Monday, Feb 1, is our official midterm day. The half way point of our trimester and our entire year! This is a good time for reflection. As your teacher I am continually asking myself, “what can I do to make Science meaningful for my students?” And, “how can I communicate with my students and their families to help them succeed?” As students you should be asking yourselves, “am I doing the best I can to get the most out of my education?” Some of my 6th, 7th, and 8th graders tell me that they don’t see how what they are doing now affects their future. I mean the far away future. Some have their far away future plans all squared away so they can start finding ways to make sure they can make those futures come true right now. If you are having difficulties seeing far into the future for yourself, then work on getting the most out of your education right now until you have a clearer plan for your far away future. That way, no matter what you decide to do you will have what you need to make your dreams come true.
So at this time of reflection, as you get progress reports and papers back, as you choose work samples for your portfolios for student-led conferences in March, make sure that you are doing all you can do right now to get the most out of this wonderful opportunity we call education. Parents, the best way you can help your child is by making sure he or she knows how to help him or herself. Parents typically ask their children if they have homework. Many children will respond with a quick no so the next question should be concerning class work that didn’t get done in class or work that can be improved upon. The problem I see with students is that they want to forget about the work they didn’t finish in class or the work that can be improved. I tell my students that missing work and work that can be improved will not go away so the quicker they finish it or make it better and turn it in, the better! If you wait too long then you get a progress report with a lower grade than what you could have had. It’s so much easier to finish something or make something better sooner than later. The thing I love about midterm and what I remind students is that the grades you see on your progress reports or on Skyward are completely fixable! So take this wonderful opportunity to catch up, make up and stay caught up so that you can show what you are learning in school and have some good grades as well.
Let me know what you think? Leave a comment sharing your thoughts and/or experiences.
Mr. González
Check my Homework Section to see what we are doing in Science and check my online progress reports to find out exactly what your child is missing.
