COURSE DESCRIPTIONS AND WORKSHEETS:
On the Trillium Web Site
Nina's Advising Blog: This page is dedicated to this group of students who allows me to share their space and facilitate silliness are the most honest, caring, exciting, individualistic people I've met. I have the honor of watching how dedicated they are to each other and how they are willing to grow.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Rummage Sale
As you may have heard just a few places in our economy are "challenged" right now. Obviously the cancelling of intensives were a reflection of our own budget limitations. Our advising recently discussed how cutting out valued experiences from Trillium might be a huge loss. To that end they are hoping to prevent the canceling of campouts by having a fundraiser. The idea raised by the advising would be a rummage sale. The proposed date would be April 9th, the Saturday after we come back from spring break.
Please save your "goodwill type donations" if possible.
More to come as we go through the steps to get this approved.
All the best, Nina
Please save your "goodwill type donations" if possible.
More to come as we go through the steps to get this approved.
All the best, Nina
Recent Email, In Case You Misplaced Or Didn't Receive
Hello, So much has gone on that I'm excited to share with you. )Week January 10-14th
Firstly, this Friday is optional for 7th graders who have finished taking their fall state tests (math and reading). In order to provide the best testing environment for our students we've rotated which class (6th, 7th, 8th) stays home on a Friday.
In this email you'll find information on
:
* Bike Wheels to Steering Wheels Presentation
* January 28th End of Semester
* Facebook Lesson
* Official no sharing hats week: Lice
* Service Friday
Bike Wheels to Steering Wheels:
We had a guest speaker come to our class and share how important it is to wear a helmet while riding your bike, scooter, or skateboard. She also gave out information for parents. I sent one home with the students.. maybe you found it while you were helping them clean out their backpacks. She encouraged students to contact her if they didn't have a helmet or had family members who did not have a helmet and she could get us discounted helmets. It was an interesting presentation.
January 28th Is the End of the Semester:
January 28th is the end of the semester. The course catalogs for the following semester are presently being worked on. Meanwhile we've been encouraging students to finish strong. We have many students struggling in math and other topics. Advising has been a time of academic support and will be for the next two weeks. It is difficult, however, to help one student with math and encourage 23 others to pull out homework. If there is any way that you might be able to come upstairs at 8:30 and help sit with a student and encourage them to clean out their backpack and look for work, help with fractions, help with science or math homework, or help them study by making and quizing them on Spanish or Japanese flashcards that would be amazing and helpful.
Facebook Lesson:
I was gone on Friday, however spent quite a bit of time creating the best lesson plan EVER. Students engaged in small group, big group, and reflective writing about Facebook and the issues surrounding it. There is a movie, Social Networking, that just came out and I'm encouraging students to join the conversation around the movie and the abuses of Facebook which seem to cause unsafe situations and has gotten a few high school students suspended. In some high schools even expelled! We're educating ourselves on the pluses and minuses of such a phenomenon. Of course you have to be 17 to have an account according to the policies, however, many students have them anyway. We can't stop them from having one, however bullying and harassment policies say that we have to respond if there is student to student harassment or bullying.
Official no sharing hats week. Lice
Before break I had talked to some students and families about lice. Sadly the lice came back from the break... and somehow even I caught it. If you are unsure as to whether it is lice or just dandruff I have a microscope and can help you identify. The main thing is that under the microscope it is possible to see the glue by which the lice attach going all around the hair shaft... which means you can pull the nits off along the hair but not perpendicular to the hair.
Service Friday:
Lastly we have a service Friday on the 21st. Some of us will be going out to pull ivy, others will be going to the homeless shelter. We'll be needing transportation. If anyone can drive us to pulling ivy (which is usually up behind 23rd and Lovejoy) please let me know. There is no obligation to help.
Firstly, this Friday is optional for 7th graders who have finished taking their fall state tests (math and reading). In order to provide the best testing environment for our students we've rotated which class (6th, 7th, 8th) stays home on a Friday.
In this email you'll find information on
:
* Bike Wheels to Steering Wheels Presentation
* January 28th End of Semester
* Facebook Lesson
* Official no sharing hats week: Lice
* Service Friday
Bike Wheels to Steering Wheels:
We had a guest speaker come to our class and share how important it is to wear a helmet while riding your bike, scooter, or skateboard. She also gave out information for parents. I sent one home with the students.. maybe you found it while you were helping them clean out their backpacks. She encouraged students to contact her if they didn't have a helmet or had family members who did not have a helmet and she could get us discounted helmets. It was an interesting presentation.
January 28th Is the End of the Semester:
January 28th is the end of the semester. The course catalogs for the following semester are presently being worked on. Meanwhile we've been encouraging students to finish strong. We have many students struggling in math and other topics. Advising has been a time of academic support and will be for the next two weeks. It is difficult, however, to help one student with math and encourage 23 others to pull out homework. If there is any way that you might be able to come upstairs at 8:30 and help sit with a student and encourage them to clean out their backpack and look for work, help with fractions, help with science or math homework, or help them study by making and quizing them on Spanish or Japanese flashcards that would be amazing and helpful.
Facebook Lesson:
I was gone on Friday, however spent quite a bit of time creating the best lesson plan EVER. Students engaged in small group, big group, and reflective writing about Facebook and the issues surrounding it. There is a movie, Social Networking, that just came out and I'm encouraging students to join the conversation around the movie and the abuses of Facebook which seem to cause unsafe situations and has gotten a few high school students suspended. In some high schools even expelled! We're educating ourselves on the pluses and minuses of such a phenomenon. Of course you have to be 17 to have an account according to the policies, however, many students have them anyway. We can't stop them from having one, however bullying and harassment policies say that we have to respond if there is student to student harassment or bullying.
Official no sharing hats week. Lice
Before break I had talked to some students and families about lice. Sadly the lice came back from the break... and somehow even I caught it. If you are unsure as to whether it is lice or just dandruff I have a microscope and can help you identify. The main thing is that under the microscope it is possible to see the glue by which the lice attach going all around the hair shaft... which means you can pull the nits off along the hair but not perpendicular to the hair.
Service Friday:
Lastly we have a service Friday on the 21st. Some of us will be going out to pull ivy, others will be going to the homeless shelter. We'll be needing transportation. If anyone can drive us to pulling ivy (which is usually up behind 23rd and Lovejoy) please let me know. There is no obligation to help.
President Obama's Memorial Speech in Tucson
President Obama's Speech, Curriculum Regarding
At the recent memorial in Tucson President Obama made a speech at perhaps one of the bipartisan events. The memorial in Tucson was made to be a moment to reflect on embracing each other in civil discourse, in conversations that can help us understand each other. To help us see the perspective those of us who hold views different than ourselves. Not necessarily to change our own minds, but to perhaps help us understand where another person is coming from.
The following excerpt comes from the Teaching Tolerance Website:
Here’s one idea about how to proceed. Take this excerpt from the speech:
"But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized—at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do—it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds."
Words can heal or wound, Obama said. We began this essay by suggesting that they can shed light or generate heat. We can think of other comparisons—do we speak to convince others or to understand them? Do we want speeches that inspire hope or fear?
At the recent memorial in Tucson President Obama made a speech at perhaps one of the bipartisan events. The memorial in Tucson was made to be a moment to reflect on embracing each other in civil discourse, in conversations that can help us understand each other. To help us see the perspective those of us who hold views different than ourselves. Not necessarily to change our own minds, but to perhaps help us understand where another person is coming from.
The following excerpt comes from the Teaching Tolerance Website:
Here’s one idea about how to proceed. Take this excerpt from the speech:
"But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized—at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do—it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds."
Words can heal or wound, Obama said. We began this essay by suggesting that they can shed light or generate heat. We can think of other comparisons—do we speak to convince others or to understand them? Do we want speeches that inspire hope or fear?
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