middle school open house

Last Thursday was SJ's Open House at his middle school. Initially, I did not think I would be able to go. Bob had a scheduled junior varsity soccer game at the same time, so my husband was going to go to the Open House. Fortunately (not for Bob), his game got cancelled, so I was able to go. I was so excited to go since it is a brand new building. It is beautiful, state-of-the-art and air-conditioned!


When you attend these Open Houses, they are very different from the elementary schools. First, the student does not attend. Second, you follow your child's schedule as if it was a regular school day. The teacher explains the class in general. There is no individual discussions about your child. You get about 8 minutes in each class with a few minutes in between for travel time.


SJ's homeroom/first period is Communications with Mr. Turtle. Bob enjoyed this teacher last year, so I have a feeling SJ will as well. Second period is Social Studies with Mr. Eastwood. Bob had him in 7th grade and he was one of his favorite teachers. Third period is Science with Mr. Beeker. He and Mr. Eastwood seem to be so excited about the subject that they teach that they made me miss school (well, only for a second). Mr. Beeker conducted two quick experiments while we were in his room. Very exciting.


Fourth period is either Industrial Tech (shop class if you went to school before the Millennium) or Art. Both teachers, Mr. Wood and Mrs. Thomas, explained their classes in half the time that the full period teachers got. I am sure SJ will enjoy both of these classes. Fifth period is Computer Concepts with Mrs. Chip or Gym with Mrs. Cali. I only went to the Computer Concepts class, since Mrs. Cali was not in attendance. SJ had Mrs. Chip last year for Keyboarding, so he is already very comfortable with her. He also already had Mrs. Cali last year as well.


Sixth period is lunch for SJ. The cafeteria was so modern and clean looking. It reminded me of a cafeteria that you would see in a sitcom. Seventh period is Study Skills with Mrs. Cram. Since I thought SJ was the only student in her class (I later found out there is another 8th grader with him now), I could actually talk to her about SJ. She seemed very pleased with how he was working with her. She told me she has been doing some connect the dots puzzles that had a lot of numbers (more than 500). She said he really enjoyed them. When she asked me about his interest, I told her he loved puzzles, pointillism and comics. She was going to try to incorporate them in the Study Skills class. She also said he was working well with the other student. That was great to hear!


SJ's last two periods of the day of actual classes are both co-taught classes. I love the co-taught classes. To begin with, they are smaller. With the extra teacher on hand, the students gets a much more individualized experience. That is hugely beneficial to students who struggle. In eighth period, SJ has Pre-Algebra with both Mr.Timmers (learning support teacher) and Mrs. Gent. Bob had Mrs. Gent for both Algebra 1 and 2, so I am very familiar with her. SJ had Mr. Timmers (love him) last year for general math. Mrs. Gent asked me about Bob and told me that the boys are very different. She said she has enjoyed having him in class so far this year. Glad to hear!  Ninth period is English that is co-taught by Mrs. Hazelnut (learning support teacher) and Mrs. Trundle. Bob never had Mrs. Trundle, but I knew her from working with her children in kindergarten. SJ had Mrs. Hazelnut last year in his co-taught Reading and English classes. She is very bubbly, but can be stern and keeps the students focused. Mrs. Trundle told me that SJ has been keeping her on her toes. She forgot to put something on the board the other day and he was the first one to point it out. She said he is very conscientious!

At the end of the day during tenth period, SJ has a study hall for this nine weeks. During other nine weeks, he will have electives. He is scheduled for either TV Media, Competitive Edge (gym class) or Computer Programming.

8th grade tutoring #1

Two Mondays ago, SJ had his first after school tutoring session as an eighth grader. Mrs. Banks got to our house at 3:30 to begin their session. My husband was out of town, so he was responsible for letting her in. I was a little concerned that he would forget, but luckily he did not. Mrs. Banks reported that he was ready for her when she got there.


They continued reading "The Wayside School is Falling Down". Mrs. Banks said that SJ did a great job. She told me that he ate his snack while they read a couple of chapters.  After they finished their reading, they worked on tricky puzzle that went along with the story. She said he was very cooperative.


I thanked her for giving me such a nice report. I am hoping that he will continue to be cooperative as the year goes on.

first day of eighth grade

Last Tuesday was SJ's and Bob's first day of school. Bob moved up to the high school, which has ninth through twelfth grades.  Normally, SJ would have stayed in the junior high for eighth grade, but our district was building a brand new middle school. That building will now be home to our sixth through eighth graders. Bob was a little jealous that SJ was getting to go to such a nice, new school (with air conditioning to boot!), but SJ will only be there for one year.


When my husband took him to orientation, he did have one fairly noticeable meltdown. He got very upset over the fact that he was assigned to Bus Group 2 instead of Bus Group 1. Why would this simple fact make SJ lose it in the middle of the orientation? Your guess is as good as ours. My husband was embarrassed that our 13 year old would burst into tears over a 5 minute wait between bus groups. When these situations happen, it is like a bomb goes off in SJ. They are not reasonable or rational and they are never fun. This is when his uniqueness (and not the positive uniqueness) becomes a flashing light in a dark hall.


My husband dropped SJ off at home and joined me at Bob's Spirit Night. He told me all about the tantrum and how frustrating it was. When I returned home with Bob, I told SJ that his behavior was unacceptable. I also told him that I would take his phone for a week the next time he had a meltdown like that. Hopefully, that is enough to keep his emotions in check.


Usually first days are tough for SJ. This year, we didn't have any of last year's anxieties over SJ going to school. He wouldn't be riding a bus for the first time, he wouldn't be using a locker for the first time and he wouldn't have to change clothes for gym for the first time. My husband said he seemed fairly relaxed that morning when he walked to the bus stop (this was the first year I missed it, since I have a full time job now).  I was a little concerned about the lunch situation, but that can be stressful for all kids.  And I was especially worried that he would tantrum again over being in Bus Group 2.


When he got home, my husband asked him how his day went. His only comment was that he was the only student in Study Skills (a guided study hall). I asked my husband if he mentioned the Bus Group or lunch. "No, he only was upset that he was the only kid in study skills and has it in the sixth grade wing," said my husband.   I got home an hour later. I questioned SJ about lunch. He was excited about who he was sitting with, so that was a bonus. Should I ask about bus group? Nah, I better just let it end on a good note.