Parents & Guardians
12/4/09
I sent home progress reports today along with makeup work for any missing assignments - due MONDAY for 75% credit.
11/16/09
Parents: Students should be studying states and capitals EVERY NIGHT for this unit on the United States. Each week, we will add a few more until they have mastered all 50 states and capitals by the end of the unit. If they work smart, they should only be focusing on 4-5 states each night, plus reviewing the others. This week we will have a quiz on 30 states and capitals, which are listed on the Homework page. Students will be expected to match states and capitals and correctly label a blank map with each state we have studied. You can help them study by quizzing them on states and capitals (i.e. read the state and have them tell you the capital) and by helping them check their work labeling a map. I would recommend printing out a blank map and having them practice fill in all 30 up to this point.
10/28/09
Parents: I sent home a progress report and make-up work guidelines on Thursday October 29. Your student has until Monday November 11 to turn in any missing work for partial credit. All homework assignments and the Current Events guidelines are also posted on the Homework page. You can access your student's grades anytime on my online gradebook at www.engrade.com by creating a username and password with the code that can be found at the top of the progress report. The code should read: engrade-jlgartner-xxxxxx. If you did not receive this report, please call or email me and I can give you the access code.
9/20/09
Attention Parents/Guardians: Your student(s) should have brought home a progress report on Monday, September 21. This is to be SIGNED and RETURNED to me by tomorrow (Tuesday). This is a breakdown of their current standing in Social Studies. You can access their grades online at www.engrade.com at ANY TIME by creating an account with the unique access code that can be found at the top of their progress report. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to call, email or schedule a meeting with me.
9/1/09
Dear Parents/Guardians,
I am excited to have your student(s) in my classroom this year! I am looking forward to a productive and rewarding year. In 7th grade Social Studies: The Modern World, we will study and analyze contemporary policy and global conflict through the lens of global citizenship. At the same time, your student will be provided with the opportunity to develop important critical thinking, reading, writing and reasoning skills that will help to prepare him/her for high school, college and career success. I hope that we can work together to ensure that your student demonstrates significant academic progress this year.
The following are examples of ways that you can contribute to your student’s achievement:
§ Communicating with me– I look forward to working together. Please feel free to contact me at any time, either by e-mail (JLGartner@bcps.k12.md.us) or cell phone, to discuss progress, issues, concerns, questions. You can also set-up a meeting with me. I encourage you to attend Back to School Night on Thursday, September 24, 5:30-7:30pm, so that we can get to know each other. I will do my best to communicate with you often. Your student should bring home periodic newsletters, which I will also make available online, that will describe classroom activities and celebrate high student achievement.
§ Checking for homework – Every week will follow a similar schedule:
Monday: Homework Packets Given Out (for the whole week)
Regular Vocabulary Quizzes
Friday: Homework Due AND Content Mastery Quiz (will cover material learned during the week).
Your assistance in making sure that students complete their work is very helpful! Students should be studying and working on their homework packets every night. I will be offering opportunities for extra credit or coaching before and after school, which I hope you will encourage your student to attend.
Monitoring attendance – It is very important that your student attends school every day – I have found that it is very difficult for students to catch up on their work when they miss too many days of instruction. If your student is absent, we ask that you send a note to the office stating the student’s name, class number, reason for absence, and phone number. If you ever have a question of whether or not your student was in class, please write me an e-mail or leave a message with the school office. I will keep you updated on your student’s attendance as well.
Keeping track of your student’s progress – By asking your student about their coursework and progress, you can positively impact your student’s performance. Please also feel free to contact me at any time to inquire about your student’s achievement. You will receive periodic progress reports and you should soon be able to check grades on blackboard by visiting the site www.bcpss.org. Students will always have access to their grades and assignments. A classroom board will have grades posted by student ID number. I try to keep these as updated as possible.
I look forward to a great year of collaboration!
Sincerely,
Ms. Gartner