Teacher Plans

February 6th - 10th

Review

We have bought the tarps and the framing materials for the shelters. The total cost including materials for both groups was $200. We would like to ask each student to contribute $4 towards the cost of the materials.

Each group will also need to have a roll of duct tape available.

We also need to borrow hacksaws – so far only one parent has responded from either class. We can't do the project without a minimum of five hacksaws – currently we have one. If you can help, please send in the hacksaw with your child. We promise to return them to you! :)

(Since publishing this on Sunday, Derek and Luc's families have provided the groups with enough hacksaws, duct tape and string to complete the project. Thanks guys!!)

The groups are finding the making of the scale models of their shelter designs to be quite challenging, even frustrating at times, for some of them. It certainly is bringing to the fore some very important social and personal issues and has reawakened important discussions about the nature of our community: The vital importance of being a kind and inclusive community, the power of using the team skills we have learned about. The groups that exhibit kindness, cooperation and utilize the other team skills we worked on, are doing well. Those that are not? Well, you can guess the rest...

There have been instances recently, not just as part of this project, where a small minority of students have been rather careless about the way that they treat some other students in our community. We have had some lengthy discussions about tolerance and kindness as a result.

The students are a lovely group of people who are kind and inclusive almost all the time – but it is important that we don't become complacent in these very important areas.

I'd like to take this opportunity to directly express the philosophy at the heart of my ambitions for our community.

We are dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and the development of integrity. In order to thrive and excel, this community must preserve the freedom of thought and expression of all its members. A culture of respect that honors the rights, safety, dignity and worth of every individual is essential to preserve such freedom.

Here are some guiding principles that are at the core of our classroom communities:

We will respect the dignity and essential worth of all individuals.

We will promote a culture of respect throughout the community.

We will respect the privacy, property, and freedom of others.

We will not tolerate bigotry, discrimination, violence, or intimidation of any kind.

We will practice personal and academic integrity and expect it from others.

We will promote the diversity of opinions, ideas and backgrounds which is the lifeblood of our community

As a teacher, my role is to teach the students, through leadership and modeling, to appreciate and embrace cultural, religious, ethnic and other differences.

My classes and I aim to be the first to stand up and let others know unequivocally that we stand for equality and fairness for all, and stand against hate, discrimination and exclusion based on race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation or any other diversity status.

My students and I try to engage in ways of "thinking, being, and doing" that aim to enhance our reputations in this community as agents of tolerance, acceptance, fairness, and justice for all.

As we push forward into this next major project, it is important for the students and I to reaffirm our commitment to the principles that we defined at the beginning of our time together!

This week

This week is the first week of the Recording Studio project.

We will attempt to write, compose, play and record original music to be published on this site over the vacation.

The nature of the project involves a 'multi-station' approach to the week – it's a little like being back in Kindergarten! The students are organized into groups of five or six students. Each group will spend roughly forty-five minutes at each 'station', then move on to the next one.

Each station should be visited three times during the week by each group – roughly two hours at each collection of tasks, subject of course to the vagaries of reality: timetables, weather and schools!

Station 1: Recording studio - work with me to record a musical piece.

Station 2: Writing station

Station 3: Design Station

Station 4: Light and Sound Station

Station 5: Colonies Station

Light and Sound Links

I will be inviting interested students to stay after school to work on these projects until 4:00pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, this week. I'll let you know about Wednesday tomorrow – I'm not sure if there is a staff meeting or not.

Parents need not send in notes, etc, however, each student needs to have prearranged with their parents whether they're staying after school, or not.

I cannot make last minute phone calls, etc. The students should be picked up at the usual spot. I will be out there no later than 4:05pm, I promise!

If your child attends the Brooks After-School program, you will need to provide a note to Ms. Ciavatti if you want them to work with me during this project. Such students will be deposited at the After-school program at 4:00pm.

The timetable for each day roughly looks like this:

8:45 – 9:45 – Math class.

10:00 – 10:45 – First 'cycle'

10:45 – 11:15 – Recess

11:15 – 12:00 – Second 'cycle' (Tuesday- Friday)

12:00 – 12:30 – Lunch

12:30 – 1:15 – Third 'cycle' (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday)

1:15 – 2:00 – Fourth 'cycle' (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday)

2:00 - 2:30 – Meet, Decompress, Clean-up

2:30 – 3:00 – Break

3:00 – 4:00 – Let's Rock!

But this is an idealistic and approximate plan only.

The nature of the project requires a certain flexibility from students – by the end of the project, teams will have all spent roughly the same amount of time at each station – but it may take the whole two weeks before that becomes true!