Week 25 at Scott Carpenter Middle School

What a wonderfully silly week we had at Scott Carpenter! Last week we explore the "Why" of why we get upset, stressed or hurt through a series of discussions. This week, we explored the "How." We learned all about Emotional Trolls which are the ways we react in unhealthy ways when we are upset. We also learned about Emotional Superheros, which is how we react in healthy ways when we are upset. On Tuesday the students had a class competition where they had to match each emo-troll with the correct behavior, why they act that way and the negative outcomes.

On Wednesday we played a review game about Emo-trolls and the students had to listen to a scenario where someone was acting out in an unhealthy way and then guess which Emo-Troll it was. Then we talked about Emo-Superheros and the students had to create a project that showed them as an Emo-Troll and as an Emo-Superhero. This activity gave students a chance to explore what helps them calm down and what they need to react to situations in a healthy way.

On this day we also did an activity where brave students got up and said a very important to our time song lyric in the voice of their Emo-Troll. See videos below! Thursday we had a great day doing a station version of our tutoring day. Students rotated between working on a grammar website, math website, checking their missing work on empower/ setting a goal for Low-Mass areas, and working on missing work. Every 8 minutes students rotated and this seemed to keep them focused and on task! On Friday we had a bit of a weird day because the 6th graders had a special event but the mentors had a great time bonding with each other!

Week 24 at Scott Carpenter

During the week of love here at Scott Carpenter, we got quite a bit done. We finished up our mini section on Belief Systems, and all the students got to present their final projects. They each had to come up to the front of the class and talk about their piece, which yet again was filled with hiding faces and giggles. This time students did significantly better standing in front of their peers and sharing their future goals, and I am incredibly proud of them.

 On Wednesday students were introduced to Hot Buttons and explored what makes them angry, what is at the root of that anger, and how do we calm ourselves down. We also had parent-teacher conferences this week, and it was so great to meet the parents of all the excellent students I get to interact with. Friday I was out town, but hopefully, the students had a great Fun Friday! I also wanted to share a video that all the teachers were asked to make. The theme was "What is your Why?"

Week 23 at Scott Carpenter

This week at Scott Carpenter we dove deep into our limiting beliefs and how to change them into empowering beliefs. On Monday the Mentors explored how much they really know about their Mentees and brainstormed questions they could ask to get to know them better throughout the week. On Tuesday we played a game where the students explored the limiting belief cycle and then had to create their own cycle based on a limiting belief they held about themselves. This activity was challenging for some as they really had to evaluate their own lives and actions. On Wednesday the students were introduced to the concept of Ubuntu, which is a South African concept that values community and compassion on a profound level. The students watched a video about the topic, link below if you would like to know more, and then came up with ways to use the concept in our classroom. This concept has already changed classes because whenever I see something that isn't compassionate, that isn't building trust or community in the classroom, I turn to the student or students and say, "Is this how we practice Ubuntu in our classroom?" The answer has repeatedly been, "No Miss, I'm sorry."

On Wednesday we also started our "pull it all together" projects, and from what I saw the next couple of days the projects will be unique and beautiful! On Thursday there were quite a few students missing due to the snow but we tried having our tutoring day later in the week this week and I think the students will utilize this time more efficiently throughout the year. On Friday we had a jam-packed day. First, we played a game called shipwreck where the teams had to knock over other teams pins to sink their ship. This game worked on communication, teamwork, and strategy. Mostly because once you get down to one pin an entire team would be guarding it, you really had to work together and sometimes with other teams! Then we played the cup game from Shaw Heights, thanks Megan, and we could only play it once, for three minutes, because Scott Carpenter kids get tired fast! After that, we played a new version of red light, green light where the Stoplight is a member of the opposite team. This game challenged the students to pay attention to each other and work together to get to the end before the other team. We ended the day with an all-class basketball game in which lots of laughter, traveling and missed baskets occurred.

         Ubuntu Video

Week 22 at Scott Carpenter

We had a great week here at Scott Carpenter Middle School! On Monday the skies above opened up and revealed an unexpected amount of snow which inspired a lot of students and families to stay home and enjoy each others company. On Tuesday we worked on finding a word that inspired us to be better throughout the school year, and the students loved doing a small art project and showing their creativity! Thank you Megan for this great activity!


















 On Wednesday and Thursday, we talked further about belief systems and dove into Empowering and Limiting Beliefs and how they help or hurt us. The students had to read various articles about beliefs and then create a poster that would help them teach the rest of the class about their material. Overall the presentations were a fun experience to help students work on literacy skills, teamwork, and public speaking. I do believe we will be doing more public speaking activities as some of the students either hid behind their posters or talked to the whiteboard instead of their classmates! It was adorable.



















 On Friday we had fun in the gym playing crab ball, soccer and scatter ball. Don't know what crab ball is? It is like soccer but below a student demonstrates how you have to "walk."