A message to our 6th Grade

This morning, I hosted a town hall meeting with  our 6th grade students.  In our last CW Connect newsletter (found here), I mentioned that this is the time of the year that I hold a meeting with students to challenge them to finish the year strong.  With warmer temperatures, Spring Break, and thoughts of life as a middle school, our 6th graders are faced with numerous distractions before the end of the year.  I cannot begin to tell our families how proud I am of the year our 6th grade class has had and I want to see them continue to excel.

The message today focused on video that encourages students to "Cross the Line." The video, created by Sam Parker, is posted below and I encourage families to watch it.  The premise behind the video is that there is a line: on the right side of the line...good things happen; on the left side of the line...not so good things occur.  The challenge is motivating students to cross the line to the right hand side.  At one point in the video, the author talked about how the line can at times seem like a wall for students.  A barrier too great to cross! Some of our students may feel like this at certain times and we work hard to shift their perspective from seeing a wall to only seeing a thin line.  Doing so helps our students cross the line to achieve their dreams.

At our town hall meeting, I talked more about the idea of "settling" to to not make the choice to cross the line.  Sometimes it might be easier to not put forth the effort to to cross the line.  The author of the video talked about the challenges and setbacks that students may face causing them to not cross the line.  Turning those challenges into lessons helps our students be stronger and better prepared!  The path isn't always easy, but I spoke about the rewards our students will receive.  I used the example of settling when it comes to our reporting standards or for behavior.  Sometimes our students have a disconnect between their marks and the effort needed to improve.  My challenge to all students was to look at where they are at in their learning (a 1, 2, 3, or 4) and make the choices to do whatever it takes to cross the line to the next level of achievement.  In our reporting system, we aspire to have all students to achieve grade level mastery in all reporting standards (Level 2).  I specifically challenged our students who may be at a level 3 in some standards to cross the line and be their own advocate in achieving success.

I challenged our students to exhibit the behaviors that helps them to cross the line and to stand up for their peers when other students might be making choices that inhibit them from crossing the line.  Our actions in the last months of our time at Central Woodlands matter in our journey through life!

I shared with our students about my experience working in a middle school for the past seven years.  I could always tell which students from the elementary schools had finished their year strong and which ones didn't choose to cross the line and settled.  Students who worked hard at the end of their elementary career had a much easier time transitioning to middle school and were more successful with grades and confidence. Students who felt they could simply "flip a switch" before middle school too often found they were not able to actually do it.

The author focused on 4 ways to support students in crossing the line:

1.  Choose to Commit
     a. Approach life with intent to succeed
2.  Work Hard
     a. Good things are rarely easy or cheap
     b. There are no quick fixes
3.   Focus
      1.   Limit distractions that pull you away from your intent to succeed
4.   Be Resilient
      1.   Learn from mistakes and challenges

At the end of our Town Hall meeting, I challenged students to think about the message discussed and make the decision every morning to CROSS THE LINE.  As students left with their class, I had created a line on the gym floor for our students to cross to reinforce their individual commitment to cross the line!

Have a great Friday!