Lindale Elementary School

When my kids were young, we were struggling like every other young parent out there with the fact that we really didn't know what we were doing as far as good parenting went.  I guess it was kind of like school; the only real experience we had was our own experience growing up in our own parents' homes and following the same pattern the best we could. (After all, we turned out ok:))  We loved them a lot - just like every other parent; we set parameters and 'spanked' them if they needed it; we didn't give in to the peer pressure of other parents when our kids made poor choices; and we always, always had a united front in decision-making for our kids.  So, Jerry and I do take credit from time-to-time when people say we have nice kids (BTW, they are 29 and 31 years old now, so not really 'kids')!  I guess we were fortunate that the upbringing we had gave us a decent model on parenting. 

But the new adage is that even though we were brought up well, there is always room for improvement.  The Search Institute (www.search-institute.org) has published a wealth of information on the 40 developmental assets - 20 external assets and 20 internal assets - which we can help develop with and for our youngsters.  This is phenomenal information - in one short handout we can identify assets we can build with and for youth to increase their predicted achievement and success in their lives.  Don Berg has written a piece on the home page; I have put the 'list' in the articles section.  If you want more information, check out the website above or let me know - we'd gladly hold a parent night in near future for those of you who wish more information!.

Stand Up - to Bullying

This week is National Bully Awareness Week.  You may recall the survey that we solicited feedback from you and your children last spring.  The data is very complicated to share in its entirety, but I am going to share results for a few of those questions.

Clearly, while our students feel that Lindale is a safe place for them, there still is some bullying in our school community.  Interesting, though, that while there is bullying 91% of our students don’t do it at all!  Hmmm.

However, if there is bullying, and whenever there is a venue for kids to get together, there will be bullying, we must attempt to do something about it.

This week’s slogan is STAND UP to bullying because we know if kids and adults say something, the stats tell us clearly that it will cease in 91% of the incidences.  We need to encourage kids to tell bullies to stop or go to the nearest adult to help stop it.

In the ‘articles’ section of our webpage, there are several articles - for parents, schools and students - on how to deal with bullying and cyberbullying, a growing problem for your children.  Let’s work on this together!

On November 19 - 20 our students will embark on a new journey – student-led conferences.  While last year they were merely asked to be present at parent-teacher conferences, this year their role has vitally changed.  Depending on the grade and/or classroom teacher, each child’s conference may “look” quite different, but the inherent goal of the student-led conference will remain the same.  “Research shows that when students are involved in the assessment process and learn to articulate what they have learned and what they still need to work on, achievement improves” (Black and William, 1998).

Further, we know as well that when parents are involved in talking about learning with their children, [children] achieve more.  In fact, the more parents are involved, the higher the student achievement levels (Henderson and Berla, 1995).  I know some parents have had misgivings with this change as it has unfolded.  However, if we know that student responsibility for learning [as much as] doubles their learning, then it is important for us to adopt this practice.  This is a paradigm change for parents, students and teachers – we are learning new practices right along with our students!  It is an exciting time to be in education today!

Students will be preparing their portfolios and/or conference materials in the coming weeks.  They will be discussing their learning and the student goals that they have chosen with their teachers, and they will be asking for your assistance at home.  We know you will be supportive of their learning.

We were so excited to see over thirty parents in attendance at our parent mini-conference, Achieving Our Inner Best, on October 21.  Lindale School and the School Community Council (SCC) co-sponsored the event which offered greetings by our chairman, Mr. Ron Dufresne, dinner, and presentations by our PSSD Consultants:  Tammy Sillers (ELA), David Hall (Assessment and Grading; Student Led Conferences) and Tim Eirich (Math).  These presenters are so knowledgeable and parents seemed  intrigued by the many changes in their children’s learning today.   By the positive evaluations, it appears another parent mini-conference may be offered in late winter or early spring.  As a result of our conversations that evening and the many new focal points in our division, the principal’s messages (in the form of blogs on the website) will examine the newer learning initiatives as we walk our learning journey this year. 

What the heck is an SLO?

Last spring the Ministry of Education released new Middle Level**curriculum for every subject.  Whereas the curricula from the early 90’s had a multitude of ‘objectives’, now each curriculum has approximately twenty ‘Student Learning Outcomes’ (SLO) for which each child is to demonstrate mastery [Indicators of Learning]. (**K-5 Curricula will be released in spring 2010; 10-12 curricula in 2011.)  So, what is an SLO? 

While we want to think there isn’t much difference between the terms , there is a difference in their intentions.  For example, ‘objective’ assumed that the skills, knowledge and values were ‘taught’ for each curriculum, not necessarily ‘mastered’; ‘SLO’s’ very specifically are to be ‘learned’ and indicators of learning are provided and evident for students to demonstrate mastery.  This may seem like ‘splitting hairs’; however, we are to be very deliberate about the usage of SLO’s.  These are most often referred to in the classroom, by the students, as ‘I Can…’ statements. 

The ‘I Can’ statements in the classroom are closely aligned with the assessment of our students.  For example, your children may be talking about pre-assessments more now than ever before.  A pre-assessment (diagnostic – not used in grading) helps the teacher measure how much the group knows about certain content (ie. space) or skill (ie. 2x2 multiplication) before they begin the SLO concept/skill.  The larger classroom group may be then divided up into flexible groups [which may change from class to class and subject to subject] to begin to teach and [students] learn the skill.  Student Services Teachers (Mrs. Waldo and Mrs. Morash) may be called upon to co-teach a lesson or an educational assistant may be available to supervise and assist one group while the teacher is working with another. 

Assessments to be continued…