Greeting Spectrum Families,
Impactful:
A growing trend I am witnessing and extremely excited about at Spectrum High School is our students
becoming active owners of their own education. This is in contrast to the age-old idea that students are to be the receivers of information in the classroom and teachers are to be the providers of that information. This trend is by no means a mistake. Spectrum teachers learned a great deal from the experiences the last year and a half presented us with. Although our methods of educating our students during that time were implemented as an emergency response (and we received some understandable opposition), in the process, we discovered some incredibly effective ways to approach learning.
Our teachers have been incorporating flipped lessons, metacognition, goal setting, rubrics to monitor progress, playlists, station rotation, etc. These aspects of the blended learning model, many teachers at Spectrum are now utilizing, have assisted us in seeing the tremendous value of facilitated learning opposed to the old stand and deliver model.
I encourage you to ask your student(s) about their experiences with these blended learning aspects. If you would like to know more about the topic of blended learning, HERE is a quick read from a website/blog that "just scratches the surface" developed by an expert in the field, Dr. Catlin Tucker.
Practical:
Our first quarter is coming to an end quickly and we request that you please speak with your student(s) about their academic progress. If you are in need of tracking progress more closely, please don’t hesitate to utilize Infinite Campus Parent Portal as a resource. If you have specific questions about anything related to academics, please feel free to reach out to your student’s individual teacher(s).
Weeks At A Glance:
Monday, October 18th: C@SH day / Delayed start
Tuesday, October 19th and Wednesday, October 20th: Sting Time Advisory both days
Thursday, October 21st and Friday, October 22nd: MEA break! No School!
Monday, October 25th: No School - Professional Development
Thursday, October 28th: Mock Interviews in College and Career Readiness III
Friday, October 29th: Quarter 1 ends