When I reflect on my role as Principal of DW Poppy Secondary School, I have a hard time separating my parent “lens” from the decisions I make. One thing is for certain, all children are different, but they all have dreams and want to succeed. Here are a few thoughts I have gathered from teachers and administration to have a successful semester 2:
1. Set short and long term goals with your kids. For semester 2, it may be just improving their performance. For others, it might be getting the highest grades possible for University entrance and aiming for scholarships. As “cliché” as it sounds, talking with your children about their educational goals for this semester is a great start
2. Communicate with Staff about your child’s performance and whether they are falling behind. Remember, when your kids say that they don’t have any homework, this is not true. There is always material that they can be working on. As is mentioned above, the majority of our staff are very good at communicating by e-mail.
3. The biggest trend that we as educators are seeing is that students are leaving things too late. Trying to hand in multiple assignments at the end of semester, or waiting to rewrite multiple quizzes and exams will only result in poor achievement. Our most successful students are recognizing that being “on top” of their learning and being timely with assignments leads to far greater success. The correlation between doing assigned work and success is very significant.
4. Set time at home and a comfortable place to work. This varies from family to family. I know in our family the kitchen table is usually piled with work and eating only disrupts the array of books and binders on the table.
5. Manage internet social time with your children. There is another growing trend where students are flipping between social media and homework and then (for example) trying to write a coherent essay. It is hard to do this if you flipping between the two streams of thought. It only leads to disjointed thinking and writing. The same could be said for any time of assignment or studying.
6. Our goal is to have our students focus on learning, not just completing assignments. If students can shift their thinking from what I need to do versus what do I need and want to learn they are well on their way to developing a successful mind set.
7. Another growing trend amongst many students is over commitment. If being a successful student is priority then managing all extra-curricular teams, clubs, community teams and employment is a necessity. Too many of our students are accepting very late shifts at work that gives them little energy for school- work. In addition, some students are over-committing themselves to four or five out of school activities. While I am a big advocate of extra-curricular involvement, the question that must be asked is it better to do a few things really well or many things in an average way?
Our hope is that parents and students can work together to have a successful semester.
Our belief is that all children can learn, and all children deserve a quality education. Our schools face a variety of obstacles in meeting the needs of students from diverse backgrounds and economic circumstances. By working with parents and communities, schools can overcome these obstacles.
Good luck for a very successful semester 2!!
Balan Moorthy
Principal
1. Set short and long term goals with your kids. For semester 2, it may be just improving their performance. For others, it might be getting the highest grades possible for University entrance and aiming for scholarships. As “cliché” as it sounds, talking with your children about their educational goals for this semester is a great start
2. Communicate with Staff about your child’s performance and whether they are falling behind. Remember, when your kids say that they don’t have any homework, this is not true. There is always material that they can be working on. As is mentioned above, the majority of our staff are very good at communicating by e-mail.
3. The biggest trend that we as educators are seeing is that students are leaving things too late. Trying to hand in multiple assignments at the end of semester, or waiting to rewrite multiple quizzes and exams will only result in poor achievement. Our most successful students are recognizing that being “on top” of their learning and being timely with assignments leads to far greater success. The correlation between doing assigned work and success is very significant.
4. Set time at home and a comfortable place to work. This varies from family to family. I know in our family the kitchen table is usually piled with work and eating only disrupts the array of books and binders on the table.
5. Manage internet social time with your children. There is another growing trend where students are flipping between social media and homework and then (for example) trying to write a coherent essay. It is hard to do this if you flipping between the two streams of thought. It only leads to disjointed thinking and writing. The same could be said for any time of assignment or studying.
6. Our goal is to have our students focus on learning, not just completing assignments. If students can shift their thinking from what I need to do versus what do I need and want to learn they are well on their way to developing a successful mind set.
7. Another growing trend amongst many students is over commitment. If being a successful student is priority then managing all extra-curricular teams, clubs, community teams and employment is a necessity. Too many of our students are accepting very late shifts at work that gives them little energy for school- work. In addition, some students are over-committing themselves to four or five out of school activities. While I am a big advocate of extra-curricular involvement, the question that must be asked is it better to do a few things really well or many things in an average way?
Our hope is that parents and students can work together to have a successful semester.
Our belief is that all children can learn, and all children deserve a quality education. Our schools face a variety of obstacles in meeting the needs of students from diverse backgrounds and economic circumstances. By working with parents and communities, schools can overcome these obstacles.
Good luck for a very successful semester 2!!
Balan Moorthy
Principal