This week the sixth graders presented skits about the three branches of government. When this work was presented a couple of weeks back, one student remarked, "We finally get to do this!" Within the curriculum certain works, such as the poetry performance or ISPs, are designed to be big, capstone type works, but some lessons and works have grown into classroom traditions and rites of passage over time. Many of these works are part of the sixth grade curriculum. After spending two years watching the sixths do these works, students are excited to have the opportunity themselves. The skits are one example and the cell 'dissection' is another. Other lessons and works have become traditions, in part, because when they are presented to younger students, the sixths show great interest and express their fondness. This increases the fourths' and fifths' engagement. The creation of a river lesson and the digestion in animals lesson are two lessons that the sixth grades usually turn around in their seats to listen in on. There is more than just the social context that makes certain lessons and works special. Some generate a buzz in the room each time they are presented just because there is a little something extra that captures the children's imagination and intrigues their minds. Every lesson and work is designed to do this, but through some alchemy of concept, visual representation, and humor some lesson gains extra sticking power. The same is true of certain materials, which through some combination of beauty and concept become more meaningful to a child. These traditions and rituals, planned and unplanned, strengthen community and deepen learning in a Montessori classroom.

The Middle School is fundamentally a skill-based program. Ultimately we desire for our students to leave Hilltop with highly honed skills of communication.  To that end our students practice writing in many different formats, they develop their voice in the realms of recitation, presentation, and outreach to the greater community, they are immersed in math and investigate its concepts, and explore identity, the connection to oneself, to ones community and place in the cosmos through many levels of self-expression.  We often call this myriad of skills the skills of the hand, heart and head. 

Although we consider all these skills practicable, there are several skills that we consistently labor upon that students constantly draw upon as they enter high school.  These are the skills of organization and time management.  As the semester comes to a close the necessity of building and practicing these skills becomes evident and obvious.  Students are engaged in many levels of ongoing projects and curricular strands.  They are in the final stages of their humanities research project, preparing their guardian poet presentations (which includes memorizing two of their poet's poems), working on spontaneous projects of every possible description, exploring their ancestry in the "Where Do I Come From" personal immigration project, writing poetry for the upcoming Poetry Café (December 18 at 7 pm, more memorization), along with the daily math, primary source readings, and literature that are a consistent part of our lives.

This is just to say that there is plenty going on and everyone is practicing or in some cases just learning that time management and organization are truly important skills to focus on and that the Middle School gives every student plenty of opportunity to develop these invaluable skills.