Sunday, October 24, 2021

The Middle Update 10/24/21

All Students Can Learn at High Levels

Students Do Well if They Can

What WE Do Makes the Difference for the Kids in School


One more week in October!  How did that happen?  I love our staff and I love our school.  Let's keep putting our very best forward for our kids everyday!!


Resource of the Week

Middle School is awesome!  That is why I don't understand why many people I tell that I work with Middle School kids say things like, "bless your heart" or "oh...tough age".  In our resource this week I wanted to share an article I came across that we all can relate to...enjoy!

"8 Things I Know For Sure About (Most) Middle School Kids" - Jennifer Gonzalez


Staff Meeting on Wednesday (10/27)

A reminder that we'll meet as a Middle School teaching staff team this Wednesday at 7:15 am.  We'll continue our focus on culture.


Guiding Coalition Meeting Wrap-Up

Big thank you goes out to the members of our Guiding Coalition team that met this past Thursday.  We had a very productive first session and we'll work towards the goal of ensuring our PLC groups are on the right track towards the vision of having a successful Professional Learning Community.


Student Recognition

We have been searching for meaningful ways to recognize our students who are consistently demonstrating excellence.  In a past blog post, I wrote about potential "Student of the Month" efforts that we could do to recognize students.  Mrs. Moe and I have had ongoing conversations around ways to recognize students in an efficient, but effective manner.  I think we have come up with a plan...

On Fridays, we'll send out a Google Form to teachers asking them to submit the name of a student who has been outstanding for them in a specific standard.  Over the course of the following week, we'll recognize these students in the following ways:  picture taken with certificate, positive call home from a Principal, and a recognition note placed in their locker.

We'll send an email each Friday with the form embedded in the email, and ask that teachers write their own name and the name of the student they'd like to recognize.  We will start this next Friday (10/29)


End of Quarter 1 Planning

The end of Quarter 1 is quickly approaching, and is set for Thursday, November 4th.  We'll have a PD Day on Friday, November 5th, where we'll meet as a Middle School team in the morning (8:00), meet in PLC groups, have classroom time, and end with QPR (suicide prevention) training from 2:00-3:30.

Grades will be due by the end of the day on Wednesday (11/10), report cards printed on Thursday (11/11) morning, and mailed home afterwards.  Students will review and reflect on their report card on Friday (11/12) in Homeroom.  They'll then use the Puma Pride results on report cards to put tickets into possible events at our Fall Assembly which will take place on Tuesday (11/23) near the end of the day.

Mr. Schultz & Mrs. Graeve perform at lunch time

If you see the photo above, you can tell that the performance at lunch time on Friday by Mr. Schultz and Mrs. Graeve was awesome, and the kids loved it.  I bring this up in this post, because we are beginning our assembly planning for 11/23.  A few years back, we had a staff performance that brought the house down (baby shark, do do da do do do...)  These types of things are so memorable for our students that if we can put something together again, that would be great...looking for some creativity and leadership from our staff to lead some fun for both the participants and the audience...
  


Staff Shout-Outs

During my bi-weekly meeting rounds and other times, I've asked staff to tell me about a colleague that deserves a "shout-out" or has been really helpful to them.  I've included the responses from this week below.  Thanks to all of your for making up our great team!  If you know feel compelled to share about someone that deserves a "shout-out", you don't have to wait for a Bi-Weekly meeting, you can share any time.

Debbie Jackson - she's been an awesome collaborative partner in the front office
Bonnie Walther - She has been a great neighbor, has been very collaborative about what students on her caseload need from me. She is just fun to be neighbors with.
Katy Milewski - She is my ELA backbone, has taken charge of our PLC and has been a great leader for our PLC team.
Patti Hutchinson - She's done awesome at taking over in the office. She is extremely helpful and it's just nice to have her in that role.
Sara Wagner - As a substitute, she prepared the most extensive, helpful plans for me to follow. She is top notch.


Congratulations to Mr. Frehner and Mrs. Cross on leading the Puma Boy's Cross Country Team to another State Cross Country Meet after their 2nd place finish at Sectionals!


Images from the Week










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The Middle Update 10/24/21

All Students Can Learn at High Levels

Students Do Well if They Can

What WE Do Makes the Difference for the Kids in School


One more week in October!  How did that happen?  I love our staff and I love our school.  Let's keep putting our very best forward for our kids everyday!!


Resource of the Week

Middle School is awesome!  That is why I don't understand why many people I tell that I work with Middle School kids say things like, "bless your heart" or "oh...tough age".  In our resource this week I wanted to share an article I came across that we all can relate to...enjoy!

"8 Things I Know For Sure About (Most) Middle School Kids" - Jennifer Gonzalez


Staff Meeting on Wednesday (10/27)

A reminder that we'll meet as a Middle School teaching staff team this Wednesday at 7:15 am.  We'll continue our focus on culture.


Guiding Coalition Meeting Wrap-Up

Big thank you goes out to the members of our Guiding Coalition team that met this past Thursday.  We had a very productive first session and we'll work towards the goal of ensuring our PLC groups are on the right track towards the vision of having a successful Professional Learning Community.


Student Recognition

We have been searching for meaningful ways to recognize our students who are consistently demonstrating excellence.  In a past blog post, I wrote about potential "Student of the Month" efforts that we could do to recognize students.  Mrs. Moe and I have had ongoing conversations around ways to recognize students in an efficient, but effective manner.  I think we have come up with a plan...

On Fridays, we'll send out a Google Form to teachers asking them to submit the name of a student who has been outstanding for them in a specific standard.  Over the course of the following week, we'll recognize these students in the following ways:  picture taken with certificate, positive call home from a Principal, and a recognition note placed in their locker.

We'll send an email each Friday with the form embedded in the email, and ask that teachers write their own name and the name of the student they'd like to recognize.  We will start this next Friday (10/29)


End of Quarter 1 Planning

The end of Quarter 1 is quickly approaching, and is set for Thursday, November 4th.  We'll have a PD Day on Friday, November 5th, where we'll meet as a Middle School team in the morning (8:00), meet in PLC groups, have classroom time, and end with QPR (suicide prevention) training from 2:00-3:30.

Grades will be due by the end of the day on Wednesday (11/10), report cards printed on Thursday (11/11) morning, and mailed home afterwards.  Students will review and reflect on their report card on Friday (11/12) in Homeroom.  They'll then use the Puma Pride results on report cards to put tickets into possible events at our Fall Assembly which will take place on Tuesday (11/23) near the end of the day.

Mr. Schultz & Mrs. Graeve perform at lunch time

If you see the photo above, you can tell that the performance at lunch time on Friday by Mr. Schultz and Mrs. Graeve was awesome, and the kids loved it.  I bring this up in this post, because we are beginning our assembly planning for 11/23.  A few years back, we had a staff performance that brought the house down (baby shark, do do da do do do...)  These types of things are so memorable for our students that if we can put something together again, that would be great...looking for some creativity and leadership from our staff to lead some fun for both the participants and the audience...
  


Staff Shout-Outs

During my bi-weekly meeting rounds and other times, I've asked staff to tell me about a colleague that deserves a "shout-out" or has been really helpful to them.  I've included the responses from this week below.  Thanks to all of your for making up our great team!  If you know feel compelled to share about someone that deserves a "shout-out", you don't have to wait for a Bi-Weekly meeting, you can share any time.

Debbie Jackson - she's been an awesome collaborative partner in the front office
Bonnie Walther - She has been a great neighbor, has been very collaborative about what students on her caseload need from me. She is just fun to be neighbors with.
Katy Milewski - She is my ELA backbone, has taken charge of our PLC and has been a great leader for our PLC team.
Patti Hutchinson - She's done awesome at taking over in the office. She is extremely helpful and it's just nice to have her in that role.
Sara Wagner - As a substitute, she prepared the most extensive, helpful plans for me to follow. She is top notch.


Congratulations to Mr. Frehner and Mrs. Cross on leading the Puma Boy's Cross Country Team to another State Cross Country Meet after their 2nd place finish at Sectionals!


Images from the Week