Teachers Make Math Meaningful!

Teachers at University City High School met to talk about how they are making math instruction relevant to their students. Department chair, Margie Himes, challenged her teammates to consider how they can bring math to life by inspiring students and providing a meaningful learning experience. Teachers are making connections to students’ lives--they are making meaning(ful) happen!

Why should students take Advanced Placement courses?

Students have many decisions to make in high school. One big choice is whether or not to take AP courses. The Advanced Placement Program® (AP) enables willing and academically prepared students to pursue college-level studies while still in high school. Taking AP courses and exams can help students in at least two big ways: (1) AP students stand out on college applications! AP courses on a student’s transcript shows that they’ve challenged themselves with the most rigorous courses available to them. And success on an AP Exam shows that they’re ready for college-level coursework. (2) AP students earn college credit and/or skip introductory courses in college! Most four-year colleges and universities in the United States—as well as many institutions in more than 100 other countries—grant students credit, placement, or both for qualifying AP Exam scores. Want to hear from former AP students and explore courses? Visit: https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/exploreap/what-it-takes/student-voices

Teachers Put On Their Student Hat

Middle school Capacity Builders, teachers designated to receive training they bring back to their department, are seeing what students are experiencing as they try on the Next Generation Science Standards for themselves. Teachers first wandered around the room observing various photos and news articles, and fairly quickly concluded that we would be focusing on climate change. They then dove deeper into the phenomena by participating in an investigation, which helped them understand, in a practical way, what is happening to our oceans as oxygen is depleted. Finally, they read about oxygen minimum zones and their growth rate. After reflections and consensus from their peers, they had an idea of what was happening near the equator and how to make their thinking visible in their science notebooks

At Last - Time for Reading!

Practice what we preach - - - we’ve all heard the saying but how often do teachers have time to learn by doing? This week, teachers around the district had time to experience independent reading and complete a follow-up task using the tech tool of Flipgrid! Teachers were thrilled to have 10 minutes to read a text of choice and record themselves reacting to the text chosen. Teachers reached for the most talked about book of the season with an upcoming movie of the same name, The Hate U Give! Others reached for Lincoln on Leadership and the Untold History of the United States. One teacher was interested in reading a National Geographic on the Science of the Teenage Brain. “I can’t remember the last time I had time to sit down and enjoy a book! I know it’s important for students but sometimes I don’t make time to be a learner myself,” said one English teacher. “Now that I’ve experienced the tech tool myself, I know how the students feel and what challenges they might face. It feels good to put myself in their shoes!” Let’s all pick up a book tonight.

Week 10 Alarm Clock Pep Rally: Serra High School

The Serra Conquistadors hosted the Week 10 Alarm Clock Pep Rally bright and early Friday morning the day they were scheduled to play their rivals, the Patrick Henry Patriots. 

Click here...https://www.kusi.com/pep-rally-serra-high-school/

Mission Bay and Serra High School ASB Presidents Serve as Honorary SDUSD Student Board Representatives

Cynthia Taboada, the ASB President of Mission Bay High School, and Marco Abbiate, the ASB President of Serra High School, recently served as San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) Student Board Representatives. The students joined the Board Members on the dais and provided reports about what has been happening at their schools both socially and academically.

Counselors for Computing (C4C) Help Counselors Explore Viable Pathways for Computer Science

“California has nearly 75,000 open computing jobs (3.8x the state demand average rate) and more than 70% of STEM careers require computer science.” (Counselors for computing). 

On Tuesday, October 23, 2018, the National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT) hosted the NCWIT Counselors for Computing (C4C) professional development for school counselors across San Diego. They provided counselors with information and resources they can use to support all students as they explore computer science education and careers. National and local data about Computer Science, education and careers was presented. Counselors had the opportunity to code and learn about the different pathways for computer science.

Discover your Drive - Automotive Students go to College for the Day

 CTE Automotive students from Crawford, Mira Mesa, Madison, Morse and Clairemont had the opportunity to test-drive Miramar College for the day. The experience was called “Discover your Drive” which was unlike any typical college tour. This was for real, students went to class and were taught by college professors at the Miramar College Advanced Transportation program. The students attended three hands-on lab concentration courses and experienced the following subjects: 

Aviation- All students received a basic overview and the function of flight controls, aviation mechanical systems and a hands on activity which consisted of a sheet metal repair, followed by the performance testing and running a 600HP turbo prop engine and actual seat time behind the controls of a professional flight simulator.

Automotive – Students participated in three hands on activities which consisted in performing a tire rotations using Toyota and Honda manufacture service specifications and tools to service dozens of late model Toyota, Lexus, Acura and Honda vehicles. Part two, students performed 4 wheel brake inspections which required taking measurements and calculating brake pad friction material thickness. Finally, students diagnosed and solved electrical faults by putting Ohms law theory to use and pinpointing electrical failures by following a wiring diagram and a digital multi-meter.

Diesel Technology – Students took part in performance testing commercial application Caterpillar Diesel engine on a dynamometer and measured an output working measurement of 1200 foot pounds of torque running on biodiesel. Students also performance tested a CNG natural gas converted engines and experienced a cleaner alternative fuel which emit far less emissions. The final part of the diesel experience, select students took over the controls of a Caterpillar fork lift and were taught basic forklift operation.

By the end of the day, students had a one of a kind experience and now have an enhanced awareness of their local community college offerings. CCTE has set a goal to continue working on building a college experience for all CTE programs by providing fun and engaging opportunities so that students are better informed and comfortable with the transition to college. Opportunities such as this take the unknowns and fear out of the college experience and provide for a smoother transition for students to go on to college.

Strengths at Work

The ability to collaborate and work in teams is an essential skill for the workforce. Giving students opportunities to practice these skills continues to be a part of the high school experience, but this year it is taking a new form. Kearny’s Digital Media and Design sophomores are working with the Youth Advocacy team to activate their voices. They took the StrengthsQuest assessment and explored some deep reflection with the results. This unique assessment helps them understand more about themselves, their leadership style, and the way they function in groups. These discoveries will help them pick their project groups for their upcoming PBL partnership with Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies

Kindergarten and first grade teachers at Jefferson Elementary embarked upon creating classroom and individual student behavior charts using Youth Advocacy culturally responsive practices program. The participating teachers focused on taking student inventories and connecting students’ interests and home cultures with classroom and school expectations. By providing young students with visuals as well as incentives for positive behaviors, teachers are helping students internalize the Social & Emotional Learning Competencies. Teachers at Jefferson left with the understanding that responding to the cultures of students that make up our classrooms is integral in scaffolding academic and behavioral learning as we strive to develop future citizens and leaders.

Hoover Community Connections Student Ambassadors

Hoover Community Connections has developed an ambassador program to increase youth voice in the organizations serving Hoover youth and help reach students who are not connected. With the support of The Youth Advocacy Department, Hoover Community Connection Ambassadors will identify barriers to students’ success at Hoover and help connect peers to organizations and support services. The ultimate goal is to enhance students’ high school experience.

On Saturday, October 20th, the ambassadors convened to work with their club advisor and the Youth Advocacy Department to develop their leadership skills and identify their goals for the upcoming year. Ambassadors also learned how to run and facilitate a restorative community building circle which will help them to lead discussions throughout the year with their peers on topics that they feel are relevant to student success.

Youth Advocacy will continue to work with Hoover and other schools to empower students to make the changes they want to see.

Forging Ahead with Project Lead the Way at Cabrillo Elementary

Cabrillo Elementary is putting Science Technology Engineering Arts Math (STEAM) into practice grades K-4 as a participant in the districts STEAM initiative! Cabrillo is also one of several schools who are implementing Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Launch with the support of a Children and Youth in Transition Department of Defense grant serving military families through the Office of STEAM Innovation.

Teachers Dan Cooperman, Carmen Olow, Virginia Brunetto and Tim Farley are actively collaborating to incorporate the engineering design process into daily learning experiences for students. Students ask questions, create models, test their models and share their results with other students. Cabrillo is sure to engage students with a variety of PLTW and STEAM lessons that include building houses the BIG Bad Wolf can’t blow down and VEX IQ Robotics!

BlueTech Week November 5th-9th

The Blue Economy in San Diego County is large and expanding and BlueTech represents a major, fast-growing sector with good-paying blue and white-collar jobs. The San Diego Maritime Industry Report 2012 identified 46,000 direct jobs and $14 billion in direct revenue in the SD region making it one of the biggest innovation economies in San Diego. The Pacific represents not a border but a frontier with enormous growth opportunity for San Diego. Please join industry experts as we hear about exciting developments and network with the companies and organizations at the forefront of this exciting sector. For more information: www.bluetechweek.org The following Workforce Development Track is FREE! Location: InterContinental Hotel 901 Bayfront Court San Diego, CA 92101 Day: Wednesday, November 7 Track: Workforce Development Track Moderator: Linda Kurakowa Session: BlueTech Workforce Needs Date: Wednesday, November 7th Time: 1:15pm - 2:15pm Session Moderator: Jeff Adkins, NOAA, Panelists: Courtney Purcell, Manager Human Resources,Teledyne Isaac Jones, Product Manager, Xylem//Sontek Sean Newsome, DeepTrekker Orianna Bretschger, Aquacycl Overview: This session will provide insight from BlueTech companies on the skills required for students to be competitive in the workforce of today and tomorrow. Topics will provide collaborative ideas to help teachers have relevant coursework that prepares students to be career-ready. Session: BlueSTEM Education: Best Practices Date: Wednesday, November 7th Time: 2:15pm - 3:15pm