Happy Summer!

Hello All,

     Today is your first official day of summer vacation, and I hope it goes splendidly for you. Get all the time outside in the sun (or rain) as you can, and enjoy every minute of it. Make memories, make friends, and make the most of your next two months!

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

Out Sick…Again

Good morning, Ladies and Germs,

     As I feared, I am out sick again today. I don't appreciate it. If any of you has a cure for irritating viruses of the respiratory system, give it to me, and then go get filthy rich by marketing it. I promise I won't steal the formula; I just want to get back to work.

     Be kind to the substitute today; remember, the rules still apply even when I am not around. I will read over his or her notes carefully when I get back tomorrow. You all have work to do. If you think you are all caught up, check again. If you actually are all caught up, go back and fix some assignments from this quarter to boost your grade. Then help a classmate. You know the drill.

     Thank you for your time and patience. I'll be back.

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

Away Games at Home

Hello,

     Today's Eighth Grade Baseball and Softball games, ostensibly away at SMC, is being held here on our fields. Come out this afternoon at 3:30 and support the boys and girls as they add another victory to Friday's!

I'll see you there!

Mr. DeMaris

Bring your Charger Tomorrow

Hello All,

     I hope your vacation went well, and you had a chance to enjoy the free time and the sunshine. I got three days down in Boston out of the deal, which were fantastic. This was a good time to get out of school and take care of things at home.

     Heading back into school tomorrow, we are beginning state testing on Monday, which is entirely computer based. This means you need to have a fully charged computer. That said, I know some of you have battery problems and some of you have a problem where you don't charge your battery, so bring your charger with you to school. That way, you don't have to worry about running low on power just when you need to finish an answer!

     Don't freak out about the tests, either. This isn't something you can study for, and it isn't something you can improve by worrying about it. The tests simply see where you are right now in skill level compared to your classmates and other eighth graders across the country, and help school organize what classes you take and what we teach you. Do the best you can, and take it seriously. Just don't feel like they are the end of the world.

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

Grades are Posted

Hello,

     All Language Arts grades for Quarter Three, including comments to parents, are posted on Infinite Campus. Many of you did far better than you have in previous quarters, but some of you have slipped behind. Take the opportunity that Quarter Four gives you to bring your grades up as high as they can go before you finish your eighth grade year.

     Quarter Four starts on Monday, April 6—tomorrow. Come to class prepared to do your best. This is a new quarter, with a fresh new gradebook, so take full advantage of it. This is your last chance to show your teachers, parents, and the high school what you are capable of academically. Take advantage of all opportunities to Review and Improve assignments, including time after school. Use the Learning Lab for a quiet place to study and do homework from Tuesday–Thursday, and ask your teachers for help all through the quarter, not just in the last week or two.

     You must be responsible for your own success; we are here to help, but we can not and will not do the work for you. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

Picture Day is On its Way

Hello All,

     Tuesday, April 14, 2015 is Spring Portrait Day here at Bonny Eagle Middle School. Background selection forms are going home today for parents to select the background of their choice. Even if you are not interested in purchasing spring portraits, choose a background and return it to your homeroom teacher as soon as possible, or by April 14 at the latest.

     On April 14, student portraits will be taken, but no money will be paid. Instead, once portraits arrive after vacation, students and parents will have the choice to purchase them. Student bring home portrait packets for review; if you want to keep them, the student brings in money. If not, the student brings back the portraits and returns them to the school.

     Contact the school if you have any questions, and be sure to mark your calendars!

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

Ferry Beach

Hello All,

     Tuesday and Wednesday Dundee Clan will attend The Ecology School at Ferry Beach, down in Saco. Students are to leave cell phones and other electronics behind to take twenty-four hours to simply live together, learn together, and experience an interactive education on ecosystems and the environment. Teachers will have their phones in case of emergencies, and we will be back in time to dismiss on regular buses Wednesday afternoon.

     You can find more information here, at The Ecology School website. http://www.theecologyschool.org/overnight

     Students should bring a change of clothes, basic bedding (or a sleeping bag), dry socks, and basic amenities. The Ecology School provides all meals and houses students and teachers in dorms. As we are taking this trip in March, students should remember to bring warm clothes, including gloves and hats; this is an interactive education, so they will spend much of their time outside.

     Any questions may be directed to Mrs. Davis or a member of Dundee Clan, or you can contact The Ecology School at the number or email address on their contact page. http://www.theecologyschool.org/contact-us

     Bundle up, and remember to bring your sleeping bag.

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

Writing Contest

Hello Students,

     Well, the snow day has messed with our schedule yet again, but this is a great time to remember that the Writing Contest comes to a close very soon. Some of you have submitted a piece or two for me to review; I am spending part of my weekend going over those again, so you can submit more or further edits if you want. If you are at all interested in submitting a piece to this year's writing contest, join the Eighth Grade Contest Google Classroom by going to classroom.google.com and entering this code:

ksc<zero>sof

For some reason, the zero was not differentiating clearly from a letter O, so simply enter a zero where the bracketed label is indicated above. Make sure you are logged in with your Bonny Eagle email address, or we won't be able to see your entry properly.

     Entries are due by Wednesday, February 4, 2015. This means you have all weekend to type, edit, and retype as you desire. I will check my email periodically to offer help and suggestions if needed, and of course you can ask questions during school next week. All the directions for submission are on the Google Classroom, but I can offer help if needed for that, too.

     Finally, remember that this is NOT REQUIRED. I encourage all students with a genuine interest in writing and submitting a piece to do so, but you will not lose any points or any respect for not entering the contest. However, I will gladly use your entry as a sample writing piece and add it to your Quarter Three gradebook as a great piece of writing if you like. It can only help your grade.

     Let me know if you have any questions, and have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

This Week in Preview

Dear Students,

     This week, I will be able to stay after school tentatively on Wednesday; I have meetings on Tuesday and I work in the Learning Lab on Thursday. I will let you know if any of this changes.

     Our work this week will involve discussing the district writing contest, free writing to develop our grammar and spelling skills, and building a greater understanding of Norse Mythology through a combination of reading and listening assignments.

     On Monday, you will discuss the details of the school writing contest; any student may submit a writing assignment that is up to two, single-spaced, size twelve Times New Roman pages. The writing assignments are due by January 30; I will explain the submission process later in the week. Then, you will read silently and write when you are done.

     On Tuesday, you will review the terms for the Norse Mythology quiz taking place on Wednesday. Then, you will free write a minimum of one single-spaced, twelve-point font page, or one handwritten page. This will be graded on the minimum length, grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.

     On Wednesday, you will take the Norse Mythology basics quiz. This quiz is based on the terms written on the board on Friday. You will be allowed one hand-written page (one side) of notes for the quiz, as spelling is required for credit on each answer. After the quiz, you will work on MobyMax.

     On Thursday, you will learn more about Norse mythology, including the story "The Three Gifts, or How Loki Learned to Shut his Mouth." Read quietly and answer the questions that follow. You will be graded on your accuracy, spelling, and grammar.

     On Friday, you will have a Review and Improve day to catch up on missing or low-skill work. Next Friday is the last day of the quarter, so you should take full advantage of this time to fix assignments or hand in back work. If you are currently failing or in danger of failing this quarter, this time is critical to your success.

     Finally, some students will be retaking their NWEA tests this week during their Allied Arts and Tutorial times. If you did not reach the benchmark in Reading or Math in the fall, you will work on that this week. Stay focused, do well, and avoid distracting others.

     Let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

This Week in Preview

Dear Students,

     This week, I will be able to stay after school to help students on Tuesday and Wednesday. If this changes, I will let you know. On Monday I have a staff meeting to attend, on Thursday I have personal plans, and on Friday there is no late bus.

     Our work this week will involve writing a persuasive essay based on your assignment 04-10, having classroom and then clan spelling bees, and transitioning into Norse Mythology.

     On Monday you will spend class writing an essay based on assignment 04-10; this will be the final part of your persuasive unit. This will be due at the end of school on Tuesday, so you can finish writing it during Tutorial on Tuesday.

     On Tuesday you will have a spelling bee, wherein we will pick the top three students from each class.

     On Wednesday you will begin Norse Mythology with an overview of the grisly Creation of the World and the formation of human beings.

     On Thursday you will learn about the major gods and all the Nine Realms on the World Tree. You will have the clan spelling bee during Tutorial on Thursday as well.

     On Friday, you will have a Review and Improve day to catch up on missing or low-skill work. If you do not have work to do, you are wrong.

     Let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

Vote on Yearbook Covers

Hello Students,

     It's time to vote on yearbook covers!  Click on this link to go to the page so you can vote; you must be logged in with your Bonny Eagle email address.

Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

Class Constitution!

Good Afternoon!

     All the students in Clan Dundee have been working hard for the last three weeks.  They are learning to cope with a new grading system, adjusting to a new teacher, and keeping track of their homework assignments.  Today, at long last, marks the completion of their first unit of study.  They studied parts of the US Constitution, and today they officially signed their own Class Constitution, which will now be the law of the land in Language Arts.

     You should be very proud of the work that went into this document.  This is entirely student-created, from the wording of the laws to the content of each Article and Section, which they also chose and organized.  As the year goes on, and some laws need to be revised or removed, the students and I will negotiate amendments.

     Read the Class Constitution below!

Yours Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris


    Dundee clan this year has written their own Constitution! The Constitution is about the rules of our ELA classes. These may include being safe, responsible, and respectful. Some of the rules also may apply for the whole school. The Constitution goes from being silent to having class debates. Yes, school may not be our favorite, but you must participate! Some other things may include asking questions and helping other students getting their work done. This year’s Dundee classes will be respectful, responsible, and safe.

Article I:  Safety

Section 1:
    We will keep all materials to ourselves and avoid distracting others with personal objects. We will sit in our chairs correctly to avoid injury or distraction to others, and when we leave we will quietly push in our chairs to keep the room looking sharp. To avoid damage to our laptops we will at all times keep food and drinks away from our laptops. Students will have the right to eat and drink in class, as long as they obey the laptops rules and don’t cause a distraction. If they break the rules their freedom to eat and drink will be taken away.

Article II:  Fun Learning

 Section 1:   
    To avoid sitting around and listening to lectures, students will have the right to have fun while being taught as long as they earn it. In the classroom, we will promote enjoyable learning by having class-wide activities. During class, we will make time for reading. Depending on how the week went, every Friday we may have the privilege to choose fun activities to do for the class. If we behave, we will be rewarded for our good behavior.

NWEA Testing and the Class Constitution

Hello Everyone!

     Today and tomorrow we will have NWEA testing in Language Arts class.  Some students may finish today, but you will all have the opportunity to finish the test tomorrow in class as well.  There are 43 questions on the test, and you will work on it silently in the classroom.

     This means the final classroom discussion of the Class Constitution will be online, in the form of a vote.  Click here to access the voting form for the line-item vote.  Then, click here to access the grading form for this project.  You must be logged in with your Bonny Eagle email account to vote; consider that the equivalent of your Voter ID.  You will have two options for each law:  yea or nay.  You are not graded on your answer, only on whether or not you vote.  When you are done, click the green "Submit" button at the bottom, and your votes will be added to the class total.

     Voting is open only on Wednesday and Thursday.

     We will start class on Friday by officially signing the Class Constitution, making it the foundation of our government and the law of our classroom.  As of Monday, this means students and the teacher must abide by all laws within that Constitution.

     Vote carefully, and good luck!  Once again, here is the link to the voting form.

     Click here to access the voting form for the line-item vote.

     Click here to access the grading form for this project.

Yours Sincerely,


Mr. DeMaris

Infinite Campus and the Gradebook

Hello Everyone,

     I do not know what it looks like from your end as students and as parents, but right now I am having trouble with the Gradebook form on Infinite Campus.  It is not loading correctly for me, which means I cannot put grades into it.

     Until our wonderful and busy Technology Department can help, I will be keeping grades on my own.  I doubt this will take more than a day or two (everyone is really helpful around here), but if you have any questions about your grades, email me instead.  I will let you know what I have.

     In other news, we had our first assembly today, and it was fantastic.  The kids had a great time, there was plenty of music and games, they were respectful and listened to all the announcements, and when it was finished, we all went outside for the remainder of the afternoon to get some sunshine and enjoy the freedom.

     Have a safe and excellent weekend, and I will see everyone again on Monday!  Remember, if you didn't finish your persuasive essay on rules in class, it's due at the start of class.

Yours Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

A Reminder

Hello Everyone!

     The school year is off to a great start, and I'm happy to report that the Technology Department distributed laptops yesterday.  Students should bring these to school every day, and charge them every night.  We only have so many plugs in the wall, and cords are a tripping hazard.

     I want to remind you all that Monday, September 8 is Picture Day here at BEMS!  Dress appropriately.  Clan Dundee has their pictures taken from 10:15 to 10:45.  Also, next Wednesday, September 10, we have our Back to School Night from 6:30 to 7:30.  This is your chance to meet the teachers and see the classrooms, so come over and visit.

Yours Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

Our First Project

Hello Everyone,

     Our first project this year is to write a Class Constitution, which will embody all the rules and regulations we feel are appropriate for our classroom.  Students will read and analyze the original US Constitution for this project, and will base our Class Constitution on its design and concepts.  This will be our "Code of Cooperation."

     Click here to access and read the rubric for this unit.  All homework, classwork, and the final product will be graded based on this rubric.  The completed Constitution will be a 100 point project grade.

     If this is your first time reading one of my rubrics, I suggest you click here to access and read my handy guide on "How to Read a Rubric."  There is a permanent link in the Links column to the right.

Yours Sincerely,

Mr. DeMaris

Hello!

Andrew DeMaris
Bonny Eagle Middle School
92 Sokokis Trail
Buxton, ME 04093-3059
(207) 929-3833 ext. 167
agdemaris@bonnyeagle.org
demaris8.blogspot.com

August 28, 2014

Dear Parents/Guardians:

My name is Andrew DeMaris, and I have recently accepted the position of English Language Arts teacher with Clan Dundee at Bonny Eagle Middle School.  I am very excited about this opportunity to teach your students, and look forward to meeting and getting to know each and every one of them over the coming school year.  As I am new to the district, I want to introduce myself and let you know a little about me.

I graduated from the University of Maine in 2011 with two degrees, one in Education and one in History.  I completed my Master’s this spring, and last year I worked for the Greenbush School Department, north of Bangor.  I love to read old books, and hope to share my love for good writing and interesting stories with my classes here at Bonny Eagle Middle School.  I got married in August 2011 to my lovely wife Alise, who just took a position as a speech therapist here as well.  She and I live in North Windham.  I have lived in Maine, Connecticut, and Washington state at various points in my life, and after experiences with 1,800-student city schools in my youth and the small town of Greenbush, I enjoy the idea of working with such a close-knit community within the larger district here.

I like to communicate often with parents and students.  I have created a website where I will post updates on classes and activities, including any letters like this that I send out.  You can find all my contact information above, including the school phone number and my email address.  I check email daily, and will gladly return phone calls if you would like to talk.  I will be sending home information on class assignments with students once school starts full-speed; if you have any questions about their coursework or homework, please feel free to contact me.

I am looking forward to a great year!

Sincerely,




Andrew DeMaris