Dear Verdigris Parents,
What an amazing FIRST Semester!! The students have learned about being Proactive, showing Leadership, Courage and Inclusivity and having Gratitude. In a time period of their lives where it is normal to push the limits, it also needs to be normal that a limit is set when the students are not showing their best character traits at school and home. Eyerolls are not respectful, and "Yes, Ma'ams" are still expected. There are appropriate ways to express yourself in public places and we are teaching that every day. As your children grow into young adults, we want them to follow your footsteps into becoming productive citizens ready for an ever changing future, and sometimes students need to hear the word "no." Giving in to, ignoring or enabling poor behavior gives students the message that what they are doing is acceptable and it will become a bad habit. It takes courage to be a parent of pre-teen students, and a lot of effort watching every move, but all to soon they are going to be grown and we want to make sure they have the social and emotional skills to cope out there!
I wanted to talk a little bit about academics, because I've been hearing a lot about how "my child always made straight A's," and how parents want copies of the tests before hand. What we do at the Upper Elementary is teach a concept over and over, and then we give them a mastery test over the concept. For instance, we read a story everyday for 4 days talking about characterization, the student will take a test with a small portion over the story they now have memorized, but then they will have a "cold read" which means the student will have to show they understand the concept (mastery) by applying it to a different story. Also, our new math curriculum is DEEP, but definitely needed to improve our overall math scores. Students have to explain how they made the calculation, then apply the skill to a different calculation. Student grades should be a direct reflection of how a student will score on nationally normed assessments. We do not pad grades or give extra credit. A student needs to be in class, learning daily and practicing the new concepts to a mastery level. This takes perseverance and grit to understand that "At first I might not get this, but with practice I can perfect it!" Students need to be challenged! It is not about the letter grade, but the knowledge gained achieving that score. Throw on top of that any extracurricular activities and then hormones, and we have a very busy body. Our role as the teacher and the parent is to explain to children the importance of prioritizing, time management and goal setting. They need to know how to struggle and persevere through the hard stuff, and it will make them strong individuals in the end.
It takes a village to raise a child, and so we are in this together! Please communicate with your student's teacher any change in life that would have an effect on your student. Change at home can make a change of behavior at school, and we can address it better if we know the root cause of a behavior. Email the teacher and myself if you have a question about anything that occurs at school. We cannot address what we do not know, and not all children will tell when something happens. Also let us know when good things occur (competitions, awards, etc.) because we love to celebrate our students!!
Here's to a WONDERful year!!
Sincerely,
Amy Moyer
Upper Elementary Principal
918-266-6333
amoyer@vps.k12.ok.us
