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Whittier Middle School Staff sporting 6-7 shirts on Halloween Day.
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I'm in the back, far right.
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I'm back to juggling creative time with middle school adventures. Writing a little here and there at night after supper, revising around family-filled weekends, and finally, my fall newsletter has found its way into your email box! Sorry for the delay.
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Have I mentioned how much I adore working with middle schoolers? If I'm honest, my time with them could also be considered research. Sure, I find inspiration from the emotions and situations of my own middle school experiences, from my children's, too. But while much of the middle school culture has stayed the same through the years, some aspects have changed due to influences like social media and technology (Not all are cons in my book, I'd argue there are many pros too.)
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Take the recent six-seven trend. Math teachers cannot solve a problem with an answer of 67, nor can ELA teachers can ask their class to turn to page 67, without students erupting into a sing-song chorus of 'six-seveeeeen' while holding their hands palm up and giving an either-or gesture. This had our staff scrambling with curiosity to find out what it meant. Turns out, the answer has less to do with a meaning, and more to do with a feeling of belonging or collectively being in on the joke. Once we knew that, we could lean into it a bit, have some fun with it on occasion. (See our staff photo above)
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The six-seven trend (and my wearing the 6-7 shirt that day) has led to a couple of thoughtful conversations. In the student lunch room last week, I was laughing with eighth graders over some six-seven jokes, when one of them told me I was 'skibidi' for going along with it. I smiled (hoping skibidi still meant 'cool' in this context) and reminded them I write for their age group. It's kind of-sort of my job as an author to know a bit about their world so I can create characters that feel real to them. "Things have changed since I was in middle school fifty years ago," I said, "but a lot has stayed the same too."
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From there, the conversation steered toward comparing their middle school experiences with mine. Like nervousness over finding a seat in the lunch room with friends, which hasn't changed all that much. Bullying? We agreed it was much, much worse with social media in the mix. Grades? My students think they have it worse because parents can be more in-the-know on a daily basis, rather than getting good or bad news with the report card.
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And belonging? Needing to find a group of like-minded friends who has your back through thick and thin? We agreed that hasn't changed at all. Even as adults, we long to belong somewhere, with a group of peers we can call our own.
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Which brings me back to "six-seveeeeen". It may seem silly, but if using it helps students from all corners of a school feel they're in on the joke, if it gives them a sense of belonging, I'm willing to play along.
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Truth be told, now that adults are in on the joke, I don't think it'll be around much longer. Maybe . . . six or seven weeks? (insert a chorus of "six-seveeeeen Ms. Wight!")
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Read on below to join me on my last kayak ride of 2025, where I photograph something on my bucket list. Learn some cool facts about killdeer. Then you can check out two middle grade novels I read for our school wide reading challenge.
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Click my books below to learn more about Cooper and Packrat's wildlife adventures. If you purchase one or more from the set for a favorite reader in your life, please let me know. I'd love to send them a note, bookmarks and even a wildlife postcard or two! Winter months are perfect for curling up and reading . . . especially Mystery of the Lost Lynx, where Cooper and Packrat have a snowy adventure.
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Fun Wildlife Facts!
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Killdeer
When I snapped these photos on my lake's shoreline, I thought I was capturing a spotted sandpiper, which I'd photographed many, many times before. It wasn't until I'd downloaded the photos and zoomed in that I realized I'd found something new to me! If I'd known I was photographing a killdeer . . . well, I might have hung out a bit longer!
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Killdeer are considered shorebirds and are seen on lake shorelines, mudflats or tidal flats. But they are also found on lawns, golf courses, grassy sports fields, playgrounds and farm fields.
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Their diet is mostly insects such as grasshoppers, caterpillars and beetles. They also eat snails, earthworms, crayfish and seeds, as well as aquatic larvae and an occasional minnow.
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One of the most interesting things about killdeer are their impressive acting skills! If you get too close to a killdeer's nest, they throw a wing out at an awkward angle and drag it along the ground while limping and calling. They hope this display will distract any predators away from their nesting site, like a raccoon looking for eggs.
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Clever little bird, aren't they?
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In my research, it was hard not to notice how adorable killdeer chicks are! I hope to see the killdeer pair on our lake next summer. It would be a bucket list item to catch those chicks on camera.
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Bonus Fun Fact! Killdeer get their name from their piercing call; kill-deeee. I've read you can hear them coming long before you see them. They're very noisy. The killdeer I photographed never called, I might have identified them in the field if they had.
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Take A Fall Kayak Ride
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Just a couple weeks ago I was halfheartedly doing yard work when I found myself lakeside. The water's reflections were so glass-like, you couldn't tell where the real color ended and the reflection began.
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Go out for a paddle, my creative muse urged, you know you want to.
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But you have so much to do, my responsible side countered. And you already covered your kayak with a tarp and packed your paddles away for the winter.
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Could be your last chance until spring. My creative muse was pulling out all the stops! You never know what you might be missing out there—
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As you can tell from the photos, my creative side won. Slowly I paddled my way around the lake, basking in the warmth of the sun. There was a chill in the slight breeze and quiet all around. Many of my neighbors had closed up their camps and gone home for the winter.
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These photos from my phone do not do the foliage and their reflections justice. At one point I felt as if I was traveling in a golden glow.
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I eventually reaching the inlet, a shallow, weedy area. I'd yet to see any wildlife, still, there was the hope of catching mallards swimming and diving in the colorful water reflections. Maybe I'd be lucky enough to photograph them in flight against the fall foliage . . . but wait . . . what do I see?
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I almost missed it! From a distance this one blend in very well with the grasses.
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I followed the heron for quite awhile as it traveled the shoreline, walked through the treeline into the stream beyond and back out of the treeline again.
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Then I spied the mallards - although if I'm honest, I think they spied me, before I spied them.
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By now, I was sliding my camera back and forth between the two subjects, not wanting to miss any action. Especially not flight shots.
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Wait, the mallards are on the move!
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But the heron seems to be stalking prey!
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I stuck with the heron . . . .
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Who apparently missed its lunch.
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So I swung to the mallards.
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And it was here that my kayaking trip got very, very interesting.
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I was following the mallards, still hoping they'd take flight, aaaand still keeping one eye on the heron when I heard chomping. Cracking. More chomping. LOUD chomping!
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I lowered the camera and looked at the water around me. I didn't see anything. Slowly I picked up my paddle. I didn't want to make any sudden moves that might scare off the mallards and heron, who were both eyeing me suspiciously now. But that chomping! It sounded like it was right behind me. A beaver? A mink?
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I paddled in a circle . .. . was that a . . . .
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River Otter! A first find for me!
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He stopped chomping to dive before I could raise my camera. Because the sun was behind him, I quickly paddled to where I thought I'd get a better shot. I put down my paddle and lifted my camera just as he came out of the water to begin chomping away again.
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I was in nature geek heaven! Until he realized I was spying on him. Diving, he came back up to huff and puff at me. He dove, came back up and chomped for a few minutes more.
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I tried not to move at all. To breath quietly.
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This time, when he dove I was ready. This photo series gave me a great look at his body length and tail.
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What a cool experience to watch this magnificent creature in action!
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Meanwhile, the mallards and heron had flown off to other locations on the lake. I may have missed my flight shots, but I'm so glad I listened to my creative muse, because it gave me a great story and fun photos to share with you all.
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Read and Read S'more
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Here are two books I've read so far at school alongside my students during silent reading time. I couldn't decide which one to feature here - so I'm sharing both!
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The International House
of Dereliction
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Who doesn't love a good ghost story? Or a story about family? You'll get both in this book by Jacqueline Davies.
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Ten year old Alice and her loving, but kooky parents have moved ten times! Each time, Alice and her father fix up their home to its former glory.
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With the eleventh move though, Alice finds herself pulled toward the grand mansion next door, which is condemned. She secretly steals inside and begins to restore it all by herself in secret, only to discover the house has a heartbeat in its walls! And that's not all—. it has three ghosts with unfinished business.
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Can Alice help the ghosts and restore the house before the wrecking ball arrives?
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This book kept me turning pages! I cheered for Alice as she solved the mystery of each ghost. Will she be able to help the house?
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A First Time for Everything
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Dan Santat's memoir about his middle school class trip to Europe sooooo captures all the feels of middle school. Told with humor and heart, you'll enjoy Dan's story as he experiences several 'firsts' . . .
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Dan is headed out on a middle school class trip to Europe. Should be a good time, right? Wrong. Dan's parents are making him go. Bullied in middle school, feeling invisible every day, he'd much rather stay home than hang with a bunch of kids in a place he doesn't know. To make matters worse, the same girls who make fun of him in school are going on the trip too.
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But over time, Dan takes some risks. He travels about in new countries on his own. He steals a bike to escape punk rockers. He discovers Fanta! And fondue. He meets a girl. He falls in love. And through it all, he draws, and draws and draws.
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Dan doesn't return home the same as when he left . . .
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