Mr. George - Principal's Corner (32)
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Challenge classes are offered in the seventh and eighth grades at Douglas Middle School. The classes are open to any interested student. Common characteristics of the classes include: · In-depth study of the seventh and eighth grade curriculums · Rich class discussions · Challenging work · Continued development of higher order thinking and problem solving skills · High expectations Challenge classes are offered in science/social studies, math, and language arts in the seventh grade. Eighth grade Challenge classes include language arts, social studies, Algebra, and Spanish 1. Students not electing to take a Challenge class will be enrolled in a general section. Eighth grade parents interested in assisting with preparations for Recognition Night are invited to attend a meeting on Monday, April 23. We will be meeting in the Commons Area at Douglas Middle School from 6:00-7:00 PM. Agenda items will include decorating for the dance, snacks for the dance, and questions you may have specific to this event. Explicit vocabulary instruction is a school-wide initiative at Douglas Middle School. According to Frey, Lapp, and Fisher (2011), the more words students know, the easier it is for them to understand what is read or heard. At the middle and high school levels students are exposed to content specific vocabulary terms which are increasingly complex. Teaching these terms deliberately is critical to student success. The following is a researched-based process (utilized at DMS) for teaching new phrases and terms designed by Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock (2001): · Present students with a brief explanation or description of the new term or phrase. · Present students with a nonlinguistic representation of the new term or phrase. · Ask students to generate their own explanations or descriptions of the term or phrase. · Ask students to create their own nonlinguistic representation of the term or phrase. · Ask students to review the accuracy of their explanations and representations. Please consider utilizing these strategies with your own child as you encounter unfamiliar terms at home. Getting our middle school boys better engaged in reading is an initiative underway at Douglas Middle School. As a staff we have discussed ways to motivate male readers. Michael Smith, in his book, “Reading Don’t Fix No Chevy’s” reviewed research findings specific to boys and reading including: boys are more inclined to read informational text, the appearance of a book and cover is important to boys, boys don’t comprehend fiction as well as girls, and boys generally have less interest in leisure reading than girls. As a staff we are looking at several initiatives to better engage boys in reading including: featuring local male role models as readers, continuation of efforts to include more non-fiction novels into our library collection, and hosting literacy events designed specifically for boys. If you would like to be involved in these efforts, please contact Jessica Ewing (Media Specialist) or me. Monday, January 16 is the date set for our next PAC meetings. We will again be meeting at 12:00 PM and 6:00 PM to best accommodate our parent’s busy schedules. Included in January’s PAC agenda will be a presentation from Douglas High School’s Principal, Dan Edwards. Mr. Edwards will be discussing Hathaway requirements, concurrent credit options, and upcoming scheduling procedures. If your child is currently an eighth grade student, these meetings will be particularly relevant! Please consider our after school program, Extra Bases, as an option in providing your child with additional academic support. Homework assistance and remediation are the primary objectives of this program. The program starts right after school and ends at 4:15 PM every Monday through Thursday. A 10-15 minute physical activity is provided each day by our physical education teacher, Mr. Toldson. Snacks and transportation home are also available. Students attending the after-school program 10 consecutive times are rewarded with a free movie pass. Certified teachers, high school tutors, and paraprofessionals are available to assist your child. Over 50 middle school students attended Extra Bases during the week of December 5, 2011. Mr. Allington, our school counselor, is currently discussing cyber bullying in our DMS classrooms. Cyber bullying is harassment via email, instant messaging (IMing), chat room exchanges, web site posts, or digital messages or images sent to a cellular phone or personal digital assistant (PDA) (Kowalski et al. 2008). Cyber bullying is a serious issue with harmful consequences. Please discuss this issue with your child and monitor their communication as closely as possible. Please notify Mr. Allington if you have questions specific to his presentations. Mr. Holt and Mr. George visited every sixth grade class on Wednesday, November 9. We discussed harassment; specifically sexual harassment. Verbal, non-verbal, and physical forms of sexual harassment were defined and examples of each discussed. The consequences associated with sexual harassment were described. Victims of sexual harassment were encouraged to tell an adult. Please call the DMS office if you suspect someone is being harassed. Anonymous reports can be made on the DMS Start Page located on our middle school’s website. The same review is scheduled for the seventh and eighth grades. Mr. Tom Bolinger is scheduled to visit Douglas Middle School on November 14, 2011. He is conducting an Operation Lifesaver presentation for our students. Operation Lifesaver’s mission is to end collisions, deaths and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings and on rail property. Due to our proximity to the railroad, I believe this presentation is critical to our students’ safety. Please join us at 2:00 PM in the DMS Gym for the presentation. |
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Converse County School District #1 is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, marital status, or age in its hiring practices. CCSD#1 operates in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendment Act of 1972, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. |