Mosaica Online Happenings
May 6-10 2013
Upcoming Dates to Remember
- Tuesday, May 7th: Staff Meeting - Adjunct Staff @ 7pm EASTERN
- Friday, May 10th: CO student Field Trip to Elitch's Amusement Park
- Friday, May 10th: Advisement Meeting @ 2pm Eastern in Julie's office
- May 13th-23rd: Q4 Performance Series Benchmark Testing
- Thursday, May 30th: Parent Ed Meeting @ 8:30pm Eastern in Julie's office
- **Beginning August 28th, all adjunct teachers must submit invoices to Brenda McCullers on the 14th and 28th of the month**
Upcoming Quarter 4 Final Performance Ed Testing!
K-2nd grade:
- Monday May 13: Reading Foundations (K-1), Reading (2nd grade)
- Tuesday May 14: Math
- Wednesday May 15: Language Arts (2nd grade only)
- Thursday May 16: Science (2nd grade only)
- Friday May 17: makeups
3-10th grade:
- Monday May 20: Reading & Math
- Tuesday May 21: Language Arts & Science
- Wednesday May 22: makeup
- Thursday May 23: makeup
Staff Spotlight- Paulette Allard
I grew up in Michigan. After high school I joined the Army and served on active & reserve duty for a total of 8 years as a Licensed Practical Nurse. After moving to Georgia I worked as an orthopedic/neurological floor nurse while I earned my Bachelor's in Biology from Georgia State University. I then worked as a lead research specialist at Emory University on the genetics of mitochondrial DNA. After getting my teaching certificate I began teaching Biology at Harrison High School and I earned my Masters in Instructional Technology. This summer I will start working towards my Specialist degree in Instructional Technology at Kennesaw State University.
I have a 9 year old daughter and together we enjoy kayaking, golfing, and camping for fun. If we can't go outside we like to share the couch with our 2 BIG "lap" dogs and watch "I Love Lucy" episodes or cooking shows.
Thank you Paulette for all of your hard work and dedication to our students!
Mercury Sunshine!
*As always, please keep Barbara Noel-Williams in your thoughts- she is a WARRIOR in her fight against cancer!!!!
Let me know of any concerns or celebrations within our Mercury family!
Club Corner
Last week to celebrate Earth Day, students read the story: The Jalapeno Seed by Patsy J. Robles-Goodwin.
TEACHER TIP OF THE WEEK!
A wise high-school teacher once said to her class of seniors, "Each Friday, I grade papers handed in on time. I get to the late papers during the summer."
"How are we supposed to graduate if you grade them during the summer?" was answered with a smile and, "Not to worry. At this school, we offer twelfth grade every year."
Love and Logic ® Teacher-isms by Jim Fay and Charles Fay
What Is Going On In Other Mercury Locations?
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Mexico City
Alaska
Muskegon Heights, Michigan
Hyderabad, India
Ohio
You will receive updates here that will pertain to our students in any of these locations!
- be sure to consult the various calendars in D2L for these locations
Teachers PLEASE be sure you are keeping your D2L grade book updated. Whenever a program needs grades for a progress report, we export the D2L grade book current average. Thank you!
Upcoming Events/Holidays:
Puerto Vallarta:
- May 6th: Mexican Holiday
- June 13-18th: Final Exams
Mexico City
- May 10th: Mother's Day Holiday
- June 1st: Seniors Graduate
- June 13th: Last Day of School
Muskegon Heights
- May 10th: 1/2 day vacation
- May 27th: Memorial Day Holiday
- June 25th: Last Day of School
India
- June 20 - last day of school
Data Discussion...
The final Performance Series assessment will take place in May. Please be proactive in having private, individualized discussions about Scaled Score targets with your students. Keep in mind that Mosaica students are expected to achieve 1.25 years' growth. You will find your students' target SS on the Growth Target spreadsheets sent out following our January assessment of Performance Series. Let Carrie Polk know if you need further information. Students want to know their scores, want to know how they've done...and they will own the responsibility for making it happen if we allow them the opportunity!
(See image below 1.25 years' growth)
CCSS:
In the past weeks we've explored the Reading Anchor Standards as well as the progression of skills for a sample grade group in the Anchor Standard of Key Ideas and Details. Remember, the College and Career Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standards are the broad, overarching descriptions of the skills a student should have obtained by high school graduation. These anchor standards are then broken down by grade level, with an increasingly complex application of skills and mastery. This week, let's take a closer look at the Standards for Mathematical Practice.
"The Standards for Mathematical Practice describe varieties of expertise that mathematics educators at all levels should seek to develop in their students. These practices rest on important “processes and proficiencies” with longstanding importance in mathematics education. The first of these are the NCTM process standards of problem solving, reasoning and proof, communication, representation, and connections. The second are the strands of mathematical proficiency specified in the National Research Council’s report Adding It Up: adaptive reasoning, strategic competence, conceptual understanding (comprehension of mathematical concepts, operations and relations), procedural fluency (skill in carrying out procedures flexibly, accurately, efficiently and appropriately), and productive disposition (habitual inclination to see mathematics as sensible, useful, and worthwhile, coupled with a belief in diligence and one’s own efficacy)." (Source: http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice)
There are eight Standards for Mathematical Practice (or "MPs"):
MP1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
MP2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
MP3: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
MP4: Model with mathematics.
MP5: Use appropriate tools strategically.
MP6: Attend to precision.
MP7: Look for and make use of structure.
MP8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
An excellent resource for examples, or "Illustrations" of each MP in practice can be accessed at the following website: http://mathpractices.edc.org/. Actual student/teacher dialogues are modeled in order to help illustrate the inquiry and Socratic discussion that the CCSS demand. I encourage you to check them out!
State Testing....
California:
La Mesa May 6 - 8
**Note that some CA testing will take place outside of these dates, dependent upon student location
As we begin to prepare for the end of the school year!
See below for final exam dates for Middle School and High School. ALL students will take exams on the dates below unless prior approval has been given to take them early or be exempt.
California:
Last day of school: June 18
Math and World Languages – Exams on Thursday, June 13
Language Arts and Science – Exams on Friday, June 14
Paragon/SS and Electives – Exams on Monday, June 17
Make up Finals – Tuesday, June 18
Arizona and Colorado:
Last day of school: June 21
Math and World Languages – Exams on Tuesday, June 18
Language Arts and Science – Exams on Wednesday, June 19
Paragon/SS and Electives – Exams on Thursday, June 20
Make up Finals – Friday, June 21
Online Paragon Nights!
Tuesday June 11, 2013 @ 8:30 p.m. Eastern
The event will be facilitated by Hadar Goldberg & Gabby Bray!
And last but not least..... Your joke of the week
One day our professor was discussing a particularly complicated concept. A pre-med student rudely interrupted to ask, "Why do we have to learn this pointless information"
"To save lives." the professor responded quickly and continued the lecture.
A few minutes later, the same student spoke up again. "So how does physics save lives?" he persisted.
"It keeps the ignoramuses like you out of medical school," replied the professor.