Thursday, December 15, 2016

Careful the things you say...update!

...children will listen.

Careful the things you do.
Children will see and learn.

One of Stephen Sondheim's most poignant lyrics comes from INTO THE WOODS which is being presented tonight at 7:00  and tomorrow at 1:30 & 7:00 by Stony Brook Theater Arts.  It is an incredibly powerful cautionary tale using familiar fairy tale characters woven together in a story the reminds us to be careful what we wish for as it might certainly come true.  The musical complexity and richness of the lyrics make it one of the most difficult pieces in the Musical Theater genre and our students are wonderfully proud of the work they have been doing to bring this production to life.

This week I was able to enjoy watching many of our students participate in the Hour of Code as Mr. McElhinney and I made our regular tours through the building.  While the wifi is not always as fast as the students would like it to be, once they were connected and coding I did not hear any complaints and I was very impressed with the amount of code students were able to produce in such a short period of time.  They all have links to the Hour of Code sites that they can continue to access through a Google Classroom that Ms. Schultz established for the event.

Another treat during the week was participating in some of the 6th grade Social Studies projects as they are creating digital scrapbooks of their virtual trips to many of the countries they have been recently studying. I look forward to seeing the finished products to find out where I actually traveled :?)  

'Tis the Season...to notify families of our scheduled state assessments.  Please take a minute to access the letter from Assistant Superintendent Dr. Kerry Clery regarding our decision to move towards the online version of Next Generation MCAS. Additionally, we have been randomly selected again to participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the 2017 Massachusetts Youth Health Survey.  Both of the those assessments will be administered to a small group of students selected from our enrollment.  If your child is selected to participate, you will be notified with more information regarding the specific assessment and the date in which it will be administered.  While there is no process for students to opt out of MCAS sessions, both the NAEP and MYHS sessions are voluntary and students selected will have the opportunity to choose whether or not they participate.  Again, if your child is selected for either NAEP or MYHS you will be notified and provided with additional information.  For those of you paying attention, It is merely coincidence that this update began with a journey into the woods...

If you are looking for additional opportunities to enjoy student performances, the WA Winter Orchestra Concert is tonight at 7:00 pm.  You could listen to the orchestra tonight and come enjoy one of the performances of INTO THE WOODS tomorrow!

A reminder that next week's schedule is a bit different with the parent conferences.  Students have a 2.5 hour delayed start on Tuesday (12/13) with the morning bell ringing at 10:05 to start classes.  Wednesday (12/14) there is no school for students at all.

The Scholastic Book Fair has arrived and is set-up in our library and will be available for parents to visit during the conference hours this year!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Chris

Friday, December 9, 2016

Coding...an update. (Posted on SB Website 12/2/16)

While I would like to think of myself as a well educated individual, I often find myself saying, "what did that mean?" and look to see if I am being directed towards the proverbial doghouse.

Simply trying to follow a face to face conversation between a group of middle school students can leave us asking, "is that code for something?" Now, add the online conversations to the mix and it is clear that they often don't even know what they are saying to each other.  They need constant code breaking skills to navigate their own conversations.  While decoding the conversation is not always easy, the ability to have the conversations keeps students connected at all hours.  If you are looking for additional resources to help navigate your own options in regards to your children's online activity you might find ConnectSafely a useful site.

However, in the world of computer science, the term code brings on an entirely new significance, one of which most of our students are not yet aware.  

With that in mind...throughout the day next Wednesday, Stony Brook students will be participating in an Hour of Code as part of the National Computer Science Education Week .  According to their website, "The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify 'code', to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, starting with 1-hour coding activities but expanding to all sorts of community efforts (2016)." One of our goals this year involves increasing and embedding maker-centered learning environments throughout the building and in all content areas as best as we can; coding is very much part of that environment.  Mrs. Schultz, our Digital Learning Specialists, has spearheaded our involvement in the Hour of Code as additional support to all of the work that Mrs. Smith, our Librarian, is doing to provide opportunities for students to explore our Innovation Lab in the library (a.k.a. our MakerSpace).  By creating multiple opportunities for students and collaborating with teachers from various content areas and grade levels, these two teachers are actively supporting our students ability to access and explore our wide variety of technology resources on a regular basis.

The maker-centered learning has even spread to our administrative offices.  Towers, walls, parapets and even a bridge or two have been constructed out of the donated cans and various other non-perishable items filling our offices.  Most of the structures have been built and organized by the students, but admittedly I have taken some time to flip a few cans here and there to both upset the balance of colors and or to see how many people entering the office feel the need to organize labels in a specific order.  It's an interesting social experiment.  There is still time to donate to the cause...of supporting the Westford Food Pantry that is...not tormenting individuals with specific organizational talents.  The Student Council Can drive is running through Dec 16.  As of today, there is still room for me to sit in my office.  Just me, however, as the other chairs have all been filled with cans already which I can't say is a horrible problem.  The aroma developing in the office keeps transporting me back to my first job as a grocery clerk back in the day when we actually had to type numbers into a cash register...what a nightmare.

With that being said, please take an extra minute and read the messages below from our parent organizations and community partners, as well.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Chris