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“Excellence is not a destination you arrive at…it is the benchmark for your journey.” – Magic Johnson
Greetings Laurel Hall Families:
Teaching and learning is about the cycle. Generally, an effective teaching and learning cycle begins with a warm-up, followed by a direct lesson which is referred to as an “I do” (teacher presents a new standard), then a “we do” (students perform a task along with the teacher), and a “you do” (students perform a task on their own.). The lesson moves through the cycle with a series of checks for understanding, or evidence of learning. The lesson is adjusted based on the data collected from these informal and formal assessments. These assessments are called formative assessments since they inform instruction. The teaching and learning cycle will continue until it is either paused or it has ended. Whenever a pause occurs, there is an exit slip or a “ticket out the door” - a final check for understanding used as a guide for the subsequent lesson, that is related to prior lessons.
We are at a significant point in the schoolyear – the end of the trimester. Though time is an artificial construct that we impose on learning, the end of the trimester is an important period to report benchmark progress. In the past, this benchmark progress reporting would take place in the form of the parent-teacher conference. With advances in technology, progress is now reported daily via the student portal. While we do not have traditional conference days, it is critical that parents and teachers have continued dialogue about where students fall on the learning continuum. Most of you are having that dialogue with teachers as necessary. I encourage all of you to do so by contacting your teacher directly to set up a more formal dialogue. You are welcome to meet in person or via Zoom.
It is also the point of the year to reflect upon what we can improve as a school. One thing is for certain, our communication must continuously evolve in a forward direction. Here are some reminders to help us stay connected:
The Buzz is our primary source of weekly updates. Many of you prefer email. Therefore, I replicate my Buzz message and send it out each Friday via the portal. However, it is The Buzz that provides detailed information about the school and church community. It is the most important weekly communication vehicle that we have. From the school side, while we can see how many people have read the buzz each week, we have no way of knowing who is reading The Buzz, nor do we know who is even receiving the Buzz.
If you are not reading The Buzz weekly, I ask that you do so. If you still have not subscribed to The Buzz, I invite you to visit the Laurel Hall website home page and scroll to the bottom. On the left side, you will find archived editions of The Buzz. On the right side there is a link that says, “Get the Weekly” Buzz. This is where you sign up. Please do!
This past PTO meeting made it clear that some families still do not know how to get more involved with the school community. If you have a desire to do so, whether it be with fund raising, attending events, chairing events, sitting on committees, donating resources, sharing thoughts or ideas, you can do any of the following:
If you have an idea, question, or concern, about community involvement, you can always start with your child’s homeroom (elementary) or advisory (middle school) teacher, coach (athletics) or specialty teacher (P.E., fine arts, performing arts).
If you are interested in a classroom event, you can contact the room parent or the classroom teacher.
If it is a general community building or fundraising activity or event, you contact one of the PTO Board members directly.
Of course, at any time if you want to contribute in any way whatsoever, you can always contact school administration - Barbara Hitchcock or me. You will find our door is always open.
We are a village, and it does take us all.
Best,
Mr. G.
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