Celebrate Reading

March is focus on reading month at Woodglen School.  March 2nd marked the nation-wide celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday.  What a great way to kick off a focus on reading.  While middle schoolers often think they are too cool to celebrate reading, we have two big opportunities for our students to get involved with a focus on reading.

First, the Lebanon Township PTA is sponsoring a Read A Thon with the theme, "Books are Treasures."  Students can get pledges for the amount of time and pages they read for a two week period from February 25 through March 11.  Money raised will go toward cultural arts and literacy-based programs at Woodglen and Valley View Schools.  In order to get Woodglen students excited about reading, the PTA is sponsoring several events including an Ice Cream Social, a Locker Lottery, and Hat and Pajama days.  In addition, they are encouraging students to share their favorite books which may find their way into the school's library.  Information about the Read A Thon was sent home with students and is available on the PTA website.

The other opportunity for Woodglen Readers is sponsored by the Somerset Patriots and runs through the month of March.  Students who complete six books during the month will received one ticket to a Patriots game, while students who read 12 books receive two tickets.  Information about this opportunity is available at Woodglen School.  Completed paperwork for the Patriots reading challenge must be submitted to Ms. Spann by Friday, April 8.

In addition to providing incentives for reading, we also take time during March to recognize those students who demonstrate a true passion for reading throughout the year.  92 Woodglen students were nominated by their teachers as "Enthusiastic Readers."  These students, nominated as part of a county-wide program met the following criteria:

• exhibit an enthusiasm for reading and sharing books
• use books for a variety of purposes
• read independently on a volunteer basis
• use school and/or public libraries
• select books at an appropriate interest level

Those students who were nominated were eligible for recognition at the county level.  Sixth grader, Nicolas Wittkop was Woodglen's representative on the county level.  Locally, these students will be recognized at an in-school celebration.  Ms. Spann does an excellent job of coordinating the "Enthusiastic Readers" program for our school as well as promoting a true love of reading.

So, now you know what is available to provide some motivation for reading and what is happening to recognize those who already read.  What, though, can you do if your child has no interest in reading?  First of all, that is not an uncommon predicament, particularly at the middle school level.  I can totally understand that because I was one of those kids who did not want to read.  While some students don't want to read because they struggle with it, that wasn't the case with me.  I just had no desire.  I'd rather be out playing ball, or cops and robbers (yes, I know I just dated myself), or riding my bike or watching a ball game than read anything.  More importantly, I really didn't like what people wanted me to read.  There was so much focus put on reading the books that you had to read for school.  I usually did that, although, in high school I tried hard to avoid even the required reading.  What was missing form me, though, was the encouragement to find something that I liked to read, regardless of what it was.  From my own experience as a young person who hated to read, an educator and a parent I have found a couple of things that can make reading a positive experience, one that will spur enthusiasm in even the most reluctant reader.  First, pleasure reading does not have to be at a particular reading level.  Teaching reading should be done in school and REINFORCED at home.  Save the difficult reading for school.  If your 8th grader wants to read a book geared more toward a fifth grader let him.  Reading fluency is kind of cyclical, students who don't read fluently usually don't like to read but the way to improve fluency is by reading more frequently.  Letting your child read something "easy" is a good thing, if that is what he chooses.  Second, let your child read something that matches her interests.  If she wants to read a magazine, let her.  It doesn't matter whether it is Sports Illustrated, Cat Fancy, or Girls Life - if they want to read it, let them.  One of the allures of magazines is the fact that most articles are relatively short, which allows them to be finished relatively quickly.  Your child will gain confidence as she finishes what she starts.  I know from my own experience there is nothing more frustrating than having a book drag on for months because I don't have the time to sit down and read two, three or four hundred pages at one time.  Somewhat related to "finishing what you started," if you want to encourage your child to read for pleasure, allow him to stop reading something when he doesn't like it.  If, after a chapter or so, your child doesn't enjoy the book for any reason, don't force him to finish it - that will only foster an attitude of reading as a burden.  Finally, model the behavior you would like to see in your child.  If you are reading and your child sees that, she will likely read as well.  If possible, read what they are reading and discuss it, this is far better than "quizzing" them on the book they are reading, which will likely turn them off.

There are so many more strategies for ways to develop a love of reading in your child.  If you would like some help in this area, please don't hesitate to talk to your child's language arts teacher or our librarian, Kate Spann.  You can also check out the following links:

The American Library Association - Tips to Encourage Reading

Woodglen School Library Reading Lists

While we continue to see technology changing the way we live, reading (and writing) still remain vital.  We may have Kindles instead of books, we may do research online instead of in the library and we may consult blogs instead of newsletters, but, we still need to read - a screen instead of a page - but reading nonetheless.

As I close, I will leave you with a few statistics I found on reading and the importance of reading:

• In 1999, only 53 percent of children age 3 to 5 were read to by a family member.  (National Center for Education Statistics, Family Reading)
• 85% of juvenile offenders have problems reading.  (National Center for Adult Literacy)
• 50% of American Adults are unable to read an eighth grade level book. (Jonathan Kozol, Illiterate America)

Help us celebrate reading this month.  You and your child will be glad you did.

The Bees

So, it's that time of year, again, when we recognize some of Woodglen's best and brightest.  Each year, our school participates in two national academic competitions - The National Geographic Geography Bee and the Scripps National Spelling Bee.  You probably haven't seen the geography bee on television, but I'm sure you've seen the Scripps Bee either on television or in the movies.  What you may not have known, however, is that both of these competitions begin at the local level in school-wide "bees" throughout the United States.

This year, we are proud to announce that eighth grader, Brett Dufford was the winner of the Woodglen Geography Bee.  The runner-up was sixth grader, Carsten Janes.  Winning the local bee is not easy.  The questions deal with both United States and world geography.  Students are expected to know about landforms, boundary lines, natural resources, goods produced and culture. 

We are also proud to announce that seventh grader, Josh Myers was the winner of the Woodglen Spelling Bee.  The runner-up was eighth grader, Eric Pecina.  While most of us don't remember what we did before "spell check,"  these young people demonstrated the ability to spell some common and many not-so-common words.

Want to win the geography bee?  You'd better know the European country where regional dialects Catalan, Valencian and Galician are spoken (Spain).  You should know which east African country was subject to water rationing due to the rapid growth of Nairobi (Kenya).  You might want to know the state where you would find Davenport, a railroad and commercial center across the Mississippi River from Rock Island, Illinois (Iowa).

Have hopes of being the next Akeelah, of Akeelah and the Bee fame?  You should brush up on your words of Latin origin like obsequious (exhibiting fawning attentiveness) and triumvirate (a group or association of three), your words of German origin like kuchen (a variety of coffee cakes made of sweet yeast dough) and inselberg (an isolated mountain) and your words of Italian origin like adagio (a slow tempo) and fantoccini (a puppet show using puppets operated by strings or mechanical devices). 

Both of our champions will be moving on the the next level.  Brett will take the New Jersey state qualifying exam in hopes of earning a spot in the finals of the state-wide bee, where the winner moves on to Washington, DC.  Josh will be competing in the regional bee, held in Pennsylvania, where he could earn a trip to the national competition in Washington, DC with a victory.

Special thanks goes out to Mrs. Jessica Miller, our sixth grade social studies teacher, for all of her hard work in orgainizing the geography bee and to Mr. James Peralta, enrichment specialist, for his efforts in implementing the spelling bee.
We wish both of these young men the best of luck.  They are already winners and we are already very proud of their accomplishments.

Thanksgiving

I recently spent some time listening to a good friend of mine as he recounted the Thanksgiving and holiday seasons.  His words rang way too true.  I'm paraphrasing, so there are no quotes!

Tomorrow, Thanksgiving day, something truly amazing is going to happen.  There are about 300 million Americans.  Tomorrow, nearly everyone of us, regardless of race, creed or color won't be going to work.  At about 2:00 pm, nearly everyone will spend time giving thanks for the blessings they have.  Most people will eat a good meal.  Most people will be with friends and family.  For about an hour tomorrow, the entire country will pause to give thanks. 

Then, we'll sit on the couch and turn on the television.  We will complain about how long it takes to clean up after such a large meal.  As we watch the traditional Thanksgiving day football game, some, like my friend, will complain about how bad the Cowboys are.  Somewhere around 8 pm, those of us who traveled to a relative's house will embark on the journey home.  We will complain because we had to travel so far to spend time with our in-laws that we don't much like anyway and now have to drive home in the dark when we are already tired.

Friday morning comes quickly because, of course, it is Black Friday and we must be up and out early to take advantage of all the great deals.  Once we get there we will complain because of all the lunatics that got up early enough to be in front of us on the line.  We get into the store and realize that there was only one $25 laptop and only one $50 flat screen television and we complain.  As we continue to search the store, we complain about the fact that you can't buy a decent present for under $100.  Throughout the month of December we complain about the commercialization, the traffic and the stress of the holidays.

The New Year arrives.  We are reminded that we are still too fat, still didn't paint the living room and still haven't read any books.  We complain that we can't follow through on resolutions, probably because we are too busy.

Then, comes maybe the worst day of the entire year, January 22.  An ominous day, indeed.  That is when the MasterCard bill arrives.  As we stare in disbelief at the amount of money we spent, we complain because we can't pay the bill because we don't make enough money at our lousy jobs.  Oh, yeah, and because of that job that doesn't pay enough, we don't have a big enough house, or a nice enough car, or a long enough vacation - complain, complain, complain.  Don't even get us started on putting our kids through college or paying for retirement!

But, alas, there is some hope!  There is only 298 days until Thanksgiving when we will all pause to be thankful for what we have.

This was my friend's story, but I think we can all relate to it.  We live in arguably the most consumeristic  society in the history of humanity.  We have more stuff than any people who have every walked the earth.  The problem is, though, that we are more aware of what we don't have than we we do.  If we have a cell phone, we want a smart phone.  If we have a 40" flat screen TV, we want a 50".  If we drive a Ford, we want a Lexus.  You get the idea.  We spend 364 days a year complaining about what we don't have and forget to focus on what we do have.

I have been privileged to have had the opportunity to travel to Guatemala City for the past three years to work with people who live and work in and on a garbage dump.  These people have nothing.  When you ask them what they want, they say food, water, a roof over their heads.  Those who do well scavenging through the garbage dump earn about $2 per day.  Those who have food often eat once a day and sometimes eat what they find in the trash.  Those who have water at all get it only for a couple of hours a day and cannot drink it safely.  Those who have shelter live in "houses" that aren't as nice as many of our tool sheds.   Ask me what I want.  I want an iPad, I want a new kitchen, I want a shed to put my lawnmower and snow blower in.  I have so much stuff that I can't even fit it into my house and I still want more.  But, what do I do, complain about what I don't have.

This week on the school sign I have been posting facts dealing with the struggles of people around the world, which includes people of the United States. 

1.4 billion people do not have clean drinking water.
6 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition.
3 billion people live on $2 a day or less. 
80% of the world, nearly 5 1/2 billion people, live on $10 a day or less.

There's more:
2.6 billion people do not have sanitary waste facilities - flushing toilets
1 billion people do not have enough to eat

In America:
45 million Americans live below the poverty line ($16,000 a year for a family of four )
1 out of every 5 children in America lives in poverty
40 million Americans live in households that did not have an adequate supply of food

And I complain because my Internet service isn't fast enough, or that I have to wait in line at the grocery store. 

When things are bad, we complain.  When things are good, we complain because they're never good enough.  As we all prepare for a nice four day weekend - of course, it would be better if it were longer - I would urge everyone to give thanks for everything.  Times are certainly tough.  Economically and personally, we are all battling to deal with great challenges.  We've had to deal with the loss of "things".  We've had to deal with the loss of jobs.  We've had to deal with the loss of loved ones.  In all things, though, there is an opportunity to be thankful. 

When the turkey is finished, the pumpkin pie has been eaten, the dishes have been cleaned and the button on your pants has been undone, take some time to continue to be thankful.  If you have a job, be thankful - there are many people without one right now.  If you are sitting in your warm house watching television, be thankful - there are many people living on the streets.  If you eat a good meal, be thankful - many people go hungry every day.  If you get a glass of water from the tap, be thankful - a good portion of people in the world could only dream of doing that.  If you lose someone close to you, be thankful - thankful that you got to spend time with them at all.

If we as adults can do all of this, we can teach our children more than they can every learn in a book or a classroom.  Our kids live in a world where all they seem to notice is what everyone else has and does.  They focus so much on what they don't have that they fail to appreciate what they do have.  By being good role models each and every day, we can teach them to be optimistic, hopeful, thankful for everything they have, and thankful that they live in a country and community that is filled with opportunities.

Happy Thanksgiving - tomorrow and for the next 364 days!

Thank You, Veterans

Today the students at Woodglen School joined all Americans as we celebrate Veteran's Day.  First known as Armistice Day, a day to commemorate the end of World War I and honored those who served in that war, the day was changed in 1954 to Veteran's Day to honor all American Veterans.

Today, we honor veterans, past and present, celebrating and honoring them for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

Woodglen School's own Mr. George Perasso, a United States Marine, is among the many who have served our nation with honor and valor.  We thank him and all the other brave men and women who served and continue to serve.  They serve for you and me.

Take a moment to watch this video:   "I Fought For You"

Make a Difference

Let's just say that you really didn't have much money.  You decided, though, that there were kids in need so you wanted to adopt.  Instead of taking the cute little babies, you asked for the kids that no one else wanted.  You didn't do it just once, but about 20 times - yes, 20!  Pretty impressive, but...
Despite the fact that you are having trouble paying your bills, you go out every day and provide food for the homeless.  As you get to know the people you serve on a daily basis, you start to provide some clothing and other needs.
You would think that you would deserve some kind of award; maybe the key to the city or a street named after you.  You would think, wouldn't you.

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet JoAnn Tyler.  She doesn't have much money.  She has 3 natural born children and 20 adopted children.  The children she took in were the ones that no one else wanted.
One day when sitting in church, the pastor told the congregation that, "Next year, we are going to feed the homeless."  After wondering why they would wait a year to feed hungry people, JoAnn decided to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for six homeless people in a park in Dover, NJ.  What started as a one time thing, providing a Thanksgiving dinner, turned into a daily occurrence as the people she met explained how hungry they were in the evenings.  JoAnn faithfully returned each day to that park in Dover to feed people and has done so since 2003. 
Since she began providing a bowl of soup and a sandwich to the people she refers to not as homeless, but less fortunate, she has not always reaped the accolades one would expect for such a selfless person.  Her husband left her and took the family car.  She has been given thousands of dollars in summonses from the town of Dover.  She has been threatened by town officials, including the Mayor, to be thrown in jail for taking care of people that no one else wants to take care of.

In 2005, JoAnn Tyler's efforts were recognized by the Russ Bernie Foundation.  She received a $50,000 award for her efforts.  When she got the money, she did not take a vacation, which she certainly deserved; she did not go out and buy new clothes, which I'm sure she would have liked; she didn't get a new TV or iPod or computer.  JoAnn Tyler paid her rent and electric bills, which were past due.  She bought a van so that she could continue to serve food each day, and she spent the rest of the money helping others who needed more than she did.  She wrote a check to a single mom with four kids who was about to be evicted.  She took people to Kmart to buy some clothing.  She bought more soup and more sandwiches to feed hungry unfortunate people.
The Woodglen School Student Council has decided to help JoAnn Tyler "make a difference" for over 60 homeless people living in Dover.  She will be handing out coats on November 13 in JFK Park - the same place she goes each day to feed hungry people.  We have begun collecting coats, socks, flashlights, batteries and other necessities.  The collection runs through November 11.  Please considering helping us to "make a difference" as we help expand the good works of JoAnn Tyler.

If you'd like to help, please check out our Student Council flyer that provides specific needs. 

CYBERBULLYING

We talk a great deal about harassment, bullying and meanness in school.  We have worked with students to help them solve problems with others before little things turn into big things.  Overall, we have been pretty successful at controlling the problems of bullying in our school.  Things are not perfect, they probably never will be perfect, but we continue to work under the premise that one incident of bullying is one too many.

Kids, schools and parents have dealt with bullying for years.  If you went to school you either, a. were treated poorly by someone, b. treated someone poorly or c. saw someone being treated poorly.  Put hundreds of kids in one space for a large amount of time and these things are inevitable.  While many things have stayed the same, things have also changed a great deal since "the good old days" when you were a kid.

Unless you have been a member of a sequestered jury for the past week, you have heard about the incident that took place at Rutgers University.  You can read the story from September 29th's Star Ledger.  http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/hold_new_rutgers_post.html

Two students used a web cam to broadcast a sexual encounter between a male roommate and another male.  The results were tragic.  Freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide after the encounter was broadcast by his roommate over the Internet.  Authorities are still trying to sort out the charges against the two students responsible for the broadcast.  Whatever the law does to these two young people, it will pale in comparison to the fact that they will have to live for the rest of their lives with what they did and the outcome.

The two students responsible for the invasion of privacy were not who most people would picture.  They were strong students.  They came from seemingly solid families.  They grew up in an upper middle class neighborhood.  They attended a good high school.  In fact, they could have been any one of the kids that go to our schools right now.

While their actions on that day were reprehensible, they weren't all that much different than the actions of thousands of young people around the country on any given day.  Young people treat each other poorly every day.  They resort to name-calling, mocking, exclusion, bullying, harassment for a variety of reasons.  They usually don't do these things when authorities (parents and teachers) are around.  They often claim to be "kidding around" when confronted about their inappropriate actions.  The biggest difference between the Tyler Clementi case and most of the rest was the outcome. 

While the actions of the two students who broadcast this sexual encounter were horrible, I would venture to say that neither woke up that morning and thought to themselves, "I'm going to push someone to commit suicide today."  These two students were not horrible monsters, they were normal young people.  These two students were not stupid, they were good students at one of the nations top academic institutions.  They may not have set out to kill someone, but they certainly set out to ridicule someone.  So how does this happen?  How do we prevent it from happening again.  I wish I had all the answers, but I don't.

Kids today have access to technology that is very useful.  It is also very powerful and very dangerous.  We often allow our kids to use these tools with very little guidance and almost no direct instruction.  We hand them cell phones with cameras and Internet access.  We give them smart phones with downloadable "apps," many of which you and I don't even know exist.  We buy them laptop computers with web cams and programs like Skype and ooVoo.  We provide these things, but we often don't take the time to teach them how to use them properly.  We often don't take the time to monitor their usage closely.  Computers and the Internet have taken humiliation to never before seen levels.  What once was local, now is global.  What once was personal and identifiable, is now, for the most part, faceless and anonymous.

What are the answers?  Like I said, I'm not exactly sure.  We have introduced a "Digital Citizenship" course to seventh graders as part of our computer curriculum.  During this marking-period class, students will grapple with issues of privacy, search engines, plagiarism, cybersafety and cyberbullying.  We have aligned what we are doing with the NJ Core Content Standards for technology.  The government is now getting involved with laws specifically aimed at cyberbullying.  Check out this example in an article from Fox News:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/01/rutgers-student-suicide-renews-debate-cyberbullying/.  While passing legislation sounds like a good and reasonable thing to do here, it is not likely to solve the problem.  Haven't there been laws on the books about murder, robbery and assault for years?  None of these problems have disappeared because of legislation against them.

The real solutions lie in the constant effort to teach our children to be more than anything else, decent human beings.  I'd like to say that all children are taught from the very beginning to be kind, caring and sympathetic.  I'd like to say that all children are taught about the importance of caring about and for others.  I'd like to say that all children internalized the lessons that have been taught at home and school.  As a principal, I'd like to say that this is all the parents' fault.  As a parent, I'd like to say that this is all the schools' fault.  As a taxpayer, I'd like to say that this is all the government's fault.  Truth of the matter is it is everyone's fault, or, more appropriately put, it is everyone's responsibility.

As parents and teachers and administrators and citizens, we all shoulder the responsibility of bringing up the next generation.  Our parents and their parents before them faced the same challenge.  I know that everyone says the right things.  All parents tell their children to be nice.  All teachers tell students to be kind.  Everyone tells others to be sympathetic to those in need.  Each year, I meet with students and tell them that the most important rule at Woodglen School is to treat others the way you want to be treated - not necessarily the way they treat you.  This all sounds great, but talk is cheep.

Are we all just talking the talk and not walking the walk?  The examples we set may be subtle.  Do we display the "niceness" we preach when we are driving in our cars, particularly when someone cuts us off?  Are we displaying the "kindness" when we put others down for their views, choices or lifestyles behind their backs?  Are we displaying the "sympathy" when we see others in need and walk by because we are too busy to get involved?  Do I always treat others the way I want to be treated?

The other piece of the puzzle is accountability.  How many times have we tried to justify our own actions when we did not treat someone well.  "He did it to me first," "She deserved it," "They had it coming to them," are all-to-often-heard phrases used to justify actions.  What about when our kids are involved in treating others poorly.  "Well, that kid did something to my kid first."  "My child would never do something like that."  Do those phrases sound familiar?  If we want our children to be nice, to be kind, to be sympathetic and to treat others the way they wish to be treated, it has to be independent of the actions of others.  That being said, I don't want the nice kids to become punching bags or victims.  We have put procedures in place at Woodglen School for positive ways to address meanness, bullying and harassment.  I've explained them many times before, but the focus is on teaching kids to solve problems with others and dealing with problems early - before they get out of control.

What Dahrun Ravi and Molly Wei did to Tyler Clementi was reprehsible.  While many people are looking at this as a bias incident, I look at this more as an anti-human being issue.  Susan Jacoby, in her Washington Post Blog put it this way,  "It is about immoral and amoral cruelty" ...  "and about a culture that prefers to assign responsibility to tools rather than the young people who used them for evil. Yes, evil. As the late Russian poet and Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky once wrote, evil doesn't necessarily announce itself by walking in the door and saying, "Hi, I'm evil." It can just as likely manifest itself in two privileged young people whose bright, white smiles--the best expensive dentistry can provide!--concealed the moral vacuum that led them to use a web cam to torment a vulnerable fellow creature." 

Dahrun Ravi and Molly Wei were probably, when they were in middle school, told to be nice.  They were probably told to be kind.  They were probably urged to have sympathy for others.  They were almost certainly told to treat others the way they wanted to be treated.  What happened?  I'm not sure, I think the message we should all get about bullying and cyberbulling is pretty clear.

1. We need to educate our children about the power, both constructive and destructive, of technology - cell phones, computers, Internet and whatever else is developed down the road.
2. We need to monitor what our children are doing with the technology available to them.  That means that parents and educators need to stay abreast of the latest programs, trends and technologies.  That also means that parents need to spend time keeping tabs of how their kids are using technology.  It is difficult to do and it will take time, but it is crucial.
3. We need to stress the importance of respect and responsibility.  Our kids need to respect others and be responsible for their actions.  With all of the stress put on high stakes standardized testing, AYP, and report cards, we may be leaving out the importance of developing quality human beings who care about others and want to treat others with kindness and respect.  We also need to be sure that kids are aware of the possible ramifications of their actions.  When they fall short of these expectations, we need to let them know about it, and work with them on how to make better decisions.
4. We need to walk the walk.  If we want our kids to treat others well, to be respectful, to be sympathetic, and to care about those in need, we have to do more than talk about it.  We need to live it.

The issues in the Rutgers case are significant - invasion of privacy, anti-gay, suicide.  The issues that your children face every day are no less significant.  They don't wake up in the morning thinking about pushing someone to suicide.  They don't think, if I make fun of someone they may kill themselves.  They don't log onto the computer to humiliate someone in hopes that they will end a life.  Neither did Dahrun Ravi and Molly Wei, two well educated kids from good families in a nice neighborhood, but a young man is still dead.  It could happen to anyone at any time if we lose focus about the importance of being nice, kind and caring people.

Back to School 2010

The 2010-2011 school year is now in full swing.  We welcomed many parents to school on Thursday night for our annual Back to School Night.  Those of you who were here had an opportunity to meet your child's teachers, hear about our curricula and see pictures of the smiling students who are so happy to be back in school (said with tongue in cheek). 

If you were here at the beginning of the night, you heard a little bit about the things going on in the district and school.  You also heard some of our philosophy.  If you weren't here, or maybe were dozing off because I was boring (that's OK, I understand), I'll recap the message.

COMMUNICATION
Most of you have no doubt seen our website.  It is a constantly evolving tool for communication.  We spent a great deal of time developing a site that is useful and easy to use.  Please take time to check out the website if you have not already done so.
Probably the most important feature of the website is the "Notify Me" function where parents can sign up for email updates when content is added.  Parents have the opportunity to choose the information they want sent to their email addresses.  You can get information from PTA, LTEF, community-based organizations and more.  If you want information from these groups, you need to sign up as we are not sending paper home on a regular basis. 
Does your son or daughter participate in a sport? Sign up for calendar updates and you will be notified of schedule changes and, more importantly, weather cancellations.  You can now get text messages sent to your phone if you like.  Just be sure to select the Woodglen Athletics Calendar if you only want texts about sports.
If you are not signed up for automatic notification through our website, go to http://www.lebtwpk8.org/list.aspx right now and get yourself signed up.

RESPECT AND RESPONSIBILITY
This year, we have set a theme of "Respect and Responsibility" for all students.  I meet each year with students to talk about expectations for the upcoming school year.  When I met with students during the first week of school, I explained that throughout the year we would focus on Respect and Responsibility. 
Respect means respecting yourself, respecting others, respecting property, respecting teachers and respecting parents. We take great pride in the climate that has been developed at Woodglen School.  We want it to be one where everyone feels comfortable sharing ideas, working hard and being themselves.  In a time of life when most students are trying to figure out who they are, an atmosphere of respect is crucial to everyone's development.  We don't ask everyone to be friends, that's just not the real world.  We do ask everyone to respect each other, that is what the real world should be.
Responsibility is the other key ingredient to our school climate.  We want students to leave Woodglen prepared for high school and beyond.  Our goal is for them to move along the continuum from little boys and girls who come from elementary school to young people who are ready to succeed in the challenging environment of high school.
Students are encouraged to take responsibility for themselves.  It isn't mom and dad's job to find out when a club or activity meets, its the student's job to listen to announcements.  That's responsible.  All students are given an opportunity to write assignments in their agenda books.  Choosing not to do so and later claiming that they couldn't do the homework because it wasn't posted or the Internet was down is not an option.  That's not taking responsibility for oneself. 
I found it disheartening to hear from fifth and sixth grade teachers that we already have a significant number of students who are not completing homework.  That's not responsible nor is it acceptable.

GRADES:  COMMUNICATION NOT CURRENCY
If I asked what middle school grades mean, I would probably get a variety of answers.  What grades are supposed to be is a standard way to communicate a students achievement in a given subject area.  Unfortunately, what grades have become is a way to evaluate the quality of a child and/or parent.  That is not a good thing.  A student who gets an A is not necessarily any nicer or any better quality of an individual than the student who gets a D.  Too often, though, people like to think, "my kid is a good kid because he or she gets good grades," or, "I'm a bad parent because my kid is struggling in school."  These types of fallacies have led to a situation where grades are more important than learning.
Do you know what an A means to a middle school student?  It doesn't mean that he or she has thoroughly mastered the information and skills presented in the classroom, it means, "I don't have to work any harder than I already am, and, maybe I can work a little less because my parents would be OK with an A- or B+."  That is what happens when grades are used as currency.  "Can I do extra credit to bring my grade up?"  "What does my child need to do to get the extra point to bring that C+ to a B-?"  These are the questions asked when grades are used as currency.  "I get $10 for every A I get."  "You'll be grounded if you don't get all A's and B's."  These are the statements that we hear when grades are used as currency.
Our goal at Woodglen School is for all students to be successful.  Success though, should not be focused on middle school.  If we wanted kids to get A's in middle school, we could put several things in place that could probably accomplish just that.  Unfortunately, those kinds of things are detrimental to students in the long run.  We want students to leave Woodglen prepared for high school and beyond.  What does that mean?  We want them to develop a strong work ethic, one where "just enough" is not enough.  We want them to develop good study and work habits.  Once they get to high school, one high school administrator once put it, everything counts.  Kids can't just start working hard when they get there.  Hard work and good study skills are habits that need to be developed and honed in middle school.  When we focus on that, sometimes kids have to experience some failure and difficulty.  We are here to help them work through that.  We are here to help them develop the habits, learn to be responsible, and become people who will be successful in high school and beyond.

BULLYING AND MEANNESS
I shared the Woodglen philosophy on dealing with bullying - we do all we can NOT to have to deal with it by preventing it.  That means we put great emphasis on stopping meanness, which ultimately leads to bullying behaviors.  Our goal is simple, we don't want to fix students' problems, we want to teach them how to fix their own problems.  At the beginning of each school year, I meet with every student and we talk about how to deal with unacceptable behaviors.  I remind them of what I consider to be the most important rule at Woodglen, "Treat others the way you want to be treated."  I complete the statement with, "which is not necessarily the way they are treating you." 
Students are encouraged to see Mrs. Hinde or me when they are having issues with other students.  They should not wait until the issue is very large and out of control.  I don't want to see students pushed over the edge to the point where they are using foul language, threats, or getting physical.  If students are having a problem with someone, we want to teach them how to resolve the issue.  Too many people, adults included, avoid issues until they are out of control.  That is what leads to bullying.  We bring kids together to talk in an effort to solve problems.
If your son or daughter comes home and tells you that they are having trouble in school, on the playground or on the bus, encourage them to see Mrs. Hinde so that she can help them fix the situation - not fix it for them.  If we are on the same page with this, the program works much better so I would ask for your support.

Woodglen School is a great school with great kids, great teachers and great parents.  I feel blessed to be able to work in a genuinely nice and supportive community.  I know that we all share the same goals, to work with children to make them good and successful people.  Working together I believe that we can do just that.

If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at school.