It was a tough week!

The week of the December 09 Blizzard was a tough week for school. I imagine that kids were getting a little bored by the end of Thursday. Hopefully, some of your kids took advantage of the assignments you made in Skills Tutor. It's a good way for them to keep fresh on the skills you are, or rather would have been covering in class this week. There is no reason that those with computers at home can't do work that will be engaging and will keep them on track during a snow day.

Now would be a good time to sit down and plan what you would like your kids to do over the upcoming break. You can do review assignments in Reading Comprehension, Math, and Language Arts. You could also do introductory lessons in the units that you are going to be starting after break. For those of you who are looking at semester tests when you get back from break or before break, this is a good time to create those and let the kids know they are there. Kids get tired of television after a day or two, and lots of families will be getting new computers for Christmas gifts. What a great opportunity.

Remember to take your username and password home with you. If you get a snow day, you can quickly go online and create a "Snow Day Assignment" for your kids to work on. Let them know that just because they aren't in your room that their education doesn't have to come to a halt for that day.

If you need any help with Skills Tutor, log in to www.skillsiowa.org and click on the Documents link. The Quick Reference guide for both programs is listed there for you to download.

Enjoy the season!