Technology for Differentiated Learning, at Old Mill

Two events at Old Mill School will explore progress in differentiating learning via technology:

(1) On Thu 1/9 our friends at the It Takes A Village PTA offer a parent-education event. In “Technology Tools Update” (7:00-8:30pm at Old Mill), Dan Phillips of the Technology Resource Center of Marin will explain:

  • Features of your iPad that make it a great reading and writing tool
  • Apps for beginning to advanced writing tasks
  • Apps for beginning to advanced reading tasks

(2) Then on Mon 2/3 & Tue 2/4, Old Mill will host “Tech Days.” From 8:30-11:50am each day they invite OM parents to come observe how OM teachers foster differentiated learning via technology.

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Introduction to Playwriting

Introduction to Playwriting
Grades 6-7-8, Advance registration required
Dates: four Thursday evenings, Jan 16, 23, 30 and Feb 6, from 7:00-8:00pm
Cost: free
Location: Conference Room, Mill Valley Public Library

Calling all middle school playwrights! Learn the nuts and bolts of playwriting with a Marin Theatre Company professional. Participants will collaborate on a project over 4 weeks. No experience needed!

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Creative Writing Circle with Karen Benke

Creative Writing Circle with Karen Benke
Grades 6-7-8, Advance registration required
Dates: four Tuesday evenings, Jan 28, Feb 25, Mar 25 & Apr 29 from 6:45-7:45pm
Cost: free
Location: Conference Room, Mill Valley Public Library

Are you ready to experiment and explore your wild wonderings and wanderings from the safety of a blank page? Take a break from writing for good grades and ignore the punctuation police – it’s time to let the words flow freely. All that’s required is a notebook, a fast writing pen and a willingness to surprise yourself. Karen will be your guide, providing plentiful prompts and comments when asked. Sharing is completely optional. We’ll close each meeting with a chocolate meditation.

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Hour of Code: An Amazing Night at Old Mill School

A fifth grade Code Coach helps outOld Mill School’s MVGATE “Hour of Code” Night was amazing! 120 Old Mill adults and kids attended (with a waiting list of dozens more), from every grade, K to 5. Attendees loved participating as families in 2-person teams, they were delighted to find kids serving as Code Coaches, and they enjoyed the fun challenge of the coding puzzles. Survey comments have been simply remarkable. You can see all of them, unedited, right here, including “…The best program I’ve seen in my four years in MVSD…”  Children enthralled with a new play and art form.  Fourth & fifth grade Code Coaches elated with their role.  Plus our superb parent volunteers, from professional developers to some true IT gunslingers.  And it was fun!  In addition to parents evaluation comments, here’s a rather mind-boggling statistic:  when asked in our survey afterwards if they would like to see similar follow-up programs for them and their children, 100% of parent respondents chose “Definitely.”  Not “Probably.”  Definitely.  100%.  We’re thrilled.


Summary of survey results Success!


As we conveyed to principals and administrators last week, in addition to continuing with next offerings for Old Mill, we want to offer the Hour of Code-based model to our other schools.  We will be in touch just after New Year’s to do so.

Working through a tricky partThanks again so much to Old Mill principal Kandee Adams and PTA president Karen Meezan for fast decisions and superb execution, to Emily Cookson for great communications help, to our more than 20 volunteer Code Coaches (kids and adults alike!), to Kath Cramer and Elizabeth Leane, and to everyone who participated.  More soon in this MV GATE program.  For more info on the MV GATE Hour of Code program, call 415-388-0184, or drop us an email.

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Autodesk Gallery Guided Tour (and More) 11/13

OrganicCar-May2012MVGATE announces our return to the Autodesk Gallery! Tour #1 will be Wed Nov 13 for grades 6-7-8.  (Tour #2 will follow soon for grades 3-4-5.) The tour gives a remarkable glimpse of the world our kids will live and work and compete in, brought to us with the help of two wonderful MVGATE dads and Marin’s own world-leading software company, founded right here in MV.

Eventbrite - Autodesk Gallery Guided Tour (and More)
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Southern Marin Spelling Bee

Can you spell “aspirin?” “Fracas?” “Parallel?” Well, that’s just Level 1…
…In Level 2 you’ll be faced with “baccalaureate,” “anachronism,” and “eczema.”

Yesterday 25 kids in grades 4-6 competed for the title of spelling champ of southern Marin. Champions from nine schools — Bel Aire, Del Mar, Edna Maguire, Hidden Valley, Mount Tamalpais, Old Mill, Park, Strawberry Point, and Tamalpais Valley– duked it out for two and a half hours on the stage at Old Mill School. Continue reading

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Maker Faire’s Dale Dougherty @ library 11/1

Another wonderful event from our friends at the Mill Valley Public Library:

Why does it matter that we make things ourselves when we can easily let other people do it for us? Dale Dougherty, CEO of Maker Media (Make Magazine and Maker Faire), co-founder of O’Reilly Media, and the man who coined the phrase “Web 2.0,” will tell stories about why people make and how people connect through the common desire to create things.

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Oceanographer for a Day, grades 5-8 (11/10)

Kids in CommandThe Marine Science Sailing Adventure on SF Bay returns Sun Nov 10 for grades 5-8! The Adventure last June was a terrific time, full of science and ecology and seamanship, and an opportunity to make new friends and welcome new kids to MVGATE. Our sold-out cruise was a magnificent day for kids and parents alike.

Eventbrite - Oceanographer for a Day: A Marine Science Sailing Adventure on SF Bay (5-8)

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Oceanographer for a Day, grades K-4 (11/9)

JK141SMLThe Marine Science Sailing Adventure on SF Bay returns Sat Nov 9, this time for younger kids! The Adventure last June was a terrific time, full of science and ecology and seamanship, and an opportunity to make new friends and welcome new kids to MVGATE. Our sold-out cruise was a magnificent day for kids and parents alike. Now it’s your turn!

Eventbrite - Oceanographer for a Day: A Marine Science Sailing Adventure on SF Bay (K-4)

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Pizza and Pages Middle School Book Club (1/21)

Pizza and Pages Middle School Book Club
Grades 6-8 – Advance registration required, registration begins Nov 18
Tuesday Jan 21, 2014 from 6:30-7:30pm
Mill Valley Public Library, 375 Throckmorton Avenue

The seventh meeting of the mighty “Pizza and Pages Book Club” will be Tuesday Jan 21, 2014. Read the award winning futuristic novel The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer and get ready to discuss it with your fellow readers over pizza and dessert.

You can borrow The House of the Scorpion from the library (of course) or buy a copy from The Depot or Amazon.

Register online starting Nov 18 or by calling the Library at 415-389-4292 x4741 to reserve your place.

MVPL-MSBookClub

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