Hello families,
Today you received your student's First Term report. I explained the different sections to the children today and we reviewed what the letter grades mean.
An A, is like getting an E on learning skills. It means you're doing an excellent job, and in fact exceeding expectations for this point in the year. A good example is in our reading and writing. If a student spells or decodes a word containing a sound that we have not yet worked on, but simply by making a connection to another word that they know, that's going beyond what is expected. In math, it might be by adding beyond what is required for this grade level. An A is not easy to get because, while I try to give suggestions for how they can do level 4 work, students have to be quite independent in order to accomplish it. Even if a student earns an A, there is always room for more development!
A B is the equivalent of a G in learning skills. It means students are meeting expectations. They have been putting into practice what is taught, participating in most discussions and follow instructions to do good work. There is room for improvement and we can challenge students to think of how they can push themselves further (e.g., by using criteria sheets in the classroom to revise their work).
An important message to students is that a C is not a bad mark at all. Please don't worry or be discouraged, ever, by this grade. It means students are approaching expectations. Students are doing a good job with some support from a partner or teacher. They might need some more practice or review on certain things, and if you would like to get more ideas for what you can do at home, I'd love to help.
A D means that a student needs that teacher support and support from home and we will talk about how we can team up to help the student be successful. A D will never come as a surprise.
As with the progress report, my hope is that all children will read their report with their parents and celebrate their achievements. In addition, students have a little homework in preparation for our goal-setting activity tomorrow. I would like every student to come to school with an idea of something they are already doing well and are proud of, and one thing that they would like to work on going forward. This can be a learning skill goal (e.g., being the best listener ever) or academic goal (e.g., correctly using capitals in their writing). I have given my opinion of next steps in learning skills, language and math, so those are things to consider as part of this discussion.
Finally, here are the same etiquette rules around report cards that I shared in November:
1. Do not open your report card envelope until you are with a parent or guardian.
2. Your report card is private. Do not share your marks with friends, this doesn't make either person feel good.
3. Keep your report, but please return the envelope (signed) so that we can reuse it for the next report.
Thanks for your support, and congratulations on your hard work in Term 1, Area 24!