A PROMISE IS A PROMISE, 220 BC The Home Book of Proverbs

whew.....

I just spent my entire planning period figuring out how to "reset" my blog account. I was told why this had to be done but it was technical and unimportant. What was important is that I had to go through the process....... follow the directions........ (sent in multiple e-mails and requiring a verification number that was sent to my phone) in order to continue writing in this blog. But I made myself a promise that I would do better with this year's blog than last year. So......

And from the students also; I don't expect miraculous over-night change. I'm looking for a improvement over time and a firm promise: a steady commitment to doing what needs to be done; making the attempt, that will lead inevitably to increased achievement.

Be it ever so humble there's no place like home. John Howard Payne 1823

A word about homework

This Friday, in their take home packets, most of our Parkside students will have homework. There's lots of good reasons for homework and there's lots of advice for parents and students about how to manage homework, but I'm not going to talk about either of those things.

What I want to share is: what to do when the homework is TOO HARD, or TOO FRUSTRATING!

The most important thing is communicate with your child's teachers! Sometimes you just need to know a little bit more about what is being asked or what the expectations are. Sometimes you need a trick, for example a different way to study the spelling words. Sometimes you can do the paper in a different way. For example, some kids are writing on their own, some kids really benefit from dictating and then reading what they've dictated. While some kids can read the practice story, some kids should be looking for a particular letter and circling it each time they find it and then only reading those words (with help).

So if you, or your child are frustrated by the homework, communicate with the teacher. If your child has an IEP be sure and let the IEP teacher know about the problem. He or she will have lots of resources to help homework time become a happier time.

"It's easier to keep up than to catch up" Michelle Thomas

This week is an important week in the classroom as students are learning routines that will serve them well all year long. But I don't have a class of my own, I provide academic support to students. So what do those of us who provide academic support do this week?

We test students! We want to know who is going to have to do the very hard job of playing catch-up so that we can figure out how to best help them and we want to find out who is going to need support to stay caught up so that they don't fall behind. Really we're figuring out what our job is for the first semester, finding out where kids are and planning paths for them to get where they need to be. Next comes the very difficult job of scheduling so that we can provide students the help and support they need.

With Flexibility comes a greater choice of options...unknown

Parkside is a great place to be on the first day of school! Yesterday all the staff was busy getting ready and part of that getting ready included our "annual employee notification of legal rights and responsibilities". I wanted to share a portion of the policies and procedures as they pertain to Special Education because I've seen that these are not just words on paper that we all read and then go and do what we were going to do anyway, but a statement of real attitudes and beliefs here at Parkside. So here is it, straight from the school board's document:

The District recognizes that students whose disabilities adversely impact educational performance and who require specially designed instruction have potential for improving educational performance when they receive special education and related services tailored to fit their needs. Each eligible special education student in the District will be afforded a full educational opportunity. This goal will be met consistent with the state's goals through ensuring the provision of a free appropriate public education, complying with state and local procedures, and improving performance goal indicators.