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MAKING CONNECTIONS
The Social and Emotional Learning Standards are an important part of the middle school curriculum. Lincoln students attend Connections classes every Wednesday with the same group of classmates for the entire school year. The students participate in activities that deal with the issues that are important during the difficult adolescent years. Each month features a different Connections theme that is centered around these issues, and students attend assemblies, create projects, discuss, and learn strategies for dealing with life's challenges.
Connections for May: Preventing Bullying and School Violence
The middle school years are often difficult for many students. They are grappling with changes they are experiencing, fitting in at school, and dealing with the pressures that come with adolescence. This month teachers and students are tackling the difficult topic of bullying. Students will discuss the difference between tattling and asking for help, and how it feels to be bullied. Eighth grade students will read about and discuss real-life stories of bullying cases that have ended in violence and death, and the devastating impact bullying has on someone's life. Bullying comes in all different forms nowadays, and victims can be harassed through their cell phones and the internet. Each theme that we have discussed this year in Connections helps to build a culture at Lincoln Middle School that values and respects every individual. Bringing bullying out into the open not only helps students know what actions to take if they are being bullied, but helps to prevent it from occurring in the first place.
