Reflection, Preparation and Celebration

This past week has been a busy one in the middle school!  There have been a flurry of activities and full calendar's worth of weather, well, almost!  Here's a look into a few things I've had the opportunity to do with the students.

REFLECTION
I met with the 7th grade students recently to reflect on their first experience with final exams.  We talked in large groups about the measures they took to prepare for finals and then had some think time to determine how successful those efforts were.  From there the students helped to create a document they can access with finals tips and advice for spring semester.  I also plan to share this document with the class of 2021 as they approach their first set of finals.  You can find the document here: Class of 2020 Finals Tips and Advice

PREPARATION
On Monday I had the pleasure of joining the students in Mr. Guthrie's math classes.  Together we created individual portfolios on www.missouriconnections.org.  Students took the Interest Profiler and compared these results to a paper/pencil questionnaire we did in November.  With the upcoming 8th Grade Shadow Day in March, the goal of this activity was to provide students with more information regarding the variety of careers that make up our workforce and to encourage them to learn about options they may have never considered or heard of.  Having a math teacher in the room, and information about salary and cost of living on the website, we often found ourselves in intriguing conversations about money, percentages, comparisons between cities, etc.  Students who do not have Mr Guthrie for math or who were absent have been working me in small groups or individually to complete this activity as well.

CELEBRATION
During yesterday's assembly 18 kids helped me announce to our student body and staff that we have successfully raised the $5,000 needed to fulfill Haley's wish!!!!  What an amazing accomplishment!  And in fact, we have OVER $5,000.  For the Make-A-Wish organization to grant a full wish, it actually takes about $10,000.  So any extra we raise still goes to Haley's trip to swim with the dolphins.  The Upper School Student Government met with some of our students to learn about our Bows and Bowties campaign.  Currently Bows and Bowties are on sale in the Upper School.  On February 19 at 7:00 Pembroke Hill will host the "Bow-sket Ball Game" when the Varsity basketball team plays Barstow here at PHS.  Students from the Ward Parkway Campus will be in attendance wearing their bows, bowties, and/or sweatshirts.  Haley and her family will be our guests of honor that evening as well!  I'm currently looking for students who would like to assist in planning a send off party here in the middle school for Haley!

And in case you didn't make it in the building this week, I just had to share the plethora of campaign posters that decorated the hallways!  What courageous and inspiring students we have!  It's always fun to hear their determination to bring in new ice cream flavors and food trucks :)

Goal Setting Here We Come!

As you know, our students receive quarterly grade cards in the middle school.  The grade card is a touch point about the student's academic progress.  The grade card is a source of feedback for our students and can be a very effective tool when our students know how to use it.  Recently in Advisory we have worked to improve our students' ability to read their grade cards and use them as a way to propel themselves forward in their growth as a scholar.

We began our first week back from Winter Break by asking students to predict what their grades would be, as well as what types of comments their teachers would include.  Then you may have noticed that students were emailed their grade cards last week after they were sent to parents.  This was done so students could examine them in their advisories.  Students were asked to reflect on their grade card by answering the following questions:

1. How did my predictions match up to my actual grade card?
2. What positive comments did I receive?
3. What were some areas suggested for me to work on improving?
4. How does the feedback on my grade card match with the student I strive to be?
5. In what ways did the feedback on my grade card surprise me?

Now we will return to our Character Self-Assessments completed in the fall.  Students will reflect on their school year thus far in terms of our 4 values: Respect, Compassion, Scholarship and Integrity.  In some areas they may find they have grown, or they may see a drop, perhaps they will even find they are remaining consistent.  We will use these self-reports, as well as their grade card reflections to be thoughtful about setting goals for the remainder of the school year.  We'll spend some time teaching students about how to set a goal and make a plan to see it through.  Together we'll track our progress toward our goals.  Goal setting is a skill and takes practice, but certainly once it is learned it can increase self-confidence and feelings of success.

To support students in some of their personal goals I will be offering 3 small group opportunities this semester.  Please let me know if you are interested in having your child participate.

• Stress Management - will meet on Mondays during Plus Period.  Casual environment to discuss current stressors, how to respond to stress and how to prevent stress from building up too much.  Specific strategies will be shared and students will be encouraged to come up with their own ideas too.
• Focusing on You - this group will examine the pressures that students face, including how to look, what to do, who to be friends with, etc. and talk about ways to calm those pressures and get to the root of figuring out who you are and what is best for you.  Strategies will be shared for having the courage to be true to yourself.  We will meet on Red Week Wednesdays during Plus Period
• Leadership for 6th Grade - I'm looking for students who want to learn about leadership, as well as give me feedback regarding an upcoming summer option for incoming 5th grade students.  This group will talk about working with others, problem solving, what makes a good leader, and understanding your own strengths and skills.  We will meet on Fridays during Plus Period.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions!