Supporting Students

We've come to one of the most exciting and anxiety producing events of the year: Parent-Teacher Interviews!!!  I remember as a childwatching my parents leaving to go and visit my school, wondering what they were saying and what they would come home with.  As a parent, I find myself wondering and worrying about what I will find out about my children, whether they measure up, or what difficulties they may be having.  As a teacher, I worry about what parents are thinking, whether they will perceive inadequacies in my teaching or abilities to reach their child.

All that stress!  Let's peel some of that away and uncover the opportunities that present themselves.  Parent-teacher conferences can be one of the most important meetings of the year in the life of a student.  They celebrate a student's strengths, they enable goal setting for areas of improvement, and they set the ground work for further communication and progress over the year. For this to happen, keep in mind the following:

• PTI's are a two-way conversation.  To be productive, both parties need to talk and listen.  By learning from one another, sharing stories of home and school, we can help our students more effectively.
• PTI's are about learning.  If we are going to take seriously the many kinds of minds in our school, we need to discuss strengths as well as areas for improvement.  We talk about how our students are doing.  We talk about how they can grow and do better.
• PTI's are about opportunities and challenges and ultimately about setting goals.  Be ready to ask questions about ways you and the teacher can help your child in the school context and at home.

Finally, talk to your child(ren).  The PTI's are about them!  Share with them what you learned.  Show them how you will help with learning at home, and ultimately that we are all on the same page:  We care about them, and about their development as a child of God!!!  We want them to take hold of God's story.

When grading kills education

It's report card time!!  I'm busy reading through the report cards of each child in the school today.  Grades are a funny thing.  Did you know that grading student work is a 1792 invention?  Prior to that, students received feedback on their learning, but there was no 'letter' grade assigned to their work.  There is actually a very active movement to remove grading from education altogether.  I'm sure that some students and teachers wouldn't mind one bit!!!

Earlier this year I shared a video clip on 'growth mindsets'.  It highlighted the huge difference between telling a student that they were really good at something, or if they had worked really hard at something.  http://youtu.be/NWv1VdDeoRY

So, how can we take this new research and apply it to our reporting of how things are going at school?  As you prepare to read your child's report card, prepare yourself also for how you will use that information going forward.  The central purpose of the report card is to encourage growth in learning.    Develop a plan forward on how to improve, how to challenge your kids in their learning, and how to encourage them and praise them for their efforts.

• If your child is doing well, make sure you praise them for their effort, not for how good they are at something. (see video link above!!)
  
• If your child is struggling, make sure you use this as an opportunity to encourage them in their strengths and develop plans to improve where they need assistance.
  
• If your child needs motivation to re-engage in their learning, make a plan to communicate regularly with the teacher and to find ways to encourage your child in their work at school.
  

Your response to your child's report card carries the potential to spur forward their learning and encourage growth.  Together, we can work to make sure grades don't kill education!!!

Remembering

Remembering...

It's becoming harder and harder to remember.  The last living WWI veteran in Canada passed away in 2010.  With that passing, we lost a story-teller.  Also, war is a painful thing to talk about.  Veterans are of different minds about telling their stories - some need to pass on the realities of war, and others avoid doing so as the memories are too painful to continue to relive.  An acquaintance of mine mourned the fact that he saw people 'not wearing a poppy'... "How can they not respect the sacrifice of so many?".  At the same time, we live in such 'taken for granted' freedom that I wonder that perhaps this is what we fight for - a freedom so prevalent that we don't even think about how wonderful it is....

So, where is God in all of this?  How do we take hold of Him in this story?  We look back and remember who he created us to be, and that He created a world of peace, one of beauty, one that was good.... VERY GOOD.  We see our present world - one where there is pain, sin, death, and war.  We remember those who fought and died in pursuit of a world that would be free from sin.  We look forward.  God is working through the good deeds he has prepared for us, and for the day when heaven will come down, and every sword will be laid down.

Remember the peace that God created.  This November 11, honour the striving for peace, and pray for a world where peace is normal... even taken for granted. 

Bucket Filling

It's November.  The heat is turned on, the last few leaves are dearly holding on, the clocks have changed, and we are entering the darkest part of the year.  Did you know that November is often referred to as 'depression month'?  It's no coincidence that schools often have the highest occurrence of behaviour issues in November and February.  The newness of the school year has worn off, we have early nightfall, and the stress of the year has set in.
Along with this seasonal depression, our 'buckets' become more empty, and our natural reaction is to treat one another more poorly than usual, or even than we intend to.  Adults and kids alike are guilty of this.  Unfortunately this creates a negative spiral... as we empty others' buckets, they pass it along.  The intentional act of 'filling' one anothers' buckets with a compliment, a kind word, a helping hand (even if we don't feel like it!!) creates a positive culture and it gets passed on.  God doesn't ask us to be kind.... He requires it.  How are we fulfilling this?

Galatians 5:22  "But the fruit of the spirit is.....kindness..."

For a fun story on 'bucket filling' and a way to talk to your kids about it:  Watch this award winning story in video form:  "How full is your Bucket for kids" by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer  http://goo.gl/ZAeFPV

The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for and deserted by everybody. The greatest evil is the lack of love and charity.— Mother Teresa

It sure is a good thing we have a Bazaar to look forward to in the middle of November!!!!