Skip to main content

DA STEM Update (3/18/2020)

Dear DA STEM families,
Professors are at NCC this week are planning to transition their courses into being online for potentially the rest of the school year.  This will be challenging for them - especially in physics and chemistry where our students traditionally have labs.  Roger and I are engaged in ongoing conversations with the 4 DA professors about how to best deliver content to our cohorts.  The professors will be communicating their plan for how their courses will change soon.  In the meantime please do the following:
1.  Use this time to master/relearn any content you were struggling with before the shut down.  
2.  Parents please make sure your student knows how to log into D2L and their Normandale email account.  If they are struggling with this have them reach out to Roger.  It is going to be essential for them to have access to these resources since they may not have any face to face instruction for the rest of the semester.
3.  Talk as a family for how you will set up a learning environment for your student.  Most teenagers need a lot of supervision to stay focused.  Discuss whether your student should have their phone in another room while they do their homework, whether they should have any other windows open on their Chromebook, what time of day would be best for them to get their school work done.  This change to their learning environment will be challenging.

I want to encourage us to be patient with each other. This is a big change for us - as a program, as students, as teachers, as parents - and we will need to lean on each other (but from 6 feet away ).  Feel free to reach out to me and Roger if you have questions.  

Stay healthy,
Meredith

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

May 18, 2020 Dear DA STEM 9th and 10th graders and their parents/guardians, Congratulations on completing spring semester at Normandale in the Dimensions Academy STEM program.  You excelled in your college coursework - during a pandemic and when all instruction was moved online!  Roger and I were very impressed with how hard you worked under these new learning conditions. Additionally, we were thrilled to see how well the Normandale professors adjusted their teaching to online.  We were happy with the level of rigor they were able to maintain.   Grades:   I am pleased to announce that everyone in both cohorts earned As and Bs in their college classes this semester.  Normandale is offering their students the opportunity to take their classes pass/fail but my recommendation for you is to take your grade.  There are 2 benefits to taking your grade:  1.  It is doubtful that 4 years from now colleges will give you credit for ...

Interested in the Nobel Creativity Program at KHS?

Parents, guardians and students interested in the Nobel Program at Kennedy High School are invited to attend an information session at KHS on  Tuesday, February 4th at 7pm in Kennedy Media Center (9701 Nicollet Ave in Bloomington).   ********** Nobel is an honors humanities pathway designed to nurture and develop the creativity of high school students and is housed at John F. Kennedy High School in Bloomington, MN.  Students who have been identified as creatively talented are grouped together in a cohort for key humanities classes and for their advisory where they work with teachers who have been trained to grow creativity.  Focusing on critical thinking and creativity, students will engage in a rich curriculum connecting literature, social sciences, philosophy and the arts.   Students are identified using the Torrance Test of Creativity and through their MAP reading test scores.  Students that graduate from the Valley View Middle School...

Think Before You Post

Harvard College recently rescinded admissions offers to at least ten prospective members of the Class of 2021 after the students traded sexually explicit memes and messages that  targeted minority groups in a private Facebook group chat. Last week I took a group of DA9th graders to Macalester College and the admissions officer told us they were looking for students that are both academically talented AND empathetic to others.   Please think before you post but also think about how you portray yourself.   http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/6/5/2021-offers-rescinded-memes/