January Highlights
- TLC families enjoyed two field trips this month. The first was to Junior Achievement's BizTown, where TLC 4th and 5th-grade students from Chula Vista became "citizens of Biztown." As part of this field trip and learning opportunity, students ran the businesses, collected paychecks, contributed to philanthropy, adopted pets, and more! Thanks to TLC teachers, Rosa Latorre, Deanna Carey, and Joe Cunningham for teaching the required curriculum to prepare their students for the Biztown experience.
- During a field trip to Balboa Park students investigated historical figures of San Diego through artifact exploration, a role-playing presentation, and exhibits at the San Diego History Center. Afterward, families visited the Japanese Friendship Garden and TLC staff member, Carli Anderson taught students how to create an origami jumping frog.
How to form healthy habits
Habit Building
With the start of the new year there is always focus on new year’s resolutions. Perhaps this year you set a goal to eat healthier, or exercise more, or volunteer once a week. Whatever your resolution, or even if you did not set one, science has some insight to offer us about what it takes to form a habit.
First, it is important to differentiate between a habit and a routine. As Kristi Noel from The Harvard Business Review explains:
Unlike habits, routines are uncomfortable and require a concerted effort. Waking up early to run every morning or meditating for 10 minutes every night, for instance, are rituals that — initially — are hard to keep up. Habits, on the other hand, are so ingrained in our daily lives that it feels strange not to do them. Imagine not brushing your teeth before bed or not drinking a cup of coffee with breakfast. If these are habits you have already formed, avoiding them might even feel bad.
Guidance about turning an activity into a habit includes:
1. Set a clear intention. This should be specific (ex. running 5 miles a week), and realistic (ex. this goal would be realistic if you’re currently running 3 miles a week, but maybe not as much if you’re currently not running at all).
2. Prepare for roadblocks. Recognize what has, or what might, get in your way. How can you adjust to this so that it doesn’t prevent you from reaching your goal?
3. Make a schedule. Block off regular times on your calendar for your habit.
4. Show yourself compassion. There will be ups and downs. New habits take time!
Student Work Spotlight
This month's student work spotlight comes from Ayleen Velazquez, 9th grade student at TLC Chula Vista. Alyeen was asked to make a short video as if she were teaching a topic to a new student. Her video, which can be found at this link, is her explanation of slope intercept form.
Planning for College
The class of 2023 have been busy working hard on their college applications! Some of the colleges students have been applying to include: Anderson, Belmont, Boston, Caldwell, Colgate, Columbia, Chicago, Harvard, Lincoln, NY, Princeton, Syracuse, Denver, Miami, Michigan, USC, West Chester, University of Pennsylvania, Westfield State, Yale, UCSD, SDSU, UCI, UCR, UCSB, CSUSJ, CSUSLO, UCSB, UCR, Grand Canyon University, Point Loma, and more. Best of luck to our seniors!
We would love to hear about any good news you receive at tlcstudentnews@learningchoice.org.
If you are a high school student applying to college, here are some next steps you can take:
- Meet with a college counselor to review your financial aid award letters, and continue to apply for scholarships to help with tuition.
- Visit the campuses you have been accepted to, review the meal plans and housing.
- The SIR, Student Intent to Register, is due May 1st.
- If you haven't applied for financial aid yet, submit your application as soon as possible at studentaid.gov. See Ms. Peterson if you need any assistance.
National School Choice Week
This week is we are celebrating National School Choice Week.
The following information is taken from schoolchoiceweek.com:
National School Choice Week (NSCW) informs, inspires, and empowers parents to discover the K-12 education options available for their children, while generating widespread public awareness of the importance of school choice.
What is school choice? School choice is the process of allowing every family to choose the K-12 educational options that best fit their children. Every child is unique, and all children learn differently. Some children might succeed at the neighborhood public school, while others might fit in better at a charter, magnet, online, private or home learning environment. That’s why school choice is so important! These options include all forms of education, from traditional public schools, to public charter schools, public magnet schools, private schools, online academies, and homeschooling.
Every child deserves an effective, challenging, and motivating education. And, because each student has their own unique set of talents, interests, and challenges, having a variety of options in education is crucial. What works well for one child may not work well for another child! In short, school choice ensures that each student can find a learning environment that allows them to be inspired, successful, and happy.
More Information on School Choice
To learn more about what “school choice” means and why it is important, you can watch the informative four minute video below:
How to be involved
Looking for ways to be involved? You can review this toolkit for multiple resources and activities. TLC's latest Weekly Bulletin also listed some helpful engagement ideas.
NWEA Testing
Are you hearing a lot about NWEA testing lately? Do you have some outstanding questions regarding what this is all about? Let us share some helpful information!
What is NWEA Testing?
- The NWEA is a nationally normed assessment tool. "NWEA uses anonymous assessment data from over 11 million students to create national norms, placing your students and schools within a representative national sample. By drawing from an incredibly wide pool of anonymized test records (pulled from millions of test events from over 24,500 public schools in 5,800 districts, spread across all 50 states), we’re able to accurately represent the US school-age population.”
Why is this important?
- Whereas tests like CAASPP measure proficiency (i.e. is a student meeting grade level standards), NWEA tests measure growth. This means that we can see how a student is progressing individually, regardless of where they are in terms of their proficiency. It lets us know how much their skills in reading and math, in particular, are growing. This also helps us to guide instruction – it gives us a better idea of where the student is academically and what they need to focus on.
- As NWEA describes, “Norms help you see if students are growing at an expected pace, regardless of where a student started.”
- This data also helps TLC to make a case for our charter renewal when that time comes. It holds us accountable and ensures we are helping students to achieve academic growth.
NWEA at TLC
- K-12 students at TLC participate in NWEA testing 2-3 times per year. Tests are computer adaptive to be able to measure student knowledge as best as possible.
- Results are shared with the student and the parent(s). In conjunction with the student’s Educational Partner, goals are set.
- All testing is administered on site.
Mid-year testing
- TLC’s winter NWEA testing window is between 12/6 to 3/25. Actual testing date will vary from site to site and teacher to teacher.
- Once a student tests, their results are available within 24 hours. The Educational Partner will share the results with the student/parent.
- This testing window allows teachers, students, and parents to see growth from the beginning of the year and to reflect on goals before setting new ones.
- Teachers use mid-year results to guide their planning.
- Students whose results show little to no growth may receive extra academic support.
Sleep for Health
According to The National Sleep Foundation, people of all ages should receive a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night. The benefits of adequate sleep are profound. Not only do we feel better, but our stress levels go down, our grades and work can improve, and we help to keep our immune systems healthy.
Studies have shown that students who didn't study for a test but received a full night's sleep, actually got better scores than students who studied but got a lack of sleep! This is not an excuse not to study, but rather an example of how much sleep supports our brains and overall well-being.
The below graphic helps to show just some of the ways sleep impacts us.
Going forward, we'd like to provide a space where we extend our welcome to new students and their families. If you meet these new students in your class or at an event or field trip, please help us welcome them to the TLC community.
Chula Vista
Aubrey Carson, Hybrid Program, 11th grade
Angelina Gutierrez, Hybrid Program, 8th grade
Ekeles Rios, Hybrid Program, 3rd grade
Amber Tabar, Hybrid Program, 10th grade
Francisco Valdez, Hybrid Program, 9th grade
La Mesa
Malak Aabaichi, Hybrid Program, Kindergarten
Yousif Abaiji, Hybrid Program, 6th grade
Ayodele Adejonwo, Hybrid Program, 4th grade
Sagean Curley, Homeschool Program, 8th grade
Donald Daley, Hybrid Program, 10th grade
Monica Diaz, Hybrid Program, 10th grade
Emmett Gomez, Homeschool Program, TK
Sebastian Hamblin, Hybrid Program, 8th grade
Cadence Harper, Hybrid Program, 10th grade
Sofiya Mykhaylyuk, Hybrid Program, 10th grade
Athena Torres Ramirez, Hybrid Program, 2nd grade
Ivan Torres Ramirez, Hybrid Program, 8th grade
Leslie Torres Ramirez, Hybrid Program, 11th grade
San Diego
Yaseen Baig, Homeschool Program, TK
Haylie De La Roche, Homeschool Program, 12th grade
Helio Garcia, Homeschool Program, 7th grade
Curren Hernandez, Hybrid Program, 2nd grade
Zayd Mendez Paredes, Homeschool Program, TK
Dean Modica, Hybrid Program, 4th grade
Oliver O'Neal, Homeschool Program, TK
Madeline Winn, Homeschool Program, TK
Credits:
Created with images by Golib Tolibov - "New Habits vs Old Habits" • netrun78 - "Snoring classic alarm clock on blue pastel trendy background. Flat lay, top view mock up"