Good Afternoon Parents and Families

I apologize for being so long between posts.  There are several things I would like to remind you of.

• Please check grades grades on Infinite Campus regularly.  Some students have several missing assignments.  I reviewed missing assignments with all students today so that students are aware of what is missing.  I hope to see all of them caught up before the end of next week.  
• Vocabulary quiz this Friday in EL Support Class.  Lists 11 and 12 for students.  (Beginner lists - shapes and Christmas words).  All students can use Quizlet (program on the computer) to help them review.  
• NoRedInk is a program we are using to work on our grammar skills.  Students (except beginners) should have 7 assignments done by the end of the grading period on February 23.  Students choose their topic and take a pre-test.  If they score 80% or above, I record the grade and they are done with that topic.  If they score less than 80% then they must do a practice module, followed by a post-test.  This does take some time so all students should be spending some time each week on this activity.  They have some class time, although few are using it so work outside of class might be a good idea.  (This program is not working well with the beginners so I am doing other class work with them.) 
• Weather - Some of our new students are not used to the cold temperatures.  Please make sure your child dresses warmly for the school day.  Students are not supposed to wear coats in the building so it is a good idea to have a sweater or sweatshirt to wear.  Also, if there is snow or ice, please make sure you check the TV for school delays or closings.  I do not want anyone waiting for a bus that is not coming!  

I am enjoying working with your children.  Thank you for sharing them with me!  Have a wonderful day!

Good Morning Families,

I wanted to wish each of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.  I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with your children this year.  This is a very American holiday and I hope that each of you find a way to make this weekend special with your family.

The 7th graders are having a fun reward day today with their team.  The 8th graders also have rewards planned, but only in the afternoon.  They will all enjoy a break from school when they get home today.

Some class reminders for my support class -

Students who are using iLit should be done with week 9 by today.  Anyone not done is already behind for this grading period.  Any assignments not turned in are marked as missing in Infinite Campus.  Week 10 is due by 12-1-17.

A few students have started assignments on NoRedInk, however, many have yet to start.  Those assignments are due by the end of the trimester, which seems far away now but with all the holiday breaks, will sneak up fast. I did just discover that the spreadsheet I was using for grades does not work the way I thought it did.  Unfortunately I will have to adjust some grades to correct them.  My sincere apologies for the confusion.  It is a learning process for me too!

Next week there will be a vocabulary quiz on 12-1 for lists 9 and 10.  Students can use quizlet as one way to practice.  The last quiz really brought the grades down for a few students who had not prepared well.

As always, please make sure your child has plenty of pencils, erasers and a working set of ear buds with them each day.  Some of my students are showing up to first period with no pencil on a daily basis.

Enjoy your long weekend.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions I can help with.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Good Afternoon,

Several news items to share -

• 7th grade students will be going to see the fall play at the high school on Thursday morning.  A $5 fee has been added to your school fees for this.  All  7th grade students will attend.  
• Today is the first day of a new grading period.  It is a fresh start in many ways.  Report cards will be issued later this week.  
• Thanksgiving break is next week.  No school on November 22, 23, 24.  
• Today I introduced a new plan to work on some grammar skills in class.  It is a program called NoRedInk.  I have set up pretests in many different grammar skills for students.  If a student scores 80% or above on the pretest, I will record the grade and they are finished with that skill.  If a student scores below 80%, they will have to do some practice skills and take a post test.  Explanations and mini-lessons are provided within the practice skills.  And, of course, I am here as an additional resource.  One problem I see with students is that they just click through things and do not stop to read the explanation.  This is not helping them understand and learn.  Students can choose what order to work on the skills.  For most students, they must complete 7 skills this trimester (and 7 in the last trimester).  Each skill will be recorded as a 20 point grade.  Please let me know if you have any questions about this.  
• We continue to work on iLit to help us with our reading/writing skills.  Some students are several weeks behind on this program.  Unfortunately, even though it is a new grading period, I cannot fast forward students to the current week.  They still have to complete the work for the previous weeks but now they no longer get credit for it because the grading period has ended.  Students were warned about this ahead of time.  
• Please try to have a time and place for your student to work on homework each night.  There is ALWAYS homework.  Even if there is nothing written that must be turned in, notes can be reviewed.  Reading is a skill that should be practiced daily and all students should be doing some reading in their free time each evening.  

Have a wonderful week. 

Good Afternoon,

Just a reminder that the first trimester ends on Friday, November 10.  Any missing work needs to be completed by that date to receive credit.  My grades are current as of noon today.  Also, we have a vocabulary quiz in my class on Friday.  Assignments in iLit should be completed through week 8 by Friday. 

Good Afternoon,

This morning in our EL class we did a listening activity about the history of Halloween and how the celebration came to this country.  Ask your son or daughter what he or she learned.

A couple important reminders -

• 2 hour delay tomorrow (11-1)
• No school next Tuesday (11-7)
• Vocabulary Quiz in EL Class next Friday (11-10)
• End of Trimester next Friday (11-10) - This one is VERY IMPORTANT!  Several students are missing some assignments in my class and in other classes.  In my class if they are not turned in by next Friday, they become zeros and cannot be turned in for a grade later.  Most of the grades in my EL class come from the iLit program that we are using and from the vocabulary quizzes.  If students are behind in iLit (they should have completed everything through week 7 by this Friday), they need to spend some time at home getting caught up.  

Please double check with your student to see that he or she has all of the required school supplies.  This includes ear buds of some sort that will work with the Chromebooks.  These are often needed in class and students should have them in their pencil bags so that they are always prepared.  

Thank you for your support and encouragement of your student!  It is very important that students know that their parents value education and expect them to try their best.  As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at debra_skarsten@plsd.us or call the school at 614-830-2200.  

Have a great day!

Good Afternoon,

I hope that all of you are receiving the Tuesday newsletters from Mrs. Bertke, our principal.  They are sent via email to the address listed on Infinite Campus.  If you are not receiving them, please check your email information on IC.  If there is an error or something that needs added or changed, please let the office know. 

Tomorrow is our Panther Prowl.  This is a new event this year and a way that the PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) is trying to raise money for student events in the school.  All students and teachers will be walking around the track 2 times in the morning during first period.  Students are encouraged to wear shirts/hats from their favorite sports teams if they wish.  If it is raining, we will walk inside during that time.  Please dress appropriately. 

As always, please make sure you are checking your student's grades in IC regularly.  8th grade English has a 5 paragraph essay due on Thursday.  This is 50% of the grade for this grading period (district policy).  7th grade will be writing their essay next week.  A great deal of practice has gone in to this to try to help students be successful. 

Thank you to those of you who came to Parent Teacher Conferences.  This is always a helpful time for parents, teachers and students to talk and make sure that we are all doing the best we can to help each student be his/her best.  If you were unable to come to conferences, (or even if you did come to conferences) please feel free to email teachers any time if you have a questions or concerns. 

Have a great day!

WINTER SPORTS PRE-SEASON MEETING

Any student interested in playing a winter sport, there will be a mandatory pre-season athletic meeting THIS Wednesday, October 18th at 6:00pm in the gym at Lakeview Junior High. The meeting will cover OHSAA and PLSD eligibility rules and regulations.

If you attended the Fall pre-season meeting you DO NOT need to attend.

At 6:30pm you will have an opportunity to meet your head coach and receive information on open gyms, tryout dates, and schedules. We look forward to seeing you on the 18th!

Good Afternoon Parents and Caregivers,

Some news to be aware of for this week -

• Interim grades were posted for students on Friday.  If you have not checked Infinite Campus recently, please check.  We are half way through the grading period.  The period ends on November 10.  We do not send home paper interim reports in Junior High so the only way to see the grades is to check IC. 
• No school on Friday 10/13 or Monday 10/16 for students.
• Monday 10/16, Thursday 10/19, and Tuesday 10/24 are Parent-Teacher Conferences.  If you have not scheduled one but would like to, please let me know quickly.  Available times are decreasing.  Also I need to know if you would like an interpreter or not.  Thank you to those that have already scheduled! I, and the rest of your child's teachers, look forward to meeting with you. 
• Vocabulary quiz in my class on Thursday of this week.  Students have the lists and definitions and can use Quizlet to practice their words.  
• We started something new in my class last week.  Each day when students enter the room, they are to write on the board what they will do to be great in school today.  It is an attempt to get students to think about the role and responsibility they have in their own learning.  Ask your student what he/she wrote each day.  
• We are getting the problems with iLit worked out.  I will start taking grades on it this week.  Some students are behind and need to catch up.  Week 4 assignments will be graded this week.  All prior work needs to be done before Week 4 assignments will show up.  We do some work on this in class daily but some students will need to do some work outside of class to catch up. 
• 8th Grade - Science project due on 10/13!!  

As always, if you have questions or concerns, please feel free to email me.  Have a wonderful week!

Good Afternoon,

A couple brief reminders:

*Make sure you are checking your child's grades on Infinite Campus from time to time.  If you are not sure how to do that, ask your child.
*Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming up in October.  Please let me know as soon as possible if you want a conference and if you need an interpreter at your conference. 
*Tonight is the Homecoming football game with extra ceremonies at game for the occasion. If your child has never seen this, it might be fun to attend.

*****8th grade only - Independent Reading Project in English 8 was due today.  If it was not turned in today, it must be turned in on Monday to avoid losing points.   Also, science project is due October 13 and students should be working on this daily.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Good Afternoon,

I hope you have had a good week!  I know many students are looking forward to attending Teen Night at the school tonight.

This week in my class we started working daily on a program called iLit.  We had a few technical difficulties today but it was a good first week.  I will be posting grades from the assessments given as part of this program beginning next week.  I'll tell you more then.

This week in my class we worked on a 5 sentence paragraph.  The paragraph should be 1 topic sentence, 3 detail sentences, and one conclusion sentence.  Some common mistakes were - forgetting to indent the first line of the paragraph, capitalization errors, and not sticking to the prompt.  We will continue to work on writing throughout the year.  The format for this paragraph is the format I will expect students to use.

We also started our weekly vocabulary words.  Students will get 8 new words next week.  A quiz over all 16 words will be next Friday. (matching) Practice is set up for students on Quizlet to use as they wish.

8th grade only - There is a science research project that students should be working on.  It is due October 13.  Students should spend some time each day working on this.

Please make sure you are checking your child's grades on Infinite Campus.  Some students are very behind in their work and need to improve their study efforts.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Monday Parents,

I am going to try something new.  I hope it will work.  I set up this blog because it is linked with Google Translate.  My hope was that I could share the same information with all parents, regardless of language.  I can see from the pages that I view that it is rarely being looked at.  Perhaps it is hard to remember to check it from time to time?

Therefore, I have set up an EL Parent email and used the emails from Infinite Campus.  I will include a link to the blog in the email.  That will hopefully be an easy way to check the blog and you can use the Google Translate feature as needed.

I wanted to make everyone aware that Parent-Teacher conferences are coming up in October.  The dates will be October 16 from 11AM - 7PM (no school for students that day) and October 19 from 4PM to 7PM and October 24 from 4PM to 7PM.  If you are interested in a Parent Teacher Conference, please let me know at your earliest convenience.  I need to know what date and time you prefer.  I also need to know if you would like an interpreter or not.

Have a wonderful week!

Happy Friday!

A couple reminders -
     students need proper supplies in class daily - this includes a pencil!!
     students should have some inexpensive earbuds with them for audio use of their chromebooks
     students should have paper with them to write on when needed

In my support class we will start doing weekly academic vocabulary lessons next week.  Each week students will have 8 new vocabulary words to learn.  I have set the words up on Quizlet for the students to practice.  Every 2 weeks we will have a quiz over the words (16 words on each quiz).

In my support class, most students are currently set up on a program called iLit.  This is to help students with reading and writing.  The plan is to use this for 20 minutes each day in class.

In my support class we do daily writing.  So far it has been a writing prompt on the board and students have just been asked to write for 5 minutes.  I have been using this to see what kinds of writing errors students are making to plan for future lessons.  Next week we will begin working on the proper way to write a 5 sentence paragraph.  After that lesson, all writing prompts will be expected to be answered using that format.

As always, please let me know if you have questions.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Monday!

This is the first full five day week in a while.  I told students this morning to stay focused and up to date on their work.  We are working to get everyone signed in to Infinite Campus so that students can always check their grades and be aware of their progress.

In my support English class (2nd period) we are staring a new program with most students.  This program is called iLit20.  It is a computer based program that we will use for just 20 minutes each day.  It is reading based and is supposed to raise reading levels by two grade levels over the course of the year.  I am anxious to try it and hope that it works as promised.  This is NOT something students should work on at home.  This is for in class use only.

Lots of students are getting colds and suffering from allergies.  On the school supply list I asked for each student to bring a box of tissues.  Only one student did.  When they are gone, there will not be any tissues in my classroom.  If you are able to send in a box of tissues, it would be greatly appreciated.

It is not too early to start thinking about Parent-Teacher conferences next month.  If you would like a conference with the team (Math, Science, Social Studies, English) please let me know as soon as possible.  Also let me know if you will need an interpreter.  I am happy to arrange for one if it will make communication easier.  You can email me at debra_skarsten@plsd.us

Have a wonderful week!

Good Afternoon Families,

It has come to my attention that some students are already falling behind in completing work for class.  It is very important that students spend some time each day finishing and/or reviewing work for the day.

A general rule is that students in junior high should be able to do 70-80 minutes of work each evening.  Some students may work slower or need even more time than that.  This is very typical for EL students who are still working to master the English language.

Please check Infinite Campus regularly to be aware of the grades your student is earning and any missing work that they may have.  It is important that students have a regular time and place to study.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or any of the other teachers.  Have a wonderful day!

Good Afternoon,

I hope the first week of school has been good for everyone!  A few things I wanted everyone to know:

• Every Tuesday Mrs. Bertke, our principal, sends out a parent newsletter via email.  Please take time to read the newsletter as it contains important information that all parents need to be aware of.
• All students in my class have one or more papers that need signed tonight and returned to me. 
• All students should have earbuds.  This is a necessary school supply.  Students should keep them in their pencil bags so that they are available anytime they are needed.  
• Teachers are doing a great job of posting things in Google Classroom.  Please have your child show you how to access this wonderful resource.  

As always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns or if I can be helpful in any way.  Have a wonderful afternoon.

We have finished our first week of school!  I hope you and your student are getting in a routine with the school schedule and home life.  It is very important that students get enough sleep and eat a good breakfast.  This helps them focus better during the school day.  After school it is important that students have a regular time and place to complete homework.  This can include reviewing notes for the day and completing assignments and studying for tests and quizzes.

Many teachers are using Remind to send notices about assignments.  Please sign up if you want that service.  Most teachers are posting daily news and assignments in their Google Classrooms.  Ask your student to show you how to access them.  You can see what they see.

I would also encourage you to check your child's grades often.  I always try to do it on Friday evening.  Weekend privileges for my son then depend on what I find when I check grades.  There is a link on the district website for Infinite Campus.  If you have trouble logging in, ask your child to help you, or fill out a help desk ticket.

During E/I this week, we reviewed the highlights of the student handbook.  Students had to sign a paper indicating that they understand the handbook.  It is also available online for you to review if you have questions.

Next week will be a lot of pre-assessment work in most classes.  Be patient.  This is a required part of our school process - collecting beginning of the year data.

If you have questions about a class, always ask your child first.  Then ask the teacher.  I am available to help in any way that I can.

Have a wonderful weekend!