After what happened last week in Puerto Rico, Las Vegas, and Tom Petty dying, it wasn't a great week overall. I'm personally hoping this week is going to be better. Luckily, things look like they should be shaping up, fingers crossed.
First off, I have put down a temporary ordinance in my classroom restricting fidgets. I have long been a champion of fidgets. That said, they have gone from being something that keeps a student's hands busy so that they can focus on learning to being something that distracts kids through clicking, trading, fighting over, and looking at other kids' toys instead of looking at what is being taught. It has gotten to the point of being ridiculous. I think I am going to have to have an OT expert come in and talk to the kids about the proper use of fidgets, because what the kids have been doing is not using them in the proper way by any stretch.
Secondly, there is one thing that I meant to tell you all at Meet the Teacher Night way back in August, and that is never let me be the cause of a knock-down, drag-out fight between you and your children over homework. The other day in Math class (because this is normally where these fights come down), I asked how many students have ever been in an argument with their parents while they are doing their homework, saying, "That's not how Mr. Carter wants us to do it!" All the hands went up.
I tell them time and time again in math class, quoting my dear old Math teacher, Mrs. Hobbs, "There's more than one way to skin a cat." (She grew up during the Depression...I don't even want to know why they were skinning cats.) If your child swears up and down that I told them, for instance, that to multiply two fractions, you have to get the same number on the bottom first (which I would never do), you have my permission to tell them that's fine, and then send them back to ask me about it. I am more than willing to settle the argument for you and save you the headache.
Thirdly, I am still taking any and all parents who want to go to Camp Jameson with us on Thursday! So far, I only have one. It seriously is a fun time, and it gives you an opportunity to watch your child interact with their classmates in problem-solving group tasks. Regardless, your child will need to bring their lunch with them on the trip, and make sure it is completely disposable.
I hope everyone has a great week.
First off, I have put down a temporary ordinance in my classroom restricting fidgets. I have long been a champion of fidgets. That said, they have gone from being something that keeps a student's hands busy so that they can focus on learning to being something that distracts kids through clicking, trading, fighting over, and looking at other kids' toys instead of looking at what is being taught. It has gotten to the point of being ridiculous. I think I am going to have to have an OT expert come in and talk to the kids about the proper use of fidgets, because what the kids have been doing is not using them in the proper way by any stretch.
Secondly, there is one thing that I meant to tell you all at Meet the Teacher Night way back in August, and that is never let me be the cause of a knock-down, drag-out fight between you and your children over homework. The other day in Math class (because this is normally where these fights come down), I asked how many students have ever been in an argument with their parents while they are doing their homework, saying, "That's not how Mr. Carter wants us to do it!" All the hands went up.
I tell them time and time again in math class, quoting my dear old Math teacher, Mrs. Hobbs, "There's more than one way to skin a cat." (She grew up during the Depression...I don't even want to know why they were skinning cats.) If your child swears up and down that I told them, for instance, that to multiply two fractions, you have to get the same number on the bottom first (which I would never do), you have my permission to tell them that's fine, and then send them back to ask me about it. I am more than willing to settle the argument for you and save you the headache.
Thirdly, I am still taking any and all parents who want to go to Camp Jameson with us on Thursday! So far, I only have one. It seriously is a fun time, and it gives you an opportunity to watch your child interact with their classmates in problem-solving group tasks. Regardless, your child will need to bring their lunch with them on the trip, and make sure it is completely disposable.
I hope everyone has a great week.
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