8/31/16

Tomorrow we are headed to the Moda Center Fountain for our first field study of the year!!!

We will be leaving to walk to our bus at 10:00 AM and will be back in the classroom by 2:45 PM.

You need the following for our first field study:
-lunch, water, e-core, writing utensil, appropriate clothes, positive attitude, and engaged mind
-If you want, you can play in the fountain after lunch. If you choose to do that, bring clothes that can get wet

HW due Thursday:

1. Bring silent reading material to class
...We will start our day with silent reading once we are ready for our field study

2. Field Study Image

Using your Field Study Do’s and Field Studies are Essential handouts in your e-core create an image/cartoon/story/poem that captures the big ideas of those handouts.

Here are some ideas....

• Create a comic strip showing information from the sheets
• Create a story that uses lines from both sheets
• Write a poem about life on field studies using info form the sheets (haiku, free-form, ode, anything!)
• Create a second image showing another one of the major field study expectations (be prepared, be aware, be engaged, be positive)…
• Do anything you can think of to demonstrate the importance of field study expectations

This is not a MAJOR homework assignment, and is meant to help you further think about the big ideas for our field studies this year. Don't spend more than 20 minutes on this assignment.

OTHER:

A. Bring water bottles with your name on it to school!

B. If you are having trouble signing into your PPS student account try the following password (and know Gillian will help everyone set this up next week in library): Pps followed by your 6-digit student ID (PpsSTUDENT ID#)

Welcome to Michael's Class Blog - Year of the Mountain - 2016-17

WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME!!!!

Hooray for us and for the amazing class we will have during this 2016-2017 Year of the Mountain!!!

I am very excited about the Year of the Mountain and the learning, adventures, perspectives, and fun our core class will have.

Middle school at Sunnyside is a very special experience. You are all exposed to so much from so many different places. The one downside to that is that things can sometimes get a bit crazy or be confusing at this school. It takes strong organization to be successful and to balance all the different assignments, activities, and social things that go on over the course of the year.

This blog is a tool to help you further organize yourself. It will be very simple, yet hugely helpful. Although I am not always perfect, I will try to post all nightly homework assignments on here by 5:30 PM. You will usually find a few words about the assignment so that you are clear on what your teacher (me) expects. In addition, I will use the blog for reminders, scheduling, service announcements, and interesting learning extensions. In addition to using your planner as the main source of information, checking the blog nightly is a good habit to create so that you stay on the same page as your teacher, learn to become an independent student, and avoid the frustrating feeling of being lost in the craziness of school work.

Anytime you have questions, problems, or concerns PLEASE email me at mjansa@pps.net. 
It is very important that you, as middle school students take the responsibility for your effort and work. A major piece to this is self-advocating, or communicating with me when you have questions, issues, or anything else that may come up.

I left some posts from the past years on this blog. They are immediately below this post. Reading those older posts will give you a feel for what this will start to look like for you as our school year gets underway. Take a moment to look at how empty the blog seems right now.  Realize that within a month it will be filled with our personality, learning, activities, quotes, field studies, and of course, HOMEWORK!!!

I am SO excited for the year and to have you all in my core class!

CHEERS!

Michael

mjansa@pps.net

503.901.9775