Report Card Reminders

Today was an exciting day of meeting many future OES students in admissions day. When the dust settled, families had left and discussions were finished, I sat down to finish editing and submitting my report cards.

I wanted to let you now how proud I am of the class. They are working very hard in class on how to work together, show compassion, work independently without distraction and controlling their impulses. They are also working on building fluency and complexity to their mathematical computations, read deeper into the text, analyze author's craft, write full sentences correctly, write proper paragraphs, and think of new perspectives and ideas with an open and analytical mind. This is a lot to accomplish!

We are halfway through the year and your child's report card will reflect that we still have a half a year to work on some concepts and skills. I encourage you to sign up for a conference if you have not already. I am excited to talk about each student and our plans for the rest of the year.

Spelling Bee

We gathered today to cheer on Lahna during the 4-8 grade Spelling Bee. She did a wonderful job. We were so proud of her. 4th grader Yuankai Gao was the OES winner.

Spelling Bee

Today, we participated in the OES Spelling Bee. Today's round was the in-class round where everyone in the class bravely and with determination spelled the words Mr. Sternberg gave us. Through 5 rounds, slowly the spellers were eliminated to the last 2. 

Lahna and Owen then battled for 5 rounds before Lahna took first place.

Congratulations to all of the spellers and Good Luck to Lahna who will move up the the OES contest, date TBD. Lahna will spell with 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to determine the OES speller!

Spelling Bee and GeoBee Update

Many details are still to come but I wanted to update you all about the Spelling and GeoBee that will be starting in January.

Spelling
It looks like we will be doing the spelling bee the week we return from break. There will be a classroom competition, date to be determined. One person from each class with quality for school competitions, all runners up from each class will compete with me in a tie-breaker round to create a fourth spot (four classes in MS which is why 4 from each grade).

Final round will be sometime late January.  TBD

Geo Bee 
It looks like will do this after the first week in January, date to be determined. The final will be the first week in February or last week in January.  

Resources

Scripps Spelling Words...all 450 words. (Students should focus on the 100 4th grade words first. A handout is available from Ms. Chris. When the 100 4th grade words are mastered, students can move on to the school wide 450 words)

Mr. Ari recommend's the book, Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing by Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman (I have a copy if you would like to borrow). At it’s core, this book explores the difference between Maladaptive and Adaptive Competition. Maldaptive: “I have to win, every time!” If the mindset is it’s a forgone conclusion then I can be dismissive of opponents and of the rules – “If you just understood my greatness you would just give me the award” (not respecting the competition itself). Adaptive: I understand that it takes a long time to be good at something, “I may win today, lose tomorrow, but I can't take the win for granted, I will push myself harder, be inspired by others.”