Parents!
Welcome to middle school, and welcome to JYMS! If you've had the pleasure of sending another child through John Yeates or another middle school, welcome back!
Middle school is a most unique place for a student to learn...heightened responsibility, increased freedom, and a lot of new concepts to master. It is my hope that, through high engagement, rigor, and some humor, your child will become a well-rounded, lifelong learner.
That being said, here come the "things to do."
In lieu of a paper information form (trying to be green), you will find a syllabus ( and a student information form (http://bit.ly/14zrBLZ). Please access those documents, read them over, completing items when necessary. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me by email, phone, or by the comment form on the mainpage.
Please encourage your child to view my instructional and procedural videos, which are linked on my site. I will also post them to this blog this week. I will be posting videos PRIOR to classroom activities in order to maximize my teaching efficiency. This is a concept called "classroom flipping", popularized by my friend and colleague Dr. Lodge McCammon (www.lodgemccammon.com). I do not expect all of my students to view all of my videos at home; this is an unfair mandate. However, all students will have access to this type of instruction, whether it is at home (preferred) or at school (during or outside of class time).
Your child will receive a TON of paperwork that requires some careful reading and/or signature(s). If you see errors, have questions, or need some help understanding the bulk of information that will find its way home, please let me know.
Be on the lookout for videos! And, WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!
Best,
Tim (Mr. K)