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
What’s happening in Social Studies?
This week, the students studied Anne Frank by completing a webquest that gave them a virtual tour of the house and challenged them to dive deep into some reading analysis as they ventured through the website.
Next week, the students will work on reading through their novel Night while also continuing their studies with the Holocaust and World War 2. Students will end the week with a debate that asks them to debate on the idea of Human Rights and Asylum!
What’s happening in ELA?
8th graders returned from break to apply their previously learned reporting skills to more in-depth topics and issues that impact their community. We discussed what it looks like to identify a problem and create an investigative plan to determine its root. Journalists took notes on a variety of primary and secondary sources to build the foundation of their long form exposes.
Next week, journalists will learn the art of complex interviews and journalism that stirs the audience to action.
What’s happening in Science?
Eighth graders learned about the biological family tree of life this week. They practiced making cladograms and considered common characteristics between organisms. The eighth graders also made their own family trees to contemplate the importance of organizing traits. They also started a project about living fossils. They have chosen a living fossil that they would like to research and will present their findings to the middle school. We will have an opportunity to see fossils of some of these living fossils when we go to the Mace Museum of Natural History in a few weeks.
What’s happening in Math?
This week, 8th graders explored perfect squares and completed the squares of quadratic equations, and next week we’ll discover, use, and manipulate the quadratic formula to help us solve more quadratic equations!! **cue the quadratic formula song**
Important Dates:
April 10: Spread the Word- 11:30 dismissal
April 17: Middle School Sports Banquet- 5pm
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
What’s happening in Social Studies?
This week, the students studied Anne Frank by completing a webquest that gave them a virtual tour of the house and challenged them to dive deep into some reading analysis as they ventured through the website.
Next week, the students will work on reading through their novel Night while also continuing their studies with the Holocaust and World War 2. Students will end the week with a debate that asks them to debate on the idea of Human Rights and Asylum!
What’s happening in ELA?
8th graders returned from break to apply their previously learned reporting skills to more in-depth topics and issues that impact their community. We discussed what it looks like to identify a problem and create an investigative plan to determine its root. Journalists took notes on a variety of primary and secondary sources to build the foundation of their long form exposes.
Next week, journalists will learn the art of complex interviews and journalism that stirs the audience to action.
What’s happening in Science?
Eighth graders learned about the biological family tree of life this week. They practiced making cladograms and considered common characteristics between organisms. The eighth graders also made their own family trees to contemplate the importance of organizing traits. They also started a project about living fossils. They have chosen a living fossil that they would like to research and will present their findings to the middle school. We will have an opportunity to see fossils of some of these living fossils when we go to the Mace Museum of Natural History in a few weeks.
What’s happening in Math?
This week, 8th graders explored perfect squares and completed the squares of quadratic equations, and next week we’ll discover, use, and manipulate the quadratic formula to help us solve more quadratic equations!! **cue the quadratic formula song**
Important Dates:
April 10: Spread the Word- 11:30 dismissal
April 17: Middle School Sports Banquet- 5pm
April 27: Spring Auction & Gala- 6pm @ Founder’s Hall (tickets available until 4/12)