The 2017-2018 School Year Has Begun
Dear Nichols Middle School Community,
I always look at last year's posts to see what might be coming up and what I need information on to post. Last year, I made a post after our 7th day to say that we had finished our first full cycle of A through G day here at Nichols.
It is definitely a symbolic time-stamp to know that all Nichols' community members including the students, teachers, faculty, and staff are well into realizing that the new school year has begun.
I can say that now after Day 10, we are there! This school year is in Full-Swing.
The students have gone to all of their academic classes (Math, Science, Social Studies, ELA, and our other ELA[2] course of Read Your World [Gr.6], Journalism and the Media [Gr.7], and 21st Century Learning [Gr.8]) as well as their Unified Arts classes (with either Art, Health, or STEM, and Physical Education, Fitness, Technology, and Music [including Chorus, Band, and Orchestra]) for more than a full cycle.
The students have begun to see the resource of the DIAL periods (Differentiated Instruction And Learning) as something that is established to support them in their learning either through remediation, support, or enrichment. Or as most of the grades have done, as a place to introduce their students to having a growth mindset, introduce them to Team/Cluster expectations, or getting to know their 1:1 Chromebook; it is where everyone can learn and achieve.
The students have gone to all of their academic classes (Math, Science, Social Studies, ELA, and our other ELA[2] course of Read Your World [Gr.6], Journalism and the Media [Gr.7], and 21st Century Learning [Gr.8]) as well as their Unified Arts classes (with either Art, Health, or STEM, and Physical Education, Fitness, Technology, and Music [including Chorus, Band, and Orchestra]) for more than a full cycle.
The students have begun to see the resource of the DIAL periods (Differentiated Instruction And Learning) as something that is established to support them in their learning either through remediation, support, or enrichment. Or as most of the grades have done, as a place to introduce their students to having a growth mindset, introduce them to Team/Cluster expectations, or getting to know their 1:1 Chromebook; it is where everyone can learn and achieve.
Our teachers, staff, and administrators have also used these first few days to establish and grow a positive culture here at NMS, where we show how we are true T.I.G.E.R.S. We display how we are Trustworthy; how we have Integrity; how we are Generous; how we show Empathy; how we can be Respectful in all situations and with all people; and how we are Strong.
Being TIGERS is at the heart of everything we do as Nichols Middle School community. Our teachers in many DIAL periods so far are getting our students to understand what each of these Core Values means to being TIGERS at 6th grade, 7th, and 8th, for they are a little different in each grade level, but our overall work in these values will have an unbelievable impact on our overall school culture.
The school year has definitely begun.
These last couple of years, we as a school wanted to outwardly display to our students and the community that our relationships with them are of the utmost importance to us. To that, we have our #PositiveSignThursday where Ms. Rae, Mr. Thomas, and I show the students how excited we are for them to be here. It has been a great way for us to start our day, and we hope for our students to see that we care about them.
During the first day of school, Ms. Rae, Mr. Thomas, and I were able to meet with each of the classes as a full grade in the auditorium. There we explained to them our school’s mission and where we see us taking the students not only during this school year but during their whole time with us. In essence, our mission is to make them the best students they can be. Everything we do is geared towards this mission of making them successful.
When I spoke with the classes, I talked about how for many years the emphasis in schools has been on the "3 R’s" of Reading , wRiting and aRithmetic. We certainly will continue to recognize the importance of this educational foundation by increasing students’ understanding of and interest in all of their academic subjects. But we stressed to them that we were going to focus on “3 other R’s.” Today, learners also need to master the "3 R’s" of Responsibility, Respect, and Reputation in order to be successful life long learners. It is these 3 R’s which will enable them to have access to our mission to make them the best students they can be in school and in life.
In relation to our mission, I have ended every morning announcement for them to “Do the best you can in everything you do today.” If they do their part in doing their best, and we as a school do our best, only great things can and will happen.
Again, most of the teachers are set-up in this manner, but some may have a different variation, so you can check here to make sure: Staff Email Listing on District MPS Website. This is the spot where you will select on the drop-down list, our school, NMS, and it will list all of our teachers in alphabetical order, or enter the name of the teacher and it will find that person for you.
Some news and notes:
Please make sure you sign up for email updates when this blog is updated. The spot is in the right hand column to enter your email address.
Also, you can check the @JTNicholsMS Twitter feed, which will post many of the news and notes of NMS or Daily Announcements about Clubs and Activities and also may have some pictures from the day of learning.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the school year; the students here at NMS seem to be falling into a great routine for their own learning and, in turn, their success.
Thanks,
M R Geoghegan
