Hello Parents

Spring has sprung… or has it?

Thanks to Mrs. Rekate for taking extensive notes during our Transition Meeting this morning with Mr. Rosen and Mr. Poulin, our Middle School Principals.

Your son/daughter may be coming home excited today (except for Pepo, Alex Z and Taeyun who most likely will not be at SAS Pudong in the Fall) because they received their Course Catalogue for Middle School. As a mother of a 5th grader, I know Hannah was thrilled to see how many electives there were for her to choose from next year. In a nutshell, the kids get to choose 8 electives, 1 of these is chosen for them, and then they will be allocated 4 (1 being the Mac and Me that is compulsory for the first quarter.) Pink Forms are due back Tuesday.

Middle School Transition Meeting

Below are some bullet point notes about the meeting so that you can talk to your children about today’s topics.  You should also read the email from Mr. Rosen that you will receive later this week.

Course elective sheets must be done and brought to school by NEXT TUESDAY, APRIL 17th.

Who’s nervous about going to middle school and what are you nervous about?

• almost everyone raised their hands
• responsibilities
• knowing where to go
• forgetting your locker combinations
• someone hacks into your computer
• getting lost
• losing the computer
• how much stuff you have to carry around
• 8^th graders bullying 6^th graders
• time management
• homework
• lots of projects
• everything being too hard
• REMEMBER – thousands of kids have done it before and they were able to deal with it, but everyone gets it and at their own pace and in their own time.

There will be a lot of change.

• classroom design
• moving from classroom to classroom
• lockers
• computers
• BUT you will start developing the skills to deal with all the changes!

Mr. Poulin addressed some of the usual concerns:

• Combination locks – one for sixth grade and one for PE locker
• Being late for class –
• Not having friends – once you get to MS, your friends will change a lot.  The counselors and homebase teachers really watch out for you.
• Cafeteria – you have to take care of your own card;
• Being too different – being different is cool.  Being the same is cool too. MS is a time of self discovery.
• Tough classes – Remember, you thought grade five was hard when you were in Grade 3 and 4.  Same idea.  You will adapt and learn and get better.
• Getting lost – It’s to be expected.  You will figure it out.

Connections

• we want you to make connections from one class to another
• we want you to make connections from class to the outside world around us
• we want you to make connections to yourself

Creativity

• we value this highly in all classes, not just art, but math, science, language
• How can you be a creative person?
• It’s about thinking in creative ways.

Collaboration

• it’s very important to be able to work in a group with others on projects to solve problems
• you don’t have to like the people, BUT you need to be able to work with them!!
• In life, you must have the skills to work with people.
• It is an expectation in middle school.

Learning Should Be Challenging … But It Doesn’t Have to Be Stressful

• A little bit of stress is okay.  It’s good for you.
• Thinking about exercising.  It’s okay to put a little stress on your body.  A little is okay.  Same thing with your mind.
• Next year, there will be times when you are stressed out.
• There is a support network in place for you to learn how to deal with it.
• You will learn how to deal and manage stress.

Community Service

• The Giving Tree
• By grade level – on China Alive trips
• Join elective classes that are based on community service

Making the Most of Our Host Country Culture

• continue to interact cross culturally
• in PE classes, Chinese classes, regular classes
• learn about it in an active way

Passions and Interests

• program and course offerings are designed to recognize that people are different

Organization

• Mac and Me elective class – everyone has to take this class.  It will be fun AND we will teach you how to get organized technologically.  Using iCal, digital sticky note, My Procrastinate.  There are many tools.  You will choose the one that is best for you.
• Subscribe to teachers’ calendars and blogs

Technology and “The New Normal”

• Your parents will be officially issued a Mac computer that they will “lend” to you for school use.
• Night meeting for students and parents – during first two weeks of school to discuss expectations, rights and responsibilities.

What is a Student as a Learner Profile?

• In addition to academic report card, teachers will grade on behavior categories as well.
• 4 behavior categories – cooperation and collaboration, preparation and organization, integrity and attitude, and active learning and effort
• how you learn is WAY more important than a number.

What is Humanities?

• ties history, literature, philosophy and ethics, different cultures, linguistics, law, archeology, writing, religion,

What is Homebase?

• like an advisory program
• 5-7 minutes daily at the beginning of the day
• attendance, announcements, daily check-in
• Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays – you will also meet in Homebase with 11-12 kids to learn about things that don’t get covered in academic classes (ie personal identity, relationships, community).
• Big Three Questions – Who am I as a person? Who am I as a learner? Who am I as a part of a community?

HOT  – Homework Opportunity Times

• Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays – afterschool times for students to work on assignments with teacher supervision and help
• Voluntary
• If need be, teachers will ask students to attend to get extra homework help.
• These will supersede sports commitments

China Alive

• “Week without Walls” in May — Moganshan, Wild Wall, Xi’an and Sichuan

Bonding Day – Century Park in October

• for teachers and students to bond through fun, outdoor, team building activities

Programs and Activities

• ASA – After School Activities
• CISSA – China International School Sports Association – soccer, floor hockey, cross country, table tennis, badminton.  Doesn’t matter if you aren’t good at it.  Sign up, get exercise and have fun.
• MYG Night – 5 times a year; night events; dances; hang out; dodge ball tournaments (MYG is GYM spelled backwards)

Course Catalogues – Mr. Rosen highlighted the following items and pages.

• bottom of first page – NOTE TO STUDENTS: CHOOSE THOUGHTFULLY AND CAREFULLY
• bottom of first page – NOTE TO PARENTS – YOUR CHILDREN APPRECIATE YOUR INPUT AND GUIDANE, AND THEY ALSO APPRECIATE BEING GIVEN THE FREEDOM TO EXPLORE NEW AND UNIQUE INTERESTS. TRUST THEM!
• Electives – Tuesday and Thursdays, last bloc; choose 8, you will get 4 of them.
• Pudong Middle School Course Selection – first pink page – you will have a choice for foreign language and performing arts; needs student and parent signature
• Everything before first pink page – includes info about language and arts
• White pages between first and second pink pages – descriptions about elective programs; about 100 courses; no grades; most electives last about 9 weeks, some are full year, some one trimester.
• Everyone must sign up for “Mac and Me”
• Electives – except for Mac and Me, all other electives will have 7th and 8th graders as well
• There is a sample “electives sign up sheet” for you to look at.