Thursday, October 24, 2013

Detention Policy...

Just a reminder...

We are keeping with the detention policy that we have been doing for at least three years in the middle school.  A detention (missing one lunch period) is given when five infractions are received.  Infractions are administered if a student is tardy, comes to class without his/her materials, or is disobeying a school rule.  We do this to help the students stay accountable to their responsibilities and be successful in the classroom.  At the end of the week, teachers turn in any infractions to the office; the infraction details the date, class period, and reason received.  Brenda Kirkland has been amazing in keeping up with the infractions.  She has a spread sheet which keeps track of all infractions and detentions assigned and served.  Mrs. Kirkland lets us know when a student has earned a detention, and you (the parent) will receive paperwork from the office if your student needs to serve a detention.  Detentions are on Wednesdays and are administered by Mr. McLane, Mr. Miller, or one of the middle school teachers. 

I hope this clarifies any misunderstanding.  I apologize if this was not explained thoroughly at orientation in the beginning of the year.

*If you feel that your student has received an infraction unfairly, please do not hesitate to contact any of us in the middle school.  We issue infractions without discrimination, and we do our best to be as consistent as possible to ensure fairness.  If you feel a mistake has been made however, or if we need to give an extra extension of grace for any reason, we are more than willing to discuss it with you.

Thank you.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Turn It In....

Students must turn papers into www.turnitin.com . All students have done this at least once before.  For English, our class ID is: 7198070 . Our class password is:  iliketurtles  .
The seventh graders have their Persuasive Essays due TONIGHT.
For eighth grade, please see the schedule for the MLA Research Papers on this webpage.  Their final draft is due to turnitin.com on November 12th.

Hooray for writing!
Mrs. A

www.turnitin.com
  

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

A Few Things...

1. Congrats to my 8th grade homeroom!  We had 100% participation for the Bags for Bucks fundraiser, and we enjoyed our reward this morning!  The students were VERY excited to have donuts, coffee, and juice for breakfast.  Thanks to all who participated.

2. Over the long weekend, every middle school student should be reading!  The 8th graders have to finish The Hiding Place by Tuesday, and the 7th graders need to read chapters 10-12 in The Hobbit by Monday.

3. Aside from reading, both classes are currently writing papers.  The 7th graders have a structured five-paragraph persuasive essay due Tuesday.  We have already edited our rough drafts, and now everyone should be on to the final copy.  The 8th graders should be starting their research on their five-page Holocaust research paper.  If you can get your 8th grader to the library over the long weekend, that would be awesome!  Mrs. Scott also pulled books from our school library's shelves which has been very helpful to the students.
(Specific hand-outs and rubrics were given for these writing assignments.  Check them out! :) )

4. On October 30th we are celebrating our first "Decade Day."  The students are allowed to come dressed in 1950's garb!  Get your poodle skirts and saddle shoes ready!

5. Thank you to the strong parental involvement in the Jewish feasts projects in the 7th grade!  They were fabulous! 

6. Enjoy your mini-break!





Monday, October 7, 2013

We're in FIRST Place!

I am proud to announce that our 8th grade homeroom is in first place for our Bags for Bucks fundraiser!  We have sold more than any class in the entire school!

However, we still have work to do!

If we have 100% participation by THIS WEEK (that means each student just has to sell ONE roll), then we are rewarded with a donut-breakfast!  Yummy!

Please consider participating in this fundraiser!

Thanks!