Making MySpace YOUR Space

As you may or may not have heard, we've been having a series of provocative discussions in 8th grade about the uses and misuses of online websites such as MySpace and Facebook. We began over a week ago with extended conversations in the two core groups after reading a rather disturbing article about a mother of a teen girl who posed as a young man in a MySpace webpage and so harassed her daughter's former friend that the girl took her life.

(See http://www.parentdish.com/2007/11/18/teenage-suicide-over-myspace/ for an online description of the incident.)

While we all agree that such events are sadly sensational and even a bit "over the top", it was eye-opening to realize how easy it is to fall into questionable practices with MySpace-esque websites. The girls sagely cited the tendency to speak in a manner that they might never consider were they face to face with a given peer, and a thorough examination of aspects of cyber-bullying ensued. We concluded that MySpace provides fertile ground for practicing (perfecting?) the relational aggression that girls are known for. Studens also commented on the addictive attraction that such sites seem to have. Some admitted that they've considered deleting their MySpace/Facebook accounts, but can't quite seem to muster whatever it takes to do so! The psychological "variable response mechanism" is definitely at play here!

On Friday we watched the various segments of Frontline's "Growing Up Online," stopping in between each "chapter" to briefly comment on the content. We will continue this particular investigation when we reconvene on Monday. It occurred to me that an excellent family activity would be to view the program online together and discuss the chapters "en famille." This might provide a most effective platform for talking about an issue that seems to be causing some dissent between the generations! Should you decide to try this, I'd be most interested to hear how it goes! (Just add your voice to this blog through the "comment" option below!)

(You'll find Frontline's program at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/ This site also contains quite a bit of pertinent and interesting information about teen-attracting technology.)

Rumor #2: We no longer do math in 8th grade!

This rumor, too, is fallacious...though I can understand why a given 8th grader might feel it's true! As you know, Ava is our current resident math specialist and has been doing a very conscientious job. She and the entire 7th grade team is away on the annual Yurt Trip this week (remember back??)...and so she was to be replaced by our very own Rafael - who, in addition to being a topnotch Assistant Head of School, is also a math-lete. (aka The Godfather of CPM!) Alas and alack, Rafael has fallen victim to our dreaded SGS plague, and thus has not been able to join us as envisioned. In the absence of an accredited math specialist, I (Sally) have taken the time to work with our girls on language arts projects and then will swap core time with Ava and/or Rafael when they're both back and able. Who knows? We might just run an entire week of math and only math! We'll let you know what creative approaches we devise to remedy our current "Mathless in Seattle" status!

Rumor #1: The TRUTH about Learning Team Meetings

I have it on good authority that there are all kinds of "rumors" out there about the upcoming Learning Team Meetings...LTMs. I take full responsibility for starting one of the rumors, but NOT for spreading it! Basically, here's the scoop: I (Sally) will be conducting all of the 8th grade LTMs for this final round while Bert is off in Houston making a stellar presentation at the NASA Educators' Conference (with the late, great Mary Margaret!)

We will host 8th grade LTMS on three consecutive days next week: Wednesday morning, Thursday and Friday. Please call Miss Jessica at the front desk (709-2228) in order to reserve your 20 minute appointment time (LTMs will run on the half hour and will end by 3:30 on Thursday and 5:30 Friday.)

The rumor I started and which our students ran with is the notion that these are not mandatory LTMs. By that I mean, if you do not feel the need to meet with me and your 8th grader concerning the second half of the 8th grade year, you have my permission to forego the event. That said, I look forward to conferring with all of you who do choose to sign up for an appointment! So don't believe your 8th grader when she tells you that "Sally said I don't have to have a learning team meeting!" It is, per usual, up to YOU and your busy daytime schedule.