At the end of the day, they are both doing just as well as they were the first quarter. Nothing much has changed, so I will keep this shorter. Instead I will just share the nice comments from their teachers.
Let's start with Riley...
- Riley- Great job this quarter! Thank you for your hard work and dedication. ~Ms. Walters, Language Arts
- Great job in math overall! Please continue to work hard and practice, practice, practice!! ~Mrs. Loebach, 7th Math
- Riley continues to be a good worker and makes nice progress in science. ~Mr. Spencer, 7th Science
- I enjoyed having you in class. ~Ms. Cook, Digital Media
Riley's actual conference was very short, sweet and to the point. There were no issues to discuss, and Riley was very happy with how he has been doing in Humanities. Lastly, Riley averaged a 3.7 in his "Habit of a Scholar" grading system...pretty impressive for a 7th grader. So proud of him.
***
Next up, Reece...
- Reece is an awesome student. He is always listening to instruction and doing his best to achieve to the best of his abilities. Reece reads well and is capable of catching onto things very quickly. Reece seems to take learning seriously and goes out of his way to complete assignments to the best of abilities. Reece demonstrated strong growth on his NWEA reading test, which is very exciting. I really enjoy his motivation to learn and believe he will do very well in school over the years to come. I have no concerns with his reading ability at this time. Good job! ~Mr. Malone, 4th Literacy
- Reece is doing very well in math at this time. Reece has demonstrated that he can work through complex math problems. He seems to enjoy problem solving and multistep problems. Reece is very focused in class and demonstrates many strong qualities that will help him achieve at a high level in math. Reece is a hard worker and is doing his best in class. Good job, Reece! ~Mr. Malone, 4th Math
- Muy bien! What a great student! ~Ms. Houchin, 4th World Languages
Reece's conference was the opposite of Riley's... well, it was sweet and mostly to the point, but not short. Mr. Malone has no concerns, as you can tell from his kind comments above...he is just a very thorough teacher. He is trying to help Reece with his writing. Just trying to organize paragraphs...if that's the biggest concern, I will take it. Not implying that writing isn't important, but writing is a tough skill to truly learn, and I know in time Reece will figure it out.
Mr. Malone was surprised that we have issues with Reece wanting to give up on his math homework pretty quickly at home. He seems to bring it to us for help before he has really tried to work it out himself. This is the opposite of his habits at school... Mr. Malone runs a tight shift. He doesn't allow down time, which helps behavior issues in the class. Reece can handle it, but by the time school is out, he is done. Or at least that's my theory. I very much appreciate and respect what Mr. Malone has done. We found out that before he started teaching here in Colorado, he actually taught teachers how to teach. He is very talented and really has a passion for what he does. He seems to be the perfect teacher. We've talked about how the standards of today's 4th graders (really all grades) and much higher than the standards we had while growing up. We also mentioned that the pressure on these kids is real. The biggest fear is to have a student like Reece, who loves school and loves to learn, feel the pressure and get burned out on education and learning. Find the balance is tricky, and sadly most of the people in the high positions, have never been in a classroom and just flat out don't get it. I could rant on and on, but I'll stop here... I'm very happy Reece has Mr. Malone and hopes he has more teachers like him in his future. My ending note... Reece is averaging a perfect 4.0 in his "Habits of a Scholar" grading system. Very impressive! (You can refer back to my November 9th posts if you want a refresher on the "Habits of a Scholar" system.) Keep it up, Reece, but remember to not let the pressure get to you. Just do the best you can, we are proud of you no matter what!
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