Spartan Gazette
May 2018
Indian Mound Middle School
Building Administrative Assistant: Gina Pili / pilig@mcfsd.org
Attendance Line: 608-838-8980
Fax: 608-838-4588
Email: TarnutA@mcfsd.org
Website: http://www.mcfarland.k12.wi.us/schools/middle/
Phone: 608-838-8980
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Indian-Mound-Middle-School-McFarland-WI-204736889672509/
Twitter: @ATarnutzer
May Highlights from Mr. Jondle - Things Kids Want
‘Things Kids Want!”
Throughout the years, for some reason, students, particularly middle level adolescents, have been labeled as “challenging, lazy, unmotivated, and loud” by much of society. What I have found is that working with middle school students involves the implementation of the simple “Golden Rule” of treating these fine youth how we, as adults, would want to be treated. For May’s newsletter [as has been my tradition in previous years], I wanted to share twelve simple ideas to live by when working with your child as well as share with all of you what we are doing this month at Indian Mound Middle School that connects with Angela Maiers, an Educational Consultant who has written two books, The Passion Driven Classroom and Classroom Habitudes.
1. Greet me each day: “Wish me good morning, and send me off with a “See ya tomorrow.” This month, as with every month at Indian Mound Middle School [IMMS], our staff will continue to be in the hallways, at lunch/recess, and in other locations to greet our students. Mr. Tarnutzer and I continue to remind staff the importance of making those priceless connections with students each and every day. In addition, I have made the conscious effort to be out and about in the IMMS parking lot as well as on the bike path at the end of the day [as often as my schedule allows for!] to send off the students to their next activity, and to also greet each of you!
2. Smile: “When you look at me, let me see happiness in your eyes.” This month, we have a number of opportunities for staff to interact with students in and out of the classroom.
This month, we will have a “Staff vs. Student” basketball game on Friday, May 11 starting at 2:45pm. Please note that this will be at the McFarland High School Gym due to IMMS Gymnasium construction! In addition, we will also begin signing up for the End of the Year Trip, planning will continue for Eighth Grade Recognition Night, and a number of concerts, performance assessment activities, and recognitions of positive interactions displayed by students all happening this lively month of May. Specific dates include:
May 1-End of the Year Trip Permission Slips are sent out.
May 2-Sixth Grade Aluminum Can Collection from 7:30am -8:00am at the end of the driveway of IMMS
May 4-IMMS Student of the Month Assembly starting at 8:15am at IMMS.
May 8-End of the Year Trip Permission Slips and money are due.
May 10-Sixth Grade Market Day at 2:40pm
May 10-Seventh and Eighth Grade Band Concerts at 7:00pm at the MHS Auditorium.
May 11: Seventh Grade Students to Aztalan
May 11: “Staff vs. Student” basketball game on Friday, May 11 starting at 2:45pm.
May 14-Sixth and Seventh Grade [including Fifth Grade] Orchestra Concert at 7:00pm at the MHS Auditorium
May 17-Eighth Grade [including High School Orchestra] Strings Concert at 7:30pm at the MHS Auditorium
May 22-Choir Concert at 7:00pm at the MHS Auditorium.
May 24-Sixth Grade Market Day at 2:35pm.
May 27: Memorial Day Parade at 12:00pm.
May 31-Sixth Grade Band Concert-7:00pm at the MHS Auditorium.
3. Give me your attention: “Sit and talk with me privately; even if only for a second.” As part of our continued “Positive Behavior Intervention and Support” implementation, we have continued to implement a second tier of interventions for students. We have implemented, tracked, and continue to assess the effectiveness of a “Check-In, Check-Out” system as well as our formal mentoring program for students who may exhibit a need for extra support and care. This intervention will continue to grow in its effectiveness as we continue to work through this process and analyze the data associated with this intervention. We also continue to use restorative practices when working with students when they may make a mistake.
4. Imagine with me. “Help me dream of things I might be able to do; not just the things I need to do now.” Throughout the year, eighth grade students have met with Mr. Jim Kramer, the Eighth Grade Guidance Counselor and Tech Tools Instrutor, to complete a career project to dream for the future! This serves as a valuable avenue for students to begin to think about their future and the pathway to get to that point.
5. Give me challenging content and assignments. “Show me how to handle it. Teach me what to do.” We continue to strive towards creating learning environments that challenge students and provide relevant learning to occur. Specifically, the McFarland Learning Community, will continue our professional growth as we continually are working on the alignment of our curriculums both vertically [grade level to grade level] and horizontally [from teacher to teacher in the same grade level], assessing the quality and effectiveness of our classroom assessments [tests, quizzes, projects, etc.] and reflecting on how these may be improved with a common structure across grade levels. Staff will also be reviewing their professional goals for the year as well as the growth students have made throughout the year. Finally, not only do we teach content, we also teach behavior at IMMS. I have had the opportunity to work with students everyday helping them reflect on, and learn from, their decisions that may have been made. During these discussions, I work with students to understand how their choices affected others, and also how they can “repair the harm” with those who were affected. In addition, the PBIS [Positive Behavior Intervention and Support] Team has begun planning for next year’s school year about ways that we can continue to teach and assess the IMMS expectations to our students as they return to school for the 2018-2019 school year!
6. Ask about me. “Inquire about my weekend, the game I played, the places I go. It shows you care about my life.” I am pleased to say that, as mentioned earlier, we at IMMS, continue to engage in conversations with students in the hallway, check in with students in the morning and afternoon, interact with them at lunch and recess, and are visible in the hallways before, during, and after school. This will continue as we move throughout May and June!
7. Let me have time. “Time to let things sink in. Time to think. Time to reflect, process, and play.” As you know, this year, we continue using a modified block schedule in which students have had the opportunity to have extended time for math and language arts. We will continue to assess this schedule with the longer math block, seeing what went well, assessing how this has increased student achievement [which it has!], and looking for ways to continue to improve. On another note, students will have time to “play” as we have the PE track meets occurring at the end of the month on the following days:
May 8-Sixth Grade
May 9-Seventh Grade
May 10-Eighth Grade
8. Demand of me. “Hold me accountable to high standards. Don’t let me get away with what you know I am capable of doing better.” We as an IMMS Staff, continue to assess the current “Conduct and Effort Rubric” that we use to assess student behavior and effort each quarter. We continue to discuss as a staff, ways to improve this rubric, increase its clarity, as well as ways to provide more timely feedback to students and families regarding student conduct and effort.
9. Notice Me. “Leave special messages in my desk or locker. Just a quick note that says you notice something right.” Our Student of the Month [SOM] assembly will occur on Friday, May 4, starting at 8:15am to recognize students who consistently live out the “We ARRE Spartans” motto. As always, we continue to take pride in also recognizing students who consistently exhibit positive behavior through our “scratch-offs” given out to students as well as “Positive Behavior Referrals” which are also sent out by IMMS Staff to students who have exhibited positive behavior through their achievement, respect, responsibility, or empathy. During the Second Semester, IMMS Staff have written 188 Positive Behavior Referrals!
10. Let me ask the questions. “Even if they are off topic. It will show that I am thinking about new perspectives, curious, and willing to learn more. Let me have the chance to show what I am wondering about, not just what I know.” This month, there are a number of interesting projects and performance assessments occurring in your child’s classroom. In addition, we continue to work on curriculum that encourages student questioning [inquiry], critical thinking, as well as effective questioning provided by staff to engage students.
11. Engage me. “I came to you in love with learning, keep me excited, keep me wanting more.”
12. Trust me. “Believe that I can do it. Allow me the chance. I promise to show you I can.”
The last two statements I felt were ones that we have done all year long and will continue to do. I know that we remain committed to improving, but I am confident that at IMMS, we offer to our students [and your children] the support, opportunities, and reinforcement that they need and desire. The month of May will be an exciting month and a month that will be one to remember. I am confident that while we strive for continuous growth, our heart lies in the right spot and that we continue to succeed in offering to students “what they want”!
Thank you so much for sharing your child with us this year!
Warmly,
Brett Jondle
Student of the Month
The Students recognized are:
6th Grade: Landon Mrowiec, Shania Holden, Mallory Paugel, Hailey Testolin,
Ray Wheaten, Sean Pritchard, Cassidy Miller, Ryan Ertel, Marissa Hueffner, Ben Kopp and Chloe Bexson
7th Grade: Liam Baumgarten, Nathan Dant, Rowan Krenz, Molly Bailey, Micah Pribbenow, Gwen Crull, Stellan Kilpatrick, Sarah Newman and Cristiano Medina.
8th Grade: Ellie Kregness, Rebecca Coffey, Shelby Ferrell, Julia Spilling, Ciera Vind, Molly Warner, Jaelyn White and Quinn Phillips.
McFarland Youth Center Award: Kailee Hadley
Library Matters
May is a busy time in the IMMS library. Students are researching and reading nonfiction. Here are a few things to remember:
All books are due on Wednesday, May 30
In order to participate in the end of the year field trips, all fines and lost library materials must be cleared from your child’s library record by May 30. These include library materials still checked out from WIS.
Please pay fines and lost materials with cash. The library is not able to cash checks.
Please help your child keep track of their library books at this time of the year.
You may ask your student to log into their Destiny account to see what they need to return. This can be done from their iPad through the Discover app. This can also be done from any computer with Internet access.
To encourage our students to keep reading great books over the summer months, we will again be offering a summer check out program. We will offer current sixth and seventh grade students the opportunity to check out a bag of books for the summer. Please see the explanation and permission slip for information. Permission slips are due May 22.
Our Flipster digital magazines, eBooks and Audiobooks will also be available all summer through Destiny Discover and the Flipster app. You can access them through any mobile device or computer.
Please direct any questions to Ms. Neal at 838-4575. Information is also available on the library website.
Food Club - Veggie Explosion Recipe
Veggie Explosion
This dish is rice with an explosion of colorful veggies. Vegetables are sauteed in an Asian marinade.
Yield: 8 servings
Serving size: 3 cups
Preparation time: 45 minutes, Cooking time: 35 minutes
255 calories per serving
9cups cookedRice 4cups choppedBok Choy 1/2tspSalt 3mediumSweet Peppers-red, yellow, orange 1cupCarrots 2eachRoma Tomatoes 1cup choppedKale 1mediumYellow Onion 1cloveGarlic Marinade 1TblCorn Starch 1 1/2TblBrown Sugar 1 1/2tspFresh ginger 1large cloveGarlic 1/4cupSoy Sauce 2TblCider Vinegar 1/4cupWater 1TblHoisin Sauce
Directions:
Cook rice using instructions on package. Wash vegetables.
Chop bok choy, peppers, carrots, kale and tomatoes.
Dice onions, mince garlic.
Prepare marinade, mixing all ingredients together.
Heat large pan to medium high. Add marinade, bok choy and carrots to pan and saute about 5 minutes until they are crisp tender.
Reserve a small amount of the kale for garnish.
Add the kale, peppers, onions and garlic to the pan. Cook 3-5 minutes.
Add tomatoes last and cook until heated.
Plate the rice and spoon vegetables over the top.
Garnish with kale, serve.
Sewing Machines Available
Good Friends Group - Autism Awareness
First Bell - 8:03pm
Tardy Bell - 8:10pm
Dismissal Bell: 3:34pm
McFarland Youth Center - May News
This month McFarland Youth Center youth have been busy creating key chains and choose your own creations in our 3D printing club. See below for key events for the month of May.
Key Dates and Closings:
Wednesday, May 9th: 5th grade day (Open to 5th graders only)
Friday, May 18th: McFarland Youth Center Fundraiser dance at IMMS (MYC building will be closed) 3:45 pm - 4:30 pm
Friday, May 25th: MYC Closed (no school)
Monday May 28th: MYC Closed (no school)
Wednesday, May 30th: MYC Family Potluck 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Tuesdays, May 1st and 29th: Girls Group 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Thursdays, May 3rd and 31st: Boys Group 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
MYC is open Monday to Friday; 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm during the school year.
MYC is open Monday to Friday; 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm throughout the summer and on non-school days. **Hours tentative please check calendar.
Thank you and as always, please don't hesitate to call or email with any questions or concerns.
McFarland Youth Center is a FREE non-profit 501C (3) open to all youth of middle school age (6th, 7th and 8th grades).