November is here already

Hello,

I am back from a family trip to Mexico...refreshed and relaxed. Thanks for hanging in there for me.

We have three weeks until Thanksgiving break. Conferences will officially be held that following week when we return to discuss the mid-semester progress report. There are some individual conferences that I will schedule before then to catch some folks up if I see a need with their student that should be addressed with a little more time.

Advising: We are finishing a read-aloud book today and students will begin writing their 3-page analytical essay. This will be due Friday, November 19th.

Math of Travel: Kids are continuing the simulation and should be finished will all work on Oman today, Monday the 1st.

Songwriting: Next performance on Wed. November 10th.

AD&D and RPGs: Kids have finished going through a "mini-adventure" and are set and working on creating their own module and world. This will end up being a minimum of 8 typed pages. Due day forthcoming.

Writing Workshop: Many individual due dates in class. All journals checked this week. Fiction assignments ALL finished by Thursday, November 18th.


IMPORTANT: A quick note about Fridays. We are doing them in a rotation this year that includes (every month) a service day, testing/assessment, K-12 (buddy) experience, advising activity. This week is a testing and assessment day. 7th and 8th graders will test and get practice tests in both reading and math.
6th graders = this day is OPTIONAL and we encourage your family to make other plans for the day. If they do show up, Kurt and I will have a non-academic activity for them. However, they do not need to attend (ONLY 6th graders). Other grade levels will have this same opportunity through the year as testing continues. We are striving to have the least distractions on these days and to have our best scores ever!

Lastly, INTENSIVES...

They are in January this year. We have a week "off" between semesters to have intensives i.e. workshops that run all day and are led by teachers and parents and community members. If you would like to lead a group for this activity or have any questions please let me know. It is also a time when we need drivers for activities too! Lots more on this soon.

Kirk