May 26, 2017

In this post: 

• Spring Break in China
• What we are learning.
• Finals

Spring Break in China

Thanks to all who have already registered for the Spring Break 2018 trip to China! We're excited to announce that World Strides has extended the early registration deadline (which includes a discounted rate) to June 15. Some details: 

• WHO: Middle and Upper School Students, accompanied by Annie Wright faculty. We need 5 students for the trip to run.
• WHAT: A 10 day trip to Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai. WorldStrides, the tour company we are partnering with, emphasizes hands on learning, so the group will get to experience Chinese cooking and calligraphy first hand, and they’ll also be able to have lunch with a family and visit a school to connect with local students. 
• WHEN: Spring Break! March 22-31, 2018. The departure date is Spring Conferences, and March 23 is a faculty in-service day.
• COST: The cost per student is $3,664. WorldStrides provides several options for payment, including a monthly EZPay, as well as financial assistance through the FLAG program.
• HOW TO SIGN UP: Go to www.worldstrides.com/enroll! Username: travel; Password: wright. This page gives you all the information you need regarding itinerary, cost, and payment options. If you enroll before June 15 (with a $300 non-refundable deposit), you’ll be eligible for a discounted trip price; the final deadline for committing to the trip is September 15. 
• DOES MY STUDENT NEED A PASSPORT AND VISA FOR THIS TRIP? Yes! According to the US Department of State, US residents need a passport that is valid for 6 months after the visit and a tourist visa. WorldStrides provides an online system to check visa requirements and instructions to apply for visas. 
• TIMELINE: Sign up with a non-refundable deposit of $300 by June 15, 2017 for a discounted rate! The final, non-refundable date to enroll is September 15, 2017.

What we are learning...

On Thursday, the Middle School celebrated the 16th Annual Milk Boat Regatta at American Lake. While Milk Boats began as an interdisciplinary project that explored water, with the implementation of the MYP framework it has become an in-depth study of systems across four subject areas - Individuals & Societies, Science, Math, and Design - guided by the Statement of Inquiry, "Cooperative and collaborative systems lead to improved consequences and progress. In short, systems improve progress." 

The most important system in the project is not the design or construction of the boat, or the effectiveness or entertainment value of presentations that precede the race. It is the collaborative process itself. Milk Boat teams are constructed randomly as names are drawn out of a hat, and over the course of several months students work toward awareness of their own roles on a team, a deeper understanding of group dynamics, and develop critical skills for leadership and membership in a community. This year, all of the boats completed the race in tact - which is a compliment to 7th Graders' capacity for design and construction! - but students also experienced an impromptu lesson in collaboration and cooperation. When the Green Team lost a couple of paddlers, a group of first responders who were training in water rescues on the adjacent dock cruised over to provide help for the last lap of the race!

While the regatta is primarily an event for 7th Grade students, the day invites 8th Graders to reflect back on their experience of collaborating, building, and racing, and it provides a preview for 6th Graders, planting a seed both for the coming year. It is also a unique chance for Middle School faculty and parents to witness the intersection of community and curriculum. 

Finals

The draft schedule for finals is below. Each day includes a mix of final assessments and time to work on year-end projects, including the 6th Grade Rube Goldberg Project, 7th Grade Mass Transit Field Trip, and the 8th Grade Oral History Project.

Please note the following abbreviations:
A: Arts
IS: Individuals & Societies
LA: Language Acquisition
LL: Language & Literature
M: Math
SCI: Science
PHE: Physical & Health Education

Thursday, June 8
Start time	End time		6A	6B	7A	7B	8A	8B	8C
8:00 AM	8:15 AM	Advisory	Advisory
8:15 AM	9:45 AM	Block 1	A	A	LL	LL	M	M	M
9:45 AM	10:15 AM	Flex	Flex
10:15 AM	11:45 AM	Block 2	M	M	LA	LA	LL	LL	LL
11:45 AM	12:30 PM	Lunch	Lunch
12:30 PM	2:00 PM	Block 3	Rube Goldberg Project		SCI	SCI	A	A	A
2:00 PM	2:10 PM	Break
2:10 PM	3:10 PM	Block 4	Rube Goldberg Project		Leadership		PHE	PHE	PHE

Friday, June 9
Start time	End time		6A	6B	7A	7B	8A	8B	8C
8:00 AM	8:15 AM	Advisory	Advisory
8:15 AM	9:45 AM	Block 1	LL	LL	A	A	IS	IS	IS
9:45 AM	10:15 AM	Flex	Flex
10:15 AM	11:45 AM	Block 2	Rube Goldberg Project		M	M	LA	LA	LA
11:45 AM	12:30 PM	Lunch	Lunch
12:30 PM	2:00 PM	Block 3	Rube Goldberg Project		MT Prep		Oral History Project
2:00 PM	2:10 PM	Break
2:10 PM	3:10 PM	Block 4	PHE	PHE	Advisory Challenge		Oral History Project

May 12, 2017

In this post... 

• Traveling to China!
• Preparing for Finals
• What we are learning: the Journeys

Traveling to China!

Thanks to all who came to last week’s informational meeting about a trip to China for Middle and Upper School Students during Spring Break 2018! For more information about World Strides and the itinerary, visit this presentation (requires Adobe Flash). If your student is interested but you couldn’t make the meeting, please contact Ms. Alice Flores as soon as possible and visit the blog for more details.

Some details:

• WHO: Middle and Upper School Students, accompanied by Annie Wright faculty. We need 5 students for the trip to run.
• WHAT: A 10 day trip to Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai. WorldStrides, the tour company we are partnering with, emphasizes hands on learning, so the group will get to experience Chinese cooking and calligraphy first hand, and they’ll also be able to have lunch with a family and visit a school to connect with local students. 
• WHEN: Spring Break! March 22-31, 2018. The departure date is Spring Conferences, and March 23 is a faculty in-service day.
• COST: The cost per student is $3,664. WorldStrides provides several options for payment, including a monthly EZPay, as well as financial assistance through the FLAG program.
• HOW TO SIGN UP: Go to www.worldstrides.com/enroll! Username: travel; Password: wright. This page gives you all the information you need regarding itinerary, cost, and payment options. If you enroll before May 25 (with a $300 non-refundable deposit), you’ll be eligible for a discounted trip price; the final deadline for committing to the trip is September 15. 
• DOES MY STUDENT NEED A PASSPORT AND VISA FOR THIS TRIP? Yes! According to the US Department of State, US residents need a passport that is valid for 6 months after the visit and a tourist visa. WorldStrides provides an online system to check visa requirements and instructions to apply for visas. 
• TIMELINE: Sign up with a non-refundable deposit of $300 by May 25, 2017 for a discounted rate! The final, non-refundable date to enroll is September 15, 2017. 

Preparing for Finals

Second Semester Final Assessments will be given on June 8 and 9. Accustomed to more traditional or conventional approaches to Finals, many people refer to these assessments as "exams," which is a but misleading. Traditional "final examinations" are cumulative and often daunting tests and that heavily sway students' grades. As a result, students sometimes approach "exams" with dread, adding a psychological barrier to feeling successful. For our Middle School students, finals include a variety of forms of assessments, from traditional tests that reflect of mastered content and skills, to demonstrating mastery in some other way, like an extended essay, a presentation, or a project. Our finals do not disproportionately influence students' grades any more than a unit test or summative assessment. Students do not take a final for every course; instead, certain courses require a block of time for a final assessment, and other courses finish via other means before finals week. 

These distinctions are important for clarifying the purpose of finals, which is consistent with our broader academic goals. "Success" is not reflected in an isolated grade. Instead, "success" reflects a student's ability to demonstrate mastery of key skills, to apply knowledge and content, and to understand herself or himself as a learner. Of course, the ability to do any of this requires preparation, but that preparation began on the first day of classes in September, and teachers are helping students to prepare specifically for these assessments in class. The skills associated with long-term planning are so crucial to academic success throughout and beyond Middle School. A comprehensive schedule for finals week will be available next week and sent directly to students.

To prepare for finals, please consider the following tips: 

• Don't schedule off-campus appointments on June 7 (a review day), 8 or 9. 
• Ensure that your student is sleeping and eating well in the days leading up to finals. 
• Keep the temperature low - don't put any more pressure on a student's performance during finals than you would on any other assessment. 
• Remind your student that finals are about good preparation and demonstrating mastery and growth. 

What we are learning...

This week, we returned from our Journeys to California, the Southwest, and Costa Rica. Now in its third year, our Journeys program is quite unique. It grows out of our total program - not only particular subjects or areas of academic exploration, but also our commitment to cultivate learners who are well-educated, creative, and responsible citizens. The Journeys embody our Key Characteristics, too. Each Journey takes students out of their comfort zones and challenges them to be their best. Each connects our students to different parts of the world, expanding their notion of "community." Each follows in the tradition of innovative programming and contributes to a new tradition for our community. Each provides a chance for students and faculty to know each other - and themselves - better. Below are just a few insights from our Journeys Coordinators, but the best sources of information will be your students. Don't just ask them how the trip was or what their favorite part was. Ask them about specific experiences, where they felt challenged, where they felt engaged. Ask them what they learned about themselves on the journey. 

On our journey, the 6th graders explored the CA coast through the lenses of both an author and a scientist, and now they are working on putting their observations about the natural world in writing. Encourage them to read their contrasting pieces out loud to you – can you tell which voice they using in each?

One of these photos capture the natural beauty of Elkhorn Slough, where the group explored the unique ecological environment of the slough and learned about the California coast. The other captures the group as we entered the Steinbeck Center in the author's hometown of Salinas. The Center afforded students to engage with the life of John Steinbeck and learn about the cultural, social, and economic context in which he lived and wrote. 

Tara and Caroline taking notes in the Grand Canyon geology museum.

There are a number of curricular connections to the 7th Grade Southwest Trip, but several of them are subtle pieces of the overall experience. For instance, students investigated native Southwest art styles, which were on display in shops and restaurants on the trip. To prepare for 8th Grade Language and Literature, which focuses on building voice in writing, students kept track of experiences that they might incorporate into a piece of creative nonfiction. There was also the obvious connection to Science as students explored the desert biome and thought about how humans have interacted with and impacted their habitats. But the biggest connection between the Southwest Trip and the Middle School program is the strengthening of the Learner Profile. Students take risks, reflect on their experiences, approach new experiences with open minds, and care for their fellow travelers and for themselves. That kind of social-emotional growth is an important piece of the middle school years, and it’s a prominent piece of the Southwest Trip.

Supporting friends on the tough Zion trail.

A little risk taking at Lake Powell.

The 8th Grade Journey provided us the opportunity to experience the wonderful culture of Costa Rica with both direct and indirect ties to our curriculum. The students previous knowledge of indigenous art came through when we visited the cultural heritage site in Sarapiqui. There was also the obvious connection to Science as we explored the volcanoes of Costa Rica. The students also developed a sense of the Costa Rican desire be at the forefront of sustainability with 200 plus days of running the whole country's electricity using only renewable energy sources. The biggest curricular connection came in Language Acquisition. Travel affords all students the opportunity to step out of their comfort zone and forces them to problem solve using the tools they develop as they learn any language. A simple smile or being comfortable to use a few catch phrases goes a long way. All of our students walked away with tremendous growth in their ability to take risks and be independent as world travelers. The 8th Grade is an amazing group. Pura Vida!