Last night we attended an Open House at the Middle School Jonah will attend next year. Jonah was terribly nervous on the drive there, "How many kids go here?" and "How will I ever find my classes?"
The teacher who gave the welcome presentation urged the kids to view middle schools' open houses as an opportunity to consider, "Where will I learn next year?"
Then a current 7th-grader (whom Jonah knew) got up in front of all these families to tell about how fun this school is and that she learns a lot every day.
Then - the part Jonah had been waiting for - families could go upstairs and talk to some of the teachers. He asked great questions of the teachers:
(math) "How much math can I take in middle school?" Depending on which level he places into, he could go through Geometry
(language) "Can I take German?" This will make all his grandparents proud! The answer, however, will not. While the school offers Chinese, Spanish, and French, there is no German. In fact, with 6 middle schools and 6 high schools, the Minneapolis school district employs only ONE German teacher.
(band) "Do you have a lot of trombone players?" To which the band teacher responded, "If you play trombone, please join our band! I've never led a band that had too many trombonists!" Jonah was happy to hear that this band instructor knows his current band teacher.
Jonah was excited to see all of the after-school activities available (e.g. Lego League!).
He perked up when the teachers explained that all kids carry a 3-ring binder and use a planner daily and that organization is the key to being a successful student. (Ah, did he finally connect his current teacher's planner system to something beyond a daily hassle?!)
Ditto to the example essay assignment sheet: listing what to include in an essay: Who, When, Where, What, Why? "This is like Mr. G's weekly current events assignment!"
We left there with a slightly less nervous and much more excited kid.
Of course, it also helped that they served cookies.
No comments:
Post a Comment