5-19-2017

The kids must be exhausted, because I know the adults are!  Thanks to Melissa and Matt for putting on the awesome musical  performances Thursday afternoon at the assembly, Thursday night at the concert and Friday morning at Evergreen.  I cannot recall a time that both staff and parents came to me with as much frequency to tell me how awesome the performances were.  They also could not have been done without the work of Danielle on the sound board and Mrs. S. (Sophia Johnson's mom) on piano!



Great writers on the power of music.
https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/03/15/writers-on-music/



Thanks to Lyn for arranging the Leonardo DaVinci performance today for the 6th grade.  This dramatic and interactive assembly is the definition of hands on, engaged learning!

Great article on finding the truth and the interdisciplinary approach to teaching critical thinking skills in the classroom.
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/uk/blog/finding-whats-true


Thanks to Jen, Lynette,and Cody for organizing and supervising the 8th grade sports fest at WCHS today.  This fun event lets them compete with each other and other students while making ground with their transition to the high school for next year.

Megan P shared with me this awesome article and Rubric for a students to develop a healthy reading life.
https://threeteacherstalk.com/2017/05/16/rubricks-part-ii-a-follow-up-guest-post-by-julie-swinehart/

Congratulations to the girls track team who actually took first place in the conference meet after Courtney and Keriann realized their were some mathematical errors in the point tabulation at the conference meet.  Also best of luck to our girls soccer team as they prepare to take on Timothy Christian on Saturday in the conference tournament.

Yale launches an archive of 170,000 pictures documenting the Great Depression
http://www.openculture.com/2014/09/yale-launches-an-archive-of-170000-photographs-of-the-great-depression.html
 

Hat's off to Bill and April as their 8th grade students performed their class debates with precision and energy this past week.  These debates are always one of my highlights of the year to observe and judge. Well done!

8 things I know for sure about middle school kids!
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/middle-school-kids/


Thanks to Bill, Megan, Lauren, Colleen, Adrienne, Jessica, Courtney, MJ and Alex for participating in the Pearson My Perspective's training starting today.

No such thing as a "math person".
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/well/family/trying-to-add-up-girls-and-math.html?_r=0

The highlight of my day was getting to teach 10 minutes of Mark's social studies class yesterday when he was solving the Case of the Double Dominos Pizza delivery! I'm so jealous of the student interactions teachers can make everyday as they deliver meaningful content instruction.  I used my time to go over the federal government  rights vs state government rights as listed (or not) in the constitution.  This resulted in many students input, discussion  and laughter as we uncovered the answers together.  Keep up the great job you are doing all day, everyday,  with these students. You are making a difference!



I cannot wait for Barb's retirement party today after school.  I am so thankful for the many years of service and dedication that Barb has shown to the LMC and students of Benjamin Middle School!

Summer Reading List on youth development from the John W. Gardner Center.
https://medium.com/@gardnercenter/youth-development-summer-reading-list-65baffc8b477