Homework

• Homework in middle school can be a daunting task for many students. The increased amount of work as well as the difficulty of the homework can be burdensome for many. Homework is so very important and should require dedicated time each and every night.

• Homework is intended to be an extension of what we concentrate on in the classroom.

• It is recommended to find a quiet, distraction free place for students to do their homework and/or read. The less distractions, the better.

• Try to set up a scheduled time each night for your child to complete his or her homework.

Classroom Behavior

All students in the middle school are expected to follow the school's code of conduct in and out of the classroom while on campus. The code of conduct can be found in the student's agenda book. Please review the rules as they will be enforced in my classroom as well as all the other classes. Students should be aware of the rules and the consequences given for not adhering to them. My goal is to make a positive learning environment so that ALL students can be engaged and learn without distraction.

Making Discipline Work

By Allen Mendler

How to achieve discipline with dignity in the classroom:

Discipline takes time, you must decide if long-term behavior changes that teach responsibility is your goal rather than short -term quick fixes??

Teachers can help adolescents to learn that they have choices and need to plan their behavior.

Stop doing ineffective things. We need to let go of our common-sense notions when we encounter students who do not respond in “prescribed” fashion. Eg. Affirm the late student about his participation in class and he/she more than likely comes to class on time.

Let Students know you will be fair, but you will not treat everyone the same. Being fair means giving each person what he/she needs, not treating everyone exactly the same.

Rules make sense. Rules are in place to serve the students, and they need to see how a rule benefits them.

Let students see you living by the same code of behavior you expect.

Responsibility is more important than obedience. We must develop discipline techniques that move beyond obedience.

Responsibility means: make the best decision you can with the information you have available.

Lastly, but most importantly, it is important to treat students with dignity.

Discipline techniques must be compatible with helping students maintain or enhance their self-esteem.

Sleep - So Important!!!

Study after study shows that a typical middle school student should get 8-10 hours of sleep a night. 9-10 hours being ideal. The human brain is developing so rapidly at that age, that much sleep is required to allow the human body to develop properly. The more sleep a child gets, the better overall health they will have. Work with your child in setting up a sleep schedule and stick to it! Both parents and children will benefit!!!

Sleep and Behavior in School

Irregular bedtimes lead to behavior problems in kids, study says

by Serena Gordon / HealthDay Reporter

A regular bedtime might guarantee more than a good night's sleep for both kids and their parents -- it turns out that a regular bedtime can make for a better-behaved child, new research suggests.

When 7-year-olds had irregular bedtimes, they were more likely to have behavior problems than their peers with a consistent time for their nightly shut-eye. And, the study also found that the longer a child had been able to go to bed at different times each night, the worse his or her behavior problems were.

"Irregular bedtimes were linked to behavioral difficulties, and these effects appeared to accumulate through early childhood," said the study's lead author, Yvonne Kelly, a professor of lifecourse epidemiology at University College London.

"We also found that the effects appeared to be reversible -- children who changed from not having, to having, regular bedtimes showed improvements in behaviors, and vice versa," she added.

Kelly and her colleagues reviewed data on more than 10,000 7-year-olds who were enrolled in the U.K. Millennium Cohort Study. Details on the children's bedtimes were collected when they were 3, 5 and 7 years old.

At the same time that sleep findings were collected, researchers asked teachers and mothers to rate the children's behaviors. The behavior survey included 25 questions.

Kids with irregular bedtimes had more behavioral problems than did children with regular bedtimes, according to both their teachers and their mothers. The children's mothers rated the children with irregular bedtimes as having slightly more behavior problems than did the teachers.

The longer a child had an irregular bedtime, the greater the behavioral difficulties. On average, a child who had an irregular bedtime at one time-point in the study increased his or her score on the behavioral difficulties scale by about a half-point. If that child had an irregular bedtime at two time-points during the study, the score increased by about 1 point. If the child had an irregular bedtime at all three time-points during the study, the score increased by just over 2 points.

"A half-point corresponds to a 'small' effect. Irregular bedtimes at two ages, and all three ages, corresponded to a 1- and 2-point difference in behavior scores. These effect sizes would have 'moderate' clinical significance," said Kelly when asked if these score differences would make a noticeable difference in a child's behavior.

The good news from the study is that if you switch your child to a regular bedtime from an irregular bedtime schedule, your child's behavior will likely improve. The reverse is also true. If a child with a regular bedtime switches to an irregular one, behavior will likely worsen, the researchers noted.

Kelly said irregular bedtimes could contribute to behavior problems in several ways. "First, switching bedtimes from night to night interferes with circadian rhythms [the body clock] and induces a state akin to jet lag. Second, disrupted sleep interferes with processes to do with brain maturation," she explained.

Dr. Ruby Roy, a pediatrician at La Rabida Children's Hospital in Chicago, agreed that several reasons may contribute to a connection between irregular bedtimes and behavior problems.

"When kids don't have structure and predictability, they have anxiety," Roy said. "Kids naturally want to push boundaries, and when they don't have boundaries, it causes anxiety and acting out. A lack of sleep can also cause behavior problems, and some of these kids may only be going to sleep when they're passing out from exhaustion, which means they won't get enough sleep," she explained.

"Kids probably sleep better with regular bedtimes and when they have established bedtime routines," Roy added.

Kelly concluded: "Getting regular routines around bedtimes appears to be important for children's behavioral development. But, there are lots of other influential factors, too. So we shouldn't get too hung up about children having the same bedtime every single night."

The study was published online Oct. 14 and in the November print issue of the journal Pediatrics.

More information

Here's some advice on bedtime routines from the American Academy of Pediatrics.