Monday, September 16, 2013
Martians landed last week at HMS!
Last week Martian’s landed in Leslie Tanner and Dana Stokes’ sixth grade science class. As an introductory lesson to some of the work the will be doing around the 4C’s in their project-based learning Design 2015 curriculum, Leslie and Dana challenged students to communicate with the Martians using nothing but symbols. The students were divided into groups and given forty five minutes to come up with a symbol based message that would welcome the visitors, explain what a school does and what students do while in attendance. Students used the portable white boards, their table tops and the idea paint wall to develop their speeches and then completed a gallery walk at the end of the lesson to determine which speech would be used to greet the aliens. It was so fun to see the students working on this project. They loved the novelty of writing on non-traditional surfaces, and they really got hooked into this activity. They had to work together, think in different ways, and tap into their creative juices to develop a way to send a simple message to someone who has no comprehension of our language or customs. The kids were totally engaged, and Leslie and Dana used this activity to develop some baseline measures of their students proficiency in each of the four C’s. Kids were buzzing about it at lunch and I heard form some parents who told me the kids were raving at home as well. This is a great example of helping students to develop the competencies that they will need for the world of work and college. Great job, Leslie and Dana!
A charitable spin to the magazine drive
Our annual magazine drive fundraiser will begin on Tuesday. Mr. Rene will be back to talk with our kids about the procedures of the drive, the collection dates and the cool things kids can win for helping to support the Henley PATSO. Our PATSO really does some wonderful things for the school with the money they raise—just ask any of our staff members who have an activboard installed in their room or one of the many faculty who have taken advantage of the PATSO professional development grants to travel to a conference. Lots of good comes to our school because of this drive.
We know that what excites our kids most about the drive are the tokens they can win if they reach a certain threshold of magazine sales. This year it includes a Kona Ice Party, a BMX show and a limo lunch. There’s a much more important reason for kids to participate this year, however. Great American, the company that sponsors the magazine sales, has partnered with Save the Children to bring some altruism to the drive. For every student who sells at least one subscription, Great American will donate a chick to needy families in impoverished countries. Can a chick really make a difference for a family? Absolutely. One chick can produce dozens of eggs each year to provide sustenance. Chicks can also produce other chicks for a family, and once a family has three or more, they usually have a viable source of additional income from breeding the chicks or selling their eggs.
Many of our kids at Henley have no comprehension of how some less fortunate people in the world live. This year our magazine drive gives them a chance to learn and to give back in a small way. I hope that all of you can stress the charitable addition to this year’s magazine drive. The more kids we get to participate, the more Save the Children will be able to help some of the world’s neediest families.
We know that what excites our kids most about the drive are the tokens they can win if they reach a certain threshold of magazine sales. This year it includes a Kona Ice Party, a BMX show and a limo lunch. There’s a much more important reason for kids to participate this year, however. Great American, the company that sponsors the magazine sales, has partnered with Save the Children to bring some altruism to the drive. For every student who sells at least one subscription, Great American will donate a chick to needy families in impoverished countries. Can a chick really make a difference for a family? Absolutely. One chick can produce dozens of eggs each year to provide sustenance. Chicks can also produce other chicks for a family, and once a family has three or more, they usually have a viable source of additional income from breeding the chicks or selling their eggs.
Many of our kids at Henley have no comprehension of how some less fortunate people in the world live. This year our magazine drive gives them a chance to learn and to give back in a small way. I hope that all of you can stress the charitable addition to this year’s magazine drive. The more kids we get to participate, the more Save the Children will be able to help some of the world’s neediest families.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Another Loved Lesson
This loved lesson comes form Ms. Johnson, assistant principal.
This week, I got an opportunity to be a guest judge in Mr. Tarrant’s 8th grade Civics class. In both Mr. Rooks’ and Mr. Tarrant’s classes, students were debating the topic of compulsory voting. Each student was assigned a side – either pro or con - and read through a couple of different sources in order to get arguments to support their assigned side. The debate was structured as a face-off with each student required to participate in either the opening argument or rebuttal. Each side lined up facing each other and the center served as a meeting point for whoever was speaking. Opening arguments and rebuttals centered around specific examples of data, the obligation of a citizen, protecting the integrity of our elections, the right to vote, uneducated votes, constitutional rights, etc…This was a great way for all students to engage in higher level thinking and questioning in a structured venue. I ended up siding with the “pros” as I felt they provided more specific details and examples, stronger rebuttals, and followed the debate format more consistently. Both sides were excellent, however. I would say this activity definitely forced students in three of the four C’s – communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. Great job, 8th grade students!
This week, I got an opportunity to be a guest judge in Mr. Tarrant’s 8th grade Civics class. In both Mr. Rooks’ and Mr. Tarrant’s classes, students were debating the topic of compulsory voting. Each student was assigned a side – either pro or con - and read through a couple of different sources in order to get arguments to support their assigned side. The debate was structured as a face-off with each student required to participate in either the opening argument or rebuttal. Each side lined up facing each other and the center served as a meeting point for whoever was speaking. Opening arguments and rebuttals centered around specific examples of data, the obligation of a citizen, protecting the integrity of our elections, the right to vote, uneducated votes, constitutional rights, etc…This was a great way for all students to engage in higher level thinking and questioning in a structured venue. I ended up siding with the “pros” as I felt they provided more specific details and examples, stronger rebuttals, and followed the debate format more consistently. Both sides were excellent, however. I would say this activity definitely forced students in three of the four C’s – communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. Great job, 8th grade students!
Election Season
It’s election season at
Henley! Today marked the kick-off of our 2013-2014 campaign for the Henley Student Council Association. I always admire the students who take the
initiative to run for office. Not only do they have to spend time submitting an application and hours creating campaign
posters and stickers, they all have to stand up in front of their classmates to
give a speech about why they are the strongest candidate for office.
The school was definitely abuzz this morning with posters
going up and stickers being passed out.
The next four days will have students vying for their classmates votes
and discussing their ideas for how they can make Henley a better place. I’ve always believed that the students who
choose to become involved in activities at school—be it SCA, an after-school
sports program, or one of our many enrichment clubs—have a better overall
middle school experience. It’s also
great to see just how many want to get involved. While not everyone will walk away victorious
at the end of the week, everyone who chose to participate will have grown as an
individual and will be a better person because of the experience. Good luck to everyone as campaign week
continues!
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
A lesson I loved
I'm going to try as often as possible to highlight some of the great lessons Ms. Johnson, Mr. Critchfield and I see as we walk through our classrooms at Henley. Here's the first one of the year:
When our staff worked together in preschool week I challenged everyone to think of ways to engage and excite our kids on the first day of school. I saw many teachers rising to this challenge as I visited classes that day, and wanted to point out a great lesson from Mary Beth Kooken and Kathy Verell’s seventh grade science class. Mary Beth and Kathy had their students building their critical thinking and communication skills with their opening day activity. Each student had a picture of an animal hung around their neck and positioned behind their back so that they could not see what it was. Their task was to develop questions that would help them identify what their animal was without ever seeing the picture. This is a really hard task (especially when you have an animal like a bearded dragon to try to identify) but one that the students really got excited about. I saw kids starting to develop deeper level questions that would help them to identify their animal and kids who were highly engaged with their activity. I know that all of those students walked out of class that day excited for what this year will bring. What a great start for our kids—way to go, Mary Beth and Kathy!
When our staff worked together in preschool week I challenged everyone to think of ways to engage and excite our kids on the first day of school. I saw many teachers rising to this challenge as I visited classes that day, and wanted to point out a great lesson from Mary Beth Kooken and Kathy Verell’s seventh grade science class. Mary Beth and Kathy had their students building their critical thinking and communication skills with their opening day activity. Each student had a picture of an animal hung around their neck and positioned behind their back so that they could not see what it was. Their task was to develop questions that would help them identify what their animal was without ever seeing the picture. This is a really hard task (especially when you have an animal like a bearded dragon to try to identify) but one that the students really got excited about. I saw kids starting to develop deeper level questions that would help them to identify their animal and kids who were highly engaged with their activity. I know that all of those students walked out of class that day excited for what this year will bring. What a great start for our kids—way to go, Mary Beth and Kathy!
Welcome to September
It didn’t really feel like the calendar changed this past weekend, did it? Mrs. McLaughlin, the kids and I spent some time each day this past weekend at the pool, and yesterday was just downright hot! I suppose we shouldn’t complain, because it’s been a pretty good summer in terms of heat, and here’s hoping cooler times are just around the corner. Another Labor Day is behind us and we’re back in school. To me, that just feels right this time of year.
September is a really special month in a school. Kids have gotten into their routines and we’re starting the traditions and activities that make our worlds so special. Our first activity period is coming up on Friday, the sixth grade social is two weeks after that and our first whole school dance is the following Friday. SCA elections are next week, then the magazine drive starts and the Friday night lights at WAHS are already blazing. We’ll also hit back-to-school night this month, walk kids through the age old ritual of the school picture (chin up, look to the left and smile!), send out our first interim reports, and discover some great new reads at the book fair. September’s going to be a busy one, no doubt, but to me it’s busy in a good way. There’s just something about the earlier sunsets, the cooler mornings and the first peeks of the colors of fall that remind me that school is starting and that we’ve all got to get back to the jobs we love. Let’s enjoy it while we can because we know it will quickly pass us by (did I mention that Halloween candy is out at Wal-mart…..)
September is a really special month in a school. Kids have gotten into their routines and we’re starting the traditions and activities that make our worlds so special. Our first activity period is coming up on Friday, the sixth grade social is two weeks after that and our first whole school dance is the following Friday. SCA elections are next week, then the magazine drive starts and the Friday night lights at WAHS are already blazing. We’ll also hit back-to-school night this month, walk kids through the age old ritual of the school picture (chin up, look to the left and smile!), send out our first interim reports, and discover some great new reads at the book fair. September’s going to be a busy one, no doubt, but to me it’s busy in a good way. There’s just something about the earlier sunsets, the cooler mornings and the first peeks of the colors of fall that remind me that school is starting and that we’ve all got to get back to the jobs we love. Let’s enjoy it while we can because we know it will quickly pass us by (did I mention that Halloween candy is out at Wal-mart…..)
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