ideas come to mind, please post with a few details before next Wednesday. We'll pare the list down at next week's Faculty Meeting.
Ideas for Experience Days 2016
So far the following ideas have been posed:

Glass blowing
Calligraphy (needs more info)
Ballroom (needs more info)
Art museum tour
Dancing (needs more info)
Murals
Photography (needs more info)
Film making
Guerilla art
Cartography (needs more info)
Cooking (needs more info)
Chinatown tour (needs more info)
Martial art (needs more info)
Fabitat
Street Art Hunt and Creation
Flash Mob
Beginning ukulele
Fashion Designing
Spaceworks tour
Architectural Tours of Tacoma & Seattle

National Mix it Up at Lunch Day

October 26 is Mix it Up at Lunch Day, a project launched by Teaching Tolerance. Any ideas about how we might "mix it up" in MS? Or even with other Divisions?

Following Up...

Communications

This week, the blog for families will feature the Language & Literature and Science programs. Please email your post to Bill or Alicia, or drop it in the corresponding box on this doc.

Think about...

"Fall Song"

Another year gone, leaving everywhere
its rich spiced residues: vines, leaves,

the uneaten fruits crumbling damply
in the shadows, unmattering back

from the particular island
of this summer, this NOW, that now is nowhere

except underfoot, moldering
in that black subterranean castle

of unobservable mysteries - roots and sealed seeds
and the wanderings of water. This

I try to remember when time’s measure
painfully chafes, for instance when autumn

flares out at the last, boisterous and like us longing
to stay - how everything lives, shifting

from one bright vision to another, forever
in these momentary pastures.

Mary Oliver

Upcoming opportunities

"30 Americans" is making its West Coast debut at the Tacoma Art Museum on Saturday, September 24 and running until January 15. The show features a group of prominent African American artists who are major players in contemporary art.
Stanford Design professors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans will be speaking at Town Hall on Monday, September 26.

Upcoming Religious & Cultural Observances

National Hispanic Heritage Month continues until October 15.
Saturday, October 1 marks the beginning of the Hindu festival Navaratri (meaning means "nine nights" in Sanskrit), which celebrates the triumph of good over evil. The festival coincides with the fall harvest and highlights devotion to the goddess Durga.
Saturday, October 1 also marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Filipino American History Month, Italian American Heritage Month, LGBTQ History Month, and Polish American History Month.

Clare's Blog

Friday, September 23, 2016

Week of September 25, 2016