It's Not Over, 'Til It's Over . . . 

Did you go tubing, biking, hiking, or riding on the Tilt-a-Whirl this summer? Visit a state fair, an amusement park, or an outdoor concert? Eat a corn dog, corn on the cob, or corn chowder?

Hurry, hurry. There's still time. It's Labor Day Weekend. And there's still time for two low-stress, set-yourself-up-for-a-great-school-year chores:

• Organizing your backpack with Mizz C's classic Dumpster or Backpack tips. 

• Organizing your study space for the year. If you need some inspiration, click here.

Done? Then go make one more of these fantasy castles before the tide comes in:

Here Comes Summer!

Mizz C. wishes you a stupendous, super summer. She hopes you'll be doing this:

                                                       this:

this:

                                and especially this: 

Remember, all it takes to boost your reading to outer space levels by September is reading 12 books of your own choosing over the summer. 

of these

HAPPY SUMMER! Mizz C.

Love you!

Is today’s postal truck stuck in a snowbank? Did you forget to send a card or gift to your favorite Valentine? Not to worry, middle schoolers. Poetry by Heart to the rescue! This poetry promoting group thinks if you can memorize TV jingles without breaking a sweat, why not poetry? Mizz C. couldn’t agree more. Yes, she could agree more. She officially agrees more.

Why memorize a poem by heart when you should be running to the drugstore to get a Valentine's or anytime card? Here’s why:

. . . if you learn by heart it means you take the poem right into yourself, it becomes part of you. And it remains with you, probably for the rest of your life. 

--Poet Jeanne Sprackland, Poetry by Heart

Mizz C. hopes there’s someone special you can share a memorized poem with on Valentine’s Day. You can find all kinds of kiss kiss poetry right here. 

As for Mizz C. she likes this one—short and sweet:

If raindrops were kisses,

I'd send you showers.

If hugs were minutes,

I'd send you hours.

If smiles were waves,

I'd send you the sea.

And if love was a person,

I'd send you me!

            --Emily Bronte

Happy Valentine's Day!

Got Grit?

Who's got grit?

This student?

Or this one?

"Grit" is the new school buzzword. It means:

• Stick with it.
• Tough it out.
• Keep plugging away.
• Hang in there.
• And that old classic: Try, try, and try again.

Little Engine That Couldn’t? Not! 

It turns out that big winners give themselves big brains when they stay on the job until it's done. Sez who?
   
Sez Angela Lee Duckworth, a smart cookie professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She tested West Point cadets, National Spelling Bee brainiacs, top teachers, and successful sales people. What did they all have in common? 

Grit. 

High achievers hit it out of the ballpark thanks to super determination and focus. Grit helped these winners unleash their talents over the competition. 

Want to find out if you’ve got grit? Take Professor Duckworth's Grit Test. There's no pass or fail. Your score on the Grit Test can tell you how much grit you already have and give you an idea of how to get more. 

So go get gritty. 

All this talk about grit is making Mizz C. hungry for shrimp 'n grits, one of her fav meals down South where she's visiting her family. 

Thanksgiving Shout-out To . . .

TURKEY

TURKEY, MASHED POTATOES, GRAVY, AND CRANBERRIES

PUMPKIN PIE

When you're down to the wishbone, and the dishes are dried, curl up with one of Mizz C's all-time favorite books. The first page opens on Thanksgiving Day and is out of this world! (Warning: It's an adventure and a tearjerker.)  

A SWIFTLY TILTING PLANET by Madeleine l'Engle

Dumpster or Backpack? You Decide.

Do you feel like this when you need something in your pack?

Mizz C. knows you're busy. So she’ll make it quick and easy: 

• Get a wastebasket and a recycling bin if you have one.

• Dump out everything from your backpack onto a desk or table.

• Put school books in one section of your backpack.

• Put your notebooks in another section. It's like keeping your peas separate from your mashed potatoes.

• Hunt down all loose pieces of paper. Pile 'em up. 

• Put like with like--math homework with math tests, science homework with science tests, and so on. Find a place in your room—a shelf, a cubby, a box. Put those old tests and homework papers away.* Use them as test tools later on. Hold the bonfire until the end of the school year when all your tests are over!

• Toss or recycle outdated papers, worn-out pens, markers,  pencils, peanut shells, and wrappers of things you ate or chewed in September.

• Add fresh writing tools and paper but not too much.

• Done! Now go find a skateboard.

*Someday when you fall in love with folders the way Mizz C. did many blog postings ago, you can stuff your old corrected quizzes and homework in those.

 

All Together Now: Study Groups

Exams ahead--call in the study buddies! No not these two:

 

                                       

          More like this:

Mizz C. has a few tips for studying with friends so that the work gets done and there’s still time for fun:

• Keep your study group small, 2-4 people tops--the nerdier the better.

• Meet a few days before the big test for one hour max.

• Pick a place where you can talk quietly without distractions—no cell phones until the hour is over.

• Ask all study buddies to do a couple things: bring their class notes and predict two or three test questions.

• Set a timer for one hour. (You remember Mizz C’s kitchen timer, don’t you--the chicken timer she loves almost as much as her granddaughter?) 

• Spend a half hour sharing class notes. Fill in information any of you forgot.

• Ask the questions everyone thinks the teacher is going to ask. Take turns answering the questions out loud. No interruptions, put-downs, or pile-ons. Be helpful.

• Take notes on the answers you hear.

• When the timer sounds, have fun.