7., 9., & 15. "Dear Mr. ___, I just wanted you to know that You are your son's hero."

You are your son’s hero

This we believe (NMSA, 2010).

7* Leaders are committed to and knowledgeable about this age group, educational research, and best practices. Committed Leaders

9* Ongoing professional development reflects best educational practices. Professional Development

15* The school actively involves families in the education of their children. Family Involvement

This we believe (NMSA, 2010) identifies sixteen characteristics that exist in exemplary middle schools. This blog addresses the seventh, ninth, and fifteenth characteristics and is part of the section that addresses leadership and organization, as well as, culture and community.

I had to call a parent yesterday. One of my kids was being disruptive (again) during an exam. I asked him to go to our ICU (Intensive Care Unit). He slammed his computer and took off slamming our classroom door on his way out.

Whoa, my students were shocked. One said, “Man, if I did that at home I wouldn't be able to walk.” Others shook their heads. So I called the parent to let him know that his child had had a bad day and may be angry about events that took place in class. (I also put him on Lunch Detention.)

Today, the boy came to class and worked well. He was a different child. At lunch, I called the parent to let him know his son had had a better day. I received the parent's answering machine and shared the following.

“Good afternoon Mr. ____, I wanted to let you know that  ____ had a better day. I also wanted to tell you that in November, I asked my students to share who their heroes were. We put these names on stars. You are your son’s hero. I thought you would want to know, Mr. ___; you are your son’s hero. (I said it twice.). I hope you all have a nice Christmas.”

I wonder how many times parents hear "bad news" from us and never hear how their child is doing? The more we know about our children, the more likely we are to help them. 

Advice

1)   If you have children who display issues related to behavior problems, read as much as you can about it. I am currently reading a book by Diane Montgomery (2015) called Teaching gifted children with special educational needs: Supporting dual and multiple exceptionality. The chapter that has a lot of information is “Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Difficulties.”

2)   Realize that children who misbehave in your classes may be frustrated, may need attention, may have neurological problems. They need someone who will not give up on them.

3)   Realize that parents of children who misbehave are the most aware of challenges their children face. They, too, need to know that you are in support of their children.

4) If you make contact with a parent, be sure and follow up with how they are doing. Parents want to be informed; they need our support. 

10. & 12. It kind of got out of hand. (:

It kind of got out of hand (:

This we believe (AMLE, 2010).

·        *Organizational structures foster purposeful learning and meaningful relationships. Organizational Structures
          *Every student’s academic and personal development is guided by an adult advocate. Adult Advocate 

This we believe (NMSA, 2010) identifies sixteen characteristics that exist in exemplary middle schools. This blog addresses the tenth and twelfth characteristic and is part of the section that addresses leadership and organization, as well as, culture and community.

I was talking to a teammate who shared that when her students completed their final research paper for the STEAM projects, she decided to have a ceremony in which each one of them one-by-one brought their paper to the front of the room and in ceremonial fashion laid their final product in the basket. The students cheered for each student. The teacher turned the lights off until the student was at the front of the room. While all the hoop-la was going on, the children got louder and louder.

The teacher next door came in to check and see if everyone was all right. The children were disrupting the entire wing of the school.

Oops.

But wasn’t it fun to celebrate!  (: This teacher created a spirit of celebration and advocacy for her students.

Middle schools students are not high school students. They are silly. They want to play. They want to get loud sometimes…. So how do we give them what they need without losing control of them?  Children need to move; they need ways to get their energy out… to stimulate their brains! They need structures in place to stimulate high expectations and advocacy.

Advice

1.     There is always the “silent yell” where students can jump around in their own personal space with no sound.

2.     I have a keyboard in my classroom that has a 'demo' feature. We have started class with a line dance to the demo music. It is a way to bring students into the class and allows them to move around. Different students lead.

3.     Students who want to perform a song, singing or playing their instrument do this at the beginning of class. We then cheer them on.

4.     On Fridays, if students have gotten along well with one another, we spend 30 minutes at the fitness station.

5.     There are videos that allow students to move. Consider letting them spend the first few minutes moving around.

6.     If you are in a ninety-minute class, consider giving them three minutes in the middle of class to move around, stretch, and socialize. I have seen this work very effectively. It allows students a chance to move around and then get back on track.

11. The Dance

11. The Dance

This we believe (NMSA, 2010)

    *The school environment is inviting, safe, inclusive, and supportive of all. School Environment

We had a dance yesterday. It lasted from 3:30 – 5:30. Tickets were sold during lunch and then the last ten minutes of the school day. No tickets were sold at the door.  (One nice thing about an after-school dance is that parents can pick their children up after work.)

School is dismissed at 3:00 and bus riders leave at 3:10. Car riders are dismissed at 3 and it usually takes about 30 minutes to get them loaded. Students heading to the dance lined up in their hallways (sitting down) and were supervised by teachers. Once the car riders and bus riders emptied the grounds, students were dismissed one grade level at a time to enter the cafeteria. Pizza slices, popcorn, sodas, chocolate, and other candy were sold. The dance was in the gym, which is next to the cafeteria. A teacher was the disk jockey (DJ). Lights were off in the gym, and music blasted for two hours.

The nice thing about having the cafeteria next to the gym is that drinks, and candy, pizza, and popcorn stayed in the lunchroom. Two teachers monitored the cafeteria, pre-bussing for two hours. Three of us were in concessions; the DJ was in the gym, and other teachers roamed the gym, monitoring students as they danced, ran around, congregated, and socialized.  I almost think it should be called “social;” but dance is good.

At the end of the dance, students were allowed to go to their lockers and were sifted out one set of doors to make supervision easier.  Teachers and administrators monitored the lockers gently moving students out. They were released to where car riders go and their parents came to get them. The principal and assistant principal were present the entire time and supervised children heading home. We do not have any children who walk to school, so administrators and teachers supervised bus riders until all were picked up.

My students told me that dances were more about drama than dancing. During the dance, my eighth graders were sitting in the cafeteria socializing. I asked if the drama was at a minimum. They smiled and assured me it was. While students were being dismissed, I asked groups if they had a good time. “Yes!” was the overwhelming response.

“Have a nice weekend Ms. Ruppert,” they smiled and floated out of the building. It is so nice to hear happy students heading toward the weekend.

I have witnessed dances across the southeast and I must say that unstructured time to socialize is an excellent tool for bonding. Having a dance as the backdrop allows for movement and conversations.  We must not overlook the need, not desire, but the need to socialize! (:

Advice:

1)   Dances must be planned and need all members of a team or grade level participating. Do not think it is acceptable to bail out of events. Students and teachers need you to be present.

2)   Consider how often dances will take place. I am thinking we will have a total of four dances. The sixth grade teachers planned the first one. The eighth-grade teachers planned the second. The Parent Teacher Association is planning the third, and the seventh-grade teachers are planning the fourth.

3)   We did not ban anyone from our school from the dance.

4)   Be present. Be patient. Enjoy the day with your students. Our main job is to keep our children safe. Supervision is everyone’s responsibility!

3. Bring on the STEAM!!!

3. Bring on the STEAM!!!

This we believe (NMSA, 2010).

*Curriculum is challenging, exploratory, integrative, and relevant. Challenging Curriculum

Our district has encouraged a school-wide push for our students to participate in creating STEAM projects. Our principal charged us to support this district-wide initiative. On one team the language arts teachers worked with her students for four weeks to write research papers for their STEAM projects. In our schools, students could work in teams or individually to come up with a hypothesis, research it, conduct the experiment, post results, and write a summary. We worked on STEAM projects at the end of each day.

In addition to class time, we have thirty minutes built into each day for students to participate in enrichment/remediation, and those who have taken advantage of the time have been engaged. Our English Language Learner teacher worked every day with our ELL students. The library staff set up a table of construction paper and materials so students could create displays of their findings. The school-wide initiative is now a school-wide celebration!!!  Friday, students brought their final products in for presentation.

There was such pride. Five of the groups brought their projects into class. We set them up around the room. Several groups needed a few more pages printed. We were able to help them get that done as well. What I saw was student-generated ideas and student-generated work. Everyone I asked shared how much fun it was to do the project. My students were very proud of their work.

At the end of the day, one of my students was completing his project, burning holes in tinfoil with pencil lead. I sat down with him. He explained to me how he created his “plasma cutter.” He was able to explain to me what it was and how it worked. He shared the website where he found the experiment and said, “I am going to keep going to this website to get ideas for projects.”

Advice

1)   If you have not explored STEAM, I highly recommend you do so. Our STEAM page is http://mcdowell.k12.nc.us/apps/pages/index.jsp?type=d&uREC_ID=343819&pREC_ID=769668

2)   Getting all members of the faculty and staff on board can influence the value of the projects. If you school is going to engage in STEAM, take the leap to participate. Students want to be able to communicate their thinking with adults.

3)   Build time into the regular day for students to work on their projects. If language arts teachers can help students write research papers and math teachers can help students display their data, students will be receiving support from multiple resources.

4)   Our grading of the projects consists of students receiving four 100s for any four classes as part of their nine-weeks grades. The focus is on the process! It has been a great initiative!