This year I will be doing home visits with any NEW advisees. This includes all sixth graders and any student (no matter the grade) who is new to Trillium. All returning advisees will be asked to meet with me at Trillium. A few of you who might live nearby me in SE Portland will have the option of meeting me at your home or at Trillium. Thank you for your understanding and please don't forget to check the Middle School Wikispace and the Trillium Website (on my list of links) for general info and downloads.
Whether we meet at school or your home please make sure that all the required forms have been filled out before I arrive.
peace,
Kurt
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Summer Assignment 2010
YEA!!!!! Your First Project for next school year!
You will need to present to your Advisory how you spent your summer. This presentation can be about any one part of your summer or encapsulate the entire thing. You get to choose what you present and how you present it, but present you will! Your presentation should not exceed 5 minutes. You will also need to be prepared to answer questions and comments from your Advisory.
There are many, many possibilities. Here a few examples for you to consider:
• demonstrate or teach a skill or you learned
• write an essay that sums up your whole summer or a just few special moments
• make and show a scrapbook
• design a website or power point presentation
• present writings from a summer journal
• show a video of edited highlights
• write and recite a poem about your summer
• show-n-tell with souvenirs you’ve gathered
• any combination of the above or something you think of on your own!
Here’s a quick example of the sort of thing you might do: Let’s say that over the summer you trained your dog (or cat!) to do a new trick. You could present a video that showed your pet doing tricks it already knows as well as the new trick you taught. Then you could explain to the Advisory what other things you are planning to train your pet to do and why working with your pet this way is so rewarding for you.
Please keep in mind that this is a required assignment that should be a complete, finished work that reflects your best effort (best effort = neat, organized, proper spelling, etc). Not only will you be using your presentation to introduce or re-introduce yourself to your Advisory but it will be assessed as a part of your Advisory evaluation. If you have any questions please email or call your Advisor. This assignment is due on the first day of school, Monday, Sept. 13th.
HAVE FUN!
Your Middle School Advising Team,
Amy, Kirk, Kurt, and Nina
You will need to present to your Advisory how you spent your summer. This presentation can be about any one part of your summer or encapsulate the entire thing. You get to choose what you present and how you present it, but present you will! Your presentation should not exceed 5 minutes. You will also need to be prepared to answer questions and comments from your Advisory.
There are many, many possibilities. Here a few examples for you to consider:
• demonstrate or teach a skill or you learned
• write an essay that sums up your whole summer or a just few special moments
• make and show a scrapbook
• design a website or power point presentation
• present writings from a summer journal
• show a video of edited highlights
• write and recite a poem about your summer
• show-n-tell with souvenirs you’ve gathered
• any combination of the above or something you think of on your own!
Here’s a quick example of the sort of thing you might do: Let’s say that over the summer you trained your dog (or cat!) to do a new trick. You could present a video that showed your pet doing tricks it already knows as well as the new trick you taught. Then you could explain to the Advisory what other things you are planning to train your pet to do and why working with your pet this way is so rewarding for you.
Please keep in mind that this is a required assignment that should be a complete, finished work that reflects your best effort (best effort = neat, organized, proper spelling, etc). Not only will you be using your presentation to introduce or re-introduce yourself to your Advisory but it will be assessed as a part of your Advisory evaluation. If you have any questions please email or call your Advisor. This assignment is due on the first day of school, Monday, Sept. 13th.
HAVE FUN!
Your Middle School Advising Team,
Amy, Kirk, Kurt, and Nina
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Intensives Are Coming!
Hello Trillium parents,
As you may or may not know we will be having intensive classes once again at Trillium. They take place Monday through Thursday the week of December 15th to 18th.
These are classes offered during the morning from 9:00 to 12:00 and can be any sort of focus that a teacher decides upon. To make them successful we ask that parents share their talents, skills and interests by teaching a class. This makes it possible to have small group sizes and opportunities to use the time more effectively than with a large group. We need your help. If you can be involved let us know by thisThursday, December 4th.
This is how:
Teach an intensive class based on a skill, talent, focus or activity that you are eager to share with kids (from 9-12, M,T, W and Th)
Team up with another parent to offer an intensive that shares your similar interests
Help with an intensive on days that work for you
Help with driving, since some of them require transportation to get kids to the class locations
All you need to do is send a description of what you would like to teach to Polly at:
polly@trilliumcharterschool.org
Your description should include:
Class title
Brief description of the class and what will be learned
Age of students that it would be appropriate for, (It can be K to grade 12 or any smaller grouping in between.)
Number of students that would be best for your class
Any additional cost for supplies
Thanks for helping to make Trillium an amazing place to learn.
As you may or may not know we will be having intensive classes once again at Trillium. They take place Monday through Thursday the week of December 15th to 18th.
These are classes offered during the morning from 9:00 to 12:00 and can be any sort of focus that a teacher decides upon. To make them successful we ask that parents share their talents, skills and interests by teaching a class. This makes it possible to have small group sizes and opportunities to use the time more effectively than with a large group. We need your help. If you can be involved let us know by thisThursday, December 4th.
This is how:
Teach an intensive class based on a skill, talent, focus or activity that you are eager to share with kids (from 9-12, M,T, W and Th)
Team up with another parent to offer an intensive that shares your similar interests
Help with an intensive on days that work for you
Help with driving, since some of them require transportation to get kids to the class locations
All you need to do is send a description of what you would like to teach to Polly at:
polly@trilliumcharterschool.org
Your description should include:
Class title
Brief description of the class and what will be learned
Age of students that it would be appropriate for, (It can be K to grade 12 or any smaller grouping in between.)
Number of students that would be best for your class
Any additional cost for supplies
Thanks for helping to make Trillium an amazing place to learn.
Monday, September 15, 2008
FALL CAMPING TRIP LETTER
Dear Parents and Middle School Students,
We are going camping again! We are going to Milo McIver Park on the lovely Clackamas River. We are going Wednesday afternoon through Friday morning, September 24th – 26th NOTE: this is the third week of school (next week!). It should be great fun since our last trip there was such a success.
We need drivers! Our carpools will be loaded and on the way from Trillium around 1:00 Wednesday (please arrive with gear in the common space by 11:30). NOTE: If you come earlier than 11:30 it disturbs the lower school so plan accordingly. We are encouraging the students to have already eaten lunch when they show up at school if they are coming late in the morning. However, if they receive the school lunch it will be available. A snack will be served at the campsite upon arrival.
It is about a 45-minute drive depending on traffic. We shall leave for home from Milo McIver by 11:00 am Friday, and you can pick up your students at the usual end-of-school time (12:00 pm). Please decide on whether or not you can chaperone, help with meals and facilitate the cooking, and/or volunteer to drive back and forth. Let your advisor or liaison know as soon as possible
We also will have email sign-up, phone calls, and a list at the front desk and with each advisor. Parent support makes this trip run smoothly. An extra chaperone or two will be greatly appreciated. Criminal background checks are required to be on file for all adults attending – before we leave.
As a staff we came up with a list of essentials for each student to bring:
Sleeping bag & Pillow
Tent…that you have PRACTICED setting up before (and please bring an extra to loan if you have one!)
Flashlight
Rain gear
Sunscreen
2 pairs of pants (shorts optional)
2-3 short sleeve shirts
1 long sleeve shirt
1 jacket (this is important: it is always cold in the morning)
2 pairs of shoes
4 pairs of socks
Reading material
Journal (if you wish)
Frisbee, kite, beach game etc.
1 plastic bag
1 garbage bag
LABEL ALL OF YOUR GEAR CLEARLY.
We have been asked about swimming. There is absolutely NO swimming allowed regardless of temperature and weather conditions. Please do not pack a swimsuit.
It can be very chilly and windy at any time in Oregon, even when the sun is shining beautifully. Be prepared by dressing in layers, and don’t forget a jacket of some sort that will cut the wind factor. It always gets cold at night. Have warm, dry clothes available.
On this trip there will be required group activities led by parent volunteers and staff members after lunch both days (2-4 p.m.), as well as after campfire each night. CAMPFIRE IS A MANDATORY GATHERING and announcements happen at this time.
There will be trips to the river, the surrounding forest, hiking, bocci, Frisbee, touch football, disc golf, jump rope, soccer and more. There will be plenty of time to read, hang out with friends, and have quiet time to oneself. We have experimented with allowing Boffer fencing on more than one campout. IT IS NOT ALLOWED ON THIS TRIP. Please let your students know.
There are some rules of course, and some things to leave behind:
· Your teacher will be organizing the sleeping arrangements in the tents. Once this is done NO ONE may move or change tents. Consider this rule set in stone. Lights out at 10:30 p.m. and this is also the signal for quiet time. If students cannot settle, they will be moved. Boys and girls sleep separately without exception.
· Please DO NOT bring along any electronic devices (this includes iPods, Walkmans, CD players, Gameboys, PSPs etc.). We are camping. Electronics will be confiscated and returned later. Feel free to bring an acoustic musical instrument, board games, cards, books, or a song!
· Snacks will be provided so please, NO soda, NO candy, and NO sugary snacks. These too will be confiscated and not returned (staff will eat them!!). If you have a student with blood sugar issues, let the staff know.
· The adults will be doing the cooking. There is no need for you to bring matches, knives of any sort (even Swiss Army or Leatherman tools), campfire hatches, or tools etc.
· There will be parent chaperones sleeping over and helping with the carpool. Please consider every parent as a staff member of Trillium on this trip and give him or her the attention, gratitude, and respect that they deserve.
We hope that you and your student will participate in this beginning of the year event. It is a wonderful way to relax and get to know each other. And please let us know, again, if you would like to help in any way. We need your support. We look forward to having a great time. Thank you!
Kurt, Nina, Amy and Kirk
We are going camping again! We are going to Milo McIver Park on the lovely Clackamas River. We are going Wednesday afternoon through Friday morning, September 24th – 26th NOTE: this is the third week of school (next week!). It should be great fun since our last trip there was such a success.
We need drivers! Our carpools will be loaded and on the way from Trillium around 1:00 Wednesday (please arrive with gear in the common space by 11:30). NOTE: If you come earlier than 11:30 it disturbs the lower school so plan accordingly. We are encouraging the students to have already eaten lunch when they show up at school if they are coming late in the morning. However, if they receive the school lunch it will be available. A snack will be served at the campsite upon arrival.
It is about a 45-minute drive depending on traffic. We shall leave for home from Milo McIver by 11:00 am Friday, and you can pick up your students at the usual end-of-school time (12:00 pm). Please decide on whether or not you can chaperone, help with meals and facilitate the cooking, and/or volunteer to drive back and forth. Let your advisor or liaison know as soon as possible
We also will have email sign-up, phone calls, and a list at the front desk and with each advisor. Parent support makes this trip run smoothly. An extra chaperone or two will be greatly appreciated. Criminal background checks are required to be on file for all adults attending – before we leave.
As a staff we came up with a list of essentials for each student to bring:
Sleeping bag & Pillow
Tent…that you have PRACTICED setting up before (and please bring an extra to loan if you have one!)
Flashlight
Rain gear
Sunscreen
2 pairs of pants (shorts optional)
2-3 short sleeve shirts
1 long sleeve shirt
1 jacket (this is important: it is always cold in the morning)
2 pairs of shoes
4 pairs of socks
Reading material
Journal (if you wish)
Frisbee, kite, beach game etc.
1 plastic bag
1 garbage bag
LABEL ALL OF YOUR GEAR CLEARLY.
We have been asked about swimming. There is absolutely NO swimming allowed regardless of temperature and weather conditions. Please do not pack a swimsuit.
It can be very chilly and windy at any time in Oregon, even when the sun is shining beautifully. Be prepared by dressing in layers, and don’t forget a jacket of some sort that will cut the wind factor. It always gets cold at night. Have warm, dry clothes available.
On this trip there will be required group activities led by parent volunteers and staff members after lunch both days (2-4 p.m.), as well as after campfire each night. CAMPFIRE IS A MANDATORY GATHERING and announcements happen at this time.
There will be trips to the river, the surrounding forest, hiking, bocci, Frisbee, touch football, disc golf, jump rope, soccer and more. There will be plenty of time to read, hang out with friends, and have quiet time to oneself. We have experimented with allowing Boffer fencing on more than one campout. IT IS NOT ALLOWED ON THIS TRIP. Please let your students know.
There are some rules of course, and some things to leave behind:
· Your teacher will be organizing the sleeping arrangements in the tents. Once this is done NO ONE may move or change tents. Consider this rule set in stone. Lights out at 10:30 p.m. and this is also the signal for quiet time. If students cannot settle, they will be moved. Boys and girls sleep separately without exception.
· Please DO NOT bring along any electronic devices (this includes iPods, Walkmans, CD players, Gameboys, PSPs etc.). We are camping. Electronics will be confiscated and returned later. Feel free to bring an acoustic musical instrument, board games, cards, books, or a song!
· Snacks will be provided so please, NO soda, NO candy, and NO sugary snacks. These too will be confiscated and not returned (staff will eat them!!). If you have a student with blood sugar issues, let the staff know.
· The adults will be doing the cooking. There is no need for you to bring matches, knives of any sort (even Swiss Army or Leatherman tools), campfire hatches, or tools etc.
· There will be parent chaperones sleeping over and helping with the carpool. Please consider every parent as a staff member of Trillium on this trip and give him or her the attention, gratitude, and respect that they deserve.
We hope that you and your student will participate in this beginning of the year event. It is a wonderful way to relax and get to know each other. And please let us know, again, if you would like to help in any way. We need your support. We look forward to having a great time. Thank you!
Kurt, Nina, Amy and Kirk
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
OFFICIAL SNAIL MAIL SUMMER LETTER
Dear Advising Families,
To those of you new to Trillium Middle School, welcome to our Advising class! Welcome back to the folks from last year. I am privileged to work in such a caring and progressive school with such amazing students.
My name is Kurt Maier. I will be starting my third year at Trillium and my thirteenth year of teaching professionally. I feel I finally have a solid understanding of all aspects of the school. I am language arts instructor for the Upper School and this year I will also teach West African drumming to the Lower School as well as the Upper School.
As your student’s advisor I will be helping with learning plans, class selection, publishing work, managing their new e-Portfolio, building community and having fun in advising class, and much more. It is also a large and important part of my job to help navigate the new, more social waters of middle school.
I will be contacting you for a home visit at the end of August and the first week of September. School begins on the 8th of September. You will receive a detailed home visit packet in the mail that needs forms filled out and material signed by the time I arrive. This is a very important meeting. It is our first chance to let you know about changes in the Middle School schedule and program, come up with a plan for the year, conference about passions, hopes and dreams, challenges and worries, and get most of the paper work and activity fees paid for the year.
We are having a Middle School potluck on Wednesday, August 27th at Overlook Park from 5:30 – 7:00. If this time/date changes we will let you know. It will be another good chance to mingle and talk to new and veteran Trillium families and get a feel for what is in store
We have two new MS advisors this year (Nina and Amy), and they are truly amazing people. We have the strongest, most well rounded staff in the Upper School than ever before with people finding the perfect niches. We have included a summer homework assignment for your student! Check it out…it should be fun.
The best way to contact me is through email. Mine is kurt@trilliumcharterschool.org. (NOT Kirk@tr…..) You can contact ANY staff member of the school by entering their first name and then the school’s name as seen above. We all have blogs too! This is a place for assignment updates, due dates, announcements, syllabi for all classes, and more. To access my Advising Blog go to: http://kurtadvising.blogspot.com/ Aside from newsletters, my class liaison, (Any volunteers for this spot? I haven’t ever had a full time liaison and I REALLY need one badly!) the occasional phone call, these two methods are the best for gathering information.
Thanks for choosing Trillium. Thanks for being in my class. Welcome! Let’s have a great summer and come back relaxed and refreshed and ready to get our learn on!
Sincerely,
Kurt
To those of you new to Trillium Middle School, welcome to our Advising class! Welcome back to the folks from last year. I am privileged to work in such a caring and progressive school with such amazing students.
My name is Kurt Maier. I will be starting my third year at Trillium and my thirteenth year of teaching professionally. I feel I finally have a solid understanding of all aspects of the school. I am language arts instructor for the Upper School and this year I will also teach West African drumming to the Lower School as well as the Upper School.
As your student’s advisor I will be helping with learning plans, class selection, publishing work, managing their new e-Portfolio, building community and having fun in advising class, and much more. It is also a large and important part of my job to help navigate the new, more social waters of middle school.
I will be contacting you for a home visit at the end of August and the first week of September. School begins on the 8th of September. You will receive a detailed home visit packet in the mail that needs forms filled out and material signed by the time I arrive. This is a very important meeting. It is our first chance to let you know about changes in the Middle School schedule and program, come up with a plan for the year, conference about passions, hopes and dreams, challenges and worries, and get most of the paper work and activity fees paid for the year.
We are having a Middle School potluck on Wednesday, August 27th at Overlook Park from 5:30 – 7:00. If this time/date changes we will let you know. It will be another good chance to mingle and talk to new and veteran Trillium families and get a feel for what is in store
We have two new MS advisors this year (Nina and Amy), and they are truly amazing people. We have the strongest, most well rounded staff in the Upper School than ever before with people finding the perfect niches. We have included a summer homework assignment for your student! Check it out…it should be fun.
The best way to contact me is through email. Mine is kurt@trilliumcharterschool.org. (NOT Kirk@tr…..) You can contact ANY staff member of the school by entering their first name and then the school’s name as seen above. We all have blogs too! This is a place for assignment updates, due dates, announcements, syllabi for all classes, and more. To access my Advising Blog go to: http://kurtadvising.blogspot.com/ Aside from newsletters, my class liaison, (Any volunteers for this spot? I haven’t ever had a full time liaison and I REALLY need one badly!) the occasional phone call, these two methods are the best for gathering information.
Thanks for choosing Trillium. Thanks for being in my class. Welcome! Let’s have a great summer and come back relaxed and refreshed and ready to get our learn on!
Sincerely,
Kurt
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Summer 2008 Project Assignment
YEA!!!!! Your First Project for next school year!
You will need to present to your Advisory how you spent your summer. This presentation can be about any one part of your summer or encapsulate the entire thing. You get to choose what you present and how you present it, but present you will. Your presentation should not exceed 5 minutes. You will also need to be prepared to answer questions and comments from your Advisory.
There are many, many possibilities. Here a few examples for you to consider:
• demonstrate or teach a skill or game you learned
• write an essay that sums up your whole summer or a just few special moments
• make and show a scrapbook
• design a website or power point presentation
• present writings from a summer journal
• show a video of edited highlights
• write and recite a poem about your summer
• show-n-tell with souvenirs you’ve gathered
• any combination of the above or something you think of on your own!
Here’s a quick example of the sort of thing you might do: Let’s say that over the summer you trained your dog (or cat!) to do a new trick. You could present a video that showed your pet doing tricks it already knows as well as the new trick you taught. Then you could explain to the Advisory what other things you are planning to train your pet to do and why working with your pet this way is so rewarding for you.
Please keep in mind that this is a required assignment that should be a complete, finished work that reflects your best effort (best effort = neat, organized, proper spelling, etc). Not only will you be using your presentation to introduce or re-introduce yourself to your Advisory but it will be assessed as a part of your Advisory evaluation. If you have any questions please email or call your Advisor. This assignment is due on the first day of school, Monday, Sept. 8th.
HAVE FUN!
Your Middle School Advising Team,
Amy, Kirk, Kurt, and Nina
You will need to present to your Advisory how you spent your summer. This presentation can be about any one part of your summer or encapsulate the entire thing. You get to choose what you present and how you present it, but present you will. Your presentation should not exceed 5 minutes. You will also need to be prepared to answer questions and comments from your Advisory.
There are many, many possibilities. Here a few examples for you to consider:
• demonstrate or teach a skill or game you learned
• write an essay that sums up your whole summer or a just few special moments
• make and show a scrapbook
• design a website or power point presentation
• present writings from a summer journal
• show a video of edited highlights
• write and recite a poem about your summer
• show-n-tell with souvenirs you’ve gathered
• any combination of the above or something you think of on your own!
Here’s a quick example of the sort of thing you might do: Let’s say that over the summer you trained your dog (or cat!) to do a new trick. You could present a video that showed your pet doing tricks it already knows as well as the new trick you taught. Then you could explain to the Advisory what other things you are planning to train your pet to do and why working with your pet this way is so rewarding for you.
Please keep in mind that this is a required assignment that should be a complete, finished work that reflects your best effort (best effort = neat, organized, proper spelling, etc). Not only will you be using your presentation to introduce or re-introduce yourself to your Advisory but it will be assessed as a part of your Advisory evaluation. If you have any questions please email or call your Advisor. This assignment is due on the first day of school, Monday, Sept. 8th.
HAVE FUN!
Your Middle School Advising Team,
Amy, Kirk, Kurt, and Nina
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