Syllabus and Classroom Expectations for Mrs. Manoske’s Language Arts Class
Dear Families,
I am thrilled to be your child’s teacher this year! One of my favorite parts of this job is working as a team with parents and students. Please feel free to call or email me anytime.
A little background information for you: I taughtin Seattle formany years before moving to Hawaii in 1993.Most of those years were teaching 5th and 6th grade. We lived in Kohala for 19 years and moved to Waikoloa four years ago. I taught in Kohalaall of the years we lived there except from 1996 - 2000 when I taught 5th grade here at Waikoloa. For fun, I love to read, go to the beach,exercise, and relax with my family and pets. We have a son who graduated from Kohala High School in 2004, and lifecontinues to be a fun adventure!
I know this letter is long, but I wanted to cover everything.
A. OUR CLASSROOM and SCHOOL-WIDEEXPECTATIONS
1)Show Respect
2)Make Good Decisions
3)Solve Problems
Examples of Showing Respect:Be responsible, punctual, encouraging, cooperative, tolerant, and have mutual respect toward others.
Examples of Making Good Decisions:
- Being in assigned seat and ready to work when the bell finishes ringing.
- Bringing paper, pencil, books, and all needed materials every day.
- Following the directions of adults working at this school.
- Being an attentive listener by paying attention while the teacher or a student is talking to the whole class.
- Using appreciations and not put-downs so every student may ask questions or add comments to discussions without negative judgment from others.
- Following our schoolrules such as: 1) Gum is allowed off campus only, 2) cell phones remain in backpacks until after school, and 3) hats/hoods worn outside only.
Examples of Solving Problems: Walk away from people or events that trigger anger, report unsafe behavior to an adult, and work with others to come up with solutions.
We have a curriculum called Positive Action that will also teach us more about solving problems, showing respect, and making good decisions.
Occasionally students may still ignore classroom and school expectations. First, I will give students cues and redirect them to get them back on track. When the behavior continues, one or more of the following learning choicesmay be provided:
1) Going to a Refocus Area in our classroom: Students still get help and are part of the class, but they are seated away from the area where they were misbehaving.
2) Loss or delay of privileges: This could include recess or activities using educational tools or equipment.
3) Reflection: This is when students write about what happened, work out the problem with the other student(s), or speak with the teacher or principal about the situation or behavior.
4) Restitution: This could be repairing or replacing an item that was broken.
5) Office Referral: These are the four reasons that I would ever send a student directly to the office:1) fighting or threatening to fight,2) damaging or destroying student, teacher, or school property,3) refusing to do school work when capable by throwing materials, tipping over furniture, or yelling, and4) engaging in behavior that creates an unsafe situation or shuts down the teacher’s ability to teach.
B.CURRICULUM
Reading and Writing: We have a 6th – 8th grade Language Arts Common Core Curriculum called SpringBoard. This program builds on the learning skills in each grade, and it covers the Common Core writing, reading, listening and speaking standards. It is designed so all students can achieve the Common Core State Standards. Each student will be assigned their own consumable textbook, and it will be kept in class unless an assignment requires that the book be taken home.
Independent Reading:My goal is to inspire students to read A-LOT-of-books! We haveindependent reading timeevery day, and students also have their homework time to read.This is one of my favorite quotes about independent reading: “Students will read if we give them the books, the time, and the enthusiastic encouragement to do so. If we make them wait for the one unit a year in which they are allowed to choose their own books and become readers, they may never read at all. To keep our students reading, we have to let them.”
― Donalyn Miller, The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child
TeenBiz:Students will read one or two TeenBiz stories a week during class. Students canincrease their reading comprehension skills by reading at least two TeenBiz stories a week and getting 75% or higher on the eight question activities.I would like to encourage students to do at least one TeenBiz story a week after school hours, too. They may always stay after school during Office Hours on Mondays to do this or use their silent reading homework time. It is not required. Just encouraged.
Materials to Bring to Class Each Day:
- Pencils, Erasable Pens
- Paper
- Colored Pencils and/or Markers (Please keep in backpack so you have them every day.)
- Highlighter and Sharpie Pen
- Three Ring School Binder
- Independent Reading Book – the same book every day.
- Glue stick, white liquid glue, or tape for interactive notebook. Students may choose which one they prefer.
C. GRADING POLICIES
Finished assignments will be graded using an A, B, C, D, and F scale.
A = 90-100%
B = 80-89%
C = 70-79%
D = 60-69%
F = 50-59%
Last year I weighted the summative work (finals, tests, projects) at 60% and formative work (classwork) at 40%. I’m waiting to see if there is going to be a middle school policy about this, and I will let you know if my formula changes.
D.HOMEWORK
The main homework this year isfor students to read from their “library” book for 20or more minutes each evening four or more days a week. Students will be taking their book back and forth to school every day and are supposed to be reading the same book until it is finished. (Abandoning books they don’t like is always allowed.)There will be a chart kept in student bindersto recordfinished books.Other homework will be classwork that is not finished or studying the skills we’re learning.
Please check planners daily to see what homework has been assigned. Silent Reading is homework every day that I have studentseven if they don’twrite it down, and I don’t catch it.
E.Classroom Routine
1. Do Now: When students come into the class each day, they will write homework, read the objective of the day, and begin Silent Reading for 10-15 minutes.
2. We practice,review, or learn a new skill.
3. SpringBoard lesson for the day.
4. Exit Passto summarize what we did in class, answer questions, or to check for understanding of what we learned. This will be done in different ways - orally, on paper, in groups, pairs, or as a whole class.
F. Other Important Information
Electronic Devices:
Our school policy states that all electronic devices are not to be used during school hours. The consequences for using these devices or having them out of the backpackwill be for the teacher to take the device to the office for parents to pick up.
Seating Plan:
Seating plans are made quarterly or more often. If a student has a concern with his or her assigned seat, we can discuss it after class or after school orat recess – not in front of other students in class. Students will also have the choice to move around the classroom to do their work so they are not always in the same seat or group.
Drop Box:
We have a Drop Box in our classroom. This is where students may write notes to me about their concerns or suggestions. I talk with these students privately about what they wrote if needed. Many situations can be solved using the drop box. I highly encourage using it, and I am the only person who will open the container … all is private.
Bullying:
Bullying, in any of its forms, will not be tolerated and will result in an immediate call home to parents.
Absent Work:
When students are absent, they are to see each of their teachers forany work that they need to make up.
Extra-Help:
Extra help will be provided on Mondays after school until 3:00, andthis is called Office Hours. All teachers will be available in their classrooms during this time.
TeacherEase:
Throughout the year, I send many updates from TeacherEase about what we are doing in our class. You and your child can use TeacherEase to check grades, too. All that is needed to get onboard is an email address. The school will be sending home forms for this.
My Three-Big-Goals are1) to inspire my students to believe in and motivate themselves, 2)to help my studentsdevelop more skills and confidencein their writing, and3) toencourage my students to REALLY enjoy talking about, thinking about, and readingbooks. All kinds of books!
Your suggestions, concerns, and encouragement are always welcome …
Sincerely,
Cindy Manoske
Language Arts
808 882-6808 Extension 262 (school)
808 889-5051 (home – Please leave a message if there isn’t an answer and you want me to return your call.)
Please return the bottom section. Thank you.
I would like to encourage each student to bring one picture for our bulletin board. Individual pictures, family pictures, pets ... whatever your child wants to share will be wonderful! Some people print their pictures from a computer and some bring the original picture. It’s all good!The pictures help students know one another in a different way. Students really enjoy seeing theirclassmates’ pictures. This is optional, of course, but I hope you will want to participate.Your child’s picture will be returned at the end of the year and holes will not be put into them.
As your child’s teacher, I’d like this school year to be extremely successful. That’s why I am asking for your help. I have found that the more I know about my students, the easier it is for me to help meet their individual needs. For that reason, if there’s anything you would like me to know about your child, please feel free to write to me here or on another piece of paper. I’m excited for the new school year! ______
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I have received Mrs. Manoske’s syllabus and classroom expectations letter for the 2016-2017 school year.
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Parent Name (print)Student Name (print)