Disclosure
Introduction
Welcome to first grade! This is an important time in the development of your child. It is a wonderful time for growth and confidence for your student. I feel very grateful for this opportunity to get to know your child and be able to work side by side with your family. I hope that we can work together to help ensure the success of your student.
Communication
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. The quickest way to contact me is through the Remind App. I will send the link at the beginning of the school year and a handout. I also check my email each day. I try to keep all parents or guardians informed of what we're working on.
As far as availability, I usually get to school around 7:30 am and leave at 4:00 pm. If you email me after 4:00 pm, then I will get back to you the next day. I don't look at my email after 4:00 pm. If there is an emergency that I need to know about, please text me on Remind and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can.
Curriculum
Our first graders have many diverse skill levels. I will teach from the Davis Essential Skills and Knowledge (DESK) standards with a wide variety of differentiated instruction to meet the needs of each student. I have strategies to challenge or help your student throughout the school year.
Prep Specialist Classes
We are so grateful to have prep teachers here at Columbia.
Students are expected to follow directions, procedures, and expectations in a prep class. If not, they will be given a warning. Prep teachers will send a note with a 1,2, or 3 that reflects on the class's behavior as a whole, with notes. If your student needs 2-3 reminders/warnings during class, then the student and I will have a conversation to go over expectations and how we can work together to help them meet those expectations. If these behaviors keep interfering with their or others' learning, then I will contact you to see what we can do to work together to ensure learning can happen.
School Attendance
Your student's attendance at school is crucial to their learning experiences and growth. Most, if not all, the activities your student will experience in class involve peer interaction, hands-on learning, and an opportunity to collaborate with the whole class, which cannot be made up if missed.
However, if your child is showing any signs of sickness, please keep your child at home.
If your family is experiencing difficulty at home, I would like to provide additional support at school. I understand that you are not always able to share details and that's okay. If your child is coming to school after a difficult night, morning, or weekend, please text me through the Remind App, with the phrase "Handle with care". Nothing else needs to be said or asked. This allows me to better support your child emotionally and academically.
Student Check-Out & Student Schedule Changes
If you need to check out your student for any reason, you must go to the front office and have the secretary call your student down. For safety reasons, I cannot release children to anyone who comes to the classroom to pick them up. Likewise during our dismissal, if there is any change from the normal routine of going home, please text me, email me, or send a note with your child the day of.
Drop off/Pick Up
I cannot stress enough how important it is for your student to be present at school. It is also important for your student to be on time. Students will line up by the front doors on shuttle number 4 on the west side of the school. Please do not drop the students off too early. We do have a supervisor teacher or teacher assistant that comes out, but not until it is closer to the arrival bell. I will be picking the students up when the first bell rings at 8:50 am. If your student comes after this time, you will need to check your student in at the office. At the end of the day, students will exit out the front doors on the west side. At the beginning of the school year, I will assist students in finding their buses and carpools, but after the end of the first term, I expect them to know where they are going.
Classroom Discipline
I love the quote by Maya Angelou, "When you know better, then you do better". I have my students embody that quote during the school year. I remember when I was a little girl and having my teachers embarrass me in front of the whole class to redirect me. I remember feeling embarrassed and guilty. I NEVER want my students to feel that way. I feel that behavior needs to be rewarded or redirected with respect, love, patience, dignity, and logical consequences. I will walk by a student and quietly tap them on the shoulder to remind them of the expectation expected of them. After about 2-3 reminders to follow our class expectations, the student and I will have a conversation about how we can do better and be better at meeting the class expectations. If I need to remind them more than that, I will contact you.
I encourage positive behavior by teaching and modeling appropriate behavior and class expectations in class. I reinforce appropriate behavior through verbal praise, class store, class incentives, etc. I will stop and redirect inappropriate behavior by using behavior trackers, parent notes, and what that individual child may need.
I have made behavior contracts with my students who have a difficult time with specific behavior. If I need to contact you about a specific behavior, then I believe a contract will be needed if the behavior is affecting their and others' learning in class. Behavior contracts will include behavior trackers, parent notes, calls home, individual action plans, possible parent visits, etc.
Homework
Your child will bring home a sheet for homework. On one side, it will show a checklist for each day of the week. It will have reading and math. The math will be on the other side of the sheet of paper. Students can check off their work. Homework will be due on Fridays.
Reading & Math
Children who read or are reading at home perform consistently better at school. Your child should be reading to you for 15-20 minutes each night. This practice will help your child improve their fluency. Reading to your child is also very important as it increases their vocabulary and comprehension.
Children will need to know their basic addition and subtraction math skills from 0-10 when coming into first grade. As time goes on in first grade, your student will need to be fluent from 0-20.
Birthdays
For birthdays, we have the student fill out a poster all about them that they get to share on their birthday. We sing our birthday song and the birthday friend can have a pencil from our birthday box. At Columbia Elementary, each month we have a birthday table where we invite parents to come eat with their children.
Clothing & Waterbottles
Please make sure your child is always dressed for the weather. Students go outside nearly every day, regarding the temperature. Hats, gloves, and coats should be CLEARLY labeled. At the beginning of the school year, I will be sending home a ziplock bag in which you can put an extra pack of clothes for a just-in-case situation. This extra pack of clothes will stay in their backpacks so that students will know where to go if they do need their extra clothes.
Students will get thirsty at school. I have an area in the classroom where students can keep their water bottles at. If they do bring water bottles, they need to have lids that are tight and non-spillable if accidentally knocked down.
Bathroom Policy
Kids should be able to use the restroom when they need to. I have one bathroom pass each for the girls and boys. I ask the students to set the bathroom pass on their desks so I know where they are at. I encourage them to be responsible and to try not to use the restroom during independent work time or during direct instruction. A good time to go is during recess breaks and brain breaks.
Mission Statement & Class Expectations
At Columbia, we are to L.E.A.D. the voyage. L stands for learn, E stands for empower, A stands for achieve, and D stands for discover. We believe in educating the whole child in a positive learning environment. While focusing on our learning objectives, we are implementing mindfulness strategies to help students learn life skills that support their social and emotional well-being. Our school's three main rules are: Be Safe, Be Kind, and Be Reliable.
Setting clear expectations and defining and practicing classroom procedures are essential. There is a phrase that I live by. It is, "What you put up with is what you end up with. You can only expect what you accept." When we know what to expect, then students will know what to accept and expect of themselves and others around them. Students have and will always rise by these expectations.
Closing
I am so excited about this year and I am looking forward to getting to know you and your student this year. Your support and involvement is appreciated!
Warmly,