Magnet Middle School Information

AISD Middle School Choice Fair

Featuring Kealing & Fulmore Magnet Schools and Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders- Saturday December 1st from 9-12 PM at Ann Richards School 2206 Prather Lane Austin, TX 78704 (512) 414-3236.

Kealing Magnet Showcase

Parent and student information session on Thursday January 10^th from 6-8 PM at Kealing Middle School- 1607 Pennsylvania Ave. Austin, TX 78702  (512) 414-3180. Application deadline 2/8/13. ( If you want to shadow/visit, application must be turned in by 1/25/13).

Fulmore Magnet Showcase

Parent and student information session on Tuesday January 8^th from 5-7 PM at Fulmore Middle School- 201 East Mary Austin, TX 78704  (512) 841-4916.  Shadow request forms due 12/21/12.  Applications due 2/8/13.

Ann Richards School For Young Women Leaders Showcase

Parent and student information session on Saturday January 26 from 10-12 PM at Ann Richards School 2206 Prather Lane Austin, TX 78704 (512) 414-3236. Applications due 2/8/13

Lamar Middle School Fine Arts Academy

Invites 5^th graders to a free FAA application and audition workshop with our Lamar Fine Arts Academy faculty on Saturday December 15^th from 10-11 AM @ Lamar Café 6201 Wynona, Austin, Texas 78757 (512) 414-3217.  Art, Band, Choir, Dance, Orchestra and Theatre

**APPLICATIONS FOR THESE SCHOOLS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT  www.austinisd.org  go to “schools” to find the school, and the applications are on the main websites of each school.  

Talking It Out: I Messages

Talking it out is one of the hardest ways to solve our conflicts.  It takes patience and a calm demeanor.  Starting out with the word "You" creates blame, defensiveness, and often causes the listener to ignore you.  We spoke about how each person needs to explain their side while the other listens, then switch.  This choice will only work if the two are willing to listen to each other.  "I Messages" are powerful when you have good eye contact and use the name of the person to gain their attention.

In 4 easy steps, students can let others know how they are feeling, what behavior is bothering them, what they want to happen, and use manners to solve the problem.  Here you can download my template, I Message.

Wrong Way to talk it out: "You interrupted me! You never let me talk!"
Correct Way to talk it out: "I feel frustrated when you interrupt me because I want to share what I'm thinking.  Can you please stop?" 


The benefits to using "I Messages" are that it creates healthy boundaries, improves communication, and works for any age (even adults!).  An "I Message" clearly states that you own your thoughts and feelings - other people do not control your thoughts and feelings, and I do not control their thoughts and feelings.  Communication improves because you prevent the person you are talking to from being on the defense.


In second and third grade we role played the incorrect way to solve a problem and the correct way using an I Message.  Some problems we acted out were: someone is throwing eraser pieces at you, there's a pencil found on the floor and 2 people go to pick it up at once, someone keeps chasing you at recess and yelling out your name, a classmates is whispering to you when the teacher is giving instructions, someone keeps kicking your desk when you're trying to work, someone cuts in front of you in line.

In first grade, students made their own Kelso puppets to help solve problems by talking it out.  Some problems we practiced with our puppets were: the person in front of you is fooling around at the pencil sharpener and won't let you have a turn, a student is following you around at recess copying what you do, a friend won't let you play with them at recess, a friend takes your scissors and won't give it back, a classmate cuts in front of you in line.

 

Practicing Listening Skills in the Early Years

We've been practicing self-control in the younger grades, but listening skills are a lifelong challenge for all of us.  This week we read Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen written by Howard Binkow and Susan Cornelison.  There is a very helpful website with many resources (videos, activities, coloring pages) at the We Do Listen Foundation.

Before I began reading, we all wiggled our bottoms on our carpet spaces to get out any extra energy.  Throughout the story, Howard gets in numerous situations where listening would have been helpful.  Students see the hilarious outcomes of him not listening, and learn how to have whole body listening.  We discussed that whether we're sitting on the carpet, at our desks, or waiting in line, there are ways to show adults that our whole body is listening.  Our eyes are looking, ears are listening, mouth is quiet, hands are down and still, and feet are down and still.  Students drew a picture of them showing whole body listening and we wrote a sentence together describing the skills they were using to listen.

My Supportive Staff

I really want to thank everyone for being so welcoming when I come into your rooms.  I appreciate your patience, and love the displays you're making to help students solve their problems and make good choices.  I feel so supported by everyone and can't find the right words to express my gratitude for helping your kiddos become great leaders.

A fourth grade teacher at our school displays helpful tips for students in her classroom.

A third grade teacher at our school has created a space in her classroom where students can go when they need help making good choices. 

A second grade teacher posts students responses to SEL (Social Emotional Learning) lessons.

Refining Listening Skills in the Upper Grades

Becoming a great listener takes lots of practice.  It is a life long learning skill.  My fourth graders have been practicing their listening skills with help of Garfield and Friends.  We watched "Listening" provided by the Infinite Learning Lab to see what strategies Nermal can use to avoid burning his birthday cookies next time.  

In the video, students learn the 4 techniques to becoming a better listener using the acronym, H.E.A.R.:

In addition to the video, there are interactive elements where students review the information presented and a downloadable quiz to assess their listening skills.

Parent Information Bulletin Board

I created this bulletin board in our downstairs hallway to share valuable information with our parents.  Here you'll find flyers of upcoming local events, our counseling program brochure, social emotional learning brochure, community resources, training offered from the Austin Child Guidance Center, and services provided by The Christi Center.  If you have any questions or need additional resources, please let me know and I'll do the searching for you!

Check out this years bulletin board!

Dragon Breathing

In kindergarten this week, we focused on how to calm ourselves down.  We talked about how sometimes our heart starts pounding and we feel like we cannot control ourselves.  One way to help us chill out is by dragon breathing.  To take a dragon breath, we breathe in deep through our nose, hold it for a few seconds, then release a hot fiery breath from our mouths.  To aid in the visualization of this, we created dragon breathers!

This simple idea was inspired by a fellow pinner and easy to follow instructions are located on her blog.  For my purposes, I bought a bunch of green party cups, puff balls, googly eyes, and tissue paper.  We constructed our dragon breathers step-by-step together.  When students breathe out through their mouth and through the hole in the bottom of the cup, the fiery tissue paper flutters around.