The Middle Update 1/14/22

In Strong School Cultures, People Articulate the Following CORE Beliefs Through How They Behave:

All Students Can Learn at High Levels

All Students Will Learn Because of What We Do

Students Do Well if They Can

What WE Do Makes the Difference for the Kids in School

Semester 2 starts on Tuesday!  It'll be a B day for 7th and 8th, a B3 day for 6th and A day for 5th.

Resource of the Week

A little different resource this week.  A blog post that I read this past week that I'd love to share.  This is really good stuff for both us, as adults, and to keep in mind in those lessons we try to get across to our students.  Give it a read.

"19 Tiny Habits That Lead to Huge Results" - Nicolas Cole

Monday's Professional Development 

There will be no school for students next Monday (1/17), as we'll be hosting a professional development day.  The meetings that will take place are outlined below:

8:00 am (subject to change slightly) - Dr. Shappell will address the whole staff electronically (Please view the presentation during this time)

9:15 am - PMS Staff Meeting (PMS Cafeteria)

     -We'll meet briefly to outline things that need to be complete at the mid-year point (SLO/PPG, etc)

Data Meetings will take place in the PMS Professional Development Room

12:30 - 1:15 - 5th Grade Team Data Review and RtI planning

1:15 - 2:00 - 6th Grade Team Data Review and RtI planning

2:00 - 2:45 - 7th Grade Team Data Review and RtI planning

2:45 - 3:30 - 8th Grade Team Data Review and RtI planning

There will be time in between for PLC's and grade level teams to meet and complete the things necessary that will be outlined in our staff meeting.  Grading, finishing report card comments, and planning in classrooms will take up the remainder of the time.

Data Review and RtI Planning Meetings

Please note the RtI and Data Review Planning times above.  The meetings will take place in the Middle School PD room.  We'll follow the same process as we did in our late September meetings.  The data has been compiled and is on the spreadsheet titled "2021-2022 PMS Student Data - RTI", which was shared earlier in the year.  There are some notes about some preliminary thoughts about group placement for our kids, but we'll use our time to hash out what the data says and what teachers are seeing to determine the best group fit for our students.  We learned a lot from the first semester, and are eager to improve upon some positive improvements.  

At this time, we'll plan to start our new groups on Monday (1/24) to give us some time to prepare for the new groups.  All core teachers or teachers that execute interventions should attend the meetings for the students and/or grade level(s) you serve.  

Teacher Share!

Mrs. Crawford has been focusing on student reflection this school year, and this is one worth stopping and talking with her more about.  Samples and a note from Anne below:

Here's a selection of answers from our 7th and 8th grade Art Journals this year. I choose a number or responses every few weeks to share with parents. Students get 5 options to answer each week, and reply to one after each class. Questions all tie into our PUMA WAY as well as Art Reporting Standards. Feel free to share any of this student feedback. I can share photos as well, but I'll need to send them from home.

Q: Why is it important to avoid giving up when you're frustrated with a concept you do not understand?

A: Because you could surprise yourself if you keep trying.

A: Because if you don't give up and don't fall down, you can learn from your mistakes and make an even better discovery.

Q: If today were a movie, what would the title be and why?

A: The "Never Give Up' movie. It looked really good and I corrected my mistakes.

Q: Define perseverance. Describe how you've demonstrated perseverance in my class.

A: Perseverance is when you keep going even though it is hard. I demonstrated this by keeping on going with my pottery and centering it even though I feel like giving up.

Q: "It is never too late to be what you might have been."- George Elliot

How can this quote be applied to your week?

A: Don't let others bring you down about your art. We are all different, and our art is too! Let your personality shine, and find the art style that suits you most.

A: This quote tells me to not give up on what you want to be, even if you aren't making progress already. This translates to art because it shows to never give up on your artwork, keep persevering.

A: It applies to my week because it fits the video we watched this week about the artist who came back to art. It also applies to me because I'm trying to do stuff I've previously thought I was bad at art-wise, so I'm trying to be what I could've been a while ago if I really applied myself.

Q: If today were a color, what color would it be and why?

A: Yellow because I feel yellow represents happiness and ideas and today I was full of ideas. At first I had become frustrated because I couldn't think of what to paint until ding! an idea. As I was painting my painting I wanted to add something to make it unique and I'm optimistic about my future art classes :)

Q: What KEY idea did you take from today's lesson?

A: It's ok to fail and try new things. When making art it can be very hard to make things perfect so embrace your mistakes. Mistakes are what you learn from.

A: A KEY idea I took away from today's lesson is that it is okay, and expected, that I will fail at new things (not just watercolor). Trying (and failing sometimes) is how you learn so there is no need to feel ashamed about it.

Another strategy to share from Mrs. Rogness and Mrs. Weckerly

We came across this strategy and created one for use with our upcoming science unit to use as a way to build background knowledge to anchor new learning to as well as encourage curiosity and questioning.  We will use this after our initial model of our force and motion unit.  

We thought it might be a fun and engaging strategy to share with other staff.  

EXPLORE BOARD

Report Cards

Puma Pride - each class should have the 4 Puma Pride standards reported out on for each student.

Comments - For core classes, please provide some specific feedback on each student's performance in your class.  If you have a student for more than one class, you don't need to write more than one comment, unless there is something significant that should be reported out separately for each class.  

Please let me know if you have any questions, but our goal is to provide as much feedback for students and parents as possible on the quarterly report cards.

End of Quarter 2 Timeline

The end of the 2nd quarter is Friday, January 14th.  Grades will be due by Wednesday (1/19) morning.  We'll start printing report cards on Wednesday morning, and start mailing home as soon as we can.  On Friday (1/21) morning, teachers will lead a report card reflection in Homeroom classes, and we'll have tickets ready for the assembly participation again.

Our Student Leadership Group is working on the planning for the 2nd quarter event...more details to come in the following weeks.

Images from the Week (7th graders were excited to get new books this week for their upcoming unit)