Dear Parents,

It has been another wonderful week with your students.  I am so happy to have your children in my class. This week we have been learning about ourselves as scientists, readers, writers, and mathematicians.  In science, we have started looking at what scientists do.  We will be learning about different scientists and discovering what they do.  In math, we have been learning about gather and organizing data into graphs.  We have created a birthday graph and a how we get home graph.  In writing, we have been learning about what writers do and learning about the tools writers use.  We will be working on the different ways writers get their ideas.  In reading, we are learning about what good readers do.  We have discussed and are practicing our stamina.

Thank you for coming to the parent open house on Thursday.  It was wonderful to meet all of you and I am looking forward to a wonderful year working with you as partners in your child's education.  Look for the conference sign up sheet and the informational letter about my presentation inside the Friday folder.

Please remember to check the efolder each week.  The link is on the Spicewood homepage.

Below is a letter from our PYP coordinator about the upcoming conferences.

Again, thank you for your time on Thursday evening.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Ms Hansen

September 5, 2014

Dear Parents,

We are looking forward to meeting with you and your child at our Fall goal-setting conferences on September 24th. This conference will provide an opportunity for you and your child to work collaboratively with you child’s teacher to set long-range and short-range goals for the school year. Goal setting is an on-going process and the goals we set in the Fall will be monitored by you, your student, and you child’s teachers. These goals are designed to address many aspects of our PYP program, including knowledge, the PYP attitudes and the PYP Transdisciplinary Skills.

Your child’s goals may fall into three categories:

Social – behavior in class, self-management skills, relationships with peers, role in group work, sense of

responsibility, participation, leadership, etc.

Academic – learning in specific subject areas, basic facts, becoming a self-directed learner, attitudes towards learning, willingness to take risks and make mistakes, etc.

Organizational – using planner effectively, turning homework in on time, completing assignments, organizing materials, etc.

The purpose of this type of conference is to give students ownership over their learning by fostering dialogue about their work so far this year. Students  are made to feel like partners in their learning and are held accountable for their learning goals. During student-led parent conferences parents get to hear directly from their child about what they are learning, what their strengths are and in what areas they feel they need additional support. Students have the opportunity to collaborate with their parents and teachers about the steps needed to reach these goals. This is a powerful way to work together to make your child’s school year a successful one.

This is not a forum to discuss any concerns you  may have with their teacher. If you would like to schedule an additional conference with your child’s teacher, please contact them to establish an appropriate time.

We thank you for your support as we work together to ensure that we are developing caring, globally-minded, thinkers!

Sincerely,
Dorian Marvel
PYP Coordinator