Page 67 - 2018 Yearbook

MS ACADEMICS
By Jack Smith, Ada Fathers and Jessica Fathers
1. Mr Daniel excitedly gestures to his students’ projects on “creating their own hominid” This project allows sixth graders to invent a new species that could occur in the future. Mr. Daniel describes his method of teaching as, “Constantly engaging students with new methods and topics. I communicate ideas clearly, and enjoy hearing what the kids come up with in terms of ideas.” According to Mr. Daniel, they do a lot of things on the iPad, but are also very creative and hands-on with projects and writing.
2. Jessica Fathers (8) inquisitively uses an iPad to do research for a class. The iPads have been used in the middle school for five years. They are a useful tool at Priory which has improved daily life for middle school students. “I think that iPads are a great way for accessing information for school work,” Jennifer Carlsmith (8) remarks. They are used not only for research at school, but for educational tools such as BlackBaud--the newest way to keep track of grades, classes, and homework. “BlackBaud is such a help. I would probably die in every single class if it weren’t for BlackBaud,” Jennifer jokes.
3. Mr. Utsumi gestures to an involved student to volunteer for eighth grade history class. The class is famous for being hands- on and for holding group discussions where anyone can contribute his or her ideas. “It is very important to me that our discussions are non-judgemental and supportive. Many of our discussions are political as we are learning about American history and government,” he explains. This way of holding debates and conversations is an effective way of hearing others’ opinions.
4. Ms. Senn and Leah Nelson (7) are deep in discussion about their previous history class on the Middle Ages. Ms. Senn is a new teacher at the Priory and has brought many innovative and effective teaching methods with her from her previous school. “Ms. Senn is awesome. I love her learning style, she really makes the class fun for us,” Leah Nelson praises.
5. Mr Daniel teaches an engrossed student Rohaan Umbarkar (6) about the Mesopotamian civilizations. This is one of the many engaging units the sixth grade students cover. Mr. Daniel is well known for giving the students interesting and exciting activities. “I often try to blend both English and History, like the Day of the Gods. We study Greek mythology in Social Studies and then we learn Greek literature, Greek gods and goddesses in English”.
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“Its a new and hands-on way of learning” - Mr. Utsumi