Wow! What a great first week! Give your kiddo an extra high five and hug for doing such a great job this week. I am really proud of them! We worked this week on getting all of our procedures and transitions down so that our year will be smooth and efficient. We also started working on getting all of our beginning-of-the-year assessments done. They aren't fun, I know that, but they help guide my instruction and it's really fun to see how much they have grown when we do them again at the end of the year!
One of the things we talked about a lot is our class motto. Our class motto is "It's ok to make mistakes!" We are all human and we all make mistakes, including Mrs. Martindale. Mistakes are proof that we are trying and that is how we learn. I want them to try hard things and be ok with it if they make mistakes along the way!
Infinite Campus Grades:
If you do not have your Parent Portal for Infinite Campus set up yet, please email Mrs. Bowers at amybowers@visioncsd.org to get that set up. There is a free app that you can download on your phone. I have this set up for my own kids and I love that I get notifications as teachers are inputting grades into their grade book. It's a great tool so that you know if your student is struggling or falling behind.
I also teach my students how to check their grades and missing assignments on their Chromebooks. As long as they are logged into their school email, they can do this at home as well!
Missing Assignments:
I mark any assignment that is not turned in on the due date as "missing" in my grade book. That way students can look in their Student Portal to see what they need to work on. The school policy is that they are supposed to be docked 25% of their grade for each day that an assignment is late. Because 4th grade is really the first time they have the opportunity to track it themselves, I use this year as a teaching year on the importance of getting their work done. I also don't assign anything that isn't important for their learning. I want them to do the assignments so that they learn the content and don't fall behind.
That being said, students in my class have until the end of the quarter to get their missing assignments turned in. I will occasionally send home missing assignment reports but I don't do that often since students know how to look them up and parents can track it on their phones. Please don't wait for me to tell you that your student has missing assignments, no news does not necessarily mean good news in this situation. :)
Snacks and Headphones:
Every day we do a Snack and Track that allows kids to go run a lap, eat a snack, and play. Please send your student with a HEALTHY snack option that is going to help their brains and bodies throughout the day. Candy is not a snack and I won't let kids eat it at Snack and Track time. :)
We use our Chromebooks a lot in 4th grade. Students often find that having headphones makes this a lot easier since they have to mute them if they don't have headphones. I have some that kids can use, but they are old and aren't the most comfortable. Your student is welcome and encouraged to bring some from home. They don't have to be anything fancy, just something that fits in their desks.
Picture Day:
We have picture day next week on Wednesday the 23rd. I sent home picture packets yesterday. If you want to send in your money and order form before Wednesday, I don't mind holding on to it and giving it to your student on Wednesday. Or you can order them online and not worry about that at all. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment