After a summer spent planning at the AVID Summer Institute, the new school year has begun and a new group of AVID 8th graders seem eager to get going. We are beginning the new year with about 45 new 8th graders, some of which were in AVID as 7th graders and a few who are new to the AVID way of life.
The theme for this year at our school is: Lights, Camera, Action! The halls and classrooms are decorated with movie posters and Hollywood memorabilia. The academic focus for our campus is more active engagement of students in the classroom. This theme fits perfectly with the collaboration aspect of AVID.
Our first week has been focused on getting to know one another. Students have created Circle Maps to "define" themselves for one another and Mr. Temple. In a Circle Map the student puts their name in the center circle and the details that tell about them in the outer circle. In the outside rectangle students included the events and people that have most influenced who they have become. Through collaborative groups, students shared something from their maps and even a few brave souls shared with the
entire class.
In the first Quick Write assignment of the year students gave a more detailed written explanation of one of the things they included on their Circle Map. Quick Writes are designed to get students to think more critically about a topic and condition students for timed writing assignments that will be more frequent in advance high school classes.
The first Team Building/Friday Fun Day activity was People Bingo. In People Bingo, students must find various class members who have certain attributes. This activity really helps students to learn some new and unusual things about their teacher and fellow classmates.
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