I had the opportunity to visit Mr. Lendy's class. He had a "guest" from the past share his experiences traveling west as part of the Westward Expansion Movement, Manifest Destiny, and the Oregon Trail.
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In visiting classrooms, I try to bring a camera as often as possible to capture different moments. Here are some snapshots from visiting art and drama classes. Mr. Gnutek was giving students a demonstration on some drawing tools and techniques. Mrs. Dixon's class was rehearsing short skits.
This week, I was able to catch part of a Cross Country meet held here at South Middle School. It was a beautiful day. I missed the girls running but was able to capture some moments from the two boys' groups competing. Many of our students started training for Cross Country even before the start of the school year. Kudos to all our runners for their hard work and to our coaches for helping to give so many of our students this wonderful experience! This first week of school, we have been teaching and reminding students about the Cardinal Way. South Middle School has three basic expectations for all Cardinals...to be SAFE, RESPECTFUL, and RESPONSIBLE in our actions. Through daily announcements, Homebase lessons, and Cardinal Cash, we have been working to positively reinforce the behaviors we expect to see on an everyday basis in order to make South a welcoming and safe place to be. Here is an example of one of our seventh grade Cardinal Way videos on hallway usage. Hallway Use from Mr. Bing on Vimeo. We have the utmost confidence in our students. In taking time to model and reinforce different expectations, the South staff ensures everyone has a shared understanding of the Cardinal Way.
South uses Cardinal "Cash" tickets as one way to offer positive feedback to students following expectations. We conduct Cardinal Cash raffle drawings each morning as part of our daily announcements. Teachers will regularly send home Good News postcards and phone calls home. CARDS is another reinforcement program teams will use at the close of each quarter to recognize students who consistently demonstrate the characteristics we want to see. Students should continue to follow the Cardinal Way and we will notice! The lunch program is one part of middle school our sixth graders look forward to most when they arrive at South! Our Food Service Team works diligently to provide the students with tasty, healthy, and fun food options. Students use pin numbers to charge lunches. Parents are reminded to use My Mealtime https://www.mymealtime.com/signin.aspx to monitor their child's lunch account and/or make payments. This year, Food Service will only give students one lunch option if their balance is negative.
For the first time, sixth graders sat with their Homebases during the first day(s) of school. Our lunchroom supervisors recommended this approach to alleviate the stress for new students and all students during opening days in terms of deciding where to sit and who to sit with at lunchtime. They wanted to ensure all students would have a spot in the lunchroom. The purpose of Homebase is to introduce a small group of students, who are all on the same grade level team, to help them feel connected to begin the year. Later in the week, students were able to move around the lunchroom and choose their own seats. This was exciting for students because many were able to reconnect with elementary school friends-East and West. At South, we sometimes receive questions about our lunchroom supervisors' routine of giving students a few days to decide their own table groupings and then asking them to stay in these self-selected groupings for a period of time-typically a quarter. The purpose is to avoid students rushing everyday to lunchroom in order to reserve a spot and then having some students experience anxiety everyday as to whether they will have a place to sit and enjoy lunch. Having regular table groupings also gives supervisors a record as to where students are sitting, which is important for everyday reasons but especially during emergency situations. This procedure is something we continue to revisit, however, as we want the lunchroom to be a place and time where students can relax and have fun with one another. If students ever approach a supervisor about moving early, a move will always be accommodated as best as possible. Last year, games were introduced to the lunchroom setting. We will be offering this again, where students can move around to play games with friends after they have finished their meals. August 20th marked the official start date for all District 25 staff. South Middle School had the privilege of hosting the kick-off event that morning. It was wonderful to see everyone to celebrate the start of a new school year. Here are some photos from that morning including our Cardinal Strong staff! Check out this Tweet from our Spanish Teacher, Jenna Hacker, on her thoughts following Opening Days. https://twitter.com/jennahacker/status/502180954300219392 |
AuthorMs. Boston is the new principal of South Middle School in Arlington Heights, Illinois 60005. CategoriesArchives |