I am sure I could write many a blog post about what it was like for me in middle school. I could (and very well might) write posts about: trends (such as clothing) bullying; Jr. High vs. Middle School; boys and girls and relationships; suburbia vs. city vs. rural experiences; private vs. public. And so on. But for today, I am feeling reflective about those things that stick in our memories of our middle school experiences. Take a moment to remember back to your middle school (or junior high) experience. What memories first pop into your mind? (Pause to think....)
For each memory that we each now hold in our minds, I am sure they are equally different and diverse. Yet I am certain that the one thing that connects these memories that we have (and what will also be true for the students of Coolidge) is that those things we remember most readily are moments of great feeling. For some, these feelings might be painful, and so we relate our middle school experience to general unrest or pain or struggle. For others, we might immediately recall memories filled with fun and happiness and connection, so remember our middle school experience as a good time.
Due to adolescence, hormones, and testing all sorts of boundaries, middle school is most often known as a time of struggle and development. Memories of these struggles, and the twisted feelings that play into these memories, often dominate one's memories of middle school. Many of the middle school experiences we had, most of which were likely positive, unfortunately become secondary memories to those experiences that brought us great feeling, and too often these feelings are ones of pain and struggle during middle school.
As a teacher, I wanted my class to be fun, positive, memorable, and applicable to real life. Despite 180 days of class plans, assignments, projects, quizzes, and general teaching and learning, what did my students take away as memories of my class? Edible cells. Egg babies. Games. Times when I made jokes (such as pretending to eat an Owl Pellet, which was actually chocolate cake wrapped in aluminum foil). Dissections. I'm OK with that. When class planning, I felt continually challenged to expand those learning experiences that connected to the emotions of students, and to therefore imprint on their memories.
And now, as a school leader, I think about how to maximize the positive memories (thereby feelings) that students take away from their middle school experience at a broader level. I hope to continue to support teachers to make connections and to teach in a way that students make connections and have feelings during their experiences. In addition, extracurricular experiences can help to form positive memories. This could be in the form of a memorable guest speaker or assembly; scoring a winning basketball shot; acting in a theater production; or performing a concert on stage and listening to an audience clap with joy. The opportunities in and out of the classroom are endless!
There are a few major events that happen during the school year that are Coolidge traditions; these are events that I KNOW students take away as middle school memories for their lifetimes, and are opportunities that as an administrator I now feel great responsibility to continue and to develop. I can't speak enough about the importance of these traditions for the development of positive memories for students. I therefore want to take a moment to acknowledge a few of these school-wide experiences (apologizing that I am not including all of the wonderful, memorable experiences that exist in our building), and to thank all of you who help to make these successes and memories possible:
Olympiad Day!
Hoops for Heart!
Greek Day (a 6th grade experience that the entire school helps to celebrate)
Field Day!
With "Wear Red Day" just behind us (to support the American Heart Association), and "Olympiad Day" just five days away, I feel that it is a week of memories made. By coming together as a school to share a common cause, or common fun, we together create memories that will last a lifetime. These are powerful opportunities for learning, for building communities, and for creating a positive middle school experience.
Thank you to students, teachers, staff, parents, and our community for helping to support our traditions, for encouraging us as we try to create new, positive memories, and for supporting the creative teaching and learning that we hope will stay with our students for a lifetime. I do hope our students look back at their time here at Coolidge and immediately smile as the positive memories come flooding back!
Some photos from "Wear Red Day":
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