Dear HKMS Families,

In my humble opinion, middle school is the most exciting and rewarding time to teach and parent children.  Middle schoolers are growing and developing more than any other point in their life (except birth to three), they are fostering their adult brain, grappling for their independence, making mistakes, and discovering their path.   Which is likely why I've chosen to work in middle school since 1997. While much has changed these past three decades, one thing remains constant, they make mistakes and the adults who care about them have the innate urge to rescue them.  As teachers, we often see a student struggle with a concept, and our desire is to immediately jump in to help explain it in different way, add in other strategies, or telling them exactly what to do to fix the error.  As parents the urge is very much the same.  We jump in to rescue our kids by bringing in their forgotten homework, helping repair a broken friendship, or telling them exactly what to do to fix the error on their essay (or even doing it for them).  In fact, its much easier and quicker to save them then it is to let them struggle through.  What we have to remember is; the struggle is the goal.  When we rescue them, we deny them the opportunity to learn how to overcome the situation themselves.   The more we let them struggle, the more learning that can take place.  As Master Yoda said, "The greatest teacher failure is” (Star Wars, Episode IX).   So, when we feel the need to jump in and rescue, think of the life long skills that we are not allowing to develop.  It won't be long before they are in high school and in a blink-of-an-eye, they're off to college.  Middle school is the perfect time to let them own their learning, especially if that involves these productive struggles. 

This week's newsletter is full of students struggling with and overcoming complex tasks, unique challenges, and of course Halloween! It was a wonderful week and we can't wait to do it again next week! 

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Steve Clapp, Ed.D.

6th grade students in Mr. Bernardi's class spent time learning about how best to work in groups.  One of the foundational skills is to feel connected to your group members and supportive of each other.  After setting group work norms, the students took time getting to know their group members better with this D-ICEbreaker.

In ILA this week, students immersed themselves in Halloween imagery stations and also had some guest story tellers.  7th grade students visited 6th grade ILA classes to read their original spooky stories and challenge 6th graders to pick out figurative language.

Mr. Jockers' grade 8 ILA students have started reading The Giver by Lois Lowry.  They will work in book clubs to pull out themes, examples of figurative language as well as techniques for plot and character development.  

Seventh Grade students in health class are creating and sharing stress toolboxes.  They identified what causes them stress along with coping strategies to lessen those stressors.