Upcoming Calendar Events
March 1 – NO SCHOOL - Teacher Institute
March 4 – NO SCHOOL - District Holiday
March 7 – EARLY RELEASE DAY for Parent/Teacher conferences - Half-day kindergarten releases at regular time; Full-day kindergarten and structured classrooms release @ 2 PM; Blended AM hours 8:45–10:45; Blended PM hours 12:00–2:00
March 8 – NO SCHOOL - Parent/Teacher conferences
Student Report Card Information
Make a note: Your student's report card will be available for you to access online NEXT FRIDAY, Mar. 1, after 3 PM.
To better understand your child's report card scores, please READ MORE about the typical progression of standards-based scores included on District 96 report cards.
Collaborative Conferences are for Family and Child!
Did you sign up yet? More information at the bottom of this message (previous blog content section).
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR YOUR CHILD'S COLLABORATIVE CONFERENCE!
Before or after your child's conference there are some parent learning opportunities you may wish to take advantage of. As your child will be attending and leading his/her conference, we will have babysitting on site if you choose to join the parent workshops. There will be two topics alternating throughout the evening:
Supporting Learning at Home - This was offered at our November conferences, so if you missed it then, check it out this time!
Social Emotional Learning - This session is being offered at every D96 school during conferences. It is consistent between buildings. Parents will gain an understanding of how we define and explore social-emotional learning in our schools.
PTO News
Box Tops extended, Pizza Bingo coming up, and we'd love your help for Conference Meal sign-ups! All of this and more featured on our PTO blog this week.
Warm regards,
Jenny Smith, Principal
Follow me on Twitter @JennySwanSmith
The following is repeat information from last week's blog, but still current. You can skip this if you already reviewed last week's message
Parent Communication about Spring Conferences - For Family & Child!
Spring Conferences are coming on Thursday, March 7th from 5pm-8:30pm and Friday, March 8th from 10am-1: 30pm.
Spring Conferences are Collaborative Conferences!
Collaborative conferences means that your child will be leading the conference. The purpose of collaborative conferences is for educators, students and families to discuss, reflect and celebrate student work, and for families to experience school through their child's eyes. Students have been working hard to prepare for the conference, and we are excited for you to learn about your child’s progress directly from your child!
Teachers will be available in the room as guides and will be available to answer student questions or elaborate on a point a student is making, but we ask that all participants respect that this is the student’s opportunity to lead the conference by sharing progress and reflections about their own learning.
Please read below to learn specific information about how collaborative conferences will be structured for each grade-level.
Grades EC & K
Families will sign-up for a 15-minute collaborative conference. Grades EC-2 collaborative conferences will be structured with one student in the classroom at a time with the classroom teacher as the guide and the student as the leader of the conference.
What is the Role of Families during Collaborative Conferences?
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Provide reinforcement, encouragement and praise
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Listen and ask questions
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Help students look realistically at quality of work
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Facilitate student’s self-reflection and goal setting
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Be a partner in learning
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See school through their student’s eyes
Questions Families Can Ask During the Collaborative Conference
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What is your favorite piece of work? Why?
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Describe your favorite activities or subjects.
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What experiences at school do you find the most exciting?
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Are there experiences that frustrate you, if so why?
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What goals have you set for yourself for this spring?
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How can I help you at home?