Class Handbook

Class Handbook

Go to Random Lake School District

Random Lake, Wisconsin

Text Box: MISSION STATEMENT I feel it is a privilege and honor to teach children. Every child deserves a quality education that is fine-tuned to their emotional, social, and academic needs. As a teacher, I will meet children where they are at and bridge them to a challenging new level. A class community will be built where every person is treated with dignity and respect. By establishing this community of trust, the kids will learn to take risks and not be afraid of making mistakes. Most importantly, I believe that reading is the key! I want to instill a love for reading that will be carried out throughout their lives. Reading enables students to go to imaginary places and learn a wealth of information.

Text Box: STAR Binder The STAR Binder is a three ring binder that houses every single item that a student will need to keep organized and provide a way to keep parents well informed of classroom activities, responsibilities, homework, and class news. The STAR Binder is a way to foster responsibility and teach organizational skills. If your students have never used this type of organizational tool before, it will be very important to use direct, explicit instruction to teach them the “ins and outs” of the STAR Binder. Parents are encouraged to check all sections of the STAR Binder on a nightly basis. The STAR Binder will contain a zipper pouch, binder rules, a class newsletter, daily schedule, homework folder, school lunch menu, and parent-teacher communication log. This is not an item you need to purchase…I have already put these binders together. The Daily 5 and the Literacy CAFÉ The Daily 5 is a reading management system to help the students use their reading block of time efficiently, and it also scaffolds student learning. The five parts are Read to Self, Read to Someone, Word Work, Work on Writing, and Listen to Reading. With the Literacy CAFÉ Menu, the students learn about four skills and many strategies to help them become excellent readers. The skills are comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expand vocabulary. Students will work on one to two goals at a time. Classroom Library I maintain a classroom library. Students may check out one book at a time. Every month I also distribute book orders from Scholastic Book Clubs. By purchasing books from these clubs, I receive free books for our classroom library. We have earned two red reading chairs, a couch, and a table using points from the book orders. The children also get very excited about reading when they receive their very own books! You will also have the option to order online and use a credit card for purchases. Homework/Classwork I believe that homework is necessary for practicing skills that have been learned or for enriching the classroom experience. A weekly homework sheet will be filled in nightly. The spelling list is printed on one side, while the daily assignments can be found on the other. Every night your child will have fifteen minutes of reading, about ten minutes of math, and some time to practice spelling words. Parents need to correct the math homework and record the number wrong on the homework sheet. If the assignment was completed with the help of a parent, please check the appropriate box. Lastly, there is a place for a parent to initial the homework sheet. I expect all homework and classwork to be turned in on time. Students will have the opportunity to earn “homework passes” throughout the year. A homework pass can be used in the place of some assignments. I encourage students to save their homework passes in case they forget an assignment or have a legitimate situation which prevents them from completing their work. Class Bill of Rights We also have special rights in our classroom! In this classroom… We have the right to LEARN. We have the right to BE RESPECTED. We have the right to BE SAFE. We have the right to BE ACCEPTED. We will treat others the way we want to be treated. Behavior Management System To make sure the classroom is a safe and effective learning environment, I have incorporated a management plan into the classroom. There are many positive reinforcements given to the students in the class. I use positive verbal cues, notes to the students and parents, a phone call home, and Class Bucks can be used for prizes from the treasure chest. At the same time, there is a need for action to be taken when a student is interrupting the rights of students in the classroom. I use a color-coded system for this purpose. All students are on blue at the beginning of the day. If a student breaks one of the rules, they change their card to green. This is their reminder to follow the rules. If they need another reminder, they change their card to yellow. At this point, they need to stay in for five minutes of recess to figure out how to fix the unacceptable behavior. The next step, to change your card to red, would mean the student would have to stay in for an entire recess, and the teacher would notify the parent(s) of frequent behaviors that are unacceptable. **All students who stay on blue all week receive a Class Buck. Cooperative Learning I wholeheartedly believe in cooperative learning in the classroom. I have placed my students in mixed ability groups so that they may help each other during the learning process. Research has shown that all students do better when they are allowed to discuss and defend their ideas as they learn. Working in small groups also helps students learn valuable social skills they will need throughout life. Parents are often concerned about grades in the cooperative learning classroom. I want to assure parents that all grades come from individual assignments and tests. No student’s grade will be raised or lowered based on the performance of others in the group. I welcome the opportunity to discuss cooperative learning with anyone who has questions or concerns. I’ve had great success with this technique in recent years, and I’d love the chance to convince anyone of the benefits of cooperative learning! Daily Math Drills In my experience, students cannot move on to higher level reasoning in mathematics until they master their basic math facts. Our math class will be performing daily drills beginning with basic addition facts. We will also drill on subtraction and multiplication facts. You can help your child prepare by studying with flashcards or using a homemade drill worksheet. You can even call out math facts to your child while driving in the car or waiting in the doctor’s office! Timed tests will start a little later in the school year. Envisions Math The elementary school has adopted a new math program called Envisions Math. There will be more information to follow. Student workbooks can also be found online. Snazzy Snacks!! This is our third year of doing Snazzy Snacks, formerly called Tasty Tuesday. Here, we learn how to make different recipes, follow through with them, and write the recipes on cards using our best penmanship. It is a fun way to practice following directions and reinforcing penmanship skills. Please see me if you have not signed up to bring in ingredients for our monthly recipes. The sign up will be available at the “Meet and Greet” and Parent-Teacher conferences. Snazzy Snacks will be held once a month, and I’m asking that ingredients for the month be sent in one day before our Snazzy Snack. I will also send a reminder home before you are to send in the ingredients. The exact dates will soon be listed in the calendar on our Web site (mrsgsclass.com), just click on “What’s New” and then on the “calendar” link. Literature Bags I created some thematic book bags last summer. They contain books and activities that go along with the theme. Literature Bags are not homework, but simply a way to help your child enjoy reading, wanting to read, and therefore become a better reader. If you would like to use that reading time as their fifteen minutes of reading homework, you can. Because the books are intended to be shared between a parent and child, some of the books may be too difficult while others are too easy. Please encourage your child’s developing reading abilities by allowing him/her to read what they feel comfortable with and sharing the balance of the books by reading them, also. Literature Bags will start to come home in October. Again, if you have any more questions, feel free to give me a call or send me an e-mail. I am very excited and look forward to a wonderful year of learning!