College Readiness (Class of 2020)

                                                                                                    

This year, each class on our campus will be adopting a college to represent them.  Since fourth grade studies California history, and my father earned his Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, and Teaching Credential from San Jose State University, we have chosen to be represented by the San Jose State Spartans.  The Spartan athletic teams are in the WAC (Western Athletic Conference), which means that we have a rival university that also plays in the WAC represented by another class on our campus:  Mr. Bess' class chose to be represented by the University of Hawaii Warriors.

Me standing in front of the famous Thornton School of Music on the USC (University of Southern California) campus on September 26, 2009 as the renowned USC marching band passes by on its way to the Memorial Colisseum before the football game between the Trojans and the Washington State Cougars.

Arguably, USC has the best and most famous college marching band in the country.

One of the largest (and oldest) stadiums in the country:  the Los Angeles Coliseum, home of the 1932 and 1984 Olympics, as well as USC Trojan Football.

Me standing in front of University of Oregon's Hayward Field, one of the few track-only stadiums in the country, on June 21, 2010.

A plaque on the University of Oregon campus honoring my idol and inspiration for running track in high school, Steve Prefontaine.

University of Oregon's brand new baseball stadium for its brand new baseball program.

Right outside of Autzen Stadium, home of the top-ranked Oregon Duck football team.

Me standing next to a plaque honoring former Duck and San Diego Charger quarterback Dan Fouts at Oregon's Football Hall of Fame.

The scoreboard from "The Big House," Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, one of the largest football stadiums in the nation, on July 19, 2009.

The front gates to Michigan Stadium.

The Lumberjack mascot in front of the Sky Dome indoor stadium at the Northern Arizona University campus in Flagstaff, Arizona on April 18, 2005.

The Sky Dome, home of Northern Arizona University Lumberjack football and basketball, former 2006 Big Sky Conference regular season champs.

PROMOTING COLLEGE READINESS

How will we promote college readiness in our classrooms?

·        Connect learning explicitly to expectations in college (i.e. writing summaries to demonstrate understanding, explaining mathematical understanding, providing explanations for how I found the answer)

·        Utilizing college vocabulary in each classroom

·        Teachers share information about their college experience and the college(s) they attended

·        Support students with organizational strategies for learning—binders, calendars

·        Support students with “how to highlight” as they read beginning in 2^nd grade

·        Utilize Cornell notes in grades 4-5

·        All 3^rd-5^th grade students participate in setting individual goals and monitoring their progress toward goals.

• Visual schedules posted in all classrooms

 How will we promote college readiness throughout the school?

Wear college shirts/sweatshirts on Thursdays and our adopted college shirt/sweatshirt on Fridays

Post our adopted college banners and pendants in our classrooms

Promote college readiness at Friday Flag

“a-g” course posters in each classroom

College Vocabulary by Grade Level

 Below are words that each grade level will use in their classroom to promote college readiness for all.  Please work with your team to continuously expose students to the college vocabulary within your grade’s column, as well as the grades before you.

Some of the colleges and universities we have featured and discussed (or will feature and discuss) in Room 21 this year for the CLASS OF 2020 include the following fine institutions:

University of Southern California (USC)  (www.usc.edu)

San Diego State University  (www.sdsu.edu)

UC San Diego  (www.ucsd.edu)

University of San Diego  (www.sandiego.edu)

UC Irvine  (www.uci.edu)

Cal State Fullerton  (www.fullerton.edu)

Cal State San Bernardino  (www.csusb.edu)

San Jose State University  (www.sjsu.edu)

Louisiana State University (LSU)  (www.lsu.edu)

University of Oregon  (www.uoregon.edu)

University of Kansas  (www.ku.edu)

Michigan State University  (www.msu.edu)

Duke University  (www.duke.edu)

University of Utah  (www.utah.edu)

Colorado State University  (www.colostate.edu)

New Mexico State University  (www.nmsu.edu)

University of Nevada-Reno  (www.unr.edu)

Harvard University  (www.harvard.edu)

University of Hawaii  (www.uhm.hawaii.edu)

Brian S. Lees
Morning Creek Elementary School
Poway Unified School District
10925 Morning Creek Drive South
San Diego CA 92128
(858)748-4334 (ext. 2121)