November already?

Wow... first unit wrapped up, so is mapping, oceanography, and energy in the earth systems onward to rocks and minerals!

Nothing more precious than the Hope diamond... ahhh except our students!

Photo courtesy of Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

FIVE WEEKS INTO THE SEMESTER

Wow - time just goes by so fast!

Next week is Week # 6 and the six-week grading period looms very close. It has been an incredible journey as we move forward wrapping up our intro unit in science. Well well worth pursuing the agenda of building foundations before running - I am hoping that the literacy component + math components will help smooth all the student's performance in the upcoming units. Time will tell.

Overall excellent connections with the students - they are great kids...

The shadow lab - Mr. B's creation - great touch to the unit - thank you Jack for your work!

WEEK 2 GONE! START OF WEEK 3

Moving along!

A pregnant female Pachygrapsus crasipes

Great observations!

FIRST WEEK...

Wow what a week - time goes by so fast! Students are awesome.. from introductions to assessments to lectures to homework to spcorpions...don't ask. In any case - great week.

SCHOOL STARTS

Time has slipped by and the summer is but a dream... I am starting my fourth year of teaching and looking forward to a good year. BTSA is completed as well as all my SIOP training. This summer I also read Freeman and Freeman's book: Academic Language for English Language Learners and Struggling Readers (a decent and practical book) plus completed the in-services on advanced SDAIE and A Framework for Understanding Poverty - two VUSD sponsored events - excellent resources. Thanks to the team that put this together.

I have picked the theme from Oracle's Thinkquest regarding teamwork: think, connect, create, and share.