Thoughts on a blog...

Dear Parents,
We're very excited to use this blog as a bridge of communication between school and home. We understand that both students and parents lead very busy lives and this blog is meant to be used as an addition to the communication between teacher and student in the classroom. It is not, however, meant to act as a "virtual classroom." There is simply no way to recreate the classroom discussions and direct instruction that occur at school. Students are still expected to use their student planners to record daily class agendas and due dates. In addition, students are also expected to communicate information discussed in class with their parents regarding instructions and assignment expectations. We are truly trying to encourage our students to become independent and responsible young adults, while providing parents with a snapshot of the weekly class happenings.

Week ending 9/25

Hello all! After a week filled with testing, we began to get some work done. At this point, students have received a quote by John Donne in class. Students have been instructed to memorize the quote. Recitations of the quote begin October 19th for "B" block and October 20th for "A" block. These dates should be noted in your child's agenda. We have also begun to analyze the meaning of the quote and discuss why the quote represents our theme for the year. We also set-up Language Arts/Social Studies binders this week, so students should be well on their way towards an organized year. In the notes section of student binders, students should have two guided Cornell note sheets. These notes accompanied a powerpoint presentation given in class.

MAP testing will continue for us on 9/28 & 9/29, so don't expect classwork until Wednesday of next week. Students should still be completing AR reading at home and filling in their AR logs. Expect a new blog post by 9/30!

Weekly Happenings

Hello blog followers! Ms. Clark and I just wanted to let you know that this week the students are doing MAP testing and so there will be little in the way of consistency or grades. We are in the process of grading the projects your students have just handed in, and we will be passing out progress reports later this week. The projects are a large chunk of the overall grade, so we feel it is important to have them included. MAP testing means that the students will not have regular classwork or homework, so this is the perfect opportunity for them to be doing lots of A.R. reading at home.
Thank you again for your support, and we'll keep you updated!