Why Science is Important

Why Science is Important

In my 10th grade Math class at Suffern High School, my teacher had a wonderful poster that was titled, "When are we ever going to use this stuff?"  Underneath the title was examples in everyday life of when we would use fractions, logarithms, long division and other mathematics formulas.  As a student, I felt that it gave the course purpose, and provided motivation to be successful in this course.

The above link directs you to a video about Science in schools, it's importance in everyday life.  While viewing the video, I immediately  recalled that Math poster, and the incentive it provided me to work harder. Please share with your children or students, and hopefully it provides them with motivation as well.

10 Questions About Kids & Gadgets

10 Questions About Kids and Gadgets

I have received a lot of phone calls this year from parents asking if it is necessary for their child to have an iPad, smart phone, or other gadgets at this age. I do not believe any of these devices are absolutely necessary, however, it truly depends on how your child plans to use the device. Does he or she need a brand new iPhone just to post to Facebook quicker? Probably not.  Read the above article....it offers ten quick questions to ask yourself before purchasing a new device.

The Worst Mistakes Parents Make when Talking to Children

The Worst Mistakes Parents Make When Talking to Children

Stumbled across this article from Psychology Today and thought it had some interesting insight into using effective examples when talking to our children.  Unfortunately, it is difficult to remember these pointers when we are expressing our frustration.   Take a look at some of the examples and please feel free to let me know what you think, positive or negative!

WHO I AM

In the beginning of every school year, before back to school night, we distribute poster paper to all of our students with the following directions:

“Who I Am” Posters

 Who – All students will be creating “Who I Am” posters that will display their character traits, interests, etc. Please include things that you are responsible for as a student/family/community member. 

What – Students will create a poster that will be displayed in the school hallways.

When – Completed “Who I Am” posters must be handed in to your homeroom teacher by Monday. All posters will be hung up by in time for back to school night.

 ·       Feel free to talk to your teachers and other students for ideas!

 ·       Remember to make your poster unique! It should resemble who you are as a person and show off the wonderful traits you have! Don’t be afraid to try 3-D aspects; many students did last year and they were great!

 ·       September is the month for RESPONSIBILITY, your poster should reflect  that!

       What I love about this assignment is the originality it brings out in all of our students.  Every year I cannot wait to walk through the hallways and admire the creativity and uniqueness of all of our students.  Some students draw flowers or trees, others draw landscapes or buildings.  Between classes I catch students and faculty admiring each others' posters, and learning about one another.  Very often I witness students initiating conversations with one another based on their posters, often times in our new 6th grade class.  

"Hey, I didn't know you were a Mets fan too??"  Or "Wow, I didn't know you listened to One Direction!"  

Of course, faculty members are required to create their own posters as well.   Here is a picture of my poster..., but I encourage all parents to take a glance of the remarkable student posters at Back-To-School Night tonight. Our students truly did a wonderful job displaying how terrific they really are!

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The Fall 2012 Waldwick Middle School Newsletter

The Waldwick Middle School Guidance Department distributes a newsletter in the Fall, Winter, and Spring with a tremendous amount of information.  This season's blog includes information about our school twitter account, new enrollment numbers, our Character Education plans, and much much more!  I encourage you to please read!

Waldwick Middle School Newsletter!

The Guidance Office Face-lift

At the end of last year, we began to redesign our guidance department.  Old bookshelves were removed, we got some fresh paint and new office furniture was added. What we were left with was a fresh start to a new, modern-looking office, with bare walls.  We discussed what motivational posters to purchase, but we wished for something that was a bit more personal to Waldwick. 

I was introduced to Wordle.net by my mother, a second grade teacher in Westchester, N.Y.  This is a free website that allows the user to enter a plethora of unique words that are applicable to him or herself, and a design is randomly created.  The user can choose the colors, and by duplicating a word 4-5 times, those specific words are distinct.  In our case, we chose to have WALDWICK and GUIDANCE as the two key words in our design.

We saved our design and had it printed in school.  For the cost of a frame, we now have a our own, inexpensive design that is unique to our own Guidance Department.  The word choices come from counseling terms in both the Middle School  and High School.