Here are four links to directions for each age group using the School Time Capsule Project.
1) Recruiting Time Capsule Postmasters to make project possible:
https://schooltimecapsule.blogspot.com/2019/05/time-capsule-postmasters-needed.html
2) Elementary School (Pk-5) Recommendations:
https://schooltimecapsule.blogspot.com/2020/02/pk-5-time-capsule-project.html
3) Middle School (6-8) Recommendations:
https://schooltimecapsule.blogspot.com/2020/02/middle-school-6-8-time-capsule-project.html
4) High School (9-12) Recommendations:
https://schooltimecapsule.blogspot.com/2020/02/high-school-9-12-time-capsule-project.html
Starting a School Time Capsule Project does not require the 43 cubic ft inside space, 700-pound vault recommended, usually online at Costco, https://www.costco.com/hardware-safes.html. Just now, (2-26-20) I could not find the type vault we have purchased 9 of over the past 2 years, but vaults available at Costco change often. Vaults can be secured many places. A vault with 40 cubic feet inside space is recommended, unless the class size in your school is significantly below 200. The extra space is rarely a problem.
The vault is both a place to store the letters and a symbol of how truly valuable planning for the future and studying family history are. As students pass the vault daily they may be reminded of the letters inside from their loved ones, and plans they have in the vault as well as updates they may be planning.
This goal setting process helps students improve their own lives more than just about anything else. Only our students can make it all work. That is the power of the message. This is their future built on their work.
Questions are welcome.
Bill Betzen
bbetzen@aol.com.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Thursday, February 20, 2020
Elementary School (Pk-5) Time Capsule Project Recommendations
It is recommended that the first act with the Time Capsule Project start with parents as they enroll their child in Pre-K. With the application ask that the parent submit a simple letter to their child about their dreams for them. They are asked to read it to their child at home and then sealed into an envelope addressed to their child to be brought to school. At school it is placed into the School Time Capsule, the 700-pound vault placed in a very visible location of the school lobby. Hopefully the location allows it to be seen by parents and students as often as possible.
Let parents know that such letters from each parent to their child, and grandparents if they also want to be involved, will be requested each year as their child will be changing rapidly. They will be returned each year so they can be updated and changed as needed every year.
The process changes in the third grade as the child will initiate the process with a letter they write to each parent and other relative they want a letter back from. Here is recommended wording for directions that can be given students for writing this letter beginning in the third grade:
===================================================================
Directions for 3rd through 5th grade students for the first of two Time Capsule Project writing lessons each year:
***************************************
The existence of these letters from parents and students themselves will be in the background as school work continues. As goal issues come up during class it can be mentioned as something that will be updated next year.
This letter writing is recommended for the start of the school year but it can be done at any time the teacher in a grade find it convenient. If possible, for the entire school to do the letter writing at the same time may be easiest.
Each year, before the letter writing starts the Time Capsule Postmaster Volunteers will need to have a day to sort the letters into the classes students are currently attending. It is recommended that each year the class roster with home addresses be placed into the class container and into the vault to help in knowing the students.
Each year some students may have moved out of the school. It is recommended that if they school they are moving to is also a school with a Time Capsule Project, that the letter be sent to that school to help welcome them and continue the letter writing there. If it is not a Time Capsule Project school, then send the letter to the new home address.
The first weeks of what would be the 6th grade it is recommended that the Postmasters sort the letters by the new schools the students are attending and have the letters delivered to that school if they are Time Capsule Schools. If not, again, just mail the letters to the home address.
Since most of the students will be going to the middle school in the feeder pattern, most of the letters will be going to that school. If this transition is managed well and students know their letters will be following them to the new middle school, this may lessen the loss of students during this often painful transition when as much as 12% of enrollment is lost.
Questions are welcomed! Bill Betzen, bbetzen@aol.com
Let parents know that such letters from each parent to their child, and grandparents if they also want to be involved, will be requested each year as their child will be changing rapidly. They will be returned each year so they can be updated and changed as needed every year.
The process changes in the third grade as the child will initiate the process with a letter they write to each parent and other relative they want a letter back from. Here is recommended wording for directions that can be given students for writing this letter beginning in the third grade:
===================================================================
Directions for 3rd through 5th grade students for the first of two Time Capsule Project writing lessons each year:
What are your dreams for me?
Time Capsule Project Letter Student Directions
Elementary School 2-20-20
Time Capsule Project Letter Student Directions
Elementary School 2-20-20
Write a letter to each of the most important adults in your life. Write to each parent, grandparent, and/or other relatives, or even school staff, if you want letters from them.
Ask them to write you a letter telling you their dreams for you.
Ask that they also write one story from your family’s history, or your history with them. It can be a story they want you to remember and maybe someday share with your own children.
As your parents and/or relatives finish their letter, immediately read it with them. Ask them questions so you can understand their letter well.
Bring the letters you have received to school. Bring them on the day your teacher says you will write a letter to yourself for the Time Capsule.
In class, first prepare the return envelope for all your letters. Put your name and home address on the envelope with your phone number. As the return address place your teacher's name, your grade, and the name and address of the school you attend, and finally the date you are addressing the envelope. Your teacher will check this envelope as you write your letter to yourself.
You will write a letter to yourself about your thoughts on the letters you have received and what they said. Then you write about your own dreams for your future. When finished place your letter into the self-addressed envelope you have prepared. Seal it and they will be collected to be placed in the School Time Capsule in the container for your grades letters.
Your envelope will return to you in one year.In class, first prepare the return envelope for all your letters. Put your name and home address on the envelope with your phone number. As the return address place your teacher's name, your grade, and the name and address of the school you attend, and finally the date you are addressing the envelope. Your teacher will check this envelope as you write your letter to yourself.
You will write a letter to yourself about your thoughts on the letters you have received and what they said. Then you write about your own dreams for your future. When finished place your letter into the self-addressed envelope you have prepared. Seal it and they will be collected to be placed in the School Time Capsule in the container for your grades letters.
***************************************
The existence of these letters from parents and students themselves will be in the background as school work continues. As goal issues come up during class it can be mentioned as something that will be updated next year.
This letter writing is recommended for the start of the school year but it can be done at any time the teacher in a grade find it convenient. If possible, for the entire school to do the letter writing at the same time may be easiest.
Each year, before the letter writing starts the Time Capsule Postmaster Volunteers will need to have a day to sort the letters into the classes students are currently attending. It is recommended that each year the class roster with home addresses be placed into the class container and into the vault to help in knowing the students.
Each year some students may have moved out of the school. It is recommended that if they school they are moving to is also a school with a Time Capsule Project, that the letter be sent to that school to help welcome them and continue the letter writing there. If it is not a Time Capsule Project school, then send the letter to the new home address.
The first weeks of what would be the 6th grade it is recommended that the Postmasters sort the letters by the new schools the students are attending and have the letters delivered to that school if they are Time Capsule Schools. If not, again, just mail the letters to the home address.
Since most of the students will be going to the middle school in the feeder pattern, most of the letters will be going to that school. If this transition is managed well and students know their letters will be following them to the new middle school, this may lessen the loss of students during this often painful transition when as much as 12% of enrollment is lost.
Questions are welcomed! Bill Betzen, bbetzen@aol.com
Middle School (6-8) Time Capsule Project Recommendations
Once you have studied the history and achievements of active School Time Capsule Projects and decided to start one for your school, the goals to be achieved are the following:
1) Introduce it to your students and prepare for the first writing lesson. Remember, each set of letters require two class periods, one to write letters to each parent and relative the student wants letters back from and the second after having received these letters to put them into one self-addressed envelope. Then the student writes a letter to themselves reflecting on letters received and planning and updating their plans for their own future. (At home students could write letters to as many relatives as they want, anywhere in the world, using any language necessary. They mail them.) They write separate letters to each individual as everyone has a different family history with a different set of stories to write about.
2) Introduce this project to parents every chance you get. Let them know that the goal is to help students know their roots and develop their plans for the future, a process that never ends. These will be documents that will help their child start a better awareness of how to plan for the future.
3) From the very start begin to recruit School Time Capsule Project Postmasters. They will be volunteers who help this project year to year in each classroom. They sort letters from the previous year so that they can be handed out to the students each year before the next round of letter writing. It is recommended they be allowed to hand out the letters as a form of reinforcement. If they do not enjoy seeing the positive responses of the students in getting their year old letters back, they may not be the right folks for the job.
If all goes well your middle school will be receiving students who have already been introduced to the Time Capsule Project and who have been writing and receiving letters about their families dreams for them, and reading stories from their family history, for many years. Hopefully they will have letters waiting for them at your school that they wrote in the 5th grade. But you will always have students just starting. We begin there.
2) Introduce this project to parents every chance you get. Let them know that the goal is to help students know their roots and develop their plans for the future, a process that never ends. These will be documents that will help their child start a better awareness of how to plan for the future.
3) From the very start begin to recruit School Time Capsule Project Postmasters. They will be volunteers who help this project year to year in each classroom. They sort letters from the previous year so that they can be handed out to the students each year before the next round of letter writing. It is recommended they be allowed to hand out the letters as a form of reinforcement. If they do not enjoy seeing the positive responses of the students in getting their year old letters back, they may not be the right folks for the job.
Pass out the letters for any of your students received from their previous grade. Explain to all what those letters are and pass out directions like this to read with the class for this assignment.
===================================================================
Directions for 6th through 8th grade students for the first Time Capsule Project writing lesson:
What are your dreams for me?
Directions for the Time Capsule Project Middle School Letters 2-20-20
Directions for the Time Capsule Project Middle School Letters 2-20-20
Write a letter to each of the most important adults in your life. Write to your parents, grandparents, guardians or other relatives. You may even write to school staff you may be close to. Write to adults from whom you would like a letter describing their dreams for you.
You may write your letter in any language and you may write additional letters at home with your parents help as needed.
You will write such letters each year. You change a lot in one year. You will write letters to the adults observing your changes. They will describe how their dreams for you have changed as you change.
Ask them to each also write one story from your family’s history. It can be a story about themselves or any relative. It should be a story they consider valuable. It should be a story they want you to pass on to your children someday.
When your parents and/or relatives finish their letter, read it at home with them as soon as possible. Ask them questions you may have. The goal is for you to understand the letter.
Bring all the letters you have received to your Language Arts Class. Do this on the day planned to write a letter to yourself. On that day your teacher will give you an envelope. It will hold all the letters you have received. Place your name and address on this envelope. The return address is the date, your teachers name, grade, school, and school address. You will then write a letter to yourself about your own plans for the future.
Place the letter you write into this self-addressed envelope with all your letters. Seal it. That envelope will be placed into the School Time-Capsule by the Postmaster. This should happen each year until you graduate.
Every year you will receive back the envelope with your letters before you write the next set of letters. The only differences will be in the 8th and 12th grade. Those years you will write letters planning your life 10-years into the future. Those same years the relatives writing to you will also describe their dreams for you 10-years into the future. These 10-year letters will remain inside the School Time Capsule for 10 years.
In 10 years your class will have a 10-year reunion. At that reunion you will receive these envelopes back. School staff will invite you to speak with the then current students in your former middle school. You will give your recommendations for success to them. You will describe life after middle school and the work you do.
***************************************
The existence of these letters from parents and students themselves will be in the background as school work continues. As goal issues come up during class it can be mentioned as something that will be updated next year.
This letter writing is recommended for the start of the school year but it can be done at any time the teacher in a grade find it convenient. If possible, for the entire school to do the letter writing at the same time may be easiest.
Each year, before the letter writing starts the Time Capsule Postmaster Volunteers will need to have a day to sort the letters into the classes students are currently attending. It is recommended that each year the class roster with home addresses be placed into the class container and into the vault to help in knowing the students.
Each year some students may have moved out of the school area. It is recommended that if the school they are moving to is also a school with a Time Capsule Project, that the letter be sent to that school to help welcome them and continue the letter writing there. If it is not a Time Capsule Project school, then send the letter to the new home address.
The 8th grade letters remain in the vault, with a listing of all students and a check made on that listing for everyone with an envelope in the vault.
Questions are welcomed! Bill Betzen, bbetzen@aol.com
High School (9-12) Time Capsule Project Recommendations
Once you have studied the history and achievements of active School Time Capsule Projects and decided to start one for your school, the goals to be achieved are the following:
1) Introduce it to your students and prepare for the first writing lesson. Remember, each set of letters require two class periods, one to write letters to each parent and relative the student wants letters back from and the second after having received these letters to put them into one self-addressed envelope. Then the student writes a letter to themselves reflecting on letters received and planning and updating their plans for their own future. (At home students could write letters to as many relatives as they want, anywhere in the world, using any language necessary. They mail them.) They write separate letters to each individual as everyone has a different family history with a different set of stories to write about.
2) Introduce this project to parents every chance you get. Let them know that the goal is to help students know their roots and develop their plans for the future, a process that never ends. These will be documents that will help their child start a better awareness of how to plan for the future.
3) From the very start begin to recruit School Time Capsule Project Postmasters. They will be volunteers who help this project year to year in each classroom. They sort letters from the previous year so that they can be handed out to the students each year before the next round of letter writing. It is recommended they be allowed to hand out the letters as a form of reinforcement. If they do not enjoy seeing the positive responses of the students in getting their year old letters back, they may not be the right folks for the job.
Here is one recommendation for directions for 9th through 12th grade students for the first Time Capsule Project writing lesson:
1) Introduce it to your students and prepare for the first writing lesson. Remember, each set of letters require two class periods, one to write letters to each parent and relative the student wants letters back from and the second after having received these letters to put them into one self-addressed envelope. Then the student writes a letter to themselves reflecting on letters received and planning and updating their plans for their own future. (At home students could write letters to as many relatives as they want, anywhere in the world, using any language necessary. They mail them.) They write separate letters to each individual as everyone has a different family history with a different set of stories to write about.
2) Introduce this project to parents every chance you get. Let them know that the goal is to help students know their roots and develop their plans for the future, a process that never ends. These will be documents that will help their child start a better awareness of how to plan for the future.
3) From the very start begin to recruit School Time Capsule Project Postmasters. They will be volunteers who help this project year to year in each classroom. They sort letters from the previous year so that they can be handed out to the students each year before the next round of letter writing. It is recommended they be allowed to hand out the letters as a form of reinforcement. If they do not enjoy seeing the positive responses of the students in getting their year old letters back, they may not be the right folks for the job.
Here is one recommendation for directions for 9th through 12th grade students for the first Time Capsule Project writing lesson:
What are your dreams for me?
Directions for the first Time Capsule Project letter
High School Students 2-20-20
Directions for the first Time Capsule Project letter
High School Students 2-20-20
Write a letter to each of the most important adults in your life. Write to each parent, grandparent, guardian or other relative separately. You may also write to school staff you may be close to. Write to adults from whom you would like a letter describing their dreams for you and their separate histories.
You may write your letters in any language.
You will be writing such letters each year. You change a lot in a year. You will write letters to the adults observing your changes. They will describe how their dreams for you have changed as you change.
Ask them to each include one story from your family’s history in their letter. It can be a story about themselves or any relative. It should be a story they consider valuable. It should be a story they want you to pass on to your child someday.
When your parents and/or relatives finish their letter, read it with them. Ask them questions so you understand it. The goal is for you to understand the letter.
Bring all the letters you have received to your Language Arts Class. Do this on the day planned to write a letter to yourself. On that day your teacher will give you an envelope. It will hold all the letters you have received. Place your name and address on this envelope along with your cell phone number and email address. You will then write a letter to yourself about your own plans for the future.
You will also place the letter you write into your self-addressed envelope. You will place that envelope into the School Time-Capsule. This will happen each year until you graduate.
Every year you will receive back this envelope with your letters. The only differences will be in the 12th grade. That year you will write a letter planning your life 10-years into the future. Your senior year the relatives writing to you will also describe their dreams for you 10-years into the future. Your senior year letters will remain inside the school time capsule for 10 years.
On that 10-year envelope include another relatives address and phone number, someone who you believe will not move, someone who may be able to help locate you in 10 years.
In 10 years your class will have your first 10-year class reunion. At that reunion you will receive these envelopes back. School staff will invite you to speak with the then current students in your former high school, possibly on Career Day. You will give your recommendations for success to them. You will describe life after high school. You will give the recommendations you wish you had received. You can also talk about the recommendations you may have received and now regret not having followed.
But for now, plan the future you want. Describe how you will achieve it.
Thursday, April 25, 2019
School Time Capsule Project Manual
(Print out this posting to have directions available on the School Time Capsule Project.)
Student achievement soars
knowing roots and goals!
Student achievement soars
knowing roots and goals!
====== pk-12 - Project Manuel =======
As of October 2018 there are 6 elementary, 10 middle, and 4 high schools in Dallas ISD that have School Time Capsule Projects. Each of them have a 500-700+ pound vault, prominently located in the school hallway or lobby, to hold these priceless pk-12 letters from year to year, and for the 8th and 12th grade 10-year reunions. Volunteers are being established at each school to keep letters organized so they follow students, and to ultimately plan 10-year reunions.
Student motivation and parental involvement are the goals. The process begins as parents enroll their child in Pre-K and each write the first of 14 annual letters to their child about their dreams for their child. It is explained this will be an annual letter that will be increasingly easy to write until the child graduates high school. Each letter should include another story from the parent's history so their child becomes familiar with their family history and their roots.
This letter writing will hopefully help lead toward a life-long process of their child becoming grounded in their own family and heritage! At the same time students are reading their parents dreams for them each year. They are slowly building toward their own more solid written life goals that are annually updated after third grade.
Before 3rd grade parents write out their dreams for their child each year as they enroll them for school. That practice changes in third grade as parents begin to respond to a letter their child writes to them asking for a letter about their parental dreams for them and one story from their family history.
The student is encouraged more as the years pass to write letters to additional people important in their lives such as relatives, grandparents, close family friends. During this process the student's view of writing, and the value of writing, will change.
As the project evolves parents and the other letter writers will begin quietly planning forward each year thinking of the story they will share in next year’s letter. It will hopefully increase the frequency of families talking about their family history at home.
Student motivation and parental involvement are the goals. The process begins as parents enroll their child in Pre-K and each write the first of 14 annual letters to their child about their dreams for their child. It is explained this will be an annual letter that will be increasingly easy to write until the child graduates high school. Each letter should include another story from the parent's history so their child becomes familiar with their family history and their roots.
This letter writing will hopefully help lead toward a life-long process of their child becoming grounded in their own family and heritage! At the same time students are reading their parents dreams for them each year. They are slowly building toward their own more solid written life goals that are annually updated after third grade.
Before 3rd grade parents write out their dreams for their child each year as they enroll them for school. That practice changes in third grade as parents begin to respond to a letter their child writes to them asking for a letter about their parental dreams for them and one story from their family history.
The student is encouraged more as the years pass to write letters to additional people important in their lives such as relatives, grandparents, close family friends. During this process the student's view of writing, and the value of writing, will change.
As the project evolves parents and the other letter writers will begin quietly planning forward each year thinking of the story they will share in next year’s letter. It will hopefully increase the frequency of families talking about their family history at home.
As students receive letters from a parent or relative they immediately read them and ask the writer questions about the letter. They want to understand it well. They then bring all the letters collected to school for the day a second letter is scheduled to be written, the student's letter to themselves about their own life plans.
In school that day they first prepare a self-addressed envelope to hold all their letters. This envelope should have the student's address, email, and cell phone numbers on them (as available), as well as another relatives address for backup. Then, as the teacher checks for potential errors on the self-addressed envelope at each students desk, students write a letter to themselves about their own dreams for their future, and how they plan to achieve those dreams.
All letters are considered confidential unless the parent or child wants them to be read by others, or by their teacher.
The letters go into each student’s self-addressed envelope and into the School Time Capsule Vault, separated by class. They remain in the vault until just before the same writing project the next year when they are returned to students. The same process is then repeated. It is recommended that the last elementary school letters follow the student to middle school, helping to make an often difficult middle school transition into one that is more positive. It helps as letters from elementary school are read in middle school to continue the life planning process.
The exceptions to this process are in the 8th and 12th grades when all letters are written planning 10-years into the future. Those two years all letters are then gathered into an adequately large self-addressed envelope that will remain in the School Time Capsule until the 10-year reunion for the student's class.
It is recommended that 10-year reunions be planned just before Career Day so that returning students can be asked to volunteer to speak on Career Day. They will speak about life after 8th or 12th grades, their careers, and give their recommendations for success to current students.
All letters are considered confidential unless the parent or child wants them to be read by others, or by their teacher.
The letters go into each student’s self-addressed envelope and into the School Time Capsule Vault, separated by class. They remain in the vault until just before the same writing project the next year when they are returned to students. The same process is then repeated. It is recommended that the last elementary school letters follow the student to middle school, helping to make an often difficult middle school transition into one that is more positive. It helps as letters from elementary school are read in middle school to continue the life planning process.
The exceptions to this process are in the 8th and 12th grades when all letters are written planning 10-years into the future. Those two years all letters are then gathered into an adequately large self-addressed envelope that will remain in the School Time Capsule until the 10-year reunion for the student's class.
It is recommended that 10-year reunions be planned just before Career Day so that returning students can be asked to volunteer to speak on Career Day. They will speak about life after 8th or 12th grades, their careers, and give their recommendations for success to current students.
Every school needs a volunteer team to help make certain these priceless envelopes follow the students year to year. These volunteers eventually help plan the 10-year reunions and send out those notifications, both online and through U.S. Mail. They manage the re-connection with former students.
======== End Summary ========
History: The School Time Capsule Project started in 2005 with only 8th graders writing letters to themselves for 10-years into the future. That project immediately showed positive results as the high school most students attended gradually began to have fewer students drop out. More students were successfully transitioning to the next grade. Graduation rates rose from 33% to over 70% within a decade.
In that same decade the discipline problems at Quintanilla dropped to 14% of what they used to be as counted by referrals made. Student pregnancies dropped significantly. In 2005, the first year 8th graders wrote letters, a girl ran out of the classroom leaving the future planning writing exercise. She knew she was pregnant. How that would change her future was too much for her to face. Active written plans for the future are the most effective birth-control available.
It took a decade, but by 2015 the School Effectiveness Indices (SEI) for Quintanilla was the highest of all DISD middle schools. However, Time Capsule Project changes made, moving letter writing to all grades and adding the first letter written to parents & relatives, now accelerate such school improvement to about 3 years in a normally resourced school.
In 2009 parents were first invited to write letters to their child before the student wrote their letter to themselves planning their future. This followed a brilliant idea by Ms. Thompson, a teacher. The principals and/or teachers would send a message home asking for such a letter, but the percentage of students receiving letters back from parents never went above 30%.
That changed dramatically in May of 2016. Quintanilla Language Arts Coach, Nicki Lincoln, had two brilliant ideas to improve the Project. First she wanted students to write their own parents requesting the letter back themselves. It would be a Language Arts writing project. Second, she wanted all students in all grades to write such letters, writing one each year and reading it a year later until the 8th grade when the 10-year letters are written.
This expanded the positive effects of the Time Capsule future focus to the entire school. All students would receive back the letters they wrote the next year so they could read it and improve the letter they wrote that year. The 8th graders received back their 7th grade letter, studied it, and then at the end of the year they wrote their final 10-year letter. (As this point, if the school wants and students want, larger envelopes can be used so that all the letters from all three years could be placed into the Time Capsule for safe keeping for the next decade.)
It was an immediate success! Quintanilla teachers were reported in tears due to the results when as many as 85% of student received those valuable letters back from their parents and caretakers.
This started the recommendation of annual letter writing by all students from 3rd grade through 12th to help then connect with their roots and their goals more each year.
In that same decade the discipline problems at Quintanilla dropped to 14% of what they used to be as counted by referrals made. Student pregnancies dropped significantly. In 2005, the first year 8th graders wrote letters, a girl ran out of the classroom leaving the future planning writing exercise. She knew she was pregnant. How that would change her future was too much for her to face. Active written plans for the future are the most effective birth-control available.
It took a decade, but by 2015 the School Effectiveness Indices (SEI) for Quintanilla was the highest of all DISD middle schools. However, Time Capsule Project changes made, moving letter writing to all grades and adding the first letter written to parents & relatives, now accelerate such school improvement to about 3 years in a normally resourced school.
In 2009 parents were first invited to write letters to their child before the student wrote their letter to themselves planning their future. This followed a brilliant idea by Ms. Thompson, a teacher. The principals and/or teachers would send a message home asking for such a letter, but the percentage of students receiving letters back from parents never went above 30%.
That changed dramatically in May of 2016. Quintanilla Language Arts Coach, Nicki Lincoln, had two brilliant ideas to improve the Project. First she wanted students to write their own parents requesting the letter back themselves. It would be a Language Arts writing project. Second, she wanted all students in all grades to write such letters, writing one each year and reading it a year later until the 8th grade when the 10-year letters are written.
This expanded the positive effects of the Time Capsule future focus to the entire school. All students would receive back the letters they wrote the next year so they could read it and improve the letter they wrote that year. The 8th graders received back their 7th grade letter, studied it, and then at the end of the year they wrote their final 10-year letter. (As this point, if the school wants and students want, larger envelopes can be used so that all the letters from all three years could be placed into the Time Capsule for safe keeping for the next decade.)
It was an immediate success! Quintanilla teachers were reported in tears due to the results when as many as 85% of student received those valuable letters back from their parents and caretakers.
This started the recommendation of annual letter writing by all students from 3rd grade through 12th to help then connect with their roots and their goals more each year.
This plan was tested in 2016/17 at Browne Middle School, a Time Capsule Project School for 2 years but still in its 5th year as a failing school. Their 8th grade writing Time Capsule Project had just completed the 2 years with some improvement, but Browne Middle School leadership and teachers loved the idea of all students in all grades writing to each of their parents asking for these priceless letters back, and then writing their letters to themselves. Browne immediately did this in all grades and the results were astounding!
Browne went from 5th year IR, to Meeting Requirements with 4 Distinctions for the 2016/17 school year! Their School Effectiveness Indices (SEI) went from just "below average" at 47.5 to 61.7, the highest SEI score for any middle school in all of DISD! This tied the other largest one year gain by a middle school over the past 20 years in DISD!
By 2016/17 there were 6 active Time Capsule Projects in DISD middle schools. All of them were comfortably above average in their SEI scores, and 4 of them were among the 5 highest SEI scores of all 33 middle schools in DISD. This was reported to the public. In 2017/18 a total of 9 new Time Capsule Project were started, ending the year with 6 elementary, 10 middle, and 4 high schools. By this time the DISD Curriculum Department was involved and monitoring the progress.
The goals for 2018/19 are to activate the all-grade from 3rd through 12th letter writing projects, 2 letters every year, in the 18 additional schools that will join Quintanilla and Browne in their progress.
In the fall of 2018 a DISD Kindergarten volunteer, Elaine Wildman, suggested that when enrolling their child for school that parents of PK through 2nd grade parents include a statement of their goals for their child. This would begin the forward thinking process for parents, the putting of goals into words.
In the fall of 2018 a DISD Kindergarten volunteer, Elaine Wildman, suggested that when enrolling their child for school that parents of PK through 2nd grade parents include a statement of their goals for their child. This would begin the forward thinking process for parents, the putting of goals into words.
Letter writing recommendations: These are only recommendations. The ownership of this project is with each school. School leadership ultimately decide when and what to do. (It is requested that if schools develop significant improvements that they share their ideas with all schools with Time Capsule Projects, and with us. bbetzen@aol.com)
Timing: all letters except the 10-year letters in 8th and 12th grade should be written during the first half of the school year. (8th and 12th graders could also write letters at the start of the school year and then get those letters back at the end of the year before writing their final 10-year letter. It is an alternative for school leadership to decide.) The end of October is recommended due to that being when full enrollment is anticipated. The 10-year letters should be written at the end of the school year so as to sum things up.
Timing: all letters except the 10-year letters in 8th and 12th grade should be written during the first half of the school year. (8th and 12th graders could also write letters at the start of the school year and then get those letters back at the end of the year before writing their final 10-year letter. It is an alternative for school leadership to decide.) The end of October is recommended due to that being when full enrollment is anticipated. The 10-year letters should be written at the end of the school year so as to sum things up.
Recommendations for first annual letter:
While it is recommended this start in the 3rd grade, teachers have spoken about earlier starts. That certainly can be done.
Recommended directions to give to students for writing that first letter to parents:
Here are three sets for directions that can be printed out to share with students with the directions for their letter writing to parents and other relatives they would like to have letters back from.
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Directions for 3rd through 5th grade students for the first Time Capsule Project writing lesson:
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Directions for 6th through 8th grade students for the first Time Capsule Project writing lesson:
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Directions for 9th through 12th grade students for the first Time Capsule Project writing lesson:
While it is recommended this start in the 3rd grade, teachers have spoken about earlier starts. That certainly can be done.
Recommended directions to give to students for writing that first letter to parents:
Here are three sets for directions that can be printed out to share with students with the directions for their letter writing to parents and other relatives they would like to have letters back from.
***************************************
Directions for 3rd through 5th grade students for the first Time Capsule Project writing lesson:
What are your dreams for me?
Time Capsule Project Letter Student Directions
Elementary School 3-8-18
Time Capsule Project Letter Student Directions
Elementary School 3-8-18
Write a letter to each of the most important adults in your life. Write to your parents, grandparents, other relatives, or even school staff.
Ask them to write you a letter telling their dreams for you.
Ask them to write one story from your family’s history. It can be a story they want you to someday tell your own children.
Your parents and/or relatives will finish their letter. Read it with them. Ask them questions so you can best understand their letter.
Bring the letters you have received to school. Bring them on the day your teacher says you will write a letter to yourself. In this letter write your dreams for your own future.
Place all these letters into one envelope. Put your name and home address on the envelope.
Your envelope will return to you in one year.***************************************
Directions for 6th through 8th grade students for the first Time Capsule Project writing lesson:
What are your dreams for me?
Directions for the first Time Capsule Project letter
Middle School 3-8-18
Directions for the first Time Capsule Project letter
Middle School 3-8-18
Write a letter to each of the most important adults in your life. Write to your parents, grandparents, guardians or other relatives. You may even write to school staff you may be close to. Write to adults from whom you would like a letter describing their dreams for you.
You may write your letter in any language.
You will write such letters each year. You change a lot in one year. You will write letters to the adults observing your changes. They will describe how their dreams for you have changed as you change.
Ask them to each write one story from your family’s history. It can be a story about themselves or any relative. It should be a story they consider valuable. It should be a story they want you to pass on to your children someday.
When your parents and/or relatives finish their letter, read it at home with them. Ask them questions so you understand it. The goal is for you to understand the letter.
Bring all the letters you have received to your Language Arts Class. Do this on the day planned to write a letter to yourself. On that day your teacher will give you an envelope. It will hold all the letters you have received. Place your name and address on this envelope. You will then write a letter to yourself about your own plans for the future.
You will also place the letter you write into this self-addressed envelope. You will place that envelope into the School Time-Capsule. This will happen each year until you graduate.
Every year you will receive back this envelope with your letters. The only differences will be in the 8th and 12th grade. Those years you will write letters planning your life 10-years into the future. Those same years the relatives writing to you will also describe their dreams for you 10-years into the future. These 10-year letters will remain inside the school time capsule for 10 years.
In 10 years your class will have a 10-year reunion. At that reunion you will receive these envelopes back. School staff will invite you to speak with the then current students in your former middle school. You will give your recommendations for success to them. You will describe life after middle school.
***************************************
Directions for 9th through 12th grade students for the first Time Capsule Project writing lesson:
What are your dreams for me?
Directions for the first Time Capsule Project letter
High School Students 3-8-18
Directions for the first Time Capsule Project letter
High School Students 3-8-18
Write a letter to each of the most important adults in your life. Write to your parents, grandparents, guardians or other relatives. You may also write to school staff you may be close to. Write to adults from whom you would like a letter describing their dreams for you.
You may write your letters in any language.
You will be writing such letters each year. You change a lot in a year. You will write letters to the adults observing your changes. They will describe how their dreams for you have changed as you change.
Ask them to each include one story from your family’s history in their letter. It can be a story about themselves or any relative. It should be a story they consider valuable. It should be a story they want you to pass on to your children someday.
When your parents and/or relatives finish their letter, read it with them. Ask them questions so you understand it. The goal is for you to understand the letter.
Bring all the letters you have received to your Language Arts Class. Do this on the day planned to write a letter to yourself. On that day your teacher will give you an envelope. It will hold all the letters you have received. Place your name and address on this envelope. You will then write a letter to yourself about your own plans for the future.
You will also place the letter you write into your self-addressed envelope. You will place that envelope into the School Time-Capsule. This will happen each year until you graduate.
Every year you will receive back this envelope with your letters. The only differences will be in the 12th grade. That year you will write a letter planning your life 10-years into the future. Your senior year the relatives writing to you will also describe their dreams for you 10-years into the future. Your senior year letters will remain inside the school time capsule for 10 years.
In 10 years your class will have your first 10-year class reunion. At that reunion you will receive these envelopes back. School staff will invite you to speak with the then current students in your former high school. You will give your recommendations for success to them. You will describe life after high school. You will give the recommendations you wish you had received. You can also talk about the recommendations you did receive and now regret not having followed.
But for now, plan the future you want and describe how you will achieve it.
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The fifth such 10-year reunion will happen this year at Quintanilla, the first Time Capsule Project School, started in 2005. Quintanilla used to be a normal DISD middle school, but for the past several years Superintendent Dr. Hinojosa, has called Quintanilla the best DISD middle school.
Such progress now happens much more rapidly in new Time Capsule Project Schools due to expanded, every grade, letter writing. It will no longer take a decade!
Monday, November 27, 2017
More precious than diamonds... More valuable than gold...
This is the Greiner Middle School Time Capsule. William Fields, a Greiner TAG teacher at the time, started this Dallas ISD School Time Capsule Project in 2010. These are words he placed on the vault in 2010. It is a very positive statement, that has been proven more than accurate, about the power of students planning in writing for their own lives and their own futures. (See www.StudentMotivation.org . At the bottom of this posting see how to buy a vault for Christmas and change your local school!)
Nothing will lower poverty levels in Dallas more than if every school in the city has an annual set of letter-writing lessons wherein all students both connect with their roots and plan for their futures.
This is the heart of the School Time Capsule Project. Students write letters to their parents, and other important adults in their lives, every year from third grade through 12th grade asking for letters to be written back to them.
They only ask for two things in the return letter. They ask for each adults' dreams for them, and they ask each adult, parents and others, to include one story from their family or community history they consider valuable enough they want it passed on someday to the students' children.
Imagine a collection of 10 such stories about each parent's family recorded by the time your child graduates! They will know more about their roots, their community, than any students today!
In the process their attitude toward writing will change!
Students read the letters and ask questions of parents, and the other people they may have asked to write letters, about their letters. Students then bring the letters to school. First they prepare a self-addressed envelope to hold all their letters. Then they write a letter to themselves about their own plans to be included in that envelope. All letters are sealed into the prepared envelope and placed into the school time capsule, on the shelf for that students class.
The vault installed at Greiner Middle School in 2010 is now filled with 7 years of letters students have written to themselves planning their futures. Class reunions start in three more years!
This year will be the fourth such 10-year reunion at Quintanilla.
Imagine the power of these reunions! They are planned before Career Day so volunteers can be recruited from the returning alumni to talk on Career Day to current students about life after 8th grade! How did they choose their professions? What recommendations do they give for success? What would they do differently if they could be 12 years old again?
Six middle schools are now actively doing this in Dallas: Browne, Boude Storey, Greiner, Quintanilla, Rosemont & Zumwalt. It is no accident that all of them are well above average in achievement. The lowest School Effectiveness Indices (SEI) score among these 6 schools is still the 13th best of all 33 middle schools!
Four of these 6 are among the top 5 performing middle schools of all 33 middle schools in Dallas! Browne Middle school, which would have been in its 5th year as a failing IR school, now has the highest SEI of all middle schools in Dallas! That is the power of future planning well done with parents involved. While I do not know the parental letter writing percentages at Browne, at Quintanilla it was as high as 85%!
This project is now moving into more schools from 3rd through 12th grade.
Help your local school become a higher achieving school. Buy them a vault for Christmas! Go to the blog at www.StudentMotivation.org to see how to buy a 770-pound vault for your school for $775, on sale till 12-17-17 at Costco.com. Delivery is included! Just coordinate with the principal and have the vault delivered to the school lobby, or another location where it can be seen by students every day. The more often they think of the letters from their parents, and they letters they themselves wrote, the better.
Please share this posting with people you know have the money to help your local schools have this $775 vault, or maybe the $150 in supplies it takes to put in the 10 shelves, donated to your school for Christmas. Then recruit, and/or become one of the volunteers willing to study www.StudentMotivation.org and get the project going.
Too many Dallas students do not know their roots, or their plans for the future. If that changes, starting in the third grade, so will the poverty level for the next generation!
Saturday, November 11, 2017
A Christmas Present for Your School 2017
The most valuable Christmas present you could give your local school is to introduce them to the School Time Capsule Project and, if they agree, purchase a $775 vault, now on sale until 12-17-17 at Costco online. This is the 43 cubic foot vault on sale:
This vault would go into the lobby of the school, or another high student traffic location so the maximum number of students see it daily. Ten shelves would need to be installed inside the vault for 10 years worth of letters from parents, relatives, and students. They would be writing valued stories in these letters from family history and dreams for the future with plans for achieving those dreams.
Such reflecting on history and planning for the future has helped create the highest performing middle schools among the 33 middle schools in Dallas ISD. See blog posting below. The Time Capsule Project has now been approved by DISD to be used from 3rd through 12th grade for helping students focus on their futures and know their past.
Bill Betzen
www.StudentMotivation.org
Such reflecting on history and planning for the future has helped create the highest performing middle schools among the 33 middle schools in Dallas ISD. See blog posting below. The Time Capsule Project has now been approved by DISD to be used from 3rd through 12th grade for helping students focus on their futures and know their past.
Bill Betzen
www.StudentMotivation.org
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