Chromebook Expectations--Students will (finally) be getting their brand new Chromebooks when we return from February break. Allison Schlageter, our Technology Integration Specialist, came to visit our team during study hall this week and reviewed the district's CB expectations with our students. The challenge with students taking devices home this year is that they often arrive at school with a variety of tabs open that are unrelated to school. Please know that we do not assign homework other than reading. On occasion, they might have to finish up assignments for us if they missed class due to a band lesson, etc... 99% of the time, they DON'T need to be using their CBs at home at all! You have our permission to lock them in a closet when at home. The Chromebooks, not the kids.;) COVID and remote learning have forced our hand in the need to send their tech home and because of this, we are seeing an increase in CB misuse. We are asking students each morning when they arrive to close all tabs that are not school-related so that they do not become a distraction. 
Language Arts
Jen Hill, our Media Library Specialist, spent last week with our classes as we navigated our way through the historical evidence of Partridge Thatcher's life. We read aloud the article from the Waterbury Roundabout, read a timeline of PT's life, analyzed other primary sources, and had quite the discourse about the issue of renaming their beloved Primary School. Students learned about what it means to "experience discomfort" when tackling a tough topic. I was so proud of them just for doing this initial work. Students were then given the option to make their voices heard and provide feedback to the school board who discussed the issue of renaming TBPS Wednesday evening. Here is a link to the slideshow that students put together to share their viewpoints. After we sent it to the school board, we received several responses from school board members which I shared with students Thursday morning. There were very excited to get a response from three board members! However, this was only part of the excitement. Two of our students, Charlotte and Griffin spoke during public comment and the input of our students was referred to on multiple occasions!
I am beyond proud of the students who decided to share their viewpoints. Many of them did this work outside of school on their own time without any feedback or editing from me. This was NOT an assignment, rather a social justice issue they chose to participate in. I was particularly appreciative of the board members who wrote back to the students.
Alex Thomsen wrote, "...One of the things I appreciated the most in what all of you wrote was the empathy you showed towards others - whether you were talking about Dinah and Jacob and what they went through, or what it might be like to be a person of color going to a school named after a slave owner. Being able to put yourselves in someone else's shoes is such an important life skill to have and will allow you to be kind and thoughtful people who can bring much needed change to our world."
This, and the board vote, let them know that their voices were heard and their perspective appreciated. One of our many goals on Wizards is to teach our students to be engaged citizens who demonstrate empathy and this was a valuable, relevant teachable moment for sure!
Social Studies
Each student earned their "agent status" for completing all the "missions" during our Geography unit. Be sure to ask them what their new alias is. We also started our unit on The History of American Democracy this week. The students not only read about and discussed the motivations for European exploration and colonization, but also acknowledged the Indigenous peoples who were on this land for thousands of years prior.
Math
Students are exploring place values to the right of the decimal point. We have used models to show tenths, hundreds, thousandths and ten-thousandths. Students are currently working on the standard of reading and writing decimals.
Science
Students did activities to explore continental drift and plate tectonics. Students used fossil evidence and the shape of our continents to put together Pangea. Next we explored how heat can create movement with some class demonstrations. At the end of the week, we used crackers to show the different boundaries between the plates.
Morning Meeting Fun
We've been playing a game that has created a lot of laughter. It is like pictionary but with your eyes closed. We have been very impressed on how well students can draw without using their eyes!
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