Monday, October 31, 2016

Tips for Organizing Binders, Folders, and Papers

Does your child sometimes (or always) lose papers? Does she seem to have an exploding binder, or a folder with contents in disarray? Does he hesitate about where to put a piece of paper, or need to re-organize more often?

In a survey taken during the 2015-16 school year, 58% of students said that they “sometimes or always” struggle with organization. Therefore, we teachers surveyed our students to get advice about what works best for them. Our hope is that both students and parents will gain some valuable ideas from this list.

Ultimately, every student learns differently, and we fully accept that students need to build an organizational system that works for them. Each student may also adjust his or her methods over time, which is normal. But if organization skills are a challenge for your child, encourage him or her to browse these ideas and pick a few to try!

Monday, October 24, 2016

Understanding the New YA Books Policy in Grades 5-8

At our fall Student-Led Conferences this year, students introduced their parents to our school’s updated YA book policies for grades 5-8. In this post, we want to reinforce what’s changing and why.

Monday, October 17, 2016

“Choose Your Own Adventure” Options in Social Studies, explained by Mr. Mazon


Many parents have come up to me recently to ask about the choose your own adventure (CYOA) activities and the secret agent game that we play in my seventh and eighth grade classes throughout the year.  Since  the 7th grade students will be creating their very first CYOA soon, today’s post will focus on this part of the social studies curriculum.

Monday, October 10, 2016

Tips for Terra Nova Week


Terra Nova week is very important in the middle school. Fortunately, there are several ways that you can help your child next week (October 17-21, 2016):

Monday, October 3, 2016

FAQs: Understanding Friday Folders, Signatures, and Corrections

The familiar Friday folder is a tool that St. Brigid students have used for years; it’s the best way for a parent to know how his or her child is doing academically. However, sometimes questions arise in the middle school about how to best respond to the paperwork that comes home.