Almost Halfway...

Thursday, January 2nd is our 77th day of school so far this year. We’re almost half way through the school year. The actual halfway mark is January 22nd.

How’s this year going for you?

Are you happy with your work so far?

Are you learning?

Sometimes its helpful to stop for a moment and look back to see how far you’ve come. Progress often gets lost in the day-to-day grind of school. 

What new skills have you acquired? What can you do now that you could not do in August? What do you know now that you did not know in August?

Are you a better writer now?  Can you find the main idea of a book or story better than before?

Can you handle new concepts in math that would have looked like gibberish before?

Do you have a better idea of how our government runs, or how the solar system formed or how a symphony of fifty individual musicians somehow work together to create something beautiful?

Believe it or not, you are growing in all the ways - intellectually, emotionally and socially. It’s not easy and it’s not linear but, even despite setbacks, you are are moving forward. 

Now is the time to recommit yourself to doing your best; to being the best student, friend and community member you can be.

I'm Baaaaaaaaaak

It’s been a while since I wrote a blog post. 

The last one  - see below - was just before the October progress reports were scheduled to come out and, lo and behold, the December progress reports are about to come out.

As I grade the work you did while I was out on medical leave, I have several thoughts about what I have seen:

• First, for all of you who took the work seriously and did your best each and every day - Thank You!  I know it can be difficult to stay focused but my hat is off for those of you who did! Your grades reflect your learning, your focus and your hard work.

• Second, some of you fell into some bad habits in doing your work. I see a lot of copy/paste in your work and, as you well know, that is not allowed. It’s pretty obvious when someone has not used the resources I included - readings, videos, slideshows, etc. Your grades reflect the shortcuts you took in doing your work. 

• Third, some of you missed a LOT of work. When I grade your work, I excuse work you were not here for. So my questions is; If you were here and did not do the work, what were you doing instead? Having been a middle school teacher for a long time, I can only imagine what was happening instead. Your grades reflect your unwillingness to attempt or engage in the work.

I am really happy to be back. I missed working with you and helping you grow as science students and humans. 

The Price of Youth and Inexperience

 “Oh to be young again 

Oh to be free again 

To be setting out 

To have the whole of the road before one 

To know it an adventure 

One cannot know the end of -"

Youth is a wonderful thing…but not a perfect thing.

I remember the days when I had hair, when everything did not ache, when I could bend over to pick something up with out my back and knees making horrifying cracking sounds. 

I also remember making mistakes because I could not clearly see the future that was right in front of my eyes.

That’s where being, lets just say "experienced," is a huge advantage. I can clearly see what’s coming next based on what I do today. Maybe this is because I’ve already made so many mistakes at least once or maybe it’s just what happens when you get older, err more experienced. But this is one area where your youth betrays you. 

Progress reports come out October 9th. I’ve mentioned this in each of my classes hoping that the knowledge of the impending report home to your parents and guardians will motivate some of my students. 

But I know, youth means living for today because the future seems so very far away. Even two weeks can seem like almost forever for middle school students. 

Trust me on this - two weeks will go bye in a blink. You’ll be getting your progress report and it will feel like school just started. 

If you’re working hard and doing your work, it will probably be a report filled with good news. If you have been spending your time chatting with friends, and not doing your work, well….I think you know what that progress report will look like.

There is still time to avoid that awkward conversation at home about why your ELA , math or science grade “Needs Improvement,” or worse. Check your grade on Google Classroom, talk to your teachers, get late work in….there is still time to avoid disaster…if you can see that far into the future.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

If you are new to my homeroom, there’s something you gotta know: I play music. A lot of music. Walk past my room during my prep period and you’ll hear me playing music. Sometimes I play it so loud, my neighboring teachers have to send a kid over to ask me to turn it down - sorry!

In the early morning, before you guys show up, everyone knows I’m in the building because I’m BLASTING my music. The best part of room 23 is the sound system and I make use of it - trust me. For me, music makes school a more joyful place. 

In my homeroom, we do a thing called Song of the Day. 

Every day, I play a song. Over the course of the week my homeroom students have to figure out how all five songs are related. There is a theme to my selections. 

Some recent themes were: 

• Songs by artists known primarily by one name - Cher, Adele, Rhianna & Elvis,
• Songs by artists from Massachusetts - Aerosmith, James Taylor, etc.
• Songs about vehicles - cars, boats, planes, etc.
• Songs in Spanish - this was suggested by a student and she came up with great songs!

I have a good time coming up with the themes and songs and, yes, they do reflect my taste in music. If you were to stick your head in Ms. Macinnis’ room, you would notice she also plays music during homeroom. It’s nice, soft, jazzy music. I assume that’s what she likes. In my room you are going to hear a hard driving beat and screaming guitars. I just love me some screaming guitars!

I am open to suggestions for a theme and only have few guidelines. 

• There must be five songs,
• It has to be school appropriate,
• There must be a theme - something that links all five of the songs together,
• It can’t be obvious - You have to keep people guessing until day four or five.

If you have a suggestion for a theme, even if you need help coming up with the actual songs, let me know. Let’s all have fun with the music!

Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not at the old Bartlett anymore

This year marks my 12th year as a teacher and the 9th year I have been at the Bartlett. 

I taught in room 23 for my first five years, then, for reasons I still fail to comprehend, the administration moved me to room 22, around the corner for two years.

This is also my 12th year writing this blog. If you scroll down far enough, you will discover I was writing this at two other schools I taught at before coming to the Bartlett. One of those schools was also in Lowell. 

I write this blog for and to you, my students. 

This is my forum to write about my life as a teacher, a student and a person. Sometimes, I write to amuse. Sometimes, I write to inform. And, sometimes, I write to help my students put things into perspective. Sometimes, when I’m really on my game and the words flow, I think I can inspire some kids a little, too.

I will try to post something each week - but, honestly, when things get busy, sometimes I run out of time and miss a week here and there. I will post a link on google classroom, so you’ll get an email notification when there’s something new to read.

I hope you will find them interesting but you’ll all be the judge of that. Please read, share, comment, and talk to me about what I write.  

Post script: I’ll give you a prize if you can name the movie that is referenced (but not quoted) in the title of this post.

"OMG, They're Beautiful!"

It happened. I really never 100% believed it would, but it really happened.

Our too-narrow, old, bent, fall-out-of-the-wall, graffitied lockers are gone.

They have been replaced by brand new, never-been-touched, blue beauties. They will even fit a backpack.

It’s been a long time since we had new lockers - I’d guess 25 or 30 years. And the purplish/red ones were just plain worn out.

A few years ago we had a long-term substitute who had attended the Bartlett. At the end of the year she taught here I was cleaning out some lockers, and I noticed her name written inside what had been her 8th grade locker.

Before that, and on two separate occasions, banks of lockers had somehow become detached from whatever holds them into the walls, and had come crashing down into the hallways. They were propped back into place and secured to the wall again, but I was always nervous having kids in the hallways near those two spots. 

The Bartlett Community Partnership School has been neglected for so long it just feels amazing to have a few of the basics that most other schools have. 

Your teachers have been asked not to slap stickers or labels on the lockers - we want to keep them looking new for a long, long time. You can help with that too. 

• Let’s work together to keep these lockers clean and fresh. 

• Let’s not use them as trash receptacles, let’s not store milk or unwanted fruit in them. 

• Let’s not slam them so loud the kids at the Stok can hear it.

Between the lockers, the new water fountains, the new entryway (not including dumpsters), a lot of fresh paint and some other things happening, our school is improving.

The Bartlett is comin’ back, baby, and you get to be part of it!

Speech Therapy

President Biden is a stutterer. He has worked hard to overcome his stuttering and sometimes when you watch him speaking in public, you can see him actively battling this disorder. He’s using his training right in front of us. 

Astronaut John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth. He went back to space again in his late seventies. He was an authentic American hero, but even heroes look up to others. John Glenn looked up to his wife, Annie. She was a stutterer and worked hard to overcome her speech issues to become a powerful pubic speaker. 

I too had speech therapy. When I entered school, my “R’s” sounded like “L’s.”  So, if I said “Let’s ride bikes,” it came out as “Let’s lide bikes.”

At school, I was embarrassed about how I spoke, so I rarely raised my hand or spoke in class. 

Reading in front of others was highly anxiety provoking - it was torture. During reading instruction, the whole class would sit in a circle and everyone would read one sentence. I remember counting the kids before me and trying to figure out what sentence I would have to read, so I could practice before it was my turn.

For the first few years of school, I was pulled out of class to do speech therapy. I hated it. I clearly remember the training my therapists gave me and also remember having to slow down my talking so I could put those techniques into practice. 

Eventually that training became second nature. 

It was all worth it. I got over my speech issues, became less shy, and participated in class regularly. It just took time and hard work.