Don't Panic! But...

 
***This picture was taken last week. Most of the work has now been handed in.***

As I said it in the title of this post, don't panic!  BUT it would be helpful if you could have a discussion with your child every night as to what needs to be done at home.  Talking about deadlines, planning ahead, etc.  It is not your responsibility to write in the agenda and ensure the work gets done but it would be helpful if you could at least discuss it with your child.  In Grade 6/7, students need to take more responsibility for their own learning and if it means handing in late work once or twice, well so be it!  If you keep reminding your child to do the work by adding notes to his agenda, he might take longer to learn.  Not that I'm encouraging students to fail but once in a while, learning a lesson the hard way is an effective way to learn.  Please note that some students' work habits comments will be affected by this on Term 2 report cards. 

And as a reminder...
G= very good
S= satisfactory
N= needs improvement

So this brings me to say that a lot of students struggle with planning and continue to hand in work late.  I've started sending 'pink sheets' home (these are notices to let you know a big project is still missing) but I can't send one every time a piece of work is late.  Looking at the picture above, that would have meant sending about 60 'pink sheets' home last week.

I'm hoping this situation will change soon.  I already started working with a small group of students and many of them are beginning to show more responsibility for their learning.  Some are definitely learning the hard way but I'm glad to see they are starting to use their agendas more often.

Aside from helping your child to plan his week ahead of time, you can also encourage discussions around learning.  Don't be afraid to ask these questions:

"What did you learn at school today?" 

"What did you not understand at school today?"

Last week I asked everyone to list off two things/facts/questions they did not understand and I was able to get a lot of information this way.  Many students are embarrassed to say they did not understand a concept but I'm hoping this will continue to change.  Thanks in advance for supporting me on this!

I leave you with a link to a very neat blog that I like to follow. Many projects shared are for the little ones but since many students have now started babysitting, they may be able to get some cool ideas.

Have a lovely (end of) evening!