Staff Corner
Hello again! We hope your year is going well and that your student is happily into the routine of things as first quarter draws to a close.
The staff has made an effort to communicate to your student the importance of working diligently, completing assignments on time, and producing one’s own best product. While we rejected the idea of a formal Honor Code when speaking about work ethic, plagiarism and research, we wanted to make clear to students that habits learned in school can last a lifetime and apply to many areas of our lives. Students may, at times, feel quite pressured by the work required and or the length of a project looming on the horizon. To this end we’d like to share some ideas with you as parents and guardians and enlist your help at home through the following suggestions.
*Ask your child to share with you their assignment calendar or class syllabus. Together work through a plan for prioritizing the assignments and projects that helps the student break these down into smaller, manageable pieces spread over time. If your child doesn’t have an assignment notebook, consider designing one of your own. We also have a Steller-specific planner sheet available to students in each classroom.
*Be sure your student has a place to work and establish a regular time frame for him/her to use as “homework time”; perhaps before dinner, playtime, or a favorite TV show.
*Check your student’s progress during work time, if possible, but beware the temptation to actually do your child’s assignment for him/her. Ideas, suggestions, and examples are always welcome and helpful, but actually taking over the task or putting papers into your own words can undermine your child’s confidence and may actually hinder efforts to help them improve in areas of weakness.
*Teachers want assignments and projects to reflect the students’ true level of understanding and mastery. Steller provides a caring and nurturing environment where assessment of skills and evaluation of work should lead to growth and improvement. It is important to stress to your child that work turned in should always be his or her own. We have struggled a bit with this issue in past years and are anxious to let students know from the start that honesty really is the best policy. If students are feeling overwhelmed with coursework, homework demands and testing schedules, please encourage them to speak with their Advisor for suggestions and help in communicating with the teacher of the class in which they are struggling.
Thanks again for being part of our community. Student, parent and staff working together can make a lot of positive things happen! Please give your student’s advisor a call if you have questions, ideas, or comments to share.