I love the postcard idea !? I may try it ..... I would not let what other teachers say stop me .....you in the end will have a great relationship with students and in middle school that is most of the battle.? Every year I write a welcome?letter to my students and give it to them with a new pencil as they arrive on the first day of school ( I also save for new students later in the year)? I have them read it and the homework is to respond to the letter.? I can say ever student loves it for some reason...... The format is a welcome, intro of myself and info about my family. A little bit about my summer and ending up with a brief overview of our year of learning.? It is also a lifesaver with new students it give them a task as I get the class situated .......
Zoe -----Original Message----- From: kimberlee hannan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades. <[email protected]> Sent: Thu, 5 Jul 2007 10:47 am Subject: Re: [LIT] How to respond to the age old question.... I would love to send out a postcard or letter to my kids before school starts. Better yet; In their native languages. But, alas, don't get my list of students until the day school starts. I do the million word or less homework letter with the parents. But about the time I get that back, the great classroom leveling switch has begun and I am back to starting over with half of my kids. My district is notorious for doing everything at the last possible minute. My principal wants to do a "boot camp" the first two weeks of school. It might be an interesting idea, as long as we don't drill "parts of speech" or test practice, which are asinine in the first place. Each department would take a necessary study skill or prerequisite skill and teach it hard for two weeks. Then by the time we are ready for regular curriculum, the classes have been leveled, the new teachers hired or gone. Then we can truly begin. I would like to spend some time that two weeks showing them how to organize their agenda (mandatory here) and how to organize study time. Kim ------- Kimberlee Hannan Department Chair Sequoia Middle School resno, California 93702 Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, let go of what you can't change, kiss slowly, play hard, forgive quickly, take chances, give everything, have no regrets.. Life's too short to be anything but happy. [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com. _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
