Class #6--6th Grade Math

Friday, September 17, 1:00 P.M., 6th Grade Math Class. Class #6 on my “50 Classes or Bust!” quest. Mr. Doss, teacher and coach extraordinaire, is holding court in Room 301, up in the top corner of the Middle School. Although it is a Friday afternoon on a festive Black and Gold Spirit Day (yes, I am wearing a blinking gold necklace over my Calvert t-shirt), the students are attentive and engaged. Class starts with a review of the homework (evaluating expressions) and then moves to a lesson on order of operations. Working on the Smartboard, Mr. Doss goes through a few examples, offering high fives for correct answers. He stresses PEMDAS (in fact, he has the class chant it in unison!)—Parentheses, Exponents, Multiply/Divide, Add/Subtract. Next up is a team competition. The students rearrange their desks to be with their team members and then work together in teams to solve order of operations problems. Mr. Doss checks the answers and gives tally marks to the teams with correct answers. The “Dream Team” won the competition by amassing 13 correct answers, with the other two teams close behind with 12 and 11 correct. After the controlled frenzy of the competition, the students work individually on some workbook problems to finish the period. It was certainly a packed, productive class!

Class #5--Earth Science

Thursday, September 16, 1:00 P.M., 6th Grade Earth Science Class. Class #5 on my “50 Classes or Bust!” quest. Mr. Ewen, who also coaches soccer and basketball and advises the Student Government, teaches all of the 6th grade earth science classes. Class began with a few warm-up questions: what is the difference between a pond and a lake? Would you consider the swimming area at Oregon Ridge State Park to be a pond or lake? Why? The key distinguishing factor, Mr. Ewen explained, is that if sun can hit the bottom, it is considered a pond, and if not, then it is a lake. The key activity for the next two classes will involve determining how much water a leaf on a tree gives off in 24 hours. The class reviewed the lab procedures, which include affixing a small plastic bag around multiple leaves (still on the branches), and then performing a series of measurements the next day, after the leaves have been removed from the trees. After developing their hypothesis statements, the students went outside to the trees across the stream (behind the Gazebo) to bag their leaves. I will have to circle back to the class to learn about their final calculations!

Successful September Events

September means lots of back-to-school events, and I am pleased to report that we had three such excellent events this week: Lower School Parents' Night (9/7), 8th Grade Kickoff for students and parents (9/10), and New Parents' Barbecue (9/11). At the 8th grade event, the students played laser tag on the Krongard Field and then received their special Class of 2011 fleeces. We are counting on the 8th graders to provide excellent leadership throughout the school year. Earlier this evening, about 65 enthusiastic new Calvert parents gathered at my residence on campus to make new acquaintances, meet members of the administrative team, and enjoy a delicious barbecue. We were blessed with such a beautiful night of weather! We will have our final September parents' night this coming Thursday (9/16) when 6th, 7th, and 8th grade parents will gather to hear from Middle School Head Kelly Herrity and meet their child's teachers.

Class #4--Ninth Age Science

Tuesday, September 7, 11:00 A.M., 9th Age Science Class. Class #4 on my “50 Classes or Bust!” odyssey. After a three-day weekend, we at Calvert picked up right where we left off—with lots of teaching and learning! I am in science class with Mrs. Preston’s 9th Age girls’ homeroom. Mrs. Wlodarczyk, our multi-talented Lower School science teacher, reviewed some of the class procedures with the girls and then began the class’s first official science lesson of the year. With textbooks, sharpened pencils (is there anything better than a freshly sharpened pencil?) and a clean, yet-to-be-written-in lined notebook, the girls were eager to start. After learning about the definitions of “hypothesis” and “experiment,” the girls were introduced to the scientific method by reading about the chameleons of Madagascar. The students were attentive, eager to read aloud, and generally excited about science. Now that they are in 9th Age, they have science homework to complete before the next class. The first homework involves providing definitions for key scientific vocabulary, such as "variable." In addition to teaching science to 7th Age through 10th Age, Mrs. Wlodarczyk is our Planetarium Coordinator and also coaches 5th grade intramural basketball with me.

Ice Cream!

We started a tradition a few years ago of 5th and 8th graders having ice cream sundaes during the first week of school. We pair the youngest and oldest Middle School students together in a Big/Little Brother/Sister relationship, which will continue throughout the school year. The first activity is enjoying ice cream together! Mr. Little and I served as ice cream scoopers this afternoon—simply a great, fun way to wrap up the first week of school. Enjoy a few pictures below!

A Healthy Eighth Grade

Friday afternoon. 2:00 P.M. Middle School Room 201. 8th grade Health class. Class #3 of “50 Classes or Bust!” After a vigorous French class, I have headed downstairs to Mr. Broy’s Health class. Mr. Broy teaches physical education and health and coaches interscholastic football and lacrosse. This was his first session with the 8th graders. Mr. Broy made a compelling case for the importance of health class by sharing a story about a former student of his who saved his father’s life by performing CPR. The class discussed a variety of important topics, including: recognizing life-threatening emergencies, the universal choking sign, the Good Samaritan Law, and preventing disease transmission. The students also practiced putting on and taking off latex gloves. By the end of the year, the 8th graders will be certified in both adult and child CPR. As a School, we are placing more emphasis on overall student wellness this year, and a high-quality health program is an integral part of that initiative.

Dancing Faculty and French Class

The pace is brisk this week even though we are only in the first week of school. This morning, we held our first divisional assemblies, which were excellent opportunities for community building. In the Lower School, Dr. Trusty asked some trivia questions, introduced new faculty members, and emphasized the importance of friendship. The Middle School assembly was lively, to say the least! To present dress code “do’s and don’ts,” seven Middle School teachers and administrators danced onto stage in various forms of dress code adherence. Students then had to point out what clothing items—and accessories!—were prohibited. Students who provided correct answers received a pass for a dress-down day. Many thanks to the brave faculty members! Yes, we took pictures as well as video of the assembly.

I am now observing class #2 in my “50 Classes or Bust!” quest. I am in Middle School Room 304 with Madame Bofill-Polsky’s 7th grade French class. The lesson is being conducted almost entirely in French. I am impressed with the pace of the class and the skill level of the students. Given how rusty my French is, I am having a hard time keeping up with the class and understanding the dialogue. My biggest educational regret is not learning a second language to fluency. I really hope these students continue their French studies until they become fluent and fully conversant. Madame, who is a native French speaker, has designed a very Middle School appropriate lesson, with a variety of activities built in. The students moved around the room after responding to commands, conjugated verbs by sliding magnets with pre-printed words on them into the right spaces on the board, worked collaboratively in groups, and recited conjugations as a class. To Madame and her students, I say “Bravo!”

Assembly and "50 Classes or Bust!"

We had our opening of school assembly this morning at 9:15. We decided that 9:15 this morning would be much cooler (and shadier) than the originally scheduled time of 11:00 yesterday. It was wonderful to see 579 students and 105 employees all together at once! Ms Herrity and I shared some remarks, and Dr. Trusty read a humorous poem he had written. In addition, the President of the Student Body welcomed everyone and, by stating, "This year is what we make of it," encouraged us to work together to have a great school year. Mr. Hardesty played music, including a lively re-mix of "Silhouette Child" while the students were recessing.

I just finished observing Mrs. Babb's Sixth Grade history class. I am on a quest to observe at least 50 full-period classes this year, and I am starting today, on Day 2 of the school year. I am energized by what lies ahead on my "50 Classes or Bust!" quest! I plan to blog about some, if not most, of my visits throughout the academic year.

Mrs. Babb discussed maps with her students, focusing on the evolution of maps, different kinds and shapes of maps, and perspectives. Most traditional maps American students see have the Western point of view, with North America being in the top left quadrant of the map. The class examined and discussed seven maps including Nystrom's World Map, Peter's World Map, a map from an Australian point of view, a Calvert map, and a Chinese map from several hundred years ago, among others. Under Mrs. Babb's skillful, enthusiastic tutelage, the students realized that cartographers have, for hundreds of years, created maps to put their country in a favorable light and/or position on the globe. "Every country wants to be on top of the world," commented one perceptive student. I am sure Mrs. Babb's students will look at maps much more critically in the future.

Tomorrow, I plan to observe 7th grade French and 8th grade health. Stay tuned!