MATRIX JOURNAL: Scheduling underway.

Hello everyone!

1. SCHEDULING HAS REACHED 10TH GRADE
2. SIXTH GRADE DATABASE NOW IN SIS
3. ISIS IS INCOMPLETE
4. HELP WANTED: ADVISORY CREATION
5. PBL WORKSHOP SUMMARY
6. PBL WEBPAGE ON NOWACADEMY.NET
7. PBL PROJECT SHOWCASE TOMORROW
8. MATH, WE MISSED YOU

===1. SCHEDULING HAS REACHED 10TH GRADE===
I have now completely scheduled grades 7, 8, and 9. I scheduled the 10th graders in their Foreign Language or SPED courses and that will unfortunately be one of the ones that will dictate their schedule. The other one is their Math course.

I will continue in scheduling students throughout the week. I will probably opt out of one of the PDs in order to continue scheduling.

===2. SIXTH GRADE DATABASE NOW IN SIS===
Lucy and Phyllis have confirmed that the sixth graders from NOW Academy are in SIS. I can now begin to schedule them. But they should be an easy group to schedule.

===3. ISIS IS INCOMPLETE===
Edwin alerted me that students are now showing up on ISIS. Please note that ISIS is incomplete as I am currently scheduling. It updates everyday.

===4. HELP WANTED: ADVISORY CREATION===
Amy has helped me split up last year's 6th graders, 7th graders and 8th graders into advisories. I need help in splitting up last year's 9th, 10th, and 11th graders into the Junior Institute Advisories (9th/10th) and Senior Institute Advisories (11th/12th). You guys know the students best and I would like your input in making sure that even and balanced advisories are created.

Why are we changing advisories you may ask? As you know, last year, we were an incomplete school with no 12th graders. We now have 12th graders. I also did not know any of these students and let SIS's random course generator create the advisories.

This year, we can be deliberate. We can create advisory group that are balanced, not only in gender but in ethnicity, skill level and maturity.

===5. PBL WORKSHOP SUMMARY===
The Project Based Learning Workshop was received well today and most found the activity in the morning helpful and the time generating curriculum maps helpful.

I am glad that people found the gallery sort helpful. The gallery sort can be done in many ways and I actually learned it from the Urban Academy of New York which is a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools. Thank you Amy for helping me run the workshop today.

===6. PBL WEBPAGE ON NOWACADEMY.NET===
Please note the "all-new, all-different" PBL Webpage on www.nowacademy.net. You will find it under Policies >> under Project-Based Learning.

You will find many tools on there, including the Curriculum Map Word Document, Videos, Links to examples of curriculum maps, links to BIE and Educare, our Habits of Heart and Mind Rubrics, etc.

===7. PBL PROJECT SHOWCASE TOMORROW===
As an outcome to the two days of work, we are showcasing 1 unit from our curriculum maps. We are sharing our essential (driving/guiding) questions, skills/Habits, assessments, and projects along with it.

===8. MATH, WE MISSED YOU===
To our Math peeps, we missed you. We printed out curriculum maps, etc. for you all so that you can use it in how you form your curriculum's projects, etc. I gave all the examples of curriculum maps form the School of the Future to Velia Valle.

We missed you. We have all began to collaborate amongst ourselves and began planning interdisciplinary projects. I hope that somewhere down the line, we will be able to converge and plan with you all.