Monthly Archives: August 2019

Co-op Update — Weeks of 9/3 and 9/9

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First of all — your kids are AMAZING. We finished last in the race itself, but our 8th graders had so much fun and it was all smiles as they were even doing tricks off the boat during the homestretch.  Our Flock of Fantastic Flerken were incredible.  They were so loud and enthusiastic — and their costumes looked amazing.  So proud of them all.  Thank you so much for all your support with our regatta.
A few notes for the next few weeks:
1) Integrated Classes start Tuesday and will continue through the first week of December.
2) If you have not signed up for conferences, please do so here.  Again, conferences begin on 9/17. Thank you in advance for your flexibility.
3) All students have received feedback on their goals.  There are a number of tasks that we’ll be working on during co-op to support goal-setting conferences, but this portfolio checklist should all be complete prior to the conference.
4) Fall Trip Permission Form due September 11th. These paper forms went home with students last week. Thank you for your help in getting that turned in promptly.  Again, Fall Trip is at 100 Elk, Sept 25-27.
5) Our first ADI (All Day Integrated) is on Friday, September 13th.  Students will probably need a sack lunch, water-bottle, and writing utensil on that day — they can check with their integrated teacher for full details.
6) Friendly reminder that there is no school on Monday, September 16th and Friday, September 20th is an early release day.  Students should plan on being picked up at 10:35am on that day.
Happy September!  -JF

Shark Tank Update — Week of 9/3/19

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Hi Stellar Shark Tank Students (and families),

I’m so excited to commence our studies on Tuesday!  I will try to send an email every week or two with updates about class.  These emails are sent to both students and parents and they also will be reposted to my blog.  Welcome to Shark Tank!

Here are a few upcoming topics we’ll be exploring.
1) Basic economic principals.  Get ready for our “French Fry Scenario” on Tuesday.
2) Who are we as entrepreneurs? What do entrepreneurs actually do?
3) What is the difference between communism and capitalism?
4) What makes a country?  We’ll be working in groups to create our own country.
5) How does kiva.org work?  Why is entrepreneurialism important throughout the world?
6) Setting up both our Google classroom and our entrepreneur notebooks.
Our first ADI is a jam-packed extravaganza to the University of Colorado at Boulder on September 13th.  Students will miss most (if not all of) electives on this day.  We’ll be headed to the Leeds School of Business where we’ll learn about entrepreneurialism from CU Professors and Grad students, then we’ll go tour the engineering maker space, and finally we’ll learn about cartography at the CU Geography Library.  I have one parent chaperone already (thanks Krysia) and I have room for one more if you would like to join us.  Just let me know.  We’ll be traveling via RTD.
Lastly, if you have experience in the start-up world and you are interested in being an entrepreneurial mentor, please reach out.  We’ll have special Shark Tank mentor days on 10/3, 10/22, and 11/21. These days are also really important (and helpful) for students to be present in class.
Upcoming due dates:
  • Wednesday, September 11th:  Create a Country Reports Presented.  (This date may slip.)
Thank you in advance for all of your support!  -JF

LA Update — Week of 8/26

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SO MUCH FUN to read all of the rambling autobiographies this past week.  Your students are amazing!  A few notes about class:
1) Students are welcome to revise nearly any project with me (and get re-assessed) so long as they connect with me and revise within seven days. They can talk to me in person, sign up on my list in class, or email me to set up an appointment.
2) I’m not perfect, but I’m pretty good about using Infinite Campus   You (and your student) can check to see the status of assignments (and missing assignments).  I’ll leave most feedback in the projects themselves, but if you check the “comments” area in IC, you can see marks for scored assignments.  At CHOICE, we use 1-4 scale.  1 = Developing Proficiency.   2 = Partially Proficient.  3 = Proficient.  4 = Advanced Proficient.
3) I-ready.  I’m not sure yet exactly when this is happening, but it may happen this week.  The district mandates that students participate in this reading assessment. 3x/year.  This will happen during LA class.
4) We have started our grammar work.  Last week, we reviewed simple sentences.  We’ll continue building upon this (dependent clauses, independent clauses, punctuation, etc.) as the semester unfolds.
5) As time allows, we’ll work on our book plans and also dive into Beowulf as an anchor text.  Students will be annotating a short story version of it to help them track plot, ask questions, and determine importance as readers.
Upcoming due dates:
  • Every night:  Read 30 minutes
  • Due Thursday at 8am:  Book Plan with minimum of 12 titles due via Google Classroom
  • Bring writing utensil and choice novel to class.
Have a fantastic week!  -JF

Co-op Update — Week of 8/25

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Lots of questions, so here goes…
Q) What about back-to-school night?  
A) It’s Tuesday.  If you are a 6th grade parent, you might enjoy coming to our new parent orientation at 5:30pm.  Otherwise, Back to School night starts at 6:30pm.  If you join us, you’ll have a chance to go through a mini-schedule of your student’s classes.  It’s also a great time if you want to get fingerprinted so you can join us as a volunteer.
Q) Goals?  Goal-Setting Conferences?
A) Students will continue to develop their goals in co-op this week.  Once they’ve done so, they’ll need to submit them via Google Classroom.  These are due on Thursday.  I’ll give feedback (and I’ve done so for a few students already), they’ll make edits/adjustments, and then students will put them in the goals section of the portfolio.  PARENTS — IF YOU HAVE NOT SIGNED UP FOR A STUDENT-LED CONFERENCE, PLEASE DO SO HERE.
Q) When do Integrated classes start?
A) They will start on Tuesday, September 3rd during Block 3.  We were able to give every student at least one of their first choices.  Students will find out their integrated classes either Monday or Tuesday of this week.
Q) What/When is the Regatta?
A) On Friday, August 30th, the entire CHOICE program will walk to Baseline Reservoir to cheer on the 8th graders in a “boat” race on the lake.  It’s quite a scene and you are welcome to join us and watch the proceedings beginning at 2pm.  In co-op this week, 8th graders will be building their boats, while 6th and 7th graders develop costumes, cheers, songs, etc in support.  We already have our theme this year, ask your student for details.  In any event, students may be requesting unusual supplies for this endeavor.
Q) What about community service?
A) As part of our CHOICE portfolio requirement, students are asked to complete community service.  Sixth graders are expected to perform 20 hours of community service, 7th graders — 30 hours, and 8th graders — 40 hours.  Students should be brainstorming ideas on how to fulfill this requirement already.
Q) How can I support my student organizationally?
A) Planners work for some students, but not for most and every kid is different.  Here are (IMHO) the most successful systems:
1) A small notebook that students carry to every class.  Within in it, there is a simple self-created to-do checklist that they track upcoming things they need to do.
2) A weekly Monday “business” meeting at a set time — at first with parents, then independently, where students scan the week, check classroom blogs, and use a whiteboard week-at-a-glance planner prominently placed at home to track various assignments/commitments/etc.
Q) Fall Trip?
A) We’ll be headed to 100 Elk on September 25th through September 27th for various programming and community building.  If you wish to join us for three days of adventure, we love parent chaperones.  Just let me know.  Fall Trip permission forms (paper copy required) will be headed home this week.  Look for them.
Thank you for all your support!  -JF

LA Update — Week of 8/19

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Here’s what’s happening in LA over the next several days:
 
1) Rambling autobiographies. We will have more time in class to work on our rambling autobiographies. These are due via Google Classroom by 8am on Thursday, August 22nd. (I know there are several students who are still having username/password issues — hope to have all of these resolved by end-of-class on Tuesday.)
 
2) We’ll be talking about reading! Students should be reading 30 minutes nightly. Did you know that studies show that comprehension drops 40% when readers listen to music while reading? Students are welcome to listen to listen to audio books to meet this reading requirement, but I would highly recommend that they follow along with book in hand as they are doing so. We’ll be speed-dating books in the library on Monday and talking about various book recommendation websites all week.   Students will create book plans as well.  These will be due Thursday, August 29th.
3) If time allows (and we probably won’t get to it until next week), we’ll start to dive into the Beowulf story.  We’ll be exploring those strategies that “good” readers use to better understand text.  One of those strategies is determining importance.  How do you figure out when something matters in a story?  And what exactly does a 1500 year old story teach us anyways?!  (Parents — if you want to brush up on Beowulf yourself, here’s a link to the summary we’ll be reading in class.  No worries — it’s not in old English!)
Upcoming due dates:
  • Reading nightly.
  • Thursday: Bring choice book to class.
  • Thursday, August 22nd by 8am: Rambling autobiography due via Google Classroom
  • Thursday, August 29th by 8am: Book Plan due via Google Classroom.
Students will have time to work on these assignments during class.
 
Thank you for all your support!  -JF

Co-op Update — Week of 8/19

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Lots happening in co-op as we enter our first full week of classes.
1) Goal Setting Conferences.  Please sign up for parent attended, student-led goal setting conferences in September.  Sign up by clicking here.
2) Field Trip Permission form.  If you haven’t filled out CHOICE’s Field Trip Permission form, please do so asap by clicking here
3) Monday afternoon —  we will begin brainstorming for the annual beginning-of-the-year CHOICE art project.  Students will be making “hashtag wire sculptures” of their “spirit” animal.
4) We are headed out for community day after electives on Friday.  Students should bring a sack lunch, water bottle, sun hat, and sunscreen.
5) Portfolios.  We will start creating our portfolios this week.  There were lots of strong opinions about portfolios when we discussed it as a co-op on Thursday.  I’m on the fence myself — part of me loves the physical portfolio because it’s tangible and the process of organizing it is invaluable.  However, printing in the building is very challenging and it’s been a real struggle these past few years.  Some students don’t have home printers and the idea of a more environmentally friendly alternative has appeal.  I’m going to offer BOTH the physical and digital options for portfolios in my co-op this year.  By the end of this week, students (hopefully) will have completed the following:
PHYSICAL:   DIGITAL:
Cover page and “Spine” Label Cover Image
Dividers with labels of the 8 portfolio sections.   Tabs with the 8 portfolio section
Portfolio Sign-off sheet inserted into portfolio. Physical folder to keep Portfolio sign-off sheet
Community Service Log inserted into portfolio. and community service log.
We’ll discuss all of this in class.
6) CHOICE Donations.  If you haven’t made your annual CHOICE donation, please do so via revtrak.  Thank you so much for your support of our program.
7) Community Service.  We haven’t talked about community service requirements yet, but the expectation is that 6th graders complete 20 hours of community service, 7th graders complete 30 hours of community service, and 8th graders complete 40 hours of community service before May, 2019.  With that in mind, Community Fruit Rescue may be a great way to get community service hours (and eat a lot of apples too!).  If your student is interested, they can check out the website here.  We’ll talk about expectations for community service later this week.  (Here’s a list of 36 ideas.)
This week, we’ll continue to get to know one another, sign up for integrated classes, plan lollipop Thursdays, and (if time allows) introduce goal setting and community service. We’ve also started our read-aloud book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian.
Lastly, I LOVE our co-op.  We have a really amazing group of kids in our class.  Thank you for the opportunity to be their teacher this year.
Have a great week!   -JF

LA Update — Week of 8/12

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Our first day of Language Arts class is Thursday and I’m so excited to be your student’s LA teacher for the first two trimesters of this year.  (I teach 8th grade seminar the third trimester.) I’ll do my best to send out email updates with happenings from class.
 
I’m a big believer in building classroom culture through content.  We start our first class by reproducing an in-class theatrical version of Beowulf.  Our studies this year will explore the hero’s journey as we unravel why so many stories have similar threads. We’ll read texts closely and critically. Using Beowulf as our foundation, we’ll also write our own hero’s journey stories. What do we want to teach our readers through the power of story?  How can we manipulate our own mythology? We’ll focus on sentence structure, paragraph development, idea organization, and peer critique.  Learning to give kind, helpful, and specific feedback is an invaluable skill and we’ll practice that a lot as well.  Our hero’s journey project will culminate with a “coffeehouse reading” at a local Coffeehouse on the evening of Thursday, December 12th.  Please save the date.
 
There is inevitably project spillover, but the hope is that students are getting most of their work completed in class. The one exception to this is reading. The brain research shows that reading is the most important factor in brain development for kids 11-15. Students should have a book with them at school and we’ll spend time during our first few weeks “dating” books and creating reading plans. I also have links to good book recommendation resources. Students should be reading 30 minutes most (all?) nights.  If students wish to listen to audio books to fulfill this reading requirement, that’s great — although I encourage students to track with text in hand whenever possible. Also —if your student doesn’t have his/her/their own public library card, this is a great time to get one! Students are welcome to bring well-labeled Kindles or Nooks to class, but they are not permitted to read on phones.
 
Upcoming due dates: (subject to change)
  • Rambling Autobiography tentatively due via Google Classroom by 8am on Thursday, 8/23. I’ll likely introduce this in class on Friday.
  • Reading Plan — tentatively due by 8am on Tuesday, 8/28.  I’ll introduce this the week of 8/19
Thank you so much in advance for your support.  I’m looking forward to a great year.  -JF

Shark Tank Starts September 3rd!

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Yeah — you know that show. Wannabe entrepreneur pitches their business to a room full of “sharks” who then decide which ideas are worthy of investment. In this class, we’ll become entrepreneurs. We’ll develop ideas, write business plans, work with mentors, and pitch our ideas to real investors! Maybe you will create an app. Maybe you’ll launch a donut empire. Maybe you will be the founder of the next world-changing non-profit. Even if you have no idea what business you might start, we’ll figure it out! You are the boss.

In addition to brainstorming and launching our own companies, we’ll also look at the role of capitalism throughout the world. What role does economics play on the world stage? What about the booming community of micro-lending? Prepare to real live mentors as you swim with the sharks!

Language Arts: An Introduction

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We’ll start the year by exploring how our mythology defines our humanity.  We’ll focus specifically on the hero’s journey, beginning with Beowulf.  We’ll look at how to read a text closely and critically.  Don’t worry — we’ll have a variety of translations – ranging from picture books to excerpts from Seamus Heaney’s translation.   We’ll even poke into parts of the story from Grendel’s point of view.

At the beginning of September, we’ll wrap up our discussions on Beowulf with a “conversation café” where students will have the opportunity to pose their own hypotheses about this classic tale.   Using Beowulf as a foundation, we’ll also begin writing some short pieces about our journeys and our identities.  What do we want to teach our readers?

We’ll spend October continuing to delve into the structure of writing.  We’ll focus both on content and grammar, with specific emphasis on sentence structure, paragraph development, and idea organization.   Our attention will not only be on writing our hero’s journey, but also on critique.  How does one give kind, helpful, and specific feedback?

Stay tuned for more information about reading expectations, check-ins, personalized video book reviews, and more as the year progresses!

The Beginning of School — Hurray!

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Welcome!  We have a fantastic group of students in our co-op this year.  I can’t wait to meet our new 6th graders and I’m psyched to reconnect with all the 7th and 8th graders. Throughout the year, I will try to email regular updates about co-op and here is the inaugural edition.  So… a few quick notes as school commences:
 
1) If you are not familiar with the CHOICE website or my blog, check them out.  The website has the CHOICE calendar, links to all of our blogs, and archived editions of the CHOICE Weekly (the CHOICE newsletter).
 
2) Please fill out the field trip permission form.  It’s a little bit of a headache, but it is required by the district and we really appreciate you completing it promptly. Thank you in advance!  
 
3) Sixth Grade families — looking forward to meeting you an the meet-and-greet on Tuesday, August 13th at 5:30pm.
 
4) All year long, we’ll be working on portfolios.  I have a “portfolio document warehouse” where you can always access any portfolio materials you need.  We’ll probably start talking about portfolios the week of August 19th.
 
So much more to come.  Stay tuned for information about fall trip, the CHOICE regatta, integrated classes, portfolios, goal-setting conferences, and all sorts of other happenings.
 
Looking forward to a fantastic year!  -JF