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Weekly News

November 13, 2020

Weekly NewsNovember 13, 2020

Calendar Items

Monday, November 16 - Green Day Last names M-Z at school

Monday, November 16 - Final Day to select 2nd semester learning mode

Monday, November 16 - Girls Basketball games

Tuesday, November 17 - Silver Day Last names M-Z at school

Tuesday, November 17 - PSAT testing for 8th graders

Wednesday, November 18 - Green Day Last names A-L at school

Wednesday, November 18 - PSAT testing for 8th graders

Thursday, November 19 - Silver Day Last names A-L at school

Thursday, November 19 - Girls Basketball games

Friday, November 20 - Green Day Last names M-Z at school

Make your selection for second-semester learning mode today!

Families and students have the opportunity to make a learning mode selection for the second semester through Nov. 16. Before making a selection, families are encouraged to learn more about the two learning modes, the process to make your selection and the adjustments to the VirtualED option.

  • There continue to be two choices of learning mode--in-person and all-virtual. How students attend school in the in-person mode depends on the activity of the COVID-19 virus and may include the full in-person, hybrid or distance learning formats. More information about in-person and all-virtual learning is available online.
  • ALL kindergarten through 12th grade students will need to select a learning mode for the second semester, regardless of the desire to change modes.
  • Families will have one window to make their second-semester selection. This window ends Monday, Nov. 16. Make your selection online today!
  • There will be some adjustments made to the all-virtual option, VirtualED. These changes are based on feedback from various stakeholder groups from the first semester. Review a description of VirtualED and changes for the second semester on the VirtualED web page.
  • For more detailed information, go to the Second Semester Learning Mode Selection web page.

Spelling Bee

Virtual students: If you are interested in participating in the Spelling Bee please complete the Google Form linked here: Virtual Students Interested in the Spelling Bee

In-Person Students: will have the opportunity to express interest in class with their ELA teacher in the coming days of class.

If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Holsapple @ jholsapple03@bluevalleyk12.org

KCTC SURVEY

Attention 6th and 8th Grade Parents:

Ourschool will soon be administering the Kansas Communities That Care Student Survey. This survey is taken by 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th-grade students statewide. We believe this survey is a valuable tool to help us understand how students behave, think and feel about alcohol, marijuana and other drug use, bullying, and school safety. The KCTC survey measures teen substance use, delinquency, and related problem behaviors and the factors that predict those problems in schools and communities. In addition, it provides a baseline for participation in, perception of, and attitudes toward positive behavior. The survey gives us insight into the problems students face and shows what we can do to help them succeed.

The information is essential for planning effective prevention programs in our school and community and provides data for local and state grant funding and reporting.


You may also be interested to know the following:


1. It is completely anonymous. Students will not be asked for their names on the questionnaire, nor will anyone be able to connect any individual student with his/her responses. School staff will not see anyone student’s responses, but only summaries of results. To further guarantee anonymity, results will not be reported on any particular question without sufficient response from enough students.

2. Participation is entirely voluntary. Your child may decline to participate in the survey or may simply skip any particular question they do not wish to answer.

3. Annual participation is important. Even if your child has participated in previous surveys, annual data is extremely helpful in determining the effectiveness of previous efforts and changes in program areas.

If you would prefer your student NOT take this survey, please fill out the following Google Form using the link below by November 20th:

KCTC SURVEY OPT-OUT FORM

Mathcounts

Math Counts will meet on Monday, November 16 from 3:00-3:30 in room 313 or via Zoom

https://bluevalleyk12.zoom.us/j/98090235797

Meeting ID: 980 9023 5797

Passcode: MATHCOUNTS

6th Grade Students attending ABMS and PSMS


Contact Info for PSMS VirtualEd Teachers



7th Grade Students attending ABMS and HMS


Contact Info for HMS VirtualED Teachers


8th Grade Students attending ABMS and OMS


Contact Info for OMS Virtual Teachers

We love to go in to the classroom to work with students and over the last several weeks, we have had the opportunity to join ELA classes in both 6th and 8th grades. In 6th grade ELA classes were looking at how conflicts in relationships change us. We were able to connect with this by talking about rumors, how and why they get started, and how we can keep them from happening/spreading. In 8th grade we joined a discussion about grief and loss in The Outsiders. Next week we will be joining 7th grade ELA to discuss empathy as they begin to read A Christmas Carol. ( Bobby Pulcini and Sara Talley, counselors)

· Invest in ABMS/PTO membership - Any and all support is very much appreciated!! Log into ParentVue to donate.

· AMAZON SMILE - Did you know you can support ABMS by shopping through Amazon Smile? It's an easy way to help, but you must shop through our link.

· "BE IN THE KNOW WITH ABMS PTO"- Be sure to follow us on FB (@AubryBendMSPTO) and twitter (@AbmsPto).

· SPIRIT WEAR - Get ready to shop! Our ABMS online store is officially back OPEN!! Think winter birthdays, holiday gifts, mid-year growth spurt, etc.... so many reasons to shop. Place your order by midnight November 22 and we will have the items early December to distribute before winter break. https://mccwebstores.com/2522/shop/home

· HOLIDAY BAGS - It is that time of year again when we get to spread a little holiday cheer to our amazing ABMS staff! This is such a fun tradition and we appreciate your support. Please consider signing up to fill a bag (list of favorites will be found inside the bag); and bags can be picked up from the office starting next Monday! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f44a9a723a4f58-abms

ABMS Teen Advisory Group (TAG) 2020-2021

Calling all 7th & 8th grade book lovers (Virtual and In-Person students)! The ABMS TAG Library Club has begun! If interested in being part of this exclusive group please check the link below. Included is a Google form for your child to submit and be entered into the Canvas page. Participants help choose the Trendy 12 book list for middle schools in Blue Valley!


ABMS TAG Link


THANK YOU!!!

THANK YOU, for supporting our Scholastic Virtual Book Fair! We’re hopeful that next year we can bring back the excitement with an in-person fair! Remember all orders will be shipped directly to your home!


Help fill the gaps!

We still have many books that have not returned from last school year. Please be looking at home, under the bed, in the car, or in backpacks for ABMS library books! We’d love to fill up our shelves!


ABMS Library Webpage Link

Axis 360 eBooks

ELA

ELA kicked off second quarter by reviewing Class Notes that preview the terminology and literacy skills we will focus on this quarter. Students will be reading and analyzing information text. Students also checked out an Independent Reading book of their choice from the library. Students will complete assignments related to this self-selected book throughout the quarter. Ask your student what book they are planning to read!

Social Studies

We have begun our new unit on Ancient India. Ask your student where the best place to settle in India is?

Math

We started a new unit this week, Rational Numbers. We learned about integers and observed relationships between them. Next week, we will continue with this unit; learning about graphing on number lines and the meaning of absolute value.

Science

Science classes will be finishing up the Solar System and moving on to History of Earth in the next week.

ELA

Students have completed their first informative essay, and they are now diving into the life and times of the 1800's in London, England. They are beginning to decipher if Charles Dickens used history accurately or altered it when composing A Christmas Carol.

Integrated Math

We started off quarter with emoji math, and wrapped up the week with a focus on expressions and the distributive property. Look out for announcements from your teacher about an assessment or "check for understanding" before Thanksgiving break!

Advanced Math

We are refreshing our brains on the algebraic concepts from 6th grade, and applying our integer rules to problems involving expressions, factoring, and the distributive property. Next, we will focus on what a "like term" is and how to combine terms in multi-step problems. Look for an announcement from your teacher about an assessment prior to Thanksgiving break!

Science

This week, science took a break from our usual labs to focus on some rotation circuits! Each stop required students to read, research, debate, or analyze the concepts of photosynthesis and cellular respiration. We learned that both processes are essential to life, and how plants and animals work together to help the other survive! Next week, we have a super cool cellular respiration demonstration planned =). Right before Thanksgiving break students will complete a study guide over osmosis, diffusion, photosynthesis, and cellular respiration and assess over all four processes!

ALL

We will be having a strange schedule this week due to students taking the PSAT. Students will also be taking part in a lesson with our Student Services staff.

Monday:

1st Hour Moss, McDaniel, Farris, Knight, and Weist’s first hours will meet at regularly scheduled times

1st Hour Cook, Diederich, Schmidt and Beechner-Holmes will start zoom at 9AM (this is different than the normal schedule)

4th Hour ALL TEACHERS zoom will start at 10am

Tuesday:

In-Person M-Z students will be taking the PSAT

At-Home A-L students will log on to Canvas, but not their Zoom. There will be an asynchronous activity for that day, and student will need to take attendance in each teacher’s provided Google Form

Wednesday:

The same schedule as Tuesday but A-L & M-Z switched

Thursday:

2nd Hour Moss, McDaniel, Farris, Knight, and Weist’s first hours will meet at regularly scheduled times

2nd Hour Diederich, Schmidt and Beechner-Holmes will start zoom at 9AM (this is different than the normal schedule)

6th Hour ALL TEACHERS zoom will start at 10am

Math

Algebra 1: Solving Multi-step equations

Math 8: Linear Functions

Social Studies

Students will continue to look at the United States history of territorial expansion. We will be begin an primary source inquiry where students will construct an argument about these events.

ELA

This week we are taking the PSAT, and we are continuing to learn how people's journeys affect their understanding of the people and world around them?

Hello everybody! My name is Jon Holsapple and I am currently serving as the administrative intern here at Aubry Bend Middle School. While I have met several of you and your students, I thought I might take a moment this week and formally introduce myself to everyone.


Before coming on board this year as the administrative intern, I worked here at Aubry Bend as the Instructional Design Coach, and prior to that worked at the middle school level in Blue Valley for the previous five years after beginning my career in the Spring Hill School District.


Not only have I worked here in Bule Valley for some time now, this is also the place I am fortunate enough to call my home. Growing up in the district from Kindergarten through 12th grade, I graduated from Blue Valley West High School before going on to Emporia State University where I majored in Secondary Education of English Language Arts, and later attaining a master's degree from Baker University and an administrative license from Pittsburgh State University.


While I often describe myself as Education-Nerd, it is really no surprise that I find myself working in the school system. My passion for teaching and learning seems to have been passed down through the family as my grandfather taught in a one-room schoolhouse, then my father went into education after that, and then my mother, sister, and finally me.


I'm also married to an educator. A former elementary teacher at Timber Creek and Wolf Springs, my wife, Megan, now teaches at Harmony Middle School. Together, we have two sons, Carter and Cooper, who will soon be Blue Valley students themselves in just a couple of years, and boy are they ready to go to "where mommy and daddy work" every day.


The past year and a half here at Aubry Bend Middle, not only have I learned so much about education from the amazing staff and principals, but I have also learned so much from you all too: the power of community. While this year has been far from the norm, the support and love we have received from you all has filled our buckets many times over. While these are certainly "unprecedented times," I am thankful to be navigating through these challenges with a community as strong the one we share.


Last week, Mrs. Tate wrote about our professional learning here with teachers around the power that comes from building capacity and confidence in those with whom we work. With that in mind, I want to thank you all for your continued support, and for fostering such a community that inherently and naturally builds such capacity, not only in each other but with us here at Aubry Bend.


Thank you all for the support and for welcoming me into your community with such open arms. I am so thankful to be a Wolverine and a member of your community.


All the best,

Jon Holsapple

Administrative Intern

Aubry Bend Middle School