Park

Our class has a new proposal that's passed: every Wednesday, as long as it's over 45F and it's not raining, we will go to the park at the beginning of advising before the MS meeting. This morning was barely over 45F, so we took a vote. It was close, but the majority of the class wanted to go to the park. As a compromise, Nick let those of us that had to finish school projects stay, and the rest of the class went.
This Thursday, that's tomorrow, is the project fair! The lower school students will be showing their work to parents, while here in the upper school we will just display our projects to fellow students.
Thats all for now folks!

End of 1st quarter

Looming up is the start of the 2nd quarter, and everyone knows what that means! Students are scrambling to get late assignments finished and are choosing new classes for the new quarter.
There will be no school Friday or Monday, which comes as a relief to teachers and students alike.
The project fair is coming up soon, so finish those projects!
The photography club has finally found a place to meet; it will be held the second hour of advising in Nicks room. If you signed up and got in, Kotie or Kaia have talked to you about it. If you haven't heard from one of them, tough luck.
Thats all for now folks!

Boo!

Yesterday was the long awaited Halloween! Lots of people wore their costumes to school, but the teachers really got into it. Kirk's outfit was awsome, andslightly disturbing; Princess Butterfly subbed for Kurt's class in the morning, and was replaced by a caveman in the afternoon; Nick's class was taken over by "Nichole" for the day. In our class only afew people dressed up: Ryan P. was a frightening devil, Kaia was a fairy princess, Zoe wore a devil cape, and Ian had an elf hat (borrowed from Ian M.). In class we had a small party and ate candy, and then we wandered from class to class.
Remember to bring a coffee mug if you wantto drink coffee, hot chocolate or tea!
Today we played bingo with our buddies, and then we had the middle school meeting. It went well, and everyone was well behaved.
Thats all for now folks!

All school Meeting

Yesterday, Monday, an all school meeting was held to discuss and vote on two matters. The first was a proposal brought to the meeting by two students from 3, 4, 5, and stated that the middle schoolers who visit the 3, 4, 5 classrooms must know the lunch rules, and must stay in the classroom for all of lunch. It didn't pass though, with 60 to 70 votes. The second proposal was brought by teachers, and voiced by Ken. The idea was to form a constitutional convention every Friday to discuss the rules of Trillium. The idea was that there would be 16 student in all, 4 from each class. The proposal passed by a landslide.
Today our class had a visit from Joan, who talked about the Chinese gardens, which we will be visiting Friday. She showed us a slide show about Chinese culture, our sister city Suzhou, the Chinese gardens, and the balance between ying and yang. We learned that once you know what to look for, you find ying and yang throughout the Chinese gardens. Everyone learned a considerable amount, and is eager to go to the garden in person on Friday.
Everyone was overjoyed to see that we finally have a coffee/tea/hot chocolate station installed, and Nick was nice enough to make everyone hot chocolate while we were listening to the presentation.
Thats all for now folks!

Circle of Friends

Yesterday John, JJ's dad, came in to talk about the "circle of friends." He talked about how everyone needs friends, to help them through the rough patches. Then we filled out a paper with all of our friends' names. In an inner circle, we wrote the names of our closest friends; the ones we tell everything to. Then in the second circle, we put our friends who are nice, but not that close. In the third circle we put friends we only have through groups, such as a sport club, school, etc. Fianlly, we filled the fourth and last circle with the people paid to be in our lives, such as teachers, dentists, doctors...
Kotie and Kaia have started a photography club, which will be taught by Kotie's mom. The requirements are a digital camera and responsibility. Unfoutunatly, only two students from each advising may join.
The middle school meeting was yesterday, and it was facilitated by Issac. It went relitivley well, though we discussed heelies and skateboards YET AGAIN.
Thats all for now folks!

Class Meeting, and muffins

In our class meeting today, which was facilitated by Kaia, Nick committed to getting a coffee/tea/hot chocolate station by next Tuesday. The coffee will be solely decaf, so no need to worry about your child getting wired on caffeine. Ryan P.'s proposal to "give me a muffin" was meeted with an offer from Zach to bring a muffin tomorrow. If he comes, that is.
Many people were dissapointed by Nick's failure to shave his beard, letting down his end of the agreement that he would shave his beard if Ian cut his hair. True to his word, Ian recentley showed up with his hair cut. Nick, on the other hand, merely shaved off some of his beard (and he has sideburns).
Thats all for now folks!

Tables

This morning most people were surprisingly hyper for a Monday, though the weather has taken a turn for the worse.
We rearranged the tables, into a U shape with 1 table in the middle. It seems to be working out for the moment...
We also changed the date of the class meeting from wednesdays to tuesdays.
Thats all for now folks!

Fire drill

Today both the class and middle school meetings were held. In the class meeting we agreed that we will have a breakfast at school with our buddies, and that we are ready for a new table arrangement. We dropped the idea to have a sleepover in the classroom, agreeing that that would be spending at bit too much time at school. We didn't get very far into the middle school meeting, because half way through or so the fire alarm went off. We exited in a fairly orderly manner, and I think we will be ready for a real crisis.
Thursday and Friday is the teacher's retreat, so no school for us! I hope you all have fun mini-vacation.
Thats all for now folks!

Coffee

So yesterday we finished our class meeting, which we had started Wednesday, and made an important decision. We will now have coffee, tea, and hot chocolate in our class room! Woohoo! Thanks to an unanimous vote, everyone should be happy.
Today we wen ice skating at the loyde center ice rink. It was lots of fun, and almost everyone at least tried skating. A couple people fell, but all in all we did fairly well. There was also a Japanese Film Festival after school, which I believe several people went to.
Thats all for now folks!

Pictures

Tomorrow is picture day, so wear your best outfit, bring a comb, and spend an hour in front of your mirror smiling. Or not. Just remember to bring in the picture order form and a check if you want to buy any pictures.
If any students want to help with organizing the pre-Halloween dance, they should go talk to Jess during the second hour of advising.
It turns out our class will be doing a community class project new quarter, since we just haven't gotten it together for this time.
Thats all for now folks!

Bowling

Today, seeing as it was a Friday, we went bowling. We went to Interstate Lanes, just a couple blocks from Trillium, and met up with Tobie's class there. Everyone had fun, and lots of people got strikes. Danielle took pictures, so I'll see if I can find them and post a couple.
We also talked a bit about bullying, and defined words such as "slur", "discriminate", and "humiliate".

MS meeting

Today we had a middle school meeting, as we do every Wednesday morning. Most people listened to each other respectfully and put in their two cents. Several of the things discussed were:
-Using wheelies in school
-Riding skateboards
-Traffic problems in the hallway

Thats all for now folks!

Sick

Hello again!
Today in class we:
-Listened to Nick read from "Al Capone Does My Shirts"
-Learned a bit about who exactly Al Capone was
-Received Chinook Book forms
-Talked about doing a project on our urban surroundings
-Looked at Google World, and were shown our classmates previous homes
-Went outside for a breath of fresh air, and played a name game
A rather successful day, all in all. Quincey, our student teacher, came in, and helped around.
Also, make sure to eat lots of vitamins and stay healthy, because several people in the upper school have been sick since the camp out.
Thats all for now folks!

After the camp out

I believe I speak for most people when I say that the middle school camp out was a success! The campsite was beautiful, picturesque sunlight dappling the ground. By day we wandered around, went on walks, and played games (cards, football, badminton...), and by night we huddled around the fire, roasted marshmallows, and shivered in our sleeping bags. We ran into no major problems, and everyone was polite and helpful. I'm sure everyone is looking forward to the next camp out in spring, I know I am!

Camp out

It's just one more day till the camp out! A tremor of excitement has been sweeping through the school, leaving no one unaffected. Make sure to pack layers if you're coming, and rain gear is essential. Remember, you don't have to be at school by the normal time, but 11 is the deadline!
Today we had a class meeting, where we discussed the camp out a bit more. At the last class meeting someone had proposed that Nick shave his beard, and Nick promised he would, as long as Ian got a haircut. Quincy, our student teacher informed us today that he has a barber friend willing to do the job! Now all we're waiting for is the approval of Ian's mother.
After the class meeting, we had time to "socialize". A small game of Poker was started, as well as other card games, chess, etc. Other students chose merely to converse as the hour passed.
Thats all for now folks!

Flower

As you may have noticed, I added a photo of a Trillium to the blog . I thought I'd also let you know a bit about the flower Trillium is named after, so here goes:

Scientific classification:
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class:Lilliopsida
Order:Liliales
Family:Melanthiaceae
Genus:Trillium

"This elegant spring flower blooms about the same time as robins return, thus, the name "wake-robin". The plant is called a "trillium" because the flower parts occur in threes, along with a whorl of three, broad, egg-shaped leaves. The single, large, white flower, up to 10 cm (4 in.) across, perches upright at the top of a stout 10 cm - 40 cm (4 - 16 in.) high stalk. Three white petals form the flower, with three green sepals beneath. At the flower's centre are six stamens and a six-lobed ovary with three styles. The white petals fade over time to a dull pinkish purple, becoming slightly transparent."
"Picking the flowers of Trillium can seriously injure the plant. The three leaves below the flower are the plant's only food source and a picked trillium may die or take many years to recover. For this reason in many areas, e.g. British Columbia, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Washington, it is illegal to pick trilliums. While a popular belief is held that it is illegal to pick the common Trillium grandiflorum (white trillium) in Ontario, no such law actually exists. However, the Trillium flexipes (drooping trillium) is protected by law in Ontario, where it maintains its very small Canadian population."
"The white trillium has been Ontario's provincial floral emblem since 1937. Its white blossom is associated with peace and hope."

(The above information was gathered from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillium and http://plantwatch.sunsite.ualberta.ca/plants/whi_tri.php )


I found the photo with the help of google, from this site: lakelandcc.edu/biophoto/trillium.htm

Hello

Hello Readers!
This is my very first post on our new class blog! Actually, first I made another blog for the class, but something went wrong and it told me I had the wrong email. Glitch! So I recreated the blog, and I will now be pasting in the blog entries I made in to last blog (the dates will be off).
I've created this blog to let Trillium parents know whats going on in Nick's advising class.
The first week of school went well; everyone made new friends and was outgoing and helpful. The Newbies are already starting to feel at home here, and it's thanks to all their considerate classmates and teachers that they feel so.
Thats all for now, folks! Come back soon for more updates.