In the Middle
November News from Dakota Meadows Middle School
Veteran's Day Program - November 10th
15 Questions to Replace "How Was School Today?"
15 Questions to Replace “How Was School Today?”
These questions will help you draw out important information from your kids.
(This article was found on Edutopia on October 27, 2016)
How many times have you asked your child, “How was school today?” and been frustrated by the lack of response? As a parent, I’m guilty of asking my son this question all the time, even though I usually don’t get much in return.
Sometimes (to be honest), I haven’t had the energy for a real conversation. Other times, I just can’t think of what to ask. As a teacher, I have often wished that kids would share stories of the awesome things we were doing with their parents, but I couldn’t figure out how to make that happen.
Now that my son is in middle school—where communication from teachers is less than it was when he was in elementary school and more stuff is happening at school that I need to be aware of—I’ve identified a list of questions that draw out important information. I wish that when I was in the classroom I’d been able to offer this list to parents so that they could hear about what we were doing in our class.
The Questions
With slight wording modifications, these questions can work with children of all ages:
- Tell me about a moment today when you felt excited about what you were learning.
- Tell me about a moment in class when you felt confused.
- Think about what you learned and did in school today. What’s something you’d like to know more about? What’s a question you have that came from your learning today?
- Were there any moments today when you felt worried? When you felt scared?
- Were there any times today when you felt disrespected by anyone? Tell me about those moments.
- Were there times today when you felt that one of your classmates demonstrated care for you?
- Were there any moments today when you felt proud of yourself?
- Tell me about a conversation you had with a classmate or friend that you enjoyed.
- What was challenging about your day?
- What do you appreciate about your day?
- What did you learn about yourself today?
- Is there anything that you’d like to talk about that I might be able to help you figure out?
- Is there anything you’re worried about?
- What are you looking forward to tomorrow?
- Is there a question you wish I’d ask you about your day?
Tips for Asking Questions
How and when we ask these questions makes a big difference in the information we receive from our kids. First, you don’t want to ask all of these questions on the same day. You might ask one or two. After a while, you’ll figure out which ones elicit the most meaningful responses. You’ll want to ask during a time when you have the ability to focus so that your child feels they have your full attention. With my child—and in my household—dinner and driving in the car are optimal times for these conversations.
Now these conversations have become routine. My son knows that when we drive to school I’ll ask him what he’s looking forward to, if there’s anything he’s worried about, and if there’s anything he wants to talk about with me that I might be able to help him figure out.
More Suggestions
The following can help your conversations be positive and powerful:
- Don’t interrupt. This is a good rule for any conversation, but especially if you want to get a lot of information out of a kid.
- Ask for more. Simply say, “I’d love to hear more about that...” Or, “Can you expand on that a little?”
- Ask about feelings. After a child describes an experience, ask, “How did you feel in that moment? What did you notice about your feelings?”
- Validate feelings. Whatever your kid feels is normal and okay. Let them know that. Feelings are okay. Tell them this.
- Tell them it’s not okay for teachers or kids to be unkind or mean. If they tell you a story about a teacher who yelled or disrespected them (regardless of what they said or did) let them know that it’s not okay for an adult to treat them that way. Same goes for how they are treated by other children.
- Thank them for sharing with you. Always appreciate their honesty and willingness to share the highlights and bright spots, as well as the difficult moments. This will fuel their confidence in telling you more.
What questions bring about the most conversation between you and your kids?
Stuff-A-Truck Success!
A big thank you to all the students and families for the donations of food and other items for our Stuff-A-Truck campaign. DMMS Student Council members collected the food from all of the classrooms and organized it for pick-up. Here were the Advisory winners:
Sixth Grade
Ms. Baumann 1st BINGO Pizza Party
Mrs. Hasse 2nd BINGO Movie Day Popcorn/Puffcorn
Mr. Duis 1st 57 Items Pizza Party
Ms. Van Baak 2nd 52 Items Movie Day Popcorn/Puffcorn
Seventh Grade
Mr. Broze 1st BINGO Pizza Party
No 2nd Place
Mr. Broze 1st 148 Items Pizza Party
Mrs. Healy/Mr. Mueller 2nd 55 items Movie Day Popcorn/Puffcorn
Eighth Grade
Ms. Petersen 1st BINGO Pizza Party
Mr. Smith 2nd BINGO Movie Day Popcorn/Puffcorn
Ms. Stow 1st 91 Items Pizza Party
Mr. Smith 2nd 75 Items Movie Day Popcorn/Puffcorn
Fall Student-led Conferences
6th Grade - 93%
7th Grade - 93.6%
8th Grade - 92%
We also appreciate the families who purchased items at the Scholastic Book Fair. We were able to purchase new books for the DMMS Lunch Book Clubs and many new titles for the media center.
Project for Teens Visits DMMS
Throughout the year P4T students from West High School have visited DMMS Health classes.
Goals:
- Promote healthy/responsible decision-making among younger age peers
- Provide accurate information about risks associated with teen sexual activity
- Support the “norm” that it is OK to say “no” to early sexual involvement
- Teach communication skills – including negotiation and refusal skills – that younger students can apply in “risky” situations
What We Do?
P4T is a volunteer peer education/service learning program involving 130 students representing five local high schools. Each year, students are trained as peer leaders and are provided with information and tools to address audiences in lower grade levels (5th and 8th grade students) with messages that promote healthy decision-making around youth risk behaviors.
What are you thankful for...
"I am thankful for friends, family and that my family gives me a home and a bed to sleep in."~ Fiona A.
"I am thankful for a great education and a school to go to. I also am thankful for great teachers and great friends."~~ Brooke S.
"I am thankful for family and friends and the opportunity to work with great staff and students." ~~ Mrs. Strahan
"I am thankful for sports, lunch and I am sometimes thankful for my sisters." ~~ Muhammad
" I am thankful for friends, family, a house to sleep in, food to eat, a good education everyday." ~~ Julia J.
"I am thankful for each and everyday I get to enjoy and my job, kids and family." Mrs. Hasse
"I am thankful for great students in my classes everyday and my family." Mr. Broze
"I am thankful for home and family." Quiana B.
Chromebook Reminders
Best practices to prevent damages on the Chromebook:
ALWAYS carry the Chromebook in your carrying case
Keep the carrying case zipped up
Carry only the Chromebook in the district provided bag
Do not put the Chromebook in a backpack
Do not attempt to clean your Chromebook with cleaning products
Keep liquids away from your device
Charge your device in a safe location where it will not fall off of something
When charging be aware of the cord location so others do not trip on the cord
Always travel with the power cord in the extra pouch
Reminders about Latex and Fragrances
Latex and Fragrances
Our sites have been designated as “Latex Limited” and “Fragrance Aware” by our District Safety Committee and Indoor Air Quality Team.
“Latex Limited” means that we will not have any latex gloves or latex balloons in our buildings. Gloves and balloons are sources of latex that can easily get into the air and cause allergic reactions in students and staff who are known to have a life threatening allergies to latex based products.
“Fragrance Aware” means that we will try to have a fragrance and scent free environment.
Exposure to fragrances and scents can cause some of our staff and students to experience upper respiratory irritation, asthma, headaches and other symptoms. Sources of fragrances and scents include perfume, cologne, aftershave, hairsprays and body lotions. Everyone is encouraged to use personal products that are low odor to reduce potential allergic reactions.
Penny Wars
Dakota Meadows Student Council will be running Penny Wars to help generate money for the Mankato Sharing Tree. Typically the money collected during the Penny Wars helps to fill 50+ Sharing Tree cards.
Each advisory is asked to collect pennies and fill the container in the advisory classroom.
Positive points are earned for each penny brought in, but nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars are negative points. Students can give other advisories negative points by dropping change other than pennies in their containers. It’s that simple! Containers can’t be hidden in rooms. This is meant to be a fun advisory activity to generate money for a very worthy cause in our community.
Dates to Remember
December 1 - DMMS Choirs Holiday Concert - 7:00 p.m. - West High Auditorium
December 5 - DMMS Band & Orchestra Holiday Concert - Grade 6 - 6:00 p.m.
DMMS Band & Orchestra Holiday Concert - Grades 7 & 8 - 8:00 p.m.
West High School Auditorium
December 13 - Two hour late start
December 14 - Knowledge Bowl - Regional - 8:00 - 1:30 - Hosanna Church, Mankato
December 23 - January 2 - Winter Break - NO SCHOOL
Dakota Meadows Middle School
Assuring learning excellence and readiness for a changing world.
DMMS PRIDE
Preparedness - BE READY!
Respect - BE KIND!
Integrity - BE HONEST!
Determination - BE BRAVE!
Excellence - BE YOU!
Website: http://www.dms.isd77.org/
Location: 1900 Howard Drive West, North Mankato, MN, United States
Phone: 507-387-5077