Thank you for those of you who attended Parent/Student/Teacher conferences last week. We had a 78% rate of attendance for conferences for our K-9 students and families. We hope that your conference with your teacher(s) provided you with some valuable insight on your student's growth, strengths, and areas of concern. Additionally, we hope you were able to share additional information about your student's interests, learning styles, and preferences so we can better engage your student at home and while they are at our learning center. If you were unable to attend conferences with your teacher and would still like to do so, please contact your student's teacher to set up a time to meet.

Last week, we held some coffee chats in the LC lounge, in order to gather some insight and thoughts on the learning coach experience. We are always seeking your input on how we can support you and your students. Thank you for those who have already completed our LC training survey, as this information has been useful for us to know how we can better meet your needs.

One of the takeaways from the coffee chats and the LC survey is that learning coaches would like to have trainings held in a variety of different formats. Online, face to face, live broadcasts, and online tutorials were recommended as options to help LCs engage in learning. In response to that feedback, we have investigated using Skype Broadcast during our Math Club on February 12th. You can watch the recording in the below youtube video (Please note, I'm not a trained videographer!).

Our hopes with Skype Broadcast is that LCs can click on the link when they are at home and join us LIVE during a session. LCs at home can ask questions and engage with presenters and participants. We will then post the recording to our NEW Youtube channel, for LCs to watch at their convenience. We cannot emphasize enough that your engagement and connection with our teachers, training, and community will support your student learning. We hope that Skype Broadcast will breakdown some barriers to LCs attending trainings, and adds another level of support and community to your experience.

Please join us in person or online (on Skype Broadcast using the links in the "mark your calendar" section above) at our next LC trainings during math clubs on Monday, Feb 26, and for the First Friday event with the middle school team on Friday, March 2nd. Please let us know what you think!
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Next week we have a great opportunity for learning coaches and students to connect with teachers. It's parent teacher conference time! In our first year, our learning coaches made a valid point regarding parent teacher conferences. They asked, "Why would we need to have parent teacher conferences, when we spend more time with our students than the teachers do?"

Parent teacher conferences are a wonderful time to share successes, concerns, and strategies regarding your student's learning. We are all in this together in order to support student growth. Parent teacher conferences are a great opportunity to brainstorm how we can continue to strive for student success. During conferences a few topics that you should be prepared to discuss with your teacher:

• Each student at OVS has an Individualized Learning Plan with goal setting and strategies identified to support your student's growth. You will revisit and review this plan with your student and teacher. 
• Teachers will be engaging in discussions with students and parents regarding growth goals using the MAP data from the winter testing.
  
• Be ready to set goals with your student and teacher and identify strategies on how you can work together to help your student reach these goals by the end of the school year.
  
• Share any interests and/or hobbies about your students that your teacher may not be aware of in order to help them engage your student during class time. This will help the teacher personalize learning based on your student's interests.
  

We truly we are all a team working together to support your student (refer to the graphic below). Connecting with your student and your student's teacher will only make your student's support team stronger. Please bring your student(s) with you during conference time.