TMS Online Newspaper

Coach Jones has been with Tatum Middle School for 2 wonderful years. He went to UT Tyler and majored in history and wants to have his own history classroom one day. Although he’s from Harleton, he has lived in Tatum for 6 years.  His favorite part about coaching is that he gets to help individual players become a unified team, and there is nothing more important than “Team Work”.  When asked about this years professional football season, he said he is rooting for the  New York Giants to win the Super Bowl because he does not like the Patriots. Coach Jone’s favorite thing to do when he has free time, is going to the movies with his wife, Erin. Coach Jones says that if he could have any other job, he would want to be a World War II Historian because he thinks it’s amazing how so many people came together despite their differences in order to defeat a force of evil such as Hitler. Keep up the good work!

Mrs. Garcia recently had a project focusing on snapshot writing.   Her class had to think of 12 memories they could mold into a story.  Then they created a FIT chart to help them create the story.  In the FIT chart the “F” stands for feelings, “I” stands for information, and “T” stands thoughts.   They had to take pictures to represent the story events and feelings,  and put the pictures in their project using the program Photo Story to piece it together.  I asked  Alexus Smith some questions about the project. She said, ” The project was very tricky, but once we go to the end it was alright.” I also asked her if the project was difficult or not and she said, ” Yes and no.”  ”Yes, because the computer was hard to work with” – technology can be tricky and doesn’t always work right. And “No, because all you had to do was type your story into the program and take pictures“, which I’m sure was loads of fun creating.  This project helped her become more computer savvy and helped her learn how to collaborate with other people. Over the course of the two week project, they spent alot of time outside of class and in the computer lab creating their stories. So Mrs. Garcia gave the students  plenty of time and the resources to finish the project and to make it the BEST project ever. =)

Gummy Bears!  Gummy Bears!  Gummy Bears!  As of right now the library is filled with Gummy Bears!

What would life be like if you were a Gummy Bear?  Where would you live?  What would you drive?  Would you go to school?  Could you sleep?  The truth is life would be much different from their perspective….you have to bring life down to scale! What would change if you suddenly were the size of a Gummy Bear?

Well Mrs. Kimberly’s 7th grade students had to start by deciding what they wanted to scale down to size for their gummy bear. Students had to pick something that was real to create for their gummy bear world.  Once they selected something for our day to day lives, like a car or a house, they had to take their dimensions and shrink them to Gummy Bear size!  The 7th graders also had to compare  the Gummy Bear to the average height of a human, and using those heights they had to determine the scale factor.  They used their scale factor to determine the proportion of all of the things in their Gummy Bear World.   During this  math project, students didn’t just have a lot math to complete…..they had to understand how we use scale factors in the real world and what professions might use scale factor on a daily basis.  

The Gummy Bear project included student calculations, student reflection and a quality of life essay as well as a written description of how they used proportion and scale factors.

The real challenge was to create a model of the Gummy Bear World and do it as creatively as possible while demonstrating proprotion and scale.  Thomas Williams, Hunter Crowley, Rylee Pond, Chase Dodson and Kylee Edgmon used only their imaginations and some things anyone could get at a craft store or might have lying around their house to create their model.

 

Rylee made a fantastic shelter with a glowing fireplace! Yeah thats right it glows! Great imagination Rylee!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thomas made a MTV Crib for his Gummy Bears to hang out in!   Awesome job Thomas!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hunter made a swimming pool that actually holds water! Cool! Fantastic Job Hunter!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chase made a cemetery!  Yes, even a tiny coffin!  Great Job Chase!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And last, but definitely not least, Kylee made a  Lady Eagles volleyball court! Awesome Job Kylee!

 

 

 

 

 

If I had been a judge then all of the Gummy Bear projects would get a blue ribbon. It would be wonderful if our middle school had an art class for our students because we have some really talented individuals at Tatum Middle school.    I cant wait to see the next project that the 7th graders are going to do !!!!!!  All of the 7th graders did a FANTASTIC job!!!

Mrs. Bell is a very incredible and out-standing Teacher! She loves spending time with her kids when she has any spare time. She especially likes taking her kids on four wheeler rides. She does two special things in life: Air force and teaching.  She’s involed in them because she loves them both. How awesome is it to have a teacher protecting our country! When she was a child she wanted to become a pilot in the U.S. Air Force and she is still in the Air Force Reserves today.  Her favorite sport in high school was Cross Country and she was very good!  Fitness is a big part of her life.  Mrs. Bells favorite subject in Middle School was History because she had a very inspiring teacher. She has been teaching  for almost seven years and she has  enjoyed each and every year. Right now in her 8th Grade Science class they are learning about Force, Motion, and Energy. Her goal for the future  is to teach Animal Science at a University. What a wonderful teacher! Mrs. Bell greates  inspiration in life the Lord and He will always be her inspiration in every day.  Mrs. bell is a very kind, funny, out-standing, and an Amazing teacher! She can be strick when needed,  but she’s still the best teacher you can imagine! Mrs. Moore says what make Mrs. Bell and great teacher is “She’s truly called to teach and she runs a tight ship…..or is it plane?” When asked what she would you do if you saw one of your students talking to an imaginary person, Mrs. Bell responded, “Join the Conversation!”   Interesting Huh!  She’s one of a kind.:)

COACH SCOTT

Coach Scott is our 7th grade reading teacher, as well as our 7th grade athletic girls coach. She has a group of unique and awesome students, or as she says “They’re  Awesome!!!!!” Right now in her reading class, they are working on the novel “Hatchet”. This year is alot different for her because last year she taught core support and health. She says that this year has LOTS, and LOTS of paperwork, but she does enjoy reading as well. Coach loves her athletic girls. They are working in volleyball right now. As she says, “Kicking It” in volleyball…Coach Scott has been teaching for 10 years, and she’s not going to quit anytime soon. As well as everyone else in this world, she has a life outside of school as well though. She has three amazing kid with a newborn baby at home that I bet she hates to leave at home but she does it just to come see us. She is an awesome single mom who still finds time to help her students in the classroom and the on the court.  She likes to spend time with her friends and family on her free time.”LOUD” is a word she describes herself as. If music could describe her she would say “BIG COUNTRY, BABY!!!” Her favorite color is ocean blue, the color of her big, beautiful eyes. As she says, don’t let her size scare you, she is AWESOME and  very kind hearted. HER favorite quote is  “Attitude determines your altitude” Is what she lives by. Coach Scott is a wonderful, strong, lady who cares for others. She is fun loving, kind hearted, and outgoing. She’s a Unique individual. She is willing and determined to do whatever to help you. So take advantage of having her, we don’t have teachers like her come up everyday.

Gettting To Know Mrs. Tatum

1.) What made you deciede to become a teacher?
“I became a teacher because of the interaction I get to have with students. It’s always rewarding
to help student learn and grow. Over the years, I have found that teaching is never boring and
that being a teacher has made me a lifetime learner.”

2.)So far this year, how would you describe the stundents this year?
“My students are AWESOME! I can tell it’s going to be a great year.”

3.) When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? A nurse

4.)Do you have any plans when you retired from a teacher? What plans might you have?
My plans are to spend a lot of time with my grandchildern and to travel.

5.) If you were not a teacher, where would you see yourself in today’s world?
 I worked at a bank before I became a teacher. I would still be there if I wouldn’t have became a teacher.

6) What do you do on your free time? Read ( of course)

7) How would you describe your middle school year? Fun! (band, parades, football games,etc)

What can the students look forward too this year? Reading novels and doing projects

9) What made you want to teach ELA? I want to help students become lifetime readers.

August 30th, we had our Parent Information Night.   Mr. Fite talked about what goes on at TMS.   He told our parents about procedures that included information on  tardies, cell phones, dress code and a whole lot more.

He made sure our parents knows what goes on at Tatum Middle School.   He told our parents about being to school on time and how important it is to stay throughout the day until 3:30 p.m. If you haven’t told your parents about detention, Mr. Fite told them for you. Detention takes place from 3:30-6:00p.m on Friday afternooons and is used  for students who don’t turn in their work, so make sure you turn your work in on time.   He told them about the State changing  from the TAKS test to the STAAR test this year.   He also told went over Extra-Curricular activities like athletics, band, etc. He also reviewed the “No Pass No Play” rules, so its best to be on top of things.   Mr. Fite wants all of us to do our best…..have a great year!