Having rediscovered my sign-in information, after months of searching - who says teachers don't have too much paper to sift through on a daily basis? - and having endured my dear Mother's final illness and death, followed by several health issues with my Dad and recent hospitalization and rehab, I believe I can begin again to use this tool to convey essential information for students and their families.
First, some fun and exciting news for PARP month in March. On Friday, March 9, author Julie Berry will share her expertise with the middle school students and run grade-level workshops that day, explaining the writing process and "how to write a book". Sounds like wonderful inspiration for my budding writers!I will be sending home order forms for her books in the coming week.
The eighth graders have completed their first reading assessment for their personal reading, and the sixth and seventh graders will hand theirs in next week.My students have introduced me to many intriguing novels in this first assignment. I trust they learned something valuable in the books they read. Upcoming assignments will be scheduled in late March, April, and May.
In April, all middle schoolers will take the NYS ELA exam. We have done many assignments already to prepare for this assessment, and will do more, including practice exams, in March. I am not an advocate of "one day-one test" assessments as the ultimate measure of a child's learning in my subject area, but this is an important tool for targeting strengths and weaknesses, and gives all of us some focus for learning in the future.I like to look at the ELA as I look at all test assessments - a challenge, a review, a marker for the future. I am confident that, if my students do their best reading and writing on this exam, they will find success.
I close with some wisdom from our patron, Saint Francis DeSales - "Be who you are, and be that perfectly well, to give honor to the Master Craftsman whose handiwork you are."
