Crew update 4-9-13

                I hope everyone had a fun, relaxing spring break.  I missed our Williams’ crew and am looking forward to our last few months together.  Summer is right around the corner! 

Spring goal setting conferences:  SELS will be holding goal setting conferences on Wednesday May 17.  This year the middle school is doing the spring goal setting conferences a little differently.   Please sign up for one of the hour time slots by clicking this link.  (Link to the sign-up sheet https://docs.google.com/document/d/1msXHEbLa5HWFN_eIRVMS2okeknNwKuuX-1AsnVIF0jI/edit?usp=sharing) There will be 4 students/parents setting goals each hour. You are welcome to come any time during that hour.  During that time, you and your child will review the goals they set during the fall, and evaluate any changes that need to be made to the goals for the remainder of the school year and the summer.  The goal setting/revising should only take about 20 minutes.  I will be in the room to provide any assistance creating/modifying your goals or any other questions.  Please type your child’s name in one of the time slots on the sign-up document (if you are not able to type it in, just email me the time that you would like and I will type it in for you).  If none of these times work for you, please let me know and we can schedule a different time.

Spring fieldwork:  For fieldwork this spring the students are getting a chance to plan the fieldwork themselves.  The plan as of now is to take a three day trip (May 21-23) to the South Bay area to explore some of San Francisco’s premiere educational opportunities.  The students are in charge of all coordination of activities, lodging, food, and scheduling.  So far we have received confirmation on visits to two genetic research companies 23andMe and Councyl, and the San Jose Tech Museum(which will include a lab on genetics).  We are still waiting for a confirmation from Stanford Medical School and a few other organizations.  We will have a more concrete schedule soon but this is what we know so far.  I would like to note, that I am particularly proud of the work the students have done so far to secure these venues.  Their efforts are sure to pay off this spring. 

STAR testing:  To give everyone a heads-up, the state testing for reading and math (aka STAR testing) will be happening the weeks of May 6-10 and May 13-17.  Every student needs to take these tests.  If you know you are going to be gone during those weeks please let me know and we will work something out.

Expeditions: Our expedition “What the Cell?!” is going very well.  Right now we are currently exploring heredity, Gregor Mendel, Punnett Squares, and different types of genetic dominance patterns.  On a technical level, we have successfully bred several aliens and gummy bears to show how some of these patterns relate to the students’ and their genetic history.  So, if your child comes home asking if grandma’s earlobes are connected or if their great grandpa had curly hair, that is probably the reason. 

Math: We just started a unit called Data Distribution.  We skipped the chapter “What do you expect?” (Probability) because it will not be addressed on the state test.  We will pick that back up at the end of May.

The last thing I wanted to mention is I attached a link to our class website. (https://sites.google.com/a/truckeecharterschool.org/sels-williams-crew/) Our crew uses this site all the time, mostly for links to information and websites.  It is still a work in progress and if there is something missing that you would like on the site please let me know and I will add it.

Thank you again for your continued support of our crew.  I hope this spring brings a renewed sense of excitement for learning and we close this year out on a great note.  Enjoy the weather, and please let me know if you need anything.