Parents,
During a normal year we have a back to school event where I have the opportunity to share with you my expectations and goals for the year. I would like to share some of those with you now. Using personal computers at home: Granite School District works with Google. Your child's email is actually a Google account. They can get on any computer (even a Mac? Let me know if that is not true) and login to Google. When they login, they will have access to Google Classroom, Gmail, Google Slides, Google Drive, Google Docs, etc. These apps and websites are the tools that Granite School District would like the kids to become comfortable using. They do not need their Chromebook from school to access their Google account. *Students who are absent and on vacation can still check into Google Classroom daily to see their assignments and expectations. This allows them to do whatever work they are able so that they won't fall as far behind. **Your child's email address and password. This should be written in their daily planner. Their password should also be written in their daily planner. If it is not, please have them do it next week and show you. Then check at home to see if it works. Schoolwork vs. homework: School is for learning; home is for practicing. That should be our mantra. If your child comes home saying that they need you to teach them how to do something, then we have a problem. If this becomes a pattern, let me know as soon as soon as possible. I would never ask you to do my job for me. This is something we can fix. Fwiw, I don't assign homework per se (well, very rarely), I assign classwork. If students are unable to finish their classwork during the school day, then that work becomes 'homework.' *If homework is taking more than 1 hour to complete, please contact me. I really encourage that your child does not do more than 1 hour of homework each night- this includes reading and math facts. If you want them to do more than 1 hour, that is up to you. For myself, if they do an hour of work, but still are not done- please just write me a quick note telling me they worked for an hour. That is good enough for me! My goal is for them to build good habits, not make them suffer at home. Hopefully, they are getting most of their work done at school so that this isn't a problem. Habits/Daily routine: Your child should read at least 20 minutes a day- 100 minutes per week. The more this reading can be done out loud, the better (they can read to a sibling, to you, or themselves.) If they read to you, discuss what they are reading occasionally. Your child needs to know their multiplication/division facts up to 12 x 12. They don't have to learn it all in one week however. My advice is to have them practice one or two numbers each week that they struggle with. (For example, one week they work on their 7's, the next week their 8's.) We take a multiplication test almost every week in class. The results from that test shows the kids their 'weaknesses.' These are the numbers they need to practice. How do you know if they are caught up with their schoolwork? This is a challenge in this environment, and it is a frustration that I share with you. Because Granite School District has switched over to Proficiency Based Learning, there is no longer a way for you to see missing assignments on Gradebook. In fact, you won't even be able to see the assignments that I have given in their Gradebook. As they earn proficiency in different subjects and standards you will be able to see that- however, I don't put in new proficiency scores on a daily basis so that doesn't really allow you to see how they are doing each week (and to check if they are caught up with their work.) *What you can do is have your child login to Google Classroom and go to the "Classwork" section. Every day I am creating a document that has a list of what they need to do for that day. At home you can look at each day's work and check with your child to see if they have completed each of those items. You can check this daily, or on Fridays to see if they have any work that still needs to be finished that they didn't get to. Questions? Confusions? Problems? Please let me know. Regards, John
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Parents:This is the place where I will post updates as I make decisions, problem solve, and learn how to adjust to a new paradigm of teaching. Archives
August 2022
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