Ms. Green / Science

A GYNORMOUS thank you!

6/3/09

AWESOME PAISANO PARENTS,

I truly do not know quite where to begin in an attempt to say thanks for the very generous gift I received from you, as team parents.  Please know that I'm already thinking of some relaxing kinds of things to put the gift to good use, such as relaxing massage, books for summer reading, and Pilates classes.  The main expectation  I  have for parents each year  is that they support me from home in my efforts to best educate the whole child, not merely the science part.  And I thank you for that support, from the bottom of my heart.

Many of you have helped in various ways all year long, some with time, energy, donations, and consistency with your teen on a daily basis.  I can tell you that in 21 years of working in this profession, support from home is my number one hope and wish every year. Today is finishing up my 15th year at MMS and so that says a lot about the consistency of parental involvement and support as well.  I certainly wouldn't remain in a place where I wasn't happy; life's too short for that.

Thanks to all of you who have emailed or called to give me special goodbyes and for those of you who have been an active website checker.  There's a summer suggestion post that I just put up yesterday so hopefully you can extract something from that and use it.

Once again, please know how grateful I am for the end of year gift from the team and from all the other various ways you've supported me to be the best I could be for your 7th grader.  Good Luck in 8th grade.....I'm just finishing my 8th grade year up with my own personal 8th grader and let's just say it's been interesting, challenging and thought-provoking and leave it at that.  :)

Take care and have a wonderful, safe, and relaxing summer.  Any student who wants to stay in touch via the school email is welcome to do so.  I check it periodically over the summer.

Peace,
Ms. Karen Green

AISD school calendar for 2009-2010

http://www.austinisd.org/academics/docs/calendar_2009_2010_20090601.pdf

Summer ideas to keep your adolescent busy and safe(and some ideas for parents of teens as well for themselves during the summer)

6/2/09

PAISANO PARENTS,

Some of the following information is from experience as a parent of teens and some of it as a middle school teacher for 21 years now.  Some I have taken from a similar message on my son's middle school's website in another district.  Use it if you wish.  Many of you already have a summer plan in place.  If this is your first summer with a soon-to-be 8th grader, some if this may prove to be helpful in the weeks to come.

These are not in any particular order of importance.

• Have your teen read regularly during the summer, even if it's only 15 or 20 minutes a few times a week and have them spend a few minutes discussing what they read with you.
• Have established chores for your teen and show them you expect the chores to be done correctly and regularly.
• If they're able to acquire a summertime job that has your approval, encourage this as well.
• Set a night time curfew for your teen.  Research shows that young adults who have a curfew and have to check in regularly with their parents, have less run-ins with legal authorities.
• Pick out a day camp or overnight camp that offers interesting and outdoors and/or recreational type activities.
• Have your adolescent stay active, physically, by riding their bike, taking a walk, skating, or shooting baskets.
• Print and post in an obvious place in your house the Freedom Contract, which has been in the left hand sidebar of this site since before school started.  It's under "articles for parents" in the left hand sidebar.  
• Read the 10 most Common Lies that Adolescents tell in the left hand sidebar and file them away for future use.
• Go on the website I posted back at the beginning of the year, called  www.abovetheinfluence.org  The topics on this site can bring up some interesting discussion topics with you and your teen.
• Visit the Partnership for Drug-free America website.  It offers very helpful information as well.
• Reward your teen when they do chores or something extra around the house without you having to ask them.  Teens tend to think that adults only speak with them when they've done something wrong.
• Read a book that your adolescent is reading so you can discuss it with them.
• Have your teen participate in some community service of some kind.
• Read the rules for teen parties that a PTA parent shared with me years ago, posted in the left hand sidebar under articles for parents.
• Have a quick and easy to remember kind of statement to say to your teen as they leave to go places, especially places without you.  My sister-in-law and brother tell their four teens "Make good choices" every time they leave the house to go out.
• Have a plan in place, which I call "No questions asked" so that your teen knows someone to call or contact if they cannot reach you and they need to get out of an uncomfortable or possibly dangerous situation.  This sets you up for when they're driving....it's something they're already familiar with.
• Read a book from my Suggested Reading List for Parents of Teens in the left hand sidebar, under important info or another book on parenting teens.  Local bookstores are full of books for parents of teens of all ages.

Thanks supportive Paisano Parents!

5/28/09

Dear Paisano Parents,

Before the year ends on Wed, June 4th, I wanted to take a minute to say a great big thanks to all of you awesomely supportive Paisano parents who have diligently asked your 7th grader for their agendas on a daily basis, checked the website to double check, asked for graded work when it was posted on this site that it was distributed to them, held them accountable at home for their school work and behavior,  and just generally stayed "in touch" so to speak.  It really does show in your 7th grader that you've done this all year long and we're lucky to have so many of you at MMS that do this on a regular basis.

As has been the campus procedure all year and will continue to be the procedure, any work more than three days late will be counted as a zero.  This procedure doesn't change at the end of the year.  Just a heads up. 

Only four more class days to go!  Thanks for checking the prior posts on this site as well.  There are important posts from earlier this week.

I hope you all have a great summer!

Paisano Parents Please Read

5/27/09

Please see my post from 5/22.  Here are a few additions to that list. THanks for your support from home.

Students should continue to follow the dress code through the school day on Wed, June 3rd.

After Friday, 5/29, no backpacks, large purses or nylon drawstring bags will be allowed.  Anything larger than 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches, as far as bags and purses, will be confiscated at the entryways.

PLEASE also see Ms. Cooper's website and see the article entitled "Texting May be taking a toll" from the New York Times on Tues, 5/26.  She has scanned the article on her website.

http://mjurchison.typepad.com/cooper/

Please ask your 7th grader for their cumulative science folder today and

5/26, Tuesday

also ask them to unload their backpacks in order to bring the rest of their personal belongings from their lockers home tomorrow, 5/27, during locker clean out.  Thanks.  All students were encouraged to bring home  part of their personal belongings today so as not to have such a heavy backpack tomorrow.

Thanks, as always, for your support from home!

Important end of year info: Parents & Students, please read!

5/22/09

Paisano Parents and Students, Please read and follow these directions.  Thanks.

As posted earlier this week, it will be helpful if students are beginning to take home personal belongings they don't need today and not wait to do it all next week.  Personal items like cameras, ipods, pocket video games, silly string, shaving cream, or anything other than school-related items they'll need in class are NOT permitted and will be taken up if they do bring them.  This is the time of year when some students don't always follow our directions about this and bring personal items anyway and then they are upset when these items are stolen.  Since there won't be a place to store these things in backpacks and lockers, there's no reason for them to have them here on campus.

Students are hearing this information in class today as well.

On Wed, 5/27, ALL 7th grade lockers will be cleaned out.  Students will pack up their personal belongings and take all of their locker shelves, pictures, mirrors, and notebooks home that day.  They will NOT need to bring their backpacks after Wed, 5/27 because they'll not have books and binders to be carrying around.  All textbooks are being collected this week and the only thing they'll need after Wed for our classes are a notebook with some paper in it and pens and pencils.  They can use one notebook for all classes, unless they are otherwise instructed by a teacher on the team.

Students will be receiving their CUMULATIVE SCIENCE FOLDERS on Tues, 5/26. They are being instructed to bring them home and let you scan them for any work you may wish to see and possibly keep. If your 7th grader chooses to toss them in the trash before they get them home on Tuesday, there's not much I can do about that.  If you let them know you're expecting them and to bring them home then they'll know to do that.

Yearbooks will be distributed on June 1, 2009.

7th grade awards assembly is Monday, June 1, 2009 at 8:30 in the cafeteria.  It is my understanding that parents will be notified if their 7th grader is getting an award.

7th grade end of year celebration is Tuesday, June 2, 2009, in core classes.  Each of the four core teachers on the team will have a planned activity and parents are bringing small snacks for students to have in each of the core classes that day.  This is the same way ALL 3 7th GRADE TEAMS are celebrating.  None of the 7th grade classes are having  a team get together where all 140+ students will be together. 

Wednesday, June 3rd is the last day of the school year and this is from 8:20 to 3:30.   There  will be staggered release that day, as follows:

• Students walking home will be released at 3:20 pm
• Students riding the bus will be released at 3:30pm
• Students being picked up by parents will be released at 3:45pm.  7th grade students riding with parents will be released tothe bus loop on North Hills Drive.

If you wish to pick up your student early, please do so by 3:00pm to avoid any of the traffic problems that often occur on this last day of school. 

Thanks for your support, cooperation, and understanding at this very wild and crazy time of the year!These guidelines are set in place to ensure the safety of all of our students at MMS.  Thanks!