Gradually Growing Up and Taking on New Challenges

By Katie Clark

So, at the Cummings Carnival, I had a chance to see several past students.  One student gave me a forceful hug, and I felt dwarfed by his now tall frame.  “How tall are you?”  I asked.  “You must be 6 foot 2 or 3″ knowing that his height and the height of my own 18 year old son were close.  He smiled.  “How is 9th grade?” I continued.  He proceeded to tell me that it wasn’t as scary as he thought it would be; just a bit different from what he had experienced in 8th grade, but nothing he couldn’t handle.

There in lies the beauty of life.  Each new step was preceded by a step that had some how prepared this young man for the last.  So, that is exactly what we are working towards in 6th grade.  Gradual steps towards preparing for middle school.  As I watching the pre-schoolers come in for the first time this year at Cummings, I also saw something that showed this.  A mom was standing at her daughter’s locker.  The little one had a backpack on and was wanting to open the locker to put it in.  However, she had to lift the handle up which was difficult to do because it was about shoulder height on her.  However, her mother gently coaxed her to continue trying saying that she had to learn how to do it herself.  Finally, after a few tries and failures, she did open it.

So, gradually in 6th grade, we are letting students ‘do it themselves’.  For some, they may need a bit of extra time and help.  Others will see how it’s done and take off without much more guidance.  Things like handling a schedule (found in their agenda) where they go to 3 to 4 different teachers in a day.  Handling completion of their school assignments during Team Time or then at home if not done in class.  Filling out and then using their agendas. Bringing their music instruments and catching the early bus only on days of their music class.  Even coming to not use their desk as a personal storage space due to the changing of classrooms and instead using their lockers.

Ask your student how things are going with all these new steps towards growing up.  Let them do as much as they can by themselves, but if something is overwhelming or stressing them out, contact your child’s homeroom teacher.  We can put into place a safety net that can help them for as long as they need.

Some terms/procedures you should be aware of:

TEAM TIME: A 40 minute time where we first fill out our agendas and then work on any daily or long term class assignments.  This is also a good time to get extra teacher help in any subject or to get a missed quiz or assignment taken care of.

Lunch count: Mon., Wed., and Fri., we switch classes at 8:35 am which doesn’t leave time for lunch count in the homeroom.  Some classes are trying to order lunch the night before and then finishing ordering/attendance in their first switch class.  We send the count and attendance to the office by 9:15am.

Desks: Being your student is only in his/her homeroom at the last 1/3 of the school day, that means their desk is being used for 2/3 of the day by other students.  This is why we encourage them to keep materials in their lockers.  (In middle school there is no such thing as having a desk for storage.)

Agenda: We fill this out daily with our homerooms.  We never write “NONE” in the subject area.  We will write what we did and then either check it off  if it’s done or put a circle near it needs to be finished at Team Time or at home.  Students should then put the completed work in the appropriate subject’s folders until the next day when they will go over it in class and then hand it in.

If you feel you would like to have agenda signing for your student who is having difficulty turning in assignments/organization, contact your student’s homeroom teacher.  We have an agenda signing procedure we’ll explain to you and then we can begin it until we all mutually feel your student is handling assignments on his/her own.

Daily Schedule: Ask your student to see their daily schedule.  You’ll notice, although each day is slightly different, for the most part students go in the same order to their classes.  For example, Travis’s homeroom comes to READING/WRITING WORKSHOP first, then to SOCIAL STUDIES/LEARNING CONNECTIONS, and then finally back to their homeroom class for MATH/SCIENCE/TEAM TIME.  Generally each class lasts for 40 minutes.  Then each day they may have a “specials class”.  Monday and Wednesday=PE, Tuesday=none, Thursday= TechED, and Friday=Science Lab.  Every third day, students have KEYBOARDING with Mrs. Berens during their recess.

LET’S MAKE A CONNECTION! We welcome communication between home and school.   This is probably the best support that we adults can give to our students.  When both sides are kept aware of what is happening in our students’ lives, we can then make good judgments on their behalf.  To do this, Grandville Public Schools has now provided us with several tools.  Feel free to use which ever best meets your needs.

Please keep in mind that your homeroom teacher, while a base contact, is not who your student has all day.  Students generally won’t be with their homeroom teacher until 1:20-3:38 each day (see your student’s schedule taped into their agenda).  If you need to contact your student, it’s easiest to leave a message at the office and they will relay it for us to the correct class your student is in at the time of your call.

Phone : 254-6041  (Although we won’t always be available to pick up the phone during the school day, you may call and leave a message on our voice mail, and we will return your call as soon as possible.)

E-mail: kclark@gpsk12.net, chorton@gpsk12.net, btravis@gpsk12.net

Agendas: Please feel free to write-in questions about assignments, etc.

Infinite Campus: You can check (once you have an account) you students grades in every class (even every assignment) and lunch account.  This, by the way is the same log-in account you will use for that student until the graduate from GPS!  Great idea to get one.  If you don’t have Internet at home, you could still have an account and check it at the local library (or anywhere you can get on-line).

Parent Email Addresses entered into Infinite Campus is very helpful!  Here’s how you can do it:)

There are tools in Infinite Campus , our student information system, that allow teachers and administrators to communicate with parents via email.  In order to utilize these tools, we need you to enter your email address in the Parent Portal.  To enter your email address, select “Change Contact Info” on the left side of the page after you have logged in to the Parent Portal.  Enter your email address in the box on the top of the screen and select Save.  After selecting save, you will have the option of selecting the types of messages that you wish to receive.  We recommend that you select all 5 options for High Priority, Attendance, Behavior, General, and Teacher messages and then select Save again.

Once you have this feature on your Infinite account, we can send you all sorts of updates and reminders.  What a wonderful, easy way of keeping in contact!

Visits: We welcome prearranged appointments.

Friday Folders: Important notes, biweekly progress reports, and Responsibility Charts are sent home weekly on Friday and expected back signed on Monday.

R-charts (Responsibility Charts): Each Friday, your student receives a new R-chart.  Throughout the week he/she records checks for things that break the rules of Ready, Responsible, Respectful.  For example, if a student comes to class without the assignment done that day, it’s a check for no work for that subject.  However, students also get pluses for following these three rules.  If a student helps another get ready for class without being asked, the teacher may give them a plus for being helpful.  This system helps to remove the responsibility of choices from the teacher or parent to the student.  Each Friday, the R-chart is brought home for the parent to sign and is then returned each Monday.  Students receive positive or negative consequences based on the total of the chart.  (Please note, these checks do not represent, necessarily missing assignments; nor does the chart impact their grades.   Please check Infinite Campus to monitor that.

Parties: 6th grade hosts three main team parties throughout the year.  The first one is organized by Mr. Horton’s homeroom (October).  The second one is organized by Mrs. Travis’s homeroom (December), and the third is held in the spring .   We would welcome parent volunteers to help make these events even more special.  Please contact your student’s homeroom teacher if you would like to offer your help.

That’s 6th grade in a nutshell!  Thank you for helping us inch your student bit by bit to be ready for the next step ahead.

Using Report Cards: A Tool for Positive Growth

By Katie Clark

Right around report card time, I have many students that come up to me asking what their grade is for a particular subject. Many times they are pleased, but sometimes they are not. The last school day before report cards are printed tends to be some what hectic as a few forgetful students try to make up work that should have already been turned in. All of this in the quick scramble to get a better grade on a piece of paper.

Although I believe students should take pride and concern with their report card, this last minute rush for the grade is not the point. What they have put into the 12 weeks of learning and what they have gotten out of that 12 weeks of learning is the point.

When you see your child’s report card, look for the parts in which he or she did well. Discuss the specifics of those successes. Ask your child how it felt to do his/her best. Areas where he/she had difficulty were probably just that. Have them work out a plan of attack for the next 12 weeks for improving that area. If for some reason your student felt that he/she was incorrectly graded, respond immediately to his or her teacher so that the matter can be cleared up.

Report card time should be a time of reflection of all that was learned and accomplished. It should also be a time of goal setting, plan developing, and problem solving. Every individual faces all kinds of formal and informal evaluation during a life time. Life time positive growth is determined by how an individual uses that feed back.

How Does Grammar Fit into the Writing Process?

By Katie Clark

The other day a student asked me, “Mrs. Clark, when are we going to have English?” After I thought for a moment, I realized he meant, “When will we use our English grammar book?” I explained that we have English every day already. We work on spelling, vocabulary development, reading, listening, speaking, and writing. “Writing,” I said, “is learning how to use style, organization, voice, and correct mechanics in order to express our ideas on paper.” Writing is the whole package, not just the wrapping.

The analogy is that if we waited until our students painted like Picasso to let them paint, they never would. In turn, if all we teach them are the correct brush strokes and artistic techniques, but never let them explore with paint, our students would never be able to apply their knowledge. Writing is very much the same. If all we do is work on grammar exercises from a text book and call that writing, our students will never write.

We currently have writing for 45 minutes 5 times per week. During that time we use D.O.L. (Daily Oral Language) which is a program for applying and using grammar rules and editing skills. Most sessions, we also have a mini-lesson where I focus on a particular writing weakness. To do this, we use a variety of resources: students writing to illustrate how to fix up a problem, an English book lesson which focuses on that problem, a worksheet pulled from a writing resource, and many times, a piece of good literature that exemplifies how best to handle the problem.  After our mini-lesson, we have a writing workshop time, and then finally, conferencing and sharing time.

When a piece is finally brought to publish, with the exception of the first piece of the year, I correct it for 1 to 3 focus correction areas. I will only grade based on those focus corrections. This means, for example, that our next piece will be graded for elaborated paragraphs, descriptive words, and correct paper heading.

In order for us to get to that point, mini-lessons and practice sessions will be on “How to Elaborate a Piece,” “Using Descriptive Words,” “What is a Vivid Verb.” Students will be well aware of what focus corrections they’ll be graded on and will receive 100% if they fulfill the three requirements.

Do you remember handing in papers and getting them back with a zillion red marks? Even if your teacher had you recopy the paper correctly, did or could you remember not to do any of those errors ever again? And who really got the workout on the grammar? I would have to say the teacher did.

And so, that is what we will do this year in “English.” We will practice writing by applying newly learned skills over and over until we use them correctly and consistently. We will begin to feel comfortable as writers, conferencing partners, editors, publishers, speakers, and presenters. And at the end of the year, you will see how we have matured in our writing.

If you have any questions on this topic or are just plain interested, contact me. I have many articles about writing, the writing process, grammar, and the research on which this method is based.

Let’s Get Organized

by Katie Clark

Recently I read an article in a non-educational publication that really made sense to me. I would like to share it with you because I think it really talks to issues our middle school students face.

The article by Dr. James Dobson stated that one of the main reasons for students having difficulty with their studies is that they don’t know how to organize. 80% of failing students had organizational problems. They’ve never been taught or never considered it important.

Sixth grade really is a good year for students to come up with a general plan for organizing. Next year, with six teachers, students will be expected to handle long-term assignments, keeping papers together, and finding needed materials for each class-all with out the use of a DESK!

Our team has been working on this basic skill. We color code class materials so that each class has an easily identified folder. Students are encouraged to bring up morning materials and then exchange them at lunch break with afternoon class materials. Also, we fill out our agendas daily at 3:20. Please note that we never write NONE. If we are done with the assignment, we check it off placing the completed assignment into its appropriate folder so that it is sure to be found for the next day.

Organizing takes practice. It requires to first develop as simple a procedure as possible and then to carry it through until it becomes as routine as brushing one’s teeth. Some suggestions for home organizing is: always do homework in the same place, do one thing at a time, put completed work immediately back into the correct folder-never shoved into a book, put the folder into the backpack, and finally the pack placed at the same place every morning for pickup.

Students should use their agendas as one would use a grocery list. At the locker before leaving, pull it out to pack up the backpack. At home, use it to review and check off what homework needs to be done. And then in the morning during homeroom, get it out to remember to get out all necessary materials for class.

Long term assignments need to be time budgeted. One should decide how much time a project most likely will take and then divide the time by the number of days given until due date to decide how much approximate time to devote each day. Or if there are outside activities, students need to decide what days they need to devote more time to the project.

Parents reviewing homework indicating where errors are-not fixing it for the student-is a great way to help your child’s learning and to show you are interested. Reviewing once a week-or more- your child’s agenda also is a great idea-even as they are getting older. Your real life experiences can help to teach them some very important skills in organization and responsibility.

The last trimester of this school year our team will go deskless! This means that students will store personal belongings only in their lockers. They will get just a taste of what it is like to bring needed materials from class to class. It’s good to get them in a routine now, so they have a plan for tackling the years to come. Maybe then they won’t have to spend $150.00 for Franklin Planning course as an adult!