New Year's Intention

For the past couple of years, I have been filling out little notebooks and marking a variety of thoughts and sites on my various social bookmarking accounts. I thought I would try this year (fingers crossed) to write at least 2x weekly in this blog to keep a record of and share what I have been learning through my own investigations and my PLN. I have had the time to think about the passion I must really have for learning and start to embrace it. I always want to know more or find out why, so technology has been a good fit for me. Working and teaching in the middle school seemed to fall in my lap, even though I originally had envisioned myself in high school. I am a believer in the fact that things happen for a reason. This is my venue to share and record my enthusiasm for both.So, I will begin this year sharing some of the things that I have learned about and for the middle school. Hopefully, I will add other tidbits on a variety of things, but middle school "stuff" is my focus.
I was impressed with a number of things I heard about when attending the Independent Schools of the Central States (ISACS) conference this past November. I will be making reference to some of those things over the course of my writings. I had heard a presenter recommend a new book, The Blessing of the B Minus by Wendy Mogel, so I reserved it at the library . Having just finished reading it, I would strongly recommend it to people who live or work with teens. She makes some very interesting connections with the stories of the Torah and raising teens, comparing maturity with the Promised Land of Moses. To tell you the truth, it works for me.
I have some concerns about the way education is going and about how childhood is currently experienced by some of our students with the anxiety, social pressures, stress , and parental expectation of perfection in all areas. I feel validated by reading this book as well as viewing Vicki H. Abeles' film Race to Nowhere, a movie I strongly recommend, particularly for educators and parents. Dr. Mogel's book is easy to read and relate to in terms of her experience with teens, both as a counselor and a parent. Listed below are some of the sub-chapter headings that let you know the gist of her message:

Meet Fear with Faith
Honor Your Teen's Natural Abilities & Limitations
Whose Problems: Theirs or Yours?
Expect Immaturity
Stop Measuring & Comparing
Chores: The Curriculum of Life ( I love this idea!)
Daily Work is a Gift
Show Respect for their Desires, but Don't Automatically Give In
Media - The Third Parent
Letting your Teen Learn from Bad Judgment and Stressful Situations
Be a Counselor ,Not a Servant

In researching a bit for this post, I was pleased to know she will be coming here to Chicago, sponsored by the Jewish United Fund, in either February or March, so I look forward to hearing her live. As a mother and a teacher, this is a book I would hardly recommend to those who want to attempt to understanding teens.