Homecoming Weekend

I hope that everyone has a wonderful, and safe, Homecoming weekend in Crandall. I launched all of my students today with "Have a great weekends; Stay safe; Make good decisions and see you on Monday!"

Don't forget: Benchmark #1 on Tuesday/Wednesday
NO QUIZ next week! :)
Practice Sheet #6 will be given on Monday and due on Friday as usual.
Grade cut off is Wednesday for my class. I will have all tutorial sign ups on Tuesday and Thursday put up first thing Monday morning. I will hold you responsible for showing up! :) Don't make me call you! :)

Tutoring, Benchmarks and More

Yesterday afternoon was an amazing (but wild) afternoon in tutoring. We had over 30 students sign in and come to make up grades before the end of the Six Weeks. Remember that this week I will not be having tutoring on Thursday afternoon due to Homecoming festivities. Next week we will be back on track for Tuesday and Thursday tutoring.

If your student has low grades in my class, I URGE them to come to tutoring on these days (and ask about others) because I am here to give them help.

Our first benchmark is next Tuesday and Thursday. This is a district benchmark over what has been taught so far in Eighth Grade. It don't want it to be stressful for the students but I want them to understand that the Benchmarks that we give are very important because they will determine many things for our future (TAKS Tutoring, Flex Year attendance, etc.). Please make sure that you (or your student) gets a good night sleep the night before and is well nourished the morning of the benchmark.

Have a wonderful day!

Oh, and if you didn't see on the previous post (POP QUIZ is Thursday this week!)

Upcoming Assessments!

Tomorrow, Friday, September 17, we will be having a POP QUIZ over using formulas to solve problems (what we have been doing Wednesday and Thursday).
Monday, September 20th: Unit 2 Assessment (Different Representations of Rational Numbers)
Thursday, September 23rd: Rational and Irrational Number Quiz

Remember that Unit 1 Test Make Up is on Monday, 9/20 or Tuesday, 9/21 ONLY!

4 weeks ago...

- I was getting ready to head back to school.
- I was excited about meeting all my new students, teaching in a new classroom, starting a fresh year.
- I was planning like crazy to make everything just right.
- I was staying late to get all the finishing touches on the classroom.
- I was making lesson plans to WOW my class.
- I was running copies for the first week of school.

4 days ago...
- I was wrapping up a weekend with my husband.
- I was preparing to start a new week with my new students.
- I was updating the blog to make sure that my parents were updated on what is going on in our classroom.
- I was pulling new materials for our classroom lessons that are coming up.

4 hours ago...
- I was getting off from a day at work with my wonderful 8th graders.
- I was still smiling at getting a compliment today in the lunchroom about my 4th period class! (Keep it up!)
- I was reflecting on what else to bring into my classroom to help my students not only learn Pre-Algebra skills but also Social Skills and Real-Life skills.
- I was thinking about all those Good Notes that I need to write. We will be writing affirmations tomorrow for a Bellringer, so think of who you want to affirm for doing something great in your life at school.

Homework, Homework, Homework

We have been having some trouble getting our homework in and I wanted to make sure that you know how important doing your homework is. Homework is practice of previously learned things and is vital for success in the school year.

Eighth Grade policy is to NOT accept late work. Therefore any assignment that is NOT turned in on it's due date is given a 0! The first time that this happens, parent contact occurs (via email or phone call). The second time it is an after school detention. The third time is an office referral. If a detention is skipped, it is also an office referral.

Practice Sheets are given at the beginning of the week and due on Friday. We rarely have other homework during the week and normally it is classwork that is not completed. Please make sure to be checking over homework with your student weekly.

Thank You from the Bottom of My Heart!

I want to thank you all so much for the support and concern that was poured out from students, family members, staff and other people at CMS and CISD. I am truly humbled by the generosity and sense of family that Crandall provides. I know I am in the right place because my heart tells me so!

Don't forget, StuCo Meeting on Monday afternoon from 3:30-4:15pm. We will be choosing our 8 officers for this school year! Anyone who attends has a vote so be there if you want to help choose our leaders for this school year.

Progress is being made!

We have been so busy at school and are already on the down hill slide of our third week. OH MY HECK where has the time gone? Progress Reports will be going home on Friday so make sure that you ask you child for their report. Also, don't forget that you can check VSI at all times to see your student's grades as well.

I will be having tutorials Thursday afternoon and staying as long as needed so feel free to have your student stay. I apologize for not being there today as I had a fall while walking into work and had to be taken to the Urgent Care center in Garland to get it checked out. It turns out to only be a strain on my joints (thankfully).

We have our first Unit test on Thursday (tomorrow) and I am sure that everyone will do great. I am also doing a binder check and looking for the 3 handouts that have been given so far (multiplication chart, operation rules and coordinate graph foldable). If your student has all 3 it is an EASY 100! 2/3= 67 1/3= 34 and 0/3= 0. I take two binder grades a 6 weeks so these are easy for your student to be able to keep up with.

Also I am taking a composition notebook grade. These grades are for extra credit on their test. I will take them up EVERY time we have a test and put the grade in the comp book. If you haven't seen your students grade sheet in their binder yet, take a look at it as it is where all their grades are kept (followed by their graded papers). They should always be in there.

I'm hoping to get a lot of stuff graded this weekend and back to you so that we can start doing corrections and have even more updated grades. Remember that my tutorial times are Tuesday and Thursday after school. I am there until 4:30 pm on those two days.

Student Council Announcement: Our first meeting is September 13th from 3:30-4:15 pm. We will meet in room 316 and be voting that day for our officers. We have a big leadership conference coming up that ALL officers will be attending on October 2nd in Corinth, TX. More details to come on that after officers are elected.