Dear parents,
Today you received the permission form for our trip to the Nature Centre. Since the trip is just a few days after we return from the break, I thought it best to get all the paper work taken care of ahead of time. Please return the second page, signed, by December 16th. The first page is the information for you to keep. If you are interested in volunteering on this trip, please check the appropriate box on the permission form. I'll get back to you as soon as all forms are in!
Don't forget, this Thursday evening is our choir concert. Details were in my last post! Please let me know if your child is unable to attend.
This Thursday you will be receiving your child's progress report. I realize they are very late this year, thanks for your patience. Better late than never?
The progress report is intended to give you an idea, not only of how your child is doing in the various subject areas (Language, Math etc.), but also, and more importantly, how your child is doing as a learner. It is always true that when we have strong learning skills, it is much easier to make progress in the subject areas. The two go hand in hand, but learning skills lead the way. Therefore, I have taken care to be accurate and specific in my comments in the learning skills area. Please take the time to read over this carefully with your child. It is a good opportunity to check-in about how they think they are doing as a good learner and how they think they can do an even better job.
Since this may be your first progress report, I will also give you a heads up to the marking system. (I will go over all of this with the kids as well on Thursday, so they will be able to interpret their report card.) In the learning skills area, E is for Excellent, which really means that you're doing a great job all the time. G is for Good, which means you're meeting expectations and doing well most or all of the time, but there are small ways in which you could improve even more. S is for Satisfactory, which means that sometimes you're doing just fine, but other times you need to be reminded, so keep working on it. N means that you need a lot of support with that skill, so make this your goal going forward.
On the subject side, there are 3 choices, Progressing Well (as expected with some support), Progressing Very Well, or Progressing With Difficulty. In the next two report cards, these will be replaced with more specific letter grades, and the subject areas will be broken down into strands. I have been very conservative with my "Excellent"s and "Progressing Very Well"s. It's tough to earn these marks because it means you're going above and beyond what was expected. It might mean a student has made a connection to something that was mentioned in passing, but was not explicitly taught, or the student is always successful, not just most of the time. It's great to have a goal, but let's focus more on little, manageable, ways that we can improve, and not so much on grades.
Finally, there are a couple etiquette rules around report cards that will be true for every report this year, and in future grades as well. Here is what I will explain to the children:
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. (Important!!)
One last thing, in the envelope, I will also include an interview invitation. Please consider setting up a time for a very brief chat with me, particularly if we have not yet met (though all are welcome). I think it's always good to touch base in person, even if there are no particular concerns or questions. I am available on the 14th, 15th or 17th until about 6pm. I can also meet at 8:30 am or some lunch hours. You can get back to me either be sending the invitation back, or by emailing me at anytime (tamara.mitchell2@tdsb.on.ca). Thanks!
Talk to you soon,
Tamara