Middle Years Update
As Semester One is coming to an end, the assessment task time is ramping up. Students may feel out of their comfort zone or feel the pressure to succeed. Some may also feel overwhelmed by the feeling that the workload is insurmountable.
It is vital for teens to understand how they learn differently and effectively, so when challenges arise, they will have the learning strategies in place to self-regulate and be self-sufficient. Having a discussion with your child about their current results on Compass is a great place to help them start identifying their strengths and weaknesses. Knowing what your child has achieved and is challenged by can also lead to setting realistic goals and strategies for their learning development as they move into Semester Two.
After talking to many Middle School students about having a growth mindset, I was inspired to read about Carol Dweck’s research on this topic, which in turn gave me additional direction as an educator and a parent. Dweck explains that “simply giving praise to a student for their effort during a failure is not likely to help them develop or maintain a growth mindset. Instead, it is important to help them realise that nobody has a growth mindset in everything all the time”. (Carol Dweck, The Atlantic, 2016) and it is important to help children (and ourselves) identify and understand what the blockers are and whether they sometimes present in verbal or physical forms.
When addressing these fixed-mind set triggers in discussion with my students, I have found the power of the word, ‘yet’ to be very useful, as it encourages my students to evaluate their learning and to try another pathway. Integrating ‘yet’ into our vocabulary is a small shift, but it is a constructive one, as it implies that success is achievable if broken into achievable stages. This, in turn, can motivate out students to do and be better.
“The Power of Yet” is a strategy that serves as a simple reminder to persevere through the rough stages of our learning. It can be the difference between a child who gives up on a problem and one who routinely concludes that understanding will come with more effort, questions, or through the use of additional strategies like “The Power of Yet”. This can help students take ownership of their reactions, and encourage them to evaluate their abilities and cultivate intrapersonal skills. In this way, students are given the agency to play an active role in their personal development.
Wishing all our students luck with their final assessment tasks in Semester 1.
Making Connections Literacy Conference
Congratulations to Max Dooley, Chloe Pedler, Su-su Leeding and Keiko Rice for being wonderful student ambassadors at the Making Connection Literacy teacher conference last week. The four students met teachers and students from John Monash Science School, East Doncaster Secondary College and Camberwell High School. The students were involved is making a video of the day, interviewing teachers and being lead announcers for the day.
Susu Leeding, Keiko Rice, Max Dooley, Chloe Pedlar
Homework Club
A homework club is now available to students. It is held every Monday in the library from 3:30pm to 4:15pm.
Year 8 Netball
Year 8 B netball team representing Koonung at the Whitehorse division competition
Year 8 A netball team representing Koonung at the Whitehorse division competition. Thank you to the PFA for the sponsorship of the fantastic new netball dresses.
Uniform reminders
- Blazers are to be worn to and from school
- Scarves must be plain black or navy
- Spray jackets are for PE and Sport Education classes
- Everyone must be wearing a tie
Allira Howe
Director of Learning: Middle Years