I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend! It was the perfect weekend to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather. Now it’s time to get back into the swing of school.
“Every job is a self portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence.”
When I ran across this quote this summer, I thought, “Wow! This quote does a wonderful job of encouraging all of us to give our best effort all the time.” Students in my classroom quickly find out I have high expectations for them. When they hand in an assignment or project, I tell them that this should be their best work and that they should be proud of what they are handing in. I have seen high quality work from my sixth graders this past week and I say, “Kudos! Keep up the good work.” Other times, work needs to be re-visited so that it meets sixth grade standards. I ask my students to make corrections on their daily math work. Checking an assignment, marking it with a grade, and then having students take it home does not encourage learning. If there are errors, I want the kids to understand why they made the mistake and how to do the work correctly. Writing projects must often be revised, too. When your child says that they are re-doing or re-working an assignment, it is so that it is an example of excellence. I hope that your learner develops a sense of pride in their work this year.
Helping students develop a sense of responsibility is another of my goals for the year. We start each day by writing assignments for the day and upcoming assignments in their planner. I do not require you to sign your child’s planner, but I certainly appreciate it when you look at their planner and make sure that assignments are being completed on time. In their planner, you will note that there is a quiz over continents and oceans on Wednesday. On this quiz students will be asked to identify the continents and oceans; they will be required to spell these names correctly. They also have a problem solving assignment due on Friday. Daily math and social studies assignments will also be given during the week.
About every second or third week your sixth grader will be given a problem solving assignment which requires them to use not only their math skills, but also their writing skills. I will introduce the first problem solving task Tuesday and model how the assignment should be completed. The math is usually the easy part! Students have to come up with a strategy for solving the problem, solve it so others can follow their work, and then explain the steps involved in solving the problem. Writing clearly and including all the steps involved in solving the problem can be quite challenging. I would invite you to take a look at your child’s work. Can you follow their directions? Are they sequenced correctly? Do they make sense? With time and practice, the sixth graders become quite proficient at writing complete explanations. Good mathematicians can solve problems. Great mathematicians can explain what they do in writing!
Again, if I can answer any of your questions or concerns please contact me. My email address is ruth.johnson@belmond-klemme.k12.ia.us and my phone is 444-4300 extension 334.
0 comments:
Post a Comment