The majority of my students are 9th graders and so when they enter my class they are also entering high school. On the first day of school I give them four simple keys on how to do well in high school:
#1: Come to class!
#2: Listen!
#3: Do what the teachers asks!
#4: Ask questions!
They always laugh becuase my steps are so funny and seemingly ridiculous things that everyone should know, however, it seems that all students and their parents do not know these simple things. You must be in class to get the information. If you listen in class you will cut your study time in half. If you do what your teachers ask you to do when they ask you to do it you will not get behind and your grade will stay high. If you get stuck there is always someone willing to help. It sounds so simple but it is amazing that these four simple things are the things that can make or break a grade and a learning experience.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
WELCOME!
Welcome to all those who are viewing my new blog! The name Gooey Stewie may seem strange for an educational blog but my husband thought the name should rhyme and my students call me Mrs. Stewie so it seemed appropriate. I have been teaching for 7 years and have lots of opinions about teaching, school, and school related issues. Feel free to comment and share your views about anything related to education.
We have now been in school for 14 days. The beginning of the year is always so fun because students are on their best behavior and are really interested in learning. They are ready to turn over a new leaf and be better than last year. I wish those thoughts would continue throughout the year. The first day of school a sweet girl told me she would be missing Friday and the following week because her family was going to Hawaii. Now, I would love to go to Hawaii too but I just had 3 months of summer vacation to do whatever I wanted and so did she. Why is she missing the entire second week of school when we just came back from vacation? As teachers we are charged with the duty of teaching all the children who are placed in our classrooms. We do the best we can with large class sizes and limited budgets and in Utah we do extremely well, but for students to learn at all they must BE IN CLASS! Our school failed Adequate Yearly Progress last year because we failed in one of the 40 categories. Students with special needs had only a 91% attendance rate when they needed 93% to pass. We increased achievement in all 40 categories but were published in the newspaper as a failing school because students were not in school as much as expected. The Utah legislature says parents can take their children out of school whenever they want and yet teachers are responsible and degraded when they don't learn.
We have now been in school for 14 days. The beginning of the year is always so fun because students are on their best behavior and are really interested in learning. They are ready to turn over a new leaf and be better than last year. I wish those thoughts would continue throughout the year. The first day of school a sweet girl told me she would be missing Friday and the following week because her family was going to Hawaii. Now, I would love to go to Hawaii too but I just had 3 months of summer vacation to do whatever I wanted and so did she. Why is she missing the entire second week of school when we just came back from vacation? As teachers we are charged with the duty of teaching all the children who are placed in our classrooms. We do the best we can with large class sizes and limited budgets and in Utah we do extremely well, but for students to learn at all they must BE IN CLASS! Our school failed Adequate Yearly Progress last year because we failed in one of the 40 categories. Students with special needs had only a 91% attendance rate when they needed 93% to pass. We increased achievement in all 40 categories but were published in the newspaper as a failing school because students were not in school as much as expected. The Utah legislature says parents can take their children out of school whenever they want and yet teachers are responsible and degraded when they don't learn.
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