I’ve gone around to most of the 6th grade classes, as I do every semester. I highlighted 3 topics this time: 3rd quarter slump, upsurge in harassing, and changes coming to WMS.
- 3rd Quarter Slump: No matter which program, no matter even which grade, many if not most students experience a slump in their academics during 3rd quarter. Feedback from the students elicited reasons such as: a realization that middle school is just as boring as elementary school, more homework, more challenging homework, getting up at really early hours catches up with them, the social dramas are distracting, and others. I talked about developing the skill of asking for help, a skill they will need more and more as they enter high school in a few years. Awareness of the slump by itself may help avert a huge crash.
- Upsurge in Harassing: I normally expect and receive a number of requests to talk with me from 6h graders experience bullying or harassing behaviors from other students. What’s different this year is the almost exclusive prevalence of 6th graders as the harassers. I talked about the need to report, as I see only a fraction of incidents, and some thinking about what kind of person do you want to be? although we do have an anit-bullying/harassment curriculum for the entire three years, it has only been approved by staff to run once a month. I think this is insufficient even for these topics, and the curriculum could be broadened to include topics and materials all middle school students should learn, but which are not part of their academic curriculum. This is another story, however… Read All...