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MESSAGE TO PARENTS1) HELLO- If any of you are my former students, please let me know and don't be upset if I have trouble remembering you. My personal computer (the one between my ears) is all software and getting softer by the minute and has been doing so at HHS for over 35 years (even so, I retain my boyish charm). By the way, when the first grandchild of a former student is in my class- I retire!!
2) BIOLOGY- Your children are not taking biology to become biologists or any other kind of scientist. If that is the road they wish to take, this is just one small step. I feel that taking biology is important in order to give your children a better understanding of the living world around them (and inside them). My hope is that as they live their lives and watch TV, read magazines etc., they will be better able to understand anything they come across that is related to the life sciences. Nothing pleases me more than when students (present or past) tell me that there was a biology question on Jeopardy and that they knew the answer or that they were watching a program that mentioned something that we had covered in class. There is a whole living world out there and my job is to let them know a little about it.
3) RULES- In addition to this message, I have sent home a sheet stating the basic policies of the class and the rules to be followed in the laboratory. Your child and you will sign a form stating that you have received and read them. If you wish extra copies, please ask. Much of this message is a repeat of that one. I have also included a sheet with some suggestions for success in Biology.
4) BOOKS- Your child's biology text book should be kept at home and used to answer homework questions. There is no need to bring it to class. If they need a biology book in school, they can borrow one for the day.
5) NOTEBOOKS- your child should have a sturdy biology notebook-it should be brought to class every day.
6) PENS/PENCILS- Your children should have AT LEAST one pen and one pencil with them each day. Pencils are needed for lab drawings. They should have extras in their book bags. A student coming to school without pens and pencils is like a carpenter coming to do work without his hammer and saw. You would not hire such a carpenter. It is a good idea to have an ample supply of pencils and pens at home for when they are needed.
7) FOLDERS- I have given your children a folder for their biology papers. All current homework sheets and lab sheets should be kept there. It is not difficult to carry the folder around and they should have it with them at home and in school. Too often, biology papers are put into notebooks or textbooks for other classes and go on the Magical Mystery Tour. This folder will probably not last for the entire year. You should go out and buy some extras.
8) HOMEWORK- There will be reading assignments accompanied by questions to be answered. Students will get these every few days (it varies). Every seventh school day, we have an extended period where we do a laboratory exercise. (Sometimes we also do lab work during regular length periods). These lab sheets are due the next day. There is no excuse for turning in a lab sheet with blanks. That shows a lack of effort. Homework and Lab work will together make up a test grade.
9) VOCABULARY- Each Friday for the first half of the year, there will be a vocabulary quiz based on lists I have given your child. The lists are of suffixes and prefixes that might be found as part of larger words they will come across this year. It is a nice list. Ask your child to see it. On Fridays, during the second half of the year, we will do MCAS review.
10) Important Dates-
11/2/07 , 1/18/08 , 4/1/08
Report Cards Issued:
11/9/07 , 1/25/08 , 4/11/08
Progress Reports issued:
10/5/07, 12/14/07 , 2/29/08, 5/9/08
Meet The Teacher Night - 9/26/07
6:30 - 8:30 P.M.
Parent Conferences - 11/14/07 , 1/30/08
6:30 - 8:30 P.M.
11) MCAS- There will be a Biology MCAS test given in the spring. Every topic on that test will have been covered in class. There may be, however, questions that are worded in a confusing way. The one skill that will help your child on any test (MCAS or other) is the ability to read a question and understand what is being asked. Each test will include an MCAS question relating to the topic of the test. For review, I will give the students last year's MCAS released questions. I expect that they will make a serious effort with these and with the MCAS test in the spring.
12) EFFORT - The two things that determine the success of your children in school are ability and effort. Whatever ability they have, they can make the most of it with a good effort. They should not give up too quickly. You should not accept "I don't understand" as an excuse for giving up as soon as the work becomes hard. Often, when your child goes back and rereads the book or notes, the answers start to become obvious.
13) SPELLING- I have noticed that correct spelling is a problem for some kids. There is, however, no excuse for misspelling a word in an answer when that word is written in the question. Doing so is an indication of carelessness.
14) COPYING-There will be no copying during a test. Lab work, on the other hand, is a cooperative effort BUT to simply copy an answer from a lab partner without even thinking about whether or not it is correct is not acceptable. An example- one student wrote "A thin beam of light" for an answer. The partner wrote " A thin beach of light" The partner had copied incorrectly and never noticed that the answer did not make any sense.
Talk to your child about the difference between being helped by a friend and simply copying from him.
15) FAILURE ISN'T FATAL- your children may do poorly on (or even fail) a biology test. Perhaps they will do poorly for the first quarter. Should this happen, what you, your child and I have to decide is whether the work is truly too hard or whether the effort is just not enough. I do not think it is a good idea to keep smashing one's head into a wall that will never fall down BUT I would take a good look at that wall to see if maybe there is a way to knock it down if I try harder or do something differently. If all else fails, your child can move to an easier level of biology.
16) FUN - I try to make class as much fun as possible without losing sight of why we are here. Don't let my friendly attitude fool you or your children into thinking that I am easy. I expect results and will not "give away" good grades. At the same time, I try to be fair. I realize that your children have other things in their lives besides school and I try to take that into account BUT right now, school should be the #1 priority in your children's life. Future success will largely depend on the foundations laid during high school.
17) VACATIONS- I'm going to scold some of you. It is unfair to take your children out of school for a week to go to Florida (or wherever) No matter how hard they try, it is impossible to make up that much work and achieve the same level of success as if they had been in class.
18) EMAIL- I have 2 email addresses. Generally I do not have trouble with kids using them frivolously. I hope that remains the case. If there is some reason to get hold of me and the phone just doesn't do the job, feel free to email your message. Home: RGWillets@comcast.net School: RWillets@Haverhill-ps.org
19) PROBLEMS- If your child has a problem with some aspect of school, there will always be someone with whom he can talk-assistant principals, guidance counselors, teachers. If your child feels comfortable talking with me, I am glad to be there.
20) HHS-The students are the heart of HHS. What they are like and how they act determines what HHS will be like. Encourage your children to take part in school life. Require that they be polite and respectful. Remind them that their business here is learning. And assure them that you and their teachers will be with them all the way.
21) WHAT YOUR CHILD SAYS- If you agree not to believe all the things your children say about me, I won't believe all the things they say about you!!