I would love to hear from other administrators, teachers, parents, students and anyone else who reads Middle View.  I look forward to hearing your insight!

To say the least, I am very excited for the upcoming school year.  The faculty and staff at my new school are wonderful.  I have had the chance to meet with about 50 teachers individually.  I enjoy spending time with them and getting to know them. 

We are having our first annual Summer Bar-B-Que in a few weeks and we are all looking forward to that as well.  It will be another opportunity for all of us to get together and continue getting to know one another.  It will be fun as all employees and their families are invited.

I will keep you posted as the year progresses!

We used to teach kids how to tell time by looking at the sun.  Now we have a machine (clock) that makes it much, much easier.  Now when teaching kids to tell time, we teach them how to read a watch. 

I thought this was a wonderful point.  Many educators are hesitant to embrace new technologies for the fear of abandoning the traditional way.  I do not think we can afford to block new technologies as this is what our kids will be expected to know in the future.  We did it with watches, so we can do it now!   I am off to a session on teacher conferencing.

My name is America. This is Calvin, Paty, and Alexia. This speech was also written by Lucia.

Calvin:  When I was first asked to do this speech, I was told I needed to know a bit of my family’s history, so I called my mom and asked her what continent we originated from. It turned out we’ve been here for generations. But there are families who are fairly new to this country, all immigrants seeking a better way of life. Many of them have become my close friends over these three years at TMS.

America:  My mother emigrated here from Nayarit, Mexico sixteen years ago. I, however, was born and raised here in Oregon. My mother went back to Mexico when I was four years old and for almost two years, I had the opportunity to meet my grandparents for the first time ever.

Paty:  My dad emigrated here from Nayarit, Mexico twenty-five years ago, leaving a family behind to find a better life. My mother waited five years before joining my father. She left an infant son in the care of my grandmother. It would be five years before they were reunited.

Alexia:  In modern American culture, lots of times different backgrounds are lost. My mother, who emigrated here from South Korea, came to the United States in the 1980’s. She, however, was only able to visit her homeland once more before her death. Being Asian-American is important to me; I can live in modern day culture but always remember my ethnic background.
       

Ours are only a few of many stories behind each unique student here at TMS. In school, we have found a home and have been both accepted and scorned for our cultural backgrounds. Our three years have been a learning experience – an awakening to the vast world that lies ahead. From the moment we set foot on bulldog territory, we gained a new sense of freedom. Over these past three years, we students have made rules, titles, and set standards that go beyond the classroom and the parent handbook. We have strived to earn respect, and identity, and through this, our consciousness has been raised to yet another level. Many begin to find themselves in middle school. However, we also come to have a better understanding of those around us.

While important life lessons are learned from rules like turn in your work on time, listen when the teacher is talking, always come to class prepared, and don’t run in the halls, middle school teaches even deeper, more personal lessons. We’ve come to learn when to hold our tongues and when to speak out, how to treat our friends and those whom we are not so fond of so that we can make it through the day, and how to show the people who we care about that we truly appreciate their friendship. We’ve learned what does and does not make somebody smile, the best things to say when confronted by a bully – if we need say anything at all, and that in the end, the easiest person to be is oneself. Without every up and every down we have ever had at this school, surely none of us would be the people we have become.

To the teachers, we would like to thank each and every one of you who has ever scolded, encouraged, or congratulated us. And as for the students, thank you for making school one hundred times more exciting than textbooks, worksheets, and dull pencils. Whether our families are new to this country, or have been here for generations, Talent Middle School has housed us all. Thank you, TMS, for three years of growth – both academic and otherwise – and for memories that will stay with us much longer than the faded pages of a 2008 yearbook.

Our school has been involved with The Relay For Life for the past three years.  At my previous school we had been involved for the past 6 or 7 years.  I am a true believer in teaching children the importance of giving back to those in need.  It is just the right thing to do. I also have a personal buy in to fighting cancer.  My wonderful mom lost her long battle against this horrible disease this Februrary. 

Our school is holding our Mini-Relay tomorrow afternoon.  It is a scaled down version of the actual Relay.  We participate in that one as well, but this gives all of our kids to participate.  We want them to experience it as well.  Each child is required to get at least $5 in donations to be able to attend.  This may sound like a lot from every kid, but we work with them and give them plenty of time to gather the donations.  Many teachers help support their students and everyone who wants to attend is allowed. 

We decorate our track with purple Relay balloons, informative signs from the ACS and anything else we can find.  We have food and drink tents (we give each child a soda and an ACS cup filled with popcorn (all donated).  This year we will have a dunking booth, snow cone machine and face painting.  We will charge $1 for these.  And yes, I WILL be in the dunking booth!!  Hey, it is to fight cancer!

I encourage any school to look into this type of event.  It teaches kids to give back and care about others in their community.  It helps them grow.  It helps your community.  You will even probably get a nice article in the paper!  It shows your community that your school cares and does wonderful things.  In addition to all of this, it provides donations for a worthy cause.  If this is something you might be interested in, I encourage you to email me or contact the ACS at www. cancer.org. 

At this point I just try to boost the kid's confidence.  I remind them daily of how much they have grown academically this year and now they will have the chance to prove it on paper.  I know most of my teachers will be reviewing the standards over the next few days, but it is impossible to cram at this point.  I think the reviews are a good idea but at this point I think a healthy dose of encouragement and confidence building are most effective.

Here are some of my specific strategies:

Talk up the upcoming test with the students, but be careful not to stress them out!  You can often hear me in the hallways reminding the kids and telling them how ready they are!

Meet with kids individually or in small groups.  This takes some time but it can be done formally or simply by pulling them aside on the way to lunch.  I use this time to talk about their year and how they feel about their academic performance. 

At my school we are going to use incentives for attendance.  I know there is a tremendous amount of debate on the merits of incentives, but it works for us at our school.

Make sure the teachers are preparing the students for the testing "conditions".  We actually do this all year as we feel the more experience they have in testing environments the more comfortable they will be on the big day!

Here are a few of the strategies I use for last minute preparation.  What are you doing at your school?

• Working at the Car Wash!  One year my assistant principal organized a car wash!  Teachers wishing to have their car washed put their keys in an envelope along with the description of the car on the outside.  Over the course of the day, the administration (along with some parent volunteers – and maybe a student or two at times) washed all the cars!  When the car was clean, we tied a helium balloon to the wiper – looked like a used car lot but everyone had a nice clean car by the end of the day!
• Massages -- With the help of a parent who was a massage therapist, we provided neck and shoulder massages for teachers.  The parent enlisted the help of a few colleagues also in the business, and over the course of three days, all teachers were assigned a 10 minute time slot during their prep or lunch period.  Greatly appreciated by all!
• Host a luncheon or breakfast for teachers.   Often times a local restaurant will give a good deal if you tell them what it’s for.
• Give roses with the note “This bud’s for you, for all you do.”  (If you recognize this line from an old TV commercial – you’re getting older!)
• Thanks for the Hand – Put a piece of candy in the fingertips of a disposable glove and fill the rest with popcorn.  Attach a note saying, “Thanks for the hand.”
• Give out boxes of Crackerjacks (or put a BIG bowl in the staff room) along with a note reading “This is a Crackerjack staff!”

Eventually, these celebrations evolved into a week-long event with something special happening every day.  To make this work, we shared the responsibility – for example at my school the administration took one day, the classified staff another, and three student groups – honor society, Leadership club, and the Latino Club - did a day each.  Parent groups are also good to involve.

• Breakfast of Champions – A different group provided a breakfast each morning – cereal and milk, French toast, pancakes, eggs and toast, breakfast casseroles are all idea that are easy and doable.
• Decades – We discovered we had teachers born in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s so we dedicated each day of the week to a different decade.  Memorabilia was brought in, music of the decade was played, and food from the era was served.  Staff began to share memories and we learned a lot more about our colleagues – and gained an appreciation of the different perspectives we brought to the job.
• Around the World - Send your teachers on a “world tour” for the week.  Each day decorate the staff room in the theme and give a little treat from different countries – tropical smoothies from Hawaii, chips and salsa from Mexico, fortune cookies (with appropriate messages) from China, croissants from France, pizza from Italy, tea and crumpets from England, Sushi from Japan, etc.
• Disney Week – We brought a different Disney Character/Movie to life each day.  Biscuits and “Hunny” for Winnie the Pooh, a spaghetti dinner represented Lady and the Tramp, Mad Hatter Tea Party for Alice in Wonderland, Apples for Snow White, etc.
• Road Trip – One year we planned a “road trip” across the country and provided snacks from the stops along the way – Ghirardelli Chocolate from San Francisco, Chips and Salsa from the Southwest, Pralines from New Orleans, Pecan Pie from Georgia, and we ended with a southern style dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and all the trimmings.  We also had a contest to see who could bring in the oldest road map – prize was a small cooler that could be plugged into the car.

How else can we shine the spotlight on middle level education, and not only in March but all year long?  Here are a few ideas to consider:

·    Get the word out that your middle school is doing good things for students.  Develop a few message points you want to share about your school.  Put them on business cards for the staff, on your fax cover sheet, on your website, in parent newsletters, etc. 

·    Develop a brochure “50 Great Things about Our Middle School” and distribute it at registration, open house, conferences, etc.  Give copies to your district office and the local realtors to pass on to those considering moving into your attendance area.

·    Host a breakfast or lunch for your local realtors – give them a tour of the schools and share programs that you are proud of.  They are often the ones asked questions about the schools in the area.

·    Keep your superintendent and board informed of effective middle level practices.  Pass on articles or websites you think would interest them.  Invite district office personnel to attend a middle level conference with you.  Offer to share results of a successful program at a school board meeting – and bring along students to help with the report!  Send board members copies of your school newsletter.

·    Invite a student to join you at a civic club meeting. Help civic organizations feature students at their meetings.  Encourage student performance groups to reach out to community organizations for meeting programs.  

·    Build a relationship with your local media. Find out who is in charge of the education news and ask them how they want you to keep them informed of happenings at your school. 

·    Stay in contact with your state representatives.  Invite them to visit your school to speak with classes during the off session.

·    Spread your message in the form of op-ed articles in your newspapers or in letters or emails written to state representatives.  Make your written communications personal. Facts and figures can be impressive but a story about how those facts impact the students in your school will make a more lasting impression.

This is not a time to be shy or modest!  If we want the general public to understand what quality middle level education is all about, then we need to direct the spotlight on the good things that are happening in countless middle level schools across the country.

Assessment specialist Richard Stiggins says student-led conferencing "… is the biggest breakthrough in communicating about student achievement in the last century.  When students are well prepared over an extended period to tell the story of their own success (or lack thereof), they seem to experience a fundamental shift in their internal sense of responsibility for that success.  The pride in accomplishment that students feel when they have positive story to tell and tell it well can be immensely motivational.  The sense of personal responsibility that they feel when anticipating what it will be like to face the music of having to tell their story of poor achievement can also drive them to productive work." (Phi Delta Kappan, November 1999)

I’ll say upfront that the practice does take time and energy to implement but the payoffs are worth it.  In addition to increasing parent participation, students learn and demonstrate the real life skills of organization, communication, and leadership as well as gain in their ability to be self-reflective and set goals.  Parents who do not speak English feel less threatened with this conference format as their child can present the conference in their native language.

To implement this type of conference requires a collaborative effort among a staff to design a plan that speaks to the needs of their particular school and community – not always easy, but well worth the effort for schools looking to improve their conferencing process and increase parent involvement.  I have been involved in the creation of several resources available to help schools implement this practice.  For NASSP members, an article called Letting Students Take the Lead can be found in the archives of Principal Leadership.  Other resources can be purchased at the National Middle School Association website.

Sometimes the crowd gathers in the school auditorium.  Once again there is excitement in the air and everyone is there to see the hard work of the students.  Hours and hours have been spent rehearsing for the gathering.  The work has been done and the playbills are ready for distribution.  Wow, it is really easy to get families in our schools!

There are many examples where we are successful at bringing the community and families into our schools.  However, we all know the previous examples deal with athletics and the arts.  These are important functions of schools and are worthy programs.  Once the crowd leaves and the administrative staff is ready to head home their thoughts turn to the next evening.  Science Night!  Experiments are planned and there is even a guest speaker from the prestigious university.  The crowd should be huge!

The following evening rolls around and Science Night is set to begin. The anticipated reality then sets in.  There are only a handful of families in attendance.  The same can be seen at School Improvement Council meetings, PTA meetings, Curriculum Nights and the list continues.  Apparently, we have the ability to get families in our school (see first two examples) but it is the rare exception rather than the norm.  How can we increase attendance at ALL of our school events?

Publicize, Publicize, Publicize

If you are having an event at your school, you need to work extra hard in getting the word out.  Simply putting it in a newsletter and on the school marquee is not enough.  Advertise in the local paper. Post it on your school blog (you have one, right?).  Most importantly, reach out to your community!  Go to the places your community goes.  Post a flyer at the local grocery store.  The local restaurants often have community message boards.  What about the dry cleaners?  Everyone has to get their hair done or cut.  I am sure the salon would allow you to post your information.  Local churches?  Gas stations?

Truly Welcome Them In

Many people are intimidated by schools.  We are not always the most welcoming places.  We need to work to change that perception.  If the only time a parent hears from us is when their child is in trouble, why would they want to visit us?  Connect with the community and families often.  We must spread our good news because if we do not, who will?  And of course, a free meal never hurts!

What about the parents who work during the evening?  If a parent works second shift, are we catering to their needs?  If everything is planned for after school, when can they participate?  I do not think we are going to plan anything that starts at midnight, so we need to think of something else.  Why not run the program twice, with the first one mid-morning?  This would only work for certain events, but it is a start.

Engage Them

We work hard to create programs and courses that will engage our students.  We need to focus this same energy on our efforts to bring the community to our schools.  If we are fortunate to get them in the door, we better show them an exciting time!  Some events are more inclined to engage the audience, but we must make every effort to engage them no matter the reason for their visit.  We expect the same from all of our teachers, regardless of the course they teach.

Feedback

Sometimes what we think may be important and exciting does not resonate with our community or families.  We need to know what they think.  Exit slips are an easy way to gather this data.  Once they are there, find out what they liked.  We need to focus on our customers.  This also needs to be done before events are planed as well.  Surveys are an easy way to gauge interest.  These can be sent home with all of the forms that need to be filled out at the beginning of the year.

 While the project is still in the production stage, shortened previews of the films are available to view at www.storiesofus.com and on-line previews of the films will be available at the site during the week of April 7 – 13 (www.storiesofus.com/launch). 

 I share this not only because it’s an exciting new resource for middle level educators but because this past week I finished reading a novel that again drove home the important role leaders must play in stopping the bullying that occurs in our schools.  If you have not read the novel Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, I urge you to do so.  It’s now available in paperback and tells the story of a school shooting.  While it is a piece of fiction, it is well-researched and tells a realistic story of the bullying, harassment, and peer pressure that can be occurring in the lives of today’s students.  It is sobering, horrifying, thought-provoking and should be read by school leaders at all levels.

Fortunately, few leaders will face an incident of the magnitude described in the book, yet bullying continues to happen and can lead to acts of school violence.  Bill Bond, NASSP’s specialist on school safety, is one of the few who have lived through this type of event.  Bill was principal at Heath High School in Paducah, KY when a freshman student shot eight fellow students; three girls died and two others suffered paralyzing injuries.  As he puts it, “it’s not a club you want to join.”  As leaders, we must do all we can do to provide a safe, harrasment-free environment for our students. 

An additional resource for middle level educators opened up this week from the state of California – and it also includes a section on school safety and bullying prevention.  Over the past year, the California Department of Education has been developing a web portal that includes thousands of articles, resources, video-clips of middle school classrooms in action, and more.  Check it out at http://pubs.cde.ca.gov/TCSII/ -- and while designed specifically around the California standards for middle level, it offers a collection of information valuable to middle level leaders from all states. 

Are we doing enough to prepare our future middle schoolers?  

The data are clear.  The implications are clear.  The consequences are clear.  However, I must ask a profound question--are we even listening?  Research shows that early childhood education is vital for children.  If a young child starts out behind educationally it will be tough for them to catch up to their peers.  I know there are a variety of options for pre kindegarten education.  They range from in home experiences to more formal pre-schools.  Which ones are best?  We will save that debate for another time or forum, but are we placing true importance on early childhood education? 

My mother was a pre school teacher for nearly 20 years.  She recently passed away and I have been thinking about her profession.  She had a college education, in the field of education, and always attended different professionl development workshops.  She did a wonderful job with her students who often came back 15 years later to thank her.  She taught children the building blocks they needed for future success.  She worked hard to instill a joy of learning in her kids.  She was a true professional and hero for many, many kids.  However, if you looked at her paycheck, did it match what she was doing?  Were there any curriculum coaches for her to confer with?  What support was there for her?  In spite of this, my mother created positive learning experiences for all of her children.  Her students were well prepared for kindegarten.  Unfortunately, not all of the children out there will be lucky enough to have the chance to have a teacher like my mother was.

I know we talk about the importance of early childhood education.  Some children have excellent learning opportunities in thier own home.  They will be prepared for school, possibly from this alone.  Most of these same children will also attend some type of formal pre-school.  This pre-school may have terrific teachers and a wonderful facility with all of the latest technoogy.  I would be willing to say these children are entering public schools well ahead of the game.  However, as we all know not all children will have these opportunities.

Many children receive little or no experiences in their home that will prepare them for kindegarten.  This is due to several reasons.  Maybe the parents work two jobs and are struggling to survive.  Whatever the case is, the child is suffering.  Some of these children will be placed in a preschool as well.  However, due to cost, their school may not be up to par.  These students are often going to enter kindegarten behind thier peers.  Once behind academically, it is tough to catch up.  We need to do something more to allow ALL children to receive the education they need before entering kindegarten.

Consider the following information that displays the disparities our children are up against:

Number of words heard at home per hour by 1- and 2-year-olds learning to talk:

• low-income child 620
• middle-income child 1,250 
• high-income child 2,150

Number of words heard by age 3:

• low-income child 10 million 
• middle-income child 20 million
• high-income child 30 million

More than 40 families were observed over several years to study how, and how often, parents talk with children. Researchers found a tremendous variety in the amount of words spoken to children in the first three years of life and in the quality of feedback they received. These verbal interactions with adults are major predictors of how prepared children will be to succeed in school.

While family income was highly related to levels of children’s language exposure, the relationship was not absolute. Some middle-income families behaved more like high-income families, preparing their children for higher achievement through vocabulary development and other language skills. Other middle-income families behaved more like low-income families, with a paucity of language exposure for children.

An average child growing up in a low-income family receiving welfare hears one-half to one-third as many spoken words as children in more affluent households. At these rates the low-income child would know about 3,000 words by age 6, while the child of the high-income family would have a vocabulary of 20,000 words. To provide the low-income child with weekly language experience equal to that of a child from a middle-income family, it would require 41 hours per week of out-of-home word exposure as rich as those heard by the most affluent children.

Source: Hart & Risley, 1995. Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experiences of Young Children

As I stated earlier, we all know the importance of early childhood education.  However, can we really be surprised at the woefully unequal distribution of services to our kids?  Most pre-school teachers receive far, far below what they are worth.  At $10 per hour we are asking teachers to give our young children what they need to succeed in life.  Is that fair to the teacher?  On the other hand, pre-schoool can be outragously expensive.  I used to live in Florida and the going rate was anywhere form $225 per week and up per child.  We want better paid preschool teachers but can barely afford the current tuition!  Using the pay scale of pre-school teachers, college proessors should be making about the same as they are.  I know I paid less while earning my bachelors degree than parents do while their youngsters learn their ABC's!

I am not an expert in early childhood education.  However, I know something needs to be done.  We need to pay more attention.  We need to allot more funds to it.  This is tricky since many pre-schools are privately owned, but it needs to be explored.  I know some states offer universal pre-k and I think that is a wonderful start.  But what about 1, 2 and 3 year olds.  I think we spend a tremendous amount of money trying to reform high schools and middle schools, but maybe we need to start earlier.