What a great evening! I can't say enough about how much I love spending time with my student's wonderful families. Thanks to everyone who was able to make it! For those of you who were unable to attend- I completely understand. I don't know what I'm going to do when Maddie is in kindergarten next year! Anyway, below you will find a link to my presentation. Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or feedback. I will send home the 'paper work' from tonight with your student tomorrow.
I was kinda feeling a little bit of information overload myself, so I’d like to do a quick recap for everyone about the important stuff.
· Students will begin their Reading Logs on Friday. They are in a purple folder and will be due every Friday. Please read the top of the Log each month so that you can help your student choose topics that coordinate with what we are doing in the classroom. This is not mandatory; it’s only a suggestion. Students are required to read from at least 3 different genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, biography, etc.) each month.
· Xtra Math- A form about this was provided at Open House. This is a free website for learning basic math facts. Please take a minute to create an account for your student. I have entered their name in, but if you can create the account then we can both see how your child is doing with learning their basic facts.
· DonorsChoose.org- Please consider signing the permission form so that we can send a photo to our first generous donor!
· IXL Math- This is another great website for math. I already have us signed up for a free 30 trial! I will send out your student’s log in information in an email soon! Please look at the Links page in our class website for direct links to activities that coordinate with the lessons we are doing in the classroom (soon to come). If we decide that we like it, all you’ll have to do is send in a $10 fee and your child will be able to use this great math learning tool for one whole calendar year. AND, we will both have an opportunity to see how they are understanding math.
· Grades- There was an important part to tonight that somehow didn’t make it in the presentation. It’s about how I grade student work and projects. I use a 4-point scale that I derived from our report card. I rephrased the language to make it student friendly! I use this scale for almost everything we do, so if you see a 4, 3, 2, or a 1 you will know what it means. It is also a great way for students to self assess their own work.
4- I proved my understanding by supporting my thinking in a clear way and followed all of the directions.
3- I proved my thinking in a way that was not completely clear to my audience. I followed directions.
2- I attempted to prove my understanding. I need to practice this more with support. I followed some of the directions.
1- I did not know how to prove my understanding and/or follow the directions.
for those of you who would like to revisit tonight's presentation, click on the link below!