Sixth Grade Teachers

In preparation for the “real deal” on December 8th, sixth graders spent (almost!) a full day taking, scoring, and processing a practice SSAT. Since the test is over a week away, it’s important to reflect on the experience (in order to grow, to improve, and to gain confidence as a test taker).

Here are a few questions that I’ve had on my mind…

1. What role does attitude (positive or negative) play as you prepare for the SSAT?

2. How can you prepare mentally and physically for a big test like the SSAT?

3. How prepared do you feel for the “real deal” on December 8th?

Sixth grade students are passionate about one thing: finding ways to serve others. As student leaders at Trinity, sixth graders have the opportunity to serve the School community in a variety of ways.  They assist in their buddy classrooms, serve in the lunchroom as gaffers, and graciously tour prospective parents around the school.

The sixth grade values team has “dared the sixth graders to move.” We have challenged each sixth grader to complete one act of community service outside of Trinity School by December 31^st, 2007. They will document their service by taking pictures using a digital camera or drawing a picture to upload to their blog. Additionally, students will reflect on their experience by making at least one post to their weblog.

The specifics…
Who: each sixth grader (of course, families are welcome to participate!)
What: one act of service designed to help community members outside of Trinity School
When: between October 11^th and December 31^st
Where: anywhere
*Wednesday, November 28^th will be a sixth grade no-homework night in honor of the community service challenge!

Since the sixth graders began their journey into the Blogosphere, I have enjoyed reading their posts and getting a glimpse through their blogs of their world outside of school.� I have kept up with reading the students’ blogs, but did not realize how many teachers and faculty members are blogging on a regular basis as well.

Today in class when Ms. Howard suggested checking out a faculty or staff member’s blog, I realized that I had not done this yet, and quickly went to the Writer’s Exchange to check out some of the most recent posts.� As I scrolled through the posts, one of the titles caught my eye. Ms. Pile, our ELD coordinator, recently wrote a post called The Rose Bead. The title caught my eye because it was not about blogs or wikis or an academic subject, and seemingly was not really related to school at all. I clicked on this post and read it, and felt the need to share it with you.

I will not recount the story for you, since I would not be able to tell it nearly as well as the original post did, but I encourage you to take a moment to read it.� Ms. Pile writes with such eloquence and thoughtfulness.� She weaves her tale in such a way that in the beginning, I thought her post was just going to be about Halloween here at school, but in fact it is much deeper than that.
The connection Ms. Pile made between the rose-colored bead and children was so insightful.� It made me stop and think about times when I’ve been too intent on the “right way” or the “right answer” and may have been unable to see something from a student’s point of view.� Ms. Pile’s post caused me to reflect on how I interact with people, and reminded me that just because someone’s ideas are different does not mean that they are wrong. � Perhaps listening to these ideas and considering them makes us more open to new and different ways of thinking.

It also reminded me that all people are different, and that’s what makes this world such a special place.� Instead of looking at differences as deficiencies, we should celebrate them.� I will definitely visit Ms. Pile’s blog again to read about her insights and ideas.� Thanks, Ms. Pile, for making me think and reflect!

Five Things Ms. Howard has Learned About Blogging:

1. Just because you write something doesn’t mean that it will interest anyone.

2. You must read other blogs and comment on them if you want others to read your blog.

3. It’s important to stay on topic in a post…and read the comments on the posts! Sometimes it’s important to respond (in a comment) quickly, and sometimes it’s important to reflect and then respond in another post.

4. Don’t be a reporter of news, life events, wonderings, happenings. View the world with a writer/blogger’s eye and reflect on what’s happening. A reflective post is always inspiring.

5. Try to take risks. If you surprise yourself and “jump off the edge”, you will surprise your readers too!

I introduced my lesson today with this list. The sixth graders are doing an excellent job with their posts, and I am incredibly proud of their willingness to jump into the blogging world with reckless abandon. It’s truly a powerful example of reflective writing, I’m sure that the kids could easily write a more in-depth and inspirational list of the “five things they have learned about blogging” and at some point, I encourage them to do so.

In the coming weeks (and specifically by Monday), I am encouraging each student to respond actively to the blogs they are reading. Trinity School’s Writer’s Exchange is a great way to connect with other bloggers in the Trinity community. A few students have found blogs outside of Trinity (Helen’s horses comes to mind) that they read with great consistency. As a group, their next posts will be a little similar. They have been asked to LINK or CONNECT to other bloggers. It’s a challenge, but I think they’re up for it!

“Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s

 going to know whether you did it or not.”

Today in values class, the sixth graders had a lively discussion about integrity, plagarism, and the world wide web. In addition to being critical consumers of information on the internet, it is our hope that Trinity School sixth graders learn how to navigate the internet safely and legally. As a class, we spent a fair amount of time talking about copyrighted music and photos (very sticky subjects for sure!), but I wanted to link to an interesting article about an honor scandal at the University of Virginia.

Sixth graders…read carefully. Please take some time to comment! It is my hope that we will have a lively discussion!

University of Virginia Hit by Scandal

If you are interested in learning more about UVA’s Honor Code, check out these links:

History of the Honor Committee

Explanation of the Honor System

A GREAT article about leadership in light of the cheating scandal

“On My Honor” UVA’s Honor Video