Parents-
Today marks the end of the third quarter. I'll be updating the grades as fast as I can. Report cards will be distributed on March 19th.
This week, we've welcomed in Bryson, a new student and welcomed back Zane. Our class has continued to grow and it's good to get good kids.
We'll continue working on our Social Studies unit through next week. After which, we'll have a government unit. In Science, we start up our Classification of Organisms unit. In math, we're working on ordered pairs this week. After our test, I'll assign individual skills for the kids to explore. Only a few weeks left before our test, so I'd like to iron out any misconceptions. It's imperative that the kids complete the IXL work each week and bring their questions to me.
With Reading, we've begun Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff. This book is great for teaching inferencing and narrator's point of view. With Language Arts, we're reviewing parts of speech.
Permission slips for middle school visits should be returned by Friday. The actual visit will be March 27.
We have a great class this year and I'm impressed with their growth and abilities. Their jaws are equally impressive as they're flexing them quite a bit lately. Not sure if I'm prematurely grouching, but it's driving me crazy – the talking while I'm instructing and/or speaking to them. If it were just a couple of them, I could fix this quickly but it seems to be an epidemic of talking. This "crunch time" is crucial for us to be on task.
Speaking of being "on task." I've spoken with them about this, but I need to share with you. Many bring their own devices which I think is amazing. However, I'm hearing more and more about students playing games during the instructional and research time. I've busted a couple, but I'm getting the tattle-tellers (is that a word?) too. And the ones that I haven't busted but heard about are the ones struggling to finish their work. So…I'm asking that you talk to your child about the instructional time in school and being on task. I try to police it, but our class has a large amount of instructional research time where we're relying on them to be self-sufficient and responsible. I am not allowing games of any sort any longer at school. If a student violates this, I'll remove the privilege of using the devices for the remainder of the year. Thanks for your help with this.
Finally, I'm attaching a Love and Logic email below for you to check out if you're interested. Always good advice. I had a parent today thank me for preparing their child for middle school. She said they realized recently that they haven't had to give any reminders or argue with them about assignments – he just "gets it done." I also liked to hear how he stepped up and created a presentation for his group after some group members couldn't get it going. If we're all buying into the responsibility aspect of what we do, the kids will greatly benefit. Remember that great grades and test scores are always welcomed, but there's a lot more to the kids than that. If we can develop good kids who are independent problem-solvers, our classrooms/families/world will be much better.
Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you or your child,
Shane Brazile
From: Love and Logic Institute, Inc. [mailto:reply@loveandlogicnews.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 12:33 PM
To: Shane Brazile
Subject: [MARKETING] Praise Junkies?
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Are we raising a society hooked on praise? Perhaps you know someone who doesn't feel whole…doesn't experience happiness…unless they are receiving acknowledgment from the outside.
Do we want our kids dependent upon the praise of others, or do we want them guided by a voice of personal responsibility residing in their hearts and their heads?
Far too many parenting and school discipline approaches rely on changing behavior by consistently providing praise and tangible goodies.
While occasional praise is fine, do we set our kids up for difficulties when we overdo it?
Life guided by an internal set of ethical principles…and a strong understanding of cause and effect…is far more likely to produce confidence and joy than a life dependent upon the fickle opinions of others.
Take the following quiz to see whether you are creating responsibly independent kids…or praiseaholics:
- When my kids succeed on a task, I recognize their effort and their good feelings…rather than telling them how happy it makes me.
- I demonstrate that I love them, even when I don't necessarily love their behavior.
- I allow my kids to see me resisting peer pressure…rather than always trying to project a perfect image.
- I provide praise rarely…and only when they have done something truly praiseworthy.
- My kids often overhear me talking about how I make my decisions based on my own beliefs...rather than seeing me make decisions based on what "everybody else is doing."
- I allow my kids to make affordable mistakes and learn from them…rather than constantly telling them what to do.
The more "yes" answers you gave, the more likely your kids will learn to resist peer pressure and lead lives where their happiness is based on doing the right thing rather than trying to please everyone.
In our CD Shaping Self-Concept, Jim Fay gives parents and teachers the tools they need to help kids learn to look for their strengths and become motivated, confident, and proud. Kids who will be able to keep going when the tough gets going and see themselves as winners. Thanks for reading! Our goal is to help as many families as possible. If this is a benefit, forward it to a friend.
Dr. Charles Fay
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