A few years of my teaching career I have used an assignment titled: "In a Million Words or Less...". Not only is it one of my favorite homework assignments, it is, most likely, the only homework assignment that my students' parents will have all year. That's right! The first homework assignment given in the first week of school is for the adults!
Adults are busy, I get it. I'm an adult now too. My two little ones keep me busy enough, and I'm sure being the parent of a middle-schooler with sports, bands, music, dance, and other after-school extra-curricular activities probably keeps them busy too. But...they find the time. They find the time -- and let me finally explain the assignment -- to tell me about their student in one million words or less (nobody has made it to one million yet - in case you were wondering). They have various choices on what to talk about, but most focus on personality/other characteristics, indelible moments from the student's childhood, academic struggles/areas of concern, and what they hope for their student in my classroom. The submissions are brilliant! I feel like I'm pretty good at building relationships with my students, but this takes it to a whole different level. Very quickly, within the first few weeks, I get tons of information from these letters that I can use in various ways to ensure success in my classroom and in the trying, awkward, sometimes scary, yet fun, first year of middle school. I love allowing parents to brag (in a positive way) about their kids, and parents love it too. Just as I get many thanks in these submissions that I receive for reaching out, I have to say a big thank you to the parents who take the time to tell me about their kids.
0 Comments
Summer always seems to be the time for me to catch up on my reading. I definitely read with my students during the school year too, but I am always able to read much more frequently during the summer months. This summer was no different. In addition to trying to get additional quality literature for my classroom, I've been able to read some quality literature.
My choices mainly were fiction, with some non-fiction sprinkled in there. My reading list is below: The One and Only Ivan Ungifted One for the Murphy's Fish in a Tree We Beat the Street Booked All American Boys Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Hope: A School, a Team, a Dream Free Baseball Graphic Classic: The Hunchback of Notre Dame Teach Like a Pirate Countless Fiction/Nonfiction books with my sons Looking forward to hearing about your reading and sharing some more specifics about mine. |
ArchivesAuthors636's Readers & Writers Categories |