Even as the school year winds up, for those AVID students going on to preAP English at either Mesquite High or West Mesquite school the work is not entirely complete. Summer reading assignments have been passed out and all students enrolled in preAP ELA are expected to complete their required books. MHS Summer Reading includes The Odyssey while WMHS students are assigned Cold Mountain. If you are one of these students MAKE SURE you complete the assignment before the first day of 9th grade. Both groups are asked to create a dialectical journal while reading which should include quotes from the book and a personal response.
Since the majority of AVID students are going to West Mesquite, I have decided to read Cold Mountain and post of thoughts/comments throughout the summer to help keep everyone on track. Check back occasionally and please throw out your comments so everyone can benefit.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
RECOGNIZED!
The official word came down yesterday from the officials downtown that our school will be a Texas Recognized school for this year! Our students and teachers have worked incredibly hard the last nine months and those efforts have certainly paid off.
I have all been so impressed with the AVID students this year in particular. In every category on every state assessment our AVID kids have surpassed the school, district and state averages for passing and commended. The biggest news came in Reading when 72% of our 8th graders were COMMENDED! MISD Superintendent, Dr. Linda Henry visited our room just a few days after the results were in and I got to share them with her personally: she was very impressed!
Monday, May 24, 2010
AVID now on the World WIDER Web
The 8th grade AVID classes have made the switch to the wider world of the internet so hopefully more people out there looking for AVID stuff can find us. It will look like a lot went on in May, but in reality I just copied the posts from this last year over here.
MISD College Week
College Week!
All the hard work of planning for MISD College Week finally paid off the week before Spring Break. With the help of the students and faculty the AVID class was able to raise over $1000 for our scholarship fund. This money will be used to help send a senior from West Mesquite HS to college next year. Over 100 students submitted essays for the College Week Essay contest and 8th grader Rory Duran won a UT football jersey for submitting the most outstanding entry.
Some of the 2nd period AVID students show off their college shirts on Friday.
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AVID and ICT students created banners and posters to decorate the hallways. Each teacher's college(s) were displayed outside the cafeteria.
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College Week is coming
College Week is Coming!
March 8th-12th marks MISD College Week throughout the district. Since the main focus of AVID is getting traditionally under-represented student groups better prepared for college admission, College Week is a big one in AVID. For CW this year, the 8th grade AVID classes will be sponsoring three activities...Teacher Spirit Day:
The first idea was targeted at teachers. On Wednesday, all faculty and staff are encouraged to either dress as a college mascot or wear their cap and gown throughout the school day.
Essay Contest:
Students are encouraged to submit an essay expressing "What is the Value of College To Me?". Essays should be 200 words or less and are due by Wednesday, March 10th. The winning essay will receive a replica University of Texas #12 football jersey.
AVID Scholarship Fundraiser:
Finally, any student who donates at least $1 to the AVID Scholarship Fund will receive a "jeans pass" to be used on Friday, March 12th. The AVID Scholarship will be presented to a senior from West Mesquite High School who is also a former AC New student. Last year, after reviewing several applications sent from WMHS, the AVID classes chose Jose Perez to be awarded $600 to help cover some of the cost of his freshmen year at Eastfield College.
A Snowy Day
A Snowy Day
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This morning everyone in our part of the metroplex woke up to a few inches of atypical snow. Then the news that MISD would be "open and on time" brought everyone crashing back to reality. While it was somewhat more difficult than normal to focus during class, the AVID students still held their regular tutorial sessions during class.
But, not before a few pictures could be taken including our very own AVID mini-snowman: looks like he's headed to college just like the rest of the AVID kids!
A few of the brave 1st period students pose for a quick photo-op
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Our little AVID portable is pictured below
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There is no way this guy is getting lost in the snow drift
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College Students visit AVID
College Students visit AVID
Recently two former A.C. New and West Mesquite students visited the 8th grade AVID classes to talk about the transitions from middle school to high school to college. Since the majority of AVID students are the first in their families to attend college, many do not have a clear picture of the academic expectations of not only college but also advanced high school courses. Maggie Paige and Alyssa Jones could speak from direct experience because they had already traveled the paths that the current AVID students will be heading down soon. Maggie is in her first year at The University of North Texas while Alyssa is a freshman at Texas Women's University (which confused some that it's NOT an all-girls school).
Some of the things that the pair highlighted as differences between middle school and high school were:
- higher expectations from teachers including fewer requests for late assignments
- a greater emphasis on self-determination
- classes with older and more mature students
- a faster pace in a bigger place which can lead to a feeling of being "lost" or "just trying to stay afloat"
A few comments about the differences between high school and college were:
- success is completely reliant upon individual determination
- professors expect you to have/do work without reminding you
- so much more freedom it can be tough to adjust
- living on your own can be so fun but takes a lot of responsibility
College Road Trip
College Road Trip!
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In order to get a feel for campus, students were broken into 5 groups and participated in a campus-wide scavenger hunt. For over an hour groups could be seen running (some more than others) from building to building gathering clues.
After a quick lunch, students were treated to a presentation by the University Admissions staff and several Student Ambassadors shared about their reasons for choosing TAMU-C and their experiences of being a TAMU-C student.
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The Sentence Smackdown!
The Sentence Smackdown!
Friday, October 30th was the day the AVID students threw the "smack down" on sentence structure. In the midst of a writing unit on persuasive essays, the 8th grade AVID student took time out for some spooky themed learning. The classes listened to a reading of Edgar Allen Poe's poem The Raven and made note of its complex sentence structure. After some discussion, it was noted however, that within each difficult sentence lies the basic elements of a subject and a verb. In teams, students were given a sentence from the poem and were in a race to identify the subject and verb. As is typical, the team that finished first got a point. It was as if they were playing for a Gold Medal in grammar the way they got so wrapped in the competition.
Here are a few sample sentences to see if you can handle the "Sentence Smackdown!"
Ah distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, and each separate dying ember wrought it's ghost upon the floor.
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
NASA Engineer Speaks to AVID Classes
NASA Engineer Speaks to AVID Classes
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On Friday, October 2nd, the 8th grade AVID classes hosted their first guest speaker of the year. Mr. Alan Joynt, an engineer with NASA spoke to the class about how the things they are learning now are laying the foundation for where they will be able to go in the future. Mr. Joynt
Mr. Joynt is a systems engineer working at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL and is currently working on the Ares I rocket. NASA plans on launching this spacecraft in 2020 for the first return to the moon since 1972. Mr. Joynt shared his own journey through college, eventually graduating from Middle Tennessee State University with an engineering degree in 2003, almost 20 years after he started college initially. Students were challenged to never settle for less than their dreams, no matter what bumps come in the road ahead.
During the presentation students got to see a short video outlining NASA's plans for the future moon landing as well as video of an actually shuttle launch. Each student was giving a bag with items from NASA including a mission pin and photos of the last shuttle crew.
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Gimmie Shelter!
Gimmie Shelter!
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One of the weekly aspects of AVID is "Friday Team Day" activities. For some of our Friday activities, groups are given a task to accomplish in a given time period. While the fun that can ensue is great, the most important part of the exercise is debriefing as a class. Students can talk about what worked, what didn't work, and how they felt about the entire process. Groups that were successful get to share their ideas and groups that maybe weren't as successful get to talk about their pitfalls.
For this activity, groups were given an unlimited supply of newspaper and tape and were instructed to build a shelter big enough to completely cover one member of their group. The structure had to be completely self-standing (could not be taped to the floor, furniture, or held up by the person) and be completed in about 30 min. In the end, 3 groups were able to accomplish the task and 4 were not. As you can see, some just fell flat!
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Unfortunately, Mr. Temple wasn't really thinking while shooting the videos so you will just have to get over the fact they are on their side: looks like it's time to upgrade to QuickTimePro.
College Powerpoints
College Powerpoints
Part of the focus of AVID is College Awareness. In order to expose the AVID students to the many colleges here in Texas, the 8th grade students each created a PowerPoint presentation of a particular school. A "lottery" style selection process was used to ensure a variety of schools were chosen. Students were given four days to research their school and put together their presentation. Over the coming weeks, each student will present their slide show to the class. Requirements for the PowerPoint included:
To see a student example please check out the link below:
- no more than 10 slides
- basic facts including name, location, colors, mascot, year founded, current enrollment, tuition and room/board costs, the percentage of students from the top 10% of their high school class, and any notable alumni
- three other facts the student found interesting
- at least three pictures of the campus, logo, or activities
AVID "I AM" poetry
AVID "I AM" Poetry
As part of the process of getting to know one another in AVID this year each AVID student wrote an "I Am" poem. The format of the poem included statements such as: I am, I feel, I see, I feel, I worry, I understand, I dreams. In order to share some of the poetry with parents at AVID Night a short powerpoint with excerpts from several poems was presented. Click the attachment to view the presentation.
Recycled Sculptures
Recycled Sculptures
Creativity and collaboration took over the AVID classes for "Fun Friday" this week.
Upon entering class, students were greeting with a
large sign instructing them to choose one recyclable item from the front porch. Once in the room, students were asked to get into groups
of 4 or 5 students with their items. The project instructions were to use all the items the group members had chosen to create a sculpture depicting either a person or an animal. Groups were allowed a few additional suppl
ies such as tape, wire, and paper.
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