Classroom Information

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Mrs. Hutchinson’s Classroom Disclosure 2012-2013

Hello, welcome to Third Grade! I am excited to join the Quest Academy family. Third grade is an exciting and important year and I feel it a privilege and great responsibility to teach your child. I love the third grade curriculum and look forward to a year full of learning. The following information will explain classroom policies, procedures, behavior management and much more. I’m looking forward to meeting all of you. Please feel free to contact me at any time! Email: Khutchinson@questac.org Classroom Blog: http://qacblogs.org/kristi.hutchinson School Phone: (801) 773-9859 Educational Philosophy I CAN do Hard Things! Students will learn to stretch their minds and abilities beyond their comfort zones. They will gain confidence and self-esteem when they master new concepts. As a teacher, it is my responsibility to provide lessons that challenge students appropriately. Additionally, I will provide moral support and encouragement as students strive to learn and succeed in my classroom. In the classroom, whenever a student is confronted with a challenge they will learn to say, “I can do hard things!” I CAN be Kind! I believe that my classroom should be a safe haven. Students will know that I care for them and care about their learning. The classroom environment will include kindness, acceptance, and respect. Discipline will be handled so that students preserve their dignity. The language of the classroom will include praise, kind words, and encouragement. I CAN be Responsible! Students will learn that they are responsible for learning. I will promote personal responsibility through accountability for learning and behavior. Students will take responsibility for their own learning by completing assignments on time, studying for tests, correcting learning and behavior mistakes, and performing to the best of their individual ability. I CAN Succeed! All students can learn and all students can succeed. Students in my classroom will know that success includes effort and attitude. Accomplishments include the daily completion of assignments, kind words to others, trying a new concept, and mastering a concept. Classroom Policies Absences Student work can be found in the ‘while you were out’ file. It will be the student’s responsibility to meet with me to go over material and questions on the work. Class work missed is to be completed as homework and turned in by the date specified; otherwise the assignments will be considered late and graded accordingly. If your child is going to be absent for an extended time please allow me five days to plan travel friendly alternative work. The number of days your student has to make up absent work is equal to the number of days he or she has missed. If you plan to pick up your student’s work at the end of the day, please notify the office by 9 a.m. to give me time to get the assignments put together. Planners In order to help students get their homework assignments done, students will be given a planner to be filled out every day. All planner notes can be found on our class website. If a student does not have his/her planner then a blank piece of paper is to be used to write down the information. Please be sure to initial your student’s planner each night so that I know that your student completed all assigned tasks. Class work/Homework Assignments Students are responsible for completing and turning in all class work, homework assignments, and projects on time. Students are expected to be prepared with all their materials. Students will not be allowed to call home if they forget their work. Students should pack their backpacks at night with all the materials needed for the next day. “I CAN be Responsible.” Homework will vary with lessons. Any class work not completed will also be homework. Late Work Points will be deducted for any late work. The work will lose 10% of the score achieved for each day late up to 50% on the 5th day. Late work is not accepted after the 10th school day. Birthdays The administration has asked that students not bring in any food-type treats. Please do not feel obligated to have your student bring in anything for their birthday. Your child’s birthday will still be acknowledged. To avoid any hurt feelings, please mail birthday invitations to classmates’ homes. Do not have your child distribute his/her invitations before, during or after school, as this may cause hurt feelings. “I CAN be Kind.” Website – Classroom Information http://qacblogs.org/kristi.hutchinson Our classroom website is where you can keep up with our classroom learning. Notes to parents, classroom activities, mini lessons, review material, student success, reminders, and planner notes can all be accessed on the website. You can access the website from the Quest Academy website under Faculty. Parents will be required to “subscribe” to the site this year to receive up to date emails and notices. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. I check my email frequently and will respond as soon as possible. Classroom Discipline All classrooms will have a “card chart” labeled with each student’s name and with a green, yellow, and red card. All students start the day with a “green” card. If a student breaks a classroom or school wide rule, the student’s green card is pulled and the yellow card is displayed. If the student breaks another rule, the yellow card is pulled and the red card is displayed. The student must complete a ‘STOP, THINK, DO’ form while in the classroom to encourage the student to reflect on their behavior and make appropriate choices in the future. If another rule infraction occurs, the student’s red card is pulled and the student’s parent is contacted. If another infraction occurs, an office referral is required. Students will be disciplined for excessive talking, horseplay, not following classroom and/or school rules, or any other inappropriate or disruptive behavior. (See Parent Handbook for additional behavioral discipline.) Parent/Teacher Conferences Look for notification from the administration about scheduling your appointment. Parent/Teacher conferences will be October 15-17 and March 13-15. Parents may request other conferences at any time during the year. School Calendar Please be sure to check the school calendar for “Early” days and “No School” days. Early Day dismissal is 1:00 p.m. You can obtain a copy of the calendar from the Quest Academy website. Additionally, you can check my website calendar page. Uniform Policy See the Quest Academy Parent Handbook for the policy. Please ensure that your student is in compliance with the school uniform policy. Classroom Rewards In order to be a more effective and positive teacher, I will use a reward system that celebrates each student. Students will earn tickets to spend once a month at the class store. Students will be responsible for keeping their tickets in a safe place. SIS Grading Program Grades will be posted on a weekly basis. Be sure to check your student’s progress. You can obtain a username and password during back to school night. Grades will be updated on the weekend so Monday will be the best day to check your student’s grades. If your student has a zero it means the assignment is missing. The grading program does not allow excused or missing assignments. Grading Policy Students will be graded in each subject based on total points. I will follow the Quest Academy Grading Scale Numeric Mark: Percent: Numeric Mark: Percent: 4 96% 3.7 92% 3.5 88% 3.2 84% 3 80% 2.7 76% 2.5 72% 2.2 68% 2 64% 1.7 60% 1.5 56% 1.2 52% 1 51%-0% Curriculum Language Arts Language arts’ learning includes reading, spelling, writing, poetry and other related curriculum. Third grade students will follow the standards set by the common core. This is an exciting change for students, as they will be studying the same concepts and strategies as third graders all over the United States. To find out more about Common Core you can visit corestandards.org. Reading Students will be expected to read, at home, a minimum of 20 minutes each night. Reading to a family member can be counted towards the 20 minutes. Handwriting We will begin the year with a short review of manuscript handwriting and then we will begin to master cursive handwriting skills using the Zaner-Bloser method. Math Math instruction will focus on four critical areas: (1) developing understanding of multiplication and division and strategies for multiplication and division within 100; (2) developing understanding of fractions, especially unit fractions (fractions with numerator 1); (3) developing understanding of the structure of rectangular arrays and of area; and (4) describing and analyzing two-dimensional shapes. (http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/mathematics/grade-3/introduction/) Social Studies Third grade social studies emphasize the importance of community. We will learn about our own community and the development of historical communities. We will learn also about our responsibilities as citizens. Science I love the third grade science curriculum. We learn about space, living and non-living organisms, and the fundamentals of physics. Technology Quest Academy provides a technology rich environment. Technology is used daily to teach the curriculum. To learn more about Quest’s Technology Curriculum please visit the school website/Our School/Curriculum. Physical Education P.E. is held in the gym and outside. We do exercises, run laps, practice P.E. skills, and play games. Therefore, your child needs to wear appropriate clothing and footwear as per the uniform policy. If you feel your child should not participate in P.E., on a particular day, please write a note stating the reason. All children will be expected to participate unless they have a note excusing them. Major Projects I will send home detailed instructions and information for each project. Please print and return the form below. You may also complete this form online by clicking on the link below the form. This form can be completed online. Click here. If you would like to volunteer please print and return the form below. You may also complete this form online by clicking on the link below the form. This form can be completed online. Click here.