September 27, 2016

Dear Families,

Welcome to second grade! I am excited to have you as part of our learning communitythis year. Together we will help one another achieve lots of great hopes and dreams. We will foster a learning community based upon the Responsive Classroom approach. It is an approach where social and academic learning go hand and hand. Each child’s ideas, creations and discoveries are valued and appreciated. I believe in Multiple Intelligences and I will seek to find your child’s strengths and their most valued learning style.

I have had the opportunity to meet most of you at Open House night and am so excited to work with you to best meet the needs of your child! This is my second year teaching second grade at Falmouth Elementary. I substitute taught for several years in Pennsylvania. However, I was anxious to have my own classroom so I moved to Virginia in August of 2015 to pursue my dream of education. I love teaching at Falmouth and am so glad I have the privilege to be your child’s teacher!

I teach using the Responsive Classroom approach. The Responsive Classroom approach to teaching and learning fosters a safe, challenging and joyful classroom. I believe in bringing together social and academic learning throughout the school day. Children will be engaged in active learning, they will have opportunities to experiment, solve problems and make rewarding mistakes. Each child will make choices about learning each day and they will learn to treat each other with care and respect. In our classroom your child’s ideas, creations and discoveries are valued and displayed around the room.

In our second grade class, we are all important, valued, and respected. Anyone who enters gives and receives respect and is entitled to a positive and productive learning environment. We will work together to improve our minds, reach our goals, follow our dreams, and share in the learning process. Plus, we will have fun along the way!

Children learn best by being involved in the learning process. We will do many different activities each day to engage your child. Please take the time to ask your child, “What did you do in school today?” and “What important questions did you ask today?”

Maintaining each child’s self-esteem and building a secure foundation for future growth will always remain a priority in our classroom. Here are some ways you can help:

 Celebrate your child’s success, no matter how big or small. This will keep your child enthusiastic about learning and proud of their work.

 Read to and with your child every day. The more your child is exposed to language, the easier it will be for him or her to incorporate new skills in reading and writing in the classroom.

 Communicate any concerns that you may have with your child. With us working together, both at school and at home, we have a greater chance of helping your child achieve success on accomplishing their hopes and dreams.

Thank you for your support and involvement in your child’s education! Please do not hesitate to call or email me with any questions or concerns. My email is . I am so excited to have this year with you and your child!

Sincerely,

Miss Keech

Here are some additional points of important information to get us on track for a fun, successful year!

Communication

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding your child. I will do the same in touching base with you if there is any issue pertaining to behavior, homework, or just to let you know when your child is doing an outstanding job! Written notes in their agendas or on paper, emails, phone calls, scheduled conferences, progress reports, and report cards are all great methods of communication. My contact information is as follows:

E-mail address:

OR call the school office to be connected to Room 102 (540)-373-7458

* It would be best to reach me either before or after school hours *

Our classroom website also contains lots of helpful, important information and is updated weekly.

Responsive Classroom

TheResponsive Classroomapproach is a widely used, research-backed approach to elementary education that increases academic achievement, decreases problem behaviors, improves social skills, and leads to more high-quality instruction.

Morning Meeting

Birthdays

We welcome birthday celebrations in our class. If you plan on sending in a special treat for your child’s birthday, please contact me ahead of time via email, note or phone call so we can prepare for a little celebration. Healthy treats are best. Having a non-food item (a bookmark or school item) or craft for the students to make would also be good alternatives. If you do wish to send in cupcakes, please make sure they are the small ones.

We do have a peanut allergy in our class this year, so we need to make sure it is peanut free!

BRONCO Binder

As you have already seen, I have given each child awhite BRONCO binder. This will go home each night and be returned each day. Your child’s homework will be in this binder, as well as their monthly reading log and any other important notices, such as our weekly classroom newsletter. I will not be requiring you to sign their homework agenda books or the folders unless an issue arises.

Our Weekly Encore Schedule

Monday

Library
/ Tuesday

PE
/ Wednesday

Music / Thursday

Art / Friday

PE

Reminders:

Art – Expect to get a little messy so dress appropriately.

PE– Please wear sneakers and appropriate clothing for activities.

Library – Library books are due every 2 weeks.

School Attendance/Changes in Transportation

Your child’s daily attendance is very important to his/her success. In the event that your child is absent, please call the school that morning to inform us of his or her absence so that I can prepare work for them that they will be missing. In order to mark the absence as excused, the office must have a note.

If you need to pick up your child early, you must sign them out in the front office. They will then call your child to the office. If there is a change in your child’s transportation home please call the office and send in a note to notify me. Bus changes must also be done by written notification through the office. A child will not be permitted to get on a different bus without doing so. If no written note is sent in or the office does not receive a phone call from you, your child will be sent home by his/her usual method of transportation.

Classroom Management

Our classroom is structured around the students to create a safe, nurturing environment for learning. We have discussed and practiced, as a class, the important rules and procedures of the room that should be followed. Our class focuses on using teamwork. This encourages children to always do their best, display good “sportsmanship”, work cooperatively together, and to set and accomplish goals.

As a class we created our classroom rules. We started our journey talking about why we come to school and what some of our personal hopes and dreams were for the year. Based on these hopes and dreams, I asked the students what we needed to do in order to make sure we all could achieve our goals. Answers varied and we ended up with a huge list of potential rules. We worked hard on changing the negative rules, like “Don’t run,” into positive rules, like “Walk throughout the room carefully.” We want to keep our classroom a positive place!

After the students finished brainstorming rules, we consolidated the huge list into 5 general classroom rules that covered everything. Here they are:

1.Be responsible for yourself.

2.Everyone gets to learn.

3.Take care of our classroom.

4.Try to make good choices every day.

5.Take care of others.

For the past two weeks we have discussed what each rule looks like and sounds like. I encourage you to talk about the importance of these rules with your child. I truly feel that these rules will create a safe classroom environment and help each child achieve his/her hopes and dreams!

Belonging + Significance + Fun = Positive Classroom Climate

I believe that when children feel a sense of belonging, significance and are having fun, misbehaviors do not occur. I will provide your child with opportunities to meet these needs in order to maintain a positive classroom environment. If, however, misbehaviors arise, I will respond using a range of strategies: visual and verbal cues, reminding and redirecting language, increased teacher proximity and logical consequences.

Classroom Responsibilities

Every student will have a different classroom job that will rotate every two weeks. This gives the students a sense of responsibility in the classroom community.

Logical Consequences and Take A Break Area


Logical consequences are respectful, relevant and realistic in response to misbehavior. For example, if a group of children are supposed to be working together on a project but spend more time talking about their weekend, a logical consequence would be that they do not get to work together anymore that day. If a child needs help regaining control beyond the mentioned logical consequences, I will have them “take a break” The “Take a Break” area is not a punishment, but a useful way to teach children to refocus and return to successful participation in class activity. Sometimes we all need to step away for a few minutes to refocus our attention on our work and that is what the “Take A Break” area is used for.

Homework

HOMEWORK IS YOUR CHILD’S RESPONSIBILITY AS A STUDENT. Homework should be turned in every Friday in your child’s binder.

Homework should be completed as independently as possible. Please contact me if there is something that is too difficult for your child to complete.

If missing homework becomes a repeated habit, I will ask you to sign your child’s homework assignment pad on a nightly basis until your child demonstrates responsibility towards their work.

Students are expected to read at least 20 minutes a night and complete their monthly reading log.

Students are also expected to complete 1 reader’s response a week using the lined paper in their binder.

**Please check your child’s assignment pad for assignments.

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