Dear Parents/Guardians:

This year marks the third year of our math personalization strategy here at Dr. Losier Middle School.  Our Math Block strategy has all students in the school doing their regular math programming at the same time.  We personalize it by allowing students to work at their own pace and offering support in small groups and on an individual basis.

For the educators, we are able to better meet the needs of every student.  For the students, they are able to progress at their own pace and to get the support they need, when they need it.  The missing piece of the equation is the parents.  We understand that this shift away from full class instruction means that we do not post homework for the group and that means that it is hard for you to support your child at home.  This memo is to give you some tips of what you can do to support students and to know what our expectations for homework are.  

Do students at DLMS have math homework?

YES, we do expect students to finish work started in class at home. 

How do I know when my student has homework?

As mentioned earlier, we do not post homework.  However, we do have a system that parents can easily use to monitor their student’s progress.

Each student should be using a duotang to store their math work.

Inside their duotang you will find an “outcome checklist” for their current unit.  This checklist contains the work students need to do in order to complete their current unit.

As students complete a lesson, a staff member signs off – your child would be working on the next section that is not signed off.

What do the teachers expect of students and parents for homework?

We expect parents to have a conversation with their children nightly, to check their progress and if they have a section that can be completed, to give them time to do so.

Please Note:

They would never have more than one section to complete in a night.

We would never expect parents to need to teach a concept – if students run into a question that they cannot answer,

they can skip the question and try the next one;

they can problem solve to see if they can solve it or;

they can bring that to their teacher the next day.  

How does student work get marked?/What does my child do when they complete a lesson?

DLMS has a process to get student homework marked in advance of Math Block

When students have completed a lesson, they MUST submit their homework the following morning for corrections.  Student’s work my be corrected and signed off by a teacher.  

We realize that some student think they are getting more done by submitting multiple section for marking at a time.  However, often we find that student miss the point of the lesson and have moved on too quickly.  Ultimately they are doing work wrong.  We ask to correct section by section so we can ensure they are doing it correctly the first time.  

Failing to do this prevents them from writing quizzes and tests in a timely manner and will ultimately slow down their progress.

Each morning, students who have completed a section of work, take their duotang and fill out a marking sheet and leave their duotang to be marked. 

Marking sheets are available in a clearly marked area next to the lobby.