Our 8^th grade planning team has worked together to create a yearlong project and corresponding plan.  Here is a draft sample of the first phase: Exploration.  This draft document outlines the necessary skills and processes that will need to be taught and the assessments that will be taken.  The standards used to create this plan come from the Oregon State Standards and from the National Association of Environmental Educators.  The planning team will meet again twice this month to further our work. 

The 8^th grade project will be broken into four phases:  Exploration, Planning, Investigation, and Product

Draft for the Exploration phase:

Enduring Questions:

What are the environmental/community issues facing our community?

What questions do I have about this issue?

What interests me...

How am I and my community connected?

Necessary Vocabulary: Skill/Process: Assessment:

Investigation Questioning 1.  Artistic Representation

Action Project Evaluation 2.  Question Tree

Inquiry Exploration of issues 3.  Answers to why does it matter

Proposal Creating - art 4.  Presentation

Evaluation Brainstorming 5.  A "what next" document:  sets up summer exploration

Brainstorming Imagining

Environmental Issues Create a Question Tree

Activities:

1.    Go there:

See the possibilities andimagine access to these

2.    Talk about it:  structured small group sharing aboutthe experiences of “going there”

3.    ArtisticRepresentation:  create art torepresent the problem, questions and possible solutions

4.    Write inquiry steps andquestion to answer:

     * How does this fit the big picture?

* What is the value to me personally, to my community? 

Happy Holidays from the staff and board at Springwater Environmental Sciences School!  Thanks from Deb and the staff for all of the thoughtful notes and gifts.  We are overwhelmed!  

Math:  Teachers had the second round of their math development work with the Teachers Development Group. We spent time discussing how to "press" for deeper understanding and thinking by looking at the math we ask students to do.  The question we asked is:  Are the tasks we ask students to do going to lead to deep, complex work and the opportunity for deep understanding? 

To understand this question and the related actions teachers would need to take to provide this for students, teachers "did math" too.  "Doing the math" helps them to understand the type of intellectual work students go through when they experience a good math task.  This, in turn, helps teachers plan instruction so that we ask students to do math work that is the most beneficial or has the most payoff.  What does this mean for students?  Students receive high-level instruction aimed at math standards and at deep thinking.  What does this mean for you?  Your student(s) may have more to say (and ask) about math.  They also may experience some "disequilibrium."  This is a state in which the answer to a problem may not be right at hand... but through more thinking and talking (and support from the teacher in class through questioning and problem posing) they will arrive at a deeper level of understanding than they would have if we just gave them the answer.  Springwater staff and board understand that as a parent it is not easy to know what to do when "disequilibrium" comes home.  We hope that as a community we will find a way to fund some opportunities for parents to gain some strategies, which would in turn help both parents and their students at home.

Mathmastery.com:  We have purchased this program to support basic skill practice.  It is supplemental and particularly aimed at helping you help your child at home.  Please go to the website (mathmastery.com) for more information. There is product information, research and answers to frequently asked questions, as well as the login label for you to access.  There are also great family math suggestions on this site.  Have fun and please inform me how this program is or is not serving our Springwater families and students.

Upper Grades Update:  The planning team for our 8^th grade project is working to create a rough draft of our project-planning guide for students and is also contacting sites that will host students during the research phase of the year.  At our last meeting, we broke down state and national standards related to the project into the four phases:  Inquiring, Planning, Researching and Product.  Core planning team members include: Craig Combs, Tony Cyphers, Bev Forney, Kip Ault (Science and Education Professor at Lewis and Clark,) Faith Jones, Troy Frystak, Sara Coleman, and myself.

Math Update:  Teachers will participate in our second "studio" cycle with Teachers' Development Group.  Staff for grades 4-7 and I will participate in a three-day experience involving observations, planning, discussion and coaching.  The focus is always to deepen student's math understanding and "discourse" or talk.  OnDecember 11th, all staff will participate in a Best Practice seminar facilitated by Teachers' Development Group.  In addition, staff and I meet bi-monthly in a group called a "Professional Learning Community" to look at student data and plan high-level math lessons aimed at deepening students' thinking.  We also collect and track student data on an ongoing basis.

Staff Websites:  The following staff have websites up and running:  Troy, Faith, Jen, Rae, and Jon.  Ms. Laura, Laura, and Elizabeth are working on theirs, as am I.   These are great ways to stay current.  Thanks to the Tech team for their support.  Without this volunteer team, who puts in massive amounts of time and effort, Springwater would not be able to have these technological supports. 

Advisory:  Advisory has openings and encourages you to apply.  Please let me know if you wish to be part of Advisory and I will get you the application questions. Advisory's central role is to ‘advise' me. Also, they chair Safety Committee, Data and Communications, and Extracurricular.  We are currently in need of an Extracurricular chair.  If we cannot locate someone for this role, we may see a reduction in these offerings.  A volunteer is needed to provide oversight and support to our contractors.   We love the Spanish offerings that are now available and want to expand such offerings but cannot without more parent support in this area.   Becoming a member of Advisory would assist with this need. It would require of you at least one meeting a month and some outside time and effort.  You may also participate on Advisory and help with areas other than Extracurricular.  It is a very fun team.  Current Advisory members are:  Gillian Vinton-Frances, Brian Rooney, Elizabeth Mathis, Margaret Evers, Bev Forney, and Mr. Jon.