My advice to my students from this year...what I won't tell them, but should

Dear students of Lab 199,

This year has not been easy. For many of you, it was your first year of middle school. You had to learn a lot about following middle school rules. You had 7 teachers, some nicer than others. I hope when you look back at my class, you learned something. I hope you enjoyed some of the projects. I hope you made some new friends.

I enjoyed watching you work together and solve different problems.

I just don't feel like I have been myself this year. Granted, I had a baby in October--but when I came back and realized some of you had lost your minds, we had to go back to the basics. Sitting down at our computers when we type, coming into Lab 199 quietly, not horseplaying, and also not arguing with your teacher when she asks you to do something--those are simple things to do--those things also keep your teacher (me) happy. I really don't like to be mean. It makes me sad to raise my voice.

And to my quiet, sweet students who always do the right thing--please don't change. Your teachers appreciate you for following directions and working hard--all the time. We don't forget that.

To all of you, thank you for letting me into your lives. I have been so impressed with your E-Portfolio Reflections. I am sad I waited until the last month to really learn about your hopes and your dreams.  (Would you have shared them with me in August? Maybe we needed our own time to warm up to each other?)

Your career ideas have been so interesting--reading about where you want to go and your plans for your lives. Don't loose sight of those dreams. Let them guide you when things get tough.

Middle school is not the greatest, and high school is not the end of the world. College (if you choose to go) is awesome and having a baby after you are older (like 30ish) is a better idea than if you had one when you were still in high school. Love that baby. PLEASE, take better care of him or her than you did with your "flour babies" in 8th grade.

You may not know what you want to be when you are in 6th grade, you may not know what you want to be when you are 30ish--but if you are happy--if you smile at least a few times a day--you will be ok.

At some point in your life, move somewhere away from the place you were born. Don't be afraid to take a chance. You will fail. You will also figure it out, and when you do it is the most amazing feeling ever.

Be nice. You never know when you might need a job reference or a letter of recomendation.

Have a good summer. Watch out for cars.

I will see you in August. 70% of you will be in my class again next year--because you chose to deal with me again and sign up for year two. Thank you for that.

Let's make next year even better.

Sincerely,

Your teacher

5thgradeitis = less than 20 days of school

Wow. 20 more days left of school…technically 15 after 2 field trips,our field day, the highly anticipated “puberty talk” from the school nurse, and an end of the year party.

My students who were “Oh so sweet” at the start of the school year, are now starting to turn into what I would believe are….6th graders. I am talking attitude-wise, personality-wise—and truly I think they are getting way too comfortable with their “old” teacher.

Funny, some of the kids in my counterpart’s class were working on a project and they seem to believe they are suffering from “5thgradeitis.” Really?!?! I would hate to see them when they actually are seniors in high school!

So, what is a teacher to do? Well, as I have been working on my lesson plans for the next two-three weeks, I decided to come up with the following projects:

In science my fifth graders are going to teach a lesson to a third grade class. They are going to follow the third grade state standards and create activities (worksheets if they want, labs, etc.) to teach the younger grade their lesson.

As we have just finished studying immigration and Ellis Island in Social Studies, the students are going to choose one of three events in history, World War I, the Great Depression, or World War II and create a presentation to share with the class. I am hoping they will be really creative with these presentations, maybe create a newspaper, or dress up as famous character and tell their stories--something besides just a PowerPoint.

For Language Arts, I am planning to have the students go through the writing process and they will create a children’s book from start to finish. Thanks to Mr. Campbell for suggesting this idea—something he does with his eighth graders. His kids always come up with some awesome books, and I am confident my fifth graders will do the same.

Yes, these projects should take a while. But, I am hoping they will be engaged enough that some of this craziness and silliness will stop. If they were in middle school and high school they would have finals to prepare for.

So, lets just say I will be dealing with their “5thgradeitis” for 15 more days. Hopefully the internet will keep working. Or I might have a mutiny on my hands.