Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Parent/Teacher Conference tips

As a parent, you are your child’s first and most important teacher.  You and Defer School have something in common:  We both want your child to learn and do well.  When parents and teachers talk to each other, each person can share important information about your child’s talents and needs.  Each person can also learn something new about how to help your child.  Parent-teacher conferences are a great way to start talking to your child’s teacher.  This tip sheet suggests ways that you can make the most of the parent-teacher conferences so that everyone wins, especially your child.

What should you expect?

Ø  A two-way conversation.  Like all good conversations, parent/teacher/student conferences are best when both people talk and listen.  The conference is a time for you to learn about your child’s progress in school:  share your child’s data notebook and see information about grades, test scores, and homework completion.  Find out whether your child is meeting school expectations and academic standards.  This is also a time for the teacher to learn about what your child is like at home.  When you share with the teacher about your child’s skills, interests, needs, and dreams, the teacher can help your child more.

Ø  Emphasis on Learning.  Good parent/teacher/ student conferences focus on how well the child is doing in school.  They also talk about how the child can do even better.  To get ready for the conversation, look at your child’s homework, tests, and their data notebook before the conference.  Keep track of any questions you may have that you would like to ask the teacher.

Ø  Opportunities and challenges.  Just like you, teachers want your child to succeed.  You will probably hear positive feedback about your child’s progress and areas for improvement.  Be prepared by thinking about your child’s strengths and challenges beforehand.  Be ready to ask questions about ways you and the teacher can help your child with some of his or her challenges. 

Cited from:
Harvard Family Research Project


This year the Defer conferences are scheduled on the evening of November 12th and all day November 13th.  Most parents set up a scheduled conference time at Back to School Night.  If you have not set up an appointment, please let your child’s teacher know right away so that a time can be scheduled.  The goal of the Defer staff is that we have 100% attendance at our Fall Conferences. 


                                                                                                                

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

A New School Year

Welcome to the 2014 – 2015 school year!!! We are off to a great
start! The staff and I are eager to set our learning plan into motion.
Our mission is simple – Every Student learns Every Day. We believe
that, we plan for that, and we work hard to be sure it happens every
day.
So what’s going on right now at Defer?
Last Thursday, Sept. 4th was our Back-to-School Night. It was a
great opportunity for parent to learn about their child’s learning
program, get a feel for the culture of Defer, and learn about our
parent organization, the Defer PTO. If you were unable to attend
please contact your child’s teacher. They’ll be glad to fill you in.
This year the Defer staff will be implementing four aspects of
the Leader in Meprogram in all classrooms. Leader in Meis
a program based on Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective Adults. The four habits we are piloting include: learning the
7 Habits, reading the The 7 Habits of Happy Children book in
all classrooms, having students set goals and track their own
data toward that goal all year in a data binder, and finally set a
grade-level goal. These grade-level goals, called WIGS – Wildly
Important Goal,will be posted in the main hallway and progress toward those goals will be charted throughout the year.
Building relationships – Teachers are getting to know your child.
That’s really what’s going on right now at Defer. They are planning activities that help them get to know each child as an individual. One of our PBIS procedures in Morning Meet and Greet.
Your child’s teacher meets every student at their door each morning and engages them in a morning welcome. From a simple,
How are you today to What happened last night in your soccer game- The Defer staff is busy engaging students in conversation. The goal is to build a relationship, a relationship that is the
stepping stone for our students to learn, even when it is difficult,
because they know their teacher cares.
        Establishing routines Part of being ready to learn means that you feel safe. Knowing what the routines are in classrooms builds that safe environment for learning. Where do I put completed homework? How do I fill my book bin and where do I keep it? What time is Gym and when day is Art?
What nights do I have math homework? Right now the Defer staff is teaching students the routines
of the school year.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

March is National Reading Month!

Defer is celebrating again this year with One Book/One School. Our entire school and school community is enjoying a shared reading experience around the award winning book - The Cricket in Times Square. Each family received one copy of the book to read together at home each week in March. At school, we kicked off the experience with a school-wide assembly on Monday, March 3rd. During the month there will be a number of activities including trivia questions every Tuesday during morning announcements.
Reading to your child is an easy way to improve your child’ chances at school. Studies show that children who are read aloud to by an adult have a head start when it comes to language and literacy skills. And even more importantly, the bond between child and parent is strengthened with the pleasure of spending time and sharing the enjoyment of a good book.

Below is our reading schedule for this experience.
Happy Reading!
March 3 - March 7 Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4
March 10 – March 14 Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8
March 17 – March 21 Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12
March 24 – March 28 Chapters 13, 14, 15

Possible questions to discuss while reading at home:
1. What has happened in the story so far? Have students retell part of the story that you just read together.
2. What do you think might happen next?
3. How does the character feel right now? Why does he/she feel that way?
4. What problem(s) does the character face?