JMC Parent Access check your child's grades online, view attendance and lunch accounts.
Edmodo View homework and assignments for each of your child's classes. Create an account then link to your student's account using their unique code.
Common Sense Media Back to School Guide Awesome website that helps parents navigate age appropriate resources on the web.
Check out the Grinnell-Newburg Community School District website for the school calendar, athletic events, and there's even a section just for parents. Did you know you can check your child's grades online and add money to their school lunch account all in one place?
Attendance Hotline 641-236-1414...please call this number to report an absence for a student.
"We are no longer preparing our kids for life in Mayberry, we are preparing them for life in the age of Blackberry."
-Mike Matos
It is going to be an exciting year in 5th grade! The Iowa Core is changing the way math classes will look over the next few years. The focus is no longer on teaching a procedure to get a right answer, but digging deeper to be able to understand and talk about math situations in real and meaningful ways.
In order to improve student achievement, I teach concepts for UNDERSTANDING, provide problem-based instructional tasks and have meaningful practice opportunities.
You will recognize what your children are doing. I hear so many parents (even my own!) say, "I just don't get this new math. That's not the way we learned it!" Math has not changed. We don't do long division in some new fangled way. Fractions are fractions and they are still added, subtracted, multiplied and divided the same way.
What has changed is our world. Our future generation is going to be competing in an evermore technological environment where basic arithmetic skills are no longer enough. Consider the advances in technology, science, information processing and communication that we have seen even in the last ten years! Educator Karl Fisch stated...
..."We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist, using technologies that haven't been invented, in order to solve problems that we don't even know are problems yet."
Teachers are now teaching for understanding rather than just getting an answer. We need workers who are problem solvers, critical thinkers, and able to reason and communicate effectively. Ask your children what they are doing, and most importantly WHY they are doing it. Let them teach you and maybe, just maybe, you'll even say, "OH! Now I see it!"
CHECK OUT THESE ONLINE RESOURCES...
*A Families Guide: Fostering your child's success in school mathematics Awesome newsletter from the National Council of Teacher's of Mathematics. Read an excerpt from this article that gives you ideas of how to help your kids succeed in math.
*Parent's Guide to the Common Core Standards Grade 5 Easy to read outline from the national PTA organization.
*Toolkit for Home LearningGreat resources for extending students learning at home or while away from school on vacation.
What is the IOWA CORE CURRICULUM?
Iowa's students deserve an education that helps them succeed in today's technology rich, global economy. The Iowa Core provides academic expectations for all Iowa's K-12 students. The Iowa Core includes the National Common Core Standards for Education.
It does so by helping teachers take learning to a deeper level by focusing on a well-researched set of standards in literacy and mathematics and essential concepts and skills in science, social studies, and 21st century learning (civic literacy, financial literacy, technology literacy, health literacy, and employability skills). The Iowa Core is not course-based, but rather is a student-based approach that supports high expectations for all students.
The vision for the Iowa Core is to ensure the success of each and every student by providing a world-class curriculum. The Iowa Core is designed to improve achievement of all students, preparing them for the world of work and lifelong learning. It identifies the essential content and instruction of critical content areas that all students must experience.
(*excerpt from the Iowa Department of Education website, Iowa Core Curriculum homepage. You can visit this site HERE to read more.)
