January 20, 2017

In this post... 

• IB Learner Profile: Balanced
• Finals and the New Semester
• Things To Do in our Community

IB Learner Profile: Balanced

"We understand the importance of balancing different aspects of our lives - intellectual, physical, and emotional - to achieve well-being for ourselves and others. We recognize our interdependence with other people and with the world in which we live."

In the month of January, we have kept the LP attribute Balanced at the fore. At this time of year, maintaining a sense of balance is a particular challenge, especially for students. Dark mornings and short days, the end of the semester and final assessments, and the normal twists and turns of adolescence make for a difficult journey to spring. 

One lesson for maintaining balance comes from an article we touched on in the most recent round of parent coffees, "The Dark Side of Believing in Natural Talent." The authors address the growing body of research that indicates that time and effort are more significant predictors of success than IQ or any notion of "natural" talent. This dovetails with the emerging understanding of a "growth mindset," as coined by Carol Dweck. TED also provides a brief introduction to the notion of "growth" and "fixed" mindsets. The authors of "The Dark Side..." give starting points for engaging in deliberate practice: identify what students should learn based on the skills associated with expertise; engage mental representations and teaching skills once aspect at a time; and give plenty of repetition and feedback. One might even apply this approach in responding to the stress and anxiety that students feel at various times of the year. Shifting attention to the "big picture" and identifying the pieces that can be fixed or changed enable kids to take one step at a time toward completion and success...and a better sense of balance. 

The other aspect of "balance" that is central to the IB's definition is recognition of our interdependence with each other. This is a particularly challenging time to embrace this, particularly when we are conscious of the sometimes stark differences between us. This morning, the Middle School gathered to watch the Presidential Inauguration, and as we began to watch the live stream from the Capitol, I explained why we were watching it. On one hand, this is what it means to be a citizen - actively engaging with civic events and standing witness to the peaceful transition of power every four or eight years. On the other hand, it gave us an opportunity to put aside our differences and focus on the constitutionally-driven institutions that are central to our society. To be a citizen and to attend to these structures does not mean ignoring differences or disagreements, but it does mean establishing a common ground from which to start. After watching the swearing-in of the Vice-President and President and hearing most of the inaugural address, we shared some information about how the District of Columbia handles big events and played a game based on Presidential trivia. By focusing on historical nuggets, we were able to shift the focus away from whatever political divides existed among us and redirect to learning and to focusing on each other. 

Finals and the New Semester

With final assessments finished, we begin Second Semester on Monday. With the new semester, we are tweaking the daily schedule slightly. Mondays will retain the daily schedule that we used during First Semester, and Tuesday-Friday, we are adding 5 minutes to morning Advisory and taking 5 minutes from the mid-morning break. The mid-morning break was intended as a snack and tutorial time, but throughout the term we have recognized students' need for a real mid-morning break, and 15 minutes will suffice for that.

Monday:	Min	Start time	End time	PERIOD	Tuesday-Friday:	Min	Start time	End time	PERIOD
		7:00 AM	8:00 AM	0			7:00 AM	8:00 AM	0
	15	8:00 AM	8:10 AM	Morning Meeting		15	8:00 AM	8:15 AM	Advisory
	50	8:15 AM	9:05 AM	Period 1		50	8:20 AM	9:10 AM	Period 1
	50	9:10 AM	10:00 AM	Period 2		50	9:15 AM	10:05 AM	Period 2
	30	10:00 AM	10:30 AM	All School Chapel		15	10:05 AM	10:20 AM	Snack/Break
	10	10:30 AM	10:40 AM	Snack		30	10:20 AM	10:50 AM	Morning Activities
	10	10:40 AM	10:50 AM	Advisory		50	10:55 AM	11:45 AM	Period 3
	50	10:55 AM	11:45 AM	Period 3		35	11:45 AM	12:20 PM	Lunch
	35	11:45 AM	12:20 PM	Lunch		50	12:25 PM	1:15 PM	Period 4
	50	12:25 PM	1:15 PM	Period 4		50	1:20 PM	2:10 PM	Period 5
	50	1:20 PM	2:10 PM	Period 5		55	2:15 PM	3:10 PM	Athletics
	55	2:15 PM	3:10 PM	Athletics

Things To Do in our Community...

• Looking for ways to explore Tacoma and Seattle? Stay up to date with the events calendar on The Tacoma Weekly and Visit Seattle.

January 13, 2017

In this post... 

• First Semester Final Assessments
• Screenagers
• What We Are Learning...highlights from Arts and Math programs
• Things To Do in our Community

First Semester Final Assessments

Since last week, we've made a few small tweaks to the schedule for First Semester Finals. The full updated schedule can be found here. As I wrote last week, the week includes a mix of final assessments, time to study and connect with teachers, Arts, Design, and PHE. 

Schedule for Final Assessments:

• Tuesday, January 17: 
• Review Day
• Wednesday, January 18: 
• 6th Grade Language & Literature
• 7th Grade Language & Literature
• 8th Grade Science
• 8th Grade Chinese
• Thursday, January 19:
• 6th Grade Individuals & Societies
• 7th Grade Science
• 8th Grade Langauge & Literature
• 7th Grade Chinese
• Friday, January 20: 
• 7th Grade Individuals & Societies
• 6th Grade Chinese

Screenagers

On Monday Jan. 23rd we are screening Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age, for students in grades 4-12 at 8:15am in the Kemper Theater. We will follow the screening with small group discussions in advisories. It is especially important for students to be on time that day.

In the evening, we will hold an additional screening for parents and community members at 6:30pm in the Kemper Theater. We highly encourage everyone to attend to allow for discussions as a family about this important topic. The parent screening will be followed by a Q&A with Angela Heath, AWS Educational Technology Director, and Nikita Midamba from the Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team (SMAHRT) at Seattle Children's Hospital. For more information and registration visit http://www.aw.org/page/community/speaker-series.

What we are learning...

This week, we highlight our Arts and Math programs! 

7th Grade Music students are studying the Baroque period, the compositional device of Counterpoint, and the influences of the Monarchy & Revolution on music making. They selected Bach Minuets to learn and are creating original GarageBand pieces using Counterpoint.

8th Grade Music students are completing their unit on New Orleans Jazz, performing’ The House of the Rising Sun’ and will begin experimenting with Bebop Jazz.

The semester is winding down quickly for students in Visual Arts. In 8th grade they have been in the pottery studio creating pots or masks based on their research of the Art and Culture of Costa Rica. They have also been presenting their research and I am very proud of the depth of their research projects and the questions and conclusions that are being presented. Ask your student what question they asked and what they think about the globalization of cultural art in Costa Rica.

7th Grade Visual Arts students have been working under the SOI of Auditory rhythms can be interpreted, changed and represented visually. They were charged with picking a rhythmic musical composition and then interpreting those rhythms visually. Choice of medium and composition are also used to help enhance the interpretation. Which rhythms did your student find were present in their auditory song? How did they interpret those rhythms?

6th Grade Visual Arts have been working on “imagining a hopeful future”. After surveying community members students used the information gathered to design a piece of public art. The proposals will be considered for an actual mural to be painted and put on a building in the McKenna neighborhood. The submissions truly show how students at AWS are compassionate, empathetic, and open-minded and hopeful for our future.

6th Grade Math students are wrapping up their unit focusing on ratios, rates, and percent problems. This unit allowed for student to see how math directly applies to their lives. Highlights of the unit include creating real life ratios (which included a comparison of real Christmas trees to fake Christmas trees), discovering how to determine their letter grades from fractions, and determining which breakfast burrito is the better buy.

Things To Do in our Community...

• Looking for ways to explore Tacoma and Seattle? Stay up to date with the events calendar on The Tacoma Weekly and Visit Seattle.

January 6, 2017

In this post... 

• First Semester Final Assessments 
• Upcoming PHE Programming 
• Athletics 
• What We Are Learning...highlights from Language & Literature and Science
• Things To Do in our Community

First Semester Final Assessments

The week of January 17-20 concludes First Semester in the Middle School. Accustomed to more traditional or conventional approaches to Finals, many people refer to these assessments as "exams," which is a but misleading. Traditional "final examinations" are cumulative and often daunting tests and that heavily sway students' grades. As a result, students sometimes approach "exams" with dread, adding a psychological barrier to feeling successful. For our Middle School students, finals include a variety of forms of assessments, from traditional tests that reflect of mastered content and skills, to demonstrating mastery in some other way, like an extended essay, a presentation, or a project. Our finals do not disproportionately influence students' grades any more than a unit test or summative assessment. Students do not take a final for every course; instead, certain courses require a block of time for a final assessment, and other courses finish via other means before finals week. 

These distinctions are important for clarifying the purpose of finals, which is consistent with our broader academic goals. "Success" is not reflected in an isolated grade. Instead, "success" reflects a student's ability to demonstrate mastery of key skills, to apply knowledge and content, and to understand herself or himself as a learner. Of course, the ability to do any of this requires preparation, but that preparation began on the first day of classes in September, and teachers are helping students to prepare specifically for these assessments in class. The skills associated with long-term planning are so crucial to academic success throughout and beyond Middle School. 

In addition to finals, our schedule for the week has a few special features. Tuesday, January 17, will be designated as a Review Day, and students will have a modified C-Day schedule to ensure that they have a class meeting for each assessment they are taking. To provide some balance to the finals experience, time is allotted to Flex (study hall) so that students can connect with teachers or spend time preparing, and much of each day during finals is designated for kinesthetic, creative, and physical learning, including Arts, PHE, and significant time in Design. On Friday, January 20, we will also gather as a Division to watch the presidential Inauguration and have a little fun with inauguration trivia and history. The designated finals for each day are listed below; a more comprehensive schedule for the week will be available next week and sent directly to students.

To prepare for finals, please consider the following tips: 

• Don't schedule off-campus appointments on January 18, 19, 20. 
• Ensure that your student is sleeping and eating well in the days leading up to finals. 
• Keep the temperature low - don't put any more pressure on a student's performance during finals than you would on any other assessment. 
• Remind your student that finals are about good preparation and demonstrating mastery and growth. 

Schedule for Final Assessments:

• Wednesday, January 18: 
• 6th Grade Language & Literature
• 7th Grade Language & Literature
• 8th Grade Science
• 8th Grade Chinese
• Thursday, January 19:
• 6th Grade Individuals & Societies
• 7th Grade Science
• 8th Grade Langauge & Literature
• 6th Grade Chinese
• Friday, January 20: 
• 7th Grade Individuals & Societies
• 8th Grade Chinese

Upcoming PHE Programming 

In our next unit of Physical and Health Education (PHE) within the social and emotional learning competency areas, we will be implementing the SOS Signs of Suicide Prevention Program with all of our students in the Middle School. Mrs. Dicks, Day School Counselor, will lead this proactive program designed to increase depression awareness, and arm students with the knowledge to seek help if they are concerned about themselves or a friend. SOS is listed on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices and in a randomized control study, the SOS High School Program showed a reduction in self-reported suicide attempts by 40% (BMC Public Health, July 2007). 

The goals of this program are straightforward and are as follows:

• To help our students understand that depression is a treatable illness and what these symptoms may look and feel like
• To explain that suicide is a preventable tragedy that often occurs as a result of untreated depression
• To provide students the knowledge to identify warning signs of depression or potential suicidality in themselves or a friend
• To impress upon our students that they can help themselves or a friend by taking the simple step of talking to a responsible adult about their concerns
• To remind students whom they can turn to for help, if they need it

We have been eager in the last few years to find a credible and age appropriate curriculum to implement with our students based on the needs of our community. Each year, we learn of students that have expressed language that is concerning to their friends and in turn are able to provide the necessary support. Research indicates that youth are more likely to turn to peers than adults when facing a suicidal crisis. Sometimes the comments are a one off or don’t indicate real danger, but quite often they are an indication of a need for additional support. Regardless, it is very distressing for a friend to receive a text message, see a post on social media or hear directly from a friend about feelings of depression or hopelessness or even indications of plans to self-harm. This program uses the acronym ACT- Acknowledge how your friend is feeling, tell them that you Care about them and make a plan with them to Tell a trusted adult. In the PHE classroom, we will watch and discuss a video, and follow it up with engaging activities to move the knowledge and skills into long-term memory. We see this curriculum as a way to support our students in being good friends, equipping them with the confidence to respond appropriately to alarming comments, as well as to give students the tools to seek help when they themselves feel depressed. In a similar vein, we are more than happy to provide any interested parents with this training to arm them with the knowledge and tools to support their child. Research shows that parents often do not know how to identify suicidal behavior or are unaware of their child’s depressive symptoms. 

Mrs. Dicks will be implementing this curriculum beginning the week of January 23rd during the PHE class periods. If you have questions or concerns about this program, or do not wish for your child to participate in this program, please contact Ann Dicks. If we do not hear from you, we will assume your child has permission to participate in this program. We recognize that the word suicide and depression might make some uncomfortable. Some may feel their child is too young for this topic, and some may even be under the impression that talking about suicide may give someone the idea to do it. In fact, the opposite is true. Bringing up the subject of suicide and discussing it openly is one of the most helpful things you can do, particularly in a way that is proactive and preventative. Additionally, we find that students are often far more aware of these mature topics than we believe. Once we start the curriculum, we will provide information to allow for follow up conversations at home. 

What we are learning...

This week, we highlight our Language & Literature and Science programs! 

6th graders are about to embark on their first round of finals.  We will be publishing the exam schedule at the end of the week, and teachers will provide clear study guides and conduct review sessions in class, but for 6th graders who have not experienced a ‘final exam’ before, the time leading up to exams can feel stressful.  Please encourage them to prepare a little each night, and help them put the experience in perspective.  Remind them that getting adequate rest is important for their brains and bodies and assure them that if they have been working hard all semester, they have the skills and content knowledge they need.  For Language and Literature specifically, 6th graders will have received their study guide on Thursday, January 5th.  It details both content and study technique recommendations.  You might also ask them to show you how we have been learning about plot structure - it will make you giggle for sure, but it is incredible to see how connecting knowledge with movement can help with retention and recall.

For 7th Grade, the semester will wrap up with a final exam that reviews grammar, literary elements and the one-paragraph essay structure. The second semester will start with Soldier’s Heart, a short novel that connects to the Civil War unit in Individuals and Societies. Then we will move to a more difficult level of active reading with Lord of the Flies. For writing, the papers will increase in length but will continue to focus on structure and analysis. Our efforts with grammar and public speaking will also continue. Welcome 2017!

Our 8th graders, having almost finished with our reading of Animal Farm, will dive into another writers’ workshop in lieu of a formal Language and Literature final exam.  The philosophy behind a workshop like this is to allow students to focus intensely on very specific aspects of their writing, one step at a time. This time around, we are focusing on how to craft compelling introductions and satisfying conclusions, as that is one element of writing with which students say they struggle most.  We will also examine how they can make their writing more vivid and less wordy  through a focus on active voice. I hope students are thrilled with the difference they see from first to final draft during this process.

7th graders are nearing the end of our Cells and Microbiology Unit with a MYP Assessment asking them to reflect on the impacts of science. Each student has chosen a disease caused by a microbe and they will put together a poster detailing major scientific advancements in treatment and the challenges that scientists face when seeking to eradicate these diseases. The diseases students are researching all impacted populations in colonial America so that we can connect this project to their studies in Individuals and Societies. Ask your student what disease they are researching and what symptoms it causes in humans.

8th graders recently wrapped an in-depth unit on Genetics and Variation in which the topic of genetic engineering highlighted our discussions. Students researched different applications of genetic engineering and learned that recent technological innovations in the field mean the real possibility that more of these applications may be available within our lifetimes. We’ve just started our Chemistry Unit covering Chemical Reactions. We’ll spend the next week leading up to the end of the semester reviewing some content from last year and then dive into new objectives that will culminate with students designing another lab investigation next semester.

Things To Do in our Community...

• Looking for ways to explore Tacoma and Seattle? Stay up to date with the events calendar on The Tacoma Weekly and Visit Seattle.