News from Alice Deal

On Thursday Explorer Time will feature a guest speaker, our own SRO, Officer Arechiga of the Metropolitan Police Department, to speak with the students about safety and knowing how to engage appropriately with the police when in need of help or if addressed by an officer. Our arts and crafts volunteer, Iyabo Akinadewo, has begun to work with interested students on Mondays and Fridays. We will offer other structured opportunities for the students to explore after supper each day including time in the computer lab to focus on possible career interests.

Asian American LEAD

On Wednesday the Asian American LEAD will meet with interested 7th and 8th grade students to share information about their youth development programs. This will occur during the lunch periods and students will be able to collect a pass from the AALEAD staff upon entering the cafeteria.

The Weekly Bulletin

"Think Globally. Listen Compassionately. Act Inclusively."

Our Mission:

Alice Deal Middle School inspires excellence, curiosity, and compassion through intellectual and social engagement.

Thought for the Week

"We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, will others are bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box."

~Robert Fulghum

Principal's Message...

On Tuesday, we will be hosting many visiting families at Deal's Open House. We are so pleased that so many people are excited about joining our school community. This is a testament to the good work of our teachers, parents, and students. Keep up the good work!

Although the Deal Open House often attracts outside visitors who are interested in the work we do at our school, it is also a great time for Deal parents to come check out what we're studying -- in addition to observing your child's grade, you may want to look at later grades to get an idea of what's to come.

Either way, we are pleased to open our doors to the larger community this week. The best way to learn about our school is to meet our students and teachers and see them in action!

Principal Kim

This week at Deal...

Open House on Tuesday

We will host our first Open House for this school year on Tuesday from 9 am until 2:30 pm. Dr. Kim's presentation will begin at 10 am in the cafeteria. We look forward to having many prospective families visit with us to learn more about the wonderful work our teachers and students are doing.

Geography Awareness Week
Did you know that Geography Awareness Week is November 14-20, 2010? This year's theme is Freshwater. During the week, students will learn how important it is to conserve water since less than 1% of Earth's water is drinkable. Look for upcoming ways that you can protect freshwater and be a water hero.

Volleyball

The semi-final volleyball game is today against Hart MS at 4:30 pm @ Hardy Middle. Volleyball players will have practice on Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

Alice Deal will be hosting the 2010 Middle School Girls Volleyball Championship Game on Wednesday. The consolation game will be at 4:30 pm with the finals starting at 5:30 pm. The final 4 teams are Hart, Hardy, Johnson, and Deal. Good luck to all of the participating teams.

Please join and support us on our road to victory! GO VIKINGS!

Northwest Current Dispatch Reporters
All students scheduled to write upcoming NW Current dispatches -- or any students who would like to do so -- should attend a reporter's meeting after school today from 3:30 until 4 pm in Room C130.

Geoplunge

Geoplunge students, THURSDAY is the day! On Thursday we will travel to the DC Geoplunge competition to compete against 5th and 6th graders from across the district. Team members must attend practice today from 3:30-4:30 pm in E104, Ms. Buerkle's room. You need to pick up your competition permission slips and information.

Music Students After School Help Sessions

The music teachers are offering after-school help sessions for any 6th or 7th grade music students who need assistance with assignments and make-up work. Students may meet in Ms. Henderson's room (CG01) today from 3:30 - 4:30 pm or in Mr. Phelp's room (CG17) on Tuesday at 3:15 pm. Any music student can attend either session.

Drumline Schedule
This week, Drumline will meet today and Wednesday after school from 3:30 - 4:30 in preparation for their upcoming performances.

Afternoon Studio Club

Afternoon Studio Club will meet today in room C224.

Indoor Track Team Interest Meeting

There will be a meeting after school today for all students who are interested in joining the indoor track team. If you plan to try out for the indoor track team, you must attend this meeting. Important information about this year's team will be discussed.

Battle of the Band Practice

The Battle of the Band practice will be today in Mr. Phelps room (CG17).

Deal Garden Club

The Deal Garden Club will be meeting on Tuesday at 3:30 pm in E205. Bring gardening tools.

Deal Step Team

The Deal Step Team has had a tremendous first advisory. They have put together their routine, diligently attended practices and worked towards competition time in the spring! This past Saturday, November 13, they performed at the University of Maryland Black College Expo and did a fantastic job! Wednesday, they will be performing at the volleyball championships here at Deal! Come support the step team and volleyball team! Competition time will be here before you know it and we expect to see everyone.

DC One Cards and CAASS

Beginning WEDNESDAY all students will be required to have a DC 1 card to be scanned when entering the building. Any student who has never had a DC 1 card should see Mr. Simmons to get their free card. Students who have lost their DC 1 card and have not put in a request for replacement with Mr. Simmons should see him on Tuesday at the start of their lunch period. Remember that the replacement cards are $5. Replacement lanyards are $2 each.

Deal Students Invited to Attend a Press Conference

Deal will send a group of students to a press conference introducing the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt to the DC area on Wednesday (9 am - 3 pm). Students will get to see the plug-in electric cars, will see presentations on their benefits, and will be invited to ask questions of the presenters. Students interested in attending should see Mr. Koplowitz at 3:30 in room W104. Spaces for the trip are limited. A list of participating students will be placed in teachers' mailboxes.

UNA VISITA DE WHITNEY PINGER POLLACK
The students of Ms. Cadavid's 7th grade humanities class will be hosting a guest speaker on Wednesday. We are pleased to have Whitney Pinger Pollack joining us to share her experiences as a midwife and working with the Hispanic community of Washington, DC. This is part of our unit, "La Niñez", during which we will learn about childhood and birth as experienced in different countries.

Library Book Club

The library book club will meet Wednesday during all lunch periods. Students are welcome to come to discuss a book of their choice with international settings or themes.

Team Istanbul Academic Tutoring
Team Istanbul Academic Tutoring will take place Wednesday in Room W101 . This is an ideal time for students to get help with their assignments. If you have any questions, please email Teamistanbul6@gmail.com.

Library Closed After School on Thursday

The library will be closed after school on Thursday due to the faculty meeting.

DC Youth Risk Behavior Survey

The Humanities classes listed below will participate in the DC Youth Risk Behavior Survey on Friday. The YRBS has been approved by the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education. The survey is completely voluntary. Humanities teachers will distribute opt-out forms in class today. If you do not want your child to participate, please fill out the opt-out form, mark "no, my child may not take part in this survey," and return it to your child's Humanities teacher no later than Thursday.

period 1 Kinzer and Kirschenbaum
period 2 Buerkle and Wickersham
period 3 Lotts and Simpson
period 4 Geremia and Mostoller
period 5 Kinzer and Lotts
period 6 Wadsworth
period 7 Kirschenbaum and Mostoller

Student and Parent information...

Robotics Team Award
Congratulations to the Deal Robotics Team for winning the "Judges' Award" for overall effort and performance at the FLL regional robotics tournament this past Saturday. The students who participated were Josh Schuster, Patrick Anderson, Thomas McCarren, Stuart Landis, Stewart Lindstrom, Adam Schans, Michael Foose, Anton Hanes, and Akil Mondie.

Team Istanbul and the Embassy Adoption Program
Team Istanbul will be visited by representatives from the Turkish Embassy on Thursday at noon. We will be learning about Istanbul. In preparation for our embassy visit, we will be having a Turkey visual and facts contest to decorate our team bulletin board.

Debate Team

The Deal community is very proud of our debaters for their fine work at last week's competition. The first place team was made up of Ryan Katz, Daniel Katz, and Seamus Joyce Johnson. Ryan was also the 1st place speaker, followed closely by Eva Shapiro, Samira Foster, and Daniel Katz. The next tournament is January 22 and will be held here at Deal. Please feel free to stop by the school that day between 9 am and 3 pm if you'd like to learn more about debate. The topics we will be arguing are:

The use of body scanning machines in airports does more harm than good.

All middle school students must perform community service for promotion.

If you have a friend, family member, or student who is a debater, please share your ideas with them regarding these topics.

The International Cooking Club
Our next session will be on December 2 (7th and 8th graders) If you have any questions, please see Ms. Kinzer, Ms. Simpson-Wayne, or Ms. Wickersham or email Ms. Kinzer at Harlan.Kinzer@dc.gov.

Geography Action! Postcard Contest
Students in grades 6-8 can submit a postcard that incorporates this year's Geographic Awareness Week Theme: Freshwater.

-Art work can be hand drawn or computer generated and must be made on a 4"x 6" index card.
- The postcard's address side must show the student's name, grade, school, teacher's name and teacher's email address.
- All entries become the property of DCGA and will not be returned to the artist.
- All entries must have a Friday, December 10, 2010 postmark.
- All entries should be turned in to your Humanities teacher by December 3 so they can give it to Ms. Kinzer to mail.
- The top three winners will receive a certificate of participation and a gift certificate of participation and a gift certificate toward any item at the National Geographic Gift Shop.
   1st Place- $50 Gift Certificate
   2nd Place- $30 Gift Certificate
   3rd Place- $20 Gift Certificate

Career Awareness Month!
During the next two weeks prior to Career Day on November 23, eighth grade teachers in homeroom will discuss the content of the magazine "American Careers: A Parent Resource Guide" with their students. The magazines will then be taken home. This resource guide clearly explains what student need to know about the world of work, the diverse career opportunities, and multiple educational options.

We will host our annual Career Day on Tuesday, November 23, 2010. We have many exciting activities planned for that day.

Guest speakers will share their career and life experiences with students in the morning during first period and homeroom.
Dress for Success- Students are asked to dress in their best business casual, career wear, or job interview wear on this day to set the tone for the day.
Chat and Chew with Grade Level Counselors- All of the counselors will be available during each lunch period right outside of the cafeteria to provide students with information about Individualized Graduation Plans (IGP), college preparedness, and charting their course for action in a career path of their choice.
Essay Contest- See Ms. White on the first floor by the Welcome Center at dismissal each day to receive the writing prompt and details of the contest.

Thanksgiving Food Drive

Students remember to bring in your non-perishable food donations this week to support Student Council's Thanksgiving Food Drive. Together we can help provide food for local families in need.

Brother 2 Brother Conference
Please turn in your permission slips to Mr. Downing or Mr. Turner. The conference is this Friday. A list of the students who are participating will be placed in teacher's mailboxes.

Boys and Girls Soccer
Please turn all soccer uniforms to Coach Downing.

France Trip Reminder - Monthly Payment Plan Deadline Nov.26
The deadline for travelers to enroll in EF's monthly payment plan is November 26.Please act before this date, if you plan to register and pay in installments.

National Junior Honor Society Information Regarding Community Service

This information is specifically about the 20 hours of community service that are required for potential inductees in 7^th and 8^th grade. Students that are eligible will receive an invitation to apply in March and the induction ceremony will take place in May. An invitation is given to students who have maintained a 3.0 GPA. In addition to the academic requirements for NJHS students must also document proof of community service. If you have questions regarding acceptable community service or need a form to document service please see Ms. Hampton in room W301.

Community service hours:

1. Must be performed through a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

2. May not result in monetary compensation

3. May not be granted during the school day .

4. Must be completed under the supervision of an adult at the agency, group or organization. This on-site supervisor must be identified and is responsible for verifying the student hours and providing on-site supervision for the service activities. The on-site supervisor may not be the student's parent or close relative.

Examples of Unacceptable Activities
There are some activities that may be "nice to do," but will not be counted towards fulfillment of the community service requirement. The following are examples of activities that will not be approved for community service hours.

- Attending a club meeting or event
- Babysitting, performing chores, hair styling and/or braiding, dishwashing or any other activities not performed through a 501(c)(3) organization
- Contributing a donation (i.e. giving food, clothing, money, etc.)
- Performing any activity where a student receives payment
- Spending time coming up with or identifying a community service project
- Taking part in any activities organized by the school as part of school-sponsored activities such as:
- Student government meetings, campaigns or general activities
- Practicing, playing or being a member of a marching band, athletic team, choir, or similar organization
- Practicing for athletics or choir participation
- Clerical or administrative tasks for school

Information and community service documentation forms are available for students. See Ms. Hampton in W 301.

Library Media Center

The Library Media Center looks forward to working with students to maximize their classroom efforts. Students, please be reminded: in order to use the library after school, you must have a permission form on file. We also have a maximum capacity of 35 students; therefore, be prepared with alternative plans in the event that we are full. Thank you. Please sen questions to alicedealLMC@gmail.com

Johns Hopkins CTY 2010 Global Talent Search
Application/registration forms are available in the counselors office for all 6th, 7th and 8th grade students who qualify to participate in the Johns Hopkins University Talent Search Program.

To qualify, students had to score "ADVANCED" in Reading or Math on last year's DC BAS. Please pick up an application from your grade level counselor if you would like to participate in the 2010-2011 Global Talent Search.

Immunizations

All students attending DC Public Schools are required to respond to letters sent home regarding the need for updated vaccinations. All female 6^th graders must bring in an updated HPV shot record or HPV waiver form completed as well as any other outstanding vaccines.

Please bring in your updated immunization records to Nurse Pringle or make an appointment with your health care provider if you have not already done so as soon as possible. If you have any questions please contact Nurse Pringle at 202-939-2009.

Thank you for supporting our efforts to maintain a healthy school environment. Your cooperation is appreciated.

Read Your Way Around the World
The library program is happy to introduce a new reading challenge for the school year. Participating students will read books set in different countries, which the library will track with in a reading passport. Students who complete their passport by reading at least 5 books will earn the right to participate in special activities at the end of the year.

Athletic Department Fundraiser
Please purchase your ESPN The Magazine subscription and support our athletic program. The 2 year subscription is $40. The school keeps $30 and ESPN gets $10. Help our school and give the gift that keeps on giving the whole year round. Sign up with Coach Downing (202) 327-4875 cell or coachdowning@yahoo.com. Make checks payable to: ALICE DEAL (MEMO Team ID# 87885).

Staff information. . .

Monthly Faculty Meeting

Our monthly faculty meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 3:30 in the auditorium.

RECYCLING CLUB NOW ACCEPTS USED BATTERIES

The Recycling Club is now accepting used batteries so that they can be disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner. Please place your used batteries in Mr Winn-Ritzenberg's mailbox.

Hospitality Dues

Faculty and staff are reminded that our school Hospitality Committee invites everyone to join. Your dues of $35 will help us celebrate the good news and support each other through difficult times. Please submit checks payable to Deal MS to your floor captains. Your membership is important.

Deal's Chapter of the Washington Teachers Union
The next chapter meeting will be on Wednesday, December 1 at 3:30 pm in Room E106. If you have any questions see Mr. Geremia.

Deal SCAC Teacher Members
The next teacher SCAC meeting will be on Thursday, December 2 at 3:30 pm in Room E106. If you have any questions see Mr. Geremia.

Lost/Found PE Uniforms
Teachers, if you have any lost PE uniforms please put them in one of the four PE teachers mailboxes. Or if you'd like to kill two birds with one stone, come say hello and drop it off in the PE office.

Food for thought...

Generation Plagiarism?

Copying and pasting from the Web is just like copying from a book. But too many students either don't know that it's cheating-or don't care.

By Trip Gabriel

A freshman at Rhode Island College copied and pasted from a website about homelessness-and didn't think he needed to credit a source in his assignment because the site didn't list an author.

At DePaul University in Chicago, the tip-off to one student's copying was the purple shade of several paragraphs he had lifted from the Web: When confronted by a writing tutor, he was not defensive-he just wanted to know how to change the purple text to black.

And at the University of Maryland, a student said he thought Wikipedia's entries on the Great Depression-unsigned and collectively written-did not need to be credited since they counted, essentially, as "common knowledge."

The problem with those examples, and countless others at high schools and colleges across the country, is that using someone else's words without attribution-even when it's as easy as clicking "copy and paste"-is plagiarism. But many students, so used to the free flow of information online, simply don't grasp that it's a serious misdeed-one that can lead to suspension, expulsion, and a permanent blemish on their academic record.

"In a sense, they don't see what the big deal is," says Donald L. McCabe, a business professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey. "The information is available," he says, so their feeling is "why should I have to recreate it when I can just get it?"

In surveys conducted by McCabe that tracked thousands of college students, 40 percent admitted to plagiarizing a few sentences in written assignments, and 61 percent admitted to cheating on assignments and exams. In a separate survey, 47 percent of high school students admitted to copying and pasting from the Web, with nearly one third saying they didn't consider it cheating.

Alarmed at the rise of digital cheating, many educators, have responded by using sophisticated anti-plagiarism services that, for example, have students submit their work online to be checked against a database of millions of other term papers.

Free for the Taking?

Digital technology makes cheating easier-whether it's texting exam answers to friends, sharing homework online, or downloading ready-made term papers from the Internet. But it may also be redefining how students, who are used to music file-sharing and Wikipedia, understand the concepts of authorship and plagiarism.

Bryson Cwick, an 18-year-old senior at Ripon High School in Ripon, California, says such confusion is common among his classmates. "I think they view the Internet almost like a second opinion" that doesn't need to be attributed, he says.

Teresa Fishman, the director of the Center for Academic Integrity at Clemson University in South Carolina, has reached the same conclusion. "We have a whole generation of students who've grown up with information that just seems to be hanging out there in cyberspace and doesn't seem to have an author," she says. "It's possible to believe this information is just out there for anyone to take."

Sarah Brookover, a senior at Rutgers, has observed many of her classmates liberally copying and pasting without attribution. She works at the campus library and has pondered the differences between researching in the stacks versus online.

When you research on the Internet, she says, "you're not walking into a library, you're not physically holding the article," so it's easier to forget that the ideas don't belong to you. But online, she says, "everything can belong to you really easily."

'No Such Thing As Originality'?

The notion that it's OK to borrow from all this information to mash up a new creative work was tested earlier this year by Helene Hegemann. The German teenager's best-selling novel about Berlin club life turned out to include passages lifted from other authors.

Instead of apologizing, Hegemann insisted, "There's no such thing as originality anyway."

That theory doesn't wash with Sarah Wilensky, a senior at Indiana University, who took aim at Hegemann in a column in her student paper headlined "Generation Plagiarism." She says relaxing plagiarism standards "does not foster creativity, it fosters laziness."

Donald J. Dudley, who oversees the discipline office at the University of California, Davis, would agree. Of the 196 plagiarism cases referred to his office last year, most involved students who intentionally copied-knowing it was wrong.

To address the problem, some colleges are requiring students to complete online tutorials about plagiarism, which at one school cut down plagiarism rates by two thirds. And a majority of U.S. colleges now subscribe to anti-plagiarism services like Turnitin.com, which can instantly search a database of billions of online sources to ferret out plagiarism and cheating.

Andrew Siewert, an English teacher at Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis, Missouri, says the service is useful but won't solve the problem by itself.

"I think the [real] answer is going to be continuous teaching," he says. "We just have to keep talking about plagiarism every year till students get it."

(The New York Times Upfront, Vol. 143, October 25, 2010)

Before & after school activities this week...

Monday AM
Jazz/Concert Band, 7:45 am - RM CG20
Journalism 101, 7:45 am - RM C13

6th Grade Chorus, 7:45 am - RM CG04

Monday PM
Team Manila study hall, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Team Rio study hall, 3:30 - 4:30 pm - RM E104
Afternoon Studio Club, 3:30 pm - RM C224
Step practice, 3:30 - 4:20 pm - RM C222
Gay/Straight Alliance, 3:30 - 4:30 pm - RM W206
Cheerleading practice, 3:30 - 5 pm - Gallery
Geoplunge, 3:30 - 4:30 pm - RM E104
Northwest Current, 3:30 - 4 pm - RM C130
Team Cairo tutoring, 3:30 - 4:15 pm

Organization 101, 3:30 - 4 pm

National History Day Help, 3:30 - 4:30 pm - RM E305

Volleyball semi-final game vs Hart @ Hardy, 4:30 pm

Geoplunge, 3:30 - 4:30 pm, - RM E104

Drumline practice, 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Indoor Track interest meeting, 3:30 pm

Battle of the Band practice, Rm CG17

Boys' Basketball try-outs, 3:30 - 5:30 pm

Tuesday AM
Concert Choir members, 7:45 am - RM CG04
Beginning Band, 7:45 am - RM CG20

Tuesday PM

Real World, Real Relationships, Real Solutions, 3:30-4:30 pm - counselor's office
Team Babylon study hall, 3:30 - 4:30 pm - RM W201
Debate Club meeting, 3:30 pm - RM W305
Ultimate Frisbee Club, 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Ms. Henderson's Spanish tutoring, 3:30 - 4:30 pm, RM C315

Intramural Flag Football, 3:30 - 5 pm

Technology Crew meeting, 3:30 pm

Volleyball practice, 3:30 - 5 pm

Deal Garden club, 3:30 pm - RM E205

Boys' and Girls' Basketball try-outs, 3:30 - 5:30 pm

Wednesday AM
6th Grade Chorus, 7:45 am - RM CG04
Jazz/Concert Band, 7:45 am - RM CG20

Wednesday PM
Real World, Real Relationships, Real Solutions, 3:30-4:30 pm - counselor's office
Middle Eastern Club, 3:30-4:30 pm - RM E307
GLEE, 3:30 - 4:30 pm, RM CG04
Robotics Club, 3:30 - 4:20 pm - RM E301
Team Istanbul Academic Assistance, 3:15 - 4:30 pm - RM W101
Student Council, 3:30 - 4 pm - RM E205
Mathcounts, 3:30 - 4:30 pm - RM E103
Step practice, 3:30 - 4:20 pm - RM C222
Fencing Club, 3:20 - 5 pm, RM W207
Drumline, 3:30 pm - RM CG20
7th/8th Grade Book Group, 3:30 pm - RM C130
Team Cairo math tutoring, 3:30 - 4:15 pm
Team Istanbul academic tutoring, 3:30 pm - W101
Technology Crew, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Intramural Flag Football, 3:30 - 5 pm

Robotics Club, 3:30 - 4:30 pm- RM E301

Technology Crew meeting, 3:30 pm

Volleyball championship game, 4:30 pm

Thursday AM

Concert Choir members, 7:45 am - RM CG04

Jazz Combo, 7:45 am - RM CG20

Thursday PM

Cheerleading practice, 3:30 - 5 pm - Gallery

Geoplunge competition

Boys' and Girls' Basketball try-outs, 3:30 - 5:30 pm

Friday AM
Jazz Combo, 8:00 am - RM CG20
Peer Mediators, 8:00 am - RM N10

Friday PM
Robotics Club, 3:30 - 4:30 pm - RM E301

Boys' and Girls' Basketball try-outs, 3:30 - 5:30 pm