dawson county middle school · tiger tales dawson county middle school march 2019 building a...
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Tiger TalesDawson County Middle School
March 2019
Building a community of learners through rigor, relevance, and relationships, one student at a time.
Important DatesDCMS 7th graders give back to
the community!
DCMS 7th grade students from Mrs. Barrett’s tutorial class have been working diligently on a “blanket” project all year long! They made and collected blankets and then gifted them to residents at North Georgia Assisted Living and Memory Care. These students enjoyed spending time getting to know the residents and learned valuable lessons about giving back to the community.
*March 9th-Semi Formal Dance*March 11th- ELA DQA*March 12th-Math DQA*March 13th- End of Quarter 3)*March 20th-21st (Early Release)*March 22- Student Holiday*March 25th-26th-MAP Testing*March 28th-Poetry Slam
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p. 2 -3 A Message from the Assistant Principalp. 4 Student Learningp. 5. Shout Outs!p. 6 Geography Bee, New Booksp. 7. Fight the Flup. 8=9. SOTM?TOTMp.10 Academic HelpP. 11 PROWL UpdateP. 12=14 Special AnnouncementsP. 15 Connect with Us
Message from the Principal
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In school we measure our successes in a variety of ways, and I believe our lenses change based on our years in education and the positions we hold. As a classroom teacher, I was laser-focused on if my students were succeeding. I learned to look beyond just grades and really analyze whether or not I had evidence that my students had mastered the standards. The first step I took toward becoming an administrator was working as a Graduation Coach in a middle school, and at that point my focus shifted a bit to doing my best to ensure that we were providing all our students with the supports they needed to be academically successful, and if I had evidence that the supports we provided were actually working for individual students.
Reflecting back, as an assistant principal, I took my focus a step further: were we providing a safe and orderly environment for our students? I learned to focus on discipline and trying my best to understand the “why” behind behavior issues that arose and to build relationships with kids that struggled in this area to try to keep the behaviors from happening again. I learned the importance of putting schoolwide structures and expectations in place, and I learned the importance of consistency in expectations. At this time I also began to focus more on ensuring that teachers had the supports they needed to be successful in their classrooms.
As principal, I do my best to keep my finger on the pulse of all these things. I want to know that we have evidence that our students have a deep understanding of our standards; I look for evidence that the supports we provide for struggling students are working; I analyze discipline data to make changes when we need to in order to maintain a safe and orderly learning environment; and I work to make sure teachers have the tools they need. There is one thing that I’ve added to this repertoire, though, and this is the importance of doing our part in developing the character of our students. My prayer is that they become confident, respectful, and hardworking individuals who contribute positively to our society, both here at DCMS and throughout their future.
You have probably heard us talk about our PROWL expectations on more than one occasion, and I recently had the brainstorm that if we fully instill these expectations into our students, they will be well on their way to becoming individuals of strong character. Let me take a moment and refresh your memory on PROWL:
Message from the Principal, contd
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P: Persevere. We teach students that this is the ability to push through and keep trying
when things get difficult. As adults, we know that life isn’t always easy, and navigating through the hard times is critical to our success and happiness.
R: Reach out with kindness. We want our students to be the type of individuals who sit
with the new kid at lunch, stop to help a classmate who has dropped his or her books, or maybe offers to help someone who is struggling. At this age, students understand how good it feels to receive kindness but maybe not the importance of demonstrating it.
O: Own your actions. Our students need to understand that we ALL make mistakes. We
can recover from our mistakes, and we shouldn’t judge others based on the mistakes they may have made. This is a difficult one for most middle schoolers; their fear of being “in trouble” seems to steer them toward making excuses or being untruthful if they’ve done something wrong. It is a great sign of maturity to admit your error, apologize, accept the consequences if there are any, and move on.
W: be Willing to put other first. This is another tough one for our age group! Parents
know that most middle school kids are pretty self-absorbed, and while this is somewhat developmentally appropriate and well-explained in brain research (something about the frontal lobes not being fully connected), we can nevertheless encourage our kids to think about the needs of others or to take a moment to think of how their actions might make a peer feel.
L: Lead with integrity. Most of our students will tell you that this means “doing the right
thing even when no one is looking,” and I’m happy to say that is exactly what most of our students do!
Think about it: if our students understand and live by these expectations, can’t we say with confidence that they are individuals of good character? I hope you will continue to partner with us to reinforce these same expectations in your home. I am convinced that together we can build students who will lead the future as confident, respectful, and hardworking adults.
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Mrs. Edwards Science class has been learning about Osmosis! Their week long egg lab culminated today with a clearer understanding of diffusion and osmosis! It is obvious that the kids loved it!
!
Students learn about Osmosis in a brand new way!
Mrs. Moledor would like to recognize Ms. Jessie Edwards, Mr. Compton, and Mrs. Midgett for incorporating Nearpod into their lessons!!! She says” Incredible learning has been taking place in these classes and the videos, pictures, panoramic views, and questions and responses that Nearpod incorporates have brought content to life and have made learning meaningful and fun!”
Mr. Allums would like to recognize Seth Reece and Alex Lange for diligently working on their "Green Dot" challenge and helping each other to monitor their progress.
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Shout outs!
Building a community of learners through rigor, relevance, and relationships, one student at a time.Building a community of learners through rigor, relevance, and relationships, one student at a time. 6
2019 Geography Bee
2019 Contestants Winner: Faith Moon2nd Place-Cristina Escoto3rd Place-Yared Duncan
Mrs. Westbrook would like to
encourage students to check
out the brand new award
winning titles and the 129 eBooks that the Media Center received
this month!
Check out new additions to the DCMS Media Center!
Building a community of learners through rigor, relevance, and relationships, one student at a time.Building a community of learners through rigor, relevance, and relationships, one student at a time.Building a community of learners through rigor, relevance, and relationships, one student at a time.
If your child is out sick and has been diagnosed with the flu,
pneumonia, or a stomach virus, please contact our school nurse,
Amanda Kubat at [email protected].
Please click here for a detailed explanation of guidelines for returning to school after being ill!.
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Students and Teacher
of the MonthJanuary
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Students and Teacher
of the MonthNovember
Please excuse our error! Congratulations to the November Students and Teacher and the Month. We unintentionally left
them out of the newsletter for that month!
Need help? We’ve got you
covered!
Math Lab & ELA LAB
Morning Helpsessions
IF you see signs that your child is struggling, our teachers are always here to help!
Morning help sessions are available beginning at 7:05 from Tuesday-Friday as follows:Tuesday:Social StudiesWednesday: English/Language ArtsThursday: ScienceFriday: MathNo pass or prior appointment needed!
We have lots of students taking advantage of our morning Math Lab! If your child needs help with math, we hope he/she will join us, too!
When: EVERY morning at 7:05 in Mrs. Noe’s room, A15 (MAth) and A14 (ELA) on the 7th grade hall.
After School Academic help is also available every Tuesday and Thursday after school in all content areas! Just have your child report to room C-23 from 3:00-4:00.
No appointment needed, just pick your child up in front of
the school at 4:00.
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DCMS Tigers are on the PROWL!
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Students are earning and saving points in preparation for our huge end of the year celebration and carnival! This is an awesome day of celebration that we look forward to every year at DCMS! See the required point totals above and encourage your child to earn/save!
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Be sure to check out our lost and found at DCMS. It is overflowing with items. These will b donated mid-February!
Building a community of learners through rigor, relevance, and relationships, one student at a time.
Be sure to check out our lost and found at DCMS. It is overflowing with items. These will b donated mid-February!
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Building a community of learners through rigor, relevance, and relationships, one student at a time.Building a community of learners through rigor, relevance, and relationships, one student at a time.Building a community of learners through rigor, relevance, and relationships, one student at a time. 14
Check out these important links and Annoucements!
.
CLick on the links below for the district newsletter!
English Version
Spanish Version
Email [email protected] for more details!
Connect with us on Social Media
Building a community of learners through rigor, relevance, and relationships, one student at a time.Building a community of learners through rigor, relevance, and relationships, one student at a time. 15
@DCMSTigers
@DCMSTigers
DCMS Remind