We have been trained to watch for concerns of a child’s well being. This didn’t include cyber information. As a responsible teacher I’m drawing the attention of students to current events. During this time of sharing, my students have become more relaxed and open about their after school activities which include gaming for many. When […]
Communication with Parents and Guardians
Allies
The word ally is typically defined as a nation or state cooperating with another for a military purpose. As with most words it of course has been expanded for many uses but retains the meaning of being on your side. So the question I ask you today is, as a teacher who are your potential […]
Positive vs Negative Student Balances
When you look at your bank account you work extremely hard to ensure you always have a positive balance. By having a positive balance you are able to pursue so many options in how you may use that surplus. When you are not able to keep a positive balance, you become very limited in the […]
Communicating with 500 parents
I am a music teacher and I have around 500 students that I teach this year. Communicating with the parents of 500 students needs to be approached a little differently than the regular classroom teacher. I don’t send home a beginning of the year letter as I have taught most of my students for a […]
Updating the IEP
With the end of Term 1, comes the IEP review and update process. While the intention is that the IEP is regularly reviewed and updated, many IEPs lay stagnant all term and are dusted off at reporting time to be updated. Teachers are excellent at setting goals, supporting goals, working with children to achieve goals, […]
Report Cards – Make it Personal
There is lots of talk about using comment banks to create report card comments. I remember when I started teaching, a retiring teacher handed me a USB drive and said, “I am giving you years of work, use it well!” Trying to complete my first set of report cards with that drive was a complete […]
No Report Card Surprises
No Report Card Surprises Way back in October before the first reports were issued, I was busy inviting half of the parents into my class for heads-up interviews regarding their child’s progress. So many of my students were reading and writing below grade level, had serious behaviour issues, or were just plain struggling to meet […]