One of the most exciting elements of the school year is the rush of adrenaline at the start of the year. The students, teachers, and all stakeholders hold a great deal of zeal and enthusiasm. Everyone believes in their authenticity of their own convictions and their own state of successful being in the world. It is a wonderful time to absorb the classroom setting.
Until after Labor Day, when the reality of the daily grind hits everyone akin to a freight train coming down a mountain.
This is where we are now. The hue of the start of the year has been worn off, the dawn of the day has broken to reveal a sight that is "excellent and fair." This is where we are with both groups of students in 7.8/3 Social Studies. For the seventh grade students, trace fossil final drafts encompass and envelop. Students should be striving towards successful completion of their final drafts that are due on Friday, 9/18. It is a challenging time as there should be constant revision and a sense of anxiety about whether or not the work presented represents "the very best to offer." A little anxiousness might not be a bad thing for it displays students' drive "to strive, to seek to find, and not to yield." These Tennysonian creatures will also be receiving their copies of the textbook this Friday that can be kept at home. We begin our foray into American History with the Road to Revolution on Monday.
For the 8th grade students, a different kind of road awaits. On one hand, students who are working well on the Constitution in class, posting on Moodle, engaging in Constitutional discussions, and keeping up with the work will find themselves successfully progressing to the Constitution Exam, to be administered in about a month's time. At the same time, those who are not engaging in a process of representing the very best of student scholarship might find themselves on a different kind of road, one where pain and discomfort await. This road to Constitutional perdition can be alleviated if students begin the process of appealing to the better academic angels of their nature. Nightly completion of work might be a proper step in the right direction, and attending study sessions to be held each Wednesday in B405 during lunch can be another one. It is essential that students recognize from an early point that failing to prepare can result in preparing to fail. This exam will be a challenge, but not for the proactive student who understands and values the importance of ensuring their best effort has been made against an arduous and challenging adversary: Me.
It is my hope that I see as many of you as possible at Thursday's Curriculum Night, which starts at 6:45 in your child's advisory classroom. It is a great opportunity to walk through your child's schedule and sense what a day in their life is like. It might actually explain some things, as well. Signing up for Fall Conferences is one of but many advantages of such an evening.
If can be of any help in anything that relates to Social Studies or school in general for your emerging scholar, please do not hesitate to contact me at school or at my home. The time for greatness is upon us and I believe our students, your emerging scholars, are beginning to sense that the hour for their emergence into the pantheon of thought is rapidly approaching.
Happy hunting and all best.
Mr. Kannan
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