Hair Braiding!

By: Angelica

This quarter brings with it a brand new after school program: hair braiding. I have partnered with the sixth grade science teacher to create a program where participants will learn the art of hair braiding in a variety of styles. These students will be able to create a portfolio of their accomplishments in this program, that includes pictures and strategies for how to complete each braiding process. In preparing for this program, both me and the other teacher have been braiding other students hair as advertisements for the program. Having students in the school with their hair braided by one of us, has caused students to develop an interest in the art of braiding. I believe this will be a great program for students to learn a new craft and walk away from it with a valuable skill. I know from experience that it is often very easy to make extra spending money by braiding family and friends hair.

We Are Learning

By: Francesa

Every Friday at International Charter School, each class has to present something that represent their class or what they are learning about. When it was the class's turn whom I provide assistance to during the day, the classroom teacher borrowed some ideas from last year's class and made it a group effort. Throughout the 2010-2011 school year, Ms. Connie, the classroom teacher I work with, had her then unruly fourth grade class recite a poem daily. This poem, titled We Are Learning, was meant to instill the ICS motto: Be respectful, responsible, and dedicated. It talked about believing in yourself and others, respecting classmates, and being dedicated to their work.

When it was Ms. Connie's current fourth grade class's opportunity to give the Friday presentation in front of the school it was following a particularly rambunctious week. Ms. Connie had her class read the poem "We Are Learning" in front of the school. The fourth graders also created a poster with how they've learned to be respectful, responsible, and dedicated. Their posts ranged from being responsible with the amount of time they spend in the bathroom to being dedicated to achieving their personal best in school. It was great to see the student's interpretations of the poem and school's motto!

It's Election Time!

By: Dianny

The spirits are high, promises are on the rise, and ballots are set to go! Ladies and gentlemen, I hope your ID cards are ready because it's election time here at ICS. Some of our 5th grade students are running in the elections for student council. Yes, it sounds ordinary but elections here are taken seriously and they are far from common. The student council' s elections are the topic of the month and everyone is talking about it! They are so extraordinary they deserve their own blog post.

Running for office is not easy...our students sure do know that! Before running for office our students had to apply for a position and submit it. Then they had to write a speech that they would recite in front of the 3rd graders, 4th graders, and their 5th grade classmates; think about anxiety. Not only that, but they had to highlight their entire campaign on a poster board to display in the school's cafeteria for every teacher, staff member, parent, and student in the school to read. If you think that these poster boards are the usual boring spiel about why the voter should consider the runner for office...you might reconsider it. Their promises might not be exactly achievable but these posters are really creative; some of them are even hilarious.

The poster that grabbed most of my attention was one of a student running for treasurer. He talked about honesty which is a big detail when talking about money. His poster was all about the money: it was green, it had pictures of 20 dollar bills, dollar bill signs, etc. In addition, the slogans he used were one of the best they said, "In Quincy we trust" and "Loyalty is my middle name". But the funniest thing about his poster was a phrase that said, "This bunnies mother trusted me so can you" pointing to his campaign picture in which he was holding a bunny. I just hope that for the 2016 presidential campaign, our presidential candidates have some of the sense of humor that these students have.
Wishing the best of luck to the students in their campaign. Let our community choose who deserves to be in office.

Role Model

By: Nellie

Similar to last year, I am involved with Highlander’s basketball program; this year being head coach for the girls team. I am learning a lot more than I did last year because I am in the front and have to take more control and responsibility for running a team. I am learning a lot about myself; being knowledgeable about the sport is very much different than motivating students to play, and helping them learn the fundamentals of the game. My favorite part about coaching is that it is essentially teaching in a different way. Recently some girls from my basketball team wrote a card to me and it was very touching. They mentioned that I am the best role model that they could ask for, and that I am nice and enjoyable. One piece of the note said that when they mess up or do something at practice; I don’t get mad I just encourage them to try harder. It makes me feel respected, and that I am accomplishing my goals of teaching life skills.

Charter Corps Gets Technical

Charter Corps members are getting the chance to use some brand-new technology in their classrooms!

Metryx, a formative assessment tool developed by Shawn Rubin, founding teacher and resident tech guru at Highlander Charter School, is being rolled out by team members to help target and differentiate instruction with their students. Members attending training this morning, then got to take their shiny new Nexux 7s back to their service sites to put everything to work.

Formative assessment is informal assessment that a teacher conducts during instruction to help determine what a student is learning and struggling with. It is meant to provide data that informs the teacher of how to go about adjusting their techniques and serves as a basis for reflecting on their methods.

Metryx is a highly customizable web-based application that allows an instructor to build a roster of students, input subjects, skills, and skill sets based on exactly what students are learning at any given time, quickly and easily assess those skills, compare and track data over time, and differentiate instruction. It will help Charter Corps members meet their performance objectives. Most importantly, it will ensure that the students we serve improve on their skills.

It was a rough start to the morning with technical difficulties in abundance, but it's important to remember that with any new technology, patience typically pays off. Educational technology, in particular, is set to revolutionize the way teachers teach and students learn. We've waited this long! Special thanks to Shawn for getting us there! ;)

Charter Corps members learn the ins and outs of Metryx:

Shawn making sure we're all on board:

by: Jill Marie

Come Visit the Carboniferous Period!

By: Deyan

In the last session of after school at Highlander Charter School, a group of 2nd to 4th graders traveled 300 million years into the past to explore the Carboniferous Period with Mr. D! Over the course of the activity, we used Hanner Bonner's awesome book, When Bugs Were Big, Plants Were Strange, and Terapods Stalked the Earth, to investigate steamy coal swamps, giant bugs, and the evolution of land-dwelling amphibians and reptiles. Then, on he very last day, the class had an opportunity to make brochures advertising the Carboniferous Period as the ultimate vacation destination. Check out what some of them had to say:

Ava made sure to look in the book to check her facts

Ruziah paid lots of attention to little details in her brochure

Steven made sure his brochure was colorful and fun

If that doesn't make you want to hop in your time machine and check out the Carboniferous period, I don't know what will!

Snowflake Snowmen

By: Itza

For one of the Friday activities we made snowflake snowmen. All the students loved this activity. They didn't stick to traditional snowmen but made colorful creations worthy of the refrigerator. I didn't think the activity would last long but the students surprised me with their focus and dedication to making their creation come to life.

Days later they still continue to make snowflakes during their free time. It's become a semi competition to see who can create the coolest snowflake. They're always amazed by everyone's creation. I'm amazed by the lasting impact an activity can have on our students. It was a reminder to me. My students absorb everything I do. I must both foster it into growth and also be careful with what I do.

What's Today's Craft?

By: Francesca

During another Craft Day Friday at International Charter School, I was faced with the same question as always: What's today's craft? During the afternoon meeting: What's today's craft? Sharing time: What's today's craft? Usually, I'm confident with my answer: You'll see! or It's a good one! However, this particular Friday, I was nervous about their reactions. Typically, the students do a craft which will either be displayed in the hallways of ICS, or something they can take home. This craft was neither; it was to be used as part of our AmeriCorps Winter Service Project Audio Poem CD and would be donated to anther school.

We asked the students to read a poem and illustrate as they wished. Contrary to my fears, the students were thrilled to draw and color as part of a donation and were ecstatic to be a part of the project! Here are some completed drawings!

Rapper Potential

By: Itza

Half of the 3rd grade class presented a selection of their photos, including a self-portrait, which they've worked on since the beginning of the year. While they had taken dozens of photos, each student presented the best three. The second half of the 3rd grade will start in January. Each photo included a descriptive paragraph or poem in Spanish and English. At this event all the students were dressed in their Sunday best. They stood proudly by their pictures waiting for questions and well deserved praise. Honestly, many photos looked professional. After the meet and greet, each students presented their work. There was one self-portrait poem that I enjoyed so much that it needed to be shared. Please enjoy-

My dream is to be rich because you can get more respect.

Overnight I think that money can be used to be beautiful.

Nothing is more expensive than a real diamond tiara.

Every time I see money I go crazy.

You will read one more thing; I will use money for games.

                                                                                  ~L. P.

Is it me or does she have rapper potential.

Half Days

By: Itza

During teacher conferences, the students had half days yet the after school program still met. This meant that we had to entertain our students for 6 hours two days in a row. At first the task seemed a bit daunting. What we were going to do with our regular after school students as well as the unknown amount of addition students for 6 hours? Luckily we had a great supervisor and a great supporting staff that made those two days passed smoothly and quickly.

We watched movies with popcorn. If you're looking for free popcorn for an event just call your local movie theater like we did. We had a long recess and the usual free draw time. Although the best time the students had was with the crafts. We made slime, although day 2 went a lot better. Directions are there for a reason and should be followed to the T. Lesson learned. We made bracelets, necklaces and gimp designs. We decorated journals and banners. By the end of the two days everyone had plenty of things to take home or gift.

Day 2 also happened to be Pajama day. It was a great fundraiser; everyone who participated had to donate a dollar, which most students enjoyed. None of the teachers participated due to the parent conferences but a select few of us showed the students how it's done. My Mickey Mouse onesie was a hit.

Isopods, Crickets, and Rye (Oh My!)

By: Leah

Mr. Ben’s science class our 4^th graders have just finished a unit on ecosystems in which they made their very own “ecocolumns”. These columns are made of a terrarium and aquarium joined into one entity, and they represent a mini but well-functioning model of an interdependent ecological system. The students have been taking care of their ecololumns for several weeks now, and it has been interesting to see these things sprout right before our eyes.

This terrarium needs a haircut.

Students first made the terrarium by plugging an upside-down soda bottle with gravel and dirt. They then added the soil and planted some rye, alfalfa, and mustard seed in designated areas within the soil. After watering and charting the growth of the plants, the students added crickets and isopods (rolly pollies) to the mix. Mr. Ben got the honor of giving out isopods, and I was in charge of the cricket box (I may or may not have whimpered during cricket distribution day).

Underneath the terrariums we attached the aquariums, which consisted of empty soda bottles with the tops cut off. Add a little water, gravel, elodea, and duckweed, and you have yourself a little ecosystem. We also added fish to the mix, but sadly many of them went to fish-heaven in the days between storage and use. When it comes to live science materials, things can’t always be predictable!

Beyond actually making the ecocolumns, the students also conducted an experiment where they purposefully polluted certain columns and made others into controls to see the effects of fertilizer and acid rain on their ecosystems. The end results were not too drastic, but the students were able to notice even subtle differences between the ecocolumns and practice their observation skills with things like the color, texture, height, and size of its contents.

Thirsty, anyone?

My 4^th graders really enjoyed doing this project, and it was surprisingly simple for something that conveyed so much information. Students were able to have a direct, hands-on experience with something that mattered to them (each pair of students made and “branded” their own ecosystem) and they were able to visualize a larger concept in the comfort of their own desks. Here’s to good science!

Beware the dreaded rolly polly…

P.S. Many thanks to Mr. Ben for being the class isopod wrangler.

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

By: Dianny

Perhaps, that warm heavy feather-filled coat of yours is still hiding in the back of your closet accumulating more and more dust. Something is clearly wrong with that picture, it's December and that coat is still hanging! Well hang in there because low temperatures and snow are not yet in our weather forecast. Bizarre, right? Well, maybe you can put that coat to use by taking a stroll through one of our ICS' hallways.

That is because, our students were thinking in the subzero temperatures when doing one of their latest activities. If the snow doesn't come to us, we bring it to us! On Friday we were thinking of snow and of the fun things we like to do when it is cold outside! We made and decorated a snowflakes snowman. Our snowman is made out of individual snowflakes and in addition, there are personalized snowflakes surrounding it. Each student cut out their own snowflake with whatever pattern they chose and proceeded to decorate it with glitter and markers. Each snowflake also had a little message that the students wrote about the things they like doing when it is cold outside and/or snowing. One of my ultimate favorites was one that read as "Hot cocoa". For a kindergardener that's not bad...well, this isn't bad for anyone. A cup of hot cocoa warms anyone's soul!

iSmile

By: Naomi

iSmile is one of my activities that I run with Kindergarten to first grade. In the program, the students are allowed to take pictures of themselves or anything. Each day we have a different theme. The first day of class the students were sooo excited. Here some pictures: