Gratitude

During the month of November and working on character education, students completed an essay and submitted it to the counselor’s office on Gratitude.  The essays were a pleasure to read and sweet.

Students also voted on a staff member who showed gratitude in their words or actions toward students or other staff members.

Our winner was Ms. Martinez! Congratulations!

Submitted by Mrs. Fierro

Counselor

Deaf Education

West Memorial Junior High is proud to house the secondary Deaf Education program.  This year is the first year for the Deaf Education program at WMJH and we are all enjoying the welcome!  In our Deaf Education class, we are doing lots of reading and writing.  This time Ms. Cleveland decided to do something different for the students.  The students had to read a "how to" paper on how to make slime.  The students had to follow the directions and gather all of the "ingredients" as well as the correct supplies.  After gathering the needed stuff, the students worked together on following directions.  There was reading, communication, listening, support, and a mess, but they had fun!  After they answered reading questions, they played with their slimy slime!

Submitted by Ms. Cleveland 

Deaf Education Teacher

Teachers Just Want to Have Fun

Teachers Just Want to Have Fun

Many days a teacher’s day is filled with data talks, pre-planning, and post planning to ensure that all students are successful. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my job, but sometimes, teachers just want to have fun! We meet and greet up to 150 students in our classrooms daily, pouring every single ounce of love and attention into each, but in reality our students know very little about us. They have no idea that we love comics, and that we have a favorite super hero. They know nothing about how many of us imitated Wonder Woman and her amazing ways. As the season of make believe and dress up approaches, many teachers take time to make that connection with their students. This is the time that we can freely show our commonalities with our students. 

As a teacher, my fun meter sometimes runs low. With many demands placed on my profession, I do my best to incorporate fun not only through dress up, but with our daily routines. Showing the funny side to my personality, believe it or not, helps students connect with their academics. Incorporating fun time is not only a great way to allow students to see you as a real person, but it also helps you to realize that yes, I am a real person that may just have a small super power! As any teacher would agree, our super power is teaching little people with sometimes big personalities!

 

 

Submitted by Mrs. Anderson

8th grade ELA Teacher

In Mr. Brown’s class, students had fun this past week getting to learn about rubrics! This was the first step in preparing students for their next few papers they are going to be writing. Boring as it may sound, students explored the rubric piece by piece by not just reading through them, but exploring around  the school.  Students enjoyed their time and were successful answering the questions as discoveries were being made! Students were able to read through the rubric and now understand it clearly and concisely.

Rubricize - To provide with or write as a rubric or rubrics; to categorize.

Mr. Brown

7th grade Writing Teacher

All about Science

Science is always an exciting time.  Our students have been busy playing Quiz, Quiz, Trade using information about the atom,  viewing cheek cells in the microscope and learning about density by creating density columns.

Thrive

Generally speaking, Mondays get a bad reputation in our society. People go on social media lamenting about the weekend being over and having a "case of the Mondays." However, I started thinking, what if we just didn't "survive" another Monday? What if, instead, we "thrived" another Monday?
 
At WMJH, I do believe that the teachers make every effort, every single day, to have the students thrive. We don't take any Mondays off because we realize the negative impact that would have on our kids. Whether it is with the curriculum, sports, theater, band, choir, etc., I always see every teacher everyday doing whatever it takes to make our students successful. It's because we know how important it is to make our kids' thrive. They are the Katy Legacy. They are the future. They are Jaguar Strong.
 
Tuesday is Open House, and I know that every teacher would like the chance to tell you how they are making your student thrive in their subject area. Please come out and join us at 6:30 p.m. for our PTA meeting and Bond Presentation and then 7:00 p.m. for meeting with the teachers. Hope to see you there!

Submitted by Mrs. Moody

7th grade Writing Teacher

Dependent and Independent Variables

Barbies were bungee jumping all day in the sixth grade science classrooms. The students were using the jump data to practice graphing. Dependent and independent variables on a graph??? Not a problem for these sixth grade science students. 

Solar Eclipse

What an exciting day!! A total solar eclipse could be seen continuously across the United States. This occurrence was the first time since June 8, 1918. Unfortunately, Katy was not in the path of totality. However, thanks to NASA, students were able to view the eclipse safely inside during advisory using technology.  There are great views on the NASA website from today.  Check it out.  If you missed today’s eclipse, the next opportunity will be April 8, 2024. Even more exciting….Austin, Texas will be in the path of totality for that eclipse!!

High Fives and Smooth Sailing from the Counselor’s Office

We have had a busy but smooth first week in the counselor’s office with students and parents.  We have worked hard to quickly process schedule change requests from students, parents, and staff.   Many parents have shared with the counselor’s “thank you for getting on that so quickly” and  “you have made our day” in response to completing schedule changes. Thank you for your continued support.  

Students give yourself a high-five for getting your schedule change request forms turned in so quickly.  We appreciate your flexibility as we try to honor your requests as much as possible.  The last day to turn in schedule change request forms is Thursday, August 24th.  

This first week has been fun!  It is always so wonderful to have our students return from summer and observing how much they have grown and matured. Character Education will continue with our students and staff with monthly activities to support our character word for building good citizenship and a positive culture. For August, the character word of the month is respect – showing others they are important by what you say and do.  Wear gray on Tuesdays.

Setting Expectations

On Thursday, our administrators enjoyed a great day with all of our wonderful students discussing expectations and our student Code of Conduct.  It was a great opportunity for students to get familiar with district and campus expectations.  We reviewed items such as dress code, hallway and classroom expectations, as well as how to treat our peers with courtesy and respect.  Our students had great questions and insightful conversation and discussion.  Everyone left with a solid understanding of what we need as a campus for everyone to enjoy a positive and productive year at WMJH.

Welcome Back Jags!

We made it...we all made it!  What an AWESOME day it was today.  Our staff was on fire.  Their excitement for meeting our students was amazing.  Students were engaged, moving around, sharing about their summer vacation, and jumped right into the 17-18 school year.  There were hugs, high fives, and many new friendships made today. Each classroom had something different to offer from "crime scene" investigations, circles, scavenger hunts, tie-dye art, and so much more.  I think my favorite goes out to the Jaguar who said " if he had a super power, he would control time".  Just think about what we all could do if we had just a little more time.  

To all the @WMJHJaguars out there - thank you for making today something special.  Everyone needs to give yourself a pat on the back. You did an excellent job.  We are in for a great year.  Let's make it the best one yet!  

New WMJH Logo

We are excited to unveil our new official logo! Thank you to our parents, students, and staff for your input and work on our new logo.  #WMJHpride