First Project Almost Complete!!

    The students have been working very hard at completing our "Blueberry" project.  They have been working on creating something that will help get people to come to the Marshall County Blueberry Festival.  Some chose to do a commercial, some chose to make a poster and some chose to make a brochure.  It has been neat to see them come together, work out issues, and show pride in their work.  We are excited to see their finished products on Thursday.  We had former RIS student, Jordan Brown, come over from Lincoln this week to talk to the class about presenting.  She stressed to the students the benefits of telling versus reading when giving a presentation.  She did a wonderful job and we were happy with the attention and respect the students gave to Jordan.
     This week is a short week but we still have a lot to get done.  Two Achieve articles and thought questions need to be done so we will be encouraging the students to not wait until the last minute as none of them want to have to worry about Achieve over the long weekend.  If students have not turned in their August reading calendars they need to do this ASAP.  This is an easy way to get some points in language arts just by reading.
    This week in science we worked with UV beads and we have been learning about the scientific process.  We will be starting our Robotics unit soon.  We are finishing up our decimal unit in math and will be really focusing on multiplication after Labor Day.  A lot of the students need practice on their multiplication basic facts.  Flash cards, multipication.com, Xtramath.org, MobyMax Fact Master are just a few ways they can practice their facts nightly.  The sooner they have these basic facts in their memory the easier math will be for them.
    We hope you have a great week and get plenty of rest for the Blueberry Festival!

Getting into the Swing of Things!

    Another week in the books!  We are getting into our routines and this week students were given their "schedules" for their classes.  We are no longer rotating as homerooms.  This takes a little time to get used to but for the most part the students are handling it pretty well!  Remembering to bring things with them when they switch classes takes a little time to get used to but most are adjusting very well!
    Homework is something that some of the students say they have not had before.  We do not give a lot of homework but if things do not get done in class then assignments become homework.  If we give an assignment and it is not complete the next day then students are assigned to Catch Up Cafe to get their work done.  We hope that this encourages them to make sure that they get their work done.  You can always check our Echo Agendas each day to check on the homework or look at the spreadsheet that is emailed home each Monday (there are times when the homework sheet might get messed up with our schedule from time to time but Echo daily is always correct)
    We started some new math online programs this week to help with math skills and math facts.  We will be working on these programs throughout the year and students can work on these at home as well as here at school.  Some students are struggling with their math facts and we encourage them to practice their math facts daily.  Any help you can give at home would be greatly appreciated.  Students who know their facts have a lot easier time learning more difficult skills. 
    Don't forget that Achieve 3000 is a weekly requirement.  Most students finished their two articles at 75% average and two Thought Questions here at school but students do have until Saturday at midnight to finish up anything they do not have complete for Achieve 3000.  Also, reading for 30 mins each night and recording it on their reading calendar will really help their reading and their language arts grade!  

    Here are some photos from our first couple of weeks!  Have a great week!

Welcome to the Innovation Academy @ Riverside 2015

     New school year, new building, new space, new teacher/facilitators and new learners/classmates are a lot of new things to get used to for the students and for the facilitators!  We are all super excited to start this school year off right.  We have worked a lot over the summer to make sure that we started the year off creating a culture of collaboration and learning.  We were so glad to see so many of you at our Meet the Teacher night.  Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.  We are only an email or phone call away.  

     This first few days we have been working with the learners on getting to know each other and leaning about how we can use Trust, Respect and Responsibility to become well rounded students/citizens.  We have done some fun activities to get to know each other and to learn about these characteristics.  We worked together as a team to come up with our class "Norms".  We decided we could work hard at living the following class "Norms"

                      *Be RESPECTFUL to others, yourself, and property.

                      *Be RESPONSIBLE for yourself, your belongings and others property.

                      *Be TRUTHFUL to yourself and others.

                      * Always do "YOUR BEST".

                      *Follow the "GOLDEN RULE".

                                 *Treat others the way you want to be treated.

 

      We will be teaching the students about Echo this week in our classes.  Everyone is now in Echo including parents,  For parents to log in the first time your username is the email you gave the school and the password for everyone for the first log in is innovation.  If you are not able to log in please email Amy Mahan @ AMahan@plymouth.k12.in.us.

     We have finished our first three days today by six speakers from around the community come and speak to us about how they use Trust, Respect and Responsibility in their lives.  This was a neat way to culminate our work in this area.  We hope that the students have learned something and that all of this work helps us to have the best year!  

    This past week brought Mrs. Dennie back from her trip with Team USA and her daughter.  We were all glad to have her back and have our team back together.  We had a very good first full week.  We kicked off our first PBL project of the year dealing with the Blueberry Festival.  We are excited to see what this group of learners comes up with to help the festival.  

 

    Achieve 3000 is a very big part of our reading program here at RIS.  Students took a test this week to determine their lexile range for this program.  They also practiced doing an article this week during Humanities.  This coming week, starting on Monday students will begin doing two articles each week at a 75% average.  This program is set up at each individual students reading level and students should have no problem meeting this weekly goal.  We have found that students who rush through are the ones that struggle.  We encourage you to ask your child about Achieve and encourage them to take their time on their two articles so that they do not have to do extra work to get their 75% average.  

    Each month students are given a reading calendar and they are to record when they read.  Students are expected to read for 30 mins at least 20 days out of the month to get their points on this required activity.  Thank you for encouraging your students to do their best.  

    August 25th we are having a RIS parent night beginning at 5:45 where students can get a free book and parents can sign up for door prizes.  From 6-7 we will be meeting by team to learn about the following:  What are the expectations of RIS students each virtual day?  What is Achieve 3000 and how can parents/students monitor progress and expectations?  How can parents/students use Power School/Echo to monitor academic progress?  A paper is coming home in Monday folders about this as well.

    August 21 is RIS picture day and order forms will be in Monday folders!  

    Follow us on Twitter at @TeamHyperSpace!

    Have a great week and please contact us with any questions or concerns!