You ask, "What can I do to help?"

• Celebrate in your child's successes! Positive re-enforcement goes a long way!

• Parents can help their student by making sure that they keep on top of their assignments: one really good way to do this is to be sure that your son/daughter is  using their Agenda appropriately and checking for Missing Homework stamps weekly (to see if any assignments were missed- beware of missing pages and scribbles). 

• Students are also required to bring home all of their quizzes to get them signed by a parent or guardian.  This is something I initially tried  in an effort to keep everyone informed and it worked really well.  This will allow you as parents to celebrate successes with your child and or make sure that they are utilizing their resources/using good study habits when needed.

• Help students stay organized.  Periodically sit down with them and sort through homework folders and file older assignments.  Make sure notes are organized and accessible. *Color Coding materials by class is great, too ( I usually suggest buying a green binder for science -or putting green paper in the front pocket.  This also helps students avoid grabbing the wrong materials on their way to class and while packing up for the day)

• Make sure that students set aside time on a nightly basis to work on schoolwork.  This should be in a place where students can be monitored.  In order to stress good work-habits, be sure that this is computer (unless specified in the assignment) and phone-free time.

• Daily review is very helpful: simply re-visiting material from earlier in the day is a great help.

• Discuss comments on progress reports and report cards with your child. Help them to make a connection between the choices that they make each day and the grade that they earn. Be specific.

• If there seems to be a consistent problem, brainstorm solutions together and come up with a plan.  This plan should be able to be monitored...  start small, so students don't get overwhelmed (i.e. filling out the agenda every day to start, including writing "none" if there is no homework on a given day.  This gets students in the habit of having to write something down.)

If parents are still unhappy with their student's performance, they can contact me directly (email is best) or, if the problem persists, contact the guidance department to arrange a team meeting or conference. 

 If your child has been ill, please encourage them to stay after school and come in during lunch and access as soon as possible to make up their missed work: the need to make up missed lessons and avoid losing credit for missed assignments.

We're going away- can we get the work for next week?

While I will try to help out by sending work home when students miss school, there are a few points that I need support on from you as parents and guardians:

• First, in science, we do many labs and activities that require specific instructions or equipment that cannot be sent out of the building.  Labs and activities cannot be sent home and will have to be made up after school. 
• Second, much of the time that students miss is actually a lesson- that is direct teaching time, discussion and question/answer time that will help them acquire new knowledge or a new skill.  I am ultimately responsible for providing this instruction and can try to supplement it with reading material, but many times, students have to actually come in and do the learning (make up missed class time) to learn most efficiently. 
• Lastly, I can most often send home worksheets and study guides, however, due to missed instruction, the topics may seem totally foreign to students. 

In all of these three instances, it comes down to the fact that the student needs to follow up his/her absence with time in the classroom during access and after school sessions.  Sometimes students do not understand this and will need to be reminded of their responsibility for their work.  I really appreciate your help and support on this issue.