On Family Conferences

Dear Families:

While progress reports and family conferences provide an opportunity to reflect on a student’s progress and to think about strengths and challenges, it is important to remember that assessment is an on-going process at LREI; it is a means to an end, but not an end in and of itself. Its aim is to improve student understanding of key ideas and skills. In the middle school, teachers strive to develop assessments that are learner-centered and focused on student understanding in relation to the particular goals identified for each area of inquiry. Rather than being separate from learning, assessment plays a central role in the instructional process. The assessment process also sheds light on which instructional strategies are most effective. Through thoughtful assessment, the teacher gains critical feedback for choosing and utilizing those teaching strategies that can best help a learner progress towards the goals of a particular unit of study. Opportunities for meaningful assessment also allow students to gain deeper insight into areas of strength and challenge and allow them to develop plans to address growth in both of these areas.

The Family Conference is an extension of these assessment activities and should be viewed as a dynamic opportunity to talk about growth and development. The student’s presence and participation in these discussions is of vital importance. The Family Conference affords the student an opportunity to reflect, applaud, and problem-solve with two of her/his most important advocates, family members and teachers. These conferences should be approached with a forward-looking perspective. As prior performance is reviewed, all of the participants should seek to work together to identify strategies and opportunities for learning that will support the student’s continued growth and development. This stance is all the more important when one takes into account the fact that this first quarter was comprised of only 29 days of instruction.

Family conferences are an important part of the educational experience at LREI. They are important for students, parents/guardians, and teachers. Like all learning opportunities, the Family Conference requires trust and a willingness to take risks on the part of all participants. While the conference may not be tension-free, it does provide an opportunity for inquiry and understanding. Here are two discussion ideas that you might want to consider as you prepare for these important dialogues:

  • share with your child memorable experiences from when you were a middle school student and consider why such memories may be important to the educational life of your child
  • explore how you and your child approach the concept of learning and reflect on why looking at the differences and similarities in your responses might be important.

In preparation for these conferences, Middle School students have spent time reflecting on their work thus far this school year. With their teachers’ guidance, students have identified areas on which to focus during the next marking quarter and developed plans for achieving these goals. Your child will have these reflections with her/him during your conference. Here are some additional topics/questions that you might reflect on before your family conference:

  • Your child’s work habits at home–when are the most and least successful?
  • Which assignments, or types of assignments, seem to lead to the most success? To be the most frustrating?
  • Is our organizational plan working for your child? How is your child managing her/his time?
  • When you and your child discuss school/school assignments at home, are there consistent themes that should be discussed at the conference?
  • Are there extracurricular commitments or extenuating circumstances that should be discussed at the conference?

The Family Conference in the middle school places the student at the center as an active participant. We do this for a number of reasons:

  1. to encourage students to accept personal responsibility for their academic performance;
  2. to help students develop the reflective skill of self-evaluation;
  3. to facilitate the development of students’ organizational and oral communication skills and to increase their self-confidence; and
  4. to encourage students, parents, and teachers to engage in open and honest dialogue.

There’s no doubt that conferences are hard work, but the potential for learning that can take place when all participants commit to the process is clearly worth the effort.

I look forward to seeing you at the conferences.

Family Conferences are scheduled for Friday, November 4th (full day) and Friday, November 11th (half day). Sign-up sheets for conferences with core teachers are posted outside of their classrooms and sign-up sheets for conferences with specialist teachers are posted on the bulletin board outside of my office.

This Week’s Attachments
(Click on the links below to open the attachments. If you are having trouble opening the links, go to http://www.lrei.org/weekly/ms/ to access the files.)

General:
MS Play Letter
PA Community Service Committee Calendar
Saturday Community Service Opportunity
Eighth Grade:
Math Update
Seventh Grade:
Williamsburg Letter
Sixth Grade:
Fifth Grade:

1) For information about LREI’s other efforts to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina please go to http://www.lrei.org/whoweare/katrina.html. For additional service opportunities, please see the attached calendar from the PA Community Service Committee.

2) Don’t miss the High School Musical, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM. Performances are: Friday 7:00 PM and Saturday 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM at the Charlton Street PAC. Tickets are $8 in advance (tickets on sale in the Sixth Ave lobby) and $10 at the door. See you at the show.

3) From Jennifer Edson and Denise Adler, Co-chairs Community Service Committee: This Saturday the LREI Community Service Committee (including students from the HS Roundtable) are going to East New York Farms! in Brooklyn to participate in a community agriculture project by working in a garden, touring several of the local gardens and visiting the farmers market where the gardeners sell their own produce. The attached flyer has all the details. It will be an educational community-oriented day and is a perfect parent and child (age 7 and older) activity. As noted on the flyer, you need to sign up for this event. Hope to see you there.

4) From Middle School drama teacher Julia Collura: I’m most excited to announce this year’s Middle School play: “The Arabian Nights,” based on the tales of Scheherezade and 1001 Arabian Nights. It will be an original adaptation, and is open to all sixth through eighth graders. Students are highly encouraged to attend a “pre-audition” meeting on Tuesday, November 8th from 3:30-5PM to learn more about the play and the rehearsal process. Auditions will be held afterschool on Wednesday, November 9th and Thursday, November 10th from 3:30-6PM. Rehearsals will begin the following week (November 14th). Performances are on Friday, January 20th at 7PM, and on Saturday, January 21st at 2PM and 7PM. I’m especially excited about this production, as it offers a variety of character roles and is a real ensemble piece. Please review the attached letter and feel free to contact me with any questions.

5) From MS librarian Jennifer Hubert Swan: Please take a look with your child at the new LREI homework help website entitled ‘Homework 311.’ The LREI librarians created this website over the summer to provide students with an alternative to Google. All of the web links listed on the site have been evaluated and annotated by the librarians and chosen because of relevance to LREI curriculum. Please help reinforce good searching techniques by reminding students to go to HW311 before navigating the vast waters of Google on their own! Link to HW311 by going to the LREI website, clicking on “Library/Resources” in the bar directly beneath the red banner, then clicking on “Homework 311” at the top of the right-hand sidebar. Or bookmark http://www.lrei.org/libres/hw311.html on your home computer.

6) The PA Food Committee will meet on Monday, November 7th at 8:45AM in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria.

7) LREI is a member of NYC-Parents in Action (NYC-PIA). NYC-PIA provides parenting education, information and a communications network to help parents prepare their children and teenagers to cope with social pressures and to make sound choices towards a future free of alcohol and drug abuse. You can access their on-line calendar of events at www.parentsinaction.org. Two upcoming seminars that may be of interest to Middle School families are: Wednesday, November 16th – Independence: Holding On and Letting Go; and Wednesday, December 7th – Independence in Middle School: Safety, Self Reliance and Risk Taking.

For 8th Grade Families . . .
1) Each year LREI offers scholarships to incoming ninth graders who demonstrate exceptional accomplishment and promise in the areas of scholarship, citizenship, leadership and service in their time at LREI. Copies of the application are in the mail. Completed Irwin Scholar Applications are due no later than Friday, December 2, 2005. Notification letters will be mailed by Friday, January 13, 2005.

2) Please read the attached math update for Michelle Boehm’s math section.

3) The schedule of boys and girls basketball games is on-line at http://lrei.org/athletics/at_4b.html. Practices will start the week of November 7th. The practice schedule for the teams is attached.

For 7th Grade Families . . .
1) The schedule of boys and girls basketball games is on-line at http://lrei.org/athletics/at_4b.html. Practices will start the week of November 21st. The practice schedule for the teams is attached.

2) A reminder that there will be a parent meeting on Tuesday, November 8th at 8:00AM in Victor’s Room to discuss the upcoming Williamsburg trip. Please make sure that you bring the completed trip form with you to the meeting. A copy of the trip form and other related information is attached.

For 6th Grade Families . . .
1) No updates this week.

For 5th Grade Families . . .
1) Fifth Grade Chorus – Helen will have an extra chorus rehearsals to make up for the one missed due to holidays. This will be after school on Monday, November 21st and will end at 4:00PM.

Middle School Sports
Schedules and general information about Middle School sports programs can be found at http://lrei.org/athletics/at_4b.html. Information is also available through the LREI Sports Hotline at 212.477.5316 x 494.

Looking Ahead . . .
On the LREI web site additional information about upcoming events can be found at http://www.lrei.org/caleven/index.html (the middle school events page can be found at http://www.lrei.org/midschool/Events.html)

  • Friday, November 4th, 8:30AM-3:30PM — School is closed for Family Conferences
  • Friday, November 11th, 12:10PM- 3:00PM — School closes at noon for Family Conferences
  • Monday, November 14th – Friday, November 18th — Seventh Grade trip to Williamsburg
  • Tuesday, November 15th, 8:15AM — Parent Rep Meeting
  • Thursday, November 17th, 6:00PM — MS Parents of Children of Color Meeting
  • Tuesday, November 22nd — Fifth Grade to the Met
  • Thursday, December 1st, 8:00AM — Lesbian/Gay/ Straight Alliance Meeting in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria.
  • Friday, December 2nd, 7:00PM-9:00PM — Seventh Grade DISC dance. The dance will be held at St. Luke’s School (487 Hudson Street).
  • Monday, December 5th — “Book Week” begins. The Book Fair will take place Wednesday-Friday.
  • Thursday, December 8th — Literary Evening
  • Tuesday, December 13th, 8:15 AM — MS Parent Rep Meeting
  • Thursday, December 15th — Winter Concert
  • Friday, December 16th — School closes at 12:00PM for Winter Break

Don’t forget to check the LREI website for updates and interesting information – http://www.lrei.org.

Be well,
Mark

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