Posted 2-5-10
Hello Parents and Guardians,
I hope you all are staying dry this soggy Friday. Today we are taking the Unit Test on Rome and I wanted to pass along some information to you about the test. Some students were unable to finish the test so they will finish during flex on Monday. In addition, the test has a written portion that takes a bit longer to grade. For these reasons I will not get the tests back to the students and grades out to you as quickly as I normally do. I hope to have the students all finished and the tests graded by the end of the school day Tuesday. At that time I will send out grades and post the test on-line for those students who want to make corrections.
Monday we will be starting a new unit on the Middle Ages by watching a History Channel video about the fall of Rome and the transition of Europe in to the Dark Ages whereupon the Middle Ages begin. As with every new unit I will be collecting the students Table of Contents and all materials related to Rome so that they can start the new unit with a fresh and clean notebook.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the class or your child. From what I have seen so far the tests are looking pretty good! Have a great weekend, I hope you can find a way to stay dry and warm.
Posted 2-4-10
Hello All,
This is the final notice that all assignments from the unit on Rome, INCLUDING #10 , must be turned in TOMORROW Friday, Feb. 5 2010. I will not accept any work pertaining to Rome after Friday Feb 5. The final unit test over Rome is also being given tomorrow, Friday, Feb 5th. I have attached the Review which was given out at the beginning of the week in case your child has lost theirs.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you!
Posted 1-29-10
Dear Parents and Guardians,
This is just a friendly reminder that the unit test over Rome is scheduled for Friday Feb 5th. That is a week from today. All work pertaining to Rome must be turned in by no later than Feb 5th, after which time I will not accept any missing assignments from the unit on Rome. Many students have been slacking off on turning in work as of late, with upwards of 10-15 students per class per assignment not turning in their work. Please follow up with your student and make sure they are turning in their work, it is so important to their grades and the retention of the information.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you, and have safe weekend.
Posted 1-20-10
Hello Parents and Guardians,
If you visit my website you will see that the unit on Rome is all planned out. On Friday (1-22-09) there will be a quiz over the geography and republic of Rome. We will continue studying the legacy and empire of Rome through it's final demise with a final test on Friday Feb 5th. As I stated in my last newsletter, the pace of the class is picking up and I wanted to give you all a heads up on what was coming up these next few weeks.
REMINDER All assignments related to Rome must be turned in by Feb 5th as I do not accept missing assignments after a unit ends.
Please keep an eye on my calendar in case of any changes and to access the assignments, as I give them, if your child has misplaced anything.
I would also like to address the benchmark tests. I was extremely impressed with how well the students did on the benchmark tests. None of my classes had an average below a B and many students even scored a 100%. While I am very proud of all of my students I would like to point something out. The class that had the highest percentage on the benchmark also had the highest percentage of homework turned in, the second highest class had the second highest percentage of homework completed, and the next two classes scores also correlated with the percentage of completed work. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to complete assignments. All assignments are designed to help the students retain the information given to them in class and that is evident in the benchmark scores. The assignments are not only important to help the students grade, but also (and more importantly) to help them retain the information they are being taught.
Again, I am very proud of all of our students both for their performance on the benchmark test and for their performance over the entire second nine weeks. I hope that we can continue this success through the second semester.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Have a great day!
Posted 1-5-09
Hello Parents and Guardians,
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break and got the New Year started on a good note.
This week we will be wrapping up the second nine weeks with a test on Friday over the world religions. We spent the last week before break talking about the seven major world religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism) and will finish on Friday. There has not been much in the way of homework for this unit so missing assignments should not be an issue. The test over the world religions will be taken on Friday, January 8th and will be the final grade going into the second nine weeks for my class. Please keep this in mind when you get the progress report going home on Wednesday and encourage your students to do well on the test to keep their grades high, or for some, to bring their grades up.
Next week we will start by reviewing the second nine weeks to prepare for the social studies benchmark test on Wednesday January 13th. The benchmark test will be the first grade to go into my grade book for the third nine weeks, and will thus have a major impact on the students grades for the rest of the quarter. Please encourage your child to study hard and do their best on the benchmark, it is so much easier to maintain a good grade than fix a bad one, especially when the first grade is a major assessment.
On Thursday, January 14th we will begin our next unit, covering the history of Rome. Rome will take the first three weeks or so of the third nine weeks.
As I told the students they are now closer to being seventh graders than they are to being fifth graders. The pace for this class will pick up greatly as we start to treat them more like middle schoolers and less like elementary students. This will put more responsibility on their shoulders to complete work and be prepared. We will be covering more information in less time (due to standardized testing and finals) in the second semester which will pick up the pace of the class. As you all know, I do not accept late work after a unit is finished so this will make getting assignments turned in in a timely manner that much more important.
This group of students is one of the most talented and highly motivated groups I have ever taught and I have no doubt we will continue to see greatness from these students.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Happy New Year! Good luck in the Second Semester.
Posted 12-11-09
Hello All,
I have had several students ask if I would be available after school for help getting everything turned in and questions about the test. Any time I have students asking to stay at school LONGER to do better (or possible to get to play the Wii and the new games I told them about, but hey, they're learning) just makes my day. I have decided that I will stay until 5:00 to help any students that want it. I will let them see their grades, if they are missing any assignments and any materials they might need to complete missing assignments. I will help them with any questions they may still have about the review to prepare for the test.
To ensure that all students are accounted for at the end of the day, I will only allow students to stay if they bring in a note from YOU that they have a ride home NO LATER THAN 5:00.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great weekend!
Posted 12-8-09
Dear Parents and Guardians,
I wanted to remind you that your child will be brining home a paper printout of their progress for each of their classes. Please take a close look at my progress report. Anything that is missing or can be fixed from the Greece unit must be turned in no later than Tuesday, December 15. This is the day of the final test over our unit on Ancient Greece and the last day missing assignments or late work will be accepted. I am extremely proud of how well my students did on their projects, some students struggled with such a big project and may still fix or complete any missing portions.
On another note, I would like to address the Christmas holiday that is coming up. First, I want to point out that this is by no means a request. In the past some students or parents have brought gifts to school for their teachers before Christmas. Often times this gift is made up of cookies and candy or some sort of food. While I greatly appreciate the thought and the gifts are always wonderful, much of what is given to me is eventually thrown away. My wife is also a teacher and often receives much of the same kinds of presents, with only the two of us at home, we cannot consume all of the presents before they start to go bad (not to mention our belt loops have only so many holes), so despite how wonderful the gifts are we are forced to throw them away eventually.
As a result, I would like to propose this to you. If you or your child would like to get something please bring in something I can share with my classes. I have given away over 400 pencils this year and over 2000 sheets of notebook paper, which I purchased to help my students. With these tough economic times there are often students who cannot afford to bring pencils and paper to school with them and I like to have a supply for them, and for the students who simply run out throughout the day and still need supplies to participate in class. Any paper, pencils, sharpeners or gift cards to Wal-Mart or Office Depot would go a long way to help me teach and help my students succeed. These Presents would be used for the rest of the year and would never go to waste or end up in the garbage (or expand my waistline). I know there are a lot of students and parents who you might know who have fallen on hard economic times and could really use help supplying their child with what they need to succeed.
Again, this is by no means a request, simply a way to help your generosity be spread to those at GMS who really need it, the students.
Thank you all for all of your hard work and support at home, have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Posted 12-2-09
Hello Parents and Guardians,
I wanted to update you on where the class is headed the next few weeks. You may have seen on the calendar by now that I have the rest of the month of December planned out and posted on-line. Please take note that there will be a test over Ancient Greece on December 15th and will mark the end of the Ancient Greece unit. With the end of the Ancient Greece unit comes the deadline for any and all missing assignments from that unit. ALL MISSING ASSIGNMENTS OVER ANCIENT GREECE MUST BE TURNED IN BY DECEMBER 15TH.
I am sure all of you are anxious to see how your child did on their research project, though if you looked at the rubric before turning it in, I am sure you already know and just await an official score. Please keep in mind that I have to grade 125 reports and it will take some time and am a bit behind due to going out of town for the holiday. I hope to have them all graded by Tuesday December 8th. Once I have graded all of them in all of the classes I will send home a progress report.
After we finish Greece we will begin a unit on World Religions, that will span the Christmas break and conclude after Christmas. Upon returning from break we will finish the religions unit and then begin reviewing for the second nine weeks benchmark test. The social studies benchmark test date is January 13th. After completing the Benchmark test we will begin the third nine weeks with a unit on Rome.
Things really pick up in speed in this class after the Greece unit. The first nine weeks went slow as we eased into middle school. The second nine weeks are stretched out by the research project. Please keep an eye on your child and make sure they do not fall behind after Christmas when some sixth graders begin to become lackadaisical in their work ethic or have a hard time keeping up with the faster, more seventh grade pace of the second semester.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful evening.
Posted 11-23-09
Hello Parents and Guardians,
Today I am collecting the Research Project. Any students who are not finished will have until tomorrow to complete their papers. At that time I will collect whatever work they do have so that they can get credit for what they did finish. Any missing portions will be entered into the grade books as a zero. Students will be able to make up the work but not until I have graded all of the research projects, which will take some time. We spent over three weeks working on these projects and the various portions of the project will be recorded as five different major test assessments. Not turning in this project would be devastating to a grade.
Any parents or guardians of students who do not turn their project in to me tomorrow will receive an e-mail from me if I have received a confirmation e-mail from your address, if I do not have a confirmed, valid e-mail address I will call the phone numbers available to me.
Posted 11-16-09
Dear Parents and Guardians,
This week will mark the end of the research project. By Friday the students should finish their paper. On Monday I will be collecting numbers 5-8 in their TOC (5: the research folder, 6: the rubric, 7: the outline, 8: the final paper). If the students are completely done I will take it on Friday. Everything the students need to have for their paper is on the Rubric, there is no reason any student should get anything less than 100% on every criteria on the rubric as they have had it for over a two weeks now and it outlines everything they must have when they are finished. Each criteria of the rubric will be entered into my grade book as a major assessment and will be the equivalent of a test grade. If your child has lost their copy of the rubric, it is posted on my website under calendar and under the TOC, and I have also attached it to this e-mail.
I have instructed the students that if they wish to write their paper instead of typing it, they are welcome to do so, there are instructions on the rubric if they so choose to write it out instead. So if you did not get a flash drive for your student to use and would like the opportunity to see your child's work as they go this week, you may want to instruct your child to write out the paper, rather than type it up. I have all the confidence in the students to write a stellar paper in the computer lab this week.
Again, this is the final week to work on the research paper. WE WILL NOT RETURN TO THE COMPUTER LAB AFTER THIS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH.
THE ABSOLUTE DEADLINE FOR THE RESEARCH PROJECT IS MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23RD 2009.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Have a wonderful afternoon!
Posted 11-2-09
Dear Parents,
I am writing you today because we have begun working on a very important project. For the next three weeks we will be working on a research project on Ancient Greece. Research is not always an easy thing to do, especially when citations and proper writing format is thrown into the mix. All of your children have gotten off to a great start and deserve our praise.
In order to ensure that the students get all of the work done, and done correctly, I have set aside a large amount of time to do the work in class. That way I will be there to ensure that they are finding facts pertinent to the subject at hand (in this case, Ancient Greece) and that they are able to properly cite their work. I need your help to ensure that I have 100% of the students turn in the final project which will be due Monday, November 23rd. Please check your child’s folder each evening to ensure that your student is getting new information each day. By 11-13-09 your child will have to have their research folder completed with four envelopes containing at least for facts on each topic and a citation from where they found their information (at least two sources will have to be from a book, at least two will have to be web-based sources).
On 11-13-09 the students will have a homework assignment to create an outline, using their research folders, to help them organize their thoughts and prepare for their paper.
Then during the week of the 16th through the 20th the students will be in the computer lab typing up their research paper. I highly recommend buying a flash drive for the students to save their work on. There are folders for the students to save their material, but students will not be exempt from the project if their paper is lost, as has happened in the past, saving the paper on a flash drive will help prevent this from happening.
The final draft and research paper will be due on November 23rd.
The minimum requirement is that the students get at least four facts about each category in their research folder. I recommend that students record more than that in their folder, so that they do not limit their ability to write a coherent paper. In addition, there will be an opportunity for extra credit if they are able to include more than the minimum of sixteen facts in the final draft of their paper.
The students all have a Rubric in the social studies section of their folder (number six in the TOC) which outlines all of the requirements of the research paper (the rubric is also posted on-line if it has been lost). If students complete all of the requirements of the rubric there is no reason any student should not receive a 100% on their project. Using the rubric, you and your child should be able to determine what their grade will be before it is even turned in and graded by me. It is extremely important that all aspects of the rubric are completed as each category of the rubric will be recorded as a major assessment in the grade book making this project worth five major assessments.
If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me at; mirvin@greenville.k12.sc.us, 355-5835, or visit my website at http://teachers.greenville.k12.sc.us/sites/mirvin/default.aspx for more information.
Thank you for all of your help and support at home!
I will also be sending a paper version of this letter home with students to ensure that everyone's parents or guardians get this letter.
Posted 10-27-09
Hello Parents and Guardians,
Today we took the test over River Civilizations. That brings us to the end of our second unit of the year. I will again be collecting and grading the student's Table Of Contents tomorrow and then starting a new one on Ancient Greece. We will also be starting a research project that will be done largely in class. As a result there will not be much in the way of homework over the next few weeks, so do not worry if your child does not seem to be brining much to do at home. I do ask you to help me monitor their progress of their research by checking their research folders (we will start that on Friday) to make sure they are keeping up in class and not losing their research.
I will also be e-mailing progress reports today. Please note that if you or your child are not happy with the score the earned on the River Civilizations test they may bring up their scores by writing out the corrected answers they got wrong in complete sentences (half a point for each correction). Please visit my calendar to see a downloadable version of the test if you would like your child to make corrections.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful afternoon!
Posted 10-22-09
Hello Parents and Guardians,
I will be e-mailing the first set of grades for the second nine weeks this evening.
To begin, please note that there are only three assignments that have been given thus far. As a result, one missing assignment will have a devastating impact on a grade, especially with no test or quiz grades to balance it out. So if your child has an especially low grade, look to see what assignment is missing and make sure they finish it and turn it in.
I would also like remind you that the River Civilizations unit will be wrapping up on Tuesday, November 3rd. That means that NO ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THAT DATE from the River Civilizations Unit. That means that the absolute last day I will accept assignment numbers 15-18 is on Tuesday, November 3rd. After that day the assignments will not be accepted. Assignment 15 was collected on October 14th, Assignment 16 is being collected today (October 22nd), Assignment 17 is due on Tuesday November 3rd, and assignment 18 is due on Monday November 2nd.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful day!
Posted 10-21-09
Dear Parents and Guardians,
I will be sending home a progress report today. It will be the last time I e-mail grades for the 1st nine weeks. Remember, tomorrow is the last day I will accept late work for the first nine weeks. It will include any make-up work that has been turned in as of today, as well as the Benchmark 1 test that was taken yesterday, as long as your child was here.
I have entered two grades for the second nine weeks today (Daily questions for the week of the 12th through the 14th, and #15: SQ 3 Kingdoms). I will send the first report for the second nine weeks in the next couple of days.
The benchmark 1 tests were very good! I was extremely pleased with the results, and have told the students they should be walking around with smiles on their faces today for a job well done. I know part of the credit goes to all of you and your efforts to help the students at home. Thank you for being such great parents.
Have a wonderful day! Keep an eye on your e-mail box for the grade report. As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Posted 10-19-09
Hello Parents and Guardians,
This is a reminder that ALL 1ST NINE WEEK ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE TURNED IN BY THURSDAY OCTOBER 22ND. The final minor assignment for the first nine weeks was number fourteen of the river valley civilizations table of contents. The final major assessment will be the Benchmark review test. I will be sending out grades tomorrow evening as I have been getting a lot of makeup work from the students and we are going over their grades today in class.
ALL ASSIGNMENTS CAN BE FOUND ON THE CALENDAR AND TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION OF MY WEBSITE. Students may also ask for a bug pass for assignments from me during flex time. If you have a hard time downloading the assignments please see my "for parents" section of my website for free office software.
Tomorrow is the benchmark test for Social Studies. The benchmark test could change a students grade by as much as 5%. Please make sure your child gets plenty of rest tonight and studies the review I sent home. Unlike most of my tests, the students will NOT be allowed to make corrections to the benchmark test, making it all that much more important that the students do well tomorrow.
I am planning on giving the Unit test over River Civilizations a week from tomorrow, Tuesday October 27th. This will be the first Major assessment in the second nine weeks and will thus have a major impact on their grades.
After finishing the River Civilizations we will begin studying Ancient Greece and the students will star the unit with a research project using both textbooks and internet resources to complete the assignment.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful week!
Posted 10-12-09
Hello Parents and Guardians,
Can you believe that the first nine weeks is nearly over? I am amazed at how quickly this year is progressing. I am especially impressed with how well all of my students have been doing this year (the overall class average is a whopping 88%!!!) and I think a lot of it has to do with the great parents and guardians you all are. Thank you for doing so much to help ensure the students succeed.
In order to prepare for the end of the nine weeks, and to give the students plenty of time to complete first nine weeks assignments, today's assignment (#14 SQ: Egypt Geography and Hieroglyphics) will be the last minor assessment given that will be recorded in the first nine weeks grade book. In addition, the final major assessment recorded in the first nine weeks will be the Benchmark Test that will be given on Tuesday October 20th. Your child should have brought home a letter indicating what the benchmark tests are and their purpose. All major and minor assessments given prior to the dates above will be recorded in the second nine week's grade book.
In order to aid the students in their quest for excellence, I have created a study guide for the benchmark test (link). If you and your child reviews this between now and Tuesday, they should do just fine on the Social Studies Benchmark. I attached the study guide to an e-mail today, will be sending home a hard-copy with the students tomorrow, and have posted it on my website.
Finally, the deadline for first nine week assignments to be turned in will be Thursday October 22nd. After that time I will be turning my grade book in to the administration for Report Cards. Report cards will be sent home October 29th.
Thank you again for all of your support at home. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Have a great evening and a wonderful week!
Posted 10-2-09
Dear Parents and Guardians,
I have finished planning out the rest of the first nine weeks. Please take a moment to visit the my calendar on my website (see link below) and see what is coming for the rest of October. I also wanted to point out some dates of particular interest...
10-6-09: Quiz over Mesopotamia
10-7-09: Class Progress Reports (students will receive a paper progress report from each class that should be signed by the parents)
10-20-09: Social Studies Benchmark Test
10-27-09: River Civilizations Unit Test, and last date to turn in assignments for the River Civilizations Unit.
10-28-09: Collection of the River Civilizations Table of Contents (TOC)
... As always, these dates are subject to change if needed to accommodate the needs of our students, so please check back often!.
Please also be aware that students may check out a textbook overnight if they do not finish textbook work that is done in class. Please only have your child check out a book if they cannot access the on-line edition due to a limited number of textbooks. All textbooks must be checked back in before first period the next day. They may be checked out again each evening. Also remind your students of the BUG opportunity on Flex days. Students who come during flex days to catch up on work they have been missing, especially with the large number of absences recently.
Posted 9-30-09
Dear Parents and Guardians,
I just sent out grades so far and I wanted to remind you and your students something after you look over them. I reminded the students of this but I want to make sure you hear it too.
My main concern for my students is that they learn. Grades are supposed to indicate how much learning the students have experienced in my class, they are not supposed to be punitive. If a student has gotten a bad grade, it reflects the fact that they did not learn the desired information. I do not want students to simply accept that they did not learn all of the material and simply move on. Any time a student misses a question or does not finish an assignment, I hope that they correct their mistakes and turn it back in. This will not only increase their grade, but ensure that they are learning. By making corrections, they are learning the correct information an additional time, and for incomplete assignments, they are finishing the learning process. If a student corrects home or class work assignments they will receive full credit for the answers they correct. On tests and quizzes they will receive half credit for every answer they correct in complete sentences.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Posted 9-30-09
Hello Parents and Guardians,
I am sorry I have not sent grades to you in a while. I was planning on sending out grades on 9-28 but I had to leave the school as I became quite sick. I have returned today (9-30) and after school I will catch up on grading papers that were handed in while I was out. Once I am finished I will e-mail those as soon as I finish.
The students took a quiz on Monday over early man, first and second period got theirs back already, sixth and seventh should get theirs Thursday (10-1). If you or your child are not happy with their grade, they may take a test home or get one off of the calendar, and make corrections for half credit for every question corrected.
There will be a quiz over Mesopotamia on Monday (10-5) and we will be working on Mesopotamia this entire week. Please keep an eye on the calendar on my website for updates on assignments.
I hope everyone is having a good week. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Have a good evening.
Posted 9-21-09
Hello Parents and Guardians,
I have just e-mailed progress reports for my class. There may be a difference between the grade you receive this evening and the grade on the school's progress report. I had to submit the grades for the school progress report on Thursday. Today's grades include two new grades, extra credit, test corrections, and any make-up work that was turned in since Thursday, that is why the grade may look different. I hope this did not create any confusion for anyone, let me know if you have any other questions.
This week we will continue covering prehistoric man. Last week the students were introduced to the topic with a textbook assignment and a video. If your child was missing either of those assignments please remind them to turn the work into their classes basket tomorrow. I will be clarifying the information and going into some detail on the major topics this week with notes and a jeopardy review. On Friday there will be a quiz over early man. As of right now there will be one homework assignment this week given on Wednesday (as always that is subject to change if needed, please keep a lookout on the calendar).
Please remember to sign your child's progress report and bring it back in to school to show their flex teacher tomorrow.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Have a great week!
Posted 9-16-09
Hello Parents and Guardians,
If you were able to stop by for open house, thank you for coming it was a great turnout.
I gave the students back their tests today. If you or your child are not happy with the grade they earned you can do something about it. If you visit my website and go to the calendar, the test is now posted on-line. If your child corrects the questions they got wrong on a separate sheet of paper in complete sentences, they will receive half a point for every question they got wrong and bring their grade up.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me. Have a great evening.
Posted 9-11-09
Dear Parents and Guardians,
As of today students should have all items listed in the table of contents in the notebook (with the exception of students who turned in late work on Friday). Please follow up at home and make sure students are not missing any work. Tuesday will be the last day I accept late or missing work from the Geography Unit.
There will also be a unit test on Tuesday, 9-15-09. I handed out a review sheet today and it will be due on Tuesday before taking the test. If students have done all of the work in their TOC then all of the answers to the review can be found in their notebooks. The students do not need their book to answer the questions to the review.
We will play a review game on Monday, the test will follow on Tuesday.
Please also be aware that the open house is on Tuesday 9-15-09 from 5:15-8:00. I look forward to seeing all of you there.
Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns. Have a great weekend.
Posted 9-2-09
Hello Parents and Guardians,
I have two quick updates for you.
Our administration wants to ensure we are communicating grades with parents more often. In addition to the school-wide progress report and grade card, the administration wants each teacher to send at least one additional report home each nine weeks. To conserve paper and money I would like to send mine via e-mail, as I already do. To ensure everyone is getting my progress reports, please reply to this e-mail with your child's name so that I have proof the e-mail address is valid and being read. Any students without replies will receive a paper progress report from my class once each nine weeks, in addition to the progress report and grade card sent out by the school.
The second matter is an addition to my website. I now have a page where I will be posting the daily questions for viewing at home. Now, if your child does not turn in the daily questions you will have a resource to take them to in order to make up the work, and absent students will not miss out on the daily questions while they are out.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great evening, I hope to see you at the football game on Thursday, Go Yellow Jackets!!!
Posted 8-27-09
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Hello and congratulations on surviving the first week of school. Things have gone exceptionally well in my classroom, the sixth grade hall, and all across Greer Middle School. I just wanted to touch base with all of you now that things are really going to start getting underway tomorrow.
Periodically I will send home e-mails similar to this one updating you on what is happening in class and important dates and events.
Tomorrow I will be starting the first official unit for social studies over geography and how it effects the growth of civilizations. Students will not yet have much homework from me as we have not yet received our textbooks. Once textbooks have been assigned, more work will be given to be completed at home. Please keep an eye on the calendar on my website to track how often there are assignments that are due the next day.
In addition to the unit beginning tomorrow we have also begun our table of contents (TOC). The purpose of the TOC is to help the students stay organized and for you and your child to monitor their grades. Each unit’s TOC will contain an essential question and a list of all assignments. All assignments will receive a number which corresponds to the order they were given. You and your child can keep track of grades and missing assignments by monitoring the TOC for each unit. I will also post the TOC online so you know if your child is missing anything. There you will find an additional link to the assignments if you need to print out anything that is missing. Please DO NOT CLEAN OUT YOUR CHILD’S SOCIAL STUDIES SECTION of their notebook. At the end of each unit I will collect and store your child’s work so that they will only keep the papers that we are currently working on. At the end of the year I will give back all of the papers to students who want them.
If you have trouble opening attachments on my website please visit the “for parents” section of the website where you can download free Office software that is compatible with all text formats, (MAC or PC).
I will also be e-mailing a progress report every time I enter a grade into my grade book. I sent the first one on Tuesday, please let me know if you did not receive one. The grade book may contain some information that may need explaining. The grades are weighted according to SC State standards and so may not add up if you try to calculate the grade yourself. In addition you may see the following abbreviations; Omit, AB, INC, or NHI. Omit is for a grade that will not count for or against your child. AB stands for ABsent and your child has five days to turn the assignment in for 100%. INC stand for “INComplete,” which means that the students completed less than 69% of the assignment correctly and need to fix or finish the work and turn it back in. NHI is used for assignments that were Not Handed In when the student was present in class. NHI paper may be turned in late for a maximum score of 90%. LATE WORK WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AFTER A UNIT TEST IS COMPLETED. I would rather see the student concentrate on the next unit and prevent them from mixing up information from one civilization to the next. After a class or homework assignment is graded students may fix or complete any incorrect or missing portions at any time before the unit test to improve their score and reinforce their understanding.
Thank you for taking the time to give me your e-mail addresses and read this lengthy e-mail. If you ever have any questions or concerns about your child or what we are doing in class, please do not hesitate to contact me. You are my greatest allies in the effort to ensure my students succeed. I hope to work with you as a team to ensure success this year. Have a wonderful day and a great weekend.
Sincerely,
Posted: 8-19-09
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Today was a great first day of class! This group of sixth-graders is an impressive bunch! I know this is going to be a great year and I look forward to working with you to ensure your child succeeds here at GMS.
I hope that you are visiting this site today because you received the letter I sent home with your child. Please be sure to fill the attached parent information page out, particularly your e-mail address, and have your child bring it back tomorrow. I do a lot of communication through the computer with e-mail newsletters and grades. Ever time I put a new assignment into my grade book I will e-mail grades home so that you can keep up with your child’s progress.
Please also visit my calendar here on this site to see where I will post the daily activities. Any time you see an assignment in red it is homework. Your child should ALWAYS be able to show their homework to you. I will NEVER accept work early so please ask to see the work to ensure it has been completed.
Thank you all for your continued support of GMS. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful day!
ONLINE TEXTBOOK:
To access the ENTIRE book on-line please click on this link... and enter the following username and password exactly as it is typed here...
USERNAME: JAT2005
PASSWORD: 8hu5rust
To access the "study central" materials with e-flash cards, quizzes and other helpful study materials click on this link. I HIGHLY recommend visiting this site if you or your child is having a hard time.
Parents and Students - Make sure to keep an eye on the Calendar section of my website to keep up with Class Assignments, homework, test dates, and other Social Studies related topics. The Calendar is updated daily with links to assignments.
If you ever want to know something more than we cover in class, or just have a question about history, government, or school in general please visit my blog!
In sixth grade humanities we will travel far and wide to learn about the earth and many of its different people and places. We will journey across time using our textbooks, technology, and each other. We will learn about the start of time, the first civilizations, all the way to the first machines and ideas of flight attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. We will examine the earliest known cultures to learn how their successes and failures have played a roll in shaping our lives today. We will learn about the first people to live on earth, the mysterious pyramids, the amazing Greeks, the mighty Romans, castles and knights of the Middle Ages, and much more!
I am looking forward to an enjoyable and productive year.