We are so proud of all our Ladyneck Volleyball team who won the 2010 State Championship this past week in San Marcos, Texas. They defeated Poth 25-21, 25-23, 14-25, and 25-23 to bring the title home. Congratulations, ladies!
Category Archives: Intermediate
Talking to Your Child’s Teacher
Recently an article written by Katy Farber, author of “Why Great Teachers Quit” was shared with me. It contained five excellent tips for talking with your child’s teacher. As we enter the third six weeks of the first semester, we are approaching the half-way mark and both parents and teachers are wanting what is best for our students. We hope that these tips will prove to be helpful to our parents.
“Here are 5 tips for talking with your child’s teacher:
- Email the teacher to ask how they would like to schedule a time to talk about your child. This way, they can suggest different times that fit in with your schedule, and also the teacher’s work and family responsibilities. Realize that since a teacher’s day is usually filled with teaching responsibilities, it might take a day or two for a response to an email or phone call.
- After setting up a meeting at a time that works for everyone, email the teacher your questions and what topics you would like to discuss. That way, the teacher can bring any assessments, data, or other helpful resources to the meeting.
- Communicate with the teacher first about any issues or concerns you have, not a school board member, or principal. The teachers are the people on the frontlines working directly with students, and they should be the first to try and problem solve, or provide information and guidance. In most cases, they know much more about what is happening at the classroom level than the administrators do.
- Come with an open mind, and a team approach. Teachers and parents are on the same side, working to support the child. This relationship should be a collaborative team. Share what you know about your child, and ask what the teacher notices as well. Together, you can make a plan, or decide on the best course of action.
- Be willing to discuss and provide support on the home front. Teachers can’t come home with your child to make sure they give you the newsletter, recent test, or the weekly homework assignments. Support your child and teacher by providing a quiet space for homework, an evening check in time, and a system for sharing important papers from school. The teacher should offer ways they can support your efforts at home as well.”
We invite you to read the entire article, 5 Tips For Talking With Your Child’s Teacher posted on November 2, 2010.
November 2, 2010
4th and 5th Benchmark Tests
Our 4th and 5th grade students will be participating in Blind Benchmark tests in Reading and Math on Wednesday, November 17th, and Thursday, November 18th. These tests will help teachers gauge the progress of this year’s students in these subjects. Obviously, not all skills have been introduced as we have more than half of the year remaining. Consequently , scoring will take this into consideration. Benchmark tests are NOT for a grade, but rather for teaching and planning purposes.
Because these tests are so important and provide helpful data, please make sure that your child gets a good night’s rest and a good breakfast. We anticipate a great day!
Reminder: Picture Make-ups
Picture Makeup day is Tuesday, November 16th, for those students who were absent on the initial Picture Day. All students need to have their picture made for the 2010-2011 yearbook.
Just say, “Cheese!”
Report Cards
Student report cards will come home today. Please remember to return your signature on the appropriate form to your child’s teacher tomorrow. This lets the homeroom teacher know that you are aware of your child’s progress this six weeks period.
We have already begun the third six weeks. It just does not seem possible. Watch for exciting things to take place during the upcoming weeks.
Podstock Pineywoods Thoughts
Last Friday, White Oak had the privilege of sending four of our intermediate teachers to the Podstock Pineywoods 2010 Convention hosted by TCEA Area 7 (Scott Floyd), and SUPERnet. The keynote speaker, Kevin Honeycutt, was impressive to the point where each of them came back with a new vision for education.
Becky Ganong shares, “Podstock was yet another eye opening experience….Using an iPod is a tool that children are familiar with but also portable and allows much flexibility in their learning. They can video projects, peer teach, use educational apps and much more. We now take learning to another level where it is interesting to our students and gives them the opportunity to be involved. Now we can connect to a bigger world than just our own limitations.”
Kevin Honeycutt touched third grade teacher, Tiara O’Malley with his statement, “Learn to love to learn, not learn to love to know.”
She states, “I really liked this quote because it reminded me that as a teacher I must strive to not only make sure my students master certain skills, but I must also foster in them a lifelong love of learning simply for the sake of learning. This entails making sure my students know that learning is a two-way street; I learn from them as much as they learn from me. By diversifying my teaching techniques so that all learning modalities are given respect, I am acknowledging my students as individual people with individual needs. I would like to integrate iPods into my classroom very soon, which will assist me with oral administration of tests, fluency (students can record and hear themselves read, checking pronunciation) as well as differentiated instruction on a personal level so that no child will feel singled out. I’m always excited about finding new ways to aid my students in the learning process while preparing for their technological future as well!”
“Emotion cements learning (Kevin Honeycutt)” implies that “learning must be made relevant & personal in order for a student (or even a teacher!) to take ownership of it” says Stephanie Hunter. “I would love to have some iTouches in my classroom! But in the meantime, I can use my voice recorder to record tests and assignments that require oral mods, and then create a podcast. My resource students would then have the ability to listen to them at their own pace, and can even repeat it if necessary. Another idea is to use the flip camera and/or the voice recorder to record each student reading a passage for fluency. The student can then replay the recording and identify his/her own mistakes. I also like the idea of recording the students explaining a math concept, such as subtraction with regrouping. This would allow the parents and me to assess a student’s true knowledge of the concept. A final idea: to video next year’s parent orientation for ALL to see!”
Nina Peery, our intermediate computer lab teacher, professed, “Podstock was the best four hours of technology integration I have been to. Kevin Honeycutt demonstrated students involved in project based learning in a way that motivated me to “dream big” in regards to my own instructional methods. He also showed how students will take ownership of their learning when we allow them to star in their own productions using podcasts. I feel like I came away with the knowledge and tools I need to replicate his methods in my classroom.”
Thank you to our school district, our administrators, and to our technology department for offering such dynamic opportunities to the educators at White Oak School. In order for us to motivate students, we also must remain motivated, and you have done just that yet again.