Quarter One

It is the end of the first quarter for my girls and that means we just had parent teacher conferences. I love the time I get to spend talking to my children's teachers about them. For posterity sake, I like to record some notes here as well.

Alivia

Report Card:
English/Language Arts - B
Math - B
Social Studies - C (mostly due to a group project done while she was out)
Science - B
Health - A
PE - M (Meets grade level standard)
Music - M
Traits of successful learners - M

Notes from her teacher: I love having Alivia in my class again this year She is an enthusiastic learner who arrives at school with a smile each day and embraces new challenges with a positive attitude. Alivia is a kind and caring student who is always willing to participate and share her wonderful ideas. The enthusiasm she shows for school, friends and life in general energizes our whole room. Alivia puts a lot of effort into her assignments and tries her best through out the day. Keep up all the great work you are doing! You are a third grader who truly shines!

Conference notes: Fantastic conference! Alivia is doing amazing and her teacher loves her. Since this is her second year in Mrs. Dallas' class, that helps. We love Mrs. Dallas, she's known the girls' dad's family for generations. Anyway, Liv doesn't have much to work on. She's really got nothing to work on and not a lot of habits she needs to change.

Natalie

English/Language Arts - B
Math - C
Social Studies - B
Science - A
Health - A
PE - M (Meets grade level standard)
Music - M

Traits of successful learners - M

Notes from her teacher: Natalie is a bright light who makes our classroom is a better place! She has had an amazing amount of growth as a reader this year. She also continues to show growth in math. Natalie should continue reading every night, for at least twenty minutes. If she could read with an adult a few times a week, it would benefit Natalie's comprehension. I am so proud of Natalie. She is a compassionate and friendly student who perseveres in her daily work. Natalie, than you for being a shining example of what it means to be a hard and dedicated worker. You are a magical unicorn!

Conference Notes: Natalie's reading 64 words per minute, very close to the 70 wpm goal set in her IEP. She is doing great in school. Natalie seems to have a love of writing like her mommy and is showing a knack for it already. Even though her spelling is phonetic she still tries and does amazingly. Her teacher loves that she gets in there and works hard. She only asks for help when she really needs it. We will have an IEP update meeting in December to see where she is sitting for her goals this last year.

McKayla

English/Language Arts - B
Math - B
Social Studies - A
Science - A
Health - A
PE - M (Meets grade level standard)
Music - M
Instrumental Music - A (Pleasure to have in class. )

Traits of successful learners - M

Notes from her teacher: It has been lovely getting to know McKayla this quarter. McKayla is a sweet, hard working individual. She constantly has a bright smile on her face and she tries her best at each assignment that she is given. She is excellent at following directions, completing tasks and helping her classmates on anything that they need. I would encourage McKayla to voice her opinions more and share her ideas with her peers. Communicating her understanding will only help McKaya's confidence and knowledge base grow. McKayla shows a strong interest in writing, especially when she is able to create her own story. However, I have noticed frequent misspellings and grammatical errors. I look forward to seeing McKayla's growth throughout the remainder of the year.

Conference Notes: McKayla is doing well overall. She is quiet in class but does well in groups. There is one concern though: her spelling and grammar errors may not be random. Her teacher is concerned there may be an underlying cause. Before we jump to conclusions, she is having a nearly certified teacher work with M for 15 minutes every day until Christmas break. The teacher will document what she's doing and M's progress. If there hasn't been a lot of progress, we will move into testing to see if testing is necessary for an IEP (Individualized Education Plan - what Natalie has) or possibly a 504 to accommodate to her personal needs (for example, she might require a computer to be successful at writing, just an example).