The MUS Lower School Blog

The new exam schedules are here, the new exam schedules are here!

Any Steve Martin fans out there? Mrs. Schuhmacher here, reminding all about impending semester exams. The semester is quickly coming to a close with exams approaching in three weeks. All exams begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 10:45 a.m., and students are expected to dress in school attire. Students are encouraged to stay at school for any scheduled review sessions with teachers. These will be announced in the coming weeks, and your son should write these dates and times on his exam calendar and in his AB. I will be in the students’ study halls and in assembly next week to go over the exam calendar and to provide tips for success. Please post the attached exam calendars Download 7thExamSchedule2009 and Download 8thExamSchedule2009 so that all are aware and the family can modify schedules as needed during this hectic time.

Also, when checking the Assignment Grabber next week, have your son record the information posted in the Notes section. All teachers will be posting general guidelines about semester exams. Additional questions? Call or email me, 901.260.1326 or Catherine@musowls.org.

Faculty Honor Roll posted

Congratulations to those boys who achieved the First Quarter Faculty Honor roll!Here they are: Download FHRoll20091Q

These boys earned this distinction with a weighted GPA of 3.75 for the quarter with no grade below 80, passing PE, with at least satisfactory conduct. Some of these characters had excellent conduct. 

Nothing new under the sun?

Here's a great quote about teaching and learning: "The things that we believe in, the discipline, the integrity, the hard work, the precision, all of those things that we demand of everybody. A lot of things around us have changed, but we're the same." Gary Sousa said it, and he has earned the right to an opinion being an instructor to a lot of teenagers throughout the years. While not solely confined to a classroom, Sousa has the unique opportunity to be proved either right or wrong every weekend in the fall in front of a little more than 100,000 people. You see, Sousa is the teacher of the Pride of the Southland Band, an ensemble whose tradition of tunes and formations turns 140 years old in November.  

When it comes to music and athletics, we as a culture have a very high tolerance and expectation of drill and practice. Thankfully, a lot of the same people see the philosophy and methodology of doing valuable drills consistent for success in the classroom as well. Interestingly, a lot of other people, good people, tend to shy away from a lot of traditional academic practice. For what it's worth, "Practice makes perfect" seems not only to be applicable to the contemporary happenings 

upon Shields-Watkins Field, but also as far away as Malaysian

 mathematics classrooms. Given the obvious global rise of peer

 competition from the Far East for American schoolchildren, I

 am encouraged as our boys here go about their day given our

 insistence upon them working out numerous mathematics

 problems and grammar exercises in pursuit of mastering their

 subjects. The repetition exercises by Chinese and Far East

 children have supported their social and economic rise, and 

we think that our boys disciplining themselves similarly will 

aid their foundational preparation as well.

So next time Junior complains about his 30-40 minutes of

homework per class, just put on his favorite music for his study

break, watch highlights from his favorite team, and ask him,

"How do you think they make it look so easy?" 

Why our boys record grades

Here it is: 
 
Now what do we have here? Looks like the back section of a properly recorded Assignment Book. This young man, we'll call him "Joe School"  with some imagination on your part, clearly understands the practice of faithfully maintaining an accurate picture of what scores have been returned to him in class, even correctly noting the distinction between tests and quizzes. A recent public school student now running mates with all these fellas in our seventh grade, Joe School and his family will not be surprised when official grades become available at the end of this week. O, and he's doing pretty good...er... well. 

With grades come adjustments

As Catherine and I go through the emails and phone calls following the publication of grades, we will go to students today during their study hall periods and do some individual audits. One thing on my mind as we read the Blog poll is addressing concerns resulting from the Progress Reports. 

The weight goes to responses finding out that their boy was both prepared for middle school and doing well now that he's in the thick of things. Some families report that they need to get more involved regularly, possibly reconsider the extra-curricular schedule, consider their son's plight in the context of the greater family dynamic schedule, and possibly even consider an individual meeting with us. Great. We're here to help if we can.

That said, here is an email response I sent this morning to a family who is concerned about their son's lack of performance. It could apply to many individual situations, so maybe it can help you.

"Dear Mom and Dad: I generally find that the majority of boys who are 'under-performing' by progress report are also realizing that their former patterns of relying on Native Intelligence are not working [given the new reality of MUS 7^th grade].

'Studying' is a relative term. We find that a lot of those who struggle are actually not methodically sitting down in a space conducive for uninterrupted, quiet study. Each class should get 30 minutes of attention, and given the opportunity for ASAP, combined with his 4 study halls per week, he could get the majority of work completed here.

I suggest you assign a very specific place and a specific time frame for completing assignments at home. Verify that the work is, indeed, completed to a reasonable standard. Do this daily for about 2 weeks, then ease off if the lad shows improvement. Always make sure that he’s recording his grades in his assignment book. The accountability you provide will make him a bit uncomfortable, and he’ll want you to back off, which is appropriate. He’ll ultimately realize that it’s easier just 'to get with the program.' His grades will improve, he will be happier and you will get happier. Amazing how well it works.

If this plan does not work, then we have a deeper issue, and we can then meet to discuss in more detail just what is going on."

For those who responded to the poll, "We are not seeing the value we expected from MUS," please call me, 901.260.1421. I want to help you any way I can. This is an important, dynamic time in these boys' lives, and no boy's situation is exactly like another's. I am sure that we can provide some guidance, and it is our job to help these boys with a direct, specific opinion and plan as is appropriate for a young teenager adjusting to the demanding pace that is life at MUS.

Rules of thumb

Thirteen National Merit semifinalists come from MUS this year. That's big news for about any high school, but it's more significant when the number represents ten percent of a senior class. That class happens to be one of all boys. Accomplishing such a feat, such a concentration of demonstrated ability, is indeed rare, especially when one considers that these students, like all of our students here, do a lot more with their time than study their lessons. 

Here is the state list: Download 2010NMSP. I really enjoy reading through it. As a graduate of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, I have enough of a geographical and sociological orange-tinted view of the people who migrate to and from our state's land grant university to be dangerous. Given that UTK houses a relatively strong sampling of the state's students, I have a decent baseline for assessing Tennessee's high school talent. I try to picture all of these high schools listed, their diverse locations, their graduates either whom I know or know of, and their broad reputations. Some of these public schools listed are almost idyllic, real All-American traditional public schools. Some are intentionally academic. Others are a deliberate effort towards a Utopian democratic creation that would make Horace Mann proud. After rubbing shoulders with their numerous alumni, from Johnson City's Science Hill to Kingsport's Dobyns Bennett to Nashville's Hume-Fogg and Brentwood High School to our own White Station, just to pick some great schools off the top of my head, I'm humbled knowing what outstanding people Tennessee produces in its leading public high schools. 

The private schools with whom our population at MUS may be more familiar are well-represented in this list, and it sure feels good knowing our leading rank given the high-quality caliber of the private schools' students and programs.

While our experience shows us that each MUS class has a distinct flavor, at any given point we should expect that our school be ranked at or near the top of the National Merit list for Tennessee. As a rule of thumb, 10-15% of our senior class should be National Merit semifinalists, and about 90% of those guys should go on to be finalists. Here's what's unique: the same class also expects to be in annual competition for a regional championship in every athletic team we field. Add to that the expectation that we place upon the boys to operate under an Honor Code, produce award-winning academic teams, publications, and other extra-curricular competitions, and the feat of our National Merit semifinalists stands in dramatic contrast to the competition.

I don't think any school on this list, public or private, expects such high returns.

Tempted to buy grades?

It's an old story. The good news is, however, that we think the burden has shifted more on to the student who attempts to go on-line and buy a paper rather than the burden being on the teacher to discover a false paper from a student passing off someone else's work as their own. At least at MUS, given our specific assignments and our teachers' familiarity with age-appropriate writing styles, we can Google a particular sentence in question thereby leading us to an improper citation (or worse) a lot more efficiently than a student can waste his time surfing for a pre-existing paper instead of just writing it on his own. 

The fantastic access to on-line information today and the ability to cut-and-paste to a Word document are wonderful, helpful advancements for students. As most adults who dare remember the process from our undergrad days, from our high school days, our boys would most likely revolt and flee if they had to do what we all did in order to arrive at a completed MUS-appropriate term paper during the Reagan Administration. Just thinking through the mechanics of the old card catalog, typewriters, liquid paper... oh, and remember books? Lots of heavy books? Well, enough on that as it makes me sweat. I wouldn't go back for all the snuff in Knoxville. 

Yet, the ease of highlighting, cutting, and pasting into a Word doc somehow has a close correlation to our students thinking that the words they move from one document to another are indeed their own! Failure to document correctly, to reference the author from whose work our students got the information, is one of the chief Honor Council offenses we see. We call it plagiarism, and there should be no excuse for plagiarism from a mature MUS student. Lower School students are yet to be mature, but they sure can tell the difference between words that they wrote from their own labors and thoughts as compared to an idea and words learned from another. The discipline of employing proper citations with accuracy and ease is a foundational scholarly attribute which should distinguish our boys. The evidence is, overwhelmingly, that not only do our boys demonstrate the proper citation procedure, but also they turn out to be quite able writers. Maybe they should start selling their papers on-line? I didn't say that.

New poll suggests areas of concern

Early feedback indications point to three categories worthy of clarification:

1) English and math labs are available during your son's Study Hall period. He needs to get a Study Hall pass from the office, and he needs to get the pass signed by a teacher which he presents to the Study Hall proctor before being excused from Study Hall. He should consider attending either or both as he experiences any uncertainty or desires some clarification. 

We suggest that before a paper is due, if a student cannot arrange a meeting with his English teacher, visiting Mrs. Askew in the English Lab is a great option, especially if armed with a written draft. Obviously, beginning a paper assignment days before it is due is the best way to exercise control of the assignment as an early visit to English Lab can help identify corrections, offer alternative prose, and, overall, help to create a more studious experience. Careless mistakes can be avoided in a final paper with a premeditated visit to English Lab. Also, grammar questions, reading comprehension issues, and homework questions are welcome.

Math lab works the same way. Students often find that ten minutes with Mrs. Sullivan can correct some nagging problem. Others require a few periods of Math Lab before they demonstrate command of a concept. Then there are the guys like me who should be in Math Lab every time they see the lights are on in there!

2) Assignment Books are tools to help our boys organize their lives and execute their weekly plans in deliberate fashion. Faculty are instructed to load their assignments by Friday afternoon each week. Assignments are dated by the date that the information is due. September 9's assignments as listed are due that day. If the Assignment Grabber is malfunctioning, individual teacher assignment pages are available. There is no need to print out the assignments, but each boy is responsible for his mandated transcription of assignments fromeither the computer screen or a print-out to be written clearly and accurately on the designated date assignments are due. This way, everyone can verify that Junior read his assignments. Mondays are when Assignment Books should be completed for the entire week.

3) Clubs will begin forming and meeting the week following Friday September 11, the last day of the Progress Report Period.

Reminder about your son's grades

MUS academics function within official grading report periods. For example, September 11 completes the first Progress Report period. The following week, parents can log into Net MUS and view the progress (or regress) of their boy according to the official school record. At Parent Back to School Day September 16, passwords and log-in information to NetMUS (see link on the left column of this page) will be distributed to all parents. From that point forward, once a grading period is completed (as listed on the printed calendar your received at the book sale), those grades will then be available a few days later on NetMUS.

However, all Lower School students have been told, and will continue to be told, to record the grades daily that they receive in their classes throughout the regular school week. These grades are to be written in the back of the Assignment Book. As you trust your son to record his scores faithfully, you can always verify his results any time through the real-time tool of your son's Assignment Book record. 

From time to time, there may be a discrepancy between the Assignment Book record and the NetMUS grading period results. One of our goals for your satisfaction is that parents are never surprised by a grade report. Therefore, we suggest that you consider some family dinner conversation about expectations, timeliness, and accuracy when it comes to the Assignment Book and grade recording.

Heads up... boys not completing homework

Welcome to the second to last Monday in August, just getting our big toe into the chilly waters of a new school year, and already we have a significant number of missed homework assignments emerging from what looked to be one heck of a fun weekend for our boys!

I know, I know... it was a beautiful weekend, the Varsity won the big game, and it felt like San Diego out there. Believe me, I was out there in it as well. However, I did not have homework. Your sons did. They always will as long as they are students at MUS. Therefore, priorities must be established, by your individual family and son, that prefer schoolwork before leisure.

This summer, I had more homework than I have ever had in my life, so it seemed, while my family played out there in the great wide open with me in graduate school. It was not easy for me, and I am sure that it was hard on them as I had to focus my time on my schoolwork. 

(Here's an example of a long night in the Big Apple just one month ago. One of many lonely, but necessary, sessions.) 

Poof, June and July disappeared, and now here I am on the business end of 2009-2010 with an empathetic posture for these lads in both seventh and eighth grades who have the responsibility to complete their daily assignments to the best of their abilities. With or without the structure of formal classes, we at MUS do believe in our graduates becoming life-long learners. We have to start by disciplining ourselves into becoming daily homework doers.