Parents:
I am becoming ever more disappointed with the effort put forth by the majority of the students this year. I try to approach learning with an inquiry project based methodology which should be more engaging to the students. With this methodology much of the responsibility is put on the students as they are essentially in charge of their own learning. I remind the students that I cannot force them to do work or learn and that this must come from within. However, as part of this the students are required to think and apply information instead of just regurgitating it. For many of the students this proves to be rather difficult but nonetheless it is essential for their success. I have talked to the students about this still of learning and the consensus is that it is enjoyable, “more fun,” and “cool” compared to other styles of learning they may have done before. Yet, most of the students do recognize that it may be somewhat more challenging as a result of having to think but they have been reassured that this will better with time.
I provide as much class time as I can so that the students have the opportunity, for the most part, to finish their assignments at school. However, if the students are not utilizing their class time to the best of their ability, if they are over achieving, or if they are having difficulty with a particular project or assignment they may have to complete some of it outside of the assigned class time. From what I can see this is not happening with the majority of the students.
The reason that I post homework and assignments on this website is to keep everyone aware of what is going on and what should be getting done. Therefore, please use this site to help you engage in conversation with your children to find out what they are doing in school or at least in Mr. Lang’s class.
There is also the mark section which I update on regular basis so that everyone is kept in the loop regarding student assessment results. In the beginning of the year I also called the parents of the students who failed to have the letter signed and returned so that I could ensure it had been seen and also to enforce the idea that we mean business. Since that time I have also sent other forms, assignments, or quizzes home so that they to can be looked at. However, currently only one third of the students are returning such forms and I do not have the time to call thirty plus parents every time this is done. As a result some parents are not aware of what is happening in the classroom and with their child.
Essentially, I am writing this to inform everyone of our continued frustration with both Grade 7 classes and that if things do not improve there will be a number of students who will end up receiving an assessment of no report/record (NR) on their report card as they have failed to complete a sufficient amount of work to be properly assessed.
I am writing this as somewhat of a disclaimer as I have tried my best to keep everyone informed and I do not mean for there to be any surprises for the students, for you, parents, or for myself when the official reporting period comes around. Furthermore, I am looking for continued support from you to ensure that we are doing the best we possibly can for your children.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to email me, call me at school, or comment on here so that we can have an open discussion about this.
I apologize for the rant as my intention was to inform parents of the situation at school. Furthermore, I apologize if I have offended anyone in the comments that I have posted as that was definitely not the purpose of this rant.
Cheers,
Jeremy Lang
P.S. – Please do a search on the internet for “inquiry based learning” and/or “project based learning” as there are many great articles out there regarding this approach and research supporting it.
7-1
- Get your Investigating Plants Around the School Part II in as it was due today and I only received five completed projects.
- Please make sure to return your math quizzes signed as I have only received around ten of them and they too were due today.
- For those of you who are not enjoying the study of plants in science I thought I would let you know that we will only be looking at this unit for approximately three more weeks.
7-2
- Please make sure that you are remembering to complete at least twenty minutes of ready a night at home.
- Remember that you may want to work on your Our Home and Native Land map puzzle pieces and brochures at home so that they get completed to the best of your ability and so that they are handed in on time.