Mannheim Middle School

Where EVERYONE Is Valued…and Math Matters!
http://www.mann-ms.eu.dodea.edu
 
Newsletter Vol. 3
From The Principal’s Desk

Shelia R. Smith

 

We have just ended the first quarter of school and we are now into second quarter. I want to invite you to participate in your child’s educational program.  Involvement can come from volunteering in the classroom, helping chaperone a study trip or after school activity, or participating at the School Advisory Committee (SAC), Parent/Teacher/Student Association (PTSA) and School Improvement Leadership Team (SILT) meetings.

 

I ask that you once again review the Parent/Student Handbook with your child (ren) so you are aware of the policies of the school and the rules which we expect our students to support.

 

With gradespeed up and running, you should be able to track where your child is academically. If the teacher is not using gradespeed (not mandatory), please contact that teacher for an update. Please note that grades may not change in gradespeed at the rate in which YOU want them to change. Teachers normally update their grades weekly. (Thanks for your patience)!

 

Progress reports: Some of you are requesting progress reports daily, weekly, etc. Please note that teacher’s are only required to submit progress reports mid-quarter for those student’s who have a D or F in the class. If your child is having a problem in a particular class, please contact that teacher directly to arrange a conference. Please also note that we do have a homebase period (85 minutes) every other day for students to complete assignments. Student’s need to use this time wisely. Thank you for checking the agenda books.

 

Parent Teacher Conferences are this Friday, November 7 from 830-1130 in the Multipurpose Room (These are walk-in 15 minute conferences). Scheduled conferences will be in the individual classrooms from 1230-1500. Please contact the teacher if you need an individual appointment.

 

I would also like to thank all the parents who volunteered their time at the Masquerade Dance.  Thank you so much for your continued support for Mannheim Middle School.

School Improvement Goals:

 

To improve reading comprehension across the curriculum

 

To improve math skills across the curriculum

 

 

************************************************************************Do you like working with kids?  MMS needs substitutes.  If you are interested, please contact the Main Office at 0621-720-050 or DSN 380-9181

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Important Dates to Remember:

Monday, November 3, 2008 ------  Begin 2nd quarter

Friday, November 7, 2008 --------  Parent/Teacher Conferences

Monday, November 10, 2008 ----- PTSA Meeting @ 1515

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 ----- Veterans Day – Federal Holiday

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 – SAC Meeting @ 15:15

Thursday, November 27, 2008 ----Thanksgiving Day – Federal Holiday

Friday, November 28, 2008 -------  Thanksgiving Recess

Thursday, December 11, 2008 -----Early Withdrawal for Students PCSing

Monday, December 22, 2008 -------Begin Winter Recess

Monday, January 05, 2009 --------- Instruction Resumes

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IMPORTANT MMS TELEPHONE NUMBERS

 

Main Office:        0621-720-050                      CSC Office:            0621-720-0523

                           380-9181(DSN)                   Counselor:               0621-720-0513

Fax:                     0621-720-0555                    Nurse:                      0621-720-0524

Attendance:         0621-720-050                      Registration:            0621-720-0515

Aafes Cafeteria:  0621-723-515                       School Bus Office:  0621-718-809-324/513   

 

 

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Check It Out!

 

News from the Information Center

 

Did you know that DoDDS provides online resources to our students through the library information centers?  These online resources are a great way for your child to research school projects and gather information.  These databases are a paid subscription, so students must login.  The benefits to using these resources over just conducting a Google search is that these databases are guaranteed to be accurate, current and reliable.  The main databases that we use here at the middle school are eLibrary, CultureGrams and SIRS Discoverer. 

  

 

These valuable resources are available on the Information Center’s Homepage, but can also be accessed from home.  All you need is the URL and a username and password.  I have a handout that gives all the details on how to access these sites from home.  I try to introduce students to all of our databases as they work on their various projects.  If you would like you child to use these resources from home just stop by the library for a flyer or ask your child to stop by and pick one up.

 

Ms. K

Mannheim Middle School

Information Specialist

 

 

                                   

Pupil Personnel Services

Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) is an integral part of the total education program.  The PPS department includes DoDEA the nurse, counselor, psychologist, information specialist, education technologist, ESL (English as a Second Language), and SPED (the Special Education Department).   PPS staff members are extensively involved in programs that support students to reach their maximum academic potential. 

 

Our first article is from the Special Education Department.

CHILD FIND

 

The Department of Defense Dependents (DoD) Schools are searching for children from birth through age 21 who may have developmental delays or disabilities and are in need of individual and appropriate special education and related services.  If you suspect your child, or a child that you know who is eligible to attend a DoD school, has one of the following disabilities, please contact our school (Mannheim Middle School 380-9181 or 0621-720050).

 

Deaf/Hearing Impairment                    Intellectual Deficit

Blind/Vision Impairment                       Emotional Impairment

Speech-Language Impairment            Physical Impairment

Learning Disability                               Health Impairment

Developmental Delay

 

Notes from the Nurse

 

BREAKFAST

Many students are coming to school without having anything in the morning.  We need your help!  These hungry students are sleepy, and they are having problems in their classes. 

We know that people who eat breakfast have the following advantages:

·        Do better in school

·        Kick-start their metabolism

·        Tend to eat fewer calories through the day

·        Tend to make better food choices throughout the day

·        Are more active

Thanks for having your child eat something for breakfast!

*The school also has a healthy snack break at 9:30am every day. *

FLU vaccine

The clinic has the Flumist available NOW.  This nasal mist is for anyone less than 49 years of age.  If you are high risk or over 50 years of age, the flu injection should be here next week. Please contact the Mannheim Medical Clinic for more information.

Parents Invited To View Suicide Prevention Materials

 

 

7th grade students will participate in a suicide prevention program initiated by DoDEA beginning 4 Nov.  Parents are invited to review the materials used in the SOS – Signs of Suicide program on Tue, 18 Nov at 1000 in the MMS conference room.  J D, School Psychologist at MMS, and E W, MMS Guidance Counselor will show the brief DVD the students will be seeing, along with other materials to be used, and address any questions and concerns parents have about depression, suicide, and self-injury.

 

Please come join us on 18 Nov for this SOS presentation.  If you are not able to attend but are interested in talking to Ms. W or Mr. D or seeing the materials to be used in the 7th grade presentations, please make arrangements with them at 380 9181.

 

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Counselor Corner

 

We have started the Deployment Groups for each grade.  The Deployment Groups take place during the Homebase Class.  I try to work around the Intramural schedule so that students will be able to do both.  Please encourage your student to participate especially if their parent has just returned from Deployment.  Reintegration, while it is a very happy time to have the deployed parent home again, it is often also a very difficult time.

 

If you have any questions or notice that your student is having a difficult time adjusting please let me know.  I can always be reached by phone 0621-7200513 or by email evelyn.walls@eu.dodea.edu .  With home and school working together we can make this school year a very successful one.

 

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6th Grade News

 

Everyone has a story to share…

The students in Mrs. A’s 6th grade Language Arts classes have been working on sharing those stories, first with autobiographies, then biographies and now on to realistic narratives.  The students are improving their grammar and writing skills with daily journaling and English lessons and their essays are getting better and better!  Recently the students wrote letters to welcome our new student teacher, Ms. C to our classroom.  Ms. C comes from the University of Northern Iowa and will be with us until our Winter Break.

 

 

                

                

Specialty

Team
 
             

 

 

 

 

 

Creative Thinking and Video Production classes - Mr. A

 

The students taking Creative Thinking and Video Production classes are working on a project called WHAT I AM THANKFUL FOR. Parents, relatives, and friends, be on the lookout for this project arriving in the month of November.  The students worked hard on this project.  Please make them feel proud of their work.

 

Literature Enrichment and READ 180 Classes - Mrs. H

 

     The Literature Enrichment class has been working on oral presentations including interviewing, in-class drama, and Shakespeare projects.  We will begin next quarter with an opportunity for written expression using the genre of poetry.

     All READ 180 classes have spent the last quarter reading books of their choice, working on specific reading skills on the computer, and practicing comprehension techniques during our group classroom activities.  Every two weeks all students are assigned a reading log as homework requiring them to read for 20 minutes daily, write two sentences, and have their parents initial the log.

 

READING TIP:  Set aside a regular time to read to your children every day.  Studies show that regularly reading out loud to children will produce significant gains in reading comprehension, vocabulary, and the decoding of words.   This activity is not just for preschoolers, but preteens and teens as well.

 

 

 

 

 

German Student Teachers Garner Invaluable Experience at MMS

By E W

 

Mannheim Middle School recently had the pleasure of hosting some German student teachers from the Universität Landau (University of Landau) and the Pädagogische Hochschule Heidelberg (Heidelberg College of Education). Mr. R is the School Liaison Officer for the DoDDS Heidelberg District and makes the appointments for these fine, future teachers at various schools. He placed Miss K and Mr. J with mentor teachers S M and S J at MMS. They relate their experiences:

 

My name is S K. I study English and Chemistry at the University of Landau. I had the opportunity to participate in a great project that enables German students to come to American schools in order to do an internship for six weeks as a student teacher. This internship allowed me to get an insight into the American school system, which is quite different from the German school system. In the future, I’d like to become a teacher at a “Realschule”, which is a German school with 5th to 10th grade students.

 

There are some things that I really like about the Mannheim Middle School. The students that I met are respectful of their classmates and the teachers. There is a pleasant working atmosphere. The contact between students and teachers is good. Teachers give their students the opportunity to see them after class to solve problems or to work on exercises. Also, the conversation between teachers and parents is very good. Teachers contact parents if students do an outstanding job in class, but also if students have problems with following the class. In most cases, if there are meetings between teachers and parents, the whole team of the core teachers is present to work out improvement plans for the student together with the parents. If students have problems and they need someone to talk to, they are free to see the counselor who gives them aid and advice. Students with deployed parents are able to attend special deployment groups. Another thing I like is that students with problems concerning health are free to see the school nurse any time. I have never seen a German school with a school nurse, but I think it would be a good thing to adopt.

 

All in all, I’m very happy that I got the chance to experience all these things and I hope that some day, when I am working as a teacher, I can talk to other teachers about these experiences. Maybe German schools can adopt one thing or another.

 

And now a word from Mr. J.

 

Dear students, teachers, and parents, my six weeks at Mannheim Middle School were a great pleasure to me. It was a very important experience for me, as a German, to see how things work at an American school. It was really impressive to see what a good relationship teachers and students have. Unfortunately, in Germany it is not usual that the teachers personally care about their students and their problems. It is fortunate for the students at Mannheim Middle School that they have teachers who really care.

 

I want to thank my master teacher Ms. J for all the time and effort she put into me. She really did a great job. Also, I want to say “Thank you” to the whole staff of Mannheim Middle School, especially the 8th grade team, Ms. S, Mr. M, Mr. W and all the other people that helped me and made me feel welcome. Last but not least, I have to thank my 8th grade students. It was a pleasure to work with you and you really made it easy for me to feel comfortable. Thank you for being a place “where everyone is valued”.

 

In perusing these student teachers’ impressions, it is very apparent that this international partnership is very valuable and successful. The desired effect has been reached. Everyone has profited from it. Language-, culture- and idea-barriers have been breached. New insights into educational methods have been won. But what’s more, our international student teacher mentoring program is not only an integral part of the School-Home-Community-Partnership (SHCP) program, but consistently achieves the DoDEA Community Strategic Plan (CSP) goal of creating and maintaining a Network of Partnerships Supporting Achievement.

 

 

 

The ENCORE team would like to thank all parents for getting their children to school on time.

 

 

 

 

News from your 8th Grade Team

 

Science

The 8th grade science students will be studying heat transport over the next few weeks.  There will be laboratory exercises on radiation, convection, and conduction.  We will consider environmental implications and domestic applications of these transport mechanisms.

 

English

In English, the students have finished the novel The Giver, and they created a utopian community of their own.  In the month of November, we will read the novel The Light in the Forest and will continue to work on grammar skills, and writing.  Please remember that the completion of homework is necessary for success on class assignments and test.  Please continue to check your child’s agenda and the DoDDS-E website for assignments.

 

November 20 will be the 8th grade 1st quarter awards ceremony and our annual Thanksgiving Feast.  Please contact me if you are able to help coordinate the feast activities.  All students will be asked to donate a food item such as a dessert, side dish, ham, turkey, etc. Traditional ethnic dishes are encouraged. More information will be coming out soon.  Thank you in advance for your support in this matter.     Mrs. J

 

 

History

Mr. C's US History is studying the beginnings of the American Government and will be reviewing important information concerning the upcoming Federal elections and how they will impact the country.

 

Math

The second quarter of 8th grade Math further advances the students to the next level of Solving Equations.  Students will build on prior knowledge by first identifying patterns in a data set.  Then they will learn to express those patterns in algebraic terms.   This will also involve the  "how to’s" in balancing simple algebraic equations.   Later, we will apply those skills to studying Right Triangles.   It should be a challenging, but fun, quarter for Math.

 

History

Mr. W's Eighth Grade American History classes have finished their unit on explorers and early conquests and colonization in the Americas.  A major grade in the unit was a booklet report or media project on the Spanish conquistadors.  Most students said that they learned a lot from doing the project and concluded that the conquistadors were both good and bad.  They felt it was good that they discovered so much about the new world, but that many of them were cruel and just out to get rich at the expense of the native population.

 

We are jumping over English colonization and the American Revolution.  We will come back to those topics soon.  We want to get into activities connected with the election.  This week, for example, students researched the position of McCain and Obama on ten issues.  Also, during this time, we will look at the Constitution to understand what the responsibilities of the President and Congress are.