February Already!

Hello, everyone!  It amazes me that we are already in the month of February!  Yes, we have had several days of weather interruptions, so that is one of the reasons why January went so fast.  I just cannot believe we are already talking about conferences next week!  Many of you have signed up for conferences, and if you have not signed up for conferences, don't worry!  There is still some time!

Conferences will be here before we know it (Monday and Thursday, February 13 and 16).   A conference note was sent home last week, which described how to sign up online.  If you are uncertain how to sign up, you can either request a new note or call the school to sign up.  I wanted to let you know that 3^rd quarter conferences for 6th-grade students will not be held in the same manner as fall conferences.  At 1st quarter conferences, the teacher was the “expert” about your child’s learning, strengths,  and weaknesses.  Now, the students will get the opportunity to be “experts” on themselves!  They will get the chance to prove to you how much they know about their own learning, responsibilities,  and success as 6th graders.  So, it is an absolute “MUST” that your child is available for the time you sign up for conferences.  

With the student-led approach, we’d like to offer a more informal and flexible schedule.  When signing up for your child’s conference, select a time slot as normal, but you may arrive for your conference anytime during that hour block.  For example, Student 1 signed up for 3:30 under his/her homeroom teacher.  However, he/she can arrive anytime between 3:00 – 4:00 for the conference. Likewise, Student 2 has signed up for 3:50, but he/she can come as early as 3:00 if it works better.  If you have other conferences to attend, this will give you the opportunity to come a bit earlier or later to ensure you child gets enough time to lead, present and answer questions.  Please be aware that there could likely be 1 – 2 other conferences being held in the room at the same time.  No worries...privacy will be respected!

Also beginning this week will be book clubs.  All of the 6th graders will be reading books on the genre of horror.  Students have chosen a book that they would like to read and will be split into book club groups.  Within their individual groups, they will plan out their reading schedule and book club jobs.  This way, if a student is absent, he/she can stay on schedule with the rest of the group.  These book clubs will run for the remainder of the month of February.

Along with conferences next week, we will also be celebrating Valentine's Day.  Your child has the option to bring valentines into class.  If your child chooses to bring valentines, he/she MUST bring valentines for all of his/her homeroom class.  Valentines will be exchanged on Tuesday, February 14th.  Again, this is not required, but if your child chooses to bring valentines, he/she must have valentines for his/her homeroom class.  I have attached a class list, so no one is missed.  Thanks!

Lastly, please mark down the early out days for next week.  There will be an hour early out on Monday, February 13th and Thursday, February 16th due to parent-teacher conferences.  Please plan accordingly.

Have a great week!
Mrs. McCarville