The Cooper School Daily
April 5, 2024
Nothing Much
Students returned from Spring Break with plenty of stories to tell and adventures to report. I marveled with them in the time spent getting to do whatever our hearts desired (mostly) for a whole week. Though there were many amazing, whirlwind trips while we were away, when asked, “What’d you do over break?” the majority of students and staff seemed to answer with some variation of, “Not much, just did a whole lot of nothing.”
We may shrug our shoulders at reports of “nothing much” but I couldn’t help but celebrate the do-nothing squad of Spring Breakers. Middle school can feel like a tail spin, so remarkable value can be found in the restoration that comes with rest, stillness, even silence. We may lament a silent middle schooler that won’t share much of their day with you, but there is meaning and worth even in the “nothing.”
I’m reminded of one of my favorite filmmakers, Hayao Miyazaki, whose animated films have been noted for including various nontraditional moments of silence and nonaction. The following interview excerpt between the late Roger Ebert and Miyazaki describes this concept beautifully:
“… Instead of every movement being dictated by the story, sometimes people will just sit for a moment, or they will sigh, or look in a running stream, or do something extra, not to advance the story but only to give the sense of time and place and who they are.
“We have a word for that in Japanese,” he said. “It’s called ma. Emptiness. It’s there intentionally … if you just have non-stop action with no breathing space at all, it’s just busyness, but if you take a moment, then the tension building in the film can grow into a wider dimension. If you just have constant tension at 80 degrees all the time you just get numb.”
Perhaps we can look at silence, stillness, uneventful breaks as a balm to keep us from going numb. I know for a fact there is so much processing and emotion teeming beneath a cagey middle schooler. I know I could do more time to honor that silence, that space, that sense of nothing that’s actually full of something. Perhaps we can embrace future opportunities to sink into ‘nothing’ more often or enjoy the silence and sweetness that is just you and your middle schooler taking up space and processing all the change.
-MK
Here’s a look at what is happening in each of the classes:
What’s happening in Science?
Seventh graders learned about solutions this week. They made solutions using salt and water to consider how concentration impacts mass and density. They also taste tested “tang” in different concentrations to understand the difference between dilution and super concentration. The seventh graders also layered mystery liquids of different densities to consider how liquids can have different densities. They also continued to work on their interactive periodic table of elements which should be completed by the end of the school year.
What’s up in Math?
This week, 7th graders explored exponents, their laws, and how to perform different operations with them! Next week, we’ll expand our knowledge of exponents to write really big and small numbers in scientific notation using powers of 10.
What’s happening in ELA?
7th graders returned from break to continue work on their graphic novels – outlining scenes, drafting thumbnails, and beginning the careful work of writing and cartooning their official pages. We went over previous grammar concepts from before break while also adding pronoun antecedents to our grammar toolbox.
Next week, graphic novelists will continue drafting final pages as we consider impactful endings and how to stretch out small moments in a visual story.
What’s going on in Social Studies?
Seventh graders dove deeper into the Civil War with focus on the Battle of Gettysburg paired with an analysis of the Gettysburg address. Students then progressed into life during the Civil War and were tasked with creating a newspaper article on life during the war.
Next week, the students will learn about the ending of the war and be challenged to complete an assessment on the Civil War!
Important Dates:
April 10: Spread the Word- 11:30 dismissal
April 17: Middle School Sports Banquet- 5pm
April 19: 1st, 5th, and 7th Grade Artist of the Month- 8:15am
April 27: Spring Auction & Gala- 6pm @ Founder’s Hall (tickets available until 4/12)
We may shrug our shoulders at reports of “nothing much” but I couldn’t help but celebrate the do-nothing squad of Spring Breakers. Middle school can feel like a tail spin, so remarkable value can be found in the restoration that comes with rest, stillness, even silence. We may lament a silent middle schooler that won’t share much of their day with you, but there is meaning and worth even in the “nothing.”
I’m reminded of one of my favorite filmmakers, Hayao Miyazaki, whose animated films have been noted for including various nontraditional moments of silence and nonaction. The following interview excerpt between the late Roger Ebert and Miyazaki describes this concept beautifully:
“… Instead of every movement being dictated by the story, sometimes people will just sit for a moment, or they will sigh, or look in a running stream, or do something extra, not to advance the story but only to give the sense of time and place and who they are.
“We have a word for that in Japanese,” he said. “It’s called ma. Emptiness. It’s there intentionally … if you just have non-stop action with no breathing space at all, it’s just busyness, but if you take a moment, then the tension building in the film can grow into a wider dimension. If you just have constant tension at 80 degrees all the time you just get numb.”
Perhaps we can look at silence, stillness, uneventful breaks as a balm to keep us from going numb. I know for a fact there is so much processing and emotion teeming beneath a cagey middle schooler. I know I could do more time to honor that silence, that space, that sense of nothing that’s actually full of something. Perhaps we can embrace future opportunities to sink into ‘nothing’ more often or enjoy the silence and sweetness that is just you and your middle schooler taking up space and processing all the change.
-MK
Here’s a look at what is happening in each of the classes:
What’s happening in Science?
Seventh graders learned about solutions this week. They made solutions using salt and water to consider how concentration impacts mass and density. They also taste tested “tang” in different concentrations to understand the difference between dilution and super concentration. The seventh graders also layered mystery liquids of different densities to consider how liquids can have different densities. They also continued to work on their interactive periodic table of elements which should be completed by the end of the school year.
What’s up in Math?
This week, 7th graders explored exponents, their laws, and how to perform different operations with them! Next week, we’ll expand our knowledge of exponents to write really big and small numbers in scientific notation using powers of 10.
What’s happening in ELA?
7th graders returned from break to continue work on their graphic novels – outlining scenes, drafting thumbnails, and beginning the careful work of writing and cartooning their official pages. We went over previous grammar concepts from before break while also adding pronoun antecedents to our grammar toolbox.
Next week, graphic novelists will continue drafting final pages as we consider impactful endings and how to stretch out small moments in a visual story.
What’s going on in Social Studies?
Seventh graders dove deeper into the Civil War with focus on the Battle of Gettysburg paired with an analysis of the Gettysburg address. Students then progressed into life during the Civil War and were tasked with creating a newspaper article on life during the war.
Next week, the students will learn about the ending of the war and be challenged to complete an assessment on the Civil War!
Important Dates:
April 10: Spread the Word- 11:30 dismissal
April 17: Middle School Sports Banquet- 5pm
April 19: 1st, 5th, and 7th Grade Artist of the Month- 8:15am
April 27: Spring Auction & Gala- 6pm @ Founder’s Hall (tickets available until 4/12)