E-mail: ckoutros@easton.k12.ma.us
This web page is specifically for parents and guardians of students in my science courses this year. My goals are to:
support you to participate actively in the classroom
provide clear, user-friendly expectations for student learning and behavior
update you on the curriculum and suggest strategies for supporting learning at school and home
establish two-way communication about student performance and learning
See links on the home page.
Class syllabi, showing assignments and due dates, are linked at top right of each page on this site. Twitter (@koutroschem). Also, you can sign up for weekly or monthly Google Classroom e-mail updates (e-mail me if you do not already have access). All online assignments are done by linking through Google Classroom, though in-class assignments and pencil and paper homework will be on the syllabus also.
You can actively participate in your student's learning every day by helping to reinforce two messages: 1. Learning is important; 2. Success comes through effort. Although not all students like chemistry or science or feel that taking it is necessary, we can work as a team to help them be successful and confident in their abilities. I love science and hope to spread some of that enthusiasm to my students. I know, though, that counting electrons may not be essential to your student's future. Critical thinking, problem solving, and persevering will be. They are essential skills that I hope to teach this year.
Below are just a few ways you can participate:.
Come to Parent Conferences and Back to School Night
Encourage your student to participate in science projects, Science Team, and other opportunities that happen during the year
Listen and be a sounding board for your student's ideas
Help with homework (or suggest going to my room after school or searching Khan Academy and Google for help)
Keep in touch
Respond to communications I send home to help me personalize my teaching
Chemists study chemicals, but "chemicals" are not just unusually flammable, toxic, or reactive substances. Every material in the world is chemical, including water, salt, sugar, air, and metals. This year, we will be studying how to measure those substances and what kinds of changes they undergo. For a deep understanding of the curriculum your student will be learning, I will post links to Oliver Ames High School curriculum documents and the AP Chemistry Curriculum.
We also will learn how to use the scientific method to solve problems and think critically. Even if your student does not continue studies in the sciences, I firmly believe that the problem solving and critical thinking skills they learn in science class will help them succeed. Here are ways to encourage critical thinking and problem solving skills (adapted from this web page):
Enforce a no-texting/TV/Facebook rule while doing homework Recent studies show that multitasking doesn't exist. Students are not able to learn when they get distracted by texts, e-mail, Facebook, TV, etc. while studying or doing homework.
Encourage him/her to work in groups with classmates. There are multiple ways to solve a problem. Other students may have useful ways to approach an assignment or project.
Ask open-ended questions. Give your student the opportunity to think through a problem in a creative way.
Suggest looking for patterns. Encourage your student to compare and contrast, looking for similarities and differences. What do they recognize and what is new? Identifying patterns and placing similar things in a group are two keys to learning new information and making generalizations.
Encourage decision-making. You can always help later. Encourage your student to come to his or her own decisions after listing the evidence on all sides.
A little challenge is a good thing (but not too much). Learning necessarily involves confronting the difference what we do and do not know. If your student already knew all the information, there would be no point to doing homework or projects. Encourage him or her to keep working even if frustrated. If you see the frustration continue, have them step away, then return to it later refreshed, trying something new (search online, text or call a classmate, look in the textbook, etc.)
I will be sending home correspondence throughout the school year. If you want to know current grades, the x2 Aspen Portal is the best option. For other concerns, I am most easily available on e-mail. I try to respond to all e-mail as soon as possible, but at least by the end of the next day.