Boring Parent Stuff

Welcome Parents!

On this site you will find:

• Cispus Outdoor school information

• Specific class information for 6th History 6th grade Art, and 7/8th grade Art

• Weekly Geo Questions

• Instructions for Make Up Work when absent.

Is Your Child Missing School Work?

Missing school work is one of the most common academic problems faced by students, parents, and teachers. If there were magic buttons to push to make students do their work, put their name on it, and turn it in on time, there would be no need for the tears and frustration that missing work can cause. Alas, there is no magic button, so we do this instead:

1. Begin looking at the student's current work every day. This includes Google Classroom and work assigned in class. MAKE THEM SHOW YOU the completed work. Do not take their word for it. Check it for quality.

2. Help your child check Google Classroom and teacher web sites daily for current assignments.Staying caught up is top priority.

3. Check Skyward for missing work. Please see the article below for Skyward tips.

4. Clean out the black holes: notebook, back pack, PE locker, and instrument case. Very often you will find partially completed work that just needs finishing.

5. Consult with teachers to develop a recovery plan. Often students struggle in more than one class.

Students are often tempted to blame the teacher for losing work. It's painless (for them), convenient, and gets the student off the hook, at least temporarily. It's especially useful for covering up the fact that the work was never done in the first place. It's also very, very rare. Other scenarios are much more likely. It is possible that a student can truthfully claim that a particular assignment is done and a teacher can say "I've never seen it" if the assignment never made it to the inbox. As a general rule, Mr. Westerberg grades all work at school so anything actually turned in never leaves the classroom. A student can claim they turned in a paper and the grade book can show a zero and both are correct if the paper is in the nameless file. Teachable moments occur when the student, parent, and teacher sit down together to solve the issue.

A Top Priority: Parent-Teacher Communication

I welcome frequent contact with parents, especially if students begin to struggle academically or socially. Stop in after school! Call me at home--anytime before 9 p.m.! 360-241-7571. Likewise, I will endeavor to contact you if I notice grade problems or social issues. I try to respond to parent emails within 24 hours, though that has been tough with increased email volume during the pandemic. I have to be honest and say that long detailed phone messages are not helpful. A simple "please call" is better.

LCMS Loves Parent Volunteers (As Pandemic Conditions Allow)

Middle schoolers are notorious for being self conscious. We occasionally hear students say things like "Mom, you're embarrassing me!" As a matter of fact, some middle schoolers have even been known to actively discourage their parents from volunteering because it might imperil their image at school. Even though they may look grown up, our students are still children. They may not admit it to you, but nearly all of them secretly appreciate it when parents get involved. LCMS has a frequent need for parent volunteers in many different roles. Some jobs are one time commitments, others repeat. Some require work with students, others focus behind the scenes. Even if you work during the day, you may find some volunteer opportunities that can occur in the evenings.

Volunteering at school is easy, but volunteers must register each school year. There is a scintillating power point and volunteer application which goes on file with the district office. You can pick it up hard copies of the application in any school office. We add you to our vounteer list. When need arises, we send out an email. If you can help, simply respond. If this is something that interests you, please apply, talk to any of our school staff, or call the LCMS office. We'd love the help, and your child will (secretly) love you for it too!

Skyward

Skyward is the online school information system we use at LCMS. Parents love it. Students hate it (sometimes). It has limitations though:

Skyward shows past assignments. Use it to monitor your child's progress. Do not expect it to show current assignments. Use Google Classroom or teacher website calendars and your child's Google planner for that.

It takes a while to post grades. Two weeks is not unrealistic. Yes, a teacher's life includes grading papers, but there's many other tasks that must be balanced. We have frequent meetings before and after school and we often need to develop lessons and gather materials. Not to mention calls to parents, email, and schedule changes that eat into prep time. We typically see 125-140 students every day so please do not expect instant results. It's not a good idea to ground a student based solely on Skyward grades.

DO sign up for weekly parent emails from Skyward. It allows you to monitor grades from your email inbox. There are choices for email frequency which allow you to tailor communication to the needs of your student.

An asterisk (*) does not mean an assignment is missing. It means no score has been entered yet, and it does not hurt a student's grade. It does show up on missing lists created when you query Skyward about lists of missing work, but don't panic until you see an actual zero entered for the assignment. At that point, the teacher is saying that they have not seen the assignment, and the zero will be calculated as part of the grade.

Remember, grades are just one aspect of a student's school experience. They do not define people.