Week one complete. So now we know what fourth grade is like. Well... kind of. This week was pretty easy. We spent a lot of time on rules, expectations and procedures. Homework was light, but my expectations for how it needs top be done were laid out. Next week we should be more on track, despite it being only four days long.
Please check your child's planner every evening and look over any work. This really helps them to succeed and also shows that you take a sincere interest in what they are doing. On Fridays, work from the week and papers from the office will be handed out and sent home. Please get in the habit of checking your students work that is sent home, as this will include graded tests. Your child's homework on Friday is to have you sign the bottom of his or her planner when it comes home on Friday. You are not required to sign it every day (for now), but you are encouraged to look at it.
Our Daily Blog is up and running for this year. Check it out!
This next part is very important. Parents need to be aware that some procedures may change throughout the year. I am trying a few new systems in the classroom and they may need to be modified to best serve everyone. Thanks for being flexible.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Parent letter from the first day
I thought I may as well post the letter that went home. I copied and pasted it, so the formatting may a bit off.
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as your child’s new 4th grade teacher. I’ve taught in this district for 6 years, and this is my third year teaching 4th grade at Mary Fay Pendleton. I sincerely hope the coming year will provide a positive learning experience for your child. I look forward to meeting you at Back to School Night. In the meantime, I hope this letter will answer many of your questions. You may reach me at (760) 731-4073- my direct line in the classroom, or 731-4050- school office. Please be advised that the classroom phone will go directly to voicemail during the day. My preferred method of communication is email, as I do not check voicemail very often.
Thanks in advance for being flexible with classroom assignments. Your child’s placement is subject to change as our enrollment fluctuates. Please understand that this is equally difficult for our school staff as it is for students and parents.
Homework:
Your child will have a weekly planner. I ask that your child bring the planner to school with them daily along with a notebook they were given. These items are to be treated like gold. They are very important to student learning and there will be consequences for loss. In terms of homework, I will not assign any homework without teaching the concept first. Please help at home by supporting your child as he/she does homework by providing him/her with a quiet and undisturbed time and place with undivided attention from you. Your child is encouraged to bring home any textbooks (especially math), but it must come back the next day! We are fortunate to have our entire math book online this year.
A new math concept is taught daily in our state aligned math curriculum, and your help is crucial in reviewing each day’s lesson that evening. Your child will likely have math homework 4 days a week, which re-teaches that day’s new math concepts. We use similar practice pages for our classwork.
Don’t panic too much at the math, because most of everything they will be exposed to this year is a repeat of all that they were introduced to in 3rd grade. Each concept is generally expanded or taken up a notch in 4th grade. If we are to have a math test that week, I’ll try to include practice materials in the homework. The best thing your child can do to increase math proficiency is learn multiplication facts (times tables). Please, please, please focus on this!
If children have difficulty with the practice/homework materials, make sure they understand the material because that is what the test will be about. Use the textbook, class notes and online resources!
Some evenings your child may bring home a workbook for that night’s Language Arts homework assignment. We work out of that same book in class, so it is important that your child remember to return these workbooks to school each day. Try helping them get into the habit of returning homework and workbooks into their backpacks as soon as homework is finished each evening. I appreciate your help in familiarizing your child with this routine. I will not accept excuses and there are indeed consequences for non-compliance.
In addition to the homework that is typed in the grid, your child may have unfinished classwork to do as well. This should be written in the planner as well and completed for the next morning. Your child will likely need some time to get used to doing all classwork in class. This may result in more homework than expected some nights. After a month or so, students will learn how to manage their time better. Students who have a “ton” of homework at night are likely not using their class time wisely.
Homework will be checked first thin gin the morning when we arrive. If homework is incomplete, done poorly, rushed or eaten by the dog the students will miss recess that day and be ineligible for HOT time (see below).
Supplies:
Suggested supplies for your child are:
• 1- 3 ring binder with hard cover. 2 inch is preferred. Doesn’t need to be fancy.
• Pencils, erasers, and a hand-held silent pencil sharpener with a catch for pencil shavings. I have a limited amount of pencils for them to use, but students love to bring their own. I do not allow noisy sharpeners in class, so their options are to use one of mine or use their personal sharpener. However, students do not need to have their desks look like Office Depot. Bring to school what you need and reserve the surplus for when it is needed.
• Clear pencil pouch with 3 holes to put in notebook. This is not mandatory, but will certainly help.
• I would also love to have little trinkets and gifts for our prizes and drawings. These can be little things like erasers, pencils, small things form the dollar store, Oriental Trading items…
Snacks:
Students will have a snack break every morning at 10:30. Their lunch is not until 12:20, so if you decide to send a snack, please send a nutritious one, such as fruit, yogurt, vegetable sticks, crackers, unsweetened dry cereal, nuts, pickles, hard boiled eggs, half a sandwich, healthy granola bars or dried fruit snacks. No desserts or soda, please! No drinks are allowed in the classroom except water, but please do not freeze the water bottles as water condenses on the desks and creates a mess. I encourage students to keep a water bottle on/ by their desk.
Volunteers:
I look forward to having volunteers help with some things in the classroom or taking certain tasks home. It may take some time to get a volunteer system going though. Please send me a note if you can help out in that way, or sign up at Back to School Night.
Discipline (www.kootmansclass.com/behavior):
Our classroom rules are as follows:
• Speak in quiet whisper voices
• Respect each other and each other’s property
• Listen to and follow directions the first time
• Don’t stop others from learning
These rules are posted in the classroom. Respect for these rules should allow us to enjoy a well-disciplined class in which everyone can learn. Reward rather than punishment is stressed.
We have a card color system and all students start the day on green. If they turn their card to yellow or red, they will lose recess the next day. It may seem cruel and I know that students need their recess, but that consequence can be avoided by simply completely all homework in a sufficient manner.
One of the fixtures of our classroom that I love the most is our “Above the Line Chart.” Ask your child what it’s about.
“H.O.T. Time,” is a 4th and 5th grade recess time every Friday at 2:00PM. Students look forward to this free time very much and it works as a huge incentive. A student will lose HOT Time for not turning in a completed homework assignment or Reading Log on any given day.
We have many routines and procedures which the students will get used to very quickly. We will customize these for our classroom environment to better suite the needs of everyone in room 40 as the year goes along. In other words, things may change in order to get the kinks out as I learn the specific needs of our students. I thank everyone in advance for being understanding and helpful. I always appreciate constructive feedback that will help us all.
There will be a simple and brief quiz tomorrow on rules and procedures. Please discuss this sheet with your child.
We have a classroom website that has lots of helpful information. Please take some time to visit and explore www.kootmansclass.com. There are several blogs that have frequent updates. In time you will learn what to expect and where to go to find resources to help. If you have a suggestion for a new section of the website or a tip I would love to hear it. For now, tune into the Classroom News blog for updates.
Please sign and return the next page so I know you have read these explanations with your child. Thank you so much for your involvement and support with your child’s education.
Respectfully,
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as your child’s new 4th grade teacher. I’ve taught in this district for 6 years, and this is my third year teaching 4th grade at Mary Fay Pendleton. I sincerely hope the coming year will provide a positive learning experience for your child. I look forward to meeting you at Back to School Night. In the meantime, I hope this letter will answer many of your questions. You may reach me at (760) 731-4073- my direct line in the classroom, or 731-4050- school office. Please be advised that the classroom phone will go directly to voicemail during the day. My preferred method of communication is email, as I do not check voicemail very often.
Thanks in advance for being flexible with classroom assignments. Your child’s placement is subject to change as our enrollment fluctuates. Please understand that this is equally difficult for our school staff as it is for students and parents.
Homework:
Your child will have a weekly planner. I ask that your child bring the planner to school with them daily along with a notebook they were given. These items are to be treated like gold. They are very important to student learning and there will be consequences for loss. In terms of homework, I will not assign any homework without teaching the concept first. Please help at home by supporting your child as he/she does homework by providing him/her with a quiet and undisturbed time and place with undivided attention from you. Your child is encouraged to bring home any textbooks (especially math), but it must come back the next day! We are fortunate to have our entire math book online this year.
A new math concept is taught daily in our state aligned math curriculum, and your help is crucial in reviewing each day’s lesson that evening. Your child will likely have math homework 4 days a week, which re-teaches that day’s new math concepts. We use similar practice pages for our classwork.
Don’t panic too much at the math, because most of everything they will be exposed to this year is a repeat of all that they were introduced to in 3rd grade. Each concept is generally expanded or taken up a notch in 4th grade. If we are to have a math test that week, I’ll try to include practice materials in the homework. The best thing your child can do to increase math proficiency is learn multiplication facts (times tables). Please, please, please focus on this!
If children have difficulty with the practice/homework materials, make sure they understand the material because that is what the test will be about. Use the textbook, class notes and online resources!
Some evenings your child may bring home a workbook for that night’s Language Arts homework assignment. We work out of that same book in class, so it is important that your child remember to return these workbooks to school each day. Try helping them get into the habit of returning homework and workbooks into their backpacks as soon as homework is finished each evening. I appreciate your help in familiarizing your child with this routine. I will not accept excuses and there are indeed consequences for non-compliance.
In addition to the homework that is typed in the grid, your child may have unfinished classwork to do as well. This should be written in the planner as well and completed for the next morning. Your child will likely need some time to get used to doing all classwork in class. This may result in more homework than expected some nights. After a month or so, students will learn how to manage their time better. Students who have a “ton” of homework at night are likely not using their class time wisely.
Homework will be checked first thin gin the morning when we arrive. If homework is incomplete, done poorly, rushed or eaten by the dog the students will miss recess that day and be ineligible for HOT time (see below).
Supplies:
Suggested supplies for your child are:
• 1- 3 ring binder with hard cover. 2 inch is preferred. Doesn’t need to be fancy.
• Pencils, erasers, and a hand-held silent pencil sharpener with a catch for pencil shavings. I have a limited amount of pencils for them to use, but students love to bring their own. I do not allow noisy sharpeners in class, so their options are to use one of mine or use their personal sharpener. However, students do not need to have their desks look like Office Depot. Bring to school what you need and reserve the surplus for when it is needed.
• Clear pencil pouch with 3 holes to put in notebook. This is not mandatory, but will certainly help.
• I would also love to have little trinkets and gifts for our prizes and drawings. These can be little things like erasers, pencils, small things form the dollar store, Oriental Trading items…
Snacks:
Students will have a snack break every morning at 10:30. Their lunch is not until 12:20, so if you decide to send a snack, please send a nutritious one, such as fruit, yogurt, vegetable sticks, crackers, unsweetened dry cereal, nuts, pickles, hard boiled eggs, half a sandwich, healthy granola bars or dried fruit snacks. No desserts or soda, please! No drinks are allowed in the classroom except water, but please do not freeze the water bottles as water condenses on the desks and creates a mess. I encourage students to keep a water bottle on/ by their desk.
Volunteers:
I look forward to having volunteers help with some things in the classroom or taking certain tasks home. It may take some time to get a volunteer system going though. Please send me a note if you can help out in that way, or sign up at Back to School Night.
Discipline (www.kootmansclass.com/behavior):
Our classroom rules are as follows:
• Speak in quiet whisper voices
• Respect each other and each other’s property
• Listen to and follow directions the first time
• Don’t stop others from learning
These rules are posted in the classroom. Respect for these rules should allow us to enjoy a well-disciplined class in which everyone can learn. Reward rather than punishment is stressed.
We have a card color system and all students start the day on green. If they turn their card to yellow or red, they will lose recess the next day. It may seem cruel and I know that students need their recess, but that consequence can be avoided by simply completely all homework in a sufficient manner.
One of the fixtures of our classroom that I love the most is our “Above the Line Chart.” Ask your child what it’s about.
“H.O.T. Time,” is a 4th and 5th grade recess time every Friday at 2:00PM. Students look forward to this free time very much and it works as a huge incentive. A student will lose HOT Time for not turning in a completed homework assignment or Reading Log on any given day.
We have many routines and procedures which the students will get used to very quickly. We will customize these for our classroom environment to better suite the needs of everyone in room 40 as the year goes along. In other words, things may change in order to get the kinks out as I learn the specific needs of our students. I thank everyone in advance for being understanding and helpful. I always appreciate constructive feedback that will help us all.
There will be a simple and brief quiz tomorrow on rules and procedures. Please discuss this sheet with your child.
We have a classroom website that has lots of helpful information. Please take some time to visit and explore www.kootmansclass.com. There are several blogs that have frequent updates. In time you will learn what to expect and where to go to find resources to help. If you have a suggestion for a new section of the website or a tip I would love to hear it. For now, tune into the Classroom News blog for updates.
Please sign and return the next page so I know you have read these explanations with your child. Thank you so much for your involvement and support with your child’s education.
Respectfully,
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
How many trees did we kill?
Wow! There were a lot of papers that went home the first day of school. Please review them and return the six that need returning. These six include: white health form, white student info card, white email slip, white parent letter acknowledgment, green internet form, pink library permission slip and 12 Ginsu knives. Whew! If you call now, you'll also get ten free stain removal kits as our special gift...
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Teacher Trainings and fourth grade team
I've been busy this summer. In early August I finished my masters degree in educational technology and shortly thereafter attended a five day AVID training in San Diego. This program focuses on study skills and organization for upper elementary students. I'm excited to implement some of the new strategies I learned.
I'm also piloting the new math program we will be using next year. This year I will be testing 2-3 different math programs. The one I will be using for the first eight weeks is Houghton-Mifflin. One feature I like already is that the entire textbook is online! Stay tuned for links.
Lastly, I'm excited to work with my new fourth grade team members. Mrs. Moore is teaching fourth grade this year (down from fifth) and Ms. Barone is joining us as a new teacher (she did her student teaching here 2 years ago). Sad to see Mrs. Polyascko and Mrs. Swanlund go, but I wish them luck in their new assignments.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
School Hours
Just a heads up to those students/ parents who have attended Mary Fay Pendleton in the past. This year we are changing the school/ class hours. Take a look at the new schedule here. You'll notice that most of the start times are about 10 minutes earlier, which allows for shortened days on Wednesday. These Wednesdays will be used for staff development and planning. Ultimately your child will have the same number of instructional hours though. If you have never attended Mary Fay before...... well then you wouldn't notice the change anyway :)
~Mr. Kootman
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