Week of May 25

This week is a shortened week due to Memorial Day. On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week the students will finish their study of Habit #7, Sharpen the Saw. These 2 days we will focus on sharpening our heart first and then our soul. Some of you may be surprised to find a lovely surprise in the mail that your child created to practice sharpening their heart!

On Thursday I will review the 7 Habits material and then on Friday the students will take their final exam for this course. This exam is cumulative and will cover all of the 7 habits that we have studied this semester.

Week of May 18

We start this week off with our final story of the semester, The Last Great Snake.  The students always seems to really enjoy reading this story for it is filled with great mystery and intrigue.  At the beginning of the story, one man accuses another of a horrible crime, stealing a magic stone from the head of one of the last great snakes of the world.  Shunned by society and having lost his honor, the man accused is forced to leave his home and enter the wilderness. The students will be captivated by this story as they follow one man's journey to regain to his honor.

We will end this week continuing our study of Habit #7: Sharpen the Saw.  Whereas last week the students learned 4 ways to "sharpen their body," this week they will focus on what it takes to "sharpen their mind."

Week of May 11

What an eye-opening experience we had last week as the students worked in groups in an attempt to achieve synergy!  I have to say, for some groups synergy worked beautifully; for others, well, it was clearly not such an easy thing to achieve.  Nevertheless, the students each learned that in order to actually synergize each team member must work toward celebrating the differences of others, work together as a team, be open-minded and strive to create new and better ways of doing things.  To do all these things effectively takes both maturity and the courage to speak up when necessary.  

Most of the group work was completed on Friday and so on Monday this week we will take the time to discuss our group results and decide what went well and what we need to improve upon next time.  During the middle of the week, the students will hop into a new story, Gaston.  In this short story, the students will encounter a father and daughter who talk about a silly little creature who lives inside of a peach.  The reason for this dialogue between our two characters is to avoid deeper, more intimate issues that are difficult to discuss.  We will talk about how and why we sometimes find ourselves talking about things of little significance in order to avoid more difficult, important issues in life.

To end our week, the students will begin learning about our final habit, Habit #7: Sharpen the Saw.  In this habit of renewal, the students will learn the importance of taking the time to sharpen their body, brain, heart and soul in order to maintain balance and joy in life.  The students will enjoy some fun activities in each of these 4 main areas of life to help them understand the importance of this final habit.  

Week of May 4

We will start this week off by returning to Habit #6: Synergize!  So far the students have learned that synergy is achieved when 2 or more people work together to create a better solution than either one could alone.  It's not your way or my way but a better way, a higher way.  There are 4 things required for synergy to occur:  (1) celebrating others' differences, (2) teamwork, (3) open-mindedness, and (4) finding new and better ways (NOT compromising).  Sounds simple enough.  However, putting all 4 parts into practice can be quite a challenge!

Besides learning about this habit, the students will also explore a new story this week.  In "Chura & Marwe" the students will encounter 2 individuals who care deeply for each other even though their appearances are extremely different.  They are faced with great hardship in their lives.  As they read this story, the students will soon discover an exciting journey that each character takes which leads to an interesting conclusion.  To gain greater understanding of the story, the students will complete our usual process of inquiry for the remainder of the week.

Week of April 27

Continuing with our study of the story, Bad Characters, this week, I have decided to change things up a bit from our usual process of study.  This week the students have formed 6-person literacy circles in which each person takes on a different role in order to shed some new light on our story.  Within each literacy circle will be a Summarizer, a Vocabulary Enricher, a Quote Finder, a Connector, an Illustrator and a Discussion Director.  I have broken this story into parts and each literacy circle will focus in greater depth on a particular section of the text.  In this way, the students can learn from each other's different perspectives as each student either summarizes the main points of the story, shares new words from the story, picks out important quotes, makes connections to the real world, visualizes parts of the story or creates interpretive questions for all to discuss.

As we wrap up this week, we will be discussion our next important habit, Habit #6: Synergize!  In this habit, the students will learn about the importance of working with others to create something better than they could've created on their own.  No time to compromise... it's all about how to SYNERGIZE!

Week of April 20

This week the students will begin the week by demonstrating their understanding of Habit #5.  Working either alone or in a group, the students will give a performance (skit, rap, power point, etc.) demonstrating atleast one of the 5 poor listening habits and how to turn that bad habit into genuine listening.   This demonstration will wrap up Habit #5 for us.

For the remainder of the week, we will be focusing on a new story entitled, Bad Characters.  In this story, we read about two girls who become unlikely friends.  One of the girls tends to throw tantrums when things don't go her way.  She meets another girl who appears to be a "bad character" and yet who is able to entice the first girl into doing something that she would not ordinarily think to do.  We will spend the week going through our usual process of critical thinking in order to gain deeper insight into the meaning of this story.

Week of April 13

At the end of last week, the students utilized their critical thinking skills as they composed the answers to 5 thoughtful questions prompted by the story, The Mysteries of the Cabala.  These questions required the students to ponder about ideas such as whether life is mysterious and what is the most puzzling thing that they have encountered in life.  This week, they took their thoughts a step further by illustrating their thoughts to these questions and then focusing specifically on writing a response that meets all 6 of the requirements of an accurate written response.

The remainder of the week was spent covering the very important Habit #5: Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood.  In studying this habit, the students learned that the deepest need of the human heart is simply to be understood.  In order to be understood, we must first step outside of ourselves and try to "step into the shoes" of another person.  To do so requires good listening skills.  The students learned to recognize 5 poor listening habits that they often in their interactions with others.  Next, they learned about how they can begin the process of turning those bad habits into genuine listening.  To wrap up this habit, the students began working on a presentation in which they will demonstrate their understanding of this habit.

Week of April 6

Welcome back to school! I hope everyone got plenty of sleep last week and is all rested and ready to go for the final 9-week stretch of 6th grade.

This week the students will read an excerpt from a story entitled The Mysteries of the Cabala. This story takes place in Warsaw, Poland during the early 1900s. At that time, Poland was home to a large number of Jews, many of whom were members of the Hasidic sect. This story involves two Jewish boys who are friends and who enjoy inventing fantastic stories. One of the boys tells the other that he has learned a spell from the Cabala (a mystical commentary on the Torah) that can destroy the world. Realizing that he has taken his "story" too far, the boy struggles with what to do with his conflicting feelings. As always, the students will read and listen to this story and then proceed with taking directed notes, participating in a shared inquiry discussion and completing a written assignment. Each of these steps will help the student gain a deeper understanding of this story.

At week's end, we will conclude with a look at Habit #5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood. In this habit, the students will learn about the importance of, among other things, good listening skills and why they are so important to being able to get along and truly understand other people.

Week of March 30 - April 5

ENJOY YOUR SPRING BREAK!!

Week of March 23

Welcome to our final week of school before the much anticipated SPRING BREAK. This week the students will be learning more about how to "think win-win." We will also return to our story, A Likely Place, and search for a deeper understanding of why the main character, Lewis, was able to find encouragement in a new relationship with an unlikely acquaintance. The students will make and defend arguments about how and why Lewis was feeling encouraged or discouraged at various junctures throughout the story.

As we approach the end of this shortened week, the students will try to incorporate a theme from the story into their own personal paradigm as they use their imagination to create their own "special place" that allows them to feel good. While doing this exercise, their goal will be to "think win-win" as they then work in groups to come up with one group "special place."

Some of our students will be off on a field trip on Thursday. For the remaining students, this final day before spring break will be used to do a fun activity involving the 7 Habits. The students will create a rebus (a puzzle using pictures, letters and/or words that demonstrates a word or phrase) that describes one or more of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens.

I hope everyone enjoys a fun-filled, relaxing and safe spring break!

Week of March 16

Beginning this week, the students will move outside of the "private victory" zone of the 7 Habits into the "public victory" zone which encompasses habits 4, 5 and 6.  On Monday of this week, they will learn about a Relationship Bank Account.  A Relationship Bank Account is simply the amount of trust and confidence you have in each of your relationships.  Why is it so important to have healthy RBAs?  Simply put, your ability to get along with others will largely determine how successful you are in your career and your level of personal happiness!  For this reason, it is crucial that young (and old!) people understand how to get along with others.

Besides learning about the RBA, this week the students will also begin to learn about Habit #4:  Think Win-Win.  We will begin our study of this habit on Friday.  Prior to that day, I will also introduce our next story in the Great Books series, "A Likely Place."  The students will listen to and discuss this story on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  

Week of March 9

FCAT week is finally upon us!  As you well realize, this week is FCAT testing for our students and, as a result, most of the children will come to my class only 4 days this week.  On Monday, the students will complete their study of "My Greatest Ambition" with a shared inquiry discussion.  In this discussion, the students will discuss why the main character chooses not to pursue his greatest ambition by delving deeper into the context of the story and analyzing the events that led to Morris's decision to give up his ambition.

I will be leading a discussion on the topic of leadership on Tuesday and Wednesday.  On Thursday we will be reviewing what we have learned so far this semester in preparation for the mid-term exam.  I will administer the mid-term exam on Friday.  This exam will cover all of the Covey (7 Habits) material discussed so far, the requirements of an accurate written response and the vocabulary words from "Through the Tunnel" and "My Greatest Ambition."

Week of March 2

We began and ended this week continuing to focus on Habit #3: Put First Things First.  While last week the students were introduced to the concept of prioritizing their time and putting their "big rocks" in life ahead of their "little rocks", this week they began to practice this habit by creating a monthly planner.  For the entire month of March, the students are required to create and utilize "to do" lists each day.  By getting in the habit of thinking about and writing down how they spend their time each day, the students should begin to see whether or not they are using their time wisely.  If not, they can see where changes in their schedules need to be made and decide whether or not they want to become "highly effective" and make the necessary changes.   This may require a good deal of discipline for some!  Lack of discipline, as the students will learn, is the number one reason why people have difficulty with this very important habit.  At the end of the week, the students will also be learning that both fear and peer pressure often stand in the way of mastering this habit.

Besides studying our Covey habits, the students will be reading a new story, "My Greatest Ambition."  This is a story about a 13-year-old boy who has the opportunity to pursue his greatest ambition.  He encounters several setbacks along the way and eventually decides to stop the pursuit because, as the author admits, he "grew out of it."  We will go deeper into this story next week.

Week of February 23

This week we will delve deeper into the story, Raymond's Run. We will begin the week by discussing the Directed Notes taken by the students last week. In our discussions, we will be working on not only formulating and defending our positions but also on good presentation skills. I am always helping the students to focus on their articulation, volume and body language when they speak in my class. These skills are very important for effective leaders to acquire.

We will also be doing some group work this week. The students will break out into groups and divide how to divide the story into 10 sections. After these divisions have been made, the students will create a story map of the story. To do so, each student will contribute a drawing depicting at least one section in the story. This exercise will force the students to "get involved" more in the story and learn how to deal with a diverse group of people.

On Friday of this week, I will be introducing the students to the next habit, Habit #3. Habit #3 is "Put first things first." In this habit, the students will be learning about how to prioritize and put the most important things in life first. This habit should really help our 6th grade students to learn how to get their work done before play and begin to prioritize what they need to accomplish in order to create more balance in their lives.

Week of February 16

Monday February 16: NO SCHOOL... Happy President's Day!

On Tuesday of this week, the students will revisit the "FRIESS" method of creating an accurate written response. In this method, the students will practice writing facts, reasons, incidents, examples, statistics and sensory details as a way of not only responding accurately to a question but also as a means of formulating an argument. They will be writing a response to the question: Are girls expected to be nicer than boys? Their response will also serve as an introduction to our next story in the Great Books Series, "Raymond's Run."

On Wednesday the students will actually read and listen to this next story in class. Then on Thursday the students will re-read the story on their own, take directed notes on the story, and then discuss their responses using the Socratic method. It is during these Socratic discussions that the students continue to hone their skills in creating and defending their arguments... always a favorite time in class!

Finally, on Friday we will revisit Habit #2: Begin with the End in Mind. The students should be finalizing their Personal Mission Statements this week and bringing them to class on Friday (due date) along with the worksheet that I gave them last Friday. We will continue our discussion on this important habit and learn more about how the students can actually put this habit into practice.

Week of February 9

This week we began the processes of Directed Note-taking and Shared Inquiry discussion as we delved deeper into our story, "Through the Tunnel." The students looked throughout the story for places where 11-year-old Jerry was acting like a child and where he was acting like a grownup. Through the development of arguments, the students were able to begin to see how one incident can be interpreted in more than one way. The discussions were lively, to say the least, as the students learned how to formulate arguments and defend their positions. These discussions seem to be a favorite amongst so many of the kids!

Besides formulating and defending their positions, the students also participated in Shared Inquiry discussions on the story utilizing the Socratic method of learning. I was the facilitator while the students themselves answered interpretive questions about the story in an effort to glean new insight from each other into the deeper meaning of the story.

On Friday, we once again turned our discussion to the "7 Habits" course. This Friday we began talking about Habit #2. This habit teaches us to "Begin with the End in Mind." In an effort to better understand this habit, the students will be completing a worksheet to help them understand what sorts of things are really important to them and then they will create their own Personal Mission Statement. This activity is due on Friday, February 20.

Week of February 2

This week we begin our study of the Junior Great Books series.  On Monday I will introduce the students to the process we will be using to delve deeper into each of our stories.  The students will learn about 3 types of questions (factual, interpretive and speculative).  Next they will apply this knowledge to a short excerpt from "The House on Mango Street" as they seek to find examples of all three types of questions.  Starting on Tuesday, the students will read their first story, "Through the Tunnel."  Wednesday and Thursday we will re-read our story, taking Directed Notes and seeking to understand new vocabulary words.  On Friday, we will jump back into the "7 Habits" course and revisit Habit #1.  The students will gain more information and participate in additional activities to reinforce their understanding of what it means to "Be Proactive."

Week of January 26

This past week we delved into the "7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens" book by Sean Covey.  For those of you familiar with Steven Covey's book entitled "7 Habits of Highly Effective People," your child's text book for this course mirrors Steven Covey's book but is written by Mr. Covey's son, Sean, who writes on a level the students can more easily understand.  This is an excellent book which will challenge your child to begin to apply 7 new habits into his/her life.

Unfortunately, the students are unable to bring this book home to study since I need the books for each of my five classes.  However, if you would like to purchase this book for your child (this is NOT a requirement) to read at home you can go to your local bookstore or go to the Franklin-Covey website (www. franklincovey.com) to place an order.  The retail price is $14.95.

Parents, I would encourage you to ask your child about what they are learning in my class.  One of their goals in this class is to LEARN IT (in class), LIVE IT (throughout the day) and SHARE IT (with you, their friends, or anyone who'll listen!).  In this way, the material they learn in this course will be reinforced by their actions with the end result being the development of new, positive and effective life-long habits.

Coming up this week, the students will begin the process of understanding the importance of living their life according to fundamental principles or truths.  Instead of centering their life on friends, sports, stuff or other transient things, the students will learn why focusing on principles will enable them to remain true to themselves throughout life's ups and downs.  They will also be learning about their Personal Bank Account and how their actions can create either deposits or withdrawals into this account.  Finally, we will hop into Habit #1 on Friday when the students will begin to learn what it means to "Be Proactive."

Week of January 20

Beginning of the 2nd Semester...

Today you will begin with the end in mind.
Exit bad habits; enter new and better habits.
Open your mind to new possibilities, new opportunities, and new adventures.
Let the fun begin!

Welcome to the Great Books course of critical thinking and the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens course in life management skills. This semester your child and I will be taking an adventure which will open their minds to the possibility of becoming a more critical thinker and equip them with the necessary tools to become a highly effective individual in every aspect of their life.

This first week is a shortened week due to the MLK holiday and the fact that the 6th graders will be going on a science field trip to MOSH. I will introduce both parts of this course to the students and cover some initial housekeeping items this week. I will also give the students a supply list and an introductory letter about this course which should be brought home to their parents (be on the lookout for this information).

Throughout this semester, should you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me. The easiest way to reach me is by email at vaughanc@duvalschools.org. You may also reach my by telephone at 346-5650 ext. 150.

Thank you for entrusting your child to me. I am thrilled to be teaching this course to your child. My goal is to help your child reach his/her goals and I have high hopes that this course will make a positive, life-changing difference for your child.

Week of January 12

This week is our final week together as the students will be completing their first semester of 6th grade and this elective course. Last Friday I administered Part I of the final exam which covered our Great Books course. This week we will spend Monday and Tuesday involved in activities which should help solidify the students' understanding of the 7 Habits. On Wednesday I will give the students Part II of the final exam covering the Covey material. On Thursday, our final day together, we will spend some time reflecting on all that we have learned together in this elective course.

Thank you for the opportunity to teach your child this semester. It has been a wonderful experience for me. I truly have appreciated the opportunity to influence your child's educational experience and hope that your child has enjoyed the adventure as well. :)

Week of January 5

Welcome to the New Year!  This week we will finish up our study of the Great Books course.  We will begin the week refreshing our memory of "Soumchi" and then reading Part II of this final story of the semester.  Throughout the week we will continue the usual process of taking directed notes and participating in shared inquiry discussion of this story.  To close out the week and our critical thinking course, the students will create a written response encompassing all aspects of what is required for an "accurate written response" using critical thinking skills.  This response will serve as part one of the student's final exam for this course.