The Ririe Report
8-23-19
Great Start
Homework
There were a handful of students in each class that did not complete their homework, these students got to work on it in class on Friday while the rest of the class enjoyed "Ketchup and Pickles" (more about that later).
I realize that sometimes students get busy with afternoon activities which limits their time to do their homework, and that is why I let them work on it either before school (they are allowed into my classroom at 7:30) or during dismissal (we have ten minutes before I walk the bike riders outside). They are also allowed to work on it during class - although so far we have been pretty busy.
To me, it's not just about the homework, its also about students learning to prioritize and manage their time.
What we did this week...
Social Studies: We started the school year with a great discussion about what it means to be an American. Last week we started learning about reasons why European explorers came to the Americas.
Final Note
- I constantly remind students that a sentence needs to start with a capital letter and end with a period (I was surprised at how many of them still do not do this). I told them I would deduct points if they did not capitalize/punctuate.
- I tell them not to worry about spelling (yet), but that I expect they will spell words correctly if those words are found in the text. For example, if they read something about explorers then answer a question about explorers, I expect they will spell "explorers" correctly.
- If I cannot read their handwriting, they will have to redo the assignment (yes, it happened twice last week).
- Some of their homework may be graded.