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Dear Coffin School Families,
I hope that this finds all of you well.
As a part of the time I spend in classrooms every week, I often ask students questions about their learning. Our conversations usually start with a straightforward, “What are you learning?” and evolve from there. Sometimes I’ll ask this follow-up “How do you know that you’re learning?” (tough question), and encounter widely varying answers.
Noting the impact of my questions on the responses, I’ve been framing questions a little differently. Now I also ask, “What’s something you do really well here at school?” (the ‘recess’ answer is not an option…) followed up by, “Tell me how you know this.” Wow! What a difference. By changing to a more open-ended mode of interaction, I’m able to learn much more about the students and how they see themselves as learners. This latter line of questioning consistently brings out livelier and more engaging answers.
I share this knowing that you’ll be conferencing with your child’s teacher in these next couple of weeks. There will discussion of benchmarks, assessments, and report cards that cover a variety of essential learning areas. Teachers will be anticipating your questions and concerns and will be ready to answer and respond. In addition to these important lenses, I trust that you’ll also find time to simply celebrate your child’s growth from the beginning of the year.
I know that teachers are very much looking forward to joyfully sharing with you your child’s academic and social progress. In the midst of this increasingly busy time of year, conferences can be a welcome few minutes to step back and to take pride in how far we’ve come.
Wishing you and yours a pleasant Thanksgiving holiday.
Mr. C.
sciembroniewicz@brunswick.k12.me.us
