Things in the tank are on the move. Larry the Lobster has been playing bulldozer and has created some huge sand piles. He seems to be pleased with his work. The horseshoe crab, Horse radish, and Larry have been quite pushy but seem to find places in the tank where they can get away from each other. There was a delivery of a few more hermit crabs this morning. 7th grade feed things yesterday and cleaned the tank today.

8th grade is taking their last NECAP reading test this afternoon and that leaves us with math and writing test next week. Check the calendar for the days and times. If a student misses a test they will take a makeup test the following week. For the most part I have been pleased with students use of time and effort towards the test. Good work!

Reminder that Thursday is an early release for students and Friday there is no school for students.  The soccer game for this afternoon has been cancelled due to the rain. A make up game might happen tomorrow. Stay tuned! 

Also to those parents who have not signed up for conferences please call the school to get a meeting time. Conference day is October 20th. 

8th grade fund raisers are getting going with the Hunter's Breakfast on Oct 30. Spread the word and we hope to see you there. 

Wow, we have a X-country meet this afternoon in Searsport and a soccer game at St. George.  Good luck to all involved with those adventures.  We have started the NECAP testing today with the first of three reading tests. These tests will continue into next week with math and writing tests. The 7th graders have been taking over the responsibilities of the tank and to day fed and tested the nitrite levels. All were looking good and acted much better with food in the tank.



Below is an interesting post from an excellent high school principal about education and the media's present marketing of the "issue".  I am hoping to tune into a webinar this evening about this issue.  If you have an interest here is  a link to it. 

Link to Chris Lehmann's post from which the following is quoted.


"I say as both an educator and a parent -- we need a great debate about education in this country.

We should be asking ourselves -- what do we need our schools to be? What do we hope for our children? How are we going to modernize our schools so that they can change with the changing times? What do our children need from schools and how are we going to teach to meet those needs?

We're not going to get there if we expect the politicians and the media to start these conversations. These conversations have to happen in cities and towns all over this country. Parents and children and educators need to take the time to come together and have these conversations. We need to understand that without a vision of what we want our schools to be, reform is destined to fail.

So where do we go from here? What can we do?

Write to MSNBC and demand that the next Education Nation segments focus on how we teach and learn and not on the charter vs. non-charter debate. MSNBC's address is: NBC News, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10112

Go to your local school board meetings and ask them how they are going to modernize the schools in your district. Ask them how they see the new tools that kids have at their disposal can -- and should -- change the way we teach and learn. Ask to sit on the committee that is drawing up the technology plan.

Organize conversations in the schools in your neighborhood -- ask the principal to hold an education summit on a Saturday that brings together community members and educators and parents and students and asks the hard questions about what our schools can be and the steps necessary to get there.

We deserve a great conversation about education in this country -- better than the one we're seeing now."

Had a great math class with 7th grade this morning. We were working on a problem which was a challenge for us all and we took time to share our ideas, math thinking and theories about how to solve it. There were many different approaches and ideas that we had. The fun,engaging part was that we then started to try and prove or disprove other's solutions.


I hope that we can come back to that level of engagement frequently and maybe take it to the next level.