Hi everyone! Sorry it's taken me so long to put up a post...it seems to have been very busy! Students, I had great feedback from Ms. Mueller today and I want to thank you for being welcoming to her and engaging in your learning.
I was at a workshop this morning - I'm the literacy support teacher at our school as well as your teacher, and I love doing professional development, as I know it helps me be a better educator. I was with Mr. Andrews and Ms. Roberts - it's very exciting to work with other teachers and our principal, I think that the sharing of ideas and strategies that the teachers at Lansdowne like to do is one of the things that makes our school special.
Parents, I was glad to meet those of you who were able to make it to our Meet the Teacher and Picnic night last week. For those of you who were unable to make it, I'm attaching to the bottom of this post, the information on the hand out I had. Students who were not at the picnic also would have brought a copy home the next day (if they didn't, dig deep in the backpack!)

Please remember our run for Terry Fox this Thursday morning - dress appropriately (ready to run!). If you haven't already, I hope you'll raid your piggybanks students, and bring in a Twoonie (or any amount) to add to our Terry Fox jar. Let's see how much Lansdowne can raise!!


Open House Letter:
Welcome to Advisory 63! It’s great to have a chance to meet you, and the year is off to a good start. We have spent much of the first couple of weeks getting used to “Middle School”, learning names, where things are, routines, expectations, the ”5 Practices”, locker combinations, and are now beginning to work in earnest.

One of the great benefits of Middle School is that students are exposed to not only more educational experiences such as Exploratories and Band, but they also benefit from the expertise of many different teachers. As your child’s Advisory teacher I am their main ”go-to” teacher and am with them every day for Advisory and some combination of science, socials, and language arts (we are blending socials and language arts this year into “Humanities”). As well, they receive instruction in math from Ms. Hendra, P.E. from Mr. Schroeder, FSL (French as a Second Language) from Ms. Pente, their exploratory from Ms. D’Angelo and band from Mr. Rawson and Mr. Lienard. You can see why it takes a few weeks for students to become used to new routines!

It’s a big change from elementary school to middle school. Many students find the numerous teachers, learning locker combinations, finding classrooms at the other end of the school, and the presence of our “big” grade 8’s, a bit intimidating. The first week of school allowed your child to become familiar with all grade 6 teachers including our French Immersion teachers, as well as exposing them to all other grade 6 students. Hopefully everyone is beginning to relax, but we as a Grade 6 team of teachers are very conscious that this is a big transition, and try to make things as easy as possible. If your child is still feeling stressed, please encourage them to let me know, or contact me yourself.

One of the best ways to know what is going on in our classroom is by using my blog, advisory63.blogspot.com. I try to keep it as current as I can and will keep students informed about upcoming dates and events, homework, and interesting news, and I also post links to relevant websites, etc. I don’t post every day unless there is something in particular such as homework or an upcoming fieldtrip, but I encourage your child and yourself to get in the habit of checking frequently…it will keep you in the loop. If you need clarification of something, you can post a comment. Becoming a “follower” means every time I post, you’ll get an email alerting you that there is something new to read.

As well, please feel free to contact me at the school – I don’t always check my voicemail every day, so if it’s an emergency please leave a message with the front office, otherwise I will get back to you within a day or two of your leaving a voicemail. You can also email me at kkilpatrick@sd61.bc.ca. Please refrain from using the blog to discuss your child, as it’s an open forum.

Below, please read about some of the ways you can support your child and the Grade 6 English Track Green Team:

Snacks and Lunches
Thanks for providing nutritious snacks and lunches. Please help your child make healthy food choices, as children who eat nutritious snacks and lunches are able to focus during lessons and use their class time productively. I appreciate not having candies, chips or pop in the classroom, and please be aware the school has a “No Gum” policy that is strictly adhered to. We also encourage recyclable containers wherever possible.

Homework
There will be homework, however my concern is to see the students work in the classroom, how much they accomplish, how much support they need, what their work ethic is, etc. Generally, work not completed in the appropriate amount of class time will be needed to be finished in “Homework Club” or at home, and as the year progresses, assignments will be given that will partially need to be done at home in order to build good organizational skills.

Assessment for Learning
I endeavour to give your children frequent feedback on their academic work. I believe in Assessment for Learning which means students are involved in goal setting and criteria building, and they will be given feedback either anecdotally or on a 1- 4 scale (4 = exceeding expectations, 1 = not yet meeting expectations), often through the use of a rubric made either by myself or in conjunction with the students. There is a great deal of research on Assessment for Learning, and it has been embraced by our district. If you would like more information I would be happy to chat with you about it.

Expectations
The students and I are brainstorming a set of class rules that all are expected to strictly adhere to. Expectations are high that students will respect the rules, do their best work, set goals for themselves and use the “5 Practices” at all times.

I’m looking forward to working with your wonderful children, and thank you in advance for your support of them and myself!