Inspire Elementary Weekly Update
November 29, 2019
Mark Your Calendar
December 20th: Field Trip to the Ballet
December 23rd - January 3rd: Winter Break
The Principal's Corner
The Look of Learning
Many parents ask us what we look for when analyzing student growth and achievement or determining if the students are demonstrating the habits of growth needed to become successful as a learner.
Because there are many “looks” we can have as learners, there is obviously no one correct answer to their question. However, there are some identified habits and traits that successful learners exhibit which supports the idea that they are focused on their learning and are thinking about academic growth beyond the classroom. There are also a common set of strategies families use to help build successful habits in each of their children.
Let’s begin with 10 of the core research-based habits that help our students grow and learn.
Rest: All learning requires concentration and the ability to focus on a thought or new concept. Students who have irregular sleep habits or poor sleep schedules have greater challenges in focusing in the classroom. High functioning minds are well-rested.
Organize their environment: Great learners know how to organize their environment and thoughts. From understanding simple patterns and vowel patterns we begin to teach Reading and Math.
Designate a study area and plan: Whether a student begins with 20 minutes of reading after dinner, every bedtime, or before school they need to create a planned place and time to study. Parents should be actively engaged in this time daily until independent learning is a routine with their child.
Think Positively: Mindset and self-image are important components of the learning process. Failure is a part of learning. Our ability to have the confidence to not internalize failure as who we are, but use it to motivate us to push through challenges that make us better. Learn to not be a victim of circumstance, but an overcomer of life’s obstacles.
Create a study group: Whether students are early in their educational development or later on they need to recognize peers with good study habits. Parents can foster this through finding common interests with their child’s classmates and friends. Some research studies suggest that more than 70% of all learning comes from your child’s peer groups.
Practice active listening: Teaching students how to actively listen is an important communication habit. Looking at the speaker; repeating the direction and writing down the actions or information shared is necessary to make learning concrete. Parents can use “I” statements to model active listening habits. ( I hear you saying …).
Practice completing tasks with deadlines: Many students perform well given unlimited time, resources or support. Successful learning, however, requires that students be able to problem-solve and complete tasks within set limitations of these factors. True learning excellence is measured by our ability to complete our tasks at a high level by utilizing the limited resources we have to our advantage.
Set Goals: Learners need realistic yet challenging goals to use to measure their growth. Goals act as an action plan for young learners and help kids turn a wish into a reality. Help your children by setting goals around the house and in their curricular and extracurricular activities early in their development.
Actively Read/Write: All research points to active literacy as one of the single most important things parents can do to help their children develop. In as little as twenty minutes each day learners can develop content knowledge, interpersonal skills, organizational skills, and many other great attributes to help them develop as learners academically and social-emotionally. Pick a project, book, or song to share with your child daily and have fun exploring their understanding.
Eat Healthy/Exercise: Learners need a balanced diet and activity to fuel energy cells needed to focus on a task; open the frontal lobe to improve memory, and reduce impulsiveness and off-task behaviors. Skipping food, sleep, and exercise while zoning out in front of the XBOX is not a sound strategy for improving your health or learning.
All of these habits are ways to improve your chances of learning success. While most do not require a huge investment of time, they all can produce huge impacts in the success of your children.
Reminders
In order to improve the safety of our students and to get our school days started on time we are asking our parents to not escort students beyond the lobby if they arriving after the 8:30 instructional starting time.
Staffing and supervision is limited in the mornings before 8:00 a.m. so we are asking parents who are not in Before Care to drop their students between 7:55 and 8:30 a.m. Breakfast is served between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m.
While we recognize the traffic and work schedule fluctuations for our parents, please remember that students left in aftercare more than once a month are required to pay for the supervision beyond 4:00 P.M.
Aftercare
Field Trip to the Ballet
For those that have signed up to be chaperones, please be at the school by 9:15 am. The bus will be leaving the school at 9:45 am and we plan to arrive at the BalletMet by 10 am. Everyone will return to school by 12 pm.
Enroll Today!
Sign up for our Before and Aftercare here!
Mr. Hoover, Principal
Email: bruce@ohioinspireschools.org
Website: https://ohioinspireschools.org
Location: 875 Michigan Ave., Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 505-5718