As a parent of two school age children, I definitely understand the desire to know how everything is going in school and can sympathize with the two report card system not being ideal in terms of keeping parents informed. The question then becomes, how do we get around this and ensure that parents, students, and teachers are all informed about the progress that we are making in school? I think that's where I come in! The Blog for AssessmentOn this blog, I will post when we have done any major assessment pieces. As students, we should be talking about these with our parents but sometimes we forget (or you are teenagers and talking to parents about school is usually low on the priority list!). The blog will help you remember to talk about your achievement and where you are struggling and excelling. As parents, we can check the blog to see what is happening and to see if there are prompts for starting conversations. As an example, it's probably easier to get a response from the question: how was the biodiversity quiz today? rather than, what did you do in school? I will endeavor to provide information about any marks or assessments that we have done so that you can check in with your children. I really don't get the stems still though and what about averages?The outcomes for the various subject areas are designed to show students where they can make specific improvements but that can be confusing. Is a 3 = 75% (No!!) or, a 2 is a fail, right (Definitely not!!) are things that pop up. Questions like these and similar ideas still creep in, even if we have had our system in place for a few years. It is ok to have questions and always feel free to shoot them my way.
The way that I think of assessment in my class is that it is a reflection of our current understanding. If we struggle on a quiz today and have success on the same concepts by the end of the unit then it is not an average. The student understands the ideas and that is what will be reflected in the end. We should not be afraid to make mistakes as long as we use them as learning opportunities. A quiz in week three is a learning opportunity for us, not a final assessment.
0 Comments
There are a few things for parents and students alike to be aware of as we move into the coming week: 1. Talk to your son or daughter (or show your parents) about their biodiversity website. The class has gotten their feet under them in developing a website and went through one round of peer edits this last week. For students, make sure that you have made the appropriate edits or have caught up with the content this week. We will be adding to the website based on our content from this week but won't do this until September 25. If you want to get a jump on this, as we cover topics, feel free to relate them to your organism and add tabs to your website. 2. Meet the Teacher Night is on Thursday. The evening starts at 5:00 and includes 3 sessions that will be identical in nature (5:00, 5:30, and 6:00 starting times for these). 3. There is a PD day on Friday and therefore there will be no school. As an approximate layout for the week, we will be looking at the topics listed in the table to the right. As the week progresses, any extra time needed will be factored in so we may end up with a slightly different layout but time will tell with that. Welcome to grade 9 at Nose Creek! We have an awesome first week planned out and you can find a mini-timetable to the left. This year, if you are in my math and science class, you will have Ms. Scott for humanities and if you are with Ms. Ocampo, you will be in Mr. Lafferty's humanities class. We are excited to get the ball rolling and look forward to getting to know you as the year progresses. As a reference, make sure that you check out the school website for important documents and for upcoming information. Additionally, there is a copy of the school handbook below if you are interested in any information, policies, or procedures for the upcoming school year. Remember that meet the teacher night is coming up on September 21 and don't forget to tell your parents about the first parent council meeting on September 11.
|
Mr. GordonMath/ Science 9 Archives
June 2019
Categories
All
|