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Mr. Dix
Mr. Dix
The Shamrock News class is comprised of approximately 45 eighth-graders. These are students who have exhibited an ability to self-manage their workload throughout the week. Our technology class gives these students an opportunity to create new, relevant content for their peers and their teachers. From creating blogs to making beats on Garageband to developing segments to showcase the talent of our school, these students actively use technology to change the mentality and culture of our school.
Shamrock News Videos
Shamrock News Videos
Shamrock News
Every week, our students create a 15-20 minute episode of the Shamrock News that features information on upcoming events, updates on school projects, and entertaining segments that highlight our readers, math minds, talented students, etc.
We are currently on season 9, and the link to the left is our most recent episode of this season.
200th Episode
At the end of the 2019-2020 school year, we completed our 200th episode, and to commemorate that achievement, we made a 95 minute long movie showcasing the many highlights and successes of our 6 years of Shamrock News.
We look forward to completing the next 200 episodes!
Elevate Music Video
Shamrock News: Elevate (2022-2023 Theme Song)
Our motto at Rowe Middle School this year was Elevate. It's the third time we've done some kind of lifting ourselves up and rising to the challenge theme in the last 6 years, but we definitely needed the reminder over the last 9 months.
Coming back to school wasn't easy for many of our students and staff, but throughout our time together, we've experienced reminders of our capabilities when we remain grounded yet stretch our limbs to the light above.
Thanks to our entire community of kids, families, partners, teachers, admin, counselors, and neighbors. We couldn't have done it without you.
https://fanlink.to/RMSElevate
Level Up (Music Video)
For the past three school years, we’ve introduced a theme to guide our learning and our community building. Two years ago, we all reminded each other that “We Got This!” Last year, we wanted each other to “Rise Up!” This year, keeping with the idea of successful trajectory, we’ve asked each other to “Level Up!”
Sometimes this looks like a student raising their reading score by 100 points. Other times it might look like a student overcoming their fear of public speaking and stepping in front of a classroom to share about a book they love. It could look like a staff member revamping a lesson so that it is more engaging and rigorous for the students in their classroom. It might be improving your free throw percentage, or finally getting those times tables down, or perfecting a recipe, or hitting the notes on your instrument after hours of practice. The goal is for all of us to be a little bit better at the end of the year than we were at the beginning of the year.
To close out each year, the Shamrock News students take our school theme, seek out talented musicians, rappers, singers, and writers throughout our building, and bring said theme to life with a song and music video. This year’s group was particularly talented with students making the music, writing their lyrics, recording the audio, storyboarding the video, filming the shots, and editing the footage.
So join us and take a glimpse at the 2018-2019 Rowe Middle School year as we demonstrate
what it means to us to Level Up!
Rowe Rise Up (Short Film)
At the beginning of the 2017 - 2018 school year, the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) contacted North Clackamas School District and Rowe Middle School about making a video to showcase the changes we made in the last 3 school years at Rowe that have helped alter the school culture and climate.
Rowe Rise Up - created, filmed, and edited by our 8th grade Shamrock News team - is a 30 minute long exploration into our top 10 reasons Wilbur D. Rowe Middle school is rising up.
Rise Up (Music Video)
Throughout the 2017-2018 school year, the people within our community have faced struggles and hardships, but we've also celebrated triumphs and success. During our first assembly all the way back in September, Principal Harris introduced the slogan for the 2017-2018 school year, RISE UP!
That's precisely what we have done for the last 9 months. Today, we release our 6th music video in 5 years for the song "Rise Up" written and performed by students and staff members of Wilbur D. Rowe Middle School.
You can now listen to the song "Rise Up" ft students and staff members from Rowe Middle School on all of your favorite streaming websites (Soundcloud, Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc.). Just click the link below!
We Got This (Music Video)
Back in September of 2016, we began the school year with our “We Got This” assembly. Our principal, Mr. Harris, introduced our new school motto and everybody learned the “We Got This” chant. Since then, it’s been printed on the backs of t-shirts, used as a hashtag on our social media sites, and said by both students and staff daily, in times of trouble and joy. Knowing we wanted to share this message with our community, we decided to do so featuring the faces and voices of the people in our building every day. The end result is a song that shows we come together, we create and empathize, we make mistakes and bounce back, we take care of each other, and, most importantly, we got this.
"We Got This" is available at the Rowe Middle School Bandcamp page as a FREE download!
https://rowems.bandcamp.com/track/we-got-this
You can also stream or download the song on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, and more
Search: Shamrock News - "We Got This"
Teach 100
After releasing the "Capital Letters Rap" last year, the Association of Middle Level Education contacted me about creating a rap song and music video about what it is like to work in a middle school. I wanted to make sure I wrote it from a teacher's perspective, but had the visuals represent parts of the day from a student's eyes, and a staff member's lens. The result is this video. Special thanks to the AMLE for letting us be a part of this, and super huge shout-out to my amazing Shamrock News kids.
Comma Dance
The "Comma Dance" was created by my 2013-2014 group of 6th grade Language Arts and Literacy Workshop students. It focuses on how to properly use commas when writing. Check out the video, songs, and internet love.
The Oregonian - Sixth-graders at Milwaukie's Rowe Middle School look to go viral with a rap video about...commas?!
OPB - Milwaukie Kids Rap 'Fat Beats, Bust a Move in Video "Comma Dance"
Baby Center Blog - Creative Teacher creates "Comma Dance" YouTube hit
Capital Letters Rap
The "Capital Letters Rap" was created by my 2014-2015 class of Literacy Workshop students. Each student picked one of many positions to hold during the creation process. They could be rappers, choreographers, photographers, videographers, set designers, or social media experts. From there, they had a list of tasks they needed to perform in order to get the video filmed properly. Although we did not reach the same amount of notoriety the "Comma Dance" received, I still find this project to be a great success.
Crayon Beats - Mr. Dix - "Capital Letters Rap" (ft AM/PM Classes) Video
Kenosha News - A Capital Idea
Parts of Speech Rap
In June of 2016, my students and I released the video for the "Parts of Speech Rap". Similar to "Capital Letters", the students were either rappers, set-designers, photographers, or videographers. After weeks of planning and a week of shooting, we released this video! Enjoy!
SYFFAL - Mr. Dix and the AM/PM Classes - Parts of Speech Rap
KATU - Milwaukie middle schoolers release rap video for "Parts of Speech"
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