Skills class will be a place where students will engage in various activities and lessons to build life skills such as: organization, communication, reflection, time management, social emotional learning etc.In addition to developing life skills, the skills classroom will be a place where students can catch up on school work and receive extra support and help for other subject areas.
Reader Response
In an effort to continue to develop and improve reading comprehension, structured analysis, and written output, students will participate in and complete a Reader Response each month. In these sessions, students will engage in a variety of written sources, answer questions, formulate ideas/opinions, and complete a structured writing task. At the start of the month, students are expected to select one reading source and complete a Reader Response. Selected reading sources can include a wide variety and it is encouraged that students alternate between sources (fiction, non-fiction, magazines, online sources, graphic novels, comic strips, biographies etc.)
After completing their independent reading, students are to select from list of questions to create their ‘Reader Response’. In well-structured paragraphs, utilizing proper spelling and grammar, students are to select a MINIMUM of 3-5 questions *(for Gr.9’s, I challenge you to select a MINIMUM of 5-7 questions) from the list.
Link to Reader Response Outline: Reader Response Assignment
Reader Response Due Dates:
SMART Goals:
SMART Goals
At the beginning of each month, the students set 3 SMART goals that they are to try and accomplish by the end of the month.
- Goal 1 – Academic
- Goal 2 – Health related
- Goal 3 – Personal choice
Why Set Goals:
Goals Help Us Believe In Ourselves. Setting goals for yourself is a way to fuel your ambition. Goal setting isn’t just about creating a plan for your life and holding yourself accountable, its also about giving us the inspiration necessary to aim for things we never thought possible.
Goal setting is fundamental to long-term success. It is difficult to get to a desired destination before having a clearly defined path. Setting goals can help students focus upon the journey to a collection of set achievements. By setting smaller goals that lead up to a bigger goal or achievement, students will be able to allocate their resources and time more efficiently and can access motivation during times when they may feel like giving up.
From an academic perspective, goals improve performance by ensuring students remain accountable for their own failures and successes, propelling themselves forward through a selection of small achievements designed to break down a larger purpose. Furthermore, setting and achieving goals translates to feelings of success and confidence for students, which in turn leads to greater confidence and productivity.
Goals to keep students going:
Writing down a specific goal gives students something to work and plan toward. When written down, these goals form an external representation of inner desires to get a higher grade, progress with sporting skills, make a dream a reality etc. They are a constant reminder of what that student wants to accomplish. Goal setting even fuels ambition and confidence by encouraging determination through difficult periods and offering a sense of pride when success finally arrives.
Without set goals, students can float from one area of life to the next, without achieving accomplishments or recognizing their successes and doing their best. Establishing a goal creates a sense of clarity and correlation between the process of working hard and accomplishing something significant. Because of this, students access the internal motivation they need to work through periods where focus may begin to wane. Setting goals can help students improve/develop their work ethic, internal motivation, and social-emotional development.