Welcome to 7th grade!  

MRS. COOPER’S PHILOSOPHY

There is a fine line between holding children accountable in order to help them become positive, productive citizens in the world, and being rigid and unforgiving of mistakes children are bound to make.  I am a mom and have been a teacher for 28 years.  I’ll always try to support every student based on their needs.  I will also always try to prepare every student for the expectations of school and life. We are an important team- student, their parents or guardians, and me.  

“Failure is a fact of life”-Ainissa Ramirez Making Friends with Failure  I celebrate “failure” in my class for many reasons.  First of all, we learn best from some of our failures or mistakes and I encourage students to analyze ways in which they can learn from mistakes.  I’ll use daily examples (such as learning that a stove is hot by touching it and then never touching it again) or famous examples (such as Thomas Edison and the light bulb).  Secondly, I celebrate taking risks in my class and I encourage students to jump in at times when they are certain to fail.  This is ok!  Think of how many times you, as children or adults or parents, have failed.  It’s how we learn.  Finally, I want to take some of the pressure off of kids to be “perfect”.  No one is perfect.  Anxiety and stress are each killers of learning and fun, which happen to be my two biggest goals of this class.  :) 

A little about Kim Cooper:

I am a life-long resident of Camas-Washougal and I consider myself fortunate to teach in the community I grew up in.  While I was a Washougal Panther in my youth, I've been a Camas Papermaker much longer now.   I've been teaching for 28 years and 26 of those years have been in the Camas School District.  I spent 16 years teaching 6th grade and this is my 10th year teaching 7th grade.  I know it might sound crazy, but I truly love and enjoy working with middle school students.  It is this age which gives me the most joy in watching kids grow and learn and think for themselves.

My son, Carter, is a Washington State Trooper and my daughter, Makenna, is a preschool teacher.  My husband, Brooks, is a former Papermaker (way, way back in the old days) and is currently loving the retired life after serving Camas for 35 years in the Camas-Washougal Fire Department.   My mom and two dogs round out the population at the Cooper Compound.  We are a large, happy group of people!