Technology Tools

“Technology is just a tool.  In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is most important.”
 ~Bill Gates

Technology and classical education are often thought of as an unlikely pairing.  There are many philosophies on the role of technology in classical education.  Some classical schools chose not to use any technology in their classrooms, while others use it as a tool for teaching.  In the Eagle Ridge Academy Lower School, we believe in the latter.  Technology is a tool to be used to enhance the education of our students, nothing more.  Teachers use that tool to support our curriculum, not to replace it.  At Eagle Ridge Academy, we understand that we live in a world where it would be an injustice not to expose students to technology.  While we do not offer direct technology instruction, we do use our computer lab, laptop carts, and iPads as tools in our instruction.  

Two years ago the Eagle Ridge Academy PTO raised Gala funds for technology.  With those funds and matching Give to the Max fundswe purchased a set of 10 iPads and a charging cart for classroom use.  This year Eagle Ridge Academy has added to the iPads by purchasing 15 more to complete a class set.  We now have 25 iPads for use in our school as a tool for students and teachers to enhance our curriculum and instruction, thanks to the generosity of the community and the school.  

At some point during the next two weeks your students will be taking their fall NWEA tests.  Your child’s teacher has a schedule of the exact date and will be communicating that with you (if they have not already), so watch for it in newsletters, on websites, or via email.  Once the testing cycle is complete, we will communicate when and how the results will be sent home to families.  In conjunction, the topic at the next Lower School Parent Coffee (December 10^th at 8:00am) will be reading and understanding the NWEA Student Progress Report sent home to parents.  

Aquila, the eagle, traveled to Mrs. Palm’s kindergarten class last week.  Liam W. helped his class earn the eagle for the week.

Mrs. Palm’s class filled their CIPHER poster last week and had their CIPHER celebration.  The students chose to have arts and crafts time.  I am continually impressed with the types of celebrations the students choose to have when filling their CIPHER posters.  Here are a few pictures from the event.

Students in Mrs. Trow’s second grade class have been talking and writing about friendship.  Some of their thoughts on their friends and friendship are hanging in the hallway outside of their classroom.  Here are a few of them.

The 5th grade students are filling a bookshelf!  The 5th grade teachers have instituted an outside reading recognition program.  For every hundred pages the students read they fill out a book spine.  Those book spines are put on their "bookshelf" in the hallway.  Below is a picture of the hallway bookshelf.  The goal is to wrap around and fill the 5th grade hallway with all of the books students are reading.

Next Thursday, is the State of the School Information Night.  We look forward to seeing you there at 6:00 to hear more about academics, classical education, student services (Targeted Services, ELL, and Special Education).

Monday, November 11^th is Veteran’s Day.  It is an Eagle Ridge Academy tradition to honor our veterans on this special day.  All students should wear formal dress on Veteran’s Day.  Below you will find more information about the programs we are having.

We invite all families to Eagle Ridge Academy’s 2013 Veterans Day Celebration. We encourage you to bring a veteran that you know. We will take time to honor all veterans in attendance. The celebration includes performances from our choir and orchestra, a presentation from veteran and ERA parent Mrs. Samantha Sommerness, and honoring of our veterans in attendance.

Program Times:

·         8:10-8:35  Kindergarten through 3^rd grade

·         9:00-9:25  4^th grade through 8^th grade

·         9:55-10:20  9^th grade through 12^th grade

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Baier

We Hold These Truths...

”Since education is the cultivation of wisdom and virtue, and since wisdom and virtue are cultivated when a soul is nourished on truth, goodness, and beauty, we must teach our children truth, goodness, and beauty. The wise person understands the world he lives in (natural science and history) and has standards by which to distinguish what is from what ought to be (ethics and politics). The wise person knows the causes of things, and therefore is able to order things rightly and to judge things justly. Wisdom appears at different levels and in different kinds. The virtuous person is disciplined, purposeful, and focused in his thinking and behavior. In education we cultivate the moral virtues, the physical virtues, and the intellectual virtues. By refining all of them, we are enabled to bring them into a harmony that we can justly call integrity. Young people become wise and virtuous when their souls feed on truth, goodness, and beauty. The only way a person can perceive truth, goodness, and beauty is if these virtues are embodied or incarnated and he is then disciplined in their imitation.”

The words above come from the website of the Circe Institute.  If you came to our Classical Education Parent Night earlier this month, you met Andrew Kern (the head of the Circe Institute).  Mr. Kern was impressed that we were teaching our students about truth, beauty, and goodness.  One of the basic tenets of true classical education is the fact there are truths in this world and we are to teach them to our students.  Truths do not need to be deep, philosophical things.  Something as simple as 2 + 2= 4 is a truth.  It is universally recognized and we teach it to students.  Truths take many forms and can be communicated to children in a multitude of ways.  The most important part of teaching truths is that we show students there are truths in this world, things to be accepted without doubt or hesitation. We will continue through our curriculum to teach those truths to our students.

The October pillar ticket drawing took place on Friday.  The winners are able to choose a Lower School teacher to have lunch with in the next couple of weeks.  I will check in with the winners on Monday to get their choices and arrange the lunches. The winners are:

Nissa F.- 1^st Grade

Sonja O.- 3^rd Grade

Adam B.- 4^th Grade

Andrew M- 4^th Grade

Ayayo O.- 4^th Grade

Aquila, the eagle is residing in Ms. Rickard’s classroom this week.  Her entire class earned Aquila by working together as good citizens.

October is fire safety and prevention month.  The kindergarten students learned more about fire safety when they had a visit from the Eden Prairie Fire Department on Friday.  Firefighter Bill and Firefighter Chuck educated the students on how to stay safe if there would be a fire at their home and showed them the equipment a firefighter wears to fight those house fires.  At the conclusion of their presentation, the students were able to go outside and see one of the Eden Prairie fire trucks.  A few pictures of the visit are below. 

Lower School picture retakes are next Wednesday (10/30).  

Students are allowed to wear Halloween socks or ties on Thursday, October 31^st.  There will be no Halloween celebrations at Eagle Ridge Academy.

There is no school on Friday, November 1st.  

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Baier

Showing Excellence

We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

~Aristotle

The above quote is the Eagle Ridge Academy faculty quote of the school year.  You may have seen it on our staff t-shirts for 2013-14.  We are striving for excellence in all that we do, and teach the students at Eagle Ridge Academy the same.  The definition of excellence shared with the students is to always do your best. Many grade levels have walls of excellence in the hallway for student work.  Students who are recognized for excellence in their work and behavior develop more confidence in themselves.  Students are taught they can show excellence in everything they do, whether it is at school or at home.  Please help encourage excellence at home to help make the connection with students.

Mr. Anderson has graced our Lower School Office with some wonderful student artwork.  He plans to continue to do this throughout the year, so be sure to take a moment to see what is displayed when you visit our office.  This month we have pictures from some of our kindergarten artists.  If you are unable to visit, please check out the pictures below.

The second graders read the book A Bad Case of the Stripes.  After reading that book they were charged with writing about their own embarrassing moments.  These are displayed in the hallway around the second grade classrooms.  These colorful recollections will surely catch your eye, as you walk through the hallway.  

The kindergarteners have been studying pumpkins.  They participated in a hands-on science activity where they explored the inside and outside of a pumpkin in groups.  Below are some pictures from some of their explorations.  They also have worked to learn the different parts of a pumpkin.  Mrs. Mills’ class has some of their work with pumpkins hanging in the hallway.

The fourth grade students took a field trip to Target Field last week.  While they might have been hoping to catch a Twins game, they instead were treated to a behind the scenes tour of the stadium.  This tour was designed to teach the students about sustainability and environmental stewardship.  Target Field is the highest-ranked LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified major league ballpark.  After their tour they were able to sneak in a few moments in the Twins dugout (as evidenced by the pictures below).  

Next week is Parent/Teacher Conferences.  I hope you have all taken the opportunity to sign up for time to meet with your child’s teacher(s).  These face to face interactions are so very important and help develop the team every child needs to learn and succeed. I hope you take advantage of the time to speak with your child's teacher and share some wonderful insights.

Have a wonderful fall break.  Blog updates will resume the week of October 21^st.

Mrs. Baier