Visions Scholarships - March 1 Deadline Approaching!

January 22, 2014 Graduating seniors are encouraged to apply for Visions' two internal scholarships. Dear Visions Seniors, The Akademos Achieving Beyond Scholarship is open to all seniors graduating in the 2013-2014 school year. The Steve Phelps' American Dream Scholarship is open to graduating seniors who plan to attend community college. Students must be concurrently enrolled or have completed at least one class in community college, and have been gainfully employed at least part time during their enrollment at Visions In Education. Students interested in applying for either scholarship (and learning about other scholarships) can download an application from Visions' e-Handbook at Available Scholarships.  Applications should be submitted no later than March 1, 2014 to: Visions Counseling Department  4800 Manzanita Avenue Carmichael, CA  95608

Physical Fitness Test for 9th Graders

All 9th graders will be taking the physical fitness test this year.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/pf/

How do we do this in Visions? Well, we can handle it in one of three ways:

• You can have your parent or guardian administer the test for you and provide me with the results
• You can join some home school families and teachers who are administering the test (I will provide more info on that option soon.)
• You can have me administer the test during one of our face to face meeting times.

What I would like all ninth graders and their families to do:

1. Read over the test information. 
2. Decide which option for testing (above) they would like to choose. 
3. Let me know their choice asap, by email.

More information about the test:

Information regarding administration of the test is located here.
• This document shows information on how to administer tests. Please pay specific attention to guidelines relating to push-ups and curl-ups. They should be paced for about 3 seconds repetition.




Administration Videos~


• One-Mile Run Video (4:08 min)
• Walk Test Video (3:47 min) For students ages 13 and older and requires a 60 second heart rate. 
• Curl-Up Video (4:54 min)
• Trunk Lift Video (3:37 min)
• Push-Up Video (3:29 min)
• Modified Pull-up Video (3:14 min)
• Flexed-Arm Hang Video (3:20 min)
• Shoulder Stretch Video (3:27 min)
• Back-Saver Sit and Reach Video (4:40 min)
• Pacer Video (6:15 min) This video does not reflect the recent change to the PACER. This test no longer requires height and weight to determine aerobic capacity.
• Skinfold Measurements Video (3:52 min)
• Body Mass Index Video (3:01 min)
• Bioelectric Impedance Analyzer Video (3:42 min)

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 2/10
Office Day

Tuesday
Starbucks - Kirker Pass Road
Morgan - 11:00
Starbucks - Pittsburg

Makayla - 1:00

Karolina - 2:00

Wednesday
Starbucks - Balfour Road
Rey - 12:30
Starbucks - Lone Tree Way
Michelle - 2:00
Allante - 3:30

Thursday
In Home
Nick - 10:30
Pleasant Hill Library
Jude - 12:00
Alona - 1:00
Charis - 2:30

Friday
Office Day

Ms. Bryon Moving

Please remember that I will be unavailable on Thursday and Friday, so try to contact me early this week if you have questions or need help.

I am moving from Livermore to Somerset!

This won't effect you much until the end of the year, as I will continue to serve my current caseload through May. It will be extra important that we keep our scheduled face to face meetings, however, since I will be driving about 2 hours down to meet you, and it will be extremely difficult to reschedule missed meetings.

If you are continuing with Visions for the 2014/2015 school year, you most probably will be assigned a new CT. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact me.  Thank you.

A special thanks to my Benicia students who graciously changed their Thursday meeting schedule to accommodate my move :)

Online Meeting Update

Excellent job on your online meetings so far! Thank you for helping me work out the bugs.

Blackboard Collaborate has proven too "buggy" for us to use consistently. Also, it will not be supported by your new Chromebooks next year. As a result of this, we will continue to use Skype for our online meetings.

If you haven't already done so, please sign up for a Skype account and add me as a contact (tamsen.bryon). When it comes time for your online meeting, just sign into Skype and initiate a call. For privacy, we will not use the video option.

Thanks!

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 2/17
President's Day - No School

Tuesday 2/18
Oakley - Starbucks
Kissa Johnson - 11:00

Jeremiah - 12:30

Alex - 1:30

Wednesday 2/19
Concord - Library
Katie - 12:00
Concord - Starbucks
Brandon - 1:00
Levi - 2:00

Thursday 2/20
Ms. Bryon moving - unavailable

Friday 2/21
Ms. Bryon moving - unavailable

Are you Ready for Your Online Meeting This Week?

Online meetings start this week! Are you prepared?

Right before your meeting: 

• make sure you are signed in to your email account
• have all of your work handy
• get your phone so we have an alternate means of talking if needed
• log into the Blackboard Collaborate Room by clicking on the "Online Meeting Room" link on the right side of the blog page. Follow the directions. 

At least one day before your meeting:

For the first online meeting we will use Blackboard Collaborate. Please make sure you complete the following three steps before your first scheduled online meeting. Try to complete all three at least one full day before our meeting so we can troubleshoot any issues you might have. Let me know if you have any questions.

Before our first scheduled online meeting, please do the following:

Step 1) Check your computer set up for Blackboard Collaborate. Go to the Blackboard Collaborate first time users portal at: http://support.blackboardcollaborate.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=8336&questionID=1473&task=knowledge
Complete steps 1 and 2 check your system configuration and join a test room.

Why Blackboard Collaborate? I have an online Blackboard Collaborate classroom and have five years experience using it to conduct online group and one-one one classes. I use it often for virtual tutoring. The "online meeting room" link on the right side of this page takes you directly to the sign in page for my Blackboard Collaborate classroom, so it is convenient.

Step 1) If you don't already have one, create a Skype account. It is easy and free. Go to www.skype.com and sign up. Once your Skype account is active, add me as a contact. My skype name is tamsen.bryon

Why Skype? Skype is easy and free. It is the preferred method of conducting online meetings for the EDGE academy and it is approved for use by Visions. We can use Skype as a backup if the Blackboard Collaborate room is experiencing technical difficulties.

Step 3) Make sure you have a gmail account so we can use Google Chat and Google Docs if we have any technology issues with the above systems.

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 2/10
Holiday

Tuesday
Online
Morgan - 11:00
Makayla - 1:00
Karolina - 2:00
Christiana - 3:00

Wednesday
Online
Kaylee - 11:00
Rey - 12:30
Michelle - 2:00
Allante - 3:30

Thursday
Online
Nick - 11:00
Jude - 12:00
Alona - 1:00
Charis - 2:30

Friday
Benicia Library
Alana - 11:30
Donovan -  12:30
Sophia - 2:00
Halie - 3:00

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 2/3
Online
Kissa Johnson - 11:00
Starbucks on Balfour
Rey Claude - 1:30

Tuesday - (CAHSEE 10th & 12th only)
Online
Jeremiah - 12:30
Alex - 1:30

Wednesday - (CAHSEE 10th & 12th only)
Online
Katie - 12:00
Brandon - 1:00
Levi - 2:00

Thursday
Online
Alana - 11:30
Donovan - 12:30
Sophia - 2:00
Halie - 3:00

Friday
Office Day
Sophia - 8:15 - Phone
Phone Check-Ins (10:30 to 12:30)
Jude, Alona, Christiana, Michelle, Nick

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 1/27
Ms. Bryon in Sacramento
Jeremiah in Carmichael at 3:15

Tuesday
Concord - Starbucks Kirker Pass Road
Morgan - 11:00
Pittsburg - Starbucks Railroad Avenue
Makayla - 1:00
Karolina - 2:00

Wednesday
Antioch - Starbucks Lone Tree Way
Michelle - 2:00
Allante - 3:30

Thursday
Pleasant Hill Library
Jude - 12:00
Alona - 1:00
Charis - 2:30

Friday
Office Day
Alex - 9:00 - Oakley Starbucks
Alana - 11:30 Online
Allante -  12:30 Online

9 -12 Spring Field Trips

February 26, 2014- Exploratorium

Join us to San Francisco to play with some really cool experiments with light, sound and other forms of energy. We will be taking the train from Downtown Sacramento to the Exploratorium on the Embarcadero in San Francisco. The Train leaves the station at 8:20am (with or without you) and will be back to sacrament around 4:48pm. Students should bring a sweatshirt with them

Launchpad event # 11436

March 21, 2014- Sutter Buttes Hike

Join us on a scenic 3.5 hike through the Sutter Buttes, the world smallest mountain range. We will be exploring the unique geography, flora and fauna of this region. The bus will be leaving the Carmichael Resource Center promptly at 8:30am and will return near 5pm. Students should have comfortable shoes, sunscreen and mosquito repellant

Launchpad event # 11435

May 14, 2014- Donner Summit Hike

Join us on a historical 3.5 hike (all downhill) retracing the steps of native Americans 4000 years ago, the Donner Party, the Transcontinental Railroad and the first transcontinental highway (the Lincoln Highway). The bus will leave the carmichael Resource center promptly at 8:30 am. Lunch will be provided on the hike. Students will be back to the Resource center before 5pm. Students should have comfortable shoes (that may get wet),an extra layer of clothing, a backpack, and a flashlight (if possible). The hike, while downhill is at 7000 feet.

And no, we will not eat the people who can’t finish the trip!

Launchpad event # 11434

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 1/6
Martin Luther King Jr. Day - No School

Tuesday
Oakley Starbucks
Kissa - 11:00
Jeremiah - 12:30
Alex - 1:30

Wednesday
Concord Library - Salvia Street
Katie - 11:30
Concord Starbucks - Port Chicago Hwy
Brandon - 1:00
Levi - 2:00

Thursday
Benicia Public Library
Alana - 11:30
Donovan - 12:30
Sophia - 2:00
Halie - 3:00

Friday
Office Day
Sophia - 8:15 - Phone
Allana - 11:30 - Online
Allante - 12:30 - Online

Online Meetings

We are going to try something new this semester.


While we will still have meetings every two weeks, one will be face to face and one will be online. Our first meeting of the semester will be a face to face meeting during which I will schedule the next online meeting and walk you though getting into the online classroom. (We can also use Skype and or Google chat with Google Docs. My goal is to get everyone familiar and comfortable with using all of these tools.)

Utilizing these online resources will be a great way to increase convenience for meeting scheduling. I also believe that being comfortable using online meeting tools is a valuable skill to have.

We will use LP6 and LP7 as a trial period and see how it goes!

Final Semester Grades

I have finished calculating final semester grades. Please check Launchpad and Engrade to view. If you have ANY questions, or believe that any grade is in error, please contact me TODAY. Thank you!

Tomorrow we start fresh with semester two. Your assignments should be up in Launchpad now, and your ALEKS accounts active. Again, please let me know if you have any questions.

Congratulations on finishing up the first semester and let's get a great start on the new one!

Welcome Back!

I hope you had a wonderful Winter Break! It can be hard to adjust to being "back to school" after two weeks off, but it is time to get back to work :)

Today is the beginning of the last week of semester one. If we do not meet this week, make sure you check your assignment sheet and get all assigned work done by Friday.

Next Monday and Tuesday are teacher work days, so you do not have school. I have posted both the meeting schedule for this week and next below.

If you have any questions, just ask me!

Semester Grades

The end of the Fall semester is looming. It will be here before you know it!

Remember:

• Check grades often. They are typically most up to date immediately following student meetings.
• The last day to submit late work (for a D) is Monday, 1/6. This is the day following Winter Break. If we don't meet this week, make sure you submit your work digitally. Refer to your assignment sheet for what is due.

To check your current grades:

Go to www.engrade.com

Sign in:

User Name: Your Launchpad user name

Password: Your Launchpad user name

If you don't remember your Launchpad user name, or if you are a parent/guardian and don't know your student's Launchpad user name, email me and I can give it to you.
If you have any questions about grades, please let me know!

Happy Holidays!

I won't see many of you until after the New Year. 

Have A Wonderful Winter Break!

When we return on Monday, January 6, we will have one week to wrap up the semester and then on to Semester two.

Check out The Hour of Code

From Sal Khan, the founder of the Khan Academy...

When I first started Khan Academy I managed to pull the website together with some pretty rusty coding skills I had picked up in college. I realize now that I was one of the lucky ones - 90% of students don't get the opportunity to learn any type of computer coding while they're at school.

That's crazy when you consider how much of our lives require technology. This week over 5 million students will participate in the Hour of Code - and try out coding for the first time. Try it out - at the end of the hour, you'll have coded your very own greeting card to send to someone this holiday season.

Check out the Hour of Code

Check out the Hour of Code. If you can type, you can code. Coding may seem a little scary to some, but we’ve made a fun hour of coding that’ll have you building things in a snap.

What is the Hour of Code? Hour of Code is about getting millions of students to try computer science for just one hour during Computer Science Education Week, which starts today. At Khan Academy, we’ve custom made a tutorial for students that requires no prior experience and is good for grades 3 to 12 and beyond - anybody can learn.

The founders of Facebook, Microsoft, and Google all started their journeys with just one line of code. Our kids should all have the chance to create the technology of the future, not just use it. I can't wait to see what everyone makes!

Sal,
Founder of Khan Academy, lover of code

Visions Writing Workshop is coming to Benicia this Spring!

Interested in developing your writing skills? Tired of working on your own? Like to meet other Visions students who like to write?

Visions is offering a Spring Writing Workshop in Benicia this year.

Where: Northgate Christian Church, Benicia

When: Fridays, 9 am to noon (attendance mandatory)

Credits: 5 directed project credits on your transcript (counts as a class!)

For more information see the Visions Word Squad site:

http://wordsquad.blog.viedu.org/info/visions-writing-classes/

How to sign up:

Email me! I will fill out the form for you and add the course to your master agreement for Spring. 

Do it soon, don't delay :)

Next week is Thanksgiving week.
You are free to work over the break if you like; Launchpad will be up and if you have some work to make up, Thanksgiving break is a great time to do it.
I will be working on Monday and Tuesday so feel free to email me if you need to.
I will be unavailable Wednesday - Sunday.

Have a super Thanksgiving!