Mrs. Schneider's Super Stars

August 15, 2013

Dear Parents, Guardians, and Students,

            Welcome to our Accelerated fourth grade class!!  I am so excited to get this school year going!  I have high expectations for each of the students and great ideas for learning opportunities this year for our classroom!

            The following are detailed explanations of my expectations and procedures you need to be aware of to make this year run as smoothly as possible.  Please take time to look through the packet and become familiar with all of the information.  If you have any questions or concerns about any of it, please let me know.  Also, please keep this in a safe place so that you can refer back to it as needed.  J

            I am very excited for this school year and the new adventures we are going to have in our class!  We are going to learn amazing amounts of valuable information, learn to work together as a team, and push ourselves to create and know things we never thought imaginable!  J  Thank you so much for your cooperation in getting this year off to a great and successful start!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Schneider

Mrs. Schneider’s Classroom Handbook

Contacting  Me         

First of all, I believe that communication is the key to a successful classroom and year of learning.  If you have questions or concerns about anything that comes up throughout the year PLEASE contact me!  My email address is: sschneider@questac.org.  I check my email several times throughout the day and I will return your email as soon as I can.  You may also call the school at (801) 731-9859 and leave a message with one of the secretaries or on my voice mail.  I am also available before school from 8:00-8:25 or after school.  I will be outside for duty right after school every day until 3:20–feel free to talk to me then, or we can talk in the classroom after 3:20, where I will be available until 4:00.  Occasionally a meeting with coworkers, professional development, or a family issue comes up, and of course I wouldn’t be available after school on those days, but would be VERY willing to reschedule a meeting as soon as possible! 

Absences

If your student is gone, his/her make up work will be waiting for them in a folder on their desk when they get back to school.  It is the student’s responsibility to take home their work and complete it.  All makeup work needs to be turned in within one week of the student’s return.  After one week, the assignment can not be made up; the student will receive a zero for the grade. 

If you plan to pick up your student’s work before they come back, please notify the office by 9 am.  This gives me time to get the assignments together for you by the end of the day without interrupting the class’ learning.

Planners

In order to help students stay organized and get everything turned in on time, students will be given a planner that will be filled out everyday.  All homework assignments will be written on the board for your student to copy into their planner.  We will also be writing what color, on our behavior chart, they ended the day on.  This helps you to know how your child’s behavior was throughout that day.  The students will be responsible for bringing me their filled out planner at the end of each day for me to initial.  If a student does not have his/her planner, than a “missing planner” paper will go home instead with the information.  PLEASE be sure to initial the planner/paper so that I know you have had the opportunity to review the information with your student.

Folders

Students have colored folders for each subject, including one for Take Home/Homework.  This folder is green.  All papers are to be placed in the appropriate folders to keep your student organized.  Papers in the Take Home/Homework folder should be reviewed.  This will contain returned/graded assignments, information from the school, letters about upcoming projects, etc.  Please be sure all assignments needed to be turned in are placed in the folder and returned by the due date.

Class Work/Homework Assignments

Students are held responsible for competing and turning in all their class work, homework assignments, and all projects on time.  Students are expected to be prepared with all of their materials.  Students will not be allowed to call home if they forgot their work.  Students should pack their backpacks at night with all the materials needed for the next day.  Organization is key!!   Students are also expected to write in their best handwriting (and there will be A LOT of writing!)  All work must be neat and readable.  Students will be asked to redo an assignment that is not legible.  Students will also need to make sure their name is on EVERY paper/project turned in, or they will need to redo it.

Homework: Quest Academy Homework Policy states that 4^th graders will have between 20-45 minutes of homework each night.  This time includes 20 minutes of reading each night.  The purpose of homework and the school’s policy can be found on the school’s website under “Homework Policy.”

 Each night, students will be expected to complete homework assignments.  The nightly assignments will be posted on our class blog for easy access and reference.  We will be having projects due at least once a month that will have things that will need to be completed at home as well.  Any class work that does not get finished in class will also be considered homework and will be due the following school day. 

This year your student will be participating in what is called a “flipped classroom.”  This means that for certain topics, students will be responsible for watching and taking notes, or doing an activity that will introduce a concept to them.  By doing this at home, it frees up classroom time so that we are able to come to class and discuss what they discovered and enhance the learning in a greater way.  The videos will be considered their homework, so it will not be added to the 40 minutes, it will be a part of the 40 minutes.  If students do not have access to a computer or the internet, then arrangements will need to be made for the student to stay after school to complete this assignment.

Late Work:  If an assignment is not turned in the next day, or on the specified due date, it will be considered late.  The work (whether it be class work or homework) will lose 10% of the total points for each day the assignment is late.  Late work will not be accepted after one week of being late.

Class Blog

I have created a class blog and will be updating it at least once a week.  It will include what is happening in our classroom, important information you need to know, and upcoming events.  I love to post videos of our learning and pictures too!!  When you subscribe to my blog, you will be sent a message that tells you that there is new information for you to view.  It is very important to check our blog often–especially with all of that important information on there!!  J

You can access my blog through the school’s website: Go to questac.org, the “People” tab, click on “Teachers,” and then of course 4^th grade, and find my name, then just click the blog link. 

Classroom Discipline/Rewards

Our class has a ticket system in place.  Students will be rewarded tickets for good behavior.  At the end of every month, the class will have a ticket drawing for prizes.

Students will be receive a consequence for talking excessively, for “horse-play,” not following classroom/school rules, or any other inappropriate or disruptive behavior.

Rewards: If we, as a class, obey all the school rules and do our best, we get rewards within our class. Rewards in the past have been lunch in our classroom, extra recess, read-a-thon, extra gym time, extra computer time, free time in class.

Classroom Rules

In our classroom, we follow the school wide rules: Raise Hands, Silent Movement, 12 inch Whisper, Follow Directions, Self Start, and Be Respectful. 

SIS Grading Program

Grades will be posted on a weekly basis.  Be sure to check your student’s progress periodically.  I will update SIS by Monday morning of each week. 

Students will be graded in each subject based on total points earned on the core curriculum material.

I will also be available for tutoring on Tuesday,  and Wednesday, nights from 3:30-4:00.  Please schedule the tutoring time in advance so that it won’t conflict with other engagements that might come up. 

Tests

Each student will be given a Words Their Way assessment each week on Friday.  The student will be tested on the sorts we have been working on throughout the week in class and in their homework.  The student will need to receive an 80% or higher to move onto the next sort for the next week.  If they receive lower than 80%, they will be working on the same sort for the following week. 

Math, Science, Social Studies, and Reading tests will be given after completion of each unit, or as needed.

Projects

We will be doing monthly projects to extend the student’s learning using the material we have learned in class. Information will be sent home clearly explaining the expectations of each project with plenty of time for the students to complete the projects. 

Please, please, please, resist the temptation to “do” your student’s projects for them!  Help, give guidance, advice, go over the directions, but please don’t do it for them!  The projects are fantastic ways for students to learn and extend their learning of the material they need to know.  Allow your student to do the work.  It will provide them with great learning and a sense of accomplishment.  Thank you! J

Volunteers

I love to have parent volunteers in the room!  I can be much more effective as a teacher when I have volunteers to share the load.  If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out the volunteer info sheet, or let me know.  It would be great if you could come in regularly on certain days of the week or at a certain time, so that I can be prepared for you as well.  If not, that’s okay, any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you are unable to come into the classroom to volunteer, that is okay.  I may have things that could be sent home to do.  Let me know if this is where you can help.