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The Art of Listening

Sixth graders have had days filled with excitement with the National Anthem exams and pictures being taken; they really looked elegant on Friday, wearing their formal uniforms.

This week, we´ll be learning about the art of listening as being part of growing in self- confidence. Listening to other people is a way to show respect, not only hearing the words they say but understanding the meaning behind the words. Students will demonstrate in skits prepared by themselves that verbal and nonverbal behaviors may interfere with listening.

Value of the month: patience

In May, we'll start learning about patience. Being patient involves strength and serenity to overcome difficulties while waiting or working for a desired goal, where the goodness achieved compensates the hard time of "waiting".

During this week, students will make posters about patience and will work on presenting short skits to illustrate this important virtue.

watch this video about the patience of a legendary rock climber, Lynn Hill.

Earth Day

We'll be celebrating Earth Day this week. Middle school students will have a assembly with special presentations and a speaker from the Asociation A Mi Tigra.

Class presidents will be invited to a special ceremony where principals will plant trees.

All teachers will engage students in activities to help them understand the importance of conservating our planet.

In order to support a vivid experience, every student will receive a young tree to take home and take care of it. If a student does not have a place where to plant the tree, he may bring it back to school and we'll surely find it a place.

Just imagine, there'll be more than 1000 trees planted in our surroundings after April 22!...

The Value of Humility

As April goes by, we´ll learn about the new value of the month: humility.

Humility is about knowing your great worth as a person, but accepting that others have the same value as you do. It is about considering yourself with satisfaction,not too low, yet not too high. It´s about accepting your mistakes with simplicity, and correcting them. More than this, humility is not bragging about what we are or have, and accepting that others can be better than us in any aspect like foot ball, science, cooking, etc.

This week, students will work in groups to represent their ideas on humility. They´ll write an essay and do posters.

Here´s a video we´ll watch in class. It´s about the last inning of a girls´ softball game where two players humbly admit the greatness of a home run hit by a player of the oponent team; they even "help her make the home run". The video is inspired on a true story.

Self-confidence

The next couple of classes will be dedicated to learn about self-confidence. This is a concept that is very important for adolescents because they need to feel well about themselves to find new and positive possibilities in their lives.



We should be ready to discuss about ways we can show respect for ourselves, since this is a core foundation of self-confidence. Respecting oneself helps us make positive decisions that will enable us to have a safe growth.

These are some issues that we should think about, regarding this topic: Do I have friends who like me just as I am? Do I let peers make my decisions for me? Do I exercise frequently? Do I get the sleep I need? Do I eat healthy food? Do I do my best?

It is a wise decision to slowly and thoughtfully build up our self-confidence; it will be one of the most helpful weapons we may have in the journey of adolescence.


Don't forget to remind your parents that this Tuesday, March 23, we have a school wide presentation. The topic is "Preparing Ourselves for Our Children's Adolescent Years".

Working as a group

Kids have been working in developing skills to reinforce how to work as a group. Listening to each other and using body language, like turning towards the speaker are things that sometimes we all forget. Listening is an art that is achieved only through practice. It is a wonderful way of letting others know that we care about them and that we think they are important. It´s all about respect.

This week we´ll start a special group project. Students will work in small groups to make banners allusive to Earth Day. The best banner will be given an award, and kids are excited to carry out their work.

We are trying to reinforce in kids the abilities to work together, and at the same time make them think and work for something as noble as helping spread the word that we all need to collaborate to keep our planet green.

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