info night at middle school

I attended a '6th grade parent's info night' at Ben's middle school tonight, in which the principal and the school counselor tried to fill us in on life in middle school, and answer our questions.

I learned a lot of interesting things in the course of the meeting. Here are a few:

• Instant Messaging is the bane of everyone's existence but mine ("No parent has ever come up to me and said, 'IM has done wonderful things for my family'", the principal said). Also, cell-phone-based text and photo messaging are totally new and very effective technologies for cheating.

• There is something kids do called 'Slam Books', an online phenomenon in which kids write awful things about each other and spread them via the internet (in fact, using Instant Messaging).

• My town has the highest per capita rate of alcohol use by minors, among towns in a state with the highest per capita rate of alcohol use by minors. "By the eightth grade," the principal said, "if they're at a party, there's almost surely alcohol there somewhere. Either it's in the bushes, or out in the open."

• 'Cutting' is a fad among teenaged girls these days (that means they are cutting themselves with sharp implements). I recall that some friends of mine did some cutting when I was in high school, before it was popular; I thought they were crazy.

And of course I had my own questions: about things like the line in the lunchroom, whether there would be a biking club, and when the gym clothes we ordered at registration would arrive.

It all reminded me of the time, maybe ten years ago, when my Dad called me and told me that some kids had been busted for running a drug ring in my old high school.

"You're kidding!" I said. "I don't think anyone was doing that when I was there! Or perhaps I was just out of it."

"Carolyn," he said, "you were out of it."

warning: drastic topic change

I really have enjoyed practically everything I've read by E.D. Hirsch (except, actually, for Cultural Literacy; I think he's right about its importance, but I didn't like the book). I came across this article, "Classroom Research and Cargo Cults", in which he teases out what is wrong with education research, and recommends using cognitive science instead as a more reliable guide to educational practice. It looks interesting.


parent info night for Carolyn
le rentree
research on middle & elemiddle schools
TIMSS & middle school scores
locker woes & locker instructions
all your children are belong to us
middle school math teacher blogs
Dan K on transition to middle school
Fordham debate on middle school in DC

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