12-2-2016

Thanks to Jim, Melissa F, Colleen, Mark, Lynette, Jen, Matthew and Melissa L, for coming in on Thursday night and Saturday morning to engage with community members about our upcoming improvements.  The extra time you put in will benefit everyone in the district.  Thank You.

Just a reminder that we have the big Chess tournament this Saturday.  Please make sure you put away valuables/breakables before you leave today if we are using your room.  This is a huge event for our Bengal Chess Players!

Want to become smarter?  Neuroscience research says to try this simple habit.
http://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/want-to-raise-your-iq-by-23-percent-neuroscience-says-to-take-up-this-simple-hab.html

Courtney has arranged for a Jockey to come in today and talk to some of the Evergreen students on what it is like in his career to be racing horses for a living.  What a cool experience for those students!

Thanks to Alicia and Angela for doing a great job teaching the music/tech and IMSA classes.  I talked with all of Mike's students today and sent a letter home to communicate with parents.  Also a big thank you to Melissa for working with Alicia on the music classes.

Google might hold a contest to make one city the city of the future.
http://www.inc.com/kevin-j-ryan/google-sidewalk-labs-contest-city-of-future.html


Another super creative idea from Michelle Fiorini, make sure you send her your "Shelfie"(picture of your bookshelf) so kids can match the shelfie to the bookshelf.  Fun!

Speaking of super-creative, Lynn has figured out a way to take a picture of a student holding their artwork and through photoshop turn it into a coloring page to take home.  Ask her to see an example, they are awesome.

An ELL super strategy:
http://superell.com/turning-students-teachers/

Congratulations to Dan on securing a victory last night for the varsity boys bb team.  Matt and Dan have been working hard with the boys to emphasize growth in play and character.  Great Job!

Big props go out to Jessica and Lauren for the prep work they are doing to get NJHS launched this year.  It is going to be a great year of student leadership.

This periodic table actually tells you how you can use all of the elements.  Awesome!  Click on the link, the picture below is just a preview.
http://elements.wlonk.com/ElementsTable.htm

Speaking of student leadership, hats off to Colleen and Alex for all of the fundraising, activities, spirit weeks that Student Council has put together this year.

I will be at a writing conference with Bill, Adrienne, Lauren and Danielle on Monday and Tuesday.  This should be a great conference that will help us raise scores but more importantly make our students better writers.  

18 Digital tools to Make Better Readers and Writers  (Really good resources/article)
https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/08/19/18-digital-tools-and-strategies-that-support-students-reading-and-writing/



Thanks to Sherry for organizing the Friday get-together after school.  Please attend if you have a few minutes.

Mark your calendars, the Holiday Breakfast served by the admin team and board members will be on Friday, December 16th. Get up early, and bring your appetite.

"I'm starting to think humans don't even like winning free cruises".